Another Freshly Brewed, with History

An upcoming ALT event, this one on Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 at Opera America, with composer Anthony Davis. Since I'm feeling blog-lazy today in the midst of all my other projects, I'm simply copying and pasting parts of the press release! I'm a lazy lazy man. Ah, screw it, I have to finish this libretto and my taxes.

"American Lyric Theater (ALT) is pleased to announce that composer Anthony Davis will host the next event in the company's FRESHLY BREWED concert and master class series on Sunday, February 26th, 2012, at 1:00 PM.

The FRESHLY BREWED series was designed to give the public a chance to see inside the Composer Librettist Development Program studio. ALT's flagship program, the Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP) is the only full time mentorship initiative for emerging operatic writers in the United States. Anthony Davis, internationally acclaimed composer of the operas X, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MALCOLM X, TANIA, AMISTAD, and WAKONDA'S DREAM, is a guest faculty member and artist mentor for the CLDP.

Davis is known around the globe for his exciting works that draw from the lives of historical figures. This month's FRESHLY BREWED event will be the culmination of his winter residency at ALT, during which composers and librettists in the CLDP have been exploring the challenges of dramatizing history for the opera stage. Guest singers from the country's leading opera houses join us for a program of newly written scenes based on real-life figures, including Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Defense during Vietnam under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson; Henry Morton Stanley, the famous British explorer of Africa; (HEY THERE EVERYONE THIS ONE IS MINE, LOVE DAVID) Helen Suzman, the lone woman in South Africa’s parliament for 36 years, and a tireless dissenter against apartheid; and Salvador Allende, President of Chile from 1970-1973, and the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America.

American Lyric Theater Resident Artists to be featured include composers Alla Borzova, Jeremy Beck, Theo Popov, Jorge Sosa, and Jeffrey Smith; and librettists Magda Bogin, Kate Light, Stephanie Fleischmann, David Johnston, and Laura Sosa."

"Tickets, which include a light brunch, are available for $20 through Smarttix. Advance purchase is required. Due to limited seating capacity at OPERA America, tickets are strictly limited and will not be sold on the day of the event. OPERA America is located at 330 Seventh Avenue (between 28th and 29th)."

A Quote of the Day from Joseph Mitchell

Somebody runs a Joseph Mitchell Facebook page, and periodically posts one of his wonderful, understated, pitch-perfect quotes.

“I believe the most interesting human beings, so far as talk is concerned, are anthropologists, farmers, prostitutes, psychiatrists, and an occasional bartender. The best talk is artless, the talk of people trying to reassure or comfort themselves, women in the sun, grouped around baby carriages, talking about their weeks in the hospital or the way meat has gone up, or men in the saloons, talking to combat the loneliness everyone feels.” From his collection of short pieces, My Ears Are Bent

Peter Bellamy Portraits

Several years ago, Time Out NY had a feature on playwrights, and they sent a guy to my apartment to take a picture of me. At the time, my life was in a total uproar and when I met Peter at my door, I was wearing a hoodie and I don't think I'd shaved. He quietly said, "Do you want to change into something else? A lot of people are going to read this." I hustled off to put on something a little nicer.

We chatted and he did all those professional photographer things to put a subject at ease; talking about himself, drawing me into a conversation about something completely unrelated. (I don't like having my picture taken and it usually shows.)

He did take a very nice pic, though - one of my favorites of myself - and now it's up on his website. Definitely cool people on it; Andrea Lepcio, who I worked with at America-in-Play, Lynn Nottage, John Clancy, and David Ives with an excerpt from one of my favorite blues-killers, "Variations on the Death of Trotsky."

Roman Calendar and Entering the Breech

A few odds and ends...A NUMBER ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR, which was read at the Players Club in September, will be published by Applause Theatrebooks in their Best American Short Plays series next year. Thanks to Carter Jackson and Sarah Kate Jackson at d.i.r.t company, which produced the reading as part of their inaugural event. Also thanks to Jonna McElrath, Jim Ireland and Tom Lyons who are all so damn funny.

AND. First up event at American Lyric Theater's Composer Librettists Development Program. OK, that was long, what does that mean? My first work for opera, publicly presented; Freshly Brewed - The Art of the Aria, a Master Class with Mark Adamo. It's on Sunday, December 18, 1 PM at Opera America, 330 7th Avenue at 29th Street. I'm working with a wildly talented young composer, Theo Popov, and we'll be presenting an aria written for soprano Katherine Jolly. The whole thing is quite scary and exciting. Twenty bucks in advance, and ALT will throw in brunch.

Exorcism

Oh. My. God. The New Yorker has unearthed an unpublished Eugene O'Neill play from 1920. Staged in 1920, it looks like O'Neill destroyed all the copies he thought existed to placate his father. Found in some screenwriter's papers, a copy - the gift of one of O'Neill's wives, Agnes Boulton. So. Cool. Life is good.

Heavy Petting Below Houston

Next up, my beloved pals at Blue Coyote Theater Group take over Playwrights for Pets with HEAVY PETTING.

This evening of short plays will feature Matthew Freeman's "The White Swallow" (a sick and satisfying little piece) and also an excerpt from my upcoming full-length, "Coney." Casting is pending, but the running time of approximately one hour. It's down at the Access Theater (natch) on Thursday, October 27 and Friday, October 28 at 8:00 pm.

Important How-to-Get-There-And-Get-Tickets-Stuff: the Access Theater is at 380 Broadway, 2 blocks south of Canal Street. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased through SmartTix. You can call: (212) 868-4444 or visit this link on the website, which will take you directly to the HEAVY PETTING page.

Good Giving-Back-to-the-Community-Stuff: All ticket proceeds will be donated to Glen Wild Animal Rescue. Please visit their website to discover the wonderful work they do.

Mad World

They're in previews now, but I just have to dash off a quick love letter for one of my favorite actors (and human beings) - Vince Gatton, who is currently playing King John at the Access Gallery downtown.

Vince and I have worked together many times -Candy & Dorothy, Busted Jesus Comix - and more readings of other works than I could remember or count. He's a consistently surprising, inventive and soulful actor. His toolbox is full and he's crafty as hell.

In the title role, he's petulant, needy, manipulative, vindictive and vulnerable; a would-be Richard the Third undone by his own incompetence and bad luck. You want to strangle him and you feel for him. John's a lousy rotten prick and he still doesn't deserve the damnation that crushes him. (Shakespeare gets his cake and eats it, too. Jerk.)

It's an early Shakespeare, but it's a fascinating study in political machinations and collateral damage. People form alliances, double-cross each other, make threats, make nice, all the while the country goes down the tubes. Ross Williams directs and it's strong and sharp. They use multi-media but it doesn't feel like a gimmick; it actually adds to the storytelling in interesting and creative ways. The set design is the best use of the Access Gallery I've ever seen. Get tickets soon for this - it's filling up in previews and it closes Oct. 2.