While I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a Muppet “expert,” I’m certainly considered the go-to guy for Muppet information on the Symphony Space staff. I guess the stuffed dolls of Animal, Bert, Scooter, and Oscar on my desk gave me away. I have my mother to thank, who fed me a steady diet of Muppets all through my childhood in the late 70s and early 80s. I’m not ashamed to admit that I had a subscription to Sesame Street Magazine, and later graduated to Muppet Magazine. Here’s the cover of one of my favorite issues of Muppet Magazine, one that showed kids how to dress up like Michael Jackson, Boy George, and Madonna for Halloween, and gave us the hot-off-the-press lyrics to Weird Al’s “Eat It” and “I Love Rocky Road.” What exactly the Muppets had to do with any of this, I’m still not sure. Read More »
Movin’ Right Along, Fozzie
By Brian HeckPublished on December 22, 2009
This guest entry was written by Tim Croner, who blogs about New York theatre at thoughtsofatheatregeek.blogspot.com.
I had the pleasure of seeing Gavin Creel and his songwriting partner Robbie Roth perform Dec 7 at Symphony Space, and I couldn’t have asked for a better Monday night. Just wanted to take a few moments to record some of my favorite moments:
Gavin sang two Christmas songs, “Little Drummer Boy” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, and they both sounded amazing. I especially enjoyed “Little Drummer Boy” — Gavin’s voice and the acoustic arrangement were perfect for the song. Lovely. Read More »
Selected Shorts Tours the Far West: Part 3 of 3
By Isaiah ShefferPublished on November 26, 2009
This is the third in a three-part series of entries. Read part one here, and part two here.
Trip #2: Whitefish, Montana
A few days of Thalia Follies rehearsal in NYC and then it was back on the road, or rather the airways, this time to be the guest of Montana Public Radio. Our earlier Montana trips in past seasons have taken us to Missoula, the university town, and Helena, the state capital. This time the plan was to have us do Billings, preceded by Whitefish, but the Billings people ran out of funding for now, so it was a long trip to read short stories in a tiny town on the edge of Glacier National Park in the very northwest corner of the state of Montana (this was the REAL Upper West Side!). In my boorish Manhattan provincialism I had joked that I had never heard of Whitefish, thought it was only an offering adjacent to the creamed pickled herring in the Zabars’ showcase, but I was to learn that it is a stunningly beautiful ski resort in winter, lake resort in summer, and a place that is proud of its lovely theatre, it’s historic Amtrak station of the Northern Pacific Railroad, its beautiful library, and its impressive literary quarterly, The Whitefish Review. Didn’t I tell you travel was broadening? Read More »
Fiction and Photography
By Lindsay BernierPublished on November 20, 2009
At the private exhibition viewing at The Met
When I began my tenure as a Symphony Space intern two months ago, one event jumped out as I studied the upcoming months’ schedules: Selected Shorts’ Fiction and Photography: Robert Frank at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. After all, photography was one of my concentrations in college, and no one makes it through one photo class (let alone eight) without learning about Frank and his series “The Americans.”
Wednesday night, we braved the packed crosstown bus and made our way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a private viewing of the exhibit. The indelible images I’d seen in books or accompanying articles, the noteworthy photographs I clearly remembered from various professors’ slideshows, and the pictures so often imitated that seeing the originals came as a shock: they were all there. I later learned (from Met Photography curator Jeff Rosenheim’s opening remarks back at Symphony Space) that this was the first time in the fifty years since Frank made “The Americans” that he’d allowed all 83 images to be displayed in sequence. Even the extras were interesting: Frank’s slipshod contact sheets and a wall of work-print collages (ah, so that’s why my professors always told me to start with work-prints). Read More »
Selected Shorts Tours the Far West: Part 2 of 3
By Isaiah ShefferPublished on November 10, 2009
This is the second in a three-part series of entries. Read part one here.
The next morning, at crack of dawn, I make the drive back down through the desert to Albuquerque, a drive that is beautiful in a different way in the morning sunlight. I return the rental car and embark on my trip to Austin, Texas (with a change of planes in Dallas). Now, changing planes in the huge Dallas airport is notorious among air travelers. Legend has it that a convicted murderer, being extradited from New York City to face lethal injection in Oklahoma, is reported to have said, “Even to go to Hell you have to change planes in Dallas!” But this time I have little trouble making it to the short flight from Big D to Austin. Read More »
Selected Shorts Tours the Far West: Part 1 of 3
By Isaiah ShefferPublished on November 4, 2009
“Oh give me land, lots of land, under starry skies above
Don’t Fence Me In…”
This was one of the tunes incorporated in the post-intermission interactive audience-participation Singalong Quiz that was part of each stop on our recently completed tour of Western and Southwestern cities where Selected Shorts is popular on the local public radio stations, and where fans are delighted to attend a live performance of their favorite radio show. Let me tell you a little about our touring visits to Santa Fe, New Mexico; Austin and San Antonio, Texas; Whitefish, Montana; and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Now, why, you may ask, is a theatre located on Broadway and 95th Street in Manhattan sending its actors across the wide Missouri and the Rocky Mountains to read short stories to people who can just as easily hear them on the radio—-and do!–? Well, for several reasons: it’s a way of earning a little money to help stave off the budget deficit at 95th Street and Broadway; it’s a way of showing the Symphony Space flag in distant regions and winning new friends; it’s a way of enjoying face-to-face contact with the thousands of radio fans who flock to our touring venues—often driving many many miles—to see what their favorite radio show looks like in person; but mostly, it’s a way of bringing our literary creations to a wide American audience.
Read More »
Introducing Symphony Space Live
By Cynthia ElliottPublished on October 19, 2009
We can only squeeze 800 people into the big theatre, and 150 people into the little one. And not everyone can be in New York and available on the exact day that their favorite artist is performing. So what to do for all those poor souls left out in the cold? Bring it to the people with Symphony Space Live!
Of course, we’ve been doing this for years with Selected Shorts. After the performances at Symphony Space, we post-produce programs for radio, podcast, CDs, digital downloads, and take the show on tour all over the country. One thing everyone has always loved about Selected Shorts recordings is the feeling of being there in the theatre – you can hear the audience’s sighs, laughter, tension from suspense, and relief at the end. Could we do the same for our other programs?
Selected Shorts hits San Antonio
By Jennifer BrennanPublished on October 1, 2009
I’m back in NY (briefly) after our really exciting trip to perform Selected Shorts in San Antonio, TX. I’m hitting the road again and will have a more full report next week, but I wanted to share some of these pics before I go!
Isaiah Sheffer, Sonia Manzano, and Jesse Borrego
Directing “La Boheme” for the screen
By Robert DornhelmPublished on September 22, 2009
Just before I was asked to direct Boheme for film, my cousin, the director of the Vienna state opera asked me to direct my first on stage production of Boris Godunov. I wanted to, but was also intimidated by this task. I’m a filmmaker with a strong documentary background. Our mediums don’t mix too well. I’m searching for realism and authenticity. I’m also used to correcting mistakes and ask for as many takes of a scene as necessary. I’m also of the school of “less is more” as far as facial expressions are concerned. This, of course, is not necessarily the best prerequisite to direct opera. Once I met Anna and Rolando I realized that both are far more versatile than just performing on stage. They understood the intimacy of the camera very quickly and the strength of a close up. Unlike movie stars who watch their performance after each take to be reassured about their good looks, Anna and Rolando where able to view objectively and without vanity. The collaboration with them was joyous and playful. Anna was in her third month of pregnancy while she played the dying Mimi.
