Show Description
LEDA IS BACK, better than ever. Call her what you want: cult hero, underground idol, art rock goddess, tease. Did she really retire? Was her disappearance just a publicity stunt? New songs, new music, new voice. PLUS – surprise performances from LEDA’s FRIENDS. Featuring Okwui Okpokwasili as LEDA, and Taylor Mac, Kamala Sankaram, Todd d’Amour, Chris Wells, Jenny Turner Hall, Kristin Marting, Jennifer Gibbs and Rima Fand, Sarah Alden & Sxip Shirey of LUMINESCENT ORCHESTRII as LEDA’S FRIENDS.Come get a taste of the freshest music, writing and performance from inspired genre-defying artists. Together on one stage, one night only. Brought to you by FIRST FIG collective with HERE Arts Center – proceeds benefit LEDA IS BACK. Be the first to hear the sound.
INCARNATION! Bessie Award-winning OKWUI OKPOKWASILI is a performer/writer/dancer who spins ancient rituals into newborn stories. You know she’s an all-around downtown stunner. You’ve seen her in theater, on film and dancing with Ralph Lemon. Maybe you’ve caught her alter ego, Karaoke Hostess Gracie Man/shun. Prepare to meet her latest embodiment: art rock goddess LEDA. Be spellbound.
ACTIVATION! The legendary TAYLOR MAC unleashes THE LILY’S REVENGE: a self-uprooted lily goes on a quest to combat its oppressors and destroy nostalgia. For your eyes only, a special preview of his latest piece of stunning theatrical activism – down with cultural homogeneity! Elaborate costumes, puppets, live music & vaudevillian hijinks soon to take over HERE Arts Center. Open your petals.
ILLUMINATION! Lush, raw & sexy LUMINESCENT ORCHESTRII sends three shooting stars from its firmament to fuel our show! RIMA FAND, SARAH ALDEN & SXIP SHIREY will glamour you with their gypsy melodies, punk frenzy, salty tangos & saucy lyrics. Around the world & into Joe’s Pub. Let loose.
INVOCATION! Award-winning writer/performer CHRIS WELLS creates original performances & radical live events. He inspires us all as founder of artist’s sanctuary THE SECRET CITY, bringing community back to New York’s art world. American Theatre calls him “PROPHETIC.” Backstage West calls him “MAGICAL.” Bring your sense of adventure – he’s prepared something special.
REVELATION! Wildly inventive composer/singer/multi-instrumentalist KAMALA SANKARAM & her ensemble breed film noir with electronica & opera to create a new species of music. Ride the waves.
TEMPTATION! LEDA knows him as THE STRANGER, but TODD d’AMOUR has also seduced as Stanley, Brando, Blanche & Stella – all in the same show: STANLEY, his HERE-based collaboration with Lisa d’Amour on a multi-media homage to post-flood New Orleans. Now he’ll play you his own songs. Enjoy a rare taste.
IMPROVISATION! Southern-born storyteller JENNY TURNER HALL is equal parts humor, grit, vulgarity and grace. Now she’s back on stage with her one-woman insulin shot SWEET TALK. Go ahead, have some down-n-dirty fun.
LEDA! Once New York’s art-rock goddess, LEDA fled fame to live on Cape Cod with her psychiatrist husband. But a Dionysian musician from her past, THE STRANGER, refuses to release her. In the midst of grief, LEDA confronts the upheaval THE STRANGER brings one weekend, when ex-lovers collide and realign at a ridiculous rate. LEDA is the lead character in SOUNDING, a hybrid music/video/theater piece premiering at HERE Arts Center in February 2010. Her music is influenced by Patti Smith, Bartok and Portishead. SOUNDING and LEDA are the result of an intense, long-term collaboration in the HERE Artist Residency Program. Script and lyrics are by JENNIFER GIBBS, direction is by KRISTIN MARTING, music composition is by KAMALA SANKARAM. SOUNDING is based on a screenplay co-written by JENNIFER GIBBS & JENNY TURNER HALL, and is loosely inspired by Ibsen’s LADY FROM THE SEA.
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