MAY 2013 Calendar of Events

Thursday May 2^nd

“Finishing Heaven”

Starring Ruby Lynn Reyner

Emmy nominated HBO Documentary “Finishing Heaven” is about a movie that everyone said would never be completed. Underground actress from the 1970′s Ruby Lynn Reyner, who is also the winner of the Drama Desk Award, set about to finish a work that was her lifelong dream.  The dialog is derived from Film Noir of the 1940′s.  This film reveals a time in the history of Manhattan and the downtown Warhol scene.  It captures the 1970′s like no other film.

Ruby Lynn Reyner is a comedienne who was the leading ingénue of The Playhouse Of The Ridiculous, a famous downtown theatre group.  She spent years in the Off Broadway Scheme, continues acting in plays and films as she has throughout her life.  Ruby also writes and performs with her band Ruby & The Rednecks.

Cover $10 – 8pm

Tuesday May 7

FRESH FACES FROM THE 1970s

Neke Carson Collete  Anton Perich

An evening of art, film, and conversation Marc H. Miller of online Gallery 98 in conversation with three boundary-pushing artists from the 1970′s

NEKE CARSON.  As a performance artist and maker of objects, Carson’s humor made him a media favorite in the 1970s.  His provocative oeuvre includes: “guerilla performances” in Soho galleries without permission; his paintings; and audience-participation pieces that redefined the relationship between viewers and art. Neke will explain all and show the short video.

COLETTE.  Famous in the 1970s for her sleeping performances in store windows and art spaces, her live-in environments, her “fine art” street graffiti for which she was once arrested, and her forays into fashion and music, Colette was a familiar presence in both nightclubs  and museums. She will share her art philosophy and introduce “Pirate in Venice,” a short film about her recent participation in the Venice Biennale.

ANTON PERICH.  Always with his camera at hand, Perich was both a documenter and provocateur in the 1970s. He contributed to Interview Magazine, and created new venues like his pioneering cable television show and Night Magazine. He also made paintings with “electronic brushstrokes” created by a painting machine that he first invented in the 1970s. Anton will talk about his paintings and screen excerpts from his controversial cable show.

MARC H. MILLER.  Miller, whose website 98 Bowery, a chronicle of his journey as an artist, curator and journalist in the 1970s inspired the recent New Museum exhibition “Come Closer: Art Around the Bowery, 1969-89,” is the host of the evening. Gallery 98 specializes in art and ephemera from that period.

For more information contact 98Bowery@gmail.com

Cover $10 –  8pm

Thursday May 9^th

Ray Lustig

All-guitar concert.

Guitarists Thomas Flippin and Rupert Boyd, playing works by Ray Lustig, Thomas Flippin, and others.

raylustig@gmail.com

www.raymondlustig.com

8pm Cover – $10

Tuesday May 14^th

K. Page Stewart

Dear Music Lovers,

Happy Spring!! Join us on May 14th at 7:00 at The Gershwin Hotel for IMPROV PICNIC!

K. Page – Solo Vocal Looping

Harvey Valdes – guitar and composition

Sanaco Nagano – violin and composition

Omarecan Sakar – drums

Brittany Anjou – piano, vibraphone and composition

First set starts at 7:15. Stay for all three with refreshments, chow and good sounds.

7pm Cover – $10

Thursday May 16^th

Victor Corona

A NEW YORK HAPPENING with

JASON MARTIN + POWER ANIMAL SYSTEMS

LADY STARLIGHT

Opening by LEO GUGU

Video by DEREK MEGA

Hosted by KATHERINE LLOYD + GREG MANIA

Cover $10 – 8pm

OPERA FANS don’t miss these dates!

Tuesday May 21st, Thursday May 23rd, Saturday May 25th

operamission will present the North American premiere of Handel’s first Italian opera, Rodrigo, at the Gershwin Hotel in New York, May 21, 23, and 25, 2013.

Original illustration by Tomi Um

George Frideric Handel’s first Italian opera receives its North American premiere this month at the Gershwin Hotel in the Flatiron District. Rodrigo, or “Vincer se stesso è la maggior vittoria” (“To conquer oneself is the greatest victory”) will be presented by operamission and Neke Carson as the latest installment in their joint series of concerts, operas, and cabaret.

Conductor Jennifer Peterson and director Jeff Caldwell lead an impressive cast and period baroque orchestra, presenting the complete work in its original Italian.  The three-act opera was composed in 1707 during the composer’s early sojourn in Rome, possibly at the behest of Ferdinando de’ Medici, receiving its world premiere at the Teatro del Cocomero in Florence the same fall.  Drawn from a pre-existing libretto by Francesco Silvani, this essential story of revenge, betrayal, love, and the subjugating of egos was crafted into its existing form by either Handel himself or another unnamed librettist.

Countertenor Nicholas Tamagna, “exquisite…substantial” (Opera Now), leads the cast as Rodrigo, the King of Hispania.  Icelandic soprano Dísella Lárusdóttir, called “breathtaking” by the New York Times, plays his wife Esilena following her recent Metropolitan Opera debut.  The seconda donna Florinda is the young beauty who has been ruined by the King and is in pursuit of vengeance.  She is portrayed by soprano Madeline Bender, hailed by Opera News as “a standout” and by L’Opinion Indépendante as “charming” and “completely fresh and natural.”

A story based on historical events, tenor John Carlo Pierce (Bavarian State Opera, Halle, Mainz, Cologne) portrays Florinda’s brother Giuliano, representing the infamous Count Julian of Ceuta who, according to legend betrayed His-pania to the Muslim invaders in the early 8th century out of vengeance for King Roderic, who had made one of Julian’s daughters pregnant.  Countertenor Christopher Newcomer, having recently made his Broadway debut as Mary Sunshine in Chicago, sings the soprano role of Evanco, in love with Florinda and the son of Vitizza, Prince of Aragon, who has just been slain by Rodrigo’s army.  Countertenor Daniel Bubeck, “eloquent” and “alluring” (New York Times) is Fernando, Rodrigo’s general.

operamission, bringing the art form ‘from the composer to the audience,’ has established its artistic presence in the New York classical music scene, Rodrigo being its eighteenth presentation since March of 2009.  Presenting works both of today and the past, operamission’s productions have ranged from concerts of Handel opera with period instruments to fully-staged operatic world premieres.  Live video streaming of operamission’s innovative programming has also exposed opera, art song, chamber music, and popular cabaret evenings of Francis Poulenc and Kurt Weill to international audiences.  The groundbreaking presentation of ‘Così fan tutte: Some Assembly Required’ in August 2010 put the troupe on the map with its dynamic format, enriching audience awareness of opera as an accessible and vital genre.

Tickets are available in advance at Brown Paper Tickets.  Performances are Tuesday, May 21, Thursday, May 23, and Saturday, May 25, all beginning at 7:30 PM

Contact:

Jennifer Peterson – director, operamission

www.operamission.org

operamission@gmail.com or twitter

+1 917 520-3163

Tuesday May 28th

“La Diosa Negra” (The Black Goddess)

The title work is performed to the flamenco “Petenera”. The black goddess is a deity of ancient times, endowed with magic to allow the people to use their emotions as a source of intelligence. The black goddess personifies compassion, earth, feelings, femininity and creation. The work offers to reduce dependence on conventional knowledge to find happiness. Feminine and masculine expressions are explored in the traditional flamenco pieces “Solea por Buleria” and “Farruca”, displaying their connection to one another.

Dancers and Actors:

Silvia Nava

Klaus Jekeli

Guitarist:

Arturo Martinez

Website of Numina Dance Theatre:

www.numina.biz

Cover $10 - 8pm

Thursday May 30^th

Stand-up comedian Anthony Scibelli returns to the Gershwin Hotel. A recent semi-finalist in the Boston Comedy Festival, Anthony began writing and performing comedy while he was a student at Brandeis University, and since then, his disarming style, clever joke writing and unique worldview have made him a powerful new voice in comedy. His articles and sketches have appeared on Cracked.com, Splitsider.com and UnSceneComedy.com.Also featuring magician Alex Fleming and some special guests.

Cover $10 – 8pm