Phone: (212)242-6036 Fax: (212)989-8864
Email: info@nyartists.org
Melba LaRose, Artistic Director
We have word from the new owner of the building at 203 Avenue A that official occupancy papers 'may' be approved soon. We could use help & ideas in preparation for this imminent return to Downeast Arts Center. Board meetings and committee meetings (Planning, PR & Marketing, Fundraising, Partnerships), are being held and anyone is welcome to jump in on this exciting venture!
ISAIAH'S DREAM - A Parade of Poets
This piece is inspired by a little boy who took part in our "Voices of Loisaida" workshop at Downeast Arts Center on Manhattan's Lower East Side. He came from an area where he feared every day for his life, living amidst gunfire and drug deals gone wrong. At the end of the workshop, he composed a stirring poem about Martin Luther King, Jr. and what he did for all Americans.
The play begins with Isaiah struggling with a homework assignment on poetry, complaining he doesn't know what relevance poetry could possibly have to his life. He is awakened by Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, who tells him about his life and struggles in India, then recites a poem. Tagore introduces: Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos, Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, Brooklyn poet Walt Whitman, French poet Hilaire Belloc, American poets Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Nikki Giovanni, Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet, Japanese poet Kaneko Mitsuharu, Indian poet Rumi, Argentinean poet Jorge Luis Borges, Chinese poet Wu Men, and others. Finally, Langston Hughes appears, who speaks directly to Isaiah's life experience. In the end, Isaiah finds his own voice and speaks the poem about Martin Luther King.
An in-depth discussion (unlimited length) follows the presentation, welcoming questions about: history of the project, literary research, cultural issues, background of creators/ performers, and more. Written by artistic director Melba LaRose, this project is interactive and educational. With an African-American/Latino boy in the lead, the multicultural cast – which consists of 4 actors and a stage manager – plays more than 20 poets from around the world. They teach Isaiah about the problems in every culture and how they survived through artistic expression. The actors wear basic black and add props and costumes to represent countries of origin. A sound designer adds culture-specific underscoring for the choreographic movement of the actors. Some poems are performed bilingually, adding to the rich, linguistic texture of the play.
EBONY BLACK
Inspired by Snow White
Ebony Black "Ebony Black", an original children's musical that springs from Snow White, is dancing through the South Street Seaport in May, courtesy of NY Artists Unlimited and Montauk Theatre Productions/ Shooting Star Theatre. Performances for children and family audiences are Saturdays at 3 p.m., May 12, 19 & 26, at the Seaport District Cultural Association Performing Space, SW corner of Beekman & Front Streets. The contemporary, multicultural take on the classic tale boasts book & lyrics by NY Artists Unlimited's artistic director Melba LaRose, who created "Little Red - Girl from the Hood" (on tour throughout NYC for five years). The music is by local composer-musical director Rachel Kaufman and the choreography by Francis J. Roach, protégé of jazz dance legend Luigi. In this version, Iceola (or Icy), a rich lady from the Hamptons, orders up a daughter from the Gracious Home Shopping Network and requests: skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony. A beautiful girl arrives at her door, but there has been a mix-up. She has: hair white as snow, cheeks red as blood, and skin as black as ebony.
Escaping Iceola's wrath and helped along by the servants, Ebony goes on a singing/ dancing trip through the multicultural East Village with a wacky band of musicians (the Royalists). Iceola, bolstered by chats with her computer monitor and a psychic network, impersonates hosts of TV shows (American Model, Trippy Makeovers) and a homeless Irishwoman to try to destroy Ebony. But, Royalists' lead singer Prince Freddy arrives just in time to save her. He dances a love ballet with her limp body, then kisses her awake and make her his Princess. In the end, Ebony discovers her own intrinsic beauty and self-worth, celebrated with a reprise of the show's title song, and Iceola is done in by a pair of red (glitter) shoes. The cast is: Kubbi (Ebony Black), Tristan Laurence (Prince Freddy), Lucia Manzella (Iceola), and as the band of Royalists: Thoa Dang, Nate Steinwachs, Joseph Lopez (alternate Court Sweeting), and Melba LaRose. After the Seaport performances, the show will tour libraries, recreation centers, schools, and the like throughout the boroughs.
Seaport District Cultural Association Performing Space, SW corner of Beekman & Front Streets, South Street Seaport (one block north of Fulton St.). $10 adults; $5 children. Saturdays at 3 p.m., May 12, 19 and 26. For reservations (strongly suggested), please call: 212-242-6036 (NY Artists Unlimited) or email: Nyartunltd@aol.com. For further information: www.NYartists.org.
Montauk Theatre Productions, founded in 1987, is a nonprofit organization focusing on the development of new talent and new works in the theatre arts. Its main operating venue is Shooting Star Theatre in South Street Seaport. NY Artists Unlimited is a 25 year old, nonprofit multicultural company that serves under-served audiences throughout the boroughs of NYC and remote regions of the Northeast. The focus is on original works that evoke dignity of the individual and sanctity of the human spirit. An audience of approximately 30,000 is reached annually in libraries, recreation centers, universities, schools, nursing homes, senior centers, and the like. They are supported in part by: NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, A.R.T./New York , Puffin Foundation, corporate and individual donors. Artistic Director Melba LaRose is listed in Who's Who in America , Who's Who in the World, Who's Who of American Women, and Who's Who in Executives & Professionals.
VOICES OF THE TOWN - A Vaudeville Salute!
VOICES OF THE TOWN is a literal translation from the French "voix de ville," the original name of the entertainment that became known in America as Vaudeville. In this tribute to the Old Tymes, the troupe has created a play-within-a-play. It begins with the actors in "real time" on tour to under-served audiences, the dedicated mission of the company. As they enter and prepare for the show, they complain about the problems they face in their careers and lives: racial discrimination, struggles in the economy, equal pay for women, age discrimination, lawsuits, bad love affairs, demonstrations and unions, takeovers, the taking of film and TV roles to support a life in the theatre, and more. When they finally get to the show, it turns out they are performing a tribute to the bygone days of vaudeville and each actor turns into a famous personality of the 1920s. A beautiful and sensuous African-American actress becomes Florence Mills, a great figure of the Harlem Renaissance who sang literally like a bird, danced, acted, and was well loved by all who saw her. A shining star, she was most famous for her rendition of: "I'm a Little Blackbird Looking for a Bluebird" [of happiness] from "Shuffle Along," the hugely successful Broadway musical by Eubie Blake & Noble Sissle. Bert Williams was beloved in both the African-American and the White communities. His Mr. Nobody was the forerunner of Chaplin's Little Tramp and he became the highest paid star of the Ziegfeld Follies. Other characters are: Gallagher & Shean, the dueling partnership that was the model for Neil Simon's "The Sunshine Boys." The Dolly Sisters, an attractive duo from Poland that performed mirror dances. Tony Pastor, dubbed the Father of Vaudeville, MC/Manager of the famous Fourteenth Street Theatre. The production has five actors, singing, dancing, and musical accompaniment.