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by Karen Tortora-Lee on October 17, 2010
Austin McCormick (photo by Cristina Ramirez)
I can count on one hand the men whose talent leave me dazzled – and while they all strike a chord for different reasons they all have one thing in common: the ability to amaze me in a way that I’ve never experienced before. Like the first time I heard a Sondheim phrase and had to stand still, or the first time I saw Philip Seymour Hoffman perform live (in True West) and couldn’t remember to breath – that’s how I felt when I saw choreographer Austin McCormick’s Company XIV performing Le Cirque Feerique. So dazzled was I that I went twice – and am thrilled that – just in time for Halloween – Austin will be bringing another new, dazzling show that audiences can experience: Dénouement—A Murderous Masquerade. I had a chance to talk with Austin McCormick about how he swirls magic together time and time again to create pure beauty.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on September 29, 2010
AHEAD OF TIME
Ruth Gruber didn’t just report the news. She made it.
See the trailer:
New York Times Arts & Leisure Article on the Film
Jewish Journal Interview with Ruth Gruber
****
Brooklyn Heights Cinema 70 Henry Street Brooklyn NY 11201
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on September 23, 2010
Remember the days before DVR and instant streaming NetFlix when, if you wanted to watch TV you sorta had to watch whatever was on? Yeah . . . good times.
An afternoon of TV was an eclectic mixed bag of cooking shows, public access chat fests and random syndicated sitcoms. Now imagine that it’s the future – the end of the world . . .and there IS NO TV. Except there is. Well, kinda. That is . . . there are these two gals, see? And they’re the only gals left alive. And they find you there one day and they figure they’ll entertain you by putting on the TV. But you read the part about them being the only gals left on the planet, right? So TV is an eclectic mixed bag of . . . cooking shows, public access chat fests and random syndicated sitcoms. I’ve seen the future, and it is my past — eerily similar to Saturday, May 21, 1988 . . . the day my first boyfriend broke up with me and I spent the day staring at the TV and chain smoking Virginia Slims. But I digress.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on September 17, 2010
Miss Saturn (Photo by Paule Saviano)
Hula Hell Is Miss Saturn? you ask? Or, to rephrase a bit . . . Who The Hell Is Miss Saturn? you ask?
That’s me giving you an assist on how to parse the title, since (quite frankly) until Miss Saturn herself shouted it from backstage it wasn’t quite as punny to my ear. That’s okay – I’m sure Miss Saturn (given name: Jennifer McGowan) is fine with me facilitating her in this instance, since a lot of her act relies on the audience’s willingness to actively participate in a good half of the performance. If you’re up for the task, Hula Hell is a helluva good time.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on July 21, 2010
In a time when full immersion is the key to any good entertainment experience Mardi-Ellen Hill has managed to create a multi media-universe that allows the participant to be drawn into a world of her creation through any number of doors. Choose your favorite: book, game, music, and let the hidden mystery that is the MEND™ Universe unfold.
I got a chance to chat with creator Mardi-Ellen Hill who could explain this multi-level, multi media project far better than I ever could . . .
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by Antonio Miniño on June 30, 2010
The other day I was walking by myself, minding my own business down Riverside Park, trying to have some me time with . . . well . . . me, and I noticed these pianos just lying there unattended. So I snapped a shot and did some snooping around, and found out about a fantastic non-profit called Sing for Hope, and their Play Me I’m Yours arts project.
Play that thang! ©Antonio Minino
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on June 15, 2010
By all accounts the Come Out and Play festival was a huge success. And we’re pleased to say that The Paper Plane Derby (featured earlier on THM) was winner of the Best Family Game! CONGRATULATIONS!
Our very own Stephen Tortora-Lee was an eager participant in the derby and wound up bringing home “Most Innovative Design”; his lovely award now hangs proudly in our home for all to see. (You can see a picture of him lined up and ready to compete after the jump.)
We caught up with Rachel Schutt and Linda Perkins again to see how they felt the day went and asked them to tell us about some of their favorite moments.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on June 4, 2010
Tell me the truth . . . Paper Airplanes – Origami for Americans or just a clever way to send the math test answers across the room?
America’s favorite paper company, Dunder Mifflin, used the Paper Airplane in the director’s cut of their paper commercial, and everyone’s favorite engineer – Dilbert – has one in the opening credits of his animated series.
This weekend you can compete in the First Annual Paper Airplane Derby as part of the Come Out & Play Festival. It’s a great chance to be creative, show off your skillz and win a trophy!
I chatted with Rachel Schutt and Linda Perkins about what makes their Derby the fliest event at the festival.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on May 13, 2010
COMPANY XIV (photo by Cristina Ramirez Hirst)
Can you die from too much beauty? Probably not. But if you could, I came close to doing so as I watched Company XIV “A mixed media Neo-Baroque dance-theatre company” spin Le Cirque Féerique (The Fairy Circus) into being in front of my dazzled eyes last weekend. The show consists of a series of fairy tales choreographed and directed by Austin McCormick, written and adapted by Austin McCormick and Jeff Takacs, and conceived by Austin McCormick and Zane Pihlstrom and runs till June 6th.
In an unassuming building on Bond Street in Brooklyn where Company XIV makes their home you will find the most unusual matrix of Music, Mystery, and Magic. That’s right, I said Brooklyn. And hold on to your hats, folks, because in the next few paragraphs I’m also going to say things akin to “Frog Prince”, “Madonna”, “Cinderella”, “Carmen”, and “Balloons”. Yes – it’s THAT kind of show.
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by Antonio Miniño on April 7, 2010
Jody Christopherson appearing in TRYING
If you don’t believe read-heads have more fun, just ask Jody Christopherson about her experience working on Erin Browne’s new play TRYING, premiering at The Bushwick Starr, on April 15th.
Ok, I admit the “red-head” line is not the most original way to start an interview, but I’m not fishing for a bloggie award and Jody is not fishing for a Tony… yet. She is a New York based actress and also a writer for New York Theatre Review (an annually published collection of plays and essays launched in 2005, that recently launched their own theatre blog), in her interview she talks about lesbian pulp novels, shark tattoos and why producing your own work is a good thing.
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