EIGHTH ANNUAL LOWER EAST SIDE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS

CELEBRATED AT THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY MAY 23rd - 25th

To demonstrate the creative explosion of the Lower East Side and the area's importance to culture and tourism for New York City, a score of stars and over 100 performing arts organizations, independent artists, poets, politicians and film makers will join forces May 23rd to 25th in the Lower East Side's Eighth Annual Festival of the Arts (LES), in and around THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY (First Avenue and East 10th Street, NYC - 212-254-1109 - http://www.theaterforthenewcity.net). This three-day, indoor and outdoor festival of theater is organized by TNC and a coalition of civic, cultural and business leaders and is free to all New Yorkers. Last year, over 3,000 people attended. The complete lineup and hour-by-hour schedule is posted on the website.

The festival will be three days of theater and theater-related events, from Friday, May 23rd to Sunday, May 25th employing three theater spaces at TNC plus the block of East 10th Street between First and Second Avenues. On Saturday, May 24th there will be a day-long, block-long outdoor carnival of musical attractions and a community arts fair with food and crafts vendors. The list of attractions includes artists presently residing on the Lower East Side, arts groups performing there, prominent writers and artists whose work has dealt directly with the Lower East Side experience and plays written especially for this festival. The distinct ethnic communities of the Lower East Side are amply represented, including the Latin American, African American, Chinese, Indian, Irish, Italian, Jewish, Native American, Polish and Ukrainian communities.

SCHEDULE FRIDAY, MAY 23th
6:00 pm-1:00 am: Spoken word and Performances Upstairs.
8:00 pm-Midnight: Cabaret Performances Downstairs.

SATURDAY, MAY 24th
11:00 am-6:00 pm: (Outside) Vendors, Salsa, Merengue, Jazz, Poets, Commedia, Rain date, Sunday.
2:00 pm-4:30 pm: (Inside) Plays by Kids for Kids.
6:00 pm-Midnight: Spoken word and Theatrical Performances Upstairs.
3:00 pm-Midnight: Film and Video Downstairs.

SUNDAY, MAY 25th
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Poets Downstairs.
6:00 pm-Midnight: Dance and Theatrical Performances Upstairs.
8:00 pm-Midnight: Theatrical Performances Downstairs.

KEY PARTICIPANTS:

MUSIC BY: David Amram, Stephan Smith, K.T. Sullivan, Juini Booth, House of Tribes, Mambo Jazi, Rale Micic, Silvercloud Singers and Drummers, Zsound Collective, Star 69, Latino Experimental Fantastic; Mira, Jerry and Friends, Lovesphere, Judy Gorman, Frans Bloem, Mark Marcante, Judith Caporali.

PERFORMERS: Reno, Vinie Burrows, Murray Hill, Epstein and Hassan, Tuli Kupferberg, steve ben israel, Michelle Carlo, Lavinia Co-op, Crystal Field, Fred Geobold, John Grimaldi, Richard Harper, Andy Horowitz, Terry Lee King, Erika Blumfield, Meredith Ladyfingers, Al Lewis & Bob Fass, Simon Loeckle, Jen London, Kid Lucky, Alex McDonald, Kevin Mitchell Martin, Melange, Lissa Moira, More Gardens, Mother & Kids, Jonathan Ames (in a new work written and directed by Eric Begosian), Bina Sharif, Margo Lee Sherman, Michael Tanaglia, Gary Wagner, Richard West, Roberta Wallach, Artemis Group, Brett Axel, Helen Stratford, Willy Torres, Cashetta, Chris Tanner, Lorcan Otway, Abigail Ramsay.

DANCE: Tamar Rogoff Performance Project, Kinding Sindaw, Rod Rogers Dance Company, Les Guirivoires Dance Theater, Yangtze Theater Company, Marianna Beckerman, Andre Brown, Cha-Lee Chan, Commonground, Dzul Dance Company, eDance, David Ryder, Sudden Enlightenment, Thunderbird American-Indian Dancers, Human Kinetics, Dancetube.

THEATER GROUPS: Franklin Furnace, Wise Guise, Folksbiene, Bond Street Theater, Feed the Herd, The Ethel Project, Kairos Theater, Studio 42, Bangladesh Theater of America, Teatro Pregones, Blue Angel, DADAnewyork, Flavah, Freestyle Repertory Theatre, Nuyorican Poets Cafˇ, Angry Jellow Bubbles, The Living Theater, The Moth, NY Theater Workshop, WOW Cafˇ, Yara Arts Group, Salaam Theater, Le Phew Theatre, More Gardens, Teatro Pregones, Outer Productions.

POETRY: A Gathering of The Tribes, Jack Agueros, Jushi and 28 poets.

PLAYS BY" Gary Heidt, Laurence Holder, Barbara Kahn, Larry Myers. Also: an excerpt from Jean-Claude Van Itallie's new play, "Light," excerpt from "The Identical Same Temptation" by Robert Glaudini, with Roberta Wallach; excerpt from"Minus One," a play about Amiri Baraka by Gyazira Lasana, directed by David Willinger; excerpt from "Destiny Manifested" by James Gillard. " FILMS "Int. Trailer Night" by Jim Jarmusch, "East Seventh Street" by Josh Pais, "Denis A. Charles: an Interrupted Conversation" by Vˇronique Doumbˇ, "Tempt" by Tim Duggan, "Stalk Footage" by Michael Landers, "Drive" by Barbara Sicuranza, "Dead Canaries" by Robert Santoli and Lisa Moira, "The Smell of Gumdrops" by Ray Skerrit and Terry Ann Bennett, "Nine Eleven" by Andreas Troeges, "Fashion: the Changing Face of Seventh Avenue" by R.J.S. Productions, "High Times' Pot Luck" by Alison E.G. Thompson, "TNC: Thirty Years for the Love of It" by Crystal Field.

CHILDREN'S ATTRACTIONS: An afternoon of kids' attractions emceed by John Grimaldi (of NY Lyric Circus) featuriong eight year-old violinist Arielle Korman, dance by EDG Experimental Dance Group from The Children's Workshop School, dancer Bryan Scott, improvised drama by The LOISAIDA Players Project, Las Merengueritas de Loisaida dance group from East Village Community School, original drama by Creative Arts Team.

LOBBY ATTRACTIONS: Continuously screening in the lobby will be "Immigrant History of the Lower East Side," a co-production of The History Channel and The Tenement Museum, and "The Golden Age of Second Avenue" from the Arthur Cantor collection. Also playing in the lobby will be recorded music by Yip Harburg, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Charley Parker, and 18 versions of "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?" with everybody from Bing Crosby to Tom Waits. On display will be photographs by Corky Lee; works by 45 visual artists.

Background: A committee was formed in the fall of 1995, chaired by TNC's Director Crystal Field, to address the undervaluation of the Lower East Side as a cultural resource. The region is a unique multi-ethnic community with an unusually high level of artistic vitality. Large populations with differing languages and cultures coexist there successfully and a large artistic population helps glue the neighborhood together. Its theaters are also an underappreciated source of tourism, even though "Rent," "Stomp" and Blue Man Group's "Tubes" exemplify the wide appeal of "downtown" theater. Sam Shepard's "Buried Child" was commissioned and first produced by TNC. The committee envisioned an event that would demonstrate the region's cultural fervor, its large artistic population and its multiplicity of ethnic influences.

The first festival, presented June 14th to 16th, 1996, featured over 100 attractions, drew favorable press and attracted crowds from all around the City. Its success prompted TNC to continue the festival as an annual event.

 

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