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Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Savage Beauty

Marty Rea and Aisling O'Sullivan. Photo: Aaron Monaghan
By Brian Scott Lipton

I was recently in a restaurant where a baby shower was taking place, the young mother-to-be beaming at the center of a table festooned with balloons proclaiming “It’s a Girl.” I was tempted to ask her if she’d ever gone to the theater.

Obviously, many mothers and daughters have long and happy relationships. It’s just that you don’t see them that often on the stage. In fact, many of the 20th century’s greatest playwrights have shone their spotlight all too brightly on this most complex and difficult of familial situations. Take Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, where the self-sufficient Amanda Wingfield gets repeatedly frustrated with her handicapped, painfully shy daughter Laura (“Oh! I felt so weak I could barely keep on my feet! I had to sit down while they got me a glass of water! Fifty dollars’ tuition, all of our plans—my hopes and ambitions for you—just gone up the spout, just gone up the spout like that.”) to Marsha Norman’s devastating “’Night Mother,” where mom Thelma faces, not always effectively or politely, the possibility of depressed daughter Jessie committing suicide.

More recently, we’ve witnessed Tracy Letts’ devastating August Osage County, during which eldest daughter Barbara finally loses her patience after one of her drug-addicted mother Violet’s nastiest outbursts, tackling her to the ground and loudly announcing what she erroneously believes is a now-permanent shift in their power dynamic. (“You don’t get it: I’m in charge now!”)

And then there’s perhaps the most toxic of all mother-daughter relationships—the one between elderly Mag Folan and her 40-year-old spinster daughter Maureen in Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane, a Druid production at the BAM Harvey Theater from January 11 to February 5.

Friday, December 23, 2016

Give the .gif of BAM!


via GIPHY

2016 has been an exhausting year for all of us, but we still have hope. Here's to you, our audiences, for remaining so inquisitive, engaged, and adventurous through it all. To express our appreciation, we looked to some of our favorite moments from BAM's history for new ways to keep our season bright.

Using GIPHY, spread the spirit and send these festive .gifs to friends and loved ones via Facebook, Twitter, or text. Happy holidays, and cheers to 2017!

Friday, December 9, 2016

Watery Magic Onstage


Lothar Odinius and Olga Peretyatko in The Nightingale and Other Short Fables. Photo: Jack Vartoogian

By David Hsieh

L’Amour de Loin, the first opera by a female composer presented on the Metropolitan Opera stage in over a century, will be shown at BAM Rose Cinemas this Saturday (Dec 10) as part of the Met: Live in HD series. The Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, with librettist Amin Maalouf, drew from a 14th-century troubadour legend as a source. It tells of two lovers pining for each other across the vast ocean, which in this Robert Lepage production is embodied by 28,000 LED lights.

In a New York Times interview, Lepage explained why he went for the illusion of water: “Water is like doing a show with young children and animals and insects. It will do what it wants, and you don’t have any control over it.”

We at BAM know that Lepage speaks from experience, because this recognized theater wizard and BAM Iconic Artist (coming back this Spring!) has put real water on our stage before. That was The Nightingale and Other Short Fables (2011 Winer/Spring Season), an opera production consisting of several short Stravinsky music theater pieces. For The Nightingale, a fairy tale set in ancient China, Lepage adopted a Vietnamese water puppetry tradition with performers immersed in a pool of 12,000 gallons of water. The custom-made water tank was sunk in the orchestra pit. What the audience saw was a luminescent surface where small boats glided by, a puppet fisherman hauled in his nets, and birds darted above it—an experience that The Wall Street Journal called “spell-binding.”

Thursday, December 8, 2016

In Context: Amplified




The Dublin Guitar Quartet and composer Michael Gordon redefine what the guitar can be as an ensemble instrument. Context is everything, so get even closer to the production with this curated selection of related articles and videos. After you've attended the show, let us know what you thought by posting in the comments below and on social media using #Amplified.

In Context: CITIZEN





Choreographer Reggie Wilson returns to BAM with a brand new work inspired by African-American figures throughout history who chose not to leave their home country in spite of pervasive racism. CITIZEN is a dense and timely work, so to give you greater insight into the production, we’ve compiled resources below. Start with Wilson’s introduction, reading list, and our BAMblog piece for context, then explore the other links for a more in-depth experience. After you've attended the show, let us know what you thought by posting in the comments below and on social media using #ReggieWilson.

Holiday Party Tips from Mrs. Stahlbaum

Photo: Julieta Cervantes
Struggling to kindle that seasonal spark? Desperate to spice up your hum-drum holiday? Never fear, Mrs. Stahlbaum is here with enough flair and Christmas-tree flocking to transform any celebration. Study her stampede of tips, tricks, and treats, then see the party-master herself at work in Mark Morris Dance Group's The Hard Nut, coming to the Howard Gilman Opera House December 10—18!

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

CITIZEN—A Note from Reggie Wilson

Choreographer Reggie Wilson (Moses(es), 2013 Next Wave; The Good Dance - dakar/brooklyn, 2009 Next Wave) returns to BAM next week with CITIZEN—a brand new work inspired by African-American figures throughout history who chose not to leave their home country in spite of pervasive racism. A note from Wilson follows.



I am excited to return to the BAM Next Wave Festival with a new dance.

It’s amazing how life and current events change the perception and meaning of artwork. I began researching CITIZEN in spring 2014 during a visit to Paris. I was intrigued by a portrait of Jean Baptiste Belley. Who was this man? Who painted the portrait and why? Who was able to commission a full-figure portrait of a black man in 1797? Who decided to continue to save this portrait during the political upheavals? How was it determined that this painting should be housed at Versailles (the only image of a black person in the entire collection—a self proclaimed bastion of French heroes). Why was this painting not on public display? Why are there so few paintings of black folks in “history” who aren’t enslaved, wild, or caricatured?

In Context: The Hard Nut

Photo: Julieta Cervantes




Mark Morris Dance Group’s beloved reimagining of The Nutcracker—a lavish, gender-bent love letter that playfully preserves the warm spirit of an essential holiday tradition—returns to BAM for the holidays. Context is everything, so get even closer to the production with this curated selection of related articles and videos. After you've attended the show, let us know what you thought by posting in the comments below and on social media using #TheHardNut.

Friday, December 2, 2016

In Context: Brent Green & Sam Green: Live Cinema


A showcase of work by animator Brent Green and documentarian Sam Green, this live video event features foley sound by artist Kate Ryan, live narration by the filmmakers, and music by Brendan Canty (Fugazi), James Canty (Nation of Ulysses), and others. Context is everything, so get even closer to the production with this curated selection of related articles and videos. After you've attended the show, let us know what you thought by posting in the comments below and on social media using #BrentGreenSamGreen.

In Context: The Winter’s Tale


Director Declan Donnellan and Cheek by Jowl take up Shakespeare’s most fundamental questions in this fiercely contemporary staging of the Bard’s late masterpiece of wit and wisdom. Context is everything, so get even closer to the production with this curated selection of related articles and videos. After you've attended the show, let us know what you thought by posting in the comments below and on social media using #TheWintersTale.