| Arbons Arts Center Presents JAZZ SINGER by Joshua William Gelb andNehemiah Luckett, Sept 24 - Oct 12 | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 05:14 pm EDT 08/29/19 | |
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| ABRONS ARTS CENTER PRESENTS WORLD PREMIERE OF JAZZ SINGER BY JOSHUA WILLIAM GELB AND NEHEMIAH LUCKETT, SEPTEMBER 24 – OCTOBER 12 Jazz Infused Theatrical Exhumation of The Jazz Singer Looks at American Racial Identity Today, Immigrant Stories, and Transformation of Lower East Side Abrons Arts Center Presents jazz singer Directed by Joshua William Gelb Composed and Music Directed by Nehemiah Luckett Previews: September 24, 25 at 8pm Press Previews: September 26, 27, 28 at 8pm Opening: Sunday, September 29 at 2pm Regular: October 2–5, 9–12 at 8pm; October 6 at 2pm Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand Street, Manhattan) $25; abronsartscenter.org; 212-352-3101 Abrons Arts Center is proud to present the world premiere of jazz singer, a theatrical exhumation of the first feature-length “sound film” The Jazz Singer, reinterpreted by director and performer Joshua William Gelb and composer and performer Nehemiah Luckett. Set on the Lower East Side, the 1927 film tells the story of a “jazz crooner” forced to choose between his immigrant Jewish heritage and his aspirations of becoming a Broadway star. Though the film is historically significant for its integration of synchronized sound, it is most remembered for its controversial use of blackface. Gelb and Luckett’s musical rendering offers a contemporary take on this distinctly American story, one that interrogates appropriation, assimilation, atonement, and whether escape from the specter of blackface is possible. jazz singer runs September 24–October 12 at Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand Street, Manhattan) with an opening set for September 29. Contemplating the surprising absence of Jazz in the original film, Luckett has composed an original score for piano, saxophone, electronics, and vocals that pries open this problematic cultural artifact. In a full embrace of the key tenets of Jazz, a different guest improviser, curated by rising star trumpeter Alphonso Horne, will join the performance each night. Additional performers include Cristina Pitter and Stanley Mathabane. In this act of reevaluation, Gelb, a Jewish American, and Luckett, a Black American, use their respective cultural heritages to build a complex inquiry into the performance of American racial identity today. Together, they probed The Jazz Singer to reveal what it says about contemporary America and, in particular, the Lower East Side’s transformation from a Jewish ghetto to a hyper-gentrified neighborhood. In so many ways, The Jazz Singer is a classic immigrant coming of age story set in New York,” says co-creators Gelb and Luckett. “It asks, ‘What does it mean to be an American? How do you reconcile your dreams with the expectations of your family?’ Though notoriously known for its use of blackface, so many other issues – race, religion, family, the struggle of immigrants – live in the shadows of the film. We’re fascinated that this nearly 100-year-old film has entered our cultural consciousness, yet most of us have never seen it. By bringing Jazz back into The Jazz Singer, we’re hopeful the film and its many themes can be relevant to a 21st Century audience.” The creative team includes You-Shin Chen (scenic consultant), Marika Kent (lighting design), Lianne Arnold (projections and video design), Kate Marvin & Stanley Mathabane (sound design), Rodrigo Muñoz (costume design), Zhailon Levingston (dramaturg), Johnny Lloyd (assistant director), Sean McGrath (technical director) Lindsey Hurley (stage manager), Ellen Mischinski (assistant stage manager), and Frank Nicholas Poon (producer). Fifteen performances of jazz singer will take place September 24–October 15 at Abrons Arts Center, located at 466 Grant Street in Manhattan. Critics are welcome as of Thursday, September 26, for an opening on Sunday, September 29. Tickets, priced at $25, can be purchased by visiting abronsartscenter.org or by calling 212-352-3101. About the Artists Joshua William Gelb (performer / director) is a director, performer, and librettist based in the Lower East Side. In residence at Abrons Arts Center, Gelb conceived and directed the 150th-anniversary reimagining of America’s supposed first musical, The Black Crook, about which he lectured at Harvard's Houghton Library. Other productions have been seen at Prelude, Ars Nova, Edinburgh Fringe, The New Ohio, Incubator Arts, Joe’s Pub, Polyphone Festival, and Target Margin. With Sinking Ship Productions he co-created/directed the Drama Desk Nominated A Hunger Artist, which continues to tour internationally. Gelb is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and an associate artist with Sinking Ship. As a performer, Gelb has appeared with Little Lord, Theater Reconstruction Ensemble, Haruna Lee, Woodshed Collective, TeleViolet, and Catherine Galasso. www.joshuawilliamgelb.com Originally from Jackson, Mississippi, Nehemiah Luckett (performer / composer / music director) has been performing, composing and conducting for over 30 years. From an early age, he connected his deep love of music to the transformative power of building community through breathing and singing with family and friends. He has been a featured soloist at the National Cathedral, Carnegie Hall and has performed all over the US and Europe. He has composed solo, choral and instrumental pieces. He has had productions of two full-length musicals: Hamlet: Prince of Funk (1999) with collaborators Owen Beverly (Evans) and Matthew Smith and Brick by Brick (2006), based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe with collaborator, Ross Wade. Currently, Nehemiah has two musicals in development—Triple Threats with Tracey Lee, A Burning Church with Zhailon Levingston and Alex Hare. Nehemiah is the Music Director and Composer for Rev. Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir (http://revbilly.com). Nehemiah has deep gratitude for Power APAC (Academic and Performing Arts Complex) in Jackson, Mississippi where he studied music and theater and for his family that allowed him to dream crazy dreams. Alphonso Horne (guest artist curator) is one of the most sought-after musicians today. Known for his high level of musicianship, Horne has performed with some of the leading musicians in jazz including, Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center, PBS Special: Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett, and playing on Grammy Nominated albums (Jamison, 2015; My Favorite Things, 2015). Horne leads an active career as a sideman. Some of his credits include the Tony Award-winning Broadway production After Midnight, the Tony Award Nominated Shuffle Along, touring with Allen Stone, performing with the Count Basie Orchestra, touring with Rhiannon Giddens, and recently with Rihanna at the Video Music Award show in 2017. Horne also was the producer for Nancy Harrow’s album “The Song is All”. As a leader, he is the bandleader of an early jazz band: Gotham Kings and is producing his original show “Mother Kofi: The Tale of An African Princess”. Alphonso can also be seen on CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and in the jazz biopic, “BOLDEN”. Alphonso holds a BM from Florida State University (2010) and a MM in Jazz Studies from The Juilliard School (2013). Lianne Arnold (projections and video design) is a video & scenic designer and inter-disciplinary artist working in theater, opera, music, dance, film & art installation. Recent performance design includes The Hello Girls (59E59), Oscar at the Crown (3 Dollar Bill), Lil Buck & Jon Boogz’ Love Heals All Wounds (CAP UCLA), Words on the Street (Baruch - also co-creator), 45 Minutes from Coontown (York Theater), Joseph Keckler’s Let Me Die (Opera Philadelphia/FringeArts) and Joseph Keckler’s Train With No Midnight (Prototype Festival). She has exhibited video art and installations in galleries in New York and New Jersey with her collaborator Leslie Kerby. Live Design Magazine "Young Designer to Watch"; proud member of Wingspace Design Collective and USA829; MFA from CalArts. www.liannearnold.com You-Shin Chen (Scenic Consultant) is a New York-based Scenic Designer for performing arts from Taiwan. As a theater practitioner, she is committed to diversity and humanity. Recent theater credits include: Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie (Ars Nova); Rock-A-Bye (BalletX, Wilma Theater); Eclipsed (Berlind Theatre, inclusion for PQ 19’); UGLY ( the feath3r theory & Bushwick Starr);We Were Everywhere (Lewis Center for the Arts); Messiah (LaMama, Stonewall 50) ; Emperor’s Nightingale, Acquittal (Pan Asian Rep); Plural (Love) (Soho Rep. Director/Writer Lab) Men on Boats, We are Proud to Present..., (Yale Dramatic Association); Memory Retrograde (Harunalee x ArsNova Maker’s lab, UTR incoming!); The Hollower (New Light Theater Project) She is the recipient of the 2019 Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award at The Lilly Awards. youshinchen.com Marika Kent (lighting design) is a New York City-based designer of new and classic plays, musical theater, opera, dance, experimental theater, puppetry, and site-specific performance. Recent & Upcoming Credits: Reconstruction (The TEAM), No Child; Memphis; Peter and the Starcatcher (Cape Fear Regional Theater), 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (ACT of CT), Ajijaak on Turtle Island (IBEX Puppetry, The New Victory), Roan @ The Gates (Luna Stage), Chimpanzee (HERE Arts), Perp; Abigail's Party (The Barrow Group), Generation NYZ; Alaxsxa/Alaska; Beyond Sacred (Ping Chong + Co), Skinnamarink or The Peanut Butter Show; Now is the Time... (Little Lord), How To Hamlet; You on the Moors Now (Theater Reconstruction Ensemble), Cheryomushki; Albert Herring; The Snow Maiden (Manhattan School of Music Opera) She; No Words; Rhapsody in K (Ariel Rivka Dance). Proud member of Wingspace Theatrical Design. www.marikakent.com Zhailon Levingston (dramaturg) is a writer, director, performing artist, and activist. He co-founded #WORDSONWHITE, an arts and activism campaign and is an artist in resident for Columbia Law School. He recently directed Neptune at Dixon Place and the Brooklyn Museum, The Years That Went Wrong by David Zheng at The Lark and MCC. Other credits include The Exonerated at Columbia Law School and Chariot Part 2 at SoHo Rep for The Movement Theatre Company. He is the Associate Director Primer for a Failed Super Power with Tony Award winner Rachel Chavkin and Runaways at The Public with Sam Pinkleton. He was Associate Director for the Genesis plays at the 14th Street Y! Most recently he directed Mother of Pearl at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center and Chicken and Biscuits at Queens Theatre. Johnny Lloyd (Assistant Director) is a New York-based playwright, producer, and administrator. Johnny is the Producing Director of InVersion Theatre and co-creator of the WE READ BOOKS short-play series at The Tank. Johnny's work as a playwright, producer, administrator, and artist has been seen at The Public Theater, La MaMa, En Garde Arts, Corkscrew Theater Festival, Judson Memorial Church, 59E59, The Drama League, Dixon Place, and more. Johnny is a member of the 2019-2020 Liberation Theatre Company’s Writing Residency. Johnny was a semi-finalist for the 2018 Open-Application Commission at Clubbed Thumb and the 2017-2018 Shubert Fellow for Playwriting at Columbia University. MFA Candidate in Playwriting: Columbia University. jglloyd.weebly.com. Kate Marvin (sound design) Recent designs include Wives (Playwrights Horizons), Chimpanzee (HERE Arts Center), Happy Days (Mark Taper Forum), Fruiting Bodies (Ma-Yi Theater Company), Riddle of the Trilobites (Flint Repertory Theatre), The Magician’s Daughter (Geva Theatre Center), Sweat (Asolo Repertory Theatre), Men on Boats (American Conservatory Theatre), A Doll’s House, Part 2 (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Indecent (Guthrie Theater), Babette’s Feast (Portland Stage Company), Crossing Delancey (Alliance Theatre), Grounded (Westport Country Playhouse), [Porto] (Women’s Project Theater), Wilder Gone (Clubbed Thumb), Fidelio (Heartbeat Opera), More Wonder Please (Target Margin Lab), Twelfth Night and Romeo & Juliet (Trinity Shakespeare Festival). Kate is an Associate Artist with Target Margin Theater and Little Lord. MFA: Yale School of Drama. www.katemarvinsound.com. Stanley Mathabane (musician / sound design) is a sound designer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist based in Brooklyn, NY. Trained in both musical composition and sound design, Stanley utilizes texture and tone to enhance the sensation of cross-modal experience. A former student of Tony Award-winning Sound Designer, Rob Kaplowitz, and Broadway Actor, Mark Nelson, Stanley’s experience encompasses a breadth of performance and design. As both an actor and sound designer in the New York City downtown theater scene, his cutting edge approach to creating seeks to make use of established technique while continually striving to expand and innovate. Stanley’s previous Sound Design work includes Regional Theater Productions of August Strindberg’s A Dream Play, Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero, Singin’ in the Rain, and Alison Gregory’s Not Medea!. An incessant creative force, Mathabane also performs and records "indie" rock compositions in the Manhattan and Brooklyn music scenes under the moniker “SunSon”. Sean McGrath (Technical Director) is a Multi-faceted Theater Technician, Writer, and Producer. Current projects include The Wild Parrots of Campbell (Producer, December 2019), Eureka Day (Colt Coeur, Production Manager), Martin Moran’s All The Rage (The Barrow Group, Production Manager), The Way She Spoke (Audible Theater, Sound Engineer). He is the Co-Artistic of The NOW Collective (www.nowcollective.org). Ellen Mischinski (assistant stage manager) is a freelance stage manager and associate producer with Poetic Theater Productions. Recent stage management credits include Feeling Good (Poetic Theater Productions / Musical Theatre Factory), Measure for Measure (Red Caravan), Severance (Read As Written/The Tank), TINA (Poetic Theater Productions/Tiny Big Worlds), and The Dream Project (Yonder Window Theatre Company). With Poetic Theater Productions, Ellen has been on the producing and/or curatorial team of over 20 plays, showcase productions, readings, and development workshops. Rodrigo Muñoz (Costume Designer) is a New York-based Costume Designer originally from Mexico City. Graduated from The National School of Theatre and Arts (Mexico) BA degree in Theatre Set Design, He recently earned an MFA in Costume Design from NYU/Tisch School of the Arts. Recent credits include: Hamlet (Dir. Mark Wing Davey) and Animal Farm (Dir. Scott Illingworth.) México credits include Madero o la Invocación de los Justos (Dir. Mauricio Jiménez) La Belleza (Dir. David Olguín) and Escurrimiento y Anticoagulantes (Dir. Daniel Constantinni). www.rodrigomunozdesign.com. Cristina Pitter (Performer) is a queer afro-latina fat babe nomad artist, sex educator, and founder of The Ashe Collective, an ancestral storytelling and community outreach group. She also has the best laugh ever. SERIOUSLY. You might have seen her work at The Metropolitan Opera, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Mabou Mines, 59E59, Ars Nova, Classic Stage, New Ohio Theatre, Vital Joint, Joe’s Pub, The PIT, The Tank, The Flea Theater, JACK, Dixon Place, or three separate but specific bathtubs. BFA Acting Brooklyn College. Feel free to follow her antics at cristinapitter.com Frank Nicholas Poon (Producer) is a New York-based, American–Asian Producer, Performer, and Writer in both realms of film and theatre with nationally–featured work. He has proudly worked with Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, National Asian Artist Project, En Garde Arts, International WOW Company, Columbia University, Scandinavian American Theater Company, Target Margin Theater, Astoria Performing Arts Center, and more. He is the Creator and Managing Producer of Token Collective: advocating for diversity on all platforms. @franknpoon About Abrons Arts Center Abrons Arts Center is the OBIE award-winning home for contemporary interdisciplinary arts in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood. A core program of the Henry Street Settlement, Abrons believes that access to the arts is essential to a free and healthy society. Through performances, presentations, exhibitions, education programs and residencies, Abrons mobilizes communities with the transformative power of art. The arts have always been an integral part of Henry Street’s mission. Their vitality was cemented in 1915 with the opening of The Neighborhood Playhouse and again, in 1975, with the completion and dedication of Abrons Arts Center, one of the first arts facilities in the nation designed for a predominantly low-income population. Today, the OBIE award-winning institution is an essential cultural resource, providing diverse audiences with artistically bold work while offering artists opportunities to dynamically grow. Each year, Abrons premieres over 20 performances, six gallery exhibitions, hosts multiple residencies for performing and studio artists, and offers 100 different classes in dance, music, theater, and visual art. Abrons also provides New York City public schools with teaching artists, introducing more than 3,000 students to the arts. Visit abronsartscenter.org for more information. Funding Credits jazz singer was created in residence at Abrons Arts Center, with the support of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Art NY and sponsor Ben Feldman. It has been created through several developmental showings including Little Theater (feat. Joshua William Gelb, Nehemiah Luckett, and Moe Yousuf) and Prelude 2018 (feat. Gelb, Luckett, Tracey Conyer Lee, and Nathan Stevens). jazz singer is commissioned by Abrons Arts Center with generous grants from the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the Harkness Foundation for Dance, the Jerome Foundation, the Jerome Robbins Foundation, the Scherman Foundation, and other generous Henry Street Settlement funders. This program is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. This season was also made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. |
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