Two World Premieres on the Hudson
Rita Donahue and David Leventhal in rehearsal
Next week, two auspicious premieres will occur within a few miles and days of each other: on July 1, at Vassar’s Powerhouse Theater, a new play, 1 + 1 by Eric Bagosian; then on July 4, at Bard’s Fisher Center, the first public performance of a long-suppressed ballet score with new choreography by one of the leading lights of American dance. All this, right here, in our own backyard.
Bogosian’s 1 + 1 at Vassar’s Powerhouse
A world premiere from playwright Eric Bogosian, the Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning author of Talk Radio, SubUrbia, and Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, 1 + 1 trawls the dark undercurrent of human desire. How far can you go to get what you want? Are you responsible for other people’s actions? When do you stop being good? It’s as easy as 1+1.
Powerhouse Theater at Vassar College
124 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie; 845.437.5599
Tickets: $35 (mature audiences only)
Summerscape at Bard
On January 11, 1940, when Sergey Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet premiered at Leningrad’s Kirov Theatre, perhaps the only member of the audience who wasn’t thrilled was Sergey Prokofiev himself. Five years of labor had come to fruition and been enthusiastically received, yet the work was not as he had intended.
Now, after nearly 70 years, comes a historic double feat: the “newly original” score of Romeo & Juliet, and the world-premiere of Mark Morris’s dance for it, bow at Bard’s Fisher Center on July 4.
While doing research in Russia on Prokofiev, the musicologist and Bard Scholar in Residence Simon Morrison discovered in the State Archive of Literature and Art the original score for Romeo & Juliet among the composer’s papers. To Morrison, it was evident that, by its 1940 premiere, the piece had been marred by years of Soviet bureaucratic interference. He meticulously reconstructed it as Prokofiev had originally intended. Then Bard commissioned Mark Morris to create a new ballet for the score.
The gala premiere on the 4th marks the launch of Bard’s Summerscape series. In addition to the performance, festivities include a pre-performance cocktail party and barbecue and post-performance dessert and dancing.
Sosnoff Theater at the Fisher Center
Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson; 845.758.7900
July 4 Gala starts at 5
Gala tickets: (includes cocktails and barbecue plus performance & post-performance dessert and dancing) $1000/premium seating & $500/preferred seating
Performance and post-performance festivities only: $175
July 5 at 2 & 8
July 6 at 3
Tickets: $75/front orchestra, $55/back orchestra & $25/balcony
July 8 & 9 at 2 & 8
Tickets: $65/front orchestra, $45/back orchestra & $20/balcony
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 06/25/08 at 12:01 PM • Permalink
