La MaMa Blogs: November 2019

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Meet Iris Beaumier & Glynn Borders of DARK STAR FROM HARLEM


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La MaMa presents

The Dark Star 

From Harlem: 
The Spectacular Rise 
of Josephine Baker

Book by Glynn Borders
Music and Lyrics by Mario E. Sprouse
Directed by Tai Thompson
Choreography by Kim Grier-Martinez
featuring Iris Beaumier*, Chris Bolan*, Katelyn Bowman* Catherine Calloway, Heather Gault*, Joe Komara* Kimberlee Murray*, James A. Pierce III*, Jed Peterson*, Melissa Victor*, Zuri Washington*


*Appearing Courtesy of Actors Equity Association

November 21 - December 01, 2019


The Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa
66 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003

Tickets: $30 Adults; $25 Students/Seniors

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

Monday, November 18, 2019

Behind The Scenes at DARK STAR FROM HARLEM













All photos by Theo Cote




The Dark Star From Harlem: The Spectacular Rise of Josephine Baker begins performances on Thursday, November 21.  The musical follows the journey of 19-year-old Josephine Baker, from her arrival in Paris in 1925, as a company member of La Revue Negre, to her rise to stardom in Europe. Josephine is cast as the comic dancer who crosses her eyes and can’t keep up, but before long , her talent as a singer and “exotic” dancer takes her to center stage and the launch of her career. As a young woman in a foreign land, she navigates sudden fame, a new language, racial acceptance in Paris and the violent Jim Crow laws back home in America.


La MaMa presents

The Dark Star 

From Harlem: 
The Spectacular Rise 
of Josephine Baker


Book by Glynn Borders
Music and Lyrics by Mario E. Sprouse
Directed by Tai Thompson
Choreography by Kim Grier-Martinez
featuring Iris Beaumier*, Chris Bolan*, Katelyn Bowman* Catherine Calloway, Heather Gault*, Joe Komara* Kimberlee Murray*, James A. Pierce III*, Jed Peterson*, Melissa Victor*, Zuri Washington*


*Appearing Courtesy of Actors Equity Association

November 21 - December 01, 2019


The Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa
66 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003

Tickets: $30 Adults; $25 Students/Seniors

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

Thursday, November 14, 2019

6 Questions: Philip Treviño




1. What does the world of Virgo Star look like? 
For me, what we are creating is a world that takes elements from the Wild West and then contextualize them through a Queer viewpoint. We are using stereotypical representations as seen in Old Western Films in order to bring imagery familiar to the audience and then incorporating that imagery in a Pop Fetish sort of way. In this hyper-world, the hope is that the heart and harshness of the world will expose a new viewpoint for the audience.

2. What do you hope audiences leave thinking? 
I hope that the audience leaves thinking that they found the work entertaining and thought-provoking; that despite the mythos that has formed around the American Cowboy there is much more beneath the surface.

3. How can you explode the myth of the American Cowboy? 
I think presenting multiple voices of different viewpoints will help explode this myth. There were Women, L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+., and people from various cultural backgrounds that were part of the reality of this period in history who are often written out or made into stereotypes.

4. Do you have a favorite Western movie? 
It's really hard for me to pin down a favorite, but I think The Misfits and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by John Huston are excellent. Blazing Saddles could work for this too...

5. What makes Virgo Star different from other Pioneers Go East Collective productions? 
Some of our most recent pieces have really thought about the way our work relates to the space beyond the theatrically typical setup and I think that this piece will further that experience for the audience.

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you? 
Working at La MaMa, a historically and culturally significant space for Experimental Theatre, is thrilling for me beyond words as I can only hope that the work and voice that I bring to Pioneers Go East Collective can help continue the traditions of presenting challenging and exciting work for audiences of today.

--

Virgo Star
November 14 - December 01, 2019
$25 Tickets; $20 Student/Senior Tickets [+$1 Facility Fee]

World Premiere
By Pioneers Go East Collective

Virgo Star explores and explodes the myth of the American Cowboy. An underground, kinetic ride through the Cowboy myths performed from a queer perspective, this dance-theatre work fuses personal storytelling and movement to re-create scenes from Western Movies.

Monday, November 11, 2019

6 Questions: Beth Graczyk





1. What does the world of Virgo Star look like?
The world of Virgo Star is like a queer cowboy/girl dreamscape. Classic scenes turned inside out, to allow the queer undertones embedded in these stories to emerge from the westerns we grew up watching. Sensual, playful, with dark undertones VS brings us into the dissonances and revelations of queer stories including the homoerotic, longing, shame, violence, and chivalry.

2. What can the audiences learn about love in Virgo Star? 
I hope audiences will feel open to reimagining the paradigms that we take for granted including the western and look further at stories that present a certain heteronormative paradigm to open up to seeing other possibilities.

3. How can you explode the myth of the American Cowboy? 
That's a tough question. I wouldn't claim to have any real answer to this one, but I do think the practice of re-imagining narratives that are pressed into our brains around romanticized masculinity is a good place to start. What if the American Cowboy was a kind of skin suit you could enter in and allow yourself to fill the interior with your own unique particularities of sexuality, gender, and desire? I think that might have some explosive qualities, and infinite variations, which is always my favorite. Reminds me of a hearty quote shared with me by my mentor Torben Ulrich:

"That is, it's the way the Talmudist would read the same little scene, or dialogue with a capacity for interpretations which is many, many fold. There's no conclusive version, there are a hundred versions. And this is most important. Now, when I look at anything that happens in reality, any kind of event, I want a hundred versions of it". - Helene Cixous, Live Theory

In re-imagining the American Cowboy, perhaps there could be numerous expressions, variations, and that we could re-live a single scene over and over again simply by the different ways that these "cowboys" are expressed which includes as many variations of being-ness that we conjure, only finding an edge at the limits of our imagination.

4. Have you learned anything new from this production?
I continue to learn about the satisfying process of collaboration, and the benefit of working on multiple projects through time with the same core cohort of artists. I love working with Daniel and Gian Marco who are so generous in their desire to incorporate the ideas of others while keeping a steady path towards their artistic vision.

5. Do you have a favorite Western movie?
True Grit (2010) Cohen Brother's film.

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?
Working at La MaMa is an honor. La MaMa is a community of talent, acceptance, and love. It has allowed me to challenge my abilities, celebrate my work and exposed me to so many great works and artists that I admire.

--

Virgo Star
November 14 - December 01, 2019
$25 Tickets; $20 Student/Senior Tickets [+$1 Facility Fee]

World Premiere
By Pioneers Go East Collective

Virgo Star explores and explodes the myth of the American Cowboy. An underground, kinetic ride through the Cowboy myths performed from a queer perspective, this dance-theatre work fuses personal storytelling and movement to re-create scenes from Western Movies.


Thursday, November 7, 2019

Photo Call: The Bad’uns





All photos by Carlos Cardona
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La MaMa presents


By Clowns Ex Machina 
Created and Directed by Kendall Cornell 
in collaboration with the ensemble

November 7 - November 17, 2019

Thursday - Saturday at 7pm; Sunday at 3pm

The Downstairs @ La MaMa
66 East 4th Street
(between Bowery and Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10003

Tickets: $25 Adults; $20 Students/Seniors

For Information and Tickets: CLICK HERE