sign in sign up
<<
Home , Benicio del Toro, City Heat, Ed Harris, Jim Hutton, My Favorite Year, Paula Prentiss

M On the Move st Educating Women Leaders for theW 21 Century Fall 2005 R Special EditionC THE STAGE IS SET A legendary dance company. An internationally renowned painter. Acclaimed fi lm and music industry producers, directors, and performing artists. All will be discussing their work and current issues in during R-MWC’s Bickford Arts Symposium, to be held on campus November 3-5.

behind the scenes in music Musician William berlind Opens Bickford Symposium Thursday afternoon William Berlind is a versatile musician, songwriter, record producer, and recording artist.

A 1995 graduate of , Berlind has played the piano for 25 years, with par- ticular expertise in gospel, jazz, R ‘n’ B, and stride. He served as musical director of the award-winning Princeton University Gospel Ensemble choir; was a singer, pianist, and conductor for the group; and wrote vocal and instrumental arrangements for it.

He also was the musical director and pianist for a production of Porgy and Bess at the Stadt House in Heidelberg, .

TopTop to bottom: TheThe stagestage is set. Smith HallHall ,Theatre, thethe During the past eight years, he has been a songwriter and keyboardist for The Occasions, a Wimberly Recital Hall,Hall, andand thethe MaierMaier MuseumMuseum ofof Art will be thethe majormajor venuesvenues forfor thethe BickfordBickford Arts Symposium. R ‘n’ B band, and a staff writer and music critic for The NewYork Times aandnd The NewYork Observer, where he wrote feature and investigative articles on music, sports, and business.

The Bickford Arts Symposium is funded by Brook and Roger Berlind, Jewelle Wooten Berlind has studied audio engineering and record production at the Institute of Audio Bickford ’63 and Nathaniel J. Bickford, The Susan in New York and is now an intern at the New York studios of The Magic Shop/Trout H. Dabney Fund, The C. William Gibson, Jr. Recording. Memorial Lecture Fund, The Kennedy-Fitzgerald Visiting Fund, The Carl H. and Frances M. McHenry Visiting Lecturers and Artists Fund, While on campus, Berlind is expected to cut a special recording in conjunction with the and The Philip Thayer Lecture Fund. symposium. NOVEMBER 3 thursday DEL TORO BICKFORD DRIVER LINDSTROM behind the scenes in film: BENICIO LAURA SARA PIA Benicio Laura Bickford Laura Bickford,Bickford, one of the fi lm industrindustry’sy’s leading prproduc-oduc- Del Toro ers,ers, wwonon an AcademyAcademy AwardAward nominationnomination for her fi lm Traffi c. “He’s“He’s likelike an acting Named to moremore than 200 TopTop TenTen lists for the yearyear 2000, animal, this guy who Traffi c also earnedearned four OscarOscarss and numernumerousous other aawards,wards, comes out of the forestforest to including Golden Globe honors.honors. The fi lm waswas directeddirected byby makemake moviesmovies better.better. He’sHe’s StevenSteven Soderbergh and starredstarred MichaelMichael Douglas, Benicio fearless, and he has a veryvery Del Toro, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. distinctivedistinctive imaginationimagination for ccharacter.”haracter.” WithWith partnerpartner Bill PPohlad,ohlad, BickfordBickford nonoww heads RiverRiver Road Del Toro Entertainment,Entertainment, whichwhich has a fi rrst-look,st-look, co-fi nancing So sasaysys actor and dirdirectorector arrangementarrangement with FFocus/Universalocus/Universal StudiosStudios.. RiverRiver Road Sean PennPenn of ,Toro, who waswas nominatednominated co-fi nanced ’s Brokeback Mountain and is nownow for an AcademAcademyy AwardAward for his portrayalportrayal of the brood-brood- in production on Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane ing Mexican police detectivdetectivee in Traffi c. Arbus, starring and Robert Downey, Jr. In December, production will Del Toro,Toro, who has wonwon numerousnumerous acting awardsawards and begin on Che, which will be directed by Steven awardaward nominations,nominations, has made almost 30 moviesmovies and Soderbergh and will star Benicio Del Toro. has performedperformed in a vvarietyariety of rrolesoles on stage and teletelevi-vi- sion. After a liberal artsarts educaeducationtion aatt Sarah LawrenceLawrence College (where(where she also studied fi lmmaking), BickfordBickford became a A nativenative of PuertoPuerto Rico,Rico, his fi rstrst professionalprofessional job waswas productionproduction manager for political commercials in her nativenative as a guest star on Miami ViceVice. He has since been in suchsuch NewNew YorkYork City.City. She then movedmoved to for fi veve years,years, fi lms as , The Hunted, Basquiat, Fear & Loathing wherewhere she producedproduced musicmusic videos and developeddeveloped featurefeature in Las Vegas, and China Moon. He will also star in To Have fi lms for Luc Roeg and Jeremy Thomas’ Vivid Productions. and Have Not, a new adaptation of the Hemingway classic, tentatively scheduled for release this year. Returning to the , she settled in and partnered with writer/director Matthew Chapman at Del Toro majored in acting at the University of Cali- his Hollywood Pictures-based Asylum Films. fornia at San Diego and also studied at Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York. He won a scholar- Bickford made her debut as a producer in 1995 with ship to The Conservatory of Acting, where Citizen X for HBO Pictures. Citizen X received a Cable Ace he studied for several years. Award for Best Picture and earned multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.nominations. (For(For his performanceperformance in the “Benicio has a wonderful mind,” says , his fi lm, wonwon both China Moon co-star. “It’s a little like fi recrackers going EmmyEmmy and Golden Globe awards.)awards.) off; he’s got these great ideas that just explode.” After Citizen X, BickfordBickford prproducedoduced Play- Christopher McQuarrie, who directed him in The Way ing God with Beacon Pictures. DirectedDirected byby of the Gun, says: “More than any other actor I’ve ever AndyAndy WilsonWilson and starringstarring DaDavidvid DucDuchovny,hovny, met, Benicio is not in pursuit of fame or recognition. I TimothyTimothy Hutton, and ,Jolie, the think he’s a guy who has a great disdain for popularity. fi lm wwasas releasedreleased byby TouchstoneTouchstone PicturesPictures in He’s very resistant to playing a . He would 1997. rather create a character.” BickfordBickford is the daughter of R-MWC 2 TrusteeTrustee JewelleJewelle WootenWooten BickfordBickford ’63.

Bickford NOVEMBER 3 thursday DEL TORO BICKFORD DRIVER LINDSTROM behind the scenes in film: BENICIO LAURA SARA PIA Sara Driver Pia Lindstrom Producer,Producer, director,director, and actressactress Sara DriverDriver Pia Lindstrom has been prominent in television broad- ’77, one of R-MWC’sR-MWC’s own,own, has numerousnumerous casting for more than 25 years as a news correspondent, fi lms to her crcredit.edit. writer, director, and producer. She has also been a theatre and movie critic. Raised in WWestfiestfi eld, NewNew Jersey,Jersey, she began her careercareer in 1980, servingserving as productionproduction Her many awards include two Emmys and the Associated manager and assistant directordirector to Jim Jar-Jar- Press Broadcaster’s Award. muschmusch for the independent fi lm PPermanentermanent Vacation. Lindstrom began her career in San Francisco after gradu- ating from . She then became a CBS news In 1982, she directeddirected a shortshort fi lm, correspondent in New York and later joined NBC, where YouYou AreAre Not I, followed by she held a variety of positions, from news anchor to arts StrangerStranger Than ParadiseParadise editor. She has also written and directed a documentary on in 1984, which she co- cultural life in Morocco for PBS. producedproduced (and where she Driver made a cameo appearance). In 1986, She nownow appearsappears on the AmerAmeri-i- DriverDriver dirdirected,ected, produced,produced, and wrotewrote the screen-screen- can Theatre Wing’s WorkingWorking in the play for Sleepwalk/YearSleepwalk/Year of the DogDog and acted as Theatre Seminars. She has completed productionproduction troubleshootertroubleshooter on Jarmusch’sJarmusch’s fi lm Down a televisiontelevision seriesseries for the NeNeww YYorkork by Law. PublicPublic LibraryLibrary aatt Lincoln Center on careerscareers in the theatheatretre and has par- She made a cameo appearance as an airportairport clerk in ticipatedticipated in the League of AmericanAmerican 1989 in Mystery TrainTrain, another JarmuschJarmusch fi lm, and the Theatre Producers ConversationsConversations with same year appeared in ’s Bloodhounds Broadway Legends. of Broadway. For in 1991, she served as the dailies troubleshooter for Jarmusch and in 1993 directed LindstromLindstrom is a trusteetrustee of the the independent feature fi lm When Pigs Fly, which starred Theatre Development Marianne Faithful. Fund, the largest arts service organization Sleepwalk, perhaps her best-known fi lm, was presented in the country, and Lindstrom at the in 1986. It tells the story of a she is involvedinvolved with ArtsArts young woman whose life is turned upside down when she Horizons,Horizons, whicwhichh prprovidesovides artsarts educa- attemptsattempts the translationtranslation of an old Chinese manuscript.manuscript. The tion to publicpublic schools.schools. She is a member of the fi lm wwasas also enteredentered into competition atat the 1987 U.S.U.S. InternationalInternational Committee of the Lighthouse and of Film Festival.Festival. the AmericanAmerican TheaTheatretre Wing,Wing, whichwhich presentspresents the TonyTony Awards. DriverDriver is marmarriedried to JJarmusch,armusch, whose fi lm wonwon the Grand PrixPrix aatt this yyear’sear’s Cannes Film Festival.Festival. The daughter of actressactress IngridIngrid Bergman and neurneurosurgeonosurgeon Dr. Petter Lindstrom, she lives in Manhattan with her hus- band, attorney Jack Carley, and their two sons. “He’s like an acting animal, this guy who comes out of the forest to make movies better.” —Actor and Director on Benicio Del Toro 3

NOVEMBER 4 fridaybehind the scenes in dance DANCE LEGEND TRISHA BROWN TO PERFORM The Trisha Brown Dance Company, acclaimed internationally for its creativity and its intellectualism, will be a vital part of the Bickford Arts Symposium. Not only will the company perform, but artistic director Trisha Brown—the fi rst woman choreographer to receive the coveted MacArthur Founda- tion Fellowship—will also create a program especially for the symposium.

A pioneer in her fi eld, Brown has left her own indelible mark on the world of . Her abstract compositions have been hailed for their innova- tions, including, as art critic Tobi Tobias has noted, dancers “leaning, lunging, jackknifi ng, plunging, or sliding to the fl oor, arms, legs, and torsos rising to the challenge of tasks hardly within their original job description.” For a long period, Brown’s company even performed in silence.

In describing Brown’s 2003 pro- gram Present Tense in the ArtsJournal, “After 40 years of pushing the physical and creative limits of Tobias praised Brown’s “divine fl uidity” and said her choreogra- contemporary dance, the choreographer Trisha Brown is herself phy “makes canny observations an astounding body of work....” on how people combine to bond, John Rockwell especially when they’re supporting New York Times critic each other’s bodies, either in pairs or larger groups. Eventually the participants help each other soar aloft, outstretched limbs slicing 4 the air.” “Brown isn’t innately musical, or rhythmical. She is, rather, innately visual, playing with dancers and the frame of the stage the way painters play with paint and the boundaries of a canvas.” behind the scenes in dance Nancy Dalva danceviewtimes

New York Times critic John Rockwell recently said of Brown: “After 40 years of TRISHA BROWN TO pushing the physical and creative limits of contemporary dance, the choreogra- CREATE SPECIAL pher Trisha Brown is herself an astounding body of work....she is unique in her vision.” Brown’s wit and gentle charm have “never deserted her,” and “she has PROGRAM FOR R-MWC never stopped exploring or evolving,” Rockwell said. Dance virtuoso Trisha Brown will According to , another New York Times critic: “There was a time create a unique dance program espe- when one was always tempted to take up Ms. Brown’s implied invitation to ana- cially for the Bickford Arts Sympo- lyze the underlying concept of each work. Structure is often what these pure- sium. In conjunction with movement pieces are about,” she notes. Other critics have described Brown’s R-MWC’s exhibition of work by work as dance for thinking people. painter Elizabeth Murray, Brown will debut an unusual performance re- Brown is also known for her collaboration with visual artists—especially fl ecting Murray’s artistic sensibilities. painter —and for her technological experimentation. Re- cently, in tandem with Arizona State University, she has been exploring “motion Brown’s piece is expected to pro- capture technology,” whereby computer software enables the dancer’s motions vide a bridge to Heart of the Matter, to infl uence the audio and performance aspects of a dance. the Murray exhibition at the Maier Museum of Art that will also form a The Trisha Brown Dance Company celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. cornerstone of the symposium. Originally performing at alternative theatre sites in Manhattan’s Soho district, the company today regularly performs in the opera houses of New York, , Brown and Murray have collaborated London, and other world cities. The repertory has grown from solo perfor- before—on Brown’s program Present mances and small group pieces to include major evening-length works. Tense—where Murray dressed the dancers in bright apparel and pro- In 1998, the company performed Brown’s fi rst opera, Montiverdi’s Orfeo, in vided giant, colorful abstract shapes partnership with Belgium’s national opera house, La Monnaie. A subsequent as a stage backdrop. tour brought the opera to New York and major European cultural capitals. Brown’s company also participated in a production of Luci Mie Traditrici, com- As Nancy Dalva noted in danceview- posed by Salvatore Sciarrino, at La Monnaie and New York’s Lincoln Center times: “Brown isn’t innately musical, Festival 2001. Trisha Brown joined forces with Lincoln Center again in 2002 to or rhythmical. She is, rather, innately present Winterreise, featuring company dancers and singing visual, playing with dancers and the the song-cycle. frame of the stage the way painters play with paint and the boundaries In addition to the MacArthur Fellowship, Brown has been awarded many of a canvas. She makes drip paintings honors, including two John Simon Guggenheim Fellowships and the National with dancers, splashing them hither Medal of Arts. and yon—on the sides of the space alone, or all over it; separately, or all The Trisha Brown Dance Company’s involvement in the symposium refl ects the on top of each other. Overlapping, importance R-MWC places on its dance program—and the College’s commit- underlapping, interlapping.” ment to raising funds to renovate its Physical and Recreation Build- ing. As part of that renovation, the College must add a second dance studio to Brown has a long tradition of collabo- meet the high demand for additional dance classes and practice time. rating with painters and other artists.

5 NOVEMBER 5 saturday behind the scenes in art, stage, and screen

Elizabeth Murray Heart of the Matter, an exciting exhibition of recent paintings by renowned contemporary artist Elizabeth Murray, will be a focal point of the Bickford Arts Symposium.

The exhibition, which includes the Maier Museum of Art’s own Heart with Bricks, is the latest in a series of intimate but powerful exhibitions the museum has developed in recent years. It will also place Heart with Bricks in the larger context of Murray’s recent develop- ment. Paintings from 1990 to the present will be shown.

Murray, whose work debuted in 1972 at the Whitney Museum of American Art, is known to challenge the traditional notion of painting—assembling and shaping her canvases and exploring her medium in bold and distinctive ways. Curator Richard Marshall has noted in Art News that Murray synthesizes “form and image, which [has] really reinvigorated the medium.”

Noted “…bold, powerful, Murray has been Curator to called a master of the shaped painting—a Lecture hybrid of sculpture and painting that Art curator and author Klaus Kert- and vibrant” involves draping ess will give a public lecture at the Maier Museum of Art Director Karol Lawson painted canvases over on the work of Elizabeth Murray Maier Museum of Art on Elizabeth pieces of wood. Murray’s work during the sympo- sium. Kertess, who co-founded the Critic Michael Kimmelman has observed in : “Ms. Murray loves to paint. Bykert Gallery in New York in 1966, That’s still the bottom line. Her art is about her absorption in this antique endeavor, curated the Whitney Museum of which she fi nds deadly serious and ecstatically satisfying. These days, when there is so American Art’s 1995 Biennial. much facile painting around, it is useful to be reminded that there are still veterans like her, steeped in the medium, its diffi culties and pleasure, who work so hard and make such He has curated two recent traveling beautiful art.” exhibitions of the work of Willem de Kooning and has written extensively The Maier acquired Murray’s Heart with Bricks in 2003. The purchase was made possible about a variety of signifi cant con- by alumnae and of the College led by Katharine Stark Caldwell ’74 and Nancy temporary artists. Kertess teaches Forsyth Walker ’98 and by the Louise Jordan Smith Fund and the Mary S. Schreyer Acqui- a graduate seminar at the School of sition Fund. Visual Arts in New York and lectures nationwide. Maier Director Karol Lawson has called Heart with Bricks “bold, powerful, and vibrant” and notes that it embodies the exciting energy of contemporary American painting. She has Admission will be free, and no reser- also noted that the painting complements earlier abstract works in the Maier collection by vations are required. A reception for Brice Marden, , and Richard Pousette-Dart. all attendees will follow. 6 behind the scenes in art, stage, and screen

Paula Prentiss PaulaPaula PrentissPrentiss has wonwon recognitionrecognition for both her comedic Richard Benjamin, and dramatic roles on stage and in fi lm. noted for his work as an actor and a director, has Discovered by a talent scout while a student actress at had a varied career span- , Prentiss signed with Metro ning fi vvee decades.decades. Goldwyn Mayer and was paired in a string of comedies with , , and other leading men. Known for his roles in With her distinctive voice infl exions, she soon became one fi lms such as Goodbye of the best comediennes of the . Columbus, Portnoy’s Complaint, and Diary Her comedies include , What’s New Pussy- of a Mad Housewife, Benjamin cat?, , , The World of Henry wonwon a Golden Globe AAwardward when he Orient, and Man’s Favorite Sport? Dramatic roles followed, reprisedreprised his stage rroleole in the fi lm vversionersion of including those in The Stepford Wives, Catch-22, The Black The Sunshine Boys. CriticsCritics hahaveve describeddescribed him vari-vari- Marble, In Harm’s Way, and The Parallax View. ouslyously as excelling atat “depicting people drivendriven to the brinkbrink comedicallcomedically”y” (Leonard Maltin) and as an “arche-“arche- Prentiss has frequently appeared with husband Richard type of East Coast JewishJewish intellectual agony”agony” (Jonathan(Jonathan Benjamin on stage and screen, including in the 1967 televi- Romney). sion series He and She. Most recently, the couple appeared together in a production of the classic All My He began his career onstage before moving to fi lm and Sons at the Shadowland Theatre in the Catskill Mountains television, where he co-starred with his wife of New York. in the 1967 series He and She. In recent years Benjamin has devoted himself mainly to directing fi lms, including Racing She has also appeared on many television shows, includ- with the Moon, , , , Little ing The Tonight Show, Password, The Jonathan Winters Show, The Nikita, Downtown, Mermaids, Made in America, and Milk Money. Merv Griffi n Show, Burke’s Law, Murder She Wrote, and . With Prentiss, he also acted on stage this past summer in the theatre classic All My Sons. Prentiss recently completed fi lming a black comedy, Hard Four, where she played opposite her two children, Ross and Benjamin’s other fi lm roles include those in The Pentagon Prentiss Benjamin. Wars, , The Last Married Couple in America, House Calls, and The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker.

For television, he produced The Goodbye Girl, and he has appeared in various TV roles, including those on Dr. Kildare, The Theater, and Titus. He has been a guest on The Tonight Show, The Merv Griffi n Show, and Saturday Night Live.

7 HBEHINDIGHLIGHTS FROM THE THE BICKFORD SCENES ARTS SYMPOSIUM... THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5 ... in pop music ... in dance ... in art William Berlind, musician and music the internationally acclaimed Klaus Kertess, curator and writer, and critic, will cut a recording while on comtempory Trisha Brown Dance Elizabeth Murray, artist discuss her campus Company based in New York career 5:00 P.M. Wimberly Recital Hall 2:00 P.M. Maier Museum of Art followed by a post-performance Reception to follow Maier Museum of Art ... in film conversation with Trisha Brown and a conversation with Laura Bickford, Klaus Kertess, curator and writer ... in stage and screen producer; Benicio Del Toro, actor; 8:00 P.M. Smith Hall Theatre an evening with Paula Prentiss, actor and Sara Driver, director; Pia Lindstrom, Richard Benjamin, actor and director writer and arts critic 5:30 P.M. Smith Hall Theatre 8:30 P.M. Smith Hall Theatre Reception to follow Anne Jeter Ribble Lounge Coffee Bar and Dessert Reception 10:30 P.M. Ribble Lounge

ADDITIONAL LECTURES, OPEN CLASSES, TOURS, MUSIC... FOR A COMPLETE SCHEDULE VISIT WWW RMWC EDU/ARTS The Bickford Arts Symposium is funded by. Brook and Roger Berlind,. Jewelle Wooten Bickford ’63 and Nathaniel J. Bickford, The Susan H. Dabney Fund, The C. William Gibson, Jr. Memorial Lecture Fund, The Kennedy-Fitzgerald Visiting Professor Fund, The Carl H. and Frances M. McHenry Visiting Lecturers and Artists Fund, and The Philip Thayer Lecture Fund.

Non-Profi t Org. US Post age O FFICE OF THE P RESIDENT PAID 2500 RIVERMONT AVENUE Permit No. 6 Lynchburg, VA LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24503-1526 THE STARS ARE COMING