This summer’s topic: ‘Mr. T’ in Hades
TNC continued from p. 22
Mark Marcante, Mrs. Garlic, portrayed
by Cheryl Gadsden, and Monsieur X.,
played by Terry Lee King.
“Mr. T. gets into the cauldron and
drinks from the cauldron full of parasites
of doom that get into his brain,”
Field explained.
In this show, cast and audience travel
to Hades, a place underground with
a huge cauldron, fi lled with mistakes
made throughout history.
“It’s a cesspool of historical crimes
and errors,” Field said.
Although Field initially directed
shows, she wrote her fi rst street-theater
musical in 1976 around the theme
of the country’s bicentennial, titled
“Mama Liberty’s Bicentennial Party.”
“You know who was in it? Tim Robbins
among other people,” Field said.
“He had a featured role. He played a
local young man, the hero of the play.”
TNC’s street theater, while it’s meant
to be entertaining, spotlights issues,
whether it’s how immigrants are treated
or funding for the arts.
“It’s in the tradition of commedia
dell’arte, which was always political,”
Field noted. “Commedia was hysterical,
full of satire and acrobatics and
lots of joy.”
Producing a new musical every year
isn’t done overnight.
“I write it all year long,” she said. “I
have a little drawer in my kitchen cabinet
for my street-theater notes.”
After two weeks of improvisations
Crystal Field, Theater for the New City’s artistic director, as the spirit
of St. Nicholas Hill, left, and Michael David Gordon, who plays a socialservice
provider.
and workshops with the 50-member
cast, Field and a few key staffers headed
Upstate to fi nish the script. She phoned
in lyrics to Banks, who composed and
played songs back over the phone.
“We discuss it,” she said. “He tweaks
it. When I come back, we have three
weeks of rehearsal.”
Banks has worked with Field on
these musicals for 11 years, after she
PHOTO BY JONATHAN SLAFF
worked for 11 years with Mark Hardwick,
who went on to compose the
music for “Pump Boys and Dinettes,”
which played on Broadway, and “Oil
City Symphony,” an Off-Broadway hit.
“Both of them were very much inspired
by street theater,” Field said.
Ralph Lee, the famous maker of gigantic
puppets that became the core of
the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade,
also worked on street theater.
“After fi ve years, he suggested we
do a parade,” Field said. “He had big,
6-foot puppets sitting in his studio. He
suggested I do a parade. We started the
Halloween Parade.”
TNC uses a device they call a
“cranky,” 9 feet high by 12 feet wide, a
kind of giant scroll that can be moved
to provide settings for 10 scenes.
“It takes fi ve people to run it,” Field
said. “It runs on two rollers.”
The production is funded with the
help of the City of New York, New York
State Council On the Arts and others.
“The rest of it is by people,” she said
of the production, which costs about
$55,000. “We raise money for the
street theater from our audience and
our donors.”
Field repeated a few lines from a
song about this play’s concept of this
cauldron of miscalculations in hell.
“A place where all the bad times
of the past are cast away, history is
cleansed and the planet lives another
day,” Field said. “I’m sure your housing
problems will end up there, as well.
They call it hell. I call it Hades.”
TNC focuses on this project each
summer, preparing a production as the
centerpiece of the season.
“It’s our whole summer program,”
Field said. “We never have enough
funds. We’re always looking.”
The show runs through Sept. 15,
with performances across the city. For
more information, call 212-254-1109
or visit www.theaterforthenewcity.net.
Outdoor Art Show a ‘Labor Day’ of love
BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
In a traditional end-of-summer
event, the sidewalks around Washington
Square will be teeming with
art over the next two weekends.
The occasion is the 89th annual fall
show of the Washington Square Outdoor
Art Exhibit.
Technically, it’s not fall yet. But it’s
a fact that this “fall show” will feature
nearly 100 artists and craft artisans
selling their original creations directly
to the public. The popular and free
event attracts thousands each year.
The outdoor art extravaganza begins
Labor Day weekend, Sat., Aug. 31 to
Mon., Sept. 2, and continues the following
weekend, Sat., Sept. 7 and Sun.,
Sept. 8.
It’s free to the public and runs from
noon to 6 p.m. each day.
The artwork and crafts on display
will be in all mediums — from painting,
photography, jewelry and glass
to woodworking, ceramics and mixed
media, on sale directly from the artists
themselves.
Artists from all around the New
York metropolitan area will be featured,
along with artists from other
parts of the U.S. and even from abroad,
as well.
The event is also a juried show and
all registered artists are eligible in several
award categories by medium. There
will also be a “Best in Show” award.
The Washington Square Outdoor
Art Exhibit happens just twice a year,
each spring and fall.
The event takes place on University
Place starting at E. 13th St. and continuing
south along the east side of
Washington Square Park to W. Third
St. The southern end of the show encompasses
Schwartz Plaza (a.k.a. Bobkin
Lane) between New York University’s
Shimkin Hall and Bobst Library.
The outdoor show started from
humble beginnings in 1931. Artists and
friends Jackson Pollock and Willem de
Kooning sold a few of their paintings
from the sidewalk near Washington
Square Park to make some much needed
extra cash. The Washington Square
Outdoor Art Exhibit went on to become
a New York City art institution.
For more information, visit www.
WSOAE.org.
PHOTO BY REBECCA MB PEARSON PHOTOGRAPHY
Kristiana Parne, seen at last year’s Washington Square Outdoor Art
Exhibit, will be selling her artwork again at the upcoming event.
Schneps Media TVG August 29, 2019 23
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