Unorthodox cocreator and writer Anna Winger will discuss the show at JCC Q&A
Who:Anna Winger What: Live Q&A with cocreator of Unorthodox series Where:Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan When: Monday, June 8, free with RSVP, noon Why: One of the runaway television hits of the pandemic has been Netflix’s Unorthodox, about a young married Orthodox woman in Brooklyn who runs away to Berlin to escape the suffocating life she is trapped in. The four-part series has led to the breakout success of Israeli actress Shira Haas, who has a smaller but critically significant role in the earlier Israeli series Shtisel, which also involves Orthodox marriage. Unorthodox was inspired by Deborah Feldman’s memoir Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots; while the Brooklyn segments of the show are based on the book, the Berlin sections are fictional. One of the writers and creators of the show, Anna Winger, who also wrote and created Deutschland 83 and Deutschland 86, was scheduled to do a live Q&A on May 28 as part of the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan’s Paul Feig z”l Tikkun Leil Shavuot, but the event was postponed because of the protests over the police killing of George Floyd. The free discussion is now taking place June 8 at noon. Judging by Winger’s Twitter feed, she will have a lot to say not only about Unorthodox but about what is happening in America today.
NYCB principal dancer Sara Mearns performs moving and heartfelt Storm for WPA Virtual Commissions series (photo by Joshua Bergasse)
Who:Sara Mearns What: World premiere of WPA virtual commission Where:Works & Process at the GuggenheimYouTube,Facebook,Instagram When: Sunday, June 7, free (donations accepted), 7:30 Why: Since May 1984, Works & Process has been presented at the Guggenheim primarily in the Peter B. Lewis Theater, where arts creators offer advance looks at upcoming productions and discuss their methodology, followed by a reception. With the pandemic lockdown, the popular program has moved online with Works & Process Artists (WPA) Virtual Commissions, in which dancers, choreographers, musicians, storytellers, and others make original pieces of no more than five minutes, from wherever they are sheltering in place. Streaming live on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram every Sunday and Monday night at 7:30, the videos are later archived for subsequent viewing, including Brandon Stirling Baker’s Oh, Light, Gus Solomons Jr.’s Fac(e)tude, and Dance Heginbotham’s 24 Caprices. The standout presentation thus far has been Jamar Roberts’s blistering, electrifying Cooped, five harrowing minutes of longtime Ailey dancer Roberts moving and shuddering in dark, confined spaces. Shot by Roberts with a haunting, grainy quality and set to a screeching score by David Watson on bagpipes and Tony Buck on drums, Cooped is a dramatic statement not only on isolation but on the black body, which at times here seems to float, trapped in the ether, glistening with sweat, desperate to break free.
On June 7, WPA will premiere Storm, a beautiful, heartbreaking complement to Cooped. Filmed and choreographed by Emmy winner Joshua Bergasse (SMASH,Sweet Charity) and performed by his wife, NYCB principal dancer Sara Mearns (Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes, Rodgers and Hart’s I Married an Angel for Encores!), the black-and-white piece takes place in their Lincoln Square apartment, where Mearns, wearing a black one-piece leotard, a loose-fitting white button-down shirt, and sneakers, glides across their relatively spacious living room while, on the soundtrack, Margo Seibert (The Thanksgiving Play,Octet) sings pianist Zoe Sarnak’s poignant ballad “The Storm Will Pass Soon Now.” At one point Mearns, who has been featured in works by Christopher Wheeldon, Kyle Abraham, Warren Carlyle, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, and Benjamin Millepied in addition to Robbins, Balanchine, and others for NYCB, grasps her neck with both hands, seeking emotional comfort while echoing a canvas on the wall of a ballet dancer happily hugging a glorious swan. She jumps, twists, falls to the ground, sits on a couch with her two dogs, Ozzie and Rocky, and walks over to the large window, resting her hands on the frame as she gazes out with longing and Seibert sings, “Look out for hope and you’ll find some, you’ll see / Maybe it’s not where you thought it would be.” Whereas Roberts is cramped and restricted, his body never seen clearly in total, Mearns is caught in a more open, brighter space, which appears even larger when it is reflected in a television monitor that also shows the balcony, an escape to the outside world that is closed off to her. Sensitively edited by Lee Cherry, Storm concludes with a dramatic statement of its own, quieter and more hopeful but still aching. Together, the two works, made before the murder of George Floyd and the resulting protests, capture the zeitgeist of a nation at war with itself yet determined to move forward.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti proves to be a man of many hats in refreshing documentary
FERLINGHETTI: A REBIRTH OF WONDER (Christopher Felver, 2009) / HUM BOM! (Christopher Felver, 1999)
Howl!
Friday, June 5, free, 7:00
Festival continues through June 6 www.howlarts.org ferlinghettifilm.com
“Poetry should be dissident, and subversive, and an agent for change,” poet, publisher, painter, activist, and military veteran Lawrence Ferlinghetti says in Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder, a refreshing and revealing documentary about the author of A Coney Island of the Mind and owner of the famous City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco. The film is streaming online for free on June 5 at 7:00 as part of Howl!’s Allen Ginsberg Film Festival, which continues through June 6. Director Christopher Felver, who has previously made documentaries on John Cage, Tony Cragg, Donald Judd, and Cecil Taylor, has compiled ten years of interviews with Ferlinghetti, including trips to Italy, where the poet’s father was born; France, where the aunt who raised him was from; and his childhood home in New York.
Among those sharing their opinions of the charming and friendly Ferlinghetti, who turned 101 in March, are fellow poets Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, Anne Waldman, and Billy Collins as well as such other artistic figures as David Amram, Dave Eggers, Dennis Hopper, and Jean-Jacques Lebel, all of whom have only the most positive things to say about the film’s subject. Despite his radicalism and calls for social and political change around the world, Ferlinghetti is nearly always wearing a smile, clearly enjoying the long life he’s leading. He discusses his friendships with Kenneth Rexroth, Shakespeare & Co. founder George Whitman, and the Beats, primarily Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, focusing at one point on the censorship trial involving his publication of Ginsberg’s Howl, which turned into a critical battle over First Amendment rights. Counterculture guru Ferlinghetti is shown performing in a studio with Amram, accepting an award from the city of San Francisco, discussing his family, working on his abstract paintings, and wearing silly hats. He is completely at ease with who he is and where he came from, as well as where he’s going, still fighting the power as valiantly as ever, not just relaxing on his many laurels. Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder is also likely to make viewers think twice about their own lives, realizing there’s a great big world out there, and it is possible for each and every person to make a difference, especially during these challenging times.
A Rebirth of Wonder will be shown along with Felver’s 1999 short, Hum Bom!, featuring Ginsberg and Amram, as well as video of the 2018 Howl Gallery party. The celebration concludes June 6 at 7:00 with Colin Still’s 1997 doc No More to Say and Nothing to Weep For: An Elegy for Allen Ginsberg, Felver’s video for Sonic Youth’s “Making the Nature Scene,” and video of the 2019 Howl Gallery party.
Who: “Captain” Kirk Douglas, Kool & the Gang, Gary Clark Jr., Robert Randolph, Ray Chew, Michael McDonald, Lil Buck & Jon Boogz, Keb Mo, Celisse Henderson, Infinity’s Song, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Warren Haynes, Celisse Henderson, Ziggy Marley, Vernon Reid, DJ Reborn, DJ D-NICE, Dionne Warwick, Doug E. Fresh, Roy Wood Jr. and the 125th St. neighborhood What: Virtual benefit concert to support the historic Apollo Theater Where:The Apollo Theater website and Facebook page When: Thursday, June 4, free with advance RSVP (donations accepted), 7:30 Why: The virtual Apollo Theater gala benefit was supposed to take place June 2, but it was delayed because of Blackout Tuesday, the music industry’s response to the government’s mishandling of the George Floyd protests and police brutality. Opened in 1934 on West 125th St. as a place where black musicians could play to black audiences, the Apollo is a landmark in African American history. In moving the date of the gala, the institution explained, “The Apollo Theater stands with #TheShowMustBePaused. In observance of Blackout Tuesday and in solidarity with our artists, neighbors, and the global community, our benefit — Let’s Stay (IN) Together — has been rescheduled from June 2 to June 4.” On Thursday night, the virtual celebration will have even more to say about the state of race in America; among the performers are “Captain” Kirk Douglas of the Roots, Kool & the Gang, Gary Clark Jr., Robert Randolph, Ray Chew, Michael McDonald, Lil Buck & Jon Boogz, Keb Mo, Celisse Henderson, Infinity’s Song, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Warren Haynes, Celisse Henderson, Ziggy Marley, Vernon Reid, DJ Reborn, and DJ D-NICE, along with appearances by Dionne Warwick, Doug E. Fresh, and Roy Wood Jr. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted, with proceeds going not only to the theater but to local merchants and small businesses. And as the Apollo states on its website, “Love Black People Like You Love Their Culture.”
Who:Tori Amos,Jeff Gordinier What: Online book launch Where:92nd St. Y online When: Thursday, June 4, $10, 5:00 Why: On the back cover of her new book, Resistance: A Songwriter’s Story of Hope, Change, and Courage (Atria, May 2020, $26), North Carolina Music Hall of Famer Tori Amos writes, “What follows in this book is my journey to engage, examine, and then reassess the artist’s role in society and, by doing so, to create a way forward for us as we commit to resist those dark forces that would wish to subjugate us instead of lifting us up and giving a voice to be the best in us. . . Join me on the path of resistance — of the art that will set us free.” Resistance has come to mean a whole lot more during this pandemic and the George Floyd protests, so it should be fascinating to hear Amos, an activist whose albums include Little Earthquakes, Under the Pink, Boys for Pele, and Native Invader, talk about that with Esquire’s Jeff Gordinier on June 4 at 5:00, bringing together the personal and the political as part of the continuing 92nd St. Y at Home programming. Registration is ten dollars, with proceeds going to 92nd St. Y’s Help Now campaign.
Who: Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson, Jason Reynolds, Gene Luen Yang, Jerry Craft, Raul the Third, Renée Watson, Christopher Myers, K. A. Holt, more What: Children’s book community call to action Where:Facebook Live and Zoom When: Thursday, June 4, free, 7:00 Why: In another part of my life, I work for a major children’s book publisher. During the pandemic, many parents, teachers, and children have turned to books more than ever, not just reading them at home but watching authors, celebrities, and others read stories online. The industry has also been a strong leader in the diversity movement, and on June 4 at 7:00, members of the kids’ book community will gather for a virtual call to action and rally for black lives. Hosted online by the Brown Bookshelf, which “is designed to push awareness of the myriad Black voices writing for young readers,” the #KidLit Rally for Black Lives is organized by Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson, and Jason Reynolds, who will be joined by Gene Luen Yang, Jerry Craft, Raul the Third, Renée Watson, Christopher Myers, K. A. Holt, and others. At 7:00, there will be a live discussion with young people, followed at 7:45 by a talk with parents, educators, and librarians. As the Brown Bookshelf explains, “People around the nation are hurting. This is a time to come together and stand up. Our kids need us, and we are here for them.”
Who: Admiral Grey, Bizzy Barefoot, Brandt Adams, Irene Hsi, James (Face) Yu, Julienne Marié, Karen Grenke, Mark Lindberg, Robin Kurtz, Stacia French What: Virtual reimagining of 2011 interactive performance at Brookfield Place Where:Arts Brookfield website When: Live each Wednesday in June, replayed Sundays in June, free, noon – 6:00 Why: In May 2011, the Nerve Tank presented the three-day performance installation The Attendants at the World Financial Center Winter Garden, an interactive work in which the audience could text barefoot actors in dark suits, gloves, and sunglasses moving inside and around a large transparent plexiglass cube; you can see clips from the show, in which the actors respond to the texts with only their body, here. The New York City-based Nerve Tank is teaming up again with Arts Brookfield for The Attendants 2020, which will take place in the small rectangular box of the internet instead of a large cube in a spacious, lovely atrium, a different kind of confinement. Part of the #BFPLatHome program, The Attendants 2020 will be performed live every Wednesday in June (June 3, 10, 17, 24) from noon to 6:00 and will be replayed every Sunday (June 7, 14, 21, 28) at the same time. Chance Muehleck conceived the piece and wrote the lyrics; the director and choreographer is Melanie S. Armer, while Stephan Moore composed the score and designed the sound. The prerecorded voices are Annie Dorsen and Jonathan Vandenberg; the cast features original Attendants Karen Grenke, Bizzy Barefoot, Stacia French, James (Face) Yu, Robin Kurtz, Mark Lindberg, and Irene Hsi in addition to Admiral Grey, Brandt Adams, and Julienne Marié, responding from wherever they are sheltering in place, prepared to address current issues that have the whole world on edge.
“Poetry should be dissident, and subversive, and an agent for change,” poet, publisher, painter, activist, and military veteran Lawrence Ferlinghetti says in Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder, a refreshing and revealing documentary about the author of A Coney Island of the Mind and owner of the famous 
