6 QUESTIONS: INCOMING! - Lucy Alibar

Playwright Lucy Alibar will read from her new work, THROW ME ON THE BURNPILE AND LIGHT ME UP, as part of the Under the Radar Festival's INCOMING! Series, in the First Floor Theatre at La MaMa, January 9: 5:30pm and 10pm, 2015. 

We asked her about the process of staging the "stories of a man, his family, his guns, and his burnpile."

1. What was the initial inspiration for THROW ME ON THE BURNPILE AND LIGHT ME UP and how have work-in-progress showings helped the piece evolve?

I've been talking - and mostly listening - to people about their experiences with parenthood for a while now. And I reread Tony Horwitz's brilliant "Confederates in the Attic", which had me thinking about the south and how we tell our own history. The way we mythologize ourselves and our land.

2. What do you find to be the pleasures and/or challenges of performing your own writing?

I love working on my feet so it's been a complete joy.

3. What is your collaboration with director Neel Keller like?

Neel makes me laugh every day, and reminds me to find the laughter in the piece.

4. Which artists in the UTR festival are you most excited to see -or- Can you tell us about a recent performance you saw that inspired you creatively?

I got to see 600 Highwaymen's invited rehearsal at the Sundance labs this winter. I was blown away by their work ethic, vulnerability, and heart.

5. What should audience members expect from this show?

Three pieces of Burnpile: the beginning, a piece somewhere in the middle, and a portion of the finale. About forty minutes. Some have been around for a year, some I'm still writing now. I'm looking forward to sharing where I am in the process.

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

It's an honor to be able to work at such an incredible place!

(Interview by Sam Alper)

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La MaMa presents:

INCOMING! - Lucy Alibar: Throw me on the burnpile and light me up

January 9, 2015 | 5:30pm & 10pm

Co-presented by Under the Radar Festival and La MaMa

First Floor Theatre @ La MaMa

74a East 4th Street
(Between Bowery and Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10003
Tickets: $18 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors.

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

Next Magazine Talks to Dan Fishback

NEXT Magazine's Mark Dommu interviews La MaMa Squirts curator Dan Fishback in the current issue:

"I came up in the bars and clubs—that’s my root. And I love a dirty stage with a loud, drunk audience, partially because some of the best art lives there. But I also love a proper theater, and tech that doesn’t fuck up. I don’t see any competition between these places—quite the opposite: Theater doesn’t function without a vital performance underground, and the underground is elevated when its stars get to explore the possibilities of theater. To me, this isn't about “institutional approval,” it’s about serving artists by letting them unfurl their wings." 

Read the full piece HERE

And get tickets to La MaMa Squirts 2015 now!  Some 10@$10 tickets still available!

La MaMa presents
A Helix Queer Performance Network Event 
La MaMa 
Squirts 2015
New Voices in Queer Performance 
Curated and Hosted by Dan Fishback

January 16 - 25, 2015
Fridays and Saturdays @ 10pm; Sundays @ 6pm

The Club @ La MaMa
74A East 4th Street
(between Bowery and Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10003

Tickets: $18 Adults; $13 Students & Seniors; ten tickets for every performance are available for only $10 - first come, first served - in advance only!

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

Video Preview: Sunken Cathedral (part of Prototype Festival)

Bora Yoon's Sunken Cathedral, is a multimedia performance tracing a musical and archetypal journey through the subconscious. Set in a house where things are not what they seem, and whose architecture illuminates the various chambers of the mind, body, and spirit, each chapter of this contemporary multimedia work excavates blood memory, cultural identity, and the intersections where our greatest diamonds and demons are held. Featuring Korean traditional dance + drumming artist Vong Pak, projections by Adam Larsen, set by Tom Lee, interaction design by R. Luke DuBois, and kinetic sculptures by U-Ram Choe, Sunken Cathedral traces death, life, rebirth, and the cyclical and recombinant nature of our internal and external universe. Directed by Glynis Rigsby.

La MaMa, Beth Morrison Projects & HERE present
SUNKEN 
CATHEDRAL
Part of Prototype Festival
by Bora Yoon

January 14 - 17, 2015


Wednesday @ 7:30pm
Thursday @ 7:30 and 10pm
Friday @ 7:30pm
Saturday @ 2:30 and 7:30pm


The First Floor Theatre @ La MaMa
74A East 4th Street
(between Bowery and Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10003


Tickets: $25 general admission; $75 reserved patron seating

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

6 QUESTIONS: INCOMING! - Darian Dauchan

The Mighty Third Rail | Darian Dauchan (center) | Photo by Eddy Rivera

Hip-hop poetry trio The Mighty Third Rail, and the innovative PUBLIQuartet, join forces in a mash­up of strings, verses, and beat­boxing, entitled CHANGING NIGHT, as part of the Under the Radar Festival's INCOMING! Series, in the First Floor Theatre at La MaMa, January 8: 4pm and 8:30pm, 2015. 

We asked Darian Dauchan, of The Mighty Third Rail, about collaborating and innovating, from combining Classical and Hip Hop, to merging biblical narratives with sci-fi.

1. How did The Mighty Third Rail's collaboration with PUBLIQuartet come about?

Two words. Curtis Stewart. Curtis is the violinist for MTR and also 1/4th of PUBLIQuartet, so he's the bridge. He had a good relationship with Symphony Space and Laura Kaminsky, who was artistic director at the time, had given us a night as a part of the Music of the Now series, to not only present our work as a Hip Hop Jazz Trio and string quartet, but to also combine forces in developing a new musical piece - thus: Changing Night. Andrew Kircher from Under the Radar came to the show and then invited us to perform it in the festival, so we're looking forward to presenting the piece again, not only to music lovers, but theatre goers as well.

2. In CHANGING NIGHT, and in general, what do hip hop and classical music traditions offer each other? What kind of new moments occur when the two come together?

Honestly, a fresh and innovative sound. When done well, it can be an amazing blend that feels both familiar and new to the listener. When the Mighty Third Rail first formed, I knew going into it, just on instrumentation alone, a bass, a violin, and looped beat-boxing, that we were going to have a truly unique sound. Aesthetically, I've always loved a well crafted mashup of strings and Hip Hop - from Jay Z's The Prelude, to Saul Williams' Twice The First Time, to Lupe Fiasco's He Say She Say. It's testament to the fact that Hip Hop can also be something different, something unexpected, and vice versa for Classical music.

3. As an actor, writer, poet and music-maker, you span many artistic disciplines. Growing up, which creative practice was your 'first love'? Which came into your life most recently?

Acting is still hands down my first love. I've been acting since I was a kid. Ten years ago if you told me I'd be doing music I don't know if I would have believed you. I was always a huge music lover, but never thought I'd be doing it, in the same way that, though I was a huge lover of performance poetry, I never thought I'd eventually be a part of the NYC spoken word community, but I am. And now I love making music. I think even working with PUBLIQuartet has broadened my appreciation for classical music in ways I hadn't imagined. At the end of the day, whether I'm acting, kicking a poem, or making music, it's all performing, which is ultimately what I love to do. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing too much, but then I just think of Sammy Davis Jr. and go "nah, I think I'm fine."

4. Which artists in the UTR festival are you most excited to see -or- Can you tell us about a recent performance you saw that inspired you creatively?

I had a chance to checkout an excerpt of Aaron/Marie a few weeks ago, so I'm looking forward to seeing the whole piece. The Incoming Series has had a few meetings with all the ensembles so a lot of us have built a rapport with one another. I think Changing Night shares a little of the same style James and Jerome have in their piece: Good music and good verbal storytelling. I remember thinking, when I saw the excerpt, that this could be a good double billing with ours, like a theatrical double feature if you will. I also definitely want to check out Toshi Reagan's piece, since it's also combining sci-fi with music. Plus, I'm an Octavia Butler fan.

5. What inspired The Mighty Third Rail to reimagine the Garden of Eden within a sci-fi narrative?

The piece is inspired by the music of composer György Ligeti who Curtis is a fan of, so we were aiming to match a tone that fit some of his pieces which very much has a cinematic, sci-fi, twilight zone kind of vibe to it. Curtis was also interested in telling a narrative that pitted nature against technology. Our bass player, Ian Baggette, happened to suggest the Garden of Eden story, and from there we just let our imaginations run wild with a futuristic re-telling. It was actually PUBLIQuartet's management at CAG (Concert Artists Guild) that told me much later, after we created the piece, that Ligeti's music was featured in Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, so I guess that means we weren't too far off.

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

Ever since I was a drama student at NYU, La MaMa, and The Public Theater, have always, and continue to be, definitive hubs for cutting edge, innovative theatre, and we're proud to be a part of that tradition. We hope it won't be the last and to continue a fruitful relationship with both institutions who serve as pillars for the downtown New York theatre scene.

(Interview by: Sam Alper)

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La MaMa presents:

INCOMING! - THE MIGHTY THIRD RAIL & PUBLIQUARTET: CHANGING NIGHT

January 8, 2015 | 4pm & 8:30pm

Co-presented by Under the Radar Festival and La MaMa

First Floor Theatre @ La MaMa

74a East 4th Street
(Between Bowery and Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10003
Tickets: $18 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors.

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

Video Preview: BRICKMAN BRANDO BUBBLE BOOM (part of Under The Radar)

Barcelona-based Agrupación Señor Serrano brings Brickman Brando Bubble Boom to the Ellen Stewart Theatre as part of the Under The Radar Festival. The show is an exuberant manifesto on the right to housing and the search for a home.

La MaMa and Under The Radar present
Brickman 
Brando 
Bubble 
Boom
by Agrupación Señor Serrano

January 13 - 18, 2015

The Ellen Stewart Theatre
66 East 4th Street
(Between Bowery and Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10003

Tickets: $25

For Info and Tickets: CLICK HERE