January 2003 2003 Spring Season Cecily Brown, Against Nature, 2002 BAM Spring Season sponsor: 1 PHILIP MORRIS ENc ~ o nE C OM PA NI ES I NC. Neder1ander ( 212) 30'7-4100 Theatre I 208 west 41st street wm' • s1 teforrent • COil I ~I\ 1\/1 b Ill Contents January 2003 Praise The Roof 6 Gospel music shakes the roof of the Howard Gilman Opera House thanks to BAM's new Rhythm & BAM series. By Brian Scott Lipton Treasured Island 10 South African actors John Kani and Winston Ntshona return to New York with a new production of the politically charged drama The Island. Kim Burrell. Photo: Celeste Wells By Diane Snyder Double Exposure 38 Oscar-winner Sam Mendes brings his Donmar Warehouse double bill of Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night to America. By Leslie (Hoban) Blake Program 21 Upcoming Events 34 BAMdirectory 35 Winston Ntshona & John Kani in The Island. Dining Guide 41 Photo: Ruphin Coudyzer Co\LPr Arti't Cecily Brown was born in 1969 in London. She earned a BA in Fine Arts at the Slade School of Art, and a B-TEC Diploma in Art and Design at Epsom School of Art in Surrey, England. Brown is represented by Gagosian Gallery (New York and Los Angeles), where she has had annual solo exhibitions since 1999. Her work has been featured in solo shows at Victoria Miro Gallery (London), Contemporary Fine Arts (Berlin), and Deitch Projects (New York). Brown has participated in a number of group shows at locations including Museum fur Moderne Kunst (Frankfurt am Main); Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle; P. S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Cecily Brown Island City, NY; Barbara Gladstone Gallery, Jessica Fredericks Against Nature, 2002 Gallery, and David Zwirner Gallery (New York City), among others. Oil on linen, 80" x 80" Brown's short animated film, Four Letter Heaven, premiered at the Photo by Robert McKeever, Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery Telluride Film Festival. Her work is in public collections including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York), Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, NY), and The Tate Gallery (London), and is For purchase information and the subject of several books and· catalogues, including essays other BAM art offerings, by Klaus Kertess and Stephan Schmidt-Wulffen. Brown's first contact Monika Wunderer at museum solo exhibition is currently taking place at the Hirshhorn 718.636.4174 x8 or Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC. Her new work [email protected] will be shown at a solo exhibition at Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, in early spring this year. 3 ALEXANDER NEVSKY Eisenstein I Prokoviev Praise the Roof By Brian Scott Lipton Gospel has been a joyful sound at BAM in recent years. Thousands of people have felt the spirit of this glorious music during the Sounds of Praise Gospel Brunch, which are held on select Sundays at BAMcafe. Last year, gospel legend Donnie McClurkin brought down the house at BAM's annual tribute to Dr. Marti n Luther King Jr. "' But come February 1, this inspi rational ~ \ music will take centerstage inside the ~ ' Howard Gilman Opera House, when ~ BAM presents Praise Music, the second ~ concert in its new Rhythm & BAM "'- series. (The first, featuring R&B legend ~ Bobby "Blue" Bland and up-and-coming ~ star Cody ChesnuTT, takes place on :.: January 18.) Filling the stage that evening will be a cast of dozens: Gary Anglin and the Christian Cultural Center Choir, Grammy­ nominee Kim Burrell, and Reverend Timothy White and the Grace Tabernacle Choir. Bishop Sam Williams of radio station WBLS will host the event. This event is an official part of NY GRAMMY Fest 2003 and is sponsored by Independence Community Foundation. The Rhythm & BAM series is an outgrowth of ten years of free concerts presented at nearby Metro Tech Center. "We had such success with those concerts, we wanted to move them indoors," says Joseph V. Mel illo, BAM's executive producer. "More importantly, this series is the beginning of a long-term comm itment to examine the extraordinary contribution that Africa n-Americans have made to American culture through music . "When I arrived at BAM, I looked at all of our initiatives, and I noticed music was not as well represented," adds Melillo. "We have a very culturally diverse audience here. Artistically, Rhythm and Blues and Gospel was where I landed ." In many ways, the choice of a Gospel concert to help inaugurate the series was a natural one. "From doing these brunches, we have learned a tremendous amount about this music, most notably that Gospel is not a monolothic term . It has many different types of expression," says Melillo. "So we decided to move in the direction of producing a large-scale gospel concert." To help complete this task, Melillo turned to two important ind ividuals with their own long-term commitments to BAM. The show's director, Abdel R. Salaam, is the artistic director of Forces of Nature, a dance company that has performed as part of BAM's annual DanceAfrica Festival. (This year's event wi ll be held May 23-25). To select the performers, Melillo tapped BAM music curator Limor Tomer. "I wanted to present the best artists from Sounds of Praise in a larger context, and in selecting Gary Angli n and the Reverend White's groups, I felt we chose two choi rs that were truly extraordinary," says Tomer. "And I am thrilled we've been able to add a wonderful guest soloist, Kim Burrell." The performers bel ieve the ti ming of this concert couldn't be better-even if there turns out to be a 6 foot of snow on the ground. "People need inspiration when times get tough," says Reverend Wright. "During difficult times, which we are facing, people turn to their faith- and our music is about faith. It's fascinating that since September 11th, Gospel music is one of the few categories where record sales have actually increased." Being on a BAM stage is nothing new for Reverend Wright; he first performed here in the 1970s. For Praise Music, he plans to choose selections from his entire repertoire, which means "a little bit of traditional gospel, a little bit of contemporary gospel, and a little bit of urban gospel," he says. Moreover, any chance he gets to spread the word to Brooklyn- and about Brooklyn- is fine by him. "Sometimes, Brooklyn gets overlooked in the notoriety of Manhattan. But there is a lot of talent in Brooklyn," says Wright, who will be joined onstage by more than 25 choir members and musicians. This concert will offer some particular benefits to Gary Anglin. "I am very excited about having all these people together on one stage. I have never gotten to be on the same bill as Reverend Wright," he notes. "I am also looking forward to presenting some new material, from my latest CD, to the audience." But CD sales or meeting other performers are merely bonuses, stresses Anglin. This concert is an important element in fulfilling his overall mission. "Our purpose in coming here is the same purpose we have wherever we minister, whether it's in New York or Vienna. Our purpose is to glorify G-d and to spread hope," says Anglin. "And we know there are people who may never go to church, but they will come to a concert." In addition to being the editor of ENCORE/BAMbi//, Brian Scott Lipton contributes frequently to many national and local publications, including Forbes, The New York Post, and W, on topics such as performing arts, fashion, and cuisine. He is also an adjunct professor at the Metropolitan College of New York. · 7 Treasured Island By Diane Snyder The last time that black South African actors John Kani and Winston Ntshona performed The Island in New York, they took home a joint Tony Award for 1975's Best Actor in a Play. A year later, they were arrested back home after a performance of the play Sizwe Bansi Is Dead, charged with treason and locked up for a few weeks-until pressure and protests from around the globe helped get them released. Their international tour of those two works- which they co-authored with Athol Fugard, the great white South African playwright- let them savor freedom away from South Africa when it was still in the throes of apartheid. Yet, they chose to return to their homeland, despite the oppressive regime, and fight for change. Neither Kani nor Ntshona recall being concerned about the potential danger. "There was some­ thing bigger calling than just the taste of freedom outside," says Ntshona, speaking by phone from his home in Port Elizabeth. "We were committed to the struggle at home, to black people who were disadvantaged completely, to social change to benefit everybody." Thankfully, South Africa has been completely rebuilt since apartheid was repealed twelve yea rs ago. So when the pair brings The Island to New York this time, it is without fear of retribution back home. The production- which Kani and Ntshona re-staged with director Peter Brook's input at his Paris theater in 1999-runs at BAM's Harvey Theater from April 1-13, made possible by special support from The Feinberg Foundation , Inc. Set in the Robben Island penitentiary, a maximum-security facil ity that once held political prisoners like Nelson Mandela, the play unfolds around two cel lmates, named for the actors, who sport matching shaven heads, khaki shirts and short pants. Although faced daily with backbreaking work and brutal treatment from jailers, their companionship helps them cope with their dehumanizing life behind bars.