This is our time!

Since announcing my candidacy for the directorship of New York City Opera, my team has worked hard and tirelessly to flesh out a not-so-short list of nominees for the proposed para-advisory board that will help me reshape the future of New York City Opera.

We have cast a wide net in order to ensure that every facet of opera is well represented, and that the fiercest thinkers and practitioners in each field are given voice and freedom to develop ideas within their areas of expertise.

PLEASE REVIEW AND MAKE COMMENTS. Feedback is totally necessary here. Add awesome people we may have overlooked. Critique those we’ve suggested if you don’t think they’re up to snuff. Nominate yourself.

I plan on re-establishing New York City Opera as an opera organization that is connected to the culture it represents. New York City is an enterprising, studied, creative and wildly imaginative collective of free-thinkers and fearless individuals who want the world to be as awesome as they know it can be. You’re ideas are important. And your participation is vital to ensuring that the New York City Opera is as awesome as we all know it could be.

We haven’t much time, as the search for a new director is well under way. So jump in, and join me in fighting for a New York City Opera that will truly embody the spirit of “The People’s Opera.”

To paraphrase one of the most inspirational movies from the 1980s:
City Opera? What City Opera? In a couple more hours, it ain’t gonna be the City Opera anymore. Come on, guys, this is our time. Our last chance to see if there really is a future for the New York City Opera.

Yes we can.

Here is the list, in no meaningful order (and sorry if the “category” format is a little uncomfortable)…

Critics/thinkers (oxymoron?):

Claudia LaRocco, natch. Or, L.Ro as she goes by around these parts.

Alex Ross, but only if he takes back what he said about the tritone.

A.O. Scott: We cannot neglect film. If projections etc are to remain a part of contemporary theater, then let’s make sure we’re using the flat screen to its full capacity.

Ros, you’re in.

T-Bone, Steve Smith and Daniel Wakin from The Times. All good writers. All care about classical music.

Roselee Goldberg, again, if she gets her act together.

Maynard Solomon, for allowing us to believe that Schubert was a fairy!

Directors/Producers:

Andy Horowitz, now that he’s got some free time on his hands.

Earl Dax, mastermind of Weimar New York, who curates everything from new opera to Glenn Marla.

Yuval Sharon, already involved with NYCO’s VOX program, let’s give him some more resources and really develop a young crop of new composers.

Ivo Van Hove. He’s already worked in opera, and there probably isn’t anything he can’t do on a stage. I’ve met him. And he’s super sweet.

Olivier Tambosi and Frank Philipp Schlossmann, who came together to make Jenufa at The Met, which remains the best production I have seen from that company.

Beth Morrison. She likes the young’ns, and she’s willing to put money behind new composers. Bring it on!

Musical Types:

Nick Hallett, song hero and advocate for avant garde music via his series, Darmstadt.

Kiki and Herb, cuz they’ve been around the block, the theater, the bar, and the sex club, and they still come back from more.

Zena Parkins. She’s worked with the likes of Bjork and John Jasperse. She’s hip but trained. Love that combo.

Steve Reich, cuz The Cave was hot.

Peter Tantsits. Friend, tenor, all around smart guy who knows his opera like he knows his sweater vests.

My composition professor.

Chris Lancaster. Current musical director for Bill T. And I’ve worked with him before!

Tori Amos. Rumor has it that she’s writing a musical. She’s also trained classically. Maybe we can convince her to try her hand at the big show.

Pierre Boulez. He’s not dead, after all. And he’s still a hero. Oh, what the hell, let’s throw in Elliot Carter too! (“What Next?” wasn’t bad, but it was completely misdirected…Sorry George.)

This section needs some more contemporary composers, so tear your hair out trying to come up with some.

Visual/Performance Artists:

Matthew Barney. Cremaster 5 is really one of the greatest operas of the past fifty years. Why hasn’t someone tapped his ass to make a stage production?

Jeffrey Deitch. Cool, cool, cool. There has to be a way to bring in this kind of cool to the world of opera.

Kehinde Willey. Why not?

Eduardo Sarabia, who’s “The Gift” got my Best In Show at this year’s Whitney Biennial.

Louise Bourgeois.

Kara Walker, if she’ll have me.

My roommate, Jim!

Jean Shin? Swoon? Neckface?

Who else? We need some unknowns.

Theater Peeps:

The Wooster Group. Confounding. Brilliant. (And I know their General Manager!)

Speaking of postdramatic theater, let’s bring in Hans-Thies Lehmann, who wrote the book.

I would give all comic opera to Superamas or Nature Theater of Oklahoma.

Hello, Edward Albee! He wanted to be a composer when he was young. And he has some solid opinions about the genre.

Umm, Richard Foreman. Why hasn’t he done an opera yet?

Teatro de Ciertos Habitantes. They hilariously tackled the history of the castrati. Now let’s see them work their anarchy on some classics of the repertoire.

Umm, Peter Brook has some seriously sober news for opera. Y’all know he’s vowed never to work with opera again. My guess is that it’s opera’s issue. Maybe Brook can help us work it out.

Dancemakers:

Mark Morris, obv.

Jerome Bel. He makes hot shit, and he’s just the kind of mind who can take a scalpel to all things tired and rusty. Imagine what he could do with some hot singers!

John Jasperse. He’s working it out, pushing boundaries, and he’s got an acute musical sensibility.

Adrienne Truscott. She knows what makes theater tick, which means she can take it apart, and put it back together, way hotter and much more funner.

Miguel Gutierrez for his humanity, and his earnest pursuit of the truth.

Ivy Baldwin. This bitch is like WAY under-appreciated. She knows how to make theater, and “Could be nice…” was the most purely vulgar thing I saw on stage last year. And I saw a lot of vulgar things.

Jonah Bokaer, former Merce Dancer, one of the founders of Chez Bushwick, co-conspirator with John Jasperse for the new Center for Performance Research. He’s young, he’s bright, he knows his shit, and, hey, he’s already doing choreography for Robert Wilson’s operas.

Moving Theater. Again, they’re young and savvy. They produced an opera for the Greenwich Music Festival, to much success, and they’re not afraid to take on the likes of Cage and Xenkis.

Ann Liv Young. If only to play Salome. (btw, girl got a new website)

And Joe Levasseure, the lighting genius who is virtually responsible for how we see downtown dance. In belt-tightening times, working with light is a great way to reduce cost and maximize effect.

Filmmakers:

I’m partial to Catherine Breillat, but I don’t know if she’s done any stage works yet.

Let’s see what Woody Allen has to say.

Wes Anderson. I’m not saying we should adapt his movies, but I think his aesthetic could really lend itself well to the stage.

Ang Lee! He already did Brokeback Mountain the movie. Maybe we can wrestle back the idea from Mortier and keep gay bareback opera a reality at NYCO!

David Lynch. Cuz.

John Cameron Mitchell. From Hedwig to Shortbus, fierce, queer lyricism (mixed with humor, of course!) could be a lifeline for the art of opera.

Barbara Kopple. God bless the Dixie Chicks!

Lars von Trier. YES!

Writers:

We need the most help in this area. I’m still catching up on my classics, so it will be a few decades before I get to the contemporary lit. Although, I have some writer friends who would be good candidates and have been interested in opera.

Indispensibles:

La Cieca, the doyen of opera queens, and always with the inside scoop.

Meryl Streep. I’m sure we can put her to some use.

Michael Hart.

Again, these are off the top of my head suggestions! I’m sure there are about a billion more awesome candidates in all the areas, so it’s your job now to let me know who I left out, and who would seriously be talented, fierce, amazing creators that could help save New York City Opera.

Get to it!

Updates:

I already realized I left off a few important folks. First, Chris Schiavo, a fiercely independent film artist with whom I have collaborated previously. Second, Lief Krinkle, a hot-ass video/interactive media artist who work with Eric Singer over at Lemurplex, building musical robots and being generally awesome. And third, James C. Taylor out in L.A. Opera connoisseur. He knows his shit, and he’s not afraid to say it.

BACK TO CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS

If, like C.C., your head is exploding with all the political chatter bouncing around the TV news and the interweb, then hightail it tonight to Christian Rizzo and I-Fang Lin’s untitled dance piece at the Center for Performance Research (CPR), the joint venture between John Jasperse and Jonah Bokaer.

Girlz, I-Fang Lin’s cool demeanor, delicate precision, and ability to make it look like she has three or four separate bodies, WILL CLEANSE YOUR PALATE and leave you refreshed and ready to dive into the last five weeks of this intense presidential campaign.

There’s also a pretty sweet installation by Rizzo and Caty Olive, some video, and a modest photo exhibition of dancer portraits by Peggy Jarell Kaplan. All of this is in conjunction with FIAF’s Crossing The Line Festival.

It’s free, but make a reservation ahead of time.

You might even get to say high to Mr. Jasperse as he mans the front door.

TONIGHT IS THE LAST NIGHT (Saturday, Sept. 27)

L’Association Fragile / Christian Rizzo
With I-Fang Lin & Caty Olive
Co-presented by
CPR-Center for Performance Research @ Greenbelt
In Association With Crossing the Line: FIAF Festival 2008

7:30PM
361 Manhattan Avenue (@ Jackson)
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Free Admission By Reservation Only:
CPRrsvp@aol.com

He's a magic maaaaaaaan!

C.C.’s got song on the brain, probably because of her own immersion in the stuff, with three performances coming up in the next 10 days all involving songs of hers (er…well, one of the performances was last night at the opening of the new Galapagos! I may blog about that whole experience later. But quickly, it was a fierce and strange night in a fierce and strange space. I don’t think DUMBO knew what was about to hit it).

But song is a particularly vital form, one that spans all styles of music, and all cultures. Beyond the popular use and abuse of songs–namely abuse by TV/radio culture that dishes out song after song to be consumed and forgotten, like little nuggets of McMusic; or the tired marketing trope of actors bursting into song in TV commercials; or those annoying and condescending credit report songs with bizarre prosody and forced rhymes–songs can be treated in a variety of interesting ways.

There is a particular vitality of the song in downtown performance. Dance theater artists often include songs in their work; generally pop songs of all styles and eras. Some songs are called on to add a very specific emotional element to a performance sequence, others are employed ironically to affects that are sometimes poignant, sometimes off-the-mark. Some performers sing live (earnestly, ironically, and/or emotionally), some lip sync, others just let the song play while acting out a little sketch. And sometimes songs are used in a more traditional way, like creating a dance to a ballet score.

To digress for a second, I’d like to point out a review of Loretta Lynn by Jon Caramanica in The Times. Hat’s off to Caramanica for writing probably one of the most difficult reviews he’s ever had to write. To have to give a negative review not only to someone who is legendary in their field, but whose command of her craft is diminishing simply for the effect of time on her body, must have been heartbreaking. But I think he did the right thing to correctly speak to both her legend and her dwindling presence.

I included this review because of its focus on an artist who made her career through song; through genuine song; through sitting and thinking about life, reflecting, and then writing songs that speak to true experience.

But that isn’t the only kind of song, nor do I think it should be. Variety is always better; versatility prime. And C.C.’s tastes certainly span the gamut. So we thought it would be fabo to think back through the best and worst moments in song, in performance (and a couple films), from the past year or so.

So here’s a broad recap. In no particular order…

Best – Jack Ferver’s “I am disappeared…I am disappointed…” song he performed with Renee Benson at the end of his show “I am trying to hear myself” at the New Museum.

Best – Miguel Guiterrez’s use of Gwen Stefani’s “Early Winter” in his show “Nothing, No Thing” at La MaMa. First played at high volume, Miguel seemed to shrink on stage as the song overtook him. Later he howled the song a capella at the top of his lungs in what was truly a gut-wrenching solo. It was so tweaked that Roslyn Sulcas called it tuneless, even though the Stefani melody remained intact, if seriously strained.

Best - John Jasperse, the same night at La MaMa, opened his work “Pure” with a seriously gorge dance to Rick Ross’s “Where My Money (I Need That).” Fierce.

Worst – Meg Stuart and Philipp Ghemacher’s “Maybe Forever” at DTW. Whether it was the sheer length of the show or whatever, these songs were more like little digressions into boring pit stops on an already endless stretch of highway.

Best – Ann Liv Young’s ash-soaked performance at the opening of the new CPR in Bushwick was libidinous and hedonistic. But there’s just something about her approach to song–simultaneously sincere and ironic, awful and endearing–that makes her, oddly, one of today’s leading practitioners of the melodie.

Best – Neal Medlyn’s take-down of Beyonce at the New Museum was exhilarating, if a tad one-note (pun intended). Whatever: he’s still fierce, and fiercely using song to entertain us all.

Best - Jerome Bel’s “Killing Me Softly” in “Pinchet Klunchun and myself.” Lip-sync irony at its best, also because it takes the lyrics quite literally. Moving, powerful, simple: hilarious.

Best – From Adrienne Truscott’s “Genesis, No!”, Neal Medlyn and Carmine Covelli miming a pair of lovers being stuck in a car listening to Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone”

Worst – The theme song from “Happy Days” played during intermission at Fiona Shaw’s Samuel Becket’s “Happy Days” at BAM. Ugh…

Best – Joanna Newsome, if only for making us take a close, hard look at ourselves. Y’all know we went full circle on this girl. But she does have a true talent, and her songs can be mesmerizing.

Worst – Juno. The whole attitude of this movie sucked, culminating in that lame-ass ending w/ the two teens playing guitar together. I’m not saying that Kimya Dawson’s songs were bad, but the way they were used to curry favor for a script that was, at best, amateur, insulated and self-congratulatory, sucked my balls. (And, obviously, not in the good way.)

Best – “Sweeney Todd: The Movie”. I might take flack for this, but Helena Bonham Carter’s version of “The Worst Pies In London” is like the sweetest, saddest thing I’ve ever heard, other than the sound of my own crying at night after a long hard day of living in NYC.

Best – Justin Bond’s “Lustre, A Midwinter Trans-Fest” at P.S.122 was a mini trove of song-tastic moments. Aside from Bond’s singular voice, there was a strong showing by M Lamar, whose “White Pussy” was one of the unmentionable gems L. Ro. couldn’t illuminate in her review.

Best – Katy Pyle and Eleonore Houlihan’s performance duo, Asubtout, has a pretty amazing song about crystals and unicorns, if I recall correctly.

And finally…

Best – Nick Hallet makes the list like a million times. His performance of Meredith Monk songs was a much needed moment of clarity and rigorous artistry at the closing party for Performa 07. Back in March, Earl Dax presented an entire evening of Nick’s original songs at Joe’s Pub, and Bridget Everett awesomely sang Nick’s awesome “Bring In The Boys!” number. Then, as recently as July 24, Nick and his cohort Zach Layton organized an installment of their avant-music series, Darmstadt, in honor of pianist Emily Manzo. It was basically this huge night of songs, from popular, present and classical genres. Nick’s own interpretation of Charles Ives’s song “Majority”, sung intentionally in a popular vocal style, was genius. I think sometimes that the classical vocal instrument does more on its own to make classical vocal music sound so weird and unapproachable. And when Nick crooned a little during the Ives, you could imagine folks down at the local watering hole swinging their arms around each other in a grand atonal chorus.

More about that night:

Aaron Diskin‘s all-too-short “History of Music pt.1″ was a smart and absurd summary of music from opera through reggae (pt.2 hopefully coming soon…). Seth Garrison and Clara Latham, who form the band Wilde Turkey, sang their song “Born to be a Star”, which segues nicely near the end into the chorus of U2′s “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”

Then, at the end, [quoting now from a comment I left over at Culturist] a performance of “Noise In You,” a song written by David Garland (b. 1955), who was in attendance, was one of the most eerily moving performances I’ve seen recently. Led by Christine Edwards, all fifteen or so of the night’s participants came out wearing hospital gowns, and sang in chorus, “I know there’s a noise in you…And I know that I’m noisy too…” to a sweet, child-like melody. The song is about how our bodies actually produce sound (or noise), even though we commonly regard our bodies as silent objects.

And at the very end, Edwards approached a little table that had on top of it a stethoscope attached to an amplifier. She held it to her neck, and as the music continued behind her, the sound of her heartbeat began to throb through the entire room. It was this crazy, humanistic moment, her vital sign seeming to humbly remind us that it had been present in the room the entire time. It is always present, as long as we are.

Hot.

Well, that’s kind of all I can remember. Any songs you’ve heard, liked, hated in performance or on film? Let us know!

So, I know some of you think I ain’t been writin’ recently. But t’aint true! I just been writin’ somewheres else.

Check these dance reviews over at The Brooklyn Rail:

First, Neal Medlyn and Jack Ferver queer it up at The New Museum…

Whether we’re post-gay, post-AIDS, post-Will & Grace, or blindly drifting in the marketing-driven scam of metrosexuality (which, by definition, is a male heterosexual mannerism), queer male identity is certainly due for an overhaul. Luckily, there appears to be a trend in queer performance to boldly, and with intelligence, break out of, or at least seriously bend, the tropes of camp and drag in an effort to present queerness in all its rich, contemporary complexity. In early April, on a shared bill at the new New Museum curiously titled Extreme Behavior, performing artists Neal Medlyn and Jack Ferver offered wildly different projects, each evoking various dimensions of queer identity–whether intentionally or not–and with results that exhibit a common reluctance to be placed. Read the rest…

Then, Laura Peterson gets tangled in some foam insulation… (Funny. I saw Peterson at the Medlyn/Ferver affair. Oh, the wangled teb we weave…)

Electrolux: The word may sound like some generic term for the latest tranny party doomed to a four-week lifespan before dying out in a fizzle of A.D.D. and urban ennui, but it’s actually the name of one of the largest appliance manufacturers in the world. When dance artist Laura Peterson gave her latest creation the same name, she was probably counting on the obscurity of the Swedish company to leave the allure of the word in tact, but, in effect, it’s kind of like naming your dance “Pfizer,” or “McDonald’s.” This kind of genericism pervades Electrolux, although bursts of originality and sheer visceral action save the piece from falling into disrepair. Read the rest…

And don’t forget to check out the article (not by me) on Greenbelt, the future home of John Jasperse and Jonah Bokaer’s Center for Performance Research!