Times Square Gossip

Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre NEW YORK – "The New World Symphony: Dvorák in America" is a puppet and object theater work examining the influence of African-American and Native American music upon the great 19th-century Czech composer Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904). The piece is written and directed by Vít Horejš and performed by Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre. It traces how Dvorák helped America accept its beautiful multicultural musical traditions by his enthusiasm for African-American and Native American music during his short but influential time in the USA. La MaMa Theatre will present the play's world premiere run March 10 to 27, 2016 in its Ellen Stewart Theatre, 66 East 4th Street (East Village). Composer and Musical Director is saxophonist James Brandon Lewis. The piece depicts Dvorák's creative and family life during his tenure as the Director of the National Conservatory of Music of America in NYC, and the highlights ...

Botox Angels NEW YORK -- From Dood Paard ("Dead Horse") Theatre in Amsterdam comes "Botox Angels," a play about militant female sexuality which is abundant in sultry dialogue, jealousy and emotional violence. Three clownish lesbian characters, named Swift, Cocky and Deedee, negotiate shifting power relationships, juggle dildos and fake breasts, play dress-up games and cross swords about men, breast reductions, philosphy versus banality and emotion versus rationality. Written by Rob de Graaf, translated into English by Paul Evans, it is performed by Ellen Goemans, Janneke Remmers and Manja Topper, all from Holland. La MaMa presents the work's American premiere June 25 to 28, coinciding with Gay Pride Weekend. "Botox Angels" gets a unique style from the rough mind games among its three protagonists and a tactical/emotional directness that is characteristic of the Dutch. Its characters are women for whom being lesbian is, at le...

**** NEW YORK CITY'S OFF BROADWAY **** Susan Hwang And Bob Holman La MaMa Experimental Theatre and Yara Arts Group will present "Captain John Smith Goes to Ukraine" February 27 to March 9. This experimental theater work, created by Bob Holman (Bowery Poetry Club), performance artist Susan Hwang, Ukrainian musician Julian Kytasty and director Virlana Tkacz, deals with Capt. Smith's adventures in Eastern Europe circa 1603, where he first met "other" people and gained experience that helped him prepare for dealing with Native Americans as founder of Jamestown. Everyone knows about Pocahontas, but few are aware that shortly before Smith first sailed for Virginia, he was an adventurer in the Mediterranean and fought against the Ottoman Turks. In 1602, he was captured and sold as a slave. His master, a Turkish nobleman, sent him as a gift to his mistress, who fell in love with him. Taken across the Black Sea, he escaped through wh...