Emelin Theatre Blog2010-09-09T09:05:43ZEmelinCopyright 2010, EmelinSPHPBLOGFlorencia Lozano's Thoughts on Her Upcoming Appearance at the EmelinA Visit From The Goon Squad. When I first read this story, I heard Florencia's voice and I knew she would bring the necessary passion, complexity, and humor to the story. And when we brought the wonderful director, Lisa Rothe, on board, she couldn't have agreed more. What follows is Florencia's response to the story, and then an excerpt from the opening of "Found Objects." Thanks so much for reading, and we look forward to seeing you at the Emelin on June 10th.
-- Anna Becker, Producer, The Insights & Revelations Performance Series I'm changing I'm changing I’m changing: I've changed. Redemption, transformation—God how she wanted these things. Every day, every minute. Didn't everyone?
These words hit me hard as I read them and consider my own therapy appointment just hours from now. How I can relate to the desire to feel, to know, to believe that I am moving forward: away from old, destructive, painful, twisted ways of being towards love, towards freedom, towards connection, towards enlightenment, towards LOVE. Doesn't everyone?
The narrator, Sasha, mentions her father in this story--and not wanting to "go there"--in thinking about him, in considering with her therapist: the implications of her own relationship to her father and how that primary relationship impacts her relationship to other men, and to herself. This resonated deeply with me and I suspect that much of what lies behind Sasha's "toughness" is connected to her vulnerability when it comes to her now deceased Dad.
I also so related to Sasha's description of her NYC apartment--a place she had considered a way station for a time, until--perhaps without her noticing it--it had become a place in which she felt both stuck and lucky to be in. I recently moved out of my rent stabilized one bedroom railroad apt in the east 20s, which I had been in for many years and which I now affectionately think of as my "beloved shithole".
I have known Lisa Rothe for many years and was kinda blown away with her as an actress when we were both in the graduate acting program at NYU together. She was one of those women whom I met and I thought: I wanna be strong like her. Confident like her. Beautiful and unapologetic like her.
Malcolm Gets substitute taught for my singing teacher once at NYU, and taught me more in that one class then I learned during two years of singing classes with my regular teacher. I was terrified to sing and I remember being down on the floor, with Malcolm next to me, smiling reassuringly, playfully--encouraging me to tell a story with my song.
I am so tickled to be working and playing and telling these particular stories in their company....
-- Florencia Lozano
Found Objects
It began the usual way, in the bathroom of the Lassimo Hotel. Sasha was adjusting her yellow eyeshadow in the mirror when she noticed a bag on the floor beside the sink that must have belonged to the woman whose peeing she could faintly hear through the vault-like door of a toilet stall. Inside the rim of the bag, barely visible, was a wallet made of pale-green leather. It was easy for Sasha to recognize, looking back, that the peeing woman's blind trust had provoked her: I live in a city where people will steal the hair off your head if you give them half a chance, but you leave your stuff lying in plain sight and expect it to be waiting for you when you come back? It made her want to teach the woman a lesson. But that wish only partly camouflaged the deeper feeling that Sasha always had: that fat, tender wallet, offering itself to her hand. It seemed so dull, so life-as-usual to just leave it there rather than seize the moment, accept the challenge, take the leap, fly the coop, throw caution to the wind, live dangerously ("I get it," Coz, her therapist, said)...]]>http://www.emelin.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry100524-0744222010-05-24T00:00:00Z2010-05-24T00:00:00ZI Guess You're Just What I Needed...Under the Milkyway (and yes, I did download this after seeing the Lincoln commercial). But this is besides the point. What I really want to talk about (and the inspiration for the title of this entry) is the new ArtsWestchester website.
When I first started working at the Emelin, I had very little experience with Westchester county. One of the first things I did was to search the internet for a place to find things to do in the arts. I wanted to get a feel for the arts as a whole in the community. What I found was...nothing. Sure, I located a bunch of individual sites for arts orgs and a few media outlets that had listings, but there was nothing comprehensive. Those listing sites that did exist were hard to navigate, lacking in content and not very user-friendly.
This morning I attended a press conference for the launch of ArtsWestchester's brand new website. This site really accomplishes something great. Users can register an account and set their arts preferences, which then filters through the site to give them custom recommendations. So not only does the site have an incredibly powerful calendar (which users can search in a variety of ways), but it remembers you and helps guide you to things that are more suited to your interests.
From an organizational stand-point, the website does something really special for the Emelin. One issue arts organizations are always grappling with is how to reach NEW audiences. Having a great website helps, but really, the bulk of the people looking at your site are people who already know about you. We love our website, emelin.org. It does what we want it to do, looks nice, has rich content to compliment our events and information, is easy to navigate and we get very positive feedback from users. (And I'm not just saying that because I designed the site and maintain it ;) ). But the new ArtsWestchester site has the potential to really give us great exposure to arts lovers who may not know about us. By having a "one stop shop" for the arts, all Westchester arts organizations are going to start seeing some new faces walking through their doors.
There is a whole lot more the site does and I really encourage everyone to check it out and set up an account (it's quick and painless, I swear). Over the next few months you will start to see a whole lot more stuff going up on that site and it's set up in such a way that new content, media and events will be constantly flowing in, so you'll probably want to add it to your bookmarks in your browser!
The new ArtsWestchester.org: not only "What I Needed" but what all of Westchester needed.
-Adrien Goulet Marketing & Creative Director Emelin Theatre]]>http://www.emelin.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry100412-1100132010-04-12T00:00:00Z2010-04-12T00:00:00ZGot the Blues All Around Me! Just for you, we have prepared a little video/photo montage featuring Guy's incredible live performance of Limetown.
Click here to check out more photos from the show!]]>http://www.emelin.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry100329-1240452010-03-29T00:00:00Z2010-03-29T00:00:00ZBronx Kiss: A Note From the DirectorBronx Kiss "a day in the life of NYC". A 24 hour cityscape. From morn-to-midnight. The triumphs and travails of the concrete jungle. Seven works with a wide range of humanity, as diverse as the city itself.
Sex, violence, guilt, retribution, fantasy, religion, redemption, hate, and above all, Love.
Comprehensible, incomprehensible Love. Everything at once as incomplete as these sentences. And then, suddenly, as in the nature of the City, everything explodes into mad rhythms.
And though it is NYC, it is also anywhere and everywhere. Even right here, right now, as your read.
-Benard Cummings Director Bronx Kiss: A Celebration of John Patrick Shanley
For tickets and more info on Bronx Kiss, click here.
]]>http://www.emelin.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry100128-0828192010-01-28T00:00:00Z2010-01-28T00:00:00ZDancing at Home!
On Jan 23rd, I will have the pleasure of returning to Mamaroneck, where I went to High School, to perform with my company Misnomer Dance Theater at the Emelin Theater. Having toured in 11 countries, at 250 theaters, it's exciting to return to past memories, and friends whom I haven't seen for quite some time.
Mamaroneck High School is where I discovered dance, in the PACE performing arts program. At the time, I didn't realize that it would become my life. I remember fondly seeing shows at the Emelin at that time, just ten minutes from school.
The dances that I will be sharing on the 23rd are a cross-section of the years of my work, including pieces developed as far back as 1998 to a new piece developed during these past few months.
I look forward to sharing the art with new faces and hopefully to seeing some old friends. If you want to linger after the performance to say hello, I'd be delighted.
Chris Elam Artistic Director Misnomer Dance Theater
]]>http://www.emelin.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry100119-0713352010-01-19T00:00:00Z2010-01-19T00:00:00Z'Tis the Season In this season of giving and giving thanks, all of us at the Emelin are enormously grateful for the support of our friends, donors, and volunteers. Your donations make it possible for us to program a huge spectrum of music, dance, family events, theater, and film, contributing excitement and perspective as only the arts can. Through your gifts, the world of performance is available right in our own backyard, with world-renowned artists and films.
At this time of giving, as many of us choose to contribute to non-profit organizations before the end of the calendar/tax year, our Emelin end of 2009 campaign is now in full swing.
Won't you please consider making a contribution by December 31? All gifts are extremely helpful to the Emelin and are also very meaningful to institutional funders who appreciate the breadth of our support.
We hope that you will include the Emelin in your 2009 holiday time giving plans.
Your contribution by December 31 will be tax-deductible in 2009 to the extent permitted by law. Click here to make a donation or send your check payable to the Emelin Theatre, PO Box 736, Mamaroneck, NY 10543.
Thank you in advance for helping us. Best wishes and happy holidays from everyone here at the Emelin Theatre. ]]>http://www.emelin.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry091207-1434242009-12-07T00:00:00Z2009-12-07T00:00:00ZA Bit About Adam JamesAdam James: A Toast to Ol' Blue Eyes, this Saturday night at the Emelin.
Adam's thoughts on Sinatra: "Frank Sinatra has been very good to me. He was my singing teacher. Listening to his recordings were almost all I needed to become a jazz singer. His phrasing, diction, style and love of a lyric have influenced me greatly as a musician just as he has influenced virtually every singer. Frank Sinatra was the greatest popular singer of the 20th Century. His music continues to define the 21st century and his personal life is legendary and filled with epic stories and myths. In my show "A Toast To Ol' Blue Eyes" at the Emelin on Saturday, I will explore Sinatra's music and life and his influence on my music and life. Expect to be entertained by myself and some of the best musicians in the world. We'll be performing hit songs and standards, pop tunes and even a couple originals. Having just finished the run of Sammy last week at The Old Globe Theater in San Diego where I was playing the role of Sinatra for three months, I'm very excited to perform my own show for you. Come Fly With Me and I'll see you Saturday..." -Adam
Here's a closer look at the artist, his career, new album and more.
Since his success with the Montreal group, Panache, and their three CD releases in the 90's, Adam has traveled the world while beginning work on his first solo recording, due to be released soon. "I wasn't waiting, I was listening, writing and re-writing," says Adam, referring to the gap of eight years between recordings. "I lived and experienced more of the world, and I have distilled it into a lot of songs." The new CD contains six originals works and seven covers, providing a nice balance between Adam's experience as a writer and as an accomplished interpreter of the writers he admires. "I am a singer and songwriter but not in the classic folk/pop style that is usually associated with that title. My influences are Cole Porter and Irving Berlin fused with Sting, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, and James Taylor. I was raised listening to my parents' folk and pop music, but in high school, I discovered my grandfather's collection of jazz. Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra's records shaped my singing style and gave me a love for the standards. When I started college in Montreal, I became a crooner and made three CDs with Panache while playing in jazz clubs and concerts all over the place. We opened for Ray Charles at the Montreal Jazz Festival which was a great career endorsement."
Adam's early success with Panache prepared him for his lifelong dream of living and performing in New York. On September 1, 2001, he moved to Manhattan where his talents quickly spread internationally. "Moving to New York made me a better writer and a more complete artist. I became more interested in the world outside my own window, and I wanted to pursue a deeper understanding of other cultures. I traveled to Brazil and recorded some of my original material with musicians in Rio. I jammed with players in Havana and discovered that language is unnecessary to communicate. Your music can speak for you."
When not traveling, Adam’s skills as an on-stage performer earned him star roles in two off-Broadway shows and numerous jazz club appearances. Through these varied experiences, his approach to music gradually began to change. "New York made me an entertainer, not just a musician. I realized that my contribution was going to be writing music by day in my teeny-tiny apartment and then performing for very savvy audiences at night. New Yorkers have seen and heard it all, so I learned from watching the best performers in the Broadway, cabaret and concert business in very intimate venues. I often saw the glitz and glamour of the business stripped down to the honest and bare art form. I learned that the great performers take the great risks. In New York, you have to face risks to be noticed."
Overtime, Adam developed a successful Pops show that has toured North America, performing with Symphony Orchestras and Big Bands as diverse as The Freese Brothers Orchestra in Concord, New Hampshire to top tier orchestras like The Detroit Symphony. "There is nothing like singing with all those strings and the power of a symphony behind you - such energy." As his touring would take him from his home in New York for long stretches of time, Adam decided to switch his home base back to Toronto, after a five-year absence from Canada.
Adam’s focus changed in 2004 at the arrival of Dave Pierce. Often referred by the media as "Canada's next David Foster," Dave recruited Adam to co-write original songs for The Calgary Stampede's Grandstand Show AKA, "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth." Adam was also tapped to sing, dance, act, and lead the cast of 300 performers in the 10-night extravaganza. "Writing with Dave became a perfect fit. I would start an idea for a lyric, and we would bend the melody around while he harmonized and recorded the song on the computer. The process was much more efficient than I had been used to when working by myself."
It was with Dave that Adam began to formulate his first solo CD. "When we started writing songs for the CD, we both brought different and varying styles to the project - ballads, funk, soul, big band swingers. We decided to just write songs that worked for me, regardless of sticking to one musical style. We wanted to see what we ended up with when it was time to put the CD together as opposed to confining it to the pop/jazz style only. The CD also includes some Motown inspired sounds and a bossa nova; these were the styles of music around which I had grown up. This new album recording essentially sums up my singing history."
The album's opening song, "Someone Like You" captures in its first line a glimpse of Adam’s lifestyle for the last five years: "Ain't got a key on my ring." "I've been traveling so much that I realized I didn’t actually carry keys anymore to any specific lock. They were always hotel key cards or I would stay with friends and family. It was at times kind of liberating, and at times accompanied by a feeling of homelessness– but in a good way. I also like the double meaning of 'Someone Like You.' It describes someone I am searching for while also communicating that I am just as you are."
A second song on Adam's new CD release, "Fly Away," was written while Adam was traveling on the road for a few months between recordings. His favorite song lyrically, Adam wrote it in reflection on the little endearing things that initially draw one person to another, and the freedom that must be shared between the two to truly be in love. "I wanted to show that a loving relationship is a two-sided conversation. In it, no one person is dominate over the other. "Fly Away" proposes the simple and yet complex goal of having freedom in a relationship. The line, 'This cage has no bars, just my arms to hold you, this cage has no lock no key' represents a boundary in a relationship that is up for discussion or subject to interpretation. It signifies an individual's freedom in the relationship to be his or her own unique person."
When asked how Adam gets the inspiration for his songs, he describes that most are inspired by his daily conversations, and interpretations of his surroundings, namely his observance of relationships and how people communicate. "The key to writing a song is keeping it simple for the audience to understand and feel. This can be a challenge when attempting to communicate a complex issue or subject," Adam explains. Being a drummer, Adam also hears music through rhythms and writes his songs and melodies based on the rhythm of words. "I will use classic devices like forms and rhyming schemes, but I am always looking to make interesting sounds or invented words."
In the midst of Adam's day-to-day, he is often seen writing a line or two on post-it notes, mini notebooks, or even through audio recording on his cell phone. "Thousands of ideas will be turned into a few thousand songs of which a few hundred will be finished, and only the best will be recorded by myself and sometimes by other artists."
When on stage in front of an audience, Adam has learned that being comfortable with himself as a performer is key to having an audience feel comfortable enough with him to entertain them. "When I sing to an audience, we are having a conversation, both energetic and emotional. I respond to the energy coming from a crowd, share in it, then give the energy right back. This requires more than just musical talent, but an emotional vulnerability from both the performer and the listener. Here the performance becomes a conversation, and the audience’s response can be overwhelming. It's a great feeling," says Adam.
With the world at Adam's fingertips at the new release of his latest CD, Adam's goal is to continue to share his original music with audiences everywhere through live performances and recordings. He defines success not merely in his role as a performer, but in the positive recognition of peers and colleagues through their appreciation of his songs.]]>http://www.emelin.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry091116-1252412009-11-16T00:00:00Z2009-11-16T00:00:00ZWilliam Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, and...<i>Andy Christie?</i>Measure for Measure from the page to the stage, Andy Christie's The Liar Show, and an experimental play based on Tennessee Williams' Camino Real: Where on earth is the artistic vision here? What the heck do these three presentations have in common?"
And the answer is nothing...and everything.
The Insights & Revelations Performance Series explores the creative process of all kinds of works for the stage - in all stages of development - while introducing you to the creative lifeblood of the American theatre, New York City's off-Broadway theatres. These hidden gems create the lion's share of the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning work that lands on Broadway and in major regional houses throughout the country. Previous Series presentations have included sneak peeks of I Got Sick Then I Got Better (currently playing an extended run at New York Theatre Workshop), Port Authority (The Atlantic Theater's critically-acclaimed production with Brian d'Arcy James and John Gallagher, Jr.), Inside Shakespeare With Michael Cumpsty ( in advance of his star turn in Classic Stage Company's Richard III), Symphony Space's Thalia Follies with the inimitable Isaiah Sheffer, Marriage & Other Odd Occurrences with John Shea and Dennis Boutsikaris, and Life In A Marital Institution before its critically-acclaimed, extended run off-Broadway...and more. And now we invite you to join us on this adventure of discovering everything performance can be...and what it takes to make it so.
So when you come to The Liar Show on November 19th, you will see four of New York's most accomplished storytellers (think Spalding Gray, not The Three Little Pigs) telling artfully crafted personal stories (and one craftily told story that you will have to smoke out!), and on December 3rd, you will see a sneak preview of one of New York's most esteemed experimental companies in an ensemble-created play based upon the famous collaboration between Tennessee Williams and Elia Kazan on the Broadway production of Camino Real (while Kazan was under investigation by HUAC). After each performance, we'll have chance to talk with the artists about their creative process and then mingle with them in the lobby for a dessert reception.
Perhaps the Series' tag line says it all: "world-class artists...up close and personal." We want you to feel like you're in your living room witnessing the next great thing, and conversing with some of the most inventive and important artists of our time.
And it's worth mentioning how much we love our new 'living room,' The Emelin Theatre! After four successful, award-winning years in Pleasantville, we are delighted to be a part of such an exciting season and honored to be associated with The Emelin Theatre.
So Shakespeare, Williams, and Christie...yes. I invite you to come on these theatrical adventures with us, get an inside look at the making of great performances, mingle with the artists, and enjoy some tasty desserts too. Looking forward to seeing you at the theatre!
Anna Becker
Producer, The Insights & Revelations Performance Series
P.S. The Series has a blog too! Visit www.TheDeepEndProductions.org for detailed show information, artist interviews, recommendations for shows to see in the city, and more.]]>http://www.emelin.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry091109-0711492009-11-09T00:00:00Z2009-11-09T00:00:00ZA Closer Look at The RivalryThe Rivalry, a riveting drama about the momentous Lincoln-Douglas debates. Recently playing off-Broadway to packed houses, we are just beginning a Fall tour. Audiences love this play; the critics wrote superb reviews of the run in New York City; and we are excited to bring it to Westchester audiences.
Vincent Dowling, founding producer and director, decided to revive The Rivalry last fall. Vincent Dowling is a Lifetime Associate Director of the Abbey Theatre Dublin and an Emmy award-winning producer. His passionate belief is that every American needs to see this play as soon as possible. He has said that "...from the moment I laid the play down, I knew I had to do it. I had to do everything in my power to give everyone who understand English and who cares about democracy, from age 12 to 112, a chance to see it." The themes in the play resonate deeply today: human rights, integrity, passionate conviction, the idea that politics matters.
Here is insight into how the actors' see their roles.
For Christian Kauffmann, playing Lincoln in The Rivalry is the role of his career. He feels that The Rivalry resonates today because of the enduring questions it asks: Is it right or wrong to trample on the rights of others? As a people, do we have a right to do this? Christian hopes this play continues to have life for a long time. He feels that it is a great opportunity, an important piece of writing and a meaningful contribution to American thought.
What the critics have to say about Christian Kauffmann's performance: "So why not just stay home and read the transcripts?" asks Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal in his recent review of this production. "Because, among other things, you'll be depriving yourself of the chance to see Mr. Kauffmann impersonate Lincoln...Unlike the secular saint portrayed by Henry Fonda in John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Kauffmann's Lincoln is recognizably human, and even when he's flinging great shafts of rhetoric across the platform he still seems like a small-town lawyer who has been ennobled by fate." Diana Barth of the Epoch Times simply says in her review: "In fact, the Lincoln of Christian Kauffmann is spellbinding. His resemblance to the late president is uncanny, while his presentation of what we know of Lincoln appears to be dead-on accurate."
Peter Cormican plays the role of Stephen A. Douglas. He says that over the course of the last twenty years he has played quite a number of roles large and small - nevertheless, so far in his career, he says no role has been more satisfying than playing Douglas. To Peter, what made Douglas so outstanding was his mastery of the English language, his vast ability to learn from a young age, a gift for oratory, and a keen sense of human understanding, his racism and race baiting notwithstanding.
As she prepared for her role in The Rivalry as Adele Douglas, Mary Linda Rapelye was greatly impressed by Adele's wisdom at such a young age. Mary Linda has continued to research the history of Rose Adele Cutts Douglas in order to speak her experiences in as truthful and heartfelt a manner as possible. About the play Mary Linda says that The Rivalry reminds us of the values on which our country was founded and that those values still need perfecting. She points out that Norman Corwin, the playwright, has intricately woven all of the salient points of the debates into a find dramatic piece. To tie these points together, he uses the wonderful narration of Adele who witnessed the debates first hand.
By Nancy J. Phillips Co-Producer The Rivalry The Vincent Dowling Theatre Company October 27, 2009 Larchmont, NY
More information and reference material:
Guelzo, Allen G. (2008). Lincoln and Douglas - The Debate That Defined America. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Reviews: The New York Times Wall Street Journal New York Post ]]>http://www.emelin.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry091030-1035042009-10-30T00:00:00Z2009-10-30T00:00:00ZThe Hills are Alive with the Sound of Dancing!The Sound of Music? I do. My grandmother had the soundtrack on vinyl, and I used to put it on the turntable in the big old stereo cabinet and dance around her living room to "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" and "My Favorite Things." Then when I finally saw the movie and glimpsed Julie Andrews – who, I was sure, was really Mary Poppins – I fell hopelessly in love with the whole idea of it.
I don't know if that's what Doug Elkins was thinking when he created the superlatively wonderful Fräulein Maria, but it couldn't have been far off. Elkins is at turns reverent and irreverent in this incredible dance send-up of the original soundtrack, complete with Julie Andrews' belting out "The Sound of Music." The day I saw Elkins' show at Joe's Pub, the athletic and beautiful cast was called out for three curtain calls, the entire multi-generational audience cheering and clapping and smiling. You don't have to know anything about dance to love the vibrant, good-natured energy of Fraulein Maria, and perhaps you'll even remember the first time that you fell in love with the Von Trapp family.
"Mr. Elkins’s ceaselessly brilliant and often hilarious take on The Sound of Music is a fount of unending movement ideas and about as much visceral pleasure as it’s possible to have in a theater." -The New York Times
"Fräulein Maria lovingly deconstructs The Sound of Music through dance. It transcends parody to become a giddy, wondrous celebration." -Heather J. Violanti, nytheatre.com ]]>http://www.emelin.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry091027-0751112009-10-27T00:00:00Z2009-10-27T00:00:00Z
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