“We live in a strong community but need continued financial support from those beyond our walls to rebuild our city. We are so thankful for Herb Graham and all the Texas Thunder organizers for what they are doing. It is just the beginning of a long journey to raise the funds needed,” says West, TX Mayor Tommy Muska.

In West, Texas, 14 people were killed, with more missing and injured. The cause of the explosion that took place at a fertilizer plant is still under investigation, but a story is beginning to emerge of a company that cut corners and failed to file accurate reports, and government agencies who were clueless on what was taking place.

DIRECT DONATIONS to WEST TX:
www.texasthunderfest.com or 877-569-7767

“There was major damage from the blast to our schools, homes and businesses. Sixty percent of the loss was insured, 40 percent was not. Many people were injured, with other immeasurable losses. We have only raised two million dollars in donations, but have over $100 million in damage.”

In addition, the West, Texas Volunteer Fire Department received a fire engine from Siddons-Martin Emergency Group of Houston, a Pierce fire tender/tanker from Pierce Mfg., Freightliner and Siddons-Martin, and another engine is on the way from Berwyn, PA. West VFD is still in need of a Ford or Peterbilt chassis for a large grass/brush truck and many additional firefighting supplies.

The first-year Texas Thunder Music Festival in Gardendale, Texas presents an all-star, all-Texas line-up, with both musicians and fans coming together to help bring support to those who need it most.

Weekend passes are currently available $80 with camping priced at $110. A very limited number of single-day tickets are available for $40.

Texas Thunder tickets are now available for purchase at Graham Central Station in Odessa, Rockin’ Rodeo Midland and Arriba Midland. For more information or to purchase tickets and camping, please visit http://www.texasthunderfest.com or call 855-362-0535.

For the most up-to-date information on Texas Thunder, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/texasthunderfest and follow us on Twitter @txthunderfest.

NEW YORK CITY |    The grand opera “Noli Me Tangere” has edged one step closer to the American mainstream.  At a special dinner held in Manhattan in late March 2013, leaders and advocates of the Filipino American community in the Northeastern U.S. have pledged to do their part to invest funds and raise public awareness for the highly anticipated New York premiere of the “Noli” — a landmark opera based on the great novel by the Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal.

Hosted by U.S. industrialist Loida Nicolas Lewis at her Fifth Avenue residence, the evening affair was intimate and one-of-a-kind.  Conversations delved deep into the subject of how a classical music piece from the Philippines could garner global appreciation from opera aficionados and Western centers of culture.  The New York dinner also offered a unique opportunity for lead sponsors and potential investors to personally meet Bayani Mendoza de Leon, the son of Philippine National Artist for Music composer Felipe Padilla de Leon who wrote and completed the opera in 1950.

“Lovers of Philippine culture would have heard of Rizal’s classic novel,” says Loida Lewis, the project’s lead producer. “When they hear the ‘Noli’ opera sung in the Filipino language, Filipino Americans everywhere will be curious and amazed that this masterpiece could be presented in New York.”

As the guest of honor, Bayani de Leon told boyhood stories about growing up with a legendary father whose original music compositions celebrated the deepest meanings of significant events and symbols in Philippine history.  He stated that his late father’s affinity with Philippine folk culture was the foundation of a passionate Filipino nationalism, which he articulated through music.  After dessert, the guests retired to the living room.  Michael Dadap, music director of the “Noli” staging and Bayani’s childhood friend, entertained the guests by performing his own guitar arrangements of two kundiman songs written by Felipe de Leon.

“Noli Me Tangere: The Opera” performs October 4–6, 2013 at the Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College.  What’s at stake goes far beyond ensuring the success of this stage production.  What ultimately matters, the dinner guests agreed, is the sustainability of Philippine arts and culture in an increasingly global landscape:  Can we promote and sustain the arts and culture we have created?  How do we U.S. Filipinos and Filipino Americans build, cultivate and engage passionate communities that will rally for arts and culture over materialism — for the perpetuation of Philippine art forms and musical literature that transcend language barriers?

If given the right level of support, the East Coast premiere of the “Noli” opera could serve as a model for the globalization of Philippine classical music and theatrical performance.  “Production members of the opera are fully engaged in making it a successful show,” says Stephanie Francine Osmeña, real-estate associate of Larry Kaiser Key Ventures.  “They are each one extremely talented.  By producing the ‘Noli,’ they are unknowingly uniting Pinoys and enforcing our sense of national pride and history.”

Edwin Josue, of Halstead Property, agrees. “Staging the ‘Noli’ opera in New York will showcase to the world that we Filipinos, lovers of theater and arts, can contribute to our nation’s heritage and culture,” says the real-estate broker.

Michael Dadap, Loida Nicolas Lewis, Bayani De Leon

“It is always an honor for me to be a part of promoting our Philippine arts and culture through music and dance,” says Nerissa Abadilla, wife of Philippine Ambassador Ariel Abadilla who represented the Bayanihan USA Alumni Association. “I will definitely spread the word and help in any way I can.”

“This ‘Noli’ production will have a tremendous cultural impact to U.S. Pinoys in Connecticut, especially since we have three chapters of the Order of the Knights of Rizal here,” says Dr. Edgardo Ragaza, a hugely esteemed cardiologist from Branford, Connecticut.  “Our Philippine-American Association in Connecticut, of which I am a co-founder and a past president, has supported or helped host Filipino artistic productions in the past. We are excited about this opera.”

In fact Dr. Ragaza and his wife, the internist Dr. Aleflor Gamo Ragaza, have committed to bringing two busloads of people to attend a Sunday matinee performance.

Since its 1957 debut, the “Noli” opera has never been produced in New York.  Ironically it is considered the most performed Filipino opera, having been staged more than 25 times in the Philippines and abroad.  The Foundation for Filipino Artists, led by executive director Aida Bartolome, has scheduled the opera for the Filipino-American History Month of October; it is the centerpiece of the nonprofit advocacy’s 25th anniversary year of promoting Philippine arts and culture in New York.

Those who invest in the opera are, in essence, taking part in a piece of classical-music-history-in-the-making.  In addition to the people already quoted in this article, the fundraising dinner has attracted Gail Alvarez, a philanthropist, and her husband Tony Alvarez of the global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal; Angie Cruz, founder/president of the Institute for Spirituality in the Workplace and board member of Filipino American Legal Defense & Education Fund; Jerry Sibal, a New York event designer; and Nanette Sering Wright, San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel Board of Adviser.  L. M. Reyes Wiesel, a family friend, hosted Bayani de Leon during his New York visit.

“It was the first time I met Bayani,” recalls Dr. Ragaza, who along with his wife convenes the Connecticut chapter of the U.S. Pinoys for Good Governance. “I am impressed with Bayani’s knowledge about Philippine music and the arts — and with his still-lucid memories and the pearls of wisdom he received from his late father, which guide him in his journey through life.”

The evening struck a personal chord with Stephanie Osmeña, whose great grandfather was the fourth Philippine President Sergio Osmeña. “My general impression of Bayani is one of deep admiration,” she said.  “He is simply a genius at manifesting music patterns, which to an ordinary ear would simply go unnoticed.  To be in the presence of the son who follows so unreservedly and remarkably in his father’s footsteps is, for me, such a humbling experience.  The ‘Noli’ rekindles the desire in us, whether here or abroad, to treasure our Filipino traditions.”

“Noli Me Tangere: The Opera” is not just a Filipino event.  “It is a human interest story that reflects all our hopes and dreams,” avers Gerardo Gaddi, one of the opera’s New York producers.  “It is the coming together of a people who have a common interest to promote our rich musical heritage to the mainstream.  If we pull our resources together, no matter how big or small, we are all in this journey together as a unified people that represent what it means to be global citizens who promote diversity through the arts.” —rg

Sponsors of the ‘Noli’ opera in New York City | (Seated, left to right): Randy Gener, production dramaturge of “Noli Me Tangere: The Opera”; Stephanie Francine Osmeña, real-estate associate of Larry Kaiser Key Ventures; Aida Bartolome, executive director of Foundation of Filipino Artists; Loida Nicolas Lewis, lead producer of “Noli Me Tangere: The Opera”; Philippine composer and music scholar Bayani de Leon; Aleflor Gamo Ragaza, internist from Bacolod; Angie Cruz, founder/president of the Institute for Spirituality in the Workplace; and Michael Dadap, music director of “Noli” opera.
(Standing, left to right): Jerry Sibal, New York event designer; Nerissa Abadilla of the Bayanihan Philippine Dance USA Alumni Association; Nanette Sering Wright, San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel Board of Adviser; Edwin Josue, real estate broker of Halstead Property; and Dr. Edgardo Ragaza, partner and founder of the Connecticut Heart Group, P.C., a cardiovascular specialty group, and president of the Federation of Filipino-American Associations of Connecticut. (Not pictured but present at the party: Gail Alvarez of the Alvarez Family Foundation, and her husband Tony Alvarez of Alvarez & Marsal; and L. M. Reyes Wiesel, New York host of Bayani de Leon.)

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The College Board is accepting applications for the 2013 College Board Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts. The annual award recognizes the achievements of six member institutions which have implemented an arts program that promotes student learning and creativity in exemplary and innovative ways.

One school from each of the College Board’s six regions will be awarded $3,500 to support the continuation and growth of their programs. Of the six finalists, one school will be named the national winner and will be awarded an additional $1,500. Regional winners will be honored at their respective College Board Regional Forums; the national winner also will be honored at the College Board National Forum.

Applications should highlight programs that expand student potential by promoting creativity, innovation, and critical thinking skills. The College Board encourages programs that utilize arts programming as a tool to improve education in general and as a solution to achieve access and equity for all students; integrate the arts across the curriculum, recognizing that interdisciplinary collaboration is an invaluable learning tool; promote ways to ensure that the global arts, which include folk, traditional, indigenous and classical arts, are integrated into its programs and services; promote the engagement of professional artists and scholars in the classroom; initiate and sustain alliances with community organizations to develop collaborations that support the arts in education; recognize civic engagement as an invaluable component of an arts education; and develop partnerships between teachers and across grade levels in order to create dynamic multilevel learning environments for students.

Programs must have been in place for a minimum of one year prior to the application date. Applicants must be College Board member institutions or member districts serving grades 6-12. Previous recipients of the award are not eligible, but semifinalists, honorable mentions, and schools that have applied in the past are encouraged to reapply.

See the College Board Web site for eligibility and application guidelines.

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The declaration “urges states to strongly condemn all forms of violence against women and girls and to refrain from invoking any custom, tradition, or religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination.”

The declaration also encourages UN member states to “devote particular attention to abolishing practices and legislation that discriminate against women and girls, or perpetuate and condone violence against them,” which they should “address and eliminate as a matter of priority domestic violence.”

News of the declaration’s release came after a number of Muslim nations threatened to block any statement mandating tougher global standards with respect to violence against women and girls. Among other things, Iran, Libya, Sudan, and other countries objected to references in the document to abortion rights as well as language suggesting that the definition of rape include forcible behavior by a woman’s husband or partner, AFP reports.

Nevertheless, the meeting ended with all member states agreeing to the final declaration. Following the accord, representatives of some UN member states grumbled about what was omitted from the document, while others applauded it. Peter Witting, Germany’s ambassador to the UN, said on Twitter that the document was “balanced and strong,” adding that the declaration “sends a much needed message to the women around the world: your rights are crucial.”

On March 18, Etemad Dubai is opening the most extensive showing in the United Arab Emirates of Shohreh Mehran’s work, as part of “Alserkal Galleries Night” (Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz 1) from 6 p.m. to  9 p.m.

Entitled “Defaced,” Shohreh Mehran’s recent paintings are portraits of anonymous people which the artist has produced over the last three years. These paintings are based on studies of the gestures of resistance and defiance. They are permanent records of the ‘faceless’ individuals who find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

Born in Iran in 1958, Shohreh Mehran is a painter and a graphic designer who graduated with a degree in Graphic Arts from the Tehran College of Arts. Mehran’s images capture contemporary Iranian scenes and often feature people, particularly in the urban context of Tehran. She has exhibited widely in Iran and her works have also been shown in the Middle East and internationally, including at the Sharjah Biennial (2011), Iran Today, Brigitte Schenk Gallery, Koln (2010) Artspace, London (2007), Signature Gallery, Munster, and at the United Nations, New York (2000).

Shohreh Mehran, Untitled, from Defaced series, 2012, Oil on canvas, 100 x 150 cm

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On March 17th, Cynthia Nixon announced the 2013 winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, a prestigious playwriting award that goes annually to the best new English-language play.  And there’s a whole number involved: the Prize is celebrating its 35th year of existence. The 35th awards presentation ceremony was held in Houston at the Alley Theatre.

The 2012-2013 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Winner will be awarded $25,000, and will also receive a signed print by the artist Willem de Kooning. Each of the additional Finalists will receive $2,500.

The 10 finalists for the 2012-2013 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, chosen from over 100 nominated plays, are the following:

Karen Ardiff (Ireland), The Goddess Of Liberty; Annie Baker (U.S.),The Flick; Jean Betts (New Zealand), Genesis Falls; Deborah Bruce (U.K.),The Distance; Katherine Chandler (U.K.),Before It Rains; Amy Herzog (U.S.), Belleville; Dawn King (U.K.), Foxfinder; Laura Marks (U.S.), Bethany; Jenny Schwartz(U.S.), Somewhere Fun; and Francine Volpe (U.S.)The Good Mother.

Nixon is one of the six judges this year. She joins Mandy Greenfield, artistic producer of the Manhattan Theatre Club and award-winning Broadway director Michael Wilson from the U.S. Tje U.K. judges are Laura Collier, Head of the National Theatre Studio; Matt Wolf, London editor of broadway.com, and London theatre critic of the International Herald Tribune; and BAFTA Award-winning actor and writer, Susan Wooldridge.

Susan Smith Blackburn, a noted American actress and writer who lived in London during the last 15 years of her life, died in 1977 at the age of 42. More than 300 plays have been chosen as finalists since the Prize was instituted in 1977.  – randy gener

An original Willem DeKooning lithograph: the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize takes this artwork home

ABOUT THE FINALISTS

Karen Ardiff (Ireland), The Goddess of Liberty

Submitted by Guna Nua Theatre Co.

Karen Ardiff is an actor and writer living in Dublin. As an actor she has been nominated four times by the Irish Times theatre awards, winning best actress for Hugh Leonard’s Love in the Title at the Abbey Theatre. Her first novel The Secret of my Face has been translated into Chinese and Albanian and her first play, The Goddess of Liberty, was produced in Dublin’s Project Arts Centre by Guna Nua Theatre Company in 2012.

Annie Baker (U.S.), The Flick

Submitted by Playwrights Horizons

Annie Baker’s full-length plays include Circle Mirror Transformation (Playwrights Horizons, Obie Award for Best New American Play, Drama Desk nomination for Best Play), The Aliens (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Obie Award for Best New American Play), Body Awareness (Atlantic Theater Company, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Play/Emerging Playwright), and an adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, for which she also designed the costumes (Soho Rep). Her plays have been produced regionally at South Coast Rep, the Guthrie, Victory Gardens, Artists Rep, Huntington Theater Company, Seattle Rep, Studio Theatre in DC, Hyde Park Theatre, Kansas City Rep, Marin Theater Company, A Red Orchid, and over 100 other theaters across the country. Her work has also been produced internationally in England, Australia, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, Latvia, and Russia. She is a Residency Five playwright at the Signature Theater and a member of New Dramatists, MCC’s Playwrights Coalition and EST. Recent honors include a USA Artists Collins Fellowship, New York Drama Critics Circle Award, Lilly Award, Time Warner Storytelling Fellowship, Yaddo fellowship, and a Master Artist Residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. A published anthology of her work, THE VERMONT PLAYS, is available from TCG books. Upcoming projects include the world premiere of her play The Flick at Playwrights Horizons in February/March 2013 and productions of Circle Mirror Transformation at the Royal Court and the Moscow Art Theater.

Jean Betts (New Zealand) Genesis Falls

Submitted by Fortune Theatre

Jean has been a freelance actor, director, and more recently, playwright, script advisor and NZ play publisher, most of her life. Most of her work has been in Wellington, but she has spent some time abroad, acting and directing in Europe.

She’s completed seven full-length plays to date, and several one acters. Two plays, The Collective (a dramatization of ‘Brecht & Co’ by John Fuegi) and now Genesis Falls, are Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalists. Several of her plays have been included on college and university curricula, in particular Ophelia Thinks Harder, the most popular. She has had a number of local awards and commissions, and a smattering of overseas productions; two have been adapted for radio, and five have been published. She is currently working towards a production of her most recent play, The Man from Tamil Nadu.

Deborah Bruce (U.K.) The Distance

Submitted by The National Theatre

Deborah has been a theatre director for 20 years and her work includes productions at the Globe in London, the Royal Court Theatre and Theatre Clwyd. She has now started writing and wrote her first stage play, Godchild in 2010, and The Distance in 2012.

 She had a Writers’ Attachment at the National Theatre Studio in 2012 during which she worked on her third stage play, In Kind. She is under commission to The National Theatre.

Katherine Chandler, Before It Rains

Submitted by Sherman Cymru

Co-produced in 2012 by Bristol Old Vic and Sherman Cymru.

Katherine is a Welsh playwright who has had plays produced by Sherman Cymru, Bristol Old Vic, Theatr Nan’Og, Spectacle Theatre and Dirty Protest. Katherine’s play Before It Rains was produced in 2012 by Bristol Old Vic and Sherman Cymru. The play subsequently went on to win the Writers Guild Playwright award at the Theatre Critics of Wales Awards and in 2013 is being read in Manhattan Theatre Club, New York.

In the Autumn of 2012, Katherine was delighted to win the BBC and National Theatre Wales inaugural Wales Drama Award with her new play Parallel Lines. Katherine is currently under commission to National Theatre Wales and is developing a script with the BBC. She has recently had the privilege of spending two months at the Royal National Theatre, England on a studio attachment.

Amy Herzog (U.S.) Belleville

Submitted by New York Theatre Workshop and Yale Repertory Theatre

Amy Herzog’s plays include After the Revolution (Williamstown Theater Festival; Playwrights Horizons; Lilly Award), 4000 Miles (Lincoln Center; Obie Award for the Best New American Play), The Great God Pan (Playwrights Horizons), and Belleville (Yale Repertory Theater; upcoming, New York Theatre Workshop). She has received commissions from the Yale Rep, Steppenwolf, and Playwrights Horizons. Amy is a recipient of the Whiting Writers Award, the Helen Merrill, the Joan and Joseph Cullman Award for Extraordinary Creativity, and the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award. She is a Usual Suspect at NYTW and an alumna of Youngblood, Play Group at Ars Nova, and the SoHo Rep Writer/Director Lab. She has taught playwriting at Bryn Mawr and Yale. MFA, Yale School of Drama.

Dawn King (U.K.), Foxfinder

Submitted by West Yorkshire Playhouse

Dawn’s play Foxfinder won the Papatango writing competition in 2011 and was produced at the Finborough Theatre where it was critically acclaimed and sold out. Foxfinder won Dawn the Most Promising Playwright award at the Off West End Awards 2012 and she was Pearson writer in residence at the Finborough for 2012. She was one of ten writers chosen for the BBC Writersroom 10 scheme in 2012 and through this received a seed commission and residency at West Yorkshire Playhouse where she wrote Ciphers. Ciphers is under option to Out of Joint Theatre Company with a production planned for later this year.Dawn is currently participating in the prestigious Channel Four television writing scheme, 4 Screenwriting 2013, and was chosen from over sixteen hundred applicants. Dawn writes regularly for BBC Radio and her latest work, an adaptation of a New Testament parable, was on Radio 3 in December 2012.Previous theatre work includes: Water Sculptures/ZOO double bill – The Union Theatre, Face Value – Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, and Doghead Boy and Sharkmouth Go To Ikea – The Junction, Cambridge. Dawn was a member of both the Soho Theatre and Royal Court Theatre Young Writers’ Programmes and has an MA distinction in Writing for Performance from Goldsmiths University, London.

Laura Marks (U.S.) Bethany

Submitted by The Women’s Project

Laura Marks is the author of Bethany, which premiered off-Broadway at City Center Stage II in January 2013 (produced by the Women’s Project, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch, starring America Ferrera). Bethany won the Leah Ryan Prize for Emerging Women Writers, was published in the UK in Methuen’s American Next Wave anthology, and was chosen by John Guare as runner-up for Yale’s David C. Horn Prize. Other plays include Mine (Princess Grace finalist; upcoming production at the Gift Theatre, Chicago) and Gather at the River. Ms. Marks recently graduated from Juilliard’s playwriting program and became a member of New Dramatists. Other honors include a 2012 Helen Merrill Award, a 2013 award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers and a two-year residency in the Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group. Her plays have been developed at the Public, Juilliard, the Women’s Project, Manhattan Theatre Club, the Black Dahlia, the Royal Exchange Theatre (UK), HighTide Festival Theatre (UK), the Wilma Theater, the Lark, Steppenwolf, Partial Comfort, Prospect Theater, Naked Angels, Synchronicity, Reverie Productions et al. and she currently holds a commission from South Coast Repertory. She’s a native of Kentucky, now living in New York. Proud member of the Dramatists Guild.

Jenny Schwartz (U.S.), Somewhere Fun

Submitted by Clubbed Thumb

Jenny Schwartz’s plays include God’s Ear, Somewhere Fun, and Cause For Alarm. Somewhere Fun will receive its world premiere at the Vineyard Theatre in the spring of 2013, directed by Anne Kauffman. God’s Ear was produced in New York by New Georges and the Vineyard Theatre, also directed by Anne Kauffman. God’s Ear has been produced nationally and internationally from Lisbon, Portugal to Boise, Idaho to Sydney, Australia. Jenny is the 2012 recipient of the Frederick Loewe Award for Musical Theatre for the development of her musical Iowa, which she is writing with composer Todd Almond. Iowa is being developed at Williamstown Theatre Festival and Sundance/MassMoCA. Other awards and honors include the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Benjamin H. Danks Award in Drama, a Kesselring honor, a Susan Smith Blackburn special commendation (for God’s Ear), two grants from Lincoln Center’s Lecomte du Nuoy Foundation, and Soho Rep’s Dorothy Streslin Playwriting Fellowship. This is her second season co-chairing the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab with director Ken Rus Schmoll. Jenny received an MFA in Theatre Directing from Columbia University and is a graduate of Juilliard’s playwriting program.

Francine Volpe (U.S.), The Good Mother

Submitted by The New Group

Francine Volpe is a New York City based playwright and screenwriter. Her play, The Good Mother (with Gretchen Mol, directed by Scott Elliot) is currently a finalist for The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Other plays include: The Given (directed by Michael Imperioli, also a finalist for The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize), Late Fragment (Studio Dante and The New Company in London), Sweethearts (The New Company) and Giftbox (stageFARM). Other plays have received readings and workshops at A.C.T., Arena Stage, Naked Angels, Rattlestick Theater, SoHo Rep and WET. Francine is a graduate of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at the Juilliard School where studied with Marsha Norman and Christopher Durang. She has twice received Le Comte du Nouy grants. Her screenplays include Queenie and I’ll Be Your Mirror. She teaches screenwriting and playwriting at Sarah Lawrence College, ESPA, Stella Adler Academy in Los Angeles and privately throughout the country. She is a member of New Dramatists.

Collected prize-winning Susan Smith Blackburn Prize

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Artistic Director of Backa theatre, Mattias Andersson who specializes in creating and staging theatrical projects grounded in sociological research methods will discuss this hot topic with Robert McNamara, artistic director of SCENA theatre and Otis Ramsey-Zöe, Lecturer of Theatre Arts at Howard University.

Randy Gener, who will moderate the talk, observes in American Theatre Magazine that “in Sweden theatrical works geared for young people are viewed not just as equal to adult-oriented theatre but in many cases as surpassingly livelier. Documentary innovations and experimentations in dramaturgy—strong themes (such as divorce, death, politics), bolder forms, openness to outside influences—have made it possible for youth-oriented dramas to shatter conventions and overturn orthodoxies in liberating ways…”

REGISTER HERE

Embassy of Sweden in Washington, D.C.

PROGRAM

10:00 am
Welcome by Cultural Counselor Kristina Rennerstedt and introduction of the moderator Randy Gener.

10:05 am
Introduction of director Mattias Andersson followed by introductory remarks with examples from Backa productions

10:35 am
Introduction of Otis Ramsey-Zöe followed by remarks

10:50 am
Introduction of Robert McNamara followed by remarks

11:05 am
Panel discussion with audience participation

12:00 am
Seminar ends

REGISTER HERE

House of Sweden in Washington, D.C.

Mattias Andersson, artistic director of Backa Teater, playwright and actor.

Backa Teater was formed in 1978 and the performances are geared toward children and youth. In 1997 Backa Theatre was the first theatre to be promoted as a national stage for children’s theatre for three years by the Swedish government. At Backa, Andersson has specialized in creating and staging theatrical projects grounded in sociological research methods. Examples include The Mental States of Gothenburg, about the lives and dreams of young people; The Gangs of Gothenburg, based largely on interviews with Göteborg’s criminal elements; and an adaptation of Crime and Punishment (part of a three-play project involving the Fyodor Dostoyevsky novel), in which Andersson placed the Russian novel in modern times and in a setting that could just as easily have been Göteborg as St. Petersburg. Andersson’s own plays have been performed at Stockholm City Theatre, the Royal Dramatic Theatre of Stockholm, Göteborg City Theatre, Malmö Dramatic Theatre and in Norway, Poland, Denmark, Germany, Romania and Serbia.

Mattias Andersson, Swedish playwright/director of Backa theater of Sweden | Photo by Ola Kjelbye

Randy Gener is a George Jean Nathan Award-winning editor, writer and artist based in New York. He is the USA Editor of Critical Stages, an international journal; founder/editor of the media project In the Theater of One World; contributor to National Public Radio; freelance critic for Variety, and dramaturg of “Noli Me Tangere: The Opera.” Co-editor of “The American Theatre Reader,” Gener is the curatorial producer of the USITT/USA National Exposition, “From the Edge: Performance Design in the Divided States of America,” an exhibition of political U.S. theater at the Prague Quadrennial. In addition to the Nathan Award, Gener is the recipient of numerous awards; and NLGJA Journalist of the Year — all of it for his editorial work and critical essays for American Theatre magazine. Gener is presently at work on the first English-language book survey of the plays of the Swedish dramatist Lars Noren.

Otis Ramsey-Zöe is a Lecturer of Theatre Arts at Howard University, Future Classics Program Coordinator at The Classical Theatre of Harlem, Series Editor for NoPassport Press’s Dreaming the Americas Series, a freelance dramaturg, and a Company Member of banished? productions. He has developed new works with such organizations as The Sundance Institute, Kennedy Center, Theatre J, Arena Stage and CENTERSTAGE.

Robert McNamara is the Artistic Director and Co-founder of Scena Theatre and is now directing his 25th season in the U.S. and abroad. Scena Theatre is driven to bring the best international theatre to Washington, D.C. and to stimulate cultural exchange between local and global artists. Founded in 1987, Scena produces an annual season of plays, seasonal readings and a workshop series to develop new works. Recent productions include “A Clockwork Orange,” “Mein Kampf,” and “Hedda Gabler,” among others. Scena has produced six Washington International Theatre Festivals that include works by Per Olov Enquist (“The Hour of the Lynx”), Cecilie Loveid (“The Ice Goes Out” and “Seagull Eaters”), Suzanne Broegger (“After the Orgy” and “Dark”) and the U.S. premiere of “Julie” from Strindberg’s “Miss Julie.”

“Little King Mattias” from Backa theater of Sweden | Photo by Ola Kjelbye

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Co-curated by Nicholas Cohn Art Projects and Amy Kisch of AKArt, the exhibit brings together performance-art happenings, video, photography and site-specific installations by an internationally renowned selection of artists. There will be a reception from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. with the performance by Jaeeun Lee beginning at 8:30pm.

“Jaeeun Lee’s performance, in collaboration with musician Che Chen, arouses uneasiness in viewers, presenting conflicting and coexisting notions of oppression and entertainment,” says a prepared statement. “Chastity devices, double as musical instruments, and bind the performers, dissecting societal norms and redefining what is ‘appropriate’ engagement.”

Jaeeun Lee, Assorted Nils, Performance piece presented at RH Gallery, 2012

On view at HERE from Thursday, February 21 through Saturday March 30, 2013, the exhibition highlights issues of discrimination, authoritative abuse, bullying and insecurity. “The works respond to ongoing ethnic conflicts, discrimination, animal cruelty and environmental neglect,” says a prepared statement. 

Here are some of what’s on display:

In “Pretender,” Joshua Seidner draws from themes of Orientalism and ritual, offering audience members a foot cleaning and massage. This occasionally awkward interaction raises questions of socio-economic status, gender and power in western culture.

Joshua Seidner, “Pretender,” presented at HERE, 2013

In “Shooting Party,” Mitch Miller also explores issues of space and control, inviting participants to shoot at a target that begins to crumble, and ultimately becomes a sculptural installation. The performance is suggestive of our relationship with the natural world, and how our neglect has resulted in destructive environmental change.

“Suspended” is a single channel video by Iranian-born Bahar Behbahani. It portrays a woman bound and hung. The film questions the loss of individual power in a politically and morally restrictive Middle Eastern environment as well as the psychological confinement of a media-saturated Western culture.

Sean Fader’s still photography and video document a very personal search for companionship and fulfillment. Apparently uninhibited by social constructs, Fader and his partners explore their-and our-sexualities in the world of online dating. His photographic series SUP, captures online communications with his dates-both prior to and following their intimate encounters-with images of partners conjured from their virtual correspondence juxtaposed with the realities he learns them to be. The images culminate with OPA, a video of his emotional, physical and psychological release of-and ‘torture’ by-these dualities.

Jamie Knowles’ sculptural wall installation and performance piece accouterment, “Wind Chimes,” similarly addresses how we manipulate and orchestrate identity in a synchronized performance. Unifying imagery from burlesque, the cat walk, sexual subversion-and to a lesser extent, drag-the objects made from metal Chinese therapy balls reinterpret an archaic instrument of imprisonment, the ball and chain, as fashion accessory.

Also vexed by the play between sexual identification as well as gender-particularlly transgender-negotiation, Aiden Simon’s large-scale photography frames the performative nature of personhood while exploring subjugation and power between subject/object and viewer.

Aiden Simon, “Second Skins,” 2011, 69 x 46 inches, Inkjet print, Edition of 3

Negar Behbahani explores this on a macrocosmic level, depicting the individual’s response to, and envelopment in, the cogs of the status quo. In “Agony; Never Ending,” a series of women are captured in an endless rotation of wheels set upon a predetermined pathway. Loud and unintelligible commands of culture call their-and our-’choice’ into question.

Taus Makhacheva similarly presents this gap between the collective and the personal. Her double-channel video “Let Me Be Part of a Narrative” uses graphic imagery of dog-fighting placed alongside archival footage of wrestling champion Ali Aliev, in an attempt to explore the stereotypes of the region as presented by the media, versus the actual lived experience. At the same time, the work poses important questions about representations of masculinity, as well as the individual and political nature of competition and its circumstances.

Taus Makhacheva, “Let me be part of a narrative,” still from three channel video installation, 2012

Delving further into elements of dominance, power, animal cruelty and violent human behavior seen in Makhacheva’s film, Marielis Seyler invites viewers to decide what their role in this narrative will be. Placing large-format images of the slaughtered, the feeble and the vulnerable on the ground, her installation measures our response to an invitation to trample, degrade, ignore or protect the subjects-a disturbing metaphor of our treatment of living things, the natural world and each other.

Programming Schedule:
Monday, March 4 @ 8:30pm, Jaeeun Lee
Monday, March 11 @ 8:30pm, Mitch Miller

Exhibition On view: February 21 – March 30, 2013
Public Hours: Tuesday – Friday 2-7pm

Directions:
HERE, 145 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY 10013
(Enter on Dominick Street one block south of Spring)

Additional Information available at: http://www.ncartprojects.com/upcoming-events or www.here.org

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On that same night, the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is hosting a cocktail reception from 6:00 to 7 p.m.. The reception is to honor the Dutch director George Sluizer, who will be present. Space is limited, and based on a first come, first served basis.

Perhaps the only thing more surprising than the film’s tumultuous two-decade journey to completion is the fact that Dutch director George Sluizer, now 80, was able to finish it at all.

Dark Blood began production in 1993. It survived not only the loss of its leading actor, who died of an accidental drug overdose at age 23 outside a West Hollywood nightclub, but also the near-destruction of the original footage and a life-threatening ailment that struck its director.

The film hasn’t come out completely unscathed — Sluizer had to restructure the story and add narration to account for missing scenes — and the precise ownership status of the original footage remains murky. But Sluizer has succeeded in giving Dark Blood form.

“Dark Blood is a film of legend, one of Hollywood’s great mysteries,” said Miami International Film Festival Executive Director Jaie Laplante in a prepaed statement. “The tragic loss of River Phoenix’s outstanding talent is still profoundly felt 20 years later. We are proud that George Sluizer has honored Miami as the place to finally share his remarkable collaboration with Phoenix and the other great artists involved with Dark Blood.”

Here is an excerpt from the film:

To RSVP, simply send us an email, at mia-rsvp@minbuza.nl after buying your ticket online; provide your name & number that is visible on your ticket bar code, so they can add your name to the cocktail reception guest list. A confirmation will be send to you.

Telegraph film critic Tim Robey, who attended the screening, commented: “George Sluizer deserves a lot of respect for putting this film back out there in its mangled form, given Phoenix’s death.” When River Phoenix died in 1993 at the age of 23 it was a tragedy-the life of one of Hollywood’s most amazing and beautiful young talents cut short. But as heartbreaking as the all too short life is, his legacy will be revived this year at the Miami International Film Festival when director George Sluizer debuts Phoenix’s the final film.  – randy gener

River Phoenix

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A new program at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) was recently established to improve the health and well-being of LGBT individuals. According to a prepared statement, the Initiative’s research efforts “will recognize the diversity within the LGBT population and the urgent need to understand the intersections among gender identity, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, social class, and age, as well as the specific needs of different groups.” In short, we come from different places and identities, and the Initiative is expanding its health services to reflect that.

“Kinky Boots” creators Jerry Mitchell, Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper

The do-gooders of Kinky Boots will host a special one-night-only event at the show, featuring a pre-show cocktail reception with composer/lyricist Cyndi Lauper and director Jerry Mitchell, and a post-show talkback with book writer and gay rights icon Harvey Fierstein. The evening will be co-sponsored by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.  All proceeds will go directly to program development for the Initiative for LGBT Health.

Why are the do-gooders helping the Initiative? In a joint statement, Fierstein and Lauper stated, “We have both been deeply involved in advancing equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community for decades, so we know good people when we see them. We’re honored to be joining the renowned researchers and clinicians of Columbia University Medical Center to raise awareness for their groundbreaking Initiative. Kinky Boots is very much about the power of self acceptance and emotional health. We believe that this new program can strengthen not only the LGBT community, but all of New York.”

The Initiative is led by Director Anke A. Ehrhardt, Ph.D., also Director of the Division of Gender, Sexuality, and Health at the NYS Psychiatric Institute and the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry and Co-Director Walter O. Bockting, Ph.D. an internationally known sexuality researcher at Columbia.

Tickets to the benefit performance, the pre-show cocktail reception and post-show talk-back are available by calling Leigh Ann Brienza, Director of Development, at 212-304-7227, or by email at lab2213@columbia.edu.

Kinky Boots, directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell, begins previews on Sunday, March 3, 2013, with an official opening night set for Thursday, April 4, 2013.

Kinky Boots had its World Premiere at Chicago’s Bank of America Theatre (18 West Monroe Street, Chicago, IL), where it opened on October 17, 2012 and quickly became an audience and critics’ favorite.

“Kinky Boots” on Broadway

www.kinkybootsthemusical.com

www.twitter.com/KinkyBootsBway

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PEN American Center has asked the Department of State and Justice Department to explain U.S. involvement in disclosing the identity of a Chilean Twitter user who is now standing trial for tweets parodying the country’s wealthiest businessman.

Rodrigo Ferrari, a Chilean blogger and lawyer, is being prosecuted for identity theft for operating a Twitter account mimicking billionaire businessman Andronico Luksic. Though the account’s parodic intent was clear, Luksic’s attorney filed a complaint alleging “usurpation of identity,” and Chilean prosecutors, invoking a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, asked the U.S. State Department to press Twitter to turn over the identity the account holder. Mr. Ferrari could face between 61 and 541 days in jail if convicted.

In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and Attorney General Eric Holder, PEN expressed concern about the disclosure of user information, which reportedly occurred without a formal subpoena from the court hearing the case, and pointed out that Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties allow countries to refuse to such requests in cases where the prosecutions are meant to suppress freedom of expression. Noting that promoting Internet freedom has been a top policy priority of the Obama Administration, PEN warns that “complying with the request for user information that led to the identification and prosecution of Mr. Ferrari undermines the principles that the State Department has worked in so many ways to advance.”

PEN’s letter requests information clarifying the involvement of the State Department and Justice Department in the disclosure of Mr. Ferrari’s identity, as well as “information on how such requests are evaluated to ensure that information concerning digital media users is not divulged in cases with free expression implications.”

PEN American Center is the largest of the 144 centers of PEN International, the world’s oldest human rights organization and the oldest international literary organization. For more information on PEN’s work, please visit www.pen.org.

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In the theater, as New Dramatists artistic director Todd London reminds us, the difference between critics and artists is the power of Yes.  A critic is the spirit that says No. An artist is the spirit that says Yes.

London writes:

The golden rule of improvisational theatre holds that the improviser must always say yes. No matter how off base or lunatic or cliché your partner’s impulse, you must accept it and you must use it. “No” stops the scene. It interrupts the flow of active ideas and kills the trust on stage.

The publication this month of London’s The Importance of Staying Earnest: Writings from Inside the American Theatre, 1988 – 2013 reminds me of the unique position he serves in the nonprofit theater. He is a kind of double agent.  Although both London and I are the both recipients of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism (our country’s highest award for dramatic criticism), compared to his body of theater writings, I am reminded that I am actually the worst dramatic critic in the world. Because my instinctive impulse has always been to say Yes. London, in this collection, occasionally reserves the right to say No, even as he protests that he is “frankly over-identified with his subject [American theater].”

That privilege to say both yes and no is on display in this book. He himself avers that his own “perspective is anything but consistent. Charitably, it could be said to evolve. But then, when it comes to the lack of perspective, there is never any lack of it. You hold proof.”

Do please hold proof. Meet him 6 p.m. Thursday February 28 at the Drama Book Shop in New York. He will read from his book, participate in a Q & A, and sign his book. Hear him speak Friday March 1 as the keynote speaker at “Dreaming the Americas: Staging New Theaters/Challenging Hierarchies,” a one-day NoPassport theatre alliance conference at New York University Gallatin.

London’s book is the first collection of criticism published by NoPassport Press. Normally the press publishes collections of plays and single-edition texts.  Because he has led New Dramatists for some 17 years and because he is not a playwright, this book re-views him in a different light: as a theater critic and scholar. Because he is not a reviewer of plays and musicals, London is, by default and achievement, our country’s leading dramaturge.  He represents the American variant of the German strain of dramaturge, a field whose patron saint is the philosopher, literary critic and dramatist Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. Which means that instead of writing plays, as Lessing did, London writes studies and surveys of the field, as well as appreciations and tributes of playwrights.

The American dramaturg is a practical creature, rarely a philosophical one.  At New Dramatists London has personally encountered the growth and developments of playwrights firsthand. He is not a reviewer or a critic for a publication, so he does not affect the fortunes and destinies of playwrights, as, say, the New York Times critics do.  London does not have the burden of airing his true feelings publicly. It is in his interest to advocate for playwrights. And to encourage them by saying Yes in public, though perhaps saying No in private. This position frees him to take an altogether new path in his critical writings, a third road as the Buddhists would say.

The Importance of Staying Earnest is a record of criticism as that essential advocacy — a lively document of in-house dramaturgy as a public occasion. The book is, in fact, a series of illuminating occasions. Formally it begins with “The Shape of Things to Come,” the lead essay of a package of articles on new-work development published in November 2002, a special package of American Theatre magazine that I was privileged to have been charged to oversee and prepare. A majority of the pieces were written for benefits, conferences and tributes.

Unlike the artists with whom he over-identifies, London has always reserved the right to say No. Readers of The Importance of Staying Earnest will most clearly glean this strain in “Mamet vs. Mamet,” in which he criticizes, admonishes and anatomizes Mamet’s “passion and dogmatism.” The thesis of London’s critical attack is that “Mamet the playwright seems lately to be in the grip of Mamet the director and Mamet the theorist, whose reductive thinking has the opposite effect: that of making less out of more, until it appears that he has turned against himself. The plays are getting the worst of it.”

London’s stimulating book has already received advance praise:  Lynn Nottage, the Pulitzer-winning playwright of Ruined, says, “No one writes about the beauty, import and frustration of theater with the eloquence, warmth and depth of Todd London. In his collection of essays that span a quarter century, he audaciously interrogates and celebrates the medium in equal measure, unafraid to undress our notions about the art and business of theater. This is a collection long in the making, and reflects the wisdom and possessiveness of someone who has dedicated his career to safeguarding the legacy of theatre artists.”

The Wildean title of London’s book deserves a brief comment. Let’s let London explain it himself:

Playwrights are slippery and they teach me freedom, but not because they are free—they are not. Playwrights are, like all writers, plagued by bitterness, which is the real enemy and which threatens even the most talented and enthusiastic. The poet Robert Kelly put it perfectly: ‘Bitterness has killed more poets than neglect and poverty combined.’ I wish our playwrights release from bitterness. They aren’t free because they’re forced to spend so much time thinking about money. They aren’t free because the double whammy of neglect and lack of resources breeds envy, and envy fuels that killing bitterness. I wish them release from envy.

If this grand Tony Kushner-like benediction intrigues and engages you, as it intrigues and engages me, then I hope you will follow the artist’s way. Say Yes. And?

And buy London’s daring book The Importance of Staying Earnest. It is an energizing, up-to-minute record of a critical thinker who has seen inside the belly of the American theater beast. He has lived to tell about it. He has emerged wanting, with all his heart, to foment nothing less than radical change.  – randy gener, in the theater of One World

“The Importance of Staying Earnest: Writings from Inside the American Theatre: 1988-2013 (NoPassport Press) by Todd London

THE IMPORTANCE OF STAYING EARNEST:
WRITINGS FROM INSIDE THE AMERICAN THEATRE, 1988-2013
by Todd London

ISBN: 978-1-300-65504-6
6 X 9 paperback, print on demand
285 pages.
Retail: $20.00

Purchase link:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/todd-london/the-importance-of-staying-earnest/paperback/product-20677365.html

NoPassport Press
Dreaming the Americas Series
www.nopassport.org

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Kline has co-edited, with Obie-winning playwright Caridad Svich, a new collection from NoPassport Press that grapples with the complicated issue of gun control. The book, released on February 22 which was National Day of Service for Gun Control, could not be more topical and timely.

No Passport logo

Gun violence is not an America-only problem. As is evident in the Oscar Pistorius case, which has gripped the world, the issue of violence has struck the heart of South Africa, a country that suffers more than 15,000 murders every year.  Pistorius, an Olympic gold medalist and double amputee, fired four shots through a locked bathroom door and killed the woman concealed behind it.  Pistorius claims he thought he was shooting an intruder, but the police have charged him with the premeditated murder of his girlfriend, the model Reeva Steenkamp.

The question of guns is a serious theatrical issue and not just a political one, because guns are frequently a crucial feature in drama. Many plays have characters that either own a gun (think of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, for example), shoot a gun (Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya), is threatened by a gun (David Rabe‘s Streamers), threatens someone else with a gun (Annie Oakley) or is somehow traumatized by the violence of a gun.

“This is a deeply disturbing revelation for me,” reflects playwright Tammy Ryan (Pig) in essay in 24 Gun Control Plays. “First, I don’t think of myself as writing about guns. I think I’m writing about family, communication, the power of forgiveness and healing. But the presence of guns in my writing is undeniable.”

Playwrights featured in 24 Gun Control Plays include Neil LaBute, Elaine Avila, Kyle Bostian, Neil Blackadder, Alex Broun, Gab Cody, Tameka Cage Conley, Cecilia Copeland, Yvette Heyliger, Amina Henry, Zac Kline, Jennifer Maisel, Lynn Manning, Oliver Mayer, Chiori Miyagawa, Matthew Paul Olmos, Ian Rowlands, Tammy Ryan, Saviana Stanescu, Caridad Svich, Chris Weikel, Winter Miller, Gary Winter, and Laura Zam.

The volume also features a reflection and interview by DW Gregory, nominated for a Pulitzer for The Good Daughter. “How do you as an artist respond to an event like the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary?” Gregory asks. “Obviously you believe that art/theatre has something to say that is worthwhile — but my question is what? What can we possibly say or do that will make any difference to anyone in a culture so saturated with violence, so in love with the gun?”

The selected works in this volume were presented in collaboration with NoPassport, Theater J and force/collision in Washington D.C. on January 26, 2013, and with Pittsburgh PACT to coincide with the March on Washington for Gun Control led by Arena Stage artistic director Molly Smith and Suzanne Blue Star Boy.

A percentage of the sales of this volume will go toward Amnesty International’s Arms Control and Human Rights Campaign: No Arms for Atrocities. – randy gener, in the theater of One World

“24 Gun Control Plays” (NoPassport Press) edited by Caridad Svich, Zac Kline

24 GUN CONTROL PLAYS
ed. by Caridad Svich and Zac Kline
ISBN: 978-1-300-76771-8
print on demand paperback 6 X 9 (ebook forthcoming)
.78 lbs.
US Retail: $15.00.

Direct purchase link: http://www.lulu.com/shop/caridad-svich-and-zac-kline/24-gun-control-plays/paperback/product-20711271.html

NoPassport Press
“Dreaming the Americas” series
www.nopassport.org

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This ornate spectacular arrives in New York as part of an ongoing showcase of Chinese performing arts made possible by the international promoter China Arts & Entertainment Group (CAEG) and the Ministry of Culture for the People’s Republic of China. It’s diplomacy by cultural means with peace and friendship as its themes.

An award winner in its native country, Silk Road is inspired by the 1,600-year Dunhuang frescoes: grotto art inside Chinese caves on the ancient Silk Road which have survived sandstorms, wars and Mao Zedong’s red guards.  Dunhuang was once a defensive and cultural center on the western borders of the Chinese empire and the site of important Buddhist monastic complexes. It is now a tourist spot overrun by so many visitors and carbon dioxide emissions over the millennial years that the region’s caretakers have been turning to computers to save them.

Permanence, however, is not a quality preserved in this award-winning classical Chinese dance drama. Silk Road presents a tale of the friendship forged during the Tang Dynasty between the China and the people of various countries along the Silk Road. To make possible its choreographic frescoes, the leading characters include master fresco painter Zhang, his daughter Yingniang, and the Persian merchant Yunus. For two hours, expect dazzling scenography, fabulously embroidered costumes and some 60 dancers.

Performance may be ephemeral in nature. Nevertheless, Silk Road promises to extol and commemorate the richness of Dunhuang culture, especially the working people who created that culture. It also reminds us that even then, China has been active in the process of globalization through the friendships the silk road had made possible.

“Silk Road,” a landmark dance drama from China

Silk Road was is an adaptation of an original creation entitled Silk Road, Flower Rain.  It thus offers New Yorkers a chance to see a dance drama spectacular that was chosen to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Chinese National Holiday in 1979. In 1982, the original Silk Road, Flower Rain was put on the screen by Xi’an Movie Studio. The same year, it was performed on Italy’s La Scala Theater, becoming the first Asian group to perform in this world-class venue. In 1994, Silk Road, Flower Rain received the Golden Award during competition of Classic Dance Dramas of China of the 20th Century, and was crowned the milestone of dance dramas in China.

Since a 1979 debut, Silk Road, Flower Rain is estimated to have been staged some 1,600 times. In October, 2004, it was recorded by Shanghai World Jinisi as the “Best Dance Drama in China.” As a result, it has been seen in North Korea, France, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Spain, Turkey, Hong Kong, and Macao. It is regarded as the role model of China folk dance drama.

This adaptation of Silk Road, Flower Rain was presented at the 29th Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. It was performed five times at Tianqiao Theater in Beijing.

Chosen by Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the CPC and the Ministry of Culture, the production was again invited to Beijing to perform for the 60th anniversary of the National Holiday. The show, renewed again, was performed in the National Centre for the Performing Arts from July 29 to Aug. 2, 2009, with a total number of five performances. In 2009, the new edition Silk Road was awarded by the Ministry of Culture the “Award of Excellent and Classic Repertoire.”

Created by Gansu Song and Dance Theater in 1979, Silk Road  is a milestone event in Chinese culture. In fact, it is the latest program of “Image China,” a serial project by China Arts and Entertainment Group (CAEG).  According to Zhang Yu, president and general manager of CAEG, “Image China” began in 2009. “Through professional marketing, we have promoted dozens of outstanding Chinese stage performances to mainstream theaters in Europe, America and Oceania, and have enhanced the influence of Chinese performing arts internationally,” he says. “Silk Road is a time-honored play and we are confident that it will be welcomed by American audiences. And we also hope that Silk Road can survive a space in the competition in the U.S. and become a successful commercial show. “

Gansu Dance Theater was established in 1961 to research, create, and perform music and dance that reflects the culture of Dunhuang. The company was formerly known as Gansu Song and Dance Troupe, and Dunhuang Art Theater of Gansu. In 1995, Gansu Dance Theater was awarded the title of National Advanced Cultural Institution by Ministry of Culture.

The China Arts and Entertainment Group (CAEG), the first large publicly-owned cultural enterprise, was formed from a merger of the China Performing Arts Agency (CPAA) and the China International Exhibition Agency. Its mission is to “transform Chinese culture and art institutions into modern enterprises.”  Under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, it undertakes “cultural exchange projects to promote and enhance Chinese culture in other countries. CAEG annually runs more than 5,000 shows, exhibitions and comprehensive cultural activities in hundreds of cities, regions, and in countries around the world.”

Performances of Silk Road by the Gansu Dance Theatre will be Wednesday, February 27, 8pm; Friday, March 1, 8pm; Saturday, March 2, 8pm and Sunday, March 3 at 1 pm. There is No Thursday 2/28 performance. Tickets are: Orchestra & First Ring – $98, $78, $58, $38, $23 and there are also a few Premium Orchestra seats. Second Ring – $78, $58, $38, $23 and the Third Ring is $58, $38, & $23. Tickets are on sale: at the box office and by calling (212) 496-0600; or by Fax at (212) 580-2545 and on the web. http://davidhkochtheater.com/. The Media Sponsors are: World Journal, Sino TV, AM 1380, AM 1480, and Chinese American Voice.

“Silk Road” by the Gansu Dance Theatre

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“It’s an exploration of love,” says the supremely talented Broadway actor Adam Jacobs (The Lion King), “There are many different types of love, and the concert features a wide array of styles and music from different shows.”

To which Ali Ewoldt, the divinely operatic singer-dancer (West Side Story) adds, “Through songs, we examine love for a child, love for performance in theater, love between two people that we explore in our duets, love and prayers. You don’t want a concert like this to be one-note. For me it is exciting and interesting and innovative.”

New York City’s famous venue Town Hall regularly sees and hears an array of Broadway stars and so-and-so’s on its wide stage.  Some of them profess about love even.  What’s special about A Heart Full of Love  – a one-night-only concert 8 p.m. Saturday February 23 — is the match-up between Adam Jacobs and Ali Ewoldt:  the freshness of their talents on vivid display.

Both Ewoldt and Jacobs sport real singing chops.  Ewoldt, a petite brunette soprano, can sing beautiful circles around so many of her peers. Jacobs, with his dark eyes and olive skin, takes on vocal challenges that allow him to move from pride rock (Simba in The Lion King) to romantic heights (The Light in the Piazza).

Many of the compositions featured in A Heart Full of Love trade in fresh novelty, too. Where else but here can you hear gorgeous songs from a new musical composed by Filipino-American composer Fabian Obispo (The Long Season)? How else will you sample the works from the rising songwriting team Sam Carner and Derek Gregor (Sing But Don’t Tell and The Island Song)?

About 90 minutes long, performed without an intermission, A Heart Full of Love reunites two alums of Broadway’s Les Misérables (she was the Cosette to his Marius), and for those movie-musical aficionados who could not stand to watch live-singing on film, here is a real live performance where you won’t need to scream a scream as time goes by.

So heartfelt is the stage chemistry between Jacobs and Ewoldt that they were handpicked instantly for this concert after they were seen together at a gala event last year.  At a recent photo call at the Ugly Kitchen in the Lower East Side, Jacobs recalls that this Town Hall Concert came about after the two singers were showcased in the 50th anniversary of the Filipino Reporter, a local publication. Within days of that guest appearance last year, the Town Hall was booked for a February stint.

“It’s going to be a fun ride,” Jacobs says. “Our musical director David Dabbon has come up with brilliant mash-ups of popular Broadway pieces.  I look forward to performing those songs. Audiences will recognize the tunes but will hear them in a new way.” And the handsome actor, who has also memorably tackled Tony, the love-struck toughie in West Side Story and the Engineer pimp in Miss Saigon, has prepared a specific set of numbers which will show a different side of himself as a performer.

“I will give you a hint,” says Jacobs, who will soon star as the masked legend Zorro in the Alliance Theatre production of the Gipsy Kings-scored musical that will play Atlanta, Georgia, in April. ”It is a foray into a ‘new genre.’ I don’t want to give too much away, but it is not music from a specific show. I will foray into another side of myself which I know other people have not seen.” In other words, it teases us into seeing Jacobs anew, had he taken an alternative direction in his career.

Ewoldt relishes the opportunity to extend herself in new ways, too. “Vocally I am doing coloratura stuff that I have not done before. I will do physical comedy things. I will sing a song in Tagalog language, which I have never done professionally before.

Ewoldt also describes a song called “I Won’t Mind” written by Jeff Blumenkrantz as “simple but heartfelt and honest and really gorgeous and emotional.”

Ewoldt then introduces me to composer Sam Carner, who is sitting nearby. Gregor says that A Heart Full of Love gives him a chance to shine through three songs from different shows that he and his songwriting partner Derek Gregor have written.

Broadway stars Adam Jacobs and Ali Ewoldt with composer Sam Carner at the Ugly Kitchen in New York City

Adam Jacobs will sing a solo from their new musical comedy Unlock’d, about four star-crossed lovers in 18th century England, which won a Richard Rodgers Award and went on to be produced at the 2007 New York Musical Festival. Unlock’d will premiere Off-Broadway this coming summer with the Prospect Theatre Company at the Duke on 42nd St.

Thanks to the enthusiastic singers from Broadway Barkada who will accompany Ewoldt and Jacobs, A Heart Full of Love will also feature a group number called “So Many Windows” from the Island Song, a new Cartner and Gregor musical that has been in development since 2009 and will receive a workshop in Seattle.

“Ali and I went to college [Yale University] together, but we did not know each other then,” Carner recalls. “We ended up speaking in a panel as alums back in Yale. We chatted for several hours on train trip.  I introduced her to my writing partner, and we started working together on various projects.”

The last time Ewoldt and Jacobs sang together on a concert stage was an all-Filipino tribute show for musical theater composer Stephen Sondheim at Lincoln Center in 2011.  They sang “One Hand, One Heart” from West Side Story.

What is their takeaway after being paired so frequently? Mutual respect, actually.

“When we were working on Les Miz, it was very easy to fall in love with Ali every night,” Jacobs says. “To share with her an entire concert is a real treat. We’ve performed together before but nothing on this scale.”

To which Ewoldt adds, “I love working with Adam. We’ve become really good friends over the years. This concert is a great challenge for us, a great chance to expand.” – randy gener

Town Hall is located at 143 W. 43rd St. For tickets, specially priced at $20 (originally from $40 to $100), visit www.ticketmaster.com/event/03004973A4EEAAD6.

Conceived by Victor Lirio, A Heart Full of Love will benefit the 3rd The Outstanding Filipino Americans in New York (TOFA-NY) Awards, an annual award ceremony that recognizes exemplary Filipino-Americans in the New York tri-State held in October; and the Mindoro Healthcare Consulting’s current research to find a cure for multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord.

Broadway stars Adam Jacobs and Ali Ewoldt at the Ugly Kitchen in New York City

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• Photos: Jacobs, Ewoldt, Team Behind A HEART FULL OF LOVE Concert Meet the Press (broadwayworld.com)
• STAGE TUBE: Sneak Peek – Ali Ewoldt and Adam Jacobs’ A HEART FULL OF LOVE Concert at Town Hall (broadwayworld.com)
• STAGE TUBE: Adam Jacobs, Ali Ewoldt Rehearse for A HEART FULL OF LOVE Concert (broadwayworld.com)
• ‘Les Miserables’ is returning to Broadway. Let’s dream cast it! (popwatch.ew.com)