this week in (live)streaming

YOURS TRULY, JOHNNY DOLLAR: THE CLEVER CHEMIST MATTER

Who: Santino Fontana, George Abud, Ali Ewoldt, Ted Koch, Susan Malloy, John-Andrew Morrison, Steven Ratazzi, Jay Russell
What: Keen Company all-star benefit audio drama
Where: Keen Company website
When: Thursday, June 10, pay-what-you-can ($1-$21), 7:00 (available through June 14 at 7:00)
Why: Keen Company concludes its excellent twenty-first season, chock-full of outstanding livestreamed programs, with the audio play Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar: The Clever Chemist Matter, one of 809 episodes starring insurance adjuster Johnny Dollar produced by CBS Radio from February 1942 to September 1962. Originally aired on March 17, 1957, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar: The Clever Chemist Matter, written and directed by Jack Johnstone, involves murder and blinding after an insurance policy is changed. The title character was voiced by Bob Bailey; Dick Powell, Charles Russell, Edmond O’Brien, John Lund, Gerald Mohr, Bob Readick, and Mandel Kramer also played “the man with the action-packed expense account” in this popular series.

Keen’s forty-minute show will feature Tony, Drama Desk, and Obie winner Santino Fontana as Dollar; the supporting cast consists of George Abud, Ali Ewoldt, Ted Koch, Susan Malloy, John-Andrew Morrison, Steven Ratazzi, and Jay Russell. The play is directed by Keen artistic director Jonathan Silverstein, with live foley effects by Nick Abeel, original music by Billy Recce, and audio engineering by Garrett Schultz. “Throughout the past year, we have been revisiting some of the most iconic titles from the Golden Age of Radio through starry benefit broadcasts. For our last fundraising event of the series, we are thrilled to present one of the most successful serial mystery programs, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar,” Silverstein said in a statement. “It’s been an utter pleasure and honor to delve into the fascinating history of radio drama while working alongside some of the best talents in the theater.” Keen’s previous “Hear/Now” audio broadcasts include Kate Cortesi’s Radio Nowhere, James Anthony Tyler’s All We Need Is Us, Pearl Cleage’s Digging in the Dark, Howard Koch’s War of the Worlds, and Lucille Fletcher’s Sorry, Wrong Number. The benefit reading will premiere June 10 at 7:00, followed by a live talkback with members of the cast and crew; the presentation will be available online through June 14 at 7:00.

THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC IN BRYANT PARK

The New York Philharmonic will perform in front of a limited audience in Bryan Park June 9-12 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Who: The New York Philharmonic
What: Four live and livestreamed concerts
Where: Bryant Park Facebook, Instagram, YouTube
When: June 9-12, free, 7:00
Why: The New York Philharmonic is not yet ready to play live to an audience at its David Geffen Hall home at Lincoln Center, but the classical music company is continuing its outdoor pandemic appearances with four concerts in Bryant Park, June 9-12 at 7:00. The free tickets have all been scarfed up, but the shows will be streamed live over Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube so you can enjoy them from your own home. These picnic performances, with twenty-five members of the orchestra, will be conducted by Lina González-Granados in her NYPhil debut and will feature works by Mozart and Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, in addition to a new piece by NYPhil Very Young Composer Ilana Rahim-Braden. Upcoming shows in Bryant Park include New York City Opera on June 18 and July 2, New York Chinese Cultural Center on June 25, Joe’s Pub: Mykal Kilgore on June 26, Carnegie Hall Citywide: Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely on July 9, Spanish Harlem Orchestra on July 16, the Knights on July 23, Adrienne Warren & Friends on July 31, and Greenwich House Music School: Riley Mulherkar and Ella Bric on July 31. Free tickets become available for each show about ten days in advance.

DAVID ZWIRNER: PROGRAM

Kerry James Marshall, detail, Black and part Black Birds in America (Red wing Blackbirds, Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, Scarlet Tanager), 2021 (© Kerry James Marshall)

PROGRAM
David Zwirner Online
Thursday, June 10, free, 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
www.davidzwirner.com

One of the most popular and innovative galleries in New York City, David Zwirner, will be kicking off its new online Program with an all-day global livestream event on June 10, consisting of six talks with thirty-five artists in four cities. The festivities begin at ten o’clock in the morning with a video walkthrough of Zwirner’s global galleries, led by directors and partners. At eleven, award-winning director Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, The Underground Railroad) will discuss Kerry James Marshall’s “Black and part Black Birds in America” series. At one, Pulitzer Prize winner Hilton Als delves into Alice Neel’s figuration. At two-thirty, designers Emily Bode of BODE and Aaron Aujla and Benjamin Bloomstein of Green River Project LLC will explore conceptual art and appropriation. At four, 2020 Hugo Boss Prize recipient Deana Lawson examines the legacy of Diane Arbus. And at six, New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl will talk about the state of the art world today. All interactive conversations will be moderated by writer and curator Helen Molesworth.

“Over the last year we realized the traction and engagement that we could create on our own website, without an art-fair moment attached to it,” Zwirner said in a statement. “Because of this, we are establishing Program, a new event series that culminates the art calendar and brings together the energy and excitement we have seen in June, but on a global scale. It will mimic the in-person dialogue and discovery you would experience at a physical opening or an art fair through global livestreaming sessions. For the inaugural presentation of Program, our artists have created significant new artworks that will be seen for the very first time.”

Program will take viewers inside Zwirner’s galleries in New York, London, Paris, and Hong Kong, highlighting historic and brand-new works by such artists as Josef Albers, Francis Alÿs, Carol Bove, Raoul De Keyser, Stan Douglas, Marlene Dumas, Isa Genzken, Barbara Kruger, Yayoi Kusama, Sherrie Levine, Nate Lowman, Kerry James Marshall, Juan Muñoz, Oscar Murillo, Alice Neel, Chris Ofili, Sigmar Polke, Neo Rauch, Thomas Ruff, Dana Schutz, Wolfgang Tillmans, Luc Tuymans, Franz West, and Lisa Yuskavage; Christopher Williams helped design the stream with Deliverable: Video Asset nos. 1–10. To see the works in person, you can make appointments here; currently on view in New York City are Rose Wylie’s “Which One” and Bove’s “Chimes at Midnight,” with Kusama’s “I Want Your Tears to Flow with the Words I Wrote” opening June 17, followed June 24 with “More Life,” solo exhibits from Mark Morrisroe, Silence=Death, Derek Jarman, and Marlon Riggs in conjunction with the fortieth anniversary of the ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis.

PERFORMANCE MIX FESTIVAL 2021

Lisa Parra and Daniel Pinheiro’s LAND Project kicks off Performance Mix Festival

PERFORMANCE MIX FESTIVAL
122 Community Center courtyard and Movement Research
150 First Ave. at Ninth St.
June 10-13, suggested donation $15 per event
newdancealliance.org

The thirty-fifth annual Performance Mix Festival, hosted by New Dance Alliance at Movement Research at 122 Community Center and the Courtyard at 122CC, will be a hybrid of live and filmed experimental dances with immersive installations and a ritualistic happening in Prospect Park. Running June 10-13, the festival features such creators as Lisa Parra and Daniel Pinheiro, Dana Michel and Tracy Maurice, Johnnie Cruise Mercer/TheREDprojectNYC, Degenerate Art Ensemble, and Anh Vo; tickets are a suggested donation of $15. Sari Nordman’s Tower will be on view all four days, a multimedia installation that explores climate change and the tower of Babel. All COVID-19 safety protocols will be observed; below is the complete schedule.

Thursday, June 10
Lisa Parra and Daniel Pinheiro, LAND Project, live and virtual, with Parra in New York and Pinheiro in Portugal using video-conferencing, 7:00

Anh Vo, non-binary pussy, live, 8:30

Friday, June 11
Andrew Tay, livestreamed performance of queer moments of reflection, transformation, dream, and perversion, 3:00

Dana Michel and Tracy Maurice, Lay them all down (video installation), 7:00

Shared program: Videos and films by Camilo Godoy (lecture-demonstration from What did they actually see?), Jil Guyon (Widow’s End and Coda), Rosy Simas (yödoishëndahgwa’geh [a place for rest]), and Andrew Tay, 8:00

Saturday, June 12
Johnnie Cruise Mercer/TheREDprojectNYC, Baptism (Part I), part of Process memoir 6: thenowlater (HEART), ritualistic happening, Prospect Park, noon

Looking Back: Highlights from the Performance Mix Festival 1986-2020, 7:00

Shared program: Degenerate Art Ensemble (new work performed by director/dancer Haruko Crow Nishimura, composer/musician Joshua Kohl, and video artist Leo Mayberry, with costumes by Wyly Astley) and Johnnie Cruise Mercer/TheREDprojectNYC, Baptism (Part II), 7:30

Sunday, June 13
Christopher “Unpezverde” Núñez,” A Garden in the Shape of Dreams, noon

Shared program: Co-creation Hadley Smith/Johanna S. Meyer, Rachel Thorne Germond Performance Collage (Enigma of an Afternoon), we are: anna, Kimiko, s., Symara, Tara, Taylor, Ogemdi and marion (to love the rise/pt 2), and Yvonne Meier (Phantasiewelt, with music by Zeena Parkins and Ikue Mori), 2:00

Shared program: Alethea Pace (excerpts from Here goes the neighborhood), Leslie Cuyjet, MOLLY&NOLA, and Nami Yamamoto (powerless creature keeps going . . . [working title]), 4:00

CELEBRATING SERGE GAINSBOURG

Jane Birkin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Rebecca Marder will celebrate the life and legacy of Serge Gainsbourg in live FIAF event

Who: Jane Birkin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rebecca Marder, Michael Cooper
What: Virtual talk
Where: FIAF online
When: Thursday, June 10, free with RSVP, 6:30
Why: Thirty years ago this past March, French singer-songwriter, actor, filmmaker, and bon vivant Serge Gainsbourg died of a heart attack at the age of sixty-two, leaving behind a beloved legacy that has only grown since. On June 10 at 6:30, FIAF will host the live online discussion “Celebrating Serge Gainsbourg,” with the engaging model, actress, and singer-songwriter Jane Birkin, his personal and professional partner from 1968 to 1980; their daughter, actress and singer-songwriter Charlotte Gainsbourg; and actress and musician Rebecca Marder, one of six performers in the concert film La Comédie-Française chante Gainsbourg; the event will be moderated by New York Times deputy culture editor Michael Cooper. Admission is free with advance RSVP.

The hourlong film, adapted from Stéphane Varupenne and Sébastien Pouderoux’s Les Serge (Gainsbourg Point Barre), directed by Julien Condemine, and featuring Varupenne, Pouderoux, Marder, Benjamin Lavernhe, Noam Morgensztern, and Yoann Gasiorowski, will be streaming exclusively by FIAF from June 10 to 30; virtual tickets are $15.

THE NEXT FESTIVAL OF EMERGING ARTISTS: 2021 VIRTUAL FESTIVAL

Who: Seth Parker Woods, Gabriela Lena Frank, Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Jessica Meyer, Ashleigh Gordon, Aizuri Quartet, Chi-chi Nwanoku, David Radzynski, Jeff Scott, Trevor New, Lina Gonzalez-Granados, Donna Weng Friedman, Karin Fong, Derek Bermel, choreographer S. Ama Wray, Jonathan Alsberry, Darshan Singh Bhuller, Jamie Benson, Aaron Jay Kernis, Peter Askim, Brian Goldstein, Ross Karre, Elaine Grogan Luttrull
What: Multidisciplinary arts festival
Where: Next Fest online
When: Tuesdays – Thursdays, June 8 – July 1, free with RSVP
Why: Composer, conductor, and bassist Peter Askim founded the Next Festival of Emerging Artists in 2013, “committed to advancing contemporary concert music through performance, audience engagement, and the nurturing of emerging artists with a passion for 21st-century music.” The organization will be holding its 2021 festival online from June 8 to July 1, consisting of panel discussions, performances, keynote addresses, master classes, and more; admission to all events is free with advance RSVP, but tickets are limited. The 2021 edition focuses on “Business & Entrepreneurship” June 8-10, “Social Justice & Activism” June 15-17, “Artistry & Musicality” June 22-24, and “Multidisciplinary Collaboration” June 29 – July 1. Among the highlights are “A Performative Rebirth with Seth Parker Woods” on June 8 at 7:30, “Chi-chi Nwanoku and the Creation of Chineke!” on nJune 15 at noon, “Festival Fellows in Concert” June 24 at 7:30, and the “Festival Finale with the Aizuri Quartet, Aaron Jay Kernis, Trevor New, S. Ama Wray, Derek Bermel, and the 2021 Composer/Choreographer Workshop” July 1 at 7:30.

HERDING CATS

Besties Justine (Sophie Melville) and Michael (Jassa Ahluwalia) experience a little calm before the storm in transcontinental Herding Cats (photo by Danny Kaan)

HERDING CATS
Soho Theatre / Stellar
June 7-21, $19
herdingcatsplay.com
sohotheatre.com

A battle over power and control is at the center of Soho Theatre’s two-continent production of Lucinda Coxon’s potent three-character play, Herding Cats. Originally performed in Bath in 2010, the work has been brought back during the pandemic in a stirring version that was presented live in London to a limited audience May 20–22, streamed around the world, and now made available as a recording June 7–21. The play features Jassa Ahluwalia and Drama Desk nominee Sophie Melville onstage in England, with Greg Germann in Los Angeles, projected on a large screen at the back. But it’s not just a gimmick; it makes sense within the context of the poignant story.

The talky Justine (Melville) and the quieter Michael (Ahluwalia) are friends and roommates, a pair of millennial besties trying to get by in difficult times. She is having #MeToo issues with her boss, while Michael is an online chat host who might be growing a little too close to one of his clients, an American businessman named Saddo (Germann) who prefers he speak to him like a little girl and call him “Daddy.” Hovering over Michael on the large screen, Saddo opines, “Oh, I miss you all the time. I miss you hard. I miss you so I ache all over, sweetheart, and I don’t know what I can do to feel better.” Michael responds, “Do you have the panties?”

Meanwhile, Justine cannot gain the footing she believes she has earned at work. “That’s all I do anyway these days, pander to fucking stupid weird men who can’t get it up on their own, even if it’s metaphorically speaking,” she complains. “Your way at least there’s some dignity to it. It’s out in the fucking open. I should do what you do.” All three characters’ situations threaten to run out of control as they seek different forms of companionship and dependency that might not be the best for any of them.

Michael (Jassa Ahluwalia) and Saddo (Greg Germann) have a unique relationship in Herding Cats (photo by Danny Kaan)

Produced by OHenry Productions and Stellar, Herding Cats is directed by Anthony Banks (The Girl on the Train, Raz), who helmed the original production eleven years ago. Banks makes it feel as if Coxon’s (The Danish Girl, The Shoemaker’s Wife) play was written during the Covid-19 crisis, organically incorporating aspects of social distancing and physical and psychological isolation. Be sure to log on early to watch as the play gets ready to start; you can see a few heads in the seats; it is performed in front of a limited audience, and the wait reminds you of what it is like to be in a theater, the excitement building before the actors take the stage. Also, beaming in Germann from California stresses the distance and disconnectedness that have been palpable since March 2020. Susan Kulkarni designed the costumes (Justine’s are a hoot), with lighting by Howard Hudson, video by Andrzej Goulding, sets by Grace Smart, and sound by Ben and Max Ringham.

Drama Desk nominee Melville (Pops, Iphigenia in Splott) is appealing as Justine, facing impending disaster as she cannot stop tumbling deeper down the rabbit hole. Ahluwalia (Unforgotten, Peaky Blinders) is touching as Michael, who is not as comfortable in his life as he might think he is. And Germann (Grey’s Anatomy, Assassins) is creepy good as Saddo, who is not necessarily the pervert he initially comes off as. This revival is of the moment, dealing with personal and professional ills that have plagued all of us in some way over the last fifteen months. “Dark when I leave in the fucking . . . still dark when I get home,” Justine tells Michael. “In between: herding cats. And there still isn’t time for anything. It’s still fucking mental all day. And then I get back here and I haven’t got time to do even the laundry. I haven’t even got any clean fucking clothes. I’ve run out of knickers completely — it’s like they just vanish.” You’ll know just what she means.