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Mavis Pusey (b. 1928), Dejygea, 1970. Courtesy of Brock and Co. This piece debuted at the 1971 "Contemporary Black Artists in America" exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. It illustrates Ms. Pusey's embrace of old, dilapidated New York structures and their architecture. The museum label notes that early on, Ms. Pusey's work was frequently mischaracterized by museum curators as about "self" rather than the artist's environment she chose.
Looking for an indoor place to take your brood over the holidays? Children (and adults) will be intrigued by what lies in front of them at the National Museum of Women in the Arts' new show, Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today. There discussions may be piqued by renderings which can trigger emotions and senses to include, but not limited to, humor, sadness, awareness, contemporary times, and whatever else one can detect and extract.
I guarantee you no one will find it "boring," not the young, not the "don't bother me" teenager, nor the dragged-along Uncle George who doesn't want to go anywhere or do anything.
With representations by 21 contemporary black female artists, the museum is proud to present the first U.S. exhibition by abstract artists of this genre. Reading the labels and hearing the voices of the women who describe their backgrounds and experiences make attempted comprehension much more enjoyable.
The artists' lives span 90 years, from 1891 to 1981, and several of the works are on public view for the first time.
They are "under-recognized" and "marginalized," says museum literature. The museum director, Susan Fisher Sterling, writes: "This exhibition shifts our attention to key practitioners who have not received their due" and are important to contemporary art history.
Named after Mildred Thompson's Magnetic Fields (in the show), a November 28 event will present two of the artists, Susan Snowden and Shinique Smith in public discussion. (See below.)
Maren Hassinger (b. 1947), Wrenching News, 2008, courtesy of the artist. Twisted and torn pieces of the New York Times convey the artist's representation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and its aftereffects which evoke "the poignant sociopolitical issues exposed in the wake of this natural disaster." Call 202-747-3417 and dial 205# to hear the artist speak about it/Photo by Patricia Leslie
A close-up of Maren Hassinger's Wrenching News, 2008, above/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Howardena Pindell (b. 1943), Autobiography: Japan (Shisen-do, Kyoto), 1982, courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York. Using paint, collage elements, and hole-punched paper, the artist depicts her seven-month sojourn in Japan on a "friendship grant" and her attempts to save her memory after a serious car accident in 1979. Call 202-747-3417 and dial 209# to hear her/Photo by Patricia Leslie
A close-up of Howardena Pindell's Autobiography: Japan (Shisen-do, Kyoto), 1982, above/Photo by Patricia Leslie
From left Chakaia Booker, El Gato; Mavis Pusey, Dejydea; and Abigail Deville, Harlem Flag/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Abigail Deville (b. 1981), Harlem Flag, 2014, courtesy of the artist. Made from objects the artist found in Harlem and arranged to contrast and compare parallels between past and present/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Chakaia Booker (b. 1953), El Gato, 2001, collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Since the early 1990s, Ms. Booker has used rubber tires which represent travel, industry, ecology, skin and muscle as her primary medium. Here the "regal pose and aura of a feline" is depicted in The Cat. The artist sculpts herself daily with wearable art/Photo by Patricia Leslie
The name of Barbara Chase-Riboud (b. 1939), Zanzibar/Black, 1974-75, may be better known as a poet and author who wrote Sally Hemings, 1979. This is courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery and "exemplifies the artist's interest in developing monuments dedicated to transformative individuals and places."/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Sylvia Snowden (b. 1942), June 12, 1992 is the wedding anniversary of Ms. Snowden's parents who, with Howard University, the artist credits for helping her succeed in the art world. This was part of a series which was on exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in 1992 and is hung courtesy of the artist. Call 202-747-3417 and dial 214# to hear Ms. Snowden speak of this work/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Shinique Smith (b. 1971), Bale Variant No. 0017, 2009, Denver Art Museum Collection. Fabric, wood, ink, twine and ribbon comprise the sculpture. The artist weaves her own clothing and pieces she finds "to visualize the tension of accumulation and consumption."/Photo by Patricia Leslie
At the exhibition's opening Virginia Treanor, NMWA associate curator, called the museum "a natural platform for an exhibit like this." Several of the artists were born in Washington and Baltimore where some reside. Some graduated from Howard University.
"This is not a survey," Ms. Treanor emphasized in her opening remarks, or "meant to be comprehensive."
Curators were Melissa Messina and Erin Dziedzic, director of curatorial affairs at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri.
In conjunction with the show, Sylvia Snowden and Shinique Smith will speak at the museum November 28 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Guests pay $25 ($15, members, seniors, and students) to mingle with the artists, see the exhibition and other collections, and enjoy food and beverages. It is close to a sellout. Make required reservations here.
A 144-paged illustrated catalogue is available in the museum gift shop and online.
Other artists in the show are Candida Alvarez, Betty Blayton, Lilian Thomas Burwell, Nanette Carter, Deborah Dancy, Mary Lovelace O'Neal, Gilda Snowden, Kianja Strobert, Jennie C. Jones, Evangeline "EJ" Montgomery, Alma Woodsey Thomas, and Brenna Youngblood.
What: Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today
When: Now through January 21, 2018. Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sundays, 12 - 5 p.m.
Where: The National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005
Admission:
Free on the first Sunday of the month (December 3, 2017 and January 7, 2018 for this show) or $10, adults; $8, seniors and students; and always free for members and
children, 18 and under.
For more information: 202-783-5000
Metro station: Metro Center. Exit at 13th Street and walk two blocks north.
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So much for Rotten Tomatoes and its "100 percent" approval rating.
Agnes Varda may be the greatest filmmaker out of Belgium since, since...(who?) but that still doesn't make her 2017 documentary of rural France any better. Zzzzzzzzz.....
Faces Places is a constant refrain of frame after frame after frame of Ms. Varda, 89, traveling around France in a big van with a "mysterious" photographer, "JR" (that's all), 33, who together take pictures, blow them up, and paste them to barns, trains, walls, whatever is handy. Cool!
Ta da! That's it! No plot, no drama, no upbeat to this tune except he wears dark sunglasses at night and all the time!
About a third of the way through, I thought about leaving. About half the way through, I thought more about leaving. At the end it was too late.
It's one of those movies you keep telling yourself it's going to pick up, pick up, pick up, but it never does, and lies flat like the train tracks. (The next time I tell myself that, I'll know it's the signal to VAMOOSE.)
Faces Places is 89 minutes long which matches Ms. Varda's age! Imagine! About 80 minutes too many.
Dullsville, lacklustre, you catch my drift. It would make a good drugless sleep aide since it works wonders in about 10 minutes.
Take my words for it and save your time and money and forget about Rotten Tomatoes! You know critics: They like films like that lifeless, depressing cat movie of 2014,
arty-farty films which earn zero return because they are public flops. But the producers don't make them for the money. Oh, no: They do it for the art! Yeah, right. And Donald Trump doesn't tweet.
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Jon Hudson Odom in Our Town at Olney Theatre Center/Photo by Stan Barouh
You can see it now through November 12 at the Olney Theatre Center.
Its message is simple but strong, and I am happy to note that Goodreads agrees with me, including Our Town in its "Top 100 Stage Plays," and ditto, Buzzfeed (32 to Read Before You Die), and the list goes on.
Olney Theatre is nothing short of sophistication and utmost professionalism in its presentations, and Thornton Wilder's play fits the missive exactly, especially with Our Town under the baton of the esteemed Aaron Posner, director of more than 250 plays and winner of five Helen Hayes Awards.
From left, Megan Anderson, Jon Hudson Odom, a puppet, and Andrea Harris Smith in Our Town at Olney Theatre Center/Photo by Stan Barouh
But the results of Posner's choice to use puppets for 21 of the roles at the Olney are unsatisfying, leaving me practically void of emotion and feeling, well, like a puppet. Fortunately, my experience did not mirror those around me since on my left, a 60- somethings
man sobbed, and on my right, a girl, age 9, cried, too, at the end.
(Come to think of it, on my first showing I was probably as emotional.)
The stage is set tennis court style, another disadvantage, with audience
members facing each other in the shadows, somewhat distracting. It's a clever arrangement for theatre types, but I doubt most
members of the paying audience favor the approach.
When a
puppet hollers from an upstairs window on one end of the stage but its
voice emanates from an actor on the other end and on a different level, my eyes
floated from side to side, tracking the source, an interruption which subtracts from the message (which is, in a few words: carpe diem and tempus fugit).
The program notes that a minimalist set (by Misha Kachman) is what Doctor Wilder ordered for his show and minimalism is what you get to focus attention on what's important (not the puppets).
Sound by Sarah O'Halloran is excellent, made visible by the actors on stage.
The puppet designer, Aaron Cromie, is due much applause for creations which reflect
today's population diversity, but it's exceedingly doubtful that diversity existed in a small town like Grover's Corners, New Hampshire 100 years ago (so why not place the current production in this century?).
Wilder (1897-1975) is the only Pulitzer Prize winner for both fiction (The Bridge of San Luis Rey) and drama (Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth). Over its 80 years, this is the first time Olney has presented the play.
The actors led by Helen Hayes winner, Jon Hudson Odom, as narrator or stage manager (a role often played by Mr. Wilder himself), are nothing less than superb: Megan Anderson is Mrs. Gibbs; Tony Nam, Dr. Gibbs; Andrea Harris Smith, Mrs. Webb; Todd Scofield, Mr. Webb; Cindy de la Cruz, Emily Webb; and William Vaughan, George Gibbs, Mr. Vaughan notably realistic as the boy. The chemistry flowing between him and Ms. de la Cruz conveys badly needed authenticity to the show. Ms. Anderson will have you believing you are a member of the cast, too.
Other creative team members are Helen Q. Huang, costumes; Thom Weaver, lights; Hope Villanueva, production stage manager; Debbie Ellinghaus, managing director; Jason Loewith, artistic director; Dennis A. Blackledge, production; and Jason King Jones, senior associate artistic director.
What: Our Town
Where: Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD 20832
When: Now through November 12, 2017, Wednesday through Saturdays at 7:45 p.m., and weekend matinees at 1:45 p.m.
Tickets: Begin at $47 with discounts for groups, seniors, military, and students.
Ages: Recommended for ages 10 and up due to themes
Duration: 2.5 hours with two intermissions
Refreshments: Available and may be taken to seats
Parking: Free, nearby, and plentiful on-site
For more information: 301-924-3400 for the box office or 301-924-4485
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Fra Angelico (c. 1395-1455), The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs (about 1423-24), National Gallery, London/Wikipedia
Maurice Duruflé, George Shearing, and J.S. Bach are some of the composers whose works will be played at a free lunchtime concert Wednesday at St. John's, Lafayette Square in honor of All Saints Day.
Brent Erstad, an organist and assistant director of music at St. John's who teaches at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, will play Fantasia and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 537 (Bach), Prélude et Fugue sur le nom d'Alain (Duruflé), and There is a Happy Land (Shearing).
Also on the program are Elegy by George Thalben-Ball and Litanies by Jehan Alain. The performance is part of the church's First Wednesday concert series.
Brent Erstad/Episcopal High School
All Saints Day commemorates those who have died and have gone to heaven. It falls between Halloween and All Souls Day or Day of the Dead on November 2, the latter which recognizes those who have died and have not yet reached heaven.
All Saints often commemorates the lives of loved ones who have died in the past year, including those known to members at St. John's who, throughout the year, provide names of the deceased to the church where they are read aloud in services.
The history of All Saints' Day can be traced to Pope Boniface IV, who in 609 AD consecrated the Pantheon at Rome to the Virgin Mary and all the Martyrs. In the next century, All Saints was given officialdom on November 1 by Pope Gregory III.
All Saints' Day at a cemetery in Sanok, Poland, November 1, 2011/Silar, Creative Commons, Wikipedia
St. John's was founded in 1815 and is known to Washington residents as the yellow church at Lafayette Square. It's often called the “Church of the Presidents” since beginning with James Madison, who was president from 1809 to 1817, every president has attended services at the church. A plaque at the rear of St. John's designates the pew where President Abraham Lincoln often sat when he stopped by the church during the Civil War.
Benjamin Latrobe, known as the "father of American architecture" and the architect of the U.S. Capitol Building and the White House porticos, designed St. John's Church in the form of a Greek cross.
The church bell, weighing almost 1,000 pounds, was cast by Paul Revere's son, Joseph, in August, 1822, and hung at St. John's that November where it has rung since. Wikipedia says two accounts report that whenever the bell rings on the occasion of the death of a notable person, six male ghosts appear at the president's pew at midnight and quickly disappear.
St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie
Dolley Madison, wife of President Madison, was baptized and confirmed at St. John's, according to the National Park Service, which calls the church "one of the few original remaining buildings left near Lafayette Park today."
Following tradition, President Donald J. Trump and his family began his presidency on the morning of January 20, 2017 with private services at St. John's.
For those on lunch break Wednesday, food trucks are located at Farragut Square, two blocks away.
Who: Brent Erstad, organist, playing an All Saints' Day concert
What: First Wednesday Concerts
When: 12:10 p.m., November 1, 2017
Where: St. John’s, Lafayette Square, 1525 H Street, NW, at the corner of 16th, Washington, D.C. 20005
How much: No charge
Duration: About 35 minutes
Wheelchair accessible
Metro stations: McPherson Square (White House exit), Farragut North, or Farragut West
For more information: Contact Michael Lodico, St. John's director of music ministry and organist, 202-270-6265 or Michael.Lodico@stjohns-dc.org or 202-347-8766
Other First Wednesday concerts all beginning at 12:10 p.m. and lasting until 12:45 p.m. are:
December 6: Music of the Season by the Episcopal High School Chamber Choir
January 10, 2018: Music by French composers by Julie Vidrick Evans, organist
February 7: Soloists from St. John's Choir
March 7: Preludes and Fugues from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier by Mak Grgic, guitar, and Stephen Ackert, organ
April 4: The premiere of Paul Leavitt's Fanfare for Trumpet and Organ by Lisa Galoci, organist, and Chuck Seipp, trumpet
May 2: Music for Angels, including Craig Phillips' Archangel Suite by Michael Lodico, director of music and organist, St. John's
June 6: Music by Women Composers, including Margaret Sandresky's Dialogues for Organ and Strings by Ilono Kubiaczyk-Adler, organist, with the U.S. Air Force Strings
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Assassins is on stage at NextStop Theatre in Herndon/photo by Lock and Company
Leave it to Stephen Sondheim to take an idea about assassins and write music and lyrics for a show. This is one you aren't sure is about assassins, but it is, with songs to boot.
Wikipedia says the play began off-Broadway in 1990 and opened in 2004 on Broadway, winning five Tonys.
The actors at Herndon's NextStop Theatre Company put on a big, provocative show with lots energy and a desire to please, impressive for a young troupe in only its fifth year.
Their exaggerations and lampooning of guns, starting out with seven or eight lying on a table while a Secret Service agent stands immobile nearby (so etched in permanence I thought at first he must be a mannequin), is filled with coarseness and surprising bits of humor. (No one will leave humming, Walking on Sunshine.)
Action is swift. Director Jay D. Brock elicits strong portrayals about these detestable creatures, with standout performances by Bobby Libby as John Wilkes Booth (fierce in his opposition to President Lincoln and his creed) and Katie McManus, brash and obnoxious as Sara Jane Moore who quietens her son (Logan Wagner) when she aims a gun at him, accompanied by soft, awkward laughs from some members of the audience.
Jaclyn Young bears an eerie resemblance to Squeaky Fromm (whose love for Charles Manson never ends).
The subjects are not glorified but that the script gives them recognition is troubling. Their crimes are presented in vignettes in helter-skelter order. It's doubtful that audience members will recognize every character, like Samuel Byck (Alex Zavistovich), attempted assassin of President Richard M. Nixon, Giuseppe Zangara (Brice Guerriere) and Leon Czolgosz (Daniel Westbrook).
(I kept hoping JFK's murder would be omitted since I don't want to relive it over and over and over like the media presents.)
The
timing of the show's opening weekend coinciding with President Trump's announcement
that he would release documents related to JFK's assassination was prescient, however the producing artistic director, Evan Hoffman (who is also the sound designer) writes in
program notes that he and Director Brock selected the title a year ago, and it has no relationship to the present administration.
In no way do they seek to exalt the men and women portrayed or to castigate the current administration, Hoffman writes. (Actually, that never entered my mind while watching the
show. What I did think about was gun control and keeping weapons out of
the hands of crazies, like assassins. The play's Broadway opening was delayed three years because of September 11. How immune have we become to these horror stories, this production following so closely the tragedy of Las Vegas this month? Not to fault the timing of the show which must "go on.")
"Our hope is by providing a relaxed and entertaining venue for the community to gather together and be immersed in stories highlighting diverse perspectives, that we can help break down barriers which divide." What is the diversity here? That assassins think differently from you and me?
For
gun control advocates, the play is a great selection to take on the
road. That Americans continue to tolerate extreme violence and death and
quickly discard these events from the public consciousness is almost as shocking as the sudden deaths
presented. Who will be the next perpetrator to step up to the window and
claim temporary fame?
An excellent stage design (by JD Madsen) with flowing red velvet curtains as backdrop is clever and simplified, with emphasis on the American flag styled in flooring (meaning?) and platforms which have multiple purposes. A rectangular box at the front becomes a table, a seat, and the sound of gunfire when actors flip it on its side.
Flashing lights (by Catherine Girardi) are not bothersome, but too-frequent and loud sounds of gunfire, especially when the chorus line aims the weapons at the audience (more than once) are jarring.
Marc Bryan Lilley is music director. Seven musicians make noticeable contributions with haunting solos by an electric pianist and percussionist. In vocals, group harmonies, naturally the strongest, are the best.
Playbill calls it a dark comedy but is it? "Dark" and "bleak" certainly apply to "perhaps the most controversial Broadway musical ever written." That's up to the viewers.
Other cast members are the proprietor, Mackenzie Newbury; John Hinckley, Jr., Mikey Cafarelli; Charles Guiteau, Andrew Adelsberger; the Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald, John Sygar; Emma Goldman/Ensemble, Megan Adrielle; Gerald Ford/Ensemble, Jason Hentrich; Ensemble, Madeline Cuddihy and Colton Needles.
Also on the Creative Team are assistant director, Christie Graham; costumes, Kristina Martin; stage manager, Laura Moody;
props coordinator/ASM, Jade Brooks-Bartlett; costume apprentice, Marilyn Lopes; ASM, Quoc Tran; co-master electricians, Jonathan Abolins and Maeve Nash.
What: Assassins, book by John Weidman, based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr.
When: Thursday through Sunday nights and weekend matinees, now through November 12, 2017.
Where: NextStop Theatre, 269 Sunset Park Drive, Herndon, VA 20170 in the back right corner of Sunset Business Park, near the intersection of Spring Street/Sunset Hills Road. Right off the Fairfax County Parkway. A wee big hard to find on a first visit, so allow an extra 15 minutes.
Free parking: Available near the door.
Admission: Tickets start at $20 with group discounts and student rush seats (if available). Call 866-811-4111.
Duration: A little under two hours without intermission
Rating: R due to frequent vulgar language and phraseology.
For more information: 703-481-5930 or info@nextstoptheatre.org
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