BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC P~ENTS The Gershwin Celebration: A tribute to the musical collaboration of George and Ira Gershwin in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC MARCH 11-28, 1987 The Gershwin Celebration has been made possible with grants from Bankers Tru8t Company, The Wallace Funds. and The Aaron Diamond Foundation. Addi· tional funding has been provided by the National BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC Endowment for the Arts. the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of 30 LAFAYETTE AVENUE Cultural Affairs. The BAM facility is owned by the City BROOKLYN. NEW YORK 11217·1486 of New York. and its operation is supported in part with public funds provided through the New York City II, •• ' .••• Forfurtherinformationcall(718)6J().4100 Department of Cultural Affairs. ats another way' ofsaying harIJlOny In urban living? 5t41RRElr 01'6111- managed by the Delmar division of GRENADIER REALlY CORP. Robert C. Rosenberg, President 1279 Delmar. loop, Brooklyn. NY 11239 SIARRETI CITY IS PROUD TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC. J BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC Harvey Lichtenstein, President and Executive Producer OpcraHouse February 3- March I, 1987 in association with 1\vyla Tharp Dance Foundation, Inc. presents TWYLA THARP DANCE with SHELLEY WASHINGIDN RICHARD COLIDN WILLIAM WHITENER JOHN CARRAFA KEVIN O'DAY JAMIE BISHIDN ERZSEBET FOLD! STEPHANIE FOSTER JULIE NAKAGAWA CATHERINE OPPENHEIMER ELLEN TROY KAREN STASICK KEVIN SANTEE CHERYL JONES MICHAEL SCHUMACHER and IDMRAWE JENNIFER WAY Production designed by Lighting designed by SANID LOQUASID JENNIFER TIPIDN ""rfonnances by TWYLA THARP DANCE have been made possible in pan with public funds from the New York Slate Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, Inc. This program has been sponsored by grants from THE COCA-COLA FOUNDAllON ~ CHA8E ftIoa.. __••. A. Additional funds have been provided by The National Endowment for the Arts and The New York Slate Council on the Arts. The BAM facility is owned by the City of New York, and its operation is supported in pan with public funds provided through the New York City Depanment of Cultural Affairs. PROGRAM A Opera House February 3, 1987 at 7 pm February 7, 10, 13, 18, 19, 25, 1987 at 8 pm February 8, 14, 1987 at 2 pm Baker's Dozen Premiere: February, 1979, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New lVrk Choreography by Twyla Tharp Costumes designed by Santo Loquasto Lighting designed by Jennifer Tipton Music composed by Willie "The Lion" Smith Music performed by Miles Fusco Echoes of Spring Tango a la Caprice Concentrating Relaxin' Oppenheimer, Bishton; Foster, Santee; Washington, Carrafa; Troy, Whitener; Stasick, O'Day; Foldi, Colton -Intermission- In The Upper Room Premiere: August, 1986, Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, Illinois Choreography by Twyla Tharp Music by Philip Glass Costumes designed by Norma Kamali Lighting designed by Jennifer Tipton Music produced by Kurt Munkacsi Music conducted by Michael Riesman Commissioned by the Norman and Rosita Winston Foundation I. Washington, Stasick and Carrafa, O'Day, Bishton n. Washington, Stasick, Foldi, Oppenheimer and Colton, Whitener, Foster, Nakagawa, Troy, Santee m. Washington, O'Day, Foldi, Carrafa, Stasick, Bishton IV. Colton, Whitener, Foster, Nakagawa, Troy, Santee V. Washington, Stasick, Foldi and Carrafa, O'Day, Bishton VI. Stasick, Whitener and Washington, Colton VB. Carrafa, O'Day, Bishton vm. Oppenheimer, Colton, Whitener, Foster, Nakagawa, Troy, Santee IX. Full Company This work was made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Also, special thanks for the generous support of the 0011 Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, tile Mobil Foundation, Inc., The Ida and William Rosenthal Foundation and Agnes Gund Saalfield. s BAM CELEBRATES 125 YEARS tion which raised over $400,000 for sick and "BAM is a well-nigh perfect example of how wounded Union soldiers. The Academy was also a ... cultural enterprise can be . made to prosper the site of the gala celebration for the opening of in its old age even more splendidly than it did in the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883. its youth." Brendan Gill-The New Yorker. 1976 The first chapter in the Academy's history came to a dramatic close when the building was The Brooklyn Academy of Music, America's destroyed by fire on November 30, 1903. The New oldest performing arts center, opened in 1861 and lVrk Times account of the disaster concluded by quickly became the center of Brooklyn's cultural saying, "there has hardly been a great public move­ life. Since its inception, the Academy has been ment of national import but the old Academy has committed to presenting the finest in traditional been at one time or another its principal focus." and contemporary performing arts. Historically, Fortunately, immediate steps were taken to pre­ this has meant the presentation of national and serve the institution when a "committee of one hun­ international artists, often in their New York and dred," made up of businessman, artists, and national debuts, in the fields of dance, music, and community leaders, quickly raised more than one theater. Today, under the direction of President million dollars to erect a new facility. The firm of and Executive Producer Harvey Lichtenstein, Herts and Tallant, architects of the Lyceum, New BAM enters its 125th year with an equally strong Amsterdam, and (now demolished) Helen Hayes commitment to artists of international stature and theaters in Manhattan, won the juried architectural an artistic vision encompassing the newest forms competition by unanimous vote. The Opera House in the performing arts. was the largest theater and the Academy the only The Academy's evolution into one of the preemi­ complex the firm ever designed. nent cultural institutions in America could not have Although a number of official opening events been foreseen in 1857, when a group of prominent were held at the new Academy in the fall of 1908, Brooklynites formed the Philharmonic Society the grandest festivities were reserved for the of Brooklyn and established themselves in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Faust starring Athenaeum in Brooklyn Heights. By 1859, the Geraldine Ferrar and Enrico Caruso. The season Philharmonic Society had outgrown its quarters, continued with Isadora Duncan, David Belasco's and a charter was obtained to construct a concert Kfi"ens of Virginia with Mary Pickford, Madame hall. They were able to raise the necessary money Butterfly conducted by Arturo Toscanini, and Anna from within their ranks, and chose Leopold Eidlitz, Pavlova dancing with Mikhail Mordkin. a church designer, to be the architect. The per­ In the years that ensued, dance began to capture forming arts complex which opened on Montague the fancy of the American public, and the Brooklyn Street in January of 1861 housed an Opera House Academy of Music supplied plenty of opportunities which seated 2300, and brought the likes of Sarah to see dance at its fmest with the yearly return of Bernhardt, John Drew, and Edwin Booth to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. The National Brooklyn audiences. Ballet of Canada, the Agnes de Mille Dance The presentations were not limited to opera Theatre, and the Robert Joffrey Theatre Ballet also and theater. The Academy was an important stop performed on the Academy's boards. on the lyceum circuit, which brought Booker T. In 1952, a single concert provided Merce Washington, Henry Ward Beecher, and Mark Cunningham, Jean Erdman, Erick Hawkins, and Twain to lecture there, along with Henry Stanley Donald McKayle the opportunity to display their and his account of the discovery of Dr. Livingston. choreography. Martha Graham and Anna Sokolow A center. of social as well as cultural life, the also returned to Brooklyn, earning the Academy an Brooklyn Academy of Music hosted the great Civil early reputation for its modem dance presentations. War Sanitary Fair, a two week bazaar and exposi- In 1967 Harvey Lichtenstein became Executive ******** Director and brought the Academy into a new ******** era of theatrical presentation. From the Merce Cunningham Dance Company's first major New ******** York season in 1968, to the presentation of Philip Glass and Robert Wilson's extraordinary Einstein ******** on the Beach in 1984, Lichtenstein has earned BAM a reputation as the most innovative perform­ ing arts center in the country, and has been influen­ tial in making the Academy a moving force in Citibank is Brooklyn's renaissance. The Academy has continually brought new per­ formers and productions from allover the world to proud to be New York, including Maurice Bejart's Ballet of the Twentieth Century and Jerzy Grotowski's Polish a Brooklyn Laboratory Theatre in 1969, Peter Brook's produc­ tion of A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1971, and, most recently, Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet and the Central Ballet Citizen of China in 1986. This year the Brooklyn Academy of Music As an active corporate citizen, celebrates its 125th Anniversary with pride in its ilMlttkl&li_jjiliml\l.~~m$lmNi'!ml1$l artistic achievements and its tradition of commu­ nity involvement, as well as a firm resolve to con­ our involvement with the Brooklyn tinue to grow in each of these pursuits. BAM's m;;;i&=l!=~'m(ij@_*~ 1986-87 season includes the fourth annual Ne~t community goes far beyond Wave Festival, a month of Twyla Tharp Dance, a tribute to Brooklynite George Gershwin, and ~~'1jj@%rumi!i1i!_,~ a series of programs devoted to the Brooklyn business. We value and sup­ community. In this, BAM's biggest season yet, ~'$!$M~_llilMft_~lt\l/fA· 'H!i!$m_ the Academy will look back fondly on the past 125 years, and look forward eagerly to the next -125.