A moving and extravagant mash-up of storytelling techniques comes to the Clarice Smith Center this weekend when Joe Goode Performance Group's multidisciplinary song, dance and text performance collides with Basil Twist's magical puppetry for the premiere of "Wonderboy," the story of a young outsider with the ability to heal.
» Clarice Smith Center, University Boulevard & Stadium Drive, College Park; Fri. & Sat., May 1 & 2, 8 p.m., $35; 301-405-2787. (College Park-U of Md.)
Written by Express' Eric Anderson
Photo by RJ Mua
SOMETIMES WE ALL need a little encouragement to recycle. Storyteller, musician and poet David Gonzalez is working on a multimedia piece, "Wounded Splendor," for the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center about the way people treat the world. The piece, which will include work-in-progress showings this weekend, includes monologues, poems, video and imagery, which Gonzalez and his collaborators will "sculpt into a suite." Composer-jazz pianist Daniel Kelly created the music.
Gonzalez said the idea for "Wounded Splendor" came from "years of visiting places of natural beauty and visiting places of tremendous man-made disasters."
"I've climbed to the top of Kilimanjaro," says Gonzalez. "I've been to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and I've seen the horrible things we've done to the planet. When you see something beautiful being hurt, it's a call to arms."
IT'S NO SECRET that the jazz business is in critical condition. Last year signaled the end of the Herald International Association of Jazz Educators Conference, while this year, thanks in huge part to the economic meltdown, record distribution continues to dwindle.
So, what does a successful jazz saxophonist such as Steve Wilson tell a music student with big hopes of becoming a jazz star? "Think of yourself more than as a jazz musician," he says. "The exceptions to the rule are very few in terms of those who are able to go exclusively into jazz and become financially successful."
Wilson, a dynamic improviser, who's played with jazz luminaries including Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Joe Henderson — and has recorded a string of captivating solo discs — conducted workshops on music business, improvisation, jazz history and ethnomusicology,earlier this week at the University of Maryland's Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. "From the business aspect, one has to be versatile and skilled not just as an improviser but as a musician who can perform in a variety of settings," he says.
Continue Reading "Finances, and All That Jazz: Steve Wilson" »
THIS WEEK: Ever get in trouble as a child for drawing on the walls? Apparently, that lesson didn't sink in for artist Linn Meyers, who has covered the walls of the U-Md. art gallery with two giant drawings, each so big that you can't take it in all at once.
The exhibit, entitled "Here Today," involves inked, swirling drawings that will make you a little woozy — one minute they look like fingerprints, the next like the inner workings of the human body.
Meyers has transformed her gallery space, but her work will transform your brain. The exhibit closes this weekend, so if you want to see it you should hurry.
» Art Gallery at University of Maryland, 1202 Art-Sociology Building, College Park; through March 13, free; 301-405-2763. (College Park)
Photo courtesy Linn Meyers
THIS WEEKEND: Shakespeare meets Sesame Street when the University of Maryland Department of Theatre presents "The Winter's Tale" using puppetry as well as live-action. This tough-to-stage classic gets a new look as a puppet King Leontes encounters tragedy and triumph.
» Clarice Smith Center, University Blvd. & Stadium Drive, opens Thurs., March 5, $25; 301-405-2787. (College Park-U of Md.)
Written by Express' Nathan Martin
LINN MEYERS' NEW wall drawings unwind in epic proportion in "Here Today," her latest exhibition on display at the Art Gallery at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Meyers has a meticulous way with lines that results in intricate but naturally flowing patterns. Like her small-scale works, Meyers' new oversized efforts — including one created with local sound artist Richard Chartier — reveal Meyers' purposeful process to flattering effect.
The first piece explodes from the center of the front gallery's concave wall like a Big Bang, with forms resembling wisps of hair unraveling toward its edges. But the real spectacle is the lines themselves. Upon closer inspection one can see the interplay of color and motion in Meyers' work that gives it its unique, resonant quality.
Continue Reading "Temporary Pleasures: Artist Linn Meyers" »
THIS WEEK: We're usually too professional (read: snobbish) to spotlight student productions, but "Anton in Show Business" at the University of Maryland's Clarice Smith Center is worth a look. The UM Department of Theatre is mounting a nine-performance run of Jane Martin's absurd backstage comedy about chicks, Chekhov. Add to that acclaimed local director Jeremy Skidmore, who steps in to guide the plucky coeds — it's an all-female cast — through this story of behind-the-scenes drama, drama, drama.
» Clarice Smith Center, Stadium Drive & Route 193, College Park; through Feb. 21, $25; 301-405-2787, claricesmithcenter.umd.edu. (College Park)
Written by Express' Arion Berger
NEWLY FORMED Deviated Theatre opens Friday through Sunday with a presentation of "Aspiro." Enoch Chan and Kimmie Dobbs birthed the company and this exploration of the three mythological weavers of fate, combining soaring aerials and traditional dance techniques.
» Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland College Park; Fri.-Sat., Jan. 23-24, 8 p.m. & Sun., Jan. 25, 7 p.m., $30-$35; 301-405-2787.
Written by Express' Eric Anderson
CLOWNS ARE NOT just confined to kids' birthday bashes or Ringling Brothers Circus anymore. While they might not be wearing bright red noses or jumbo shoes, the cast of "500 Clown and the Elephant Deal" will keep you laughing with slapstick and goofy humor that's more than falling anvils and cream pies in the face.
Inspired by a Bertolt Brecht play, the highly charged work explores the themes of identity and politics while keeping you on the edge of your seat with thrilling acrobatic acts, smart punchlines and interaction with the audience. But don't worry, there are no pies involved.
» Clarice Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland, Route 193 and Stadium Drive, College Park, MD 20742; 8 p.m. Thu.-Sun., Dec. 11-14; 3 p.m., Sat. and Sun., Dec. 13 and 14; $35; 301-405-2787. (College Park)
Photo by Michael Brosilow
"500 Clown and the Elephant Deal" is the latest installment from a group that takes classic literature and blends it with acrobatics and music. 500 Clown spent nine months in residency at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland to develop the commissioned work, and UMD theater students are supporting cast members in the show. In the words of Leslie Buxbaum Danzig, director and company member, the Chicago-based troupe puts on "a hybrid of cabaret, theater, clown and musical." She talked about the creative process and what audiences should expect.
» EXPRESS: What does "500 Clown" stand for?
» DANZIG: When we were starting our first show in 2000, we weren't a specific company yet, and there were five of us, so we were calling our show "5 Clown." But then one person couldn't do it, then another couldn't, so we were like, what the hell, we'll just call it "500 Clown." We called our company "F," but the audience kept referring to us as "500 Clown," and since then we've been interpreting it in various ways.
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