| Bryant Park Picnics Announces 2018 Summer Season: FREE Events Including Shakespeare & New York City Opera, | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 06:22 pm EDT 04/04/18 | |
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| Bryant Park Picnics Announces 2018 Summer Season Bryant Park Hosts FREE Music, Theater and Dance Bryant Park Corporation proudly announces the schedule for its newly-renamed summer performing arts series Bryant Park Picnics. With new presenting partners, major artists, live theater and weekly picnics on the Lawn, 2018 promises to be Bryant Park's most expansive and exciting season yet. This season, Bryant Park Picnics hosts events with some of New York's most renowned music, theater, and dance institutions. Carnegie Hall Citywide offers five free outdoor concerts with extraordinary classical, blues, Latin, gospel, and world music artists. 2018 also marks the five-year anniversary of The Drilling Company's Shakespeare at Bryant Park, as well as the third year of collaboration with New York City Opera. For the first time, Bryant Park hosts a massive, free outdoor ballet master class in partnership with American Ballet Theatre. The Bryant Park Picnics season begins with The Folio Is Female: Great Women of Shakespeare (April 23), an exploration of women's roles in Shakespeare's canon produced by The Drilling Company. The season concludes with members of New York City Opera performing highlights from The Barber of Seville (September 17). In between, the park hosts dozens of free evening events, including the debut of the park's partnership with Carnegie Hall Citywide presenting Brave Combo (July 18), Sinkane (August 8), The Campbell Brothers at Carnegie Hall Citywide Night (August 10), and more; a free outdoor ballet master class in partnership with American Ballet Theatre (June 15); the international Accordion Festival (September 14) featuring Italian superstars Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, New York's own Shilpa Ray, Bukharan Jewish music and dance from Shashmaqam, and all-female Mexican Norteña Rimel; full-length productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, and Macbeth from The Drilling Company; more live performances from New York City Opera including selections from Carmen (May 14), Madama Butterfly (June 13) and the never-before-seen sneak preview of City Opera's season opener The Crucible (August 28); the two-day, ten-artist Emerging Music Festival (August 17 and 18); and, Contemporary Dance performances, weekly picnics and even more surprises to be announced. Outside of Bryant Park Picnics, Bryant Park will also host a weekly Dance Party series featuring celebrations of swing, tango, bhangra, and salsa music. All Bryant Park Picnics events are free to the public with no dress code, no tickets, and no lines. At each show, Bryant Park lends out over 200 free blankets for audience members to spread out and relax while enjoying the performance. Hester Street Fair brings an exciting array of local food vendors including Brooklyn Oyster Company, Bonsai Kakigori, Sweet Face Snowballs and more to be announced. Beer and wine is available for purchase, and entertainment abounds with jugglers, supersized games, and much more. "Bryant Park Picnics is one of the most accessible and inviting ways to experience this city's incredible performing arts," said Dan Fishman, Public Events Manager at Bryant Park Corporation. "Grab a blanket and try something new: listen to opera for the first time, learn a ballet move, or watch Macbeth. It's completely free, and there is nothing like watching a world-class performance from the comfort of a picnic." The current schedule of programming follows. Please visit BryantPark.org for up-to-the-minute lineup updates and show additions. Bryant Park Picnics 2018 Performance Details Shakespeare For the 5th consecutive summer, The Drilling Company returns with a trio of beloved Shakespeare plays as well as a special Shakespeare birthday event. The Drilling Company, led by director/producer Hamilton Clancy, returns for their fifth summer season at Bryant Park. Best known for their Shakespeare in the Parking Lot performance series (now entering its 24th season), The Drilling Company brings three of The Bard's best-known plays to the park this summer: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, and Macbeth. The series kicks off with a special performance on Shakespeare's birthday, The Folio Is Female: Great Women of Shakespeare (April 23). Clancy explains, "We're trying a simple experiment in Bryant Park: pairing a great comedy, a great tragedy and an annual return of one of the greatest in the canon, Twelfth Night. We thought an annual Twelfth Night in Bryant Park, in the middle of the summer, could become something New Yorkers and visitors look forward to. We chose A Midsummer Night's Dream for its accents of comedy and love and Macbeth for its political overtones. "In the last five years with Bryant Park, we've grown to be the second largest producer of free Shakespeare in the city. We're obviously inspired by Joseph Papp, the predecessor of free Shakespeare in Manhattan. But Bryant Park offers something different than the Delacorte. There are no tickets and no lines. With an expansive Lawn and thousands of chairs, we can welcome all who come. It's a tremendous privilege. And each production is set against the buzz of the park and the backdrop of the city." The Folio Is Female: Great Women of Shakespeare Monday, April 23, 6:00pm - 8:00pm Fountain Stage A special birth (and death) day party for William Shakespeare that celebrates the dynamic female leads of Shakespeare's plays. Audiences can expect to see climactic moments from both Shakespearean comedies and dramas at this special event, including excerpts from Othello, Cymbeline, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice and The Taming of the Shrew. The Folio is Female director Jane Bradley says, "In this cultural moment of Pantsuit Nation, #MeToo and real-life heroes like Emma Gonzales, it has become abundantly clear that the future is female ... and so is the Folio. Shakespeare's plays contain some of theater's greatest female leaders, icons and trailblazers, characters we're still coming to terms with centuries later." Since Shakespeare's death as well as his birth are traditionally noted as April 23, the evening will feature a New Orleans Second Line funeral processional to spirit the Bard into Bryant Park, played by guest artists, the Jambalaya Brass Band, and accompanied by the entire cast. Midsummer Night's Dream May 18 - June 2 (Fridays and Saturdays), 7:00pm - 9:00pm Upper Terrace A familiar sight ---- a romantic Bryant Park wedding ---- develops into a modern-day twist on Shakespeare's classic comedy, full of madcap revelry and literary fantasy. A Midsummer Night's Dream's cast will be led by director Drew Valins, assisted by Karla Hendrick, and will feature Drew Valins, Mary Linehan, Brad Frost, Kathleen Simmonds, Eddie Shields, Serena Miller, Emmanuel Elpenord, David Marantz, Jarrod Bates, Una Clancy, and design by Jennifer Varbalow. Twelfth Night July 27 and July 28 (Friday and Saturday), 7:00pm - 9:00pm July 29 (Sunday), 3:00pm - 5:00pm Bryant Park Stage Twins Sebastian and Viola stumble upon the flamboyant, technicolor world of Illyria, visually inspired by the surreal wonderlands of The Wizard of Oz, Yellow Submarine and the works of Doctor Seuss --an exuberant live-action cartoon. Twelfth Night, directed by Jane Bradley, returns with last year's cast mostly intact, led by Natalie Smith, Kathleen Simmonds, Lukas Raphael, Rachel A. Collins, Andrew Gombas, Emmanuel Elpenord, Jack Sochet, and Haley Simmonds. Susan Edkins returns as designer. Macbeth August 24 - September 8 (Fridays and Saturdays), 7:00pm - 9:00pm Upper Terrace A Gangs of New York-styled Macbeth, set in the mid-1800s when early settlers fought for turf in the infamous Five Points area. Macbeth will be led by Alessandro Colla, with Brad Frost in the leading role; the remainder of the cast will be announced soon. New York City Opera Extraordinary performances produced by New York City Opera, including Carmen, Madama Butterfly, The Crucible, and Barber of Seville. Carmen Monday, May 14, 6:00pm - 7:00pm Upper Terrace Passions flare in this hour-long adaptation of one of the world's most beloved operas. Madama Butterfly Wednesday, June 13, 6:00pm - 7:00pm Upper Terrace Puccini composed some of his greatest music for this tragic story of an abandoned geisha bride. The Crucible Tuesday, August 28, 6:00pm - 7:00pm Upper Terrace City Opera presents a preview of its season-opening production of this American classic. Barber of Seville Monday, September 17, 6:00pm - 7:00pm Upper Terrace Rossini's sparkling music animates the hijinks of Figaro, opera's most famous barber. |
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