New Museum Outing This Thursday!

How did it get to be our last class already? This semester really whizzed by. And somehow it did so without our getting out to see some art -- visual art, that is.

So given everyone's hectic schedules, I've decided to schedule our final outing during our class time -- Thursday from 4:30 to 6:30pm.

We'll be going to the brand-new New Museum on the Bowery. This should be very cool. Not only will we be able to check out the critically acclaimed new building (see at right), but we'll apply our critical powers to a sculpture show called "Unmonumental: The Object in the 21st Century."

For the New York Times' review of the museum, click here.

2 questions to always consider....

#1
What is the art trying to accomplish?

#2
Does it succeed?

Keeping the art in mind, you can never go wrong in your reviews. You will avoid the pitfalls: "i didn't like it. it was good. i liked it. it was bad..." blah, blah. The interesting stuff is in the WHYs and the WHATs! Why did it succeed in parts, but not as a whole? What was it (the dance, the play, the painting, the song) trying to accomplish? Did it do more or less? Are you cool with where it went?

And tell us what you think! A little interpretation/a little context (do some research!) is always nice for your readers. Remember to keep them - US, your readers - in mind.... Or, just write for you. I carry a small notebook with me everywhere I go. Writers write. You are all writers because you write. That's the only requirement. :)

Open hearts, open minds.
The most important thing I want you to take away from TRaC is to be open to things foreign to you. Crain your neck, your ears, your brain to understand. Get excited, and bring people along!

Art is communication and communion.
That's what makes this fun....

happy december.
~eric

Eleanor & Eleanor / Not About Everything

Our next (and last) live performance will take place on Friday, at 7:30pm, when we go to see “Eleanor & Eleanor” by Beth Gill and “Not about Everything,” by Daniel Linehan at Dance Theater Workshop.

According to DTW’s website, “Eleanor & Eleanor” is “an assignment in aesthetics and a meditation on personal history and mythology,” and “Not About Everything” “is about the basics. It is about rhythm and change. It is about language and meaning. It is about action and inaction and supreme limitation.”

Sounds intriguing. But how are these concepts embodied physically in the work? And how do we put our own thoughts about dance into words? Dance TRaC instructor Brian McCormick – as well as, perhaps, dancer Danny Linehan – will come to our class on Thursday to give us some pointers.

We will meet on Friday at 7pm at the theater. It is located at 219 West 19th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues, in Chelsea. The closest subway stop is the 1 train stop at 18th Street. You can also take the A, C, or E to 14th Street and walk five blocks north and a half-block east to the theater. See you there!

The Brothers Size

Gilbert Owuor and Brian Tyree Henry in The Brothers Size
(© Michal Daniel)

The Brothers Size on the Public Theater website is linked here! If you google the show, there's a lot of reviews out there.

Also, Eisa posted about the show on the Theater TRaC Blog. More cross-pollination. Check it out!

run time: 1hr. 15min.
no intermission

This Thursday - TONY Theater Critic David Cote!

This Thursday we’re in for a real treat: David Cote, Time Out New York’s chief theater critic, is going to speak to us about his career path from director/performer to one of the most influential theater critics in the city. He’ll talk about the challenges of his work and discuss some particularly insightful and controversial reviews he's written, and answer your questions about the ups and downs of the reviewer’s life.

In addition to working for TONY, David has written for the New York Times, Maxim, Opera News and The Best Plays Theater Yearbook 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. He is a member of the New York Drama Critics Circle, a contributing critic on NY1’s On Stage, and the author of two books – Wicked: The Grimmerie, a behind-the-scenes look the Broadway musical Wicked, and a new book about Jersey Boys. David keeps a foot in the theater scene as well. In the 1990s, he was a performer and director, mostly in avant-garde productions below 14th Street by Richard Foreman, Richard Maxwell and others. Now he’s the Public Dramaturge for Montclair State University’s cutting-edge Peak Performance series. He received his B.A. from Bard College. He muses about theater, books, and religion on his blog, www.histriomastix.typepad.com.

This Thursday - Carnegie Hall!

St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by Yuri Temirkanov (pictured at left). Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 8 PM.

The “sound ... seems to emanate out of the stage floorboards and throb.” Or so says the New York Times about the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Let's see for ourselves on Thursday. It's an all-Russian program, featuring Sviridov's "Small Triptych," Mussorgsky's "Songs and Dances of Death," and Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky." Click here for more about the music, the artists, and to listen to samples.

Thursday's itinerary: We'll spend class discussing the rest of the "Tings Dey Happen" reviews, and then talking about review structure and classical music criticism.

Then we'll walk over to the hall (at 57th Street and 7th Avenue) together after class for the preconcert talk at 7pm. (That won't give us much time to stop to eat, so bring a snack if you think you'll need one, or some money to pick up something quick.) The speaker is Simon Morrison, Professor of Music, Princeton University. The concert starts at 8pm and should be over by 10pm.

So what did everyone think of Danny's talk on Thursday? Did he say anything that made you view his performance, or your job as a critic, differently? Let's get some thoughts out here.

Tings, Dey Happening on Thursday

Dan Hoyle will stop by Multi TRaC!

A little about him...

Dan Hoyle is an actor and writer based in San Francisco. His first solo show Circumnavigator, directed by Charlie Varon, ran for three months at The Marsh in Fall 2004 before touring colleges throughout the country. His second solo show, Florida 2004: The Big Bummer, had a sold-out run in Winter 2005 before he had to leave for Nigeria. While in Nigeria on a Fulbright scholarship, Dan performed at the U.S. Embassy and at the University of Port Harcourt’s theater, The Crab. He has served as an artist-in-residence for San Francisco’s School of the Arts High School, and has been commissioned by the San Francisco Mime Troupe and the Aurora Theatre Company. In 2003 he graduated from Northwestern University with a double degree in Performance Studies and History. His essays have been featured in The San Francisco Chronicle and on Sports Illustrated.com and Alternet.org. He has also performed with his father, actor and comedian Geoff Hoyle.

To learn more about Dan, check out his website: http://www.danhoyle.net/

When you're writing your reviews, jot down questions you have about the show, his writing/acting process, his trip....anything. He'll be in class for an hour, at your disposal.
(oh, yeah, and we're going to videotape it, so be prepared!!!)

~eric

1st Class and show details!

Hey Multi TRaC!

You get started this Thursday and will kick off the TRaC season with a show that night! Make sure to mark your calendars and plan accordingly ... meaning bring something to eat or a few bucks to pick up some food before the show.

Where and when to meet for class....
You meet every Thursday, from this one until the last class in December, from 4:30 to 6:30 (don't be late!) at the Jacob Blaustein Building at 165 East 56th Street on the corner of 3rd Avenue. **You are required to bring Photo ID.** (Please note: we are not always in the same room. Ask the guard behind the glass what room to be sure.) Take the 4, 5 or 6 train to 59th street and walk south down to 56th on Lexington and make a left. OR take the E, V, or 6 train to 51st street and walk north.

Immediately following class you will head down, as a group, to the Culture Project to see the one-man show, Tings Dey Happen, written and performed by Danny Hoyle.

Here's a little about the show from the Culture Project website:

Dan Hoyle tells the comic and profound story of Nigeria's oil madness in Tings Dey Happen, based on Hoyle's year in Nigeria as a Fulbright Scholar.

Media-savvy warlords, pacifist militants, Africanized Texas oilmen, and prostitutes turned anti-Chevron activists confront the audience with their stories of survival on the West African Oil Frontier.

Already supplying 10% of American oil, Nigeria and its surrounding Gulf of Guinea region has been targeted as the "new Middle East" of oil security.

However, militants in the oil-producing Niger Delta are blowing up pipelines, warlords are threatening rebellion, and oil company employees are being kidnapped with alarming frequency...

The show is at 8pm and runs about an hour and a half. The Culture Project theater is at 55 Mercer St. (between Broome St. and Grand St.). Click here to check out their website for directions.

If you get lost, contact Eric at High 5: 212-750-0555 ext.208 or ext. 200 (if there's no answer at 208) Print out this post or write this down.

And don't forget to bring a pen and notebook on Thursday!

enjoy
~eric