this week in (live)streaming

BROADBEND, ARKANSAS WITH LIVE Q&A

Transport Group will present live Q&A about Broadbend, Arkansas on July 23

Who: Justin Cunningham, Danyel Fulton, Marcia Pendelton, Andre Harrington, Michael Dinwiddie, more
What: Live Q&A
Where: Transport Group online
When: Thursday, July 23, free with RSVP, 7:00 (musical available for streaming through August 16)
Why: New York City-based Transport Group is streaming a filmed version of its fall 2019 world premiere musical Broadbend, Arkansas, through August 16, hosted by Tony winner Chuck Cooper; the show, which deals with racial inequality, caregiving, and police brutality and was nominated for three Antonyo Awards, stars Justin Cunningham and Danyel Fulton and is directed by two-time Obie winner and TG artistic director Jack Cummings III; the libretto is by Ellen Fitzhugh and Harrison David Rivers, with music and additional lyrics by Ted Shen. It’s free to stream, although donations are encouraged to the Black Theatre Network. On July 23 at 7:00, Transport Group will host a live discussion and Q&A with the cast and creative team in addition to Marcia Pendelton of Walk Tall Girl Productions and Black Theatre Network president Andre Harrington, moderated by NYU associate professor Michael Dinwiddie.

CAPE COD THEATRE PROJECT: I, MY RUINATION

i my ruination

Who: Nina Arianda, Paul Giamatti, Pedro Pascal, Corey Stoll, Arian Moayed
What: Benefit reading series
Where: Cape Cod Theatre Project
When: Thursday, July 23, and Saturday, July 25, $50, 7:00
Why: Based in Falmouth, Massachusetts, Cape Cod Theatre Project is presenting a live, virtual benefit reading series, which they kicked off earlier this month with Zora Howard’s Bust, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz; Edith Freni’s The Hystericals, directed by Jessica Holt; and Michele Lowe’s Moses, directed by Daniella Topol. The quartet of newly developed work concludes with Kevin Artigue’s I, My Ruination, directed by Hal Brooks and featuring Tony winner Nina Arianda, Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti, Drama Desk and Golden Globe nominee Corey Stoll, Pedro Pascal, and Tony nominee Arian Moayed. The play is set in 1952 Hollywood as Elia Kazan appears before the House Un-American Activities Committee and discusses his life and career with his wife, Molly, and fellow writer Arthur Miller. Among the other playwrights whose work has been developed by Cape Cod Theatre Project are Sharr White, Anna Ziegler, Will Arbery, Bess Wohl, Lucas Hnath, Hamish Linklater, and Heidi Schreck. The readings will take place July 23 and 25 at 7:00 and will be followed by an interactive talkback; tickets are $50.

SHAKESPEARE IN VEGAS

shakespeare in vegas

Who: Karen Ziemba, Patrick Page, Melissa WolfKlain, Adrienne Kaori Walters, Nican Robinson
What: A New Works from Home online reading
Where: TheatreWorks Silicon Valley online
When: July 23-27, free, 6:00
Why: TheatreWorks Silicon Valley and the Vegas Theatre Company have amassed quite a cast for their online Zoom reading of Shakespeare in Vegas, a new comedy written by Suzanne Bradbeer and directed by Giovanna Sardelli. The story about bringing the Bard to the Las Vegas Strip features Tony winner Karen Ziemba, Tony nominee Patrick Page, Melissa WolfKlain, Adrienne Kaori Walters, and Nican Robinson, performing from wherever they are sheltering in place. Admission is free, but donations are accepted to help support VTC. You can check out the trailer here.

A CONVERSATION WITH DARA BIRNBAUM: SCREENING AND LIVE Q&A

Kiss the Girls: Make Them Cry (still), 1979. Dara Birnbaum (American, born 1946). Color video, sound; 6:50 min. Courtesy of the artist and Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York.

Dara Birnbaum, Kiss the Girls: Make Them Cry, still, color video, sound, 1979 (courtesy of the artist and Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York)

Who: Dara Birnbaum, Alex Kitnick, Asad Raza, Marianna Simnett
What: Special streaming and live conversation with Q&A
Where: Marian Goodman Gallery Zoom
When: Thursday, July 23, free with registration, 2:00
Why: New York native Dara Birnbaum has been making video and installation art since the 1970s, at the cutting edge of the emerging discipline. On July 23, Marian Goodman Gallery will host a screening of the pioneer’s breakthrough five-minute 1978-79 video, Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman, which welcomed visitors to the contemporary galleries at the new MoMA prior to the pandemic lockdown (it was initially displayed in a SoHo storefront), and Kiss the Girls: Make Them Cry, a seven-minute video from 1979 in which Birnbaum uses clips from the popular Hollywood Squares game show to explore coded gestures, pop culture imagery, and gender representation. (The setup for the show is like a modern-day Zoom meeting come to life in three dimensions.) The screening will be followed by a live conversation and audience Q&A with Birnbaum, art historian Alex Kitnick, and artists Asad Raza and Marianna Simnett.

EIGHTH ANNUAL LAKE TAHOE DANCE FESTIVAL

lake tahoe dance festival

Who: Lake Tahoe Dance Collective and special guests
What: Virtual dance festival
Where: Lake Tahoe Dance Collective home page
When: July 22-24, free (suggested donation $25), 9:00 EDT (each performance will be available for twenty-four hours)
Why: One of the glass-half-full results of the pandemic is that we’ve been able to experience live dance, music, theater, art, film, and more online from all over the planet, visiting companies we usually don’t get the chance to see. This week we can travel virtually to one of America’s most ravishing areas for the eighth annual Lake Tahoe Dance Festival. “This year’s festival offers us a format where we can not only continue but enhance our mission with the breadth of works and artists we are fortunate to have as collaborators,” artistic director Christin Hanna said in a statement. “This is a fantastic opportunity to hear about the works from the artists themselves, framed in an evening programmed to weave the works together. When faced with the inability to have a festival, we knew we had a unique opportunity. As piece by piece came together, Constantine [Baecher] and I grew more excited at the ability to weave a bit of dance history and education into the three evenings. For those who have never been to our festival, this year will reach around the world to showcase North Lake Tahoe as a stunning, beautiful backdrop for dance.”

The festival will take place over three days, with the Lake Tahoe Dance Collective presenting American Classical Ballet on July 22, Mid-Century Modern Dance on July 23, and Dance Now: Contemporary Works on July 23; each show will stream live at 9:00 and remain available for viewing for twenty-four hours. The festival will include archival and new works from such choreographers as Agnes de Mille, Jacopo Godani, Martha Graham, Marco Pelle, Paul Taylor, and Antony Tudor, with special guests Daniel Baudendistel, Ashley Bouder, Adrian Danchig-Waring, Kristin Draucker, Daphne Fernberger, Stephen Hanna, Lloyd Knight, and Wendy Whelan. You can get a taste of what to expect by checking out this preview discussion between Hanna and “Conversations on Dance” podcast hosts Michael Sean Breeden and Rebecca King Ferraro. There is a suggested donation of $25, as this is a benefit fundraiser; if you give more than $75, you get a festival T-shirt and commemorative wineglass.

Wednesday, July 22
American Classical Ballet: Agnes de Mille’s The Other with Stephen Hanna and Abi Stafford, Antony Tudor’s Jardin aux Lilas with members of the New York Theatre Ballet, Lauren Lovette’s Red Spotted Purple with Ashley Bouder, and George Balanchine’s Apollo with Adrian Danchig-Waring (filmed specifically for the festival), hosted by Christin Hanna and Constantine Baecher

Thursday, July 23
Mid-Century Modern Dance: Martha Graham’s Moon with Lloyd Knight and Wendy Whelan, Paul Taylor’s Cascade with Kristin Draucker, and Erick Hawkins’s Greek Dreams with Kristina Berger, hosted by Christin Hanna and Kristina Berger

Friday, July 24
Dance Now: Contemporary Works: Marco Pelle’s “T+I” with Stephen Hanna and Traci Finch, Jacopo Godani’s Al di Là with Ulysse Zangs and Daphne Fernberger, and Bryan Arias’s Notice with Arias and Rachel Fallon, hosted by Constantine Baecher and Marco Pelle

JODY SPERLING / TIME LAPSE DANCE: SINGLE USE

Jody Sperling dances on the Upper West Side in plastic bags in Single Use

Who: Jody Sperling, Jennifer Congdon
What: World premiere livestream from Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance
Where: Time Lapse Dance YouTube channel and Zoom
When: Wednesday, July 22, free with RSVP for Zoom talkback, 7:00
Why: Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance has been celebrating its twentieth anniversary season over twenty weeks during the pandemic, with online repertory works and new dances that you can view on its YouTube channel, including Turbulence, Book of Clouds, Wind Rose, and the quarantine dance Plastic Virus. Sperling continues the environmental theme with Single Use, which premieres on July 22 at 7:00. The nine-minute film is choreographed, performed, and edited by Sperling, with cinematography by Angela Hunter, costume by Lauren Gaston, and music by Matthew Burtner. As Single Use begins, Sperling, wearing a mask and gloves, is standing outside the Urban Outfitters store at Broadway and One Hundredth St.; signs in the window announce that March 20 was its last day in business. Sperling then drapes herself in plastic bags from numerous retail stores and dances around the neighborhood, embracing poles and hopping atop barriers, the swishing of the plastic bags in the wind accompanying her, along with the natural sounds of a nearly empty city. She looks like a homeless person or some lost plastic creature, seeking solace somewhere while taking risks and lamenting what we’ve done to the world.

The livestream will be followed by a Zoom talkback with Sperling and Jennifer Congdon, the development director of Beyond Plastics, a Bennington College-based organization whose “mission is to end plastic pollution by being a catalyst for change at every level of our society. We use our deep policy and advocacy expertise to build a well-informed, effective movement seeking to achieve the institutional, economic, and societal changes needed to save our planet, and ourselves, from the plastic pollution crisis.” Single Use will have you thinking not only about recycling but about how we can rejuvenate and revitalize New York City and the country in these challenging times. Time Lapse Dance’s twentieth anniversary continues July 29 with the online release of another new short film, along with a live chat, July 30 with an ecokinetics workshop, and August 6 with the online premiere of Ice Cycle, followed by a conversation with Sperling and Burtner.

VIRTUAL BOOK LAUNCH EVENT: RAPHAEL MONTAÑEZ ORTIZ

El Museo del Barrio will celebrate the publication of Raphael Montañez Ortiz’s first monograph on July 22

Who: Javier Rivero Ramos, Chon Noriega, Kevin Hatch, Ana Perry, Marcos Dimas, Pedro Reyes, Juan Sanchez
What: Virtual book launch of Raphael Montañez Ortiz monograph with conversation and live Q&A
Where: El Museo en Tu Casa Zoom
When: Wednesday, July 22, free with RSVP, 7:00
Why: In 1969, Brooklyn-born artist and educator Raphael Montañez Ortiz founded and became the first director of El Museo del Barrio. “The cultural disenfranchisement I experience as a Puerto Rican has prompted me to seek a practical alternative to the orthodox museum, which fails to meet my needs for an authentic ethnic experience. To afford me and others the opportunity to establish living connections with my own culture, I founded El Museo del Barrio,” he said. In 2014, El Museo honored Ortiz with the exhibition “Museum Starter Kit: Open with Care”; on July 22, they’ll pay tribute to the eighty-six-year-old Nuyorican multidisciplinary deconstructionist with a virtual launch party for his first monograph, featuring a live conversation on Zoom, followed by a Q&A; among the participants are monograph editor Javier Rivero Ramos, contributors Chon Noriega, Kevin Hatch, and Ana Perry, and artists Marcos Dimas, Pedro Reyes, and Juan Sanchez.

“One of the most radical creators and pioneers of his generation, Raphael Montañez Ortiz offers El Museo del Barrio an opportunity to push the boundaries of identities, showcase moments of harmony and tension in our lived history as a museum, and challenge and expand limited visual art narratives. Entropy speaks about the need for transformation, about the irreversible changes that are generated within complex systems. This spirit is evidenced in El Museo del Barrio today and for years to come,” El Museo executive director Patrick Charpenel said in a statement. Ramos added, “For far too long, canonical art history devoted to American art of the second half of the twentieth century neglected one of its most innovative artists. Premised on the Eurocentric myth of the homo faber, it failed to comprehend the trailblazing character of Raphael Montañez Ortiz and his lifelong endeavor to harness the human condition’s primal energies. At once a painter, performance artist, sculptor, filmmaker, teacher, community organizer, and writer, the work of Raphael Montañez Ortiz defies disciplinary categorization. This publication offers for the first time a panoramic view of a prolific career spanning more than six decades.”