Photo by Derek Berg
A moment on 10th Street today during the 28th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts at Theater for the New City ... day 3 is tomorrow (Sunday!)...
It is a non-stop performance fest — over the three days, over 200 artists, collectives, poets, puppeteers, filmmakers, dancers, and everything in between are scheduled to perform in and around TNC's theaters. This year's event will address the struggle to combat climate change: "The Heat is On."
Teenaged Samantha’s dreams of a scholarship to college are shattered when she's expelled from high school and locked up for her anti-war activities. Her hard-working mom is no help, and her Puerto Rican boyfriend actually wants to enlist. Samantha finds an ally in her boyfriend's fiery aunt, Angelina, a volunteer at the Catholic Worker. The playwright and the community-minded artistic team of "Room With Stars" hope to inspire new generations to speak out against the atrocities of war and all forms of injustice.EVG contributor Steven caught an opening-weekend performance and gives it high marks... The play runs through June 19, with showtimes Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m. There's a 3 p.m. matinee on Sundays. Find more info here.
The 27th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts is on for three full days this Memorial Day weekend, from Friday, May 27-Sunday, May 29, at Theater for the New City, with a wide array of free indoor and outdoor offerings that include theater, music, dance, video, film, poetry, cabaret, an art exhibition, and a youth program, along with food and vendors.
"Hamlet in Harlem" is the story of an empathetic caucasian filmmaker Jason Harriman who dreams about producing an all-Latino version of Hamlet that takes place in "el Barrio." The only problem is that he doesn’t know much about Latinos, he doesn’t know much about Harlem, and he doesn’t know much about Hamlet either.EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the theater for rehearsal on Monday... Ferreras is known for his award-winning novel "B as in Beauty" (Hachette 2009). He is the creator of "Habla," the long-running HBO documentary series about the U.S. Latino experience (2003-2022), and "Somos," a new video-installation about Latino identity commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution for the National Museum of American History. You can catch the 70-minute play on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with a 3 p.m. matinee on Sundays. Find ticket info here. "Hamlet in Harlem" runs through April 24.
[S]adly, we cannot be as uninhibited and laissez-faire with our audience as usual. So, we must let you know that you WILL BE ASKED TO SHOW US YOUR VACCINATION CARD or a NEGATIVE COVID TEST NO MORE THAN FIVE DAYS OLD, IN ORDER TO BE ADMITTED! There will be masking and social distancing, and we will adhere to the most recent rules promulgated by the CDC, State and New York City.In addition, TNC's Lobby Art Gallery is displaying the work of local artists... Thanks to Lola Sáenz for the photos. Lola also has a work on display in the art show.
A live concert of performances by David Amram, William Electric Black, Phoebe Legere, F. Murray Abraham, Penny Arcade, Austin Pendleton and Charles Busch.
Following their performances, these major LES artists will do a virtual "sit around" and discuss theater, politics and “where we go from here.”
Homo Eruptus [is] a new body of work by Scooter LaForge including large, mural-size paintings that mine the artist’s fertile inner emotional realm. Whether it’s expressed on the mammoth pictorial canvases on view at the gallery, or a t-shirt or cast-off article of clothing — Scooter paints with an earnestness that responds in the moment to what he sees and hears and feels about the world around him.
The elevator will serve TNC’s fourth theater on the lower level as well as its costumes, props and mask collection, additional audience bathrooms and much used rehearsal room. It will also offer access to the theater’s archives...
TNC is billing this as a grand opening complete with ribbon cutting and champagne as the theater names the elevator The Gerald Rupp, after its largest individual donor, who will be present and take the first ride.
“The elevator will support disabled individuals and the frail elderly, as part of Theater for the New City’s push for complete diversity in audience, as well as, the stage,” Crystal Field, executive artistic director, said.
The first 50 attendees will be able to follow suit and everyone attending will get a chance to test out the elevator’s internal telephone.
Kitty Lunn, dancer, choreographer, director of Infinity Dance company for abled and disabled dancers will host the event. The Infinity Dance Company and Yip Harburg Foundation’s Rainbow troupe will perform.
Arts in Education engages a network of passionate and dedicated artists to teach after-school theater classes to underserved middle-school students in the Lower East Side and East Village, filling the critical void left by underfunded or nonexistent drama programs
Arts in Education is offered after-school, completely free, two days a week from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. for 9 weeks in the Spring and Fall. Throughout the program kids engage in ensemble building games, improvisation exercises, text analysis, physical theater exercises, writing exercises, original choreography, character creation, playwriting and mask-making workshops. The students show off their skills and perform their self-written playlets and scenes as well as their own dance at our Culminating Event for friends and family.
The three-day downtown arts festival, whose theme this year is Art V Tyranny, seeks to show a lively downtown arts scene in an era when everything from funding cuts to technology, science and affordable housing puts pressure on the arts.
The festival includes hundreds of well-known and emerging artists ranging from theater to dance, music to movies, a street fair and art exhibit. This celebration collectively provides a showcase of downtown’s artistic diversity and energy, while seeking to “take up art” against a sea of troubles.
The theme of Art V. Tyranny, with the V as a kind of victory sign as well as a sign of resistance, seeks to shine a spotlight on the need for the arts for a healthy life and economy.
As part of the festival, TNC typically closes down 10th Street between First and Second avenues for a street festival filled with vendors.