This year’s second Spotlight Series: The New Fusion showcases four unique stage adaptations of literary works by Magdalena Gómez, Junot Diaz, Piri Thomas, and Miguel de Cervantes that were developed for the stage by New York based Pregones Theater, The American Place Theatre, and Spain’s Bambalina.
Photo credits: Samuel Domingo
Location: Instituto Cervantes
211 East 49th St.
Subway: 6 to 51st St.
Tickets: Friday performance: FREE
Saturday performances: $20 General Admission and
Students/Seniors (65+): $15
If you like this show, we also recommend The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and Down These Mean Streets!
Friday, June 10 @ 7:00 PM &
Saturday, June 11 @ 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM
A TalkBack with the Artists will follow the 2:00PM show.
Company: Bambalina
An intimate and ritualistic staging of Cervantes' masterpiece El Quijote de la Mancha by Bambalina, the most renowned visual theater company from Valencia, Spain, that has had more than 350 performances worldwide.
Inspired by Japanese Bunraku-style rod puppets, this production integrates highly stylized movement by the two puppeteers who bring to life the eerie imaginings of Don Quijote. By replacing spoken words with sound and movement, Bambalinas creates a universal language that conveys with intense artistry the essence of this epic literary work by one of the greatest authors of all times!
This production does not include the spoken word. 105 minutes. No intermission. NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN UNDER 15
“It feels absolutely right that Cervantes’s great fable of the shifting borders between fantasy and reality should be recreated with puppets. The two figures of the staring-eyed knight and his dumpy troll like companion Sancho Panza are manipulated into startling existence by the two puppeteers. These men, rather than hiding, participate. It’s intricately subtle … and almost literally entrancing.” - Catherine Lockerbie, The Scotsman
Based on El Quijote de la Mancha by: Miguel de Cervantes
Directed by: Carles Alfaro
Cast: David Durán, Àngel Fígols
Music by: Joan Cerveró
Set Design by: Jaume Policarpo
Executive Production: Josep Policarpo
Company Manager/Puppet Master: Ángeles González
Presenting Partner
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Photo credit: George Malave
Location:
Pregones Theater - 571-575 Walton Ave., The Bronx
Subway: 2, 4, or 5 to 149th St./Grand Concourse.
Tickets: $29 Advance Sale Regular Admission
Students/Seniors (65+):
$20 Advance Sale
Regular Admission AT THE DOOR: $40
Dancing in my Cockroach Killers: A staging of selected works by poet Magdalena Gómez
Saturday, June 4 @ 8:00 PM
Company Name: Teatro Pregones Theater
Integrating the breathtaking monologue Fuego en la cocina, the no-nonsense Why I Lost The Popularity Contest, and the hilarious and daring Soap and Water, the actors and musicians of Pregones Theater Ensemble pay homage to poet and storyteller Magdalena Gómez.
Language: Spanish/English. One hour, no intermission.
“Blending Ionesco's absurdist use of language, Lorca's flights of poetry and Christopher Durang's sense of the comically ridiculous, Magdalena Gomez creates a strangely fascinating evening of theater.” - American Theater Web
Writer: Magdalena Gómez
Director: Rosalba Rolón
Composer/Pianist: Desmar Guevara
Cast: Shadia Almasri, Yarani del Valle, Joel Perez, Omar Perez and Magdalena Gómez
Stage Manager: Karina Fernandez
Presenting Partner
If you like this show, we also recommend My Audition with Almodóvar!
Photo credits: The American Place Theatre
Location: The Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial & Educational Center
3940 Broadway
Subway: 1, A, or C to 168th Street.
Tickets: $25 for each show
Two-Show Discount: $40
Students/Seniors: $17.50
If you like this show, we also recommend Dancing in my Cockroach Killers - A staging of selected works by poet Magdalena Gómez!
These two events are part of the NOMAA'S 2011 The Annual Uptown Arts Stroll: A month-long arts festival that promotes the works of artists in all disciplines and the many community attractions in Washington Heights/Inwood during the month of June.
Saturday, June 11 @ 5:00 PM
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Saturday, June 11 @ 7:30 PM
Company Name: The American Place Theatre
Down These Mean Streets and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao are center pieces of The American Place Theatre’s Literature to Life®, a performance-based literacy program that presents professionally staged verbatim adaptations of significant American literary works. The two shows are co-presented by the Bago Bunch, The Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial, Cultural and Educational Center, and the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NOMAA).
About Down these Mean Streets
This stage production adapts Piri Thomas’ powerful 1967 memoir, in which he emerges from a street life of drugs and crime and finds the talent and soul within to not only survive, but to enrich the lives of others. Solo-actor Jamil Mena brilliantly brings to life the irrepressible rhythm of the author’s voice -- jazzy prose, rich in Hispanic rhythms and beat-generation slang.
“Jamil Mena captured Thomas’s life with such realistic images of how he grew up in a rough neighborhood in Spanish Harlem. I loved how he took us on a journey through his battles with drug use, racism, and prison. My overall opinion is that this is a Must See! play.”- Abiezer Artiles, High School for Enterprise, Business, and Technology, Brooklyn
English. 60 minutes. No intermission. This production is appropriate for young adults, ages 15+.
Written by: Piri Thomas
Adaptation & Direction: Wynn Handman
Cast: Jamil Mena
APT Executive Director: David Kener
About The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Adapted from Junot Díaz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, this riveting stage performance by New York-Dominican actor Elvis Nolasco chronicles the life of Oscar de León, an overweight Dominican boy growing up in Paterson, New Jersey, who is obsessed with science fiction and fantasy novels, falling in love, and understanding the curse that has plagued his family for generations.
“From encountering hilarious scenes to witnessing traumatic and tragic scenes, I couldn't stop thinking of the actor's accomplishment in transmitting the emotions through the characters he played for us. It was literally a breath taking play.” - Tiffany Tapia, Sophomore, TYWLS Astoria
English. 60 minutes, followed by reception. No intermission. This production is appropriate for young adults, ages 15+.
Written by: Junot Díaz
Adaptation & Direction: Elise Thoron
Cast: Elvis Nolasco
APT Executive Director: David Kener
Presenting Partners
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