this week in literature

THE TONIGHT ZOOM WITH JORDAN KLEPPER: A CELEBRATION OF LIVE THEATRE

Who: Jordan Klepper, Fred Armisen, Maura Tierney, Thomas Sadoski, Arian Moayed, Annie McNamara, April Matthis, Vin Knight, Young Jean Lee, Joel Perez, Yo La Tengo
What: Virtual gala
Where: Elevator Repair Service online
When: Wednesday, June 23, $25-$500, 7:30 (private virtual cocktail reception at 7:00 for donors of $2,500+)
Why: During the Trump era, comedian Jordan Klepper has been one of the funniest, move insightful television journalists around, in his “Fingers the Pulse” segments on The Daily Show, in which he fearlessly goes straight into the heart of the MAGAverse, speaking with Trumpists who are not in on the joke. He has also hosted his own satirical series, The Opposition with Jordan Klepper, as well as the influential special Jordan Klepper Solves Guns. On June 23 at 7:30, the Michigan-born Klepper, a former member of the Second City and Upright Citizens Brigade, will be hosting The Tonight Zoom with Jordan Klepper A Celebration of Live Theatre (remotely) (and partially pre-taped), a virtual gala benefiting New York City experimental theater stalwarts Elevator Repair Service.

Founded in 1991 by artistic director John Collins, ERS has developed a unique theatrical language over its thirty years, presenting collaborative works that often reimagine literary classics into something new and unpredictable at such venues as the Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, the New York Public Library, and PS122. Among their shows are Marx Brothers on Horseback Salad, The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928), Everyone’s Fine with Virginia Woolf, The Select (The Sun Also Rises), Measure for Measure, and their widely acclaimed Gatz, an eight-hour adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

At the virtual gala, Klepper will interview ERS company members Vin Knight, April Matthis, and Annie McNamara as characters they have portrayed in the troupe’s productions; there will also be appearances by Fred Armisen, Maura Tierney, Thomas Sadoski, Arian Moayed, Young Jean Lee, Joel Perez, and Yo La Tengo. It might be called “a celebration of live theatre,” but, in true Klepper/ERS style, they are pointing out that it will take place remotely, with some prerecorded segments. Tickets start at $25 and go up to $10,000 for the Gold Virtual Table, which includes a preshow cocktail reception for twelve people, tickets to ERS’s upcoming adaptation of The Seagull at the Skirball Center, and select merchandise.

RASHID JOHNSON: RED STAGE

Creative Time’s Red Stage continues through July 4 at Astor Plaza (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

CREATIVE TIME: THE PEOPLE’S PLATFORM
Astor Plaza
Through July 4, free (some events require advance RSVP and in-person sign-in)
creativetime.org

Since June 5, the nonprofit arts organization Creative Time as been hosting live events in Astor Plaza in celebration of the reopening of New York City and the return of live performance in front of audiences. “Amidst an ongoing global pandemic and multiple human rights crises that have kept the world in isolation and grief, Rashid Johnson’s Red Stage is an emergency call to artists and creatives to experiment, collaborate, and gather in an act of resurgence,” Creative Time associate curator Diya Vij said in a statement. “The minimalist sculpture — akin to a bandshell stage — is rendered in steel and powder-coated in a color Johnson describes as ‘alarm red.’ Its simplicity is imbued with life: The entirety of the surface is marked by Johnson’s hand and the structure holds a vibrancy of thriving living plants. Stewarding this work requires a commitment to engender and nurture life-affirming futures.”

Chicago-born artist Johnson filled the first two weeks of Red Stage with a wide array of events, including Ethan Philbrick’s 15 cellists, Emily Johnson’s The Rising Stomp, Papi Juice’s The Portal, Jason Moran and Total Freedom, poetry, a dance party, karaoke, and community discussion. Coming up are an audio installation, a painting demonstration and workshop, a farmer’s market, a participatory marathon reading, a commencement ceremony honoring the end of the school year, a special Black trans Pride empowerment, and other presentations.

“As the world unevenly experiences the impact of Covid-19, and New York City begins to economically and socially reawaken, Red Stage affords us the opportunity to come together in this complexity to question the idea for a new normal and to envision the potential of truly engaging in public space,” Vij continued. “Red Stage establishes a temporary public-led public space for artists, organizers, and agitators. It is a proposition to the public to occupy space through movement — activation of the body in dance, the breath in song, the fist in protest, and the collective in revolutionary potential.” Everything is free, although some programs require advance RSVP to attend and/or take part in. Below is the full schedule as of June 19.

Monday, June 21
Graphic reading: The People’s Platform, 10:00 am–2:00 pm

Brooklyn Music School, with vocalist and faculty member Emily Tepe performing original works, 3:00- 5:00

An Exploration in Still Life Movement with Black Painters Academy, led by artist and academy founder Azikiwe Mohammed, painting supplies available for first ten people, 5:30 – 6:30

Meditation Journey for Renewal & Emergence with Lana Homeri, 6:00 – 8:00

The first sky is inside you: A sound experience by sunlove, 7:00 -7:45

Tuesday, June 22
GrowNYC Farmer’s Market, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Wednesday, June 23
Graphic reading: The People’s Platform, 10:00 am

Thursday, June 24
Echo Location by Charlotte Brathwaite, intimate public marathon reading of Alexis Pauline Gumb’s Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals, embraced by song, initiated by Brathwaite in collaboration with Sunder Ganglani and y.o.u., 10:00 am – 10:00 pm

Friday, June 25
Graphic reading: The People’s Platform, 10:00 am–2:00 pm

Commencement: A Procession & Ceremony of Gratitude, Reunion, Celebration and the Closing of School Year led by Tiffany Lenoi Jones, 3:00 – 4:30

Graphic reading: The People’s Platform, 5:00

Saturday, June 26
Arts on Site, with the Bang Group, ARKAI Music, Jamal Jackson Dance Company, BOiNK! Dance & Film, and Dual Rivet, 2:30 – 3:30

Live Arts Pride 2021: The House Party, with DJ THELIMITDOESNOTEXIST, Switch n’ Play (Divina GranSparkle, K.James, Nyx Nocturne, the Illustrious Pearl, and Zoe Ziegfeld, hosted by Miss Malice), Bubble_T (Sammy Kim, Keekai, Sina, Kiko Soiree, Snix), Oops! (Chiquitita & West Dakota), Ragga NYC (Shawn Neon, Viva Ruiz, Batalá New York), and Linda La & the Perfect Poison (Linda La, the Perfect Poison, Rozay LaBeija, and guests), introduced by Bill T. Jones, free with RSVP, 4:00 – 8:00

Sunday, June 27
Stonewall Protests Takeover: Black Trans Liberation, with special guests, 10:00 am –

AMPHITHEATER

Jody Oberfelder Projects rehearses Amphitheater prior to June 21 live performance (photo courtesy JOP)

Who: Jody Oberfelder Projects, Frank London Ensemble
What: Live site-specific performance
Where: East River Park Amphitheater
When: Monday, June 21, suggested donation $15, 6:30
Why: The continuing effort to save East River Park includes protecting the bandshell-like amphitheater, which has become an important place of creation during the pandemic. On March 15, choreographer Andrea Miller, directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, and New York City Ballet principal dancer Sara Mearns released the five-minute short Another Dance Film, in which Mearns, following a cautious approach, propels herself around the mostly empty amphitheater. Last week, in conjunction with Pride month, choreographer, dancer, and activist Ani Taj of the Dance Cartel posted Sunday,, in which Taj arises in the space and cuts loose, with an infectious joy that is enhanced by Daniel Kluger’s galvanizing electronic score.

In an interview, Taj told me, “The amphitheater definitely has a draw for many different artists and communities. It’s a versatile public space that gets shared and repurposed in meaningful ways. I’ve loved seeing how many different ways people have used that space through the pandemic, especially since outdoor spaces have become so treasured during this time — on the day we were shooting alone, we saw folx doing workouts, having meetings, performing outdoor comedy shows, impromptu dance parties. . . . The architecture of the amphitheater definitely drew us, since it has a certain geometric framing that seems to invite movement and a camera — and of course being by water and open air, in a time of such confinement, was appealing. But I think the main draw was that energetically, it’s a space that can hold many different expressive and social dynamics, gatherings — and that’s what we wanted to make contact with and honor in this project. An open-air theater, as a container for everything that we were missing, felt right.”

On June 21 at 6:30, the Manhattan-based company Jody Oberfelder Projects will activate the space, hosting a public gathering with a live performance and an audience amid the summer solstice. Amphitheater is choreographed by Oberfelder, whose site-specific work includes 4Chambers on Governors Island, The Brain Piece at New York Live Arts, Object Place (for Astor Place), and On the Move Shortly in London’s St. Pancras Station. Amphitheater will be performed by Emily Giovine, Jade Manns, Daniel Morimoto, Maya Orchin, and Mark Willis, with an original score composed by Grammy-winning klezmer-jazz bandleader Frank London, featuring London on trumpet, Javier Diaz on percussion, Brian Drye on trombone, and Marcus Rojas on tuba. The event will begin with a land acknowledgement by Bessie Award-winning multidisciplinary artist and Guggenheim Fellow Emily Johnson of the Yup’ik Nation, who has been at the forefront of the fight to save East River Park, and a poem by poet, author, arts journalist, filmmaker, activist, and Guggenheim Fellow Eileen Myles.

The work “challenges the pending demolition of this fifty-acre park that transformed Lower Manhattan more than eighty years ago through inscribing the space with our movement inspired from human connections,” Oberfelder explains in a press release. “We believe it is time to be happy again and reconnect with our community through our common joie de vivre, our passion for dance.” Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $15.

LITTLE ISLAND

Little Island is an urban oasis that juts out on Pier 55 in Hudson River Park (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

LITTLE ISLAND
Pier 55, Hudson River Park at West Thirteenth St.
Open daily, 6:00 am – 1:00 am
Free timed tickets, noon – midnight
littleisland.org
little island slideshow

While billionaires Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Elon Musk battle it out to see who can rocket to Mars first, New York socialite couple Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg have their feet firmly planted on the Earth. Ten years ago, the Diller-von Fürstenberg Family Foundation contributed $20 million to the construction of the High Line, a converted elevated railway that has become one of the most glorious parks in the world. And in 2015, they cemented their local legacy by donating $113 million to Little Island, a lovely new paradise built on the remnants of a ramshackle pier at West Thirteenth St., in the shadow of the Whitney and just down the street from David Hammons’s Day’s End, a 325-foot-long brushed-steel outline of an abandoned warehouse on Pier 52 where Gordon-Matta Clark carved holes in the walls in 1975, a ghostly homage to what — and who — is no longer there. (The Diller-von Fürstenberg Family Foundation was one of many donors who helped fund Hammons’s permanent installation.)

Concrete tulip pillars welcome visitors to Little Island (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Little Island is a warm and welcoming oasis rising more than 60 feet above the Hudson River, shaped like a large leaf, leading visitors from the land into water. It is bursting with more than 350 species of flowers, trees, and shrubs, a 687-seat amphitheater for live performances known as the Amph, the Play Ground plaza where you can get food and drink (sandwiches, salads, fried stuff, vegan options), and stage and lawn space called the Glade. More than 66,000 bulbs and 114 trees have been planted, taking into account the changing seasons and even the differences in light between morning, afternoon, and night. It all sits upon 132 concrete pillars of varying heights that resemble high heels or slightly warped tulip glasses.

Winding paths lead to fun surprises on Little Island (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

There are several sloping paths that take you through the greenery and up to lifted corners that offer spectacular views of Lower Manhattan and Jersey City across the river. Little Island was designed by Thomas Heatherwick of London-based Heatherwick Studio, with landscape design by Signe Nielsen of the New York City firm MNLA, offering unique surprises and sweet touches as you make your way across the stunning environment, including rusted cylindrical metal posts that evoke the pier’s eroding wooden piles, a small wooden stage, interactive dance chimes and an instrument sculpture (“Instrument for All”) by Alfons van Leggelo, and a pair of black-and-white optical spinners.

Little Island has unique architectural elements around every corner (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

In the middle of the Play Ground, an abstract-shaped floor plaque pronounces, “In this year of 2021 we dedicate Little Island to the people of New York and to visitors from around the world — for their everlasting enjoyment, for gamboling and cavorting, playing and ramping, repose and reflection — and with the hope that it fulfills that ambition with as much joy as it has brought to those that built it.”

The Amph will host free and ticketed live performances all summer long and into the fall (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

That joy continues with free year-round multidisciplinary programming that kicks off this month with such series as “Free Music in the Amph,” “Sunset Sounds,” “Little Library,” “Live! at Lunch,” “Late Night in the Play Ground,” “Weekend Wind Down,” “Savory Talks,” “New Victory LabWorks,” and “Creative Break: Music,” “Creative Break: Visual Art,” and “Creative Break: Dance.” Admission is first-come, first-served; however, entry to Little Island, which is open daily from 6:00 am to 1:00 am, requires advance reservations between noon and midnight. There will also be paid ticketed performances such as “Broadway Our Way” and “An Evening with American Ballet Theatre,” both of which sold out quickly, and free shows that must be reserved in advance, such as “Tina and Friends: BYOB (Bring Your Own Beautiful),” a Pride Month celebration on June 26 at 8:00 with award-winning playwright and director Tina Landau. Landau, tap dancer and choreographer Ayodele Casel, actor, singer, and music director Michael McElroy, and PigPen Theatre Co. are Little Island’s inaugural artists-in-residence; they will be curating and participating in numerous events in the next several months. Below is a list of upcoming ticketed shows.

Saturday, June 26, 8:00
Tina and Friends: BYOB (Bring Your Own Beautiful), with Tina Landau, the Amph, free tickets available June 16 at 2:00

Saturday, July 10, 2:00
Little Orchestra Society’s Things That Go Bang, the Amph, $25-$65

Saturday, July 24, and Sunday, July 25
Little Island Storytelling Festival, with Mahogany L Browne, Sarah Kay, Jon Sands, Shaina Taub, Broken Box Mine, Daniel Nayeri, Phil Kaye and the Westerlies, Michael Thurber, and others, the Amph, some shows require advance tickets available June 22

Friday, September 17, Saturday, September 18, and Sunday, September 19, 8:00
Little Island Dance Festival, with Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, Barkha Patel, Michela Marino Lerman, Tomoe Carr, Danni Gee, Andre Imanishi, and others, the Amph, tickets on sale June 22

BLOOMSDAY ON BROADWAY AT 40

Who: Diana Abu-Jaber, Michael Chabon, Regina Porter, Colm Tóibín, Daphne Gaines, Maggie Hoffman, Vin Knight, April Matthis, Scott Shepherd
What: Fortieth anniversary celebration of “Bloomsday on Broadway”
Where: Symphony Space online
When: Wednesday, June 16, $15, 7:00
Why: Symphony Space’s fortieth annual salute to James Joyce’s Ulysses, “Bloomsday on Broadway,” will take place virtually on the 117th anniversary of the day the novel is set, June 16, 1904. The online presentation begins with a discussion and audience Q&A between Diana Abu-Jaber, Michael Chabon, Regina Porter, and Colm Tóibín about the legacy of the work, followed by performances by Daphne Gaines, Maggie Hoffman, Vin Knight, April Matthis, and Scott Shepherd from experimental immersive theater experts Elevator Repair Service (Gatz, Measure for Measure). As a bonus, there will be a link to clips from last year’s virtual show, which featured a vast array of celebrities reading sections of the tome. Produced in cooperation with Irish Arts Center, the event is directed by John Collins and dedicated to Symphony Space cofounder Isaiah Sheffer, who passed away in 2012 at the age of seventy-six. Last week I bumped into Shepherd on the street and he was excited about what they were planning for this edition of “Bloomsday on Broadway,” which only got me more pumped. You should be too. Tickets are $15, and the recording will be available through June 30.

RED BULL THEATER: VOLPONE, or THE FOX

Who: Red Bull Theater company
What: Livestreamed benefit reading of Ben Jonson’s Volpone, or The Fox
Where: Red Bull Theater website and Facebook Live
When: Monday, June 14, free with RSVP (donations accepted), 7:30 (available on demand through June 18 at 7:00)
Why: In December 2012, Red Bull Theater presented a stellar version of Ben Jonson’s classic 1606 English Renaissance satire, Volpone, or The Fox, at the Lucille Lortel Theater, which I called “a deliriously entertaining streamlined version . . . a frenetic farce fraught with fanciful flourishes.” Red Bull is bringing the play back for a live benefit reading on June 14 at 7:30, starring Grammy, Emmy, and Tony winner André De Shields as the title character and Hamish Linklater as Mosca, with Peter Francis James, Roberta Maxwell, Kristine Nielsen, Mary Testa, Jordan Boatman, Sofia Cheyenne, Franchelle Stewart Dorn, Clifton Duncan, Amy Jo Jackson, and Sam Morales. The reading, which will be available on demand through June 18 at 7:00, is directed by Jesse Berger, who explains, “Human greed and con artists appear to be timeless parts of human nature – damnable in life, but hilarious onstage! We had so much fun with this delicious satire in our 2012 production, and I am excited to share the material again in this new way with a wholly new stellar cast of great comic actors. Plus there’ll be fun new nips, tucks, and comic wrinkles by the brilliant Jeffrey Hatcher and some design surprises and delights from our terrific creative team. Oh – this and all of Red Bull’s online events are performed live. Nothing is prerecorded – And just like with live theater: Anything can happen. With this hilarious cast, I think that’s truer than ever.” The visual design is by John Arnone, with costumes by Rodrigo Muñoz (based on original designs by Clint Ramos), original music and sound by Scott Killian, and props by Faye Armon-Troncoso.

On June 17 at 7:30, Berger, members of the company, and scholar Jean E. Howard will participate in a live Bull Session discussion. “The play opens with the main character, Volpone, making a rapturous speech to his gold. Nearly every other character is also in thrall to this ‘dumb god,’ and to attain more and more wealth these Venetians are ready to prostitute their wives, disinherit their sons and defile their honor. The action of Volpone exposes and satirizes the actions of its avaricious characters, but it does so with dazzling ingenuity. The play is dominated by a magnificent con artist, Volpone, and his tricky servant Mosca. Together they dupe the well-off doctors, lawyers, and merchants of Venice into giving rich gifts to Volpone, who pretends to be near death, in the hope that one of them can become his heir,” Howard notes. “Volpone, more perhaps than any other Jonsonian comedy, takes risks in its concluding scenes, stretching comedy to its limit as the tricksters dangerously overreach themselves and slam up against the harsh strictures of Venetian law.”

BLOOMSDAY REVEL 2021

Who: Terry Donnelly, Fiona Walsh, Una Clancy, Ed Malone, Aidan Redmond, Fiona Walsh, Gina Costigan, Sarah Street, Alan Gogarty
What: In-person and livestreamed Bloomsday celebration
Where: Blooms Tavern, 208 East 58th St., and online
When: Sunday, June 13, $45, 3:00
Why: For nearly one hundred years, people have been celebrating Bloomsday, when James Joyce’s Ulysses takes place, June 16, 1904. Yes, the seven-hundred-plus-page novel about Leopold Bloom and Odysseus, Molly Bloom and Penelope, and Stephen Dedalus and Telemachus is set during one day in Dublin. On Sunday, June 13, at 3:00, Origin Theatre Company is presenting its eighth annual “Bloomsday Revel,” happening both live at Blooms Tavern on East Fifty-Eighth St. as well as online. The socially distanced afternoon features dramatic readings by such New York-based Irish actors as Terry Donnelly, Fiona Walsh, Una Clancy, Ed Malone, Aidan Redmond, Fiona Walsh, Gina Costigan, and Sarah Street, musical interludes from Alan Gogarty, and a juried costume contest. Tickets for the in-person show, cocurated by Paula Nance and Michael Mellamphy, are $45 and include Bloomsday-inspired hors d’oeuvres and an open bar. “Luckily we didn’t miss a year in 2020,” new Origin artistic director Mellamphy said in a statement. “We were fully virtual last year, in a program packed with great performances and heartfelt messages. But this year we are creating an all-new hybrid that celebrates the many ways we share experiences like this unique and important literary holiday. James Joyce after all was all about setting new rules in art. . . . We’re immensely pleased to continue that tradition in 2021.”