Review: Die Soldaten at Park Ave. Amory

Reviews of Die Soldaten, the mid-20th Century opera by Bernd Alois Zimmerman at Park Ave. Amory, have been generally positive. The reviewers comment on the amazing technical feat achieved by director David Pountney of having the audience on a moving platform that traverses the length of a 10-foot 9-inch stage. They never fail to dwell upon the technical nature of the music, led by conductor Steven Sloane, which is based on a 20th century Germanic invention of the 12-tone scale, and performed by a 110-piece orchestra, a percussion ensemble, a jazz combo, along with the 40-member cast. Reviewers also generally comment on the astounding vocal skills of these singers. And they give a brief run down of the plot of the misadventures of a sweet girl, Marie (the incredible Claudia Barainsky), who loses everything, including her dignity, virginity, money and father in the quest for love. The New York Times even called it "a miraculous realization of an opera once deemed unperformable."

It is so much more. More than opera, more than drama. Pure art. Resonating. Reverberating. Opening windows to parts of your soul you haven't looked at for a long time. For me, it was total immersion.

The first scene: A 110-piece orchestra strikes a chord of total tension. Soldiers march down a narrow ramp, carrying a bed that could be a coffin. Marie and her sister follow, wearing brown shirts, come skipping down the narrow stage, alternating with a goose step they laugh at. The audience moves with them, leaving the outside world behind, drawn--slowly, slowly--into their world. A bed, a love letter, a dreamy boy who's fallen in love with the girl next door. A mother who wants him only to work. Marie's sister, telling her not to believe in love. That the end of happiness is always pain. Acting that shifts from expressionistic movements to naturalism.

As we move into this scene, tears stream down my face. This "total theater" which the author Zimmerman sought, has been achieved in its entirety. It's so beautiful to be allowed to abandon the self. Like a rock 'n' roll show, but so much deeper. More than spectacle. My heart is being twisted in and out of knots.

Back out. The exterior world. Soldiers in a bathhouse, chastisizng the chaplain.

Back out. A bar scene, with the playground mentality in full swing. In this mix: an amateur Nietzschean philosopher that the others laugh at, while demonstrating that they act exactly as he describes. Overtones of World War II. And I. And the one before that. And the one after that. And before that. And after that.

And so on. Scene after scene, you move through a study of the ideas that have guided the acts of the human race for the last 2,500 years. And all lead to this incredible sensation that the only beautiful thing left to us is not love, but art. And that art has been turned into a whore no one respects anymore. That's just what the boys of the playground called her. And in some ways, that's what the critics call Die Soldaten: focusing so much on the technical aspects of the show, the 12-tone music, the plot--as if it all was just some good blow job, well worth the $50-$250 ticket price.

But Marie was never a whore. And she's not just some chick that falls for three guys in a kind of speed dating routine and ends up getting raped--in a scene so shatteringly staged that I shudder from it still. The tears came again as we moved into this horrific scene, which was staged like a film. Marie transformed into three Marie's, all being simultaneously, visciously raped by Santa Claus-like figures, and men in tuxedos wearing terrifying pig masks (the rich at play; overtones of Eyes Wide Shut).

No, Marie is art. Real art. Pure art. The kind that doesn't whore itself out for financial gain or love. In the final scene, after she sees her father and he fails to recognize her, the father (god?) walks away up the stage toward the corpses of the men Marie loved once. Marie--or, what's left of art--walks toward the audience moving in time to fading music. Moving toward us, but never past us. For we are moving backwards--in thought, in mindset, and in our ability to recognize art for what is: all that we have left of love.

Visit Three Rooms Press at New York Book Festival in Central Park Tomorrow, June 28!

Tomorrow is bound to be a beautiful day! So spend some time outdoors and head to the New York Book Festival in Central Park, where Three Rooms Press will be sharing a table with friends from GNYIPA (Greater New York Independent Publishing Association).

Three Rooms Press books will be available all day long, so if you've been putting off buying your copy of incredible books by Kathi Georges, Peter Carlaftes, Karen Hildebrand, Jackie Sheeler, and The Bass Player from Hand Job, now is your chance to get a fabulous first edition for your personal collection.

New York Book Festival
Saturday, June 28
10 a.m.-6 p.m
Central Park, in front of the Naumburg Bandshell
(near Bethesda Fountain)
on the Eastern end of the park.

All day long there's great readings and musical performances for the Book Fair. Check out the extensive schedule. Last year more than 20,000 eager book lovers showed up, so get there early for best selection.
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HOT TIP ALERT!!
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If you come a little later in the day, here's a HOT TIP:

Right next to the NY Book Festival, from 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. on Central Park Summerstage is the summer's hottest outdoor concert. Get this:

Vieux Farka Touré (Son of Malian legend Ali Farke Touré), Fallou Dieng (heir apparent to Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour) Kaleta & Zozo Afrobeat (13 piece ensemble led by luminary Kaleta, who used to play with Fela Kuti, Femi Kuti, King Sunny Ade and Lauryn Hill) PLUS DJ Sirak are giving NYC something to DANCE about.

So go to the book fair, help Three Rooms Press sell out by 3, and we'll party down together at the Summerstage.

Poet Precious Jones at Cornelia St. Cafe this Friday

Award-winning poet Precious Jones hits the stage this Friday as the featured performer at the sensational Son of a Pony reading series at Cornelia Street Café, hosted by Kathi Georges.

Native Brooklynite poet Precious Jones' work has been published by online and print publications such as Dirt Press, onefortytwo.com, Rolling Out Urban Weekly, Gay Black Female, and Coloring Book, an anthology of poetry & prose. Her favorite poets are Sapphire, June Jordan, Chrystos, and Pablo Neruda. A few fantastic facts about Precious: she's the youngest of eight, Capricorn, a New School University grad, and loves her three B's: Bukowski, Books, and butches.

In the last few months, Precious has really hit her stride, and this poet is now on fire, with work that shows ever more depth and breadth, as well as a profound delivery that resonates more and more.

Most recently, Jones won the incredible Dead Poets Slam at Cornelia Street Café, with her embodiment of the work of June Jordan. Second place was Charles Bukowski (rendered by Peter Carlaftes), and third place went to William Butler Yeats (interpreted by Bob Quattrone). Thanks to everyone who participated, including Emily Dickinson (Angelo Verga), Sylvia Plath (Jackie Sheeler), Percy Bysshe Shelly, Edna St. Vincent Millay (Minnie), and T.S. Eliot (Kathi Georges).

The Son of a Pony reading is a great weekly series, that includes a featured reader, as well as one of the most incredible open reading in NYC. To participate in the open, be sure to arrive early to sign up. Poetry only, three minute limit. Here's the details:

Son of a Pony Reading Series
Friday, June 20, 2008
Featured reader: Precious Jones
Host: Kathi Georges

Cornelia St. Café
29 Cornelia Street (between W. 4th & Bleecker)
Admission: $7 (includes free beer or wine)
Doors open: 5:45 pm, open reading starts at 6
Arrive early to sign up for the open.

Review: WIRE at South Street Seaport in New York May 30, 2008

The first time I heard Pink Flag by the seminal art-punk group Wire was in 1980, already three years after its release. I became obsessed. I was living in Southern California then, and increasingly immersed in the punk rock music scene. I was totally enthralled with Wire, wearing out record needles on Pink Flag, and later 154, The Ideal Copy and Chairs Missing. But there is no other record like Pink Flag: This single album created the model for sound, instrumentation, rhythm and lyrical content for hundreds, if not thousands of punk bands that followed, the majority of whom were mere rote imitators, without the integral philosophy to back up the ideas they were professing.

Wire had it then, and has never lost it since its origin in 1976. This incredible band was even more incredibly chosen to play the first show of the River-to-River Live Music Festival . . . and it was free.

More than 3,000 people--half over 45--showed up to pay homage to Wire. If they were the kind of band that rested on its laurels, it would have been like going to church, or some retro-pop festival. Or, say, The Eagles--who also played tonight at Madison Square Garden. Bassist Graham Lewis noted early on, "Glad you took the time to see us, and not The Eagles. In 1977 The Eagles were one thing: The Enemy." Probably still are, considering they have no new material to speak of for 15 years--yet still play shows!

Wire, on the other hand, challenged the audience to stay focused on what was happening at the moment during its 70-minute, 17-song set (including 2 encores). The band offered a wealth of material released during its entire career, and even performed songs from the soon-to-be-released album "Object 47" ("47" representing the 47th release in the Wire discography). The line-up, in addition to Lewis, included original front man/guitarist Colin Newman, original drummer Robert Grey and Margaret Fiedler McGinnis on rhythm guitar (replacing original member Bruce Gilbert, who resigned in 2004).

The show truly covered Wire's entire career: The set featured four songs from the upcoming record including "Mekon Headman," Perspex Icon" (first live performance), "All Fours" and "One of Us" with its early Eno throb and catchy repetitive chorus 'One of us will live to rue the day we met each other"--in a perfect world, an instant hit. But also mixed in the set were four(!) songs from that incredible first release Pink Flag, which Wire has often threatened to never perform live again. The crowd went berserk for every PF tune including "Lowdown," "106 Beats That," a speed-record bursting first encore version of "12XU" and a heartfelt second encore of "Pink Flag," with the comment beforehand, "30 years ago, we played this song at CB(GB)s. It's gone now, and so are a lot of the people who were at that show. So we'd like to play this one for all our dead friends. We all have dead friends." The psychedelic crunch that ensued made me glad that Wire was not among the dead friends yet. They're still alive and kicked throughout their overtone, flanger-filled killer rockin' set.

Some people tell me "you're too old for this." Not as long as I still have the kind of burning razor-edge creative urges of Wire.

New Zealand power-pop-punksters Die!Die!Die! opened with a formidible eight-song set that paid homage to Wire with due respect, and only the merest bit of unbridled imitation.

Add 1: For incredible photos of the show, see Qro Magazine's photo gallery.

Add 2: And here's the video Qro Magazine posted to youtube of "Pink Flag," which really captures the hyper-charged energy of this final encore.

Dead Poets Slam: Friday, June 6, 6-8, Cornelia St. Cafe

Get your favorite dead poet persona on as Cornelia Street's Son of a Pony series presents the first Dead Poet Slam. In this riotous event, dead poets compete for fabulous prizes, with spoken word renditions of their work performed by their modern day personas. Hosted by TRP creator Kathi Georges.

Anyone can participate! Just bring your favorite poem by your favorite dead poet (three minutes maximum!) and you're in. Participants so far include T.S. Eliot, June Jordan, Sylvia Plath, Charles Bukowski, and Emily Dickinson.

Who do you want to be? Walt Whitman? Alan Ginsburg? Edna St. Vincent Milay? Langston Hughes? Shakespeare? John Keats? Yeats? Anne Sexton? Dylan Thomas? Elizabeth Barrett Browning? The list is endless. The choice is yours.... Who inspires you? One poet. One poem.

To reserve a prime spot: Email threeroomspress@mac.com by Thursday, June 5 and let us know the name of the poet, and the name of the poem you plan to perform. Limited signups for the Dead Poets Slam will also be available at the door. Prizes include: Poetry Books! Portraits of Dead Poets! Honor! Recognition! Joy!

Open reading before the Dead Poets Slam. You can participate in one or the other--or both--or just come to enjoy the show. Admission of only $7 includes a free beer or wine!

Dead Poets Slam
Friday, June 6, 2008
Cornelia Street Cafe
29 Cornelia St. (between W. 4th and Bleecker)
6-8 pm (doors open 5:45, come early to sign up for open reading)

Memorial Day Weekend 2008: Lenny Bruce, Saturday; Dueling Karaoke, Sunday

Banner Weekend Alert for Three Rooms Press fans: Not one, but two chances to catch TRP core members LIVE on stage in NYC.

First, 8pm on Saturday, May 24th at Highline Ballroom, opening up for the 93-year-old comic legend Professor Irwin Corey is the fabulous Peter Carlaftes doing an excerpt from his sensational Off-Broadway one-man show "Lenny Bruce: Dead & Well." Tickets $25, available at ticketweb.com. Carlaftes will be performing on the same stage that has hosted such luminaries as Lou Reed, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, and that wonder-of-wonders, Amy Winehouse!

Then, on Sunday, May 25th at 6pm at Cornelia Street Cafe it's Carlaftes again, this time performing in tandem with Kathi Georges as Three Rooms Press presents the crazy revue, "Dueling Karaoke." In Dueling Karaoke, Georges and Carlaftes take on the last 40 years of pop music, in a mash up that includes such crazy pairings as Pink's "Can't Let Me Be Me" and Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall;" and Looking Glass' "Brandy" with The Blues Image's "Ride Captain Ride." This hour long show is a real headtrip, and of special interest to pop music afficianados. The New York Press called it "An extraordinarily fast-paced, funny-as-all-get-out, downright wacky comedic extravaganza." Tickets $10, reservations: 212-989-9319.

And to wrap things up, Sunday at 10pm at Reade Street Pub its downtown fave r&bsters The JDs doing their beautiful thing and giving us a chance to dance!

Monday is for resting--the rest of the weekend--we are on it!

Lenny Bruce: Dead & Well at Highline Ballroom May 24

Peter Carlaftes phenomenal one-man show "Lenny Bruce: Dead & Well" has captured the attention of the Highline Ballroom where he'll be opening on Saturday, May 24th for "The World's Foremost Authority" 93-Year-Old Comic Legend Professor Irwin Corey. 

This just after his successful L.A. debut in North Hollywood, where the in-your-face satire of Carlaftes-cum-Bruce nearly caused a small-scale riot. Never has it been a better time for the return of Bruce's "what-is" sensibility than now, when myths are being floated on all sides of the political spectrum and the populace is being asked to buy in to one myth or another or be cast out. For a quick look at "Lenny Bruce: Dead & Well," see an excerpt Peter Carlaftes as Lenny Bruce video on youtube.