this week in literature

INAUGURAL DRAMA BOOK SHOP IN-PERSON SIGNING — IN THE HEIGHTS: FINDING HOME

Who: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Jeremy McCarter
What: Book signing
Where: The Drama Book Shop, 266 West Thirty-Ninth St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
When: Wednesday, July 21, 2:00 (tickets on sale Friday, July 16, 10:00 am)
Why: In 2002, a theater group started rehearsing a new musical in the tiny Arthur Seelen Theatre in the basement of the Drama Book Shop, which was founded in 1917 by the Drama League and was bought by Arthur and Rozanne Seelen in 1958. With the future of the beloved store in jeopardy, it was purchased in January 2019 by two of the primaries involved with that rehearsal, director Thomas Kail and writer Lin-Manuel Miranda, along with producer Jeffrey Seller and theater impresario James L. Nederlander. The production was In the Heights, cowritten by Quiara Alegría Hudes, the Broadway smash that was nominated for thirteen Tonys and won four, including Best Musical. Delayed by the pandemic lockdown, the new store, designed by David Korins, opened June 10 on West Thirty-Ninth St., and it is celebrating with its first in-store book signing, a rather big one.

On July 21 at 2:00, composer-lyricist-star Miranda, librettist Hudes, and theater writer Jeremy McCarter will be signing copies of their new tome, In the Heights: Finding Home (Penguin Random House, June 2021, $40), following up on the virtual launch that took place last month. The book opens with an introduction by McCarter that begins, “The actors took their bows, the crowd finished cheering, and everybody headed for the doors. Spotting a friend, I cut across the lobby. I asked, Did you just see what I just saw? Or words to that effect. It’s been fourteen years, so I can’t remember exactly what I said that night. But I do remember exactly how In the Heights made me feel.” The show was turned into a major motion picture that was released on June 10, in theaters and on HBO Max, to wide acclaim and a casting controversy. Limited tickets for the bookstore event, in which the authors will not sign anything other than the books and no photos with them are allowed, go on sale July 16 at 10:00 am, and they’re likely to go fast, so don’t hesitate if you want to keep sharing that feeling.

LUCKY STAR (0.3)

Pioneers Go East Collective’s Lucky Star (0.3) takes place at Judson Memorial Church July 13-30

LUCKY STAR (0.3)
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South between Thompson & Sullivan Sts.
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, July 13-30, free with RSVP, 8:00
www.judson.org
pioneersgoeast.org

Pioneers Go East Collective honors the history of DIY queer artmaking at such famed New York City venues as La MaMa, Judson Memorial Church, and the Pyramid Club in Lucky Star (0.3), a free multidisciplinary performance installation taking place Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 8:00 at Judson from July 13 to 30. Inspired by Club 57, which was recently highlighted in the documentary Kenny Scharf: When Worlds Collide, the in-person work consists of five episodes featuring dance/performance artists Shaina and Bryan Baira, Bree Breeden, Daniel Diaz, Beth Graczyk, and Joey Kipp and nightlife icon Agosto Machado. Lucky Star (0.3) was written by creative director Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte and production designer Philip Treviño, with choreography by Ori Flomin, film by Jon Burklund and video designer Kathleen Kelley, set design and fabrication by Mark Tambella, and sound by Marielle Iljazoski and Ryan William Downey.

“Lucky Star was born by a desire to make art in a new time,” the collective said in a statement. “We pay homage to creators and legends whose trailblazing work has solidified ways for us to survive as artists reimagining our approach to sharing our work in the age of social media and instant gratification. We term the project a meta-creative journey inviting viewers to engage in an emergent process of collective liberation.” Inspired by Walt Whitman’s poem “Pioneers, O Pioneers!” (“O you youths, Western youths, / So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship, / Plain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost, / Pioneers! O pioneers!”), Pioneers Go East Collective was founded in 2010 to “empower a collective of thought-provoking, adventurous, and proud LGBTQ artists . . . dedicated to Latinx, BIPOC, and immigrant artists and teaching artists and their communities in all five boroughs, [exploring] stories of vulnerability and courage for social change.” Admission to Lucky Star (0.3) is free with advance RSVP.

ANDROMEDA’S SISTERS: AN ARTS & ADVOCACY GALA

Who: The Neo-Political Cowgirls
What: Fifth annual benefit gala
Where: NPC Cowgirls online and Leiber Collection Museum in East Hampton
When: Saturday, June 26, $25 streaming, $125-$250 in person, 5:00
Why: Last summer, the nonprofit organization the Neo-Political Cowgirls hosted the fourth annual “Andromeda’s Sisters” online, two virtual evenings of short performances, workshops, and discussion focused on advocacy, including, most memorably, Catherine Curtin in Joy Behar’s stirring monologue Where Are You At? and Laura Gómez in Dipti Bramhandkar’s Brown Girl’s Guide to Self-Pleasure. This year, “Andromeda’s Sisters: An Arts & Advocacy Gala,” which took place in person in 2019 at Guild Hall, goes hybrid, happening online as well as at the Leiber Collection Museum in East Hampton on June 26 at 5:00.

The 2021 event includes a reading of Kathryn Grant’s one-act play Order My Steps, about a prison inmate reconnecting with her estranged adult daughter, directed by Florencia Lozano and NPC founder Kate Mueth and starring Curtin and Irene Sofia Lucio, followed by a panel discussion on social justice and advocacy with Planned Parenthood Federation of America president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson, New Hour for Women and Children — Long Island founder Serena Ligouri, and novelist and editor Angie Cruz. Founded in 2007, the Neo-Political Cowgirls “are committed to making work for women and about women — to creating a space where women and girls from all walks of life can share their experiences, joys, concerns, and spirits through professional dance.” The gala gets its name from the legend in which Princess Andromeda, captured by Poseidon, is saved by the daughters of the God of the Sea, leading to the idea that sisters should seek to help one another in these difficult times. Access to the livestream is $25; in-person tickets are $125-$250.

HARLEM AIR SHAFT

The collaborative Harlem Air Shaft features art, dance, music, spoken word, and activism

Who: James Brandon Lewis, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Kwami Coleman, Todd Bryant Weeks, Bianca Cosentino, Dolores Sanchez, Emily Tellier, Omari Wiles
What: Experimental multidisciplinary street performance ritual exploring links between jazz and memory in Harlem
Where: 126th & 125th Sts. between Fifth & Madison Aves.
When: Thursday, June 24, free, 5:00
Why: Conceived by new media artist Justin Randolph Thompson, choreographer Stefanie Nelson, and visual artist Bradly Dever Treadaway, Harlem Air Shaft takes place on June 24 at 5:00, a forty-minute live performance that recalls the rent parties of the 1930s and 1940s. Melding jazz and memory through ritual, the improvisatory, immersive piece features dancers Bianca Cosentino, Dolores Sanchez, Emily Tellier, and Omari Wiles, saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, poet Thomas Sayers Ellis, musicologist Kwami Coleman, and jazz union representative Todd Bryant Weeks, paying tribute to the community and local jazz history, including Duke Ellington (whose 1940 composition lends its name to the work), in the neighborhood where Art Kane took his famous “A Great Day in Harlem” photo.

“With Harlem Air Shaft, I continue the work that started with Friskin’ the Whiskers – a performance project I initiated in 2014 which focuses on bringing together people connected to the jazz community to highlight the economic realities in which jazz musicians have to function,” Thompson said in a statement. “Jazz and economy have a long and complicated history where strategies for developing new systems of community support have always been prevalent. The pandemic made evident to all what many of us already knew. To me, the various forms of cultural production as represented by practitioners from different fields in this piece speaks to the constant need for reminding ourselves about art’s inherent social dimension.” Nelson added, “I have a longstanding interest in the fleeting nature of memory, which I have been exploring in numerous projects with my dance ensemble. Justin, who has been my collaborator over the years, gave me an idea of presenting this concept in the context of jazz and the history of this unique neighborhood. We would like for this piece to inspire the memory of Harlem’s resilient past for a more hopeful, community-driven, creative future.” Admission is free, with no RSVP required.

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.