Mitch Traphagen’s photos from Artist Without Walls’ “Love Force” benefit Showcase for Stars of Hope at Sid Golds Request Room.
MITCH TRAPHAGEN’S PHOTOS FROM AWOW’S “LOVE FORCE” NIGHT AT SID GOLD’S
ALLISON SYLIVA, JOHN MORAN, REBECCA LOWRY and COURTNEY TORRES at ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS' SHOWCASE at THE CELL THEATRE
You can watch the artists perform, and meet them as well, at Artists Without Walls’ May Showcase at The Cell Theatre, this Tuesday, 5/24. The doors and bar open at 6:45. Presentations begin at 7:30.
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Here are a few of the artists who will be performing:
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Allison Sylvia is a poet/artist/dancer who has performed at a number of Artists Without Walls’ Showcases. Here’s what was said about Allison after her performance at “Permutations,” an AWoW/ Kathleen Bennett Bastis collaboration at Chelsea’s First Street Gallery last Spring: “Attention grabbing, fast paced, stay focused so you don’t miss a thought….Allison is not a rapper, but if Socrates were a rap artist you might think of Allison. Brilliant.”
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AWoW charter member Brendan Connellan, who has written and produced a number of shows that were premiered on 42nd Street, NYC in the past few years, will be presenting a scene from his play, “Savage.” Appearing in the scene will be:
Courtney Torres, who frequently works with independent theater companies such as Locked in the Attic Productions and Fengari Ensemble. She has participated in various showcases and festivals in the New York City and currently trains at Playhouse West Brooklyn Lab.
Rebecca Lowry, who last appeared on the New York stage in the mid-1990s, when she spent a decade traveling the country as a professional actress performing in everything from Shakespeare to Burlesque. She is currently an attorney and legal writing Professor at Saint John’s University as well as an economic analyst.
And..John Moran, long time fan and charter member of Artists Without Walls, fresh from filming Danni for “Take it to the Stage Productions” and “Age of Consent” in association with Rusty Ferris Wheel Productions and Artists Without Walls.
JOIN ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS for its CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22nd at THE CELL THEATRE
“Lovely and talented! Brilliant across the board. Thrilled to attend; super sounds, sights and words – magical evening it was!” Bassist Michael Muller, who will be part of Tuesday’s Showcase at The Cell, commenting on a recent AWoW gathering.
Allison Sylvia is a poet/artist/dancer who has performed at a number of Artists Without Walls’ Showcases. The Holiday Showcase will find Allison trying something new – reading through little chapbooks and collaborating with musicians.Here’s what was said about Allison Sylvia after her performance at “Permutations,” an AWoW/ Kathleen Bennett Bastis collaboration at Chelsea’s First Street Gallery last Spring: “Attention grabbing, fast paced, stay focused so you don’t miss a thought….Allison is not a rapper, but if Socrates were a rap artist you might think of Allison. Brilliant.”
Mary Susan Sinclair, holds a B.A. in both Modern Dance and Theater from Sweet Briar College, and is classically trained in Opera as well as being a equestrian, competing in show jumping and equitation. Mary Susan has danced with the Jose Limon Dance Institute, trained extensively with Samara Adell for Middle Eastern dance, and danced for Mosaic Dance Theater Company for 4 years. She also began her training in Cyr wheel two years ago and has since represented Team USA at the CSIT world sport games in Lignano, Italy and performed in venues throughout the city of New York. Mary Susan will be performing a Middle Eastern fusion dance piece to a modern work of Oriental dance music.
If you haven’t heard Honor Molloy read–she’s one of the best in NYC–you can hear her read/perform from Betty Smith’s internationally famous, “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.” Published in 1943 by Harper & Brothers, the passage Honor will read takes place on Christmas Eve, 1912 when Francie Nolan sets out with her little brother Neeley to bring home the biggest tree in Williamsburg. Honor’s reading of Smith’s classic is always a great Christmas treat!
Jim Phelan is a professional writer from Allentown, PA, by way of NYC and Washington, D.C. The foundation of his fiction writing was speech writing for Presidential appointees during the Clinton and Bush administrations. He still guest lectures at local colleges and circulates his work in the Allentown area. In addition to fiction, he is a free lance writer for businesses, brochures and funeral eulogies. “Self-requested eulogies must be paid for in advance,” Jim said. We’re looking forward to Jim’s first appearance at an Artists Without Walls’ Showcase.
Tuesday’s Showcase will be the first show for the newly formed Two Many Lauras which is now a full five piece band, including Peter Chance, Cecil Hooker, Susan Hwang, Mike Muller and Pagoda Will. The band will be premiering a brand-new song along with some old faves. Peter, Cecil an Mike have performed at a number of AWoW Showcases and they were sensational. We’re thrilled to have them and their new band members back with us.
And closing out the evening will be a Niamh Hyland inspired Christmas spectacular with an incredible cast of musicians including Deni Bonet, Annette Homann, Erik Lawrence, Noah Hoffeld, Ed Romanoff, Niamh, the band members of Two Many Lauras and others. Charles R. Hale will be hosting what promises to be a very festive evening at The Cell Theatre, 338 W 23rd Street, NYC. The doors and bar open at 6:45. Hope to see you there.
JOIN ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS for its SHOWCASE at THE CELL THEATRE, TUESDAY, JUNE 23RD.
Here’s what bassist Michael Muller, who will be part of Tuesday’s Showcase at The Cell, said of a recent AWoW gathering, ““Lovely and talented! Brilliant across the board; Martina, Allison, Kathleen, and Annette. Happy I was able to attend; super sounds, sights and words – magical evening it was!”
We have a great lineup planned:
Phoebe Farber is a playwright living in Montclair, New Jersey. Her plays have been seen in New York and New Jersey, including Luna Stage, Strangedog, Horse Trade Theater, The Players Theatre, Short Play Lab, The Chain Theater, and The Depot Theater in Garrison NY. This fall she will begin a residency at Playwrights Theater of New Jersey’s Emerging Women Playwrights. Phoebe will be presenting a scene from her short play “Class Reunion.
Angela Alaimo O’Donnell will be returning for her second Showcase presentation. Angela is the author of six books of poems, three books of prose, essays about poetic craft, contemporary poetry and the nexus between faith, art and literature. Her work is highly personal and always powerfully presented. If you haven’t heard or met Angela, here’s your chance. She’s wonderful.
Michelle Macau actor, theater director and producer with a passion for storytelling, who adapts and applies her skills to train non-performers in the techniques of improvisational acting, will be doing a two-character, ten-minute play with Sarah Hammer and written by Robin Rice Lichtig entitled Burying Elephants.
Here’s what “Time Out NY” wrote about singer/songwriter/cellist Serena Jost. “”Serena Jost writes gently eccentric songs and sings them in an elegant alto, often accompanying herself on cello, but it isn’t quite right to call her a singer-songwriter. The term art song—normally tied to 19th-century concert music—usefully characterizes Jost’s carefully arranged pieces and succinct lyrics, neither quite rock nor folk”
Allison Syliva, a recent graduate of NYU, is a thinking young woman who melds song, dance, poetry, and chant in her work, which often ends with the crowd on the edge of their seats. Allison enthralls her audience with her character dramatizations be they cello players or unrequited lovers, transforming scraps of script into art. It’s exciting to watch her perform. If you haven’t seen her you’re in for a treat.
Closing out the show will be musicians Cecil Hooker, Peter Chance and Michael Muller. Their first piece will be “Wide Open,” a duo with Cecil and Peter. Michael will join them for two more tunes, “Holding On” and “Ancient Curse.” Knowing how talented and creative these fellows are, and knowing how creative and collaborative some of our members are–particularly Allison and Niamh Hyland–it wouldnt surprise me if this act takes a few twists or turns. Join us and find out.
The Cell Theatre is located at 338 W23rd St. The doors open at 6:45 See you then.
POET CONNIE ROBERTS: PERMUTATIONS, TRANSFORMATION and AWoW–ALL IN ONE NIGHT
Permutations, Transformation and AWoW
by Connie Roberts*
In this week’s New York Times Style Magazine there is a piece about the 78-year-old experimental performance artist Joan Jonas, who lives in a loft in SoHo and who, since the late-60s, has been practicing her own unique art form: “Jonas has pursued a category-defying, perpetually exploratory practice that melds performance, drawing, film, video, sculpture, installation, sound and literature.” Jonas is a woman not constrained by any discipline. She would have fit in well with the sisterhood of artists—visual, performance, and musical—at the Artists Without Walls: Gallery Series, featuring Kathleen Bennett Bastis’ Permutations at the First Street Gallery, NYC this past Friday night. Mixed media artist Kathleen Bennett Bastis, singer-songwriter Martina Fišerova, violinist Annette Homann and performance artist Allison Sylvia, like Jonas, do not fit neatly into a pre-packaged brand: all are difficult—in the best way possible—to pin down. The aptly named exhibition Permutations served them all well. There was alteration and transformation in spades on the night!
The “art gallery etiquette” was thrown out the (second floor) window: no need to speak in hushed tones as you observed the marvelous surrounding art work in the white on white space. Laughter and conviviality abounded. Kathleen set the tone when she, in addressing the crowd, held up an AARP magazine with an image of Bob Dylan on the cover. Yes, indeed the times are a changin’. Kathleen beautifully (and magnificently) harnesses that sense of flux in her work, transforming and reimagining all kinds of detritus. “She’s the real deal,” someone leaned over and whispered to me. And we AWoWers that night had the best deal in town.
Martina Fišerova was the first of the evening’s entertainers. And boy did she entertain. In her green, tulle pixie dress and black boots, with guitar in hand, she worked her magic, opening with one of her classic quieter pieces, but, with encouragement from the crowd, embraced her wilder side toward the end, with a dazzling display of guitar work and what can only be described as supernatural vocals. It was riveting to watch and hear.
Allison Sylvia followed on Martina’s heels. Allison, a recent graduate of NYU, is a thinking young woman who melds song, dance, poetry, and chant (for now) in her work—I’ve a feeling she’ll push the envelope even further in future performances—also had the crowd on the edge of their seats. A year or more ago, I’d read snippets from journal entries Allison had written—character sketches she committed to paper as she rode the subway between Manhattan and Brooklyn. And lo and behold, there she was Friday night dramatizing these characters—cello players and unrequited lovers—for an enthralled audience. Just as Kathleen had done in her multi-media pieces, Allison transformed her scraps into art.It’s exciting to watch her perform. And mark my words, she’s only coming into her own.
Annette Homann, our very own lady-in-red, violinist extraordinaire, rounded out the evening’s entertainment. Over the past few years, I’ve seen Annette perform numerous times. She is an amazing musician, a powerhouse of talent. And when she steps on stage, not only are we captivated by her beautiful music, but we are held in the palm of her hand by her beautiful (and beautifully authentic) personality. Her mischievous wit (watch out for that twinkle in the eye!) and hearty laugh wins us over every time. Barefoot and resplendent in a flowing red dress, Annette, segued flawlessly from classical music to pop; in the latter, impishly gyrating exaggeratedly to the swells of Adele’s Skyfall, all to the sheer delight of the audience. This joie de vivre is trademark Annette: a consummate performer. She’s having a damn good time on stage; consequently, so do we.
AWoW co-founders, Niamh Hyland and Charles Hale, did an amazing job as always co-hosting. Their job is very important, as they create the space—literally and figuratively—for artists of all stripes to be their best selves, to push boundaries, to experiment, to collaborate in a safe, nurturing environment. They are also the glorious pied pipers whose charm keeps bringing us back again and again to these marvelous events.
I think Friday night we all left the Permutations exhibition more than a little transformed. Thank you Kathleen, Charles, Niamh, Martina, Allison and Annette.
*Connie Roberts debut collection of poems “Little Witness” is available here: Click on “Buy” on the right hand side of the page
ART UNLOCKS THE SOUL: JOHN MORAN on AWoW's GALLERY SERIES
ART UNLOCKS THE SOUL
by John Moran
I was driving a limousine at the time; It was a late night pick-up, Christie’s auction house to the Upper West Side. An art dealer sat in the back.
“What is art?” I asked.
“Art is the tool which unlocks your soul,” he replied.
“Then what is good art?” I said.
“If your soul needs a hammer to release it and your art hits your soul like a hammer, it’s good,” he answered.
“What if your art twists your soul like a wrench?” I challenged.
“Then it is good for the man who needs the wrench.”
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On Friday night Artists Without Walls celebrated the work of Kathleen Bennett Bastis at Chelsea’s First Street Gallery. Her mixed media art works are truly tools to unlock the soul.
Surrounded by Kathleen’s stunning and beautiful creations with names such as Sentinel, Concerto #1, Copper Spirit and Scattered Geometry, the equally evocative and eclectic artists Martina Fiserova, Allison Sylvia, and Annette Homann captivated the crowd with their own forms of highly skilled and entertaining art.
Martina’s accompanied vocals playfully and intensely reverberated through what seemed like near perfect acoustics in Kathleen’s First Street Gallery space. Martina’s sonority so total, so brilliant, so penetrating was a perfect prelude to Allison Sylvia’s attention grabbing, fast paced, stay focused so you don’t miss a thought, hey, I think just learned something about myself, spoken word brand of poetry. Allison is not a rapper, but if Socrates were a rap artist you might think of Allison. Brilliant.
Annette Homann wrapped up the evening’s entertainment by bringing us on a musical theme park ride: Soothing us with the classical, Massenet’s “Meditation on Thais;” moving us with the contemporary, “If I Aint Got You;” thrilling us with her fiddling in Mark O’Connor’s “Caprice for Unaccompanied Violin #2,” and making us smile with a sexy, funny, acrobatic interpretation of Adele’s “Skyfall,” complete with gypsie like dance moves and back bends while never missing a note. She is a profound talent.
Great art on every level for a warm and welcoming crowd.
Annette Homann’s Skyfall below:
PREMIERING AWoW's GALLERY SERIES: "BRILLIANT ACROSS THE BOARD…KATHLEEN, MARTINA, ALLISON and ANNETTE"
There were so many wonderful comments about Friday night’s premier of Artists Without Walls’ Gallery Series, featuring Kathleen Bennett Bastis’ solo exhibition “Permutations,” that we are presenting a number of the comments here, which will be followed by others over the next few days. As you’ll, read and as you’ll see in the photos, it was an incredible night.
“In speaking about the materials that go into her artistic constructs that are on stunning display in her solo exhibition, “Permutations” (at the First Street Gallery in Chelsea), Kathleen Bennett Bastis has said: “Their unique shape, texture and hue guide my creative process.” The same might be said of the collaborative evening Artist Without Walls created at that gallery last night.
In bringing together a trio of performers, guitarist/vocalist Martina Fiserova, violinist Annette Homann and poet/spoken word artist Allison Sylvia— whose talents are perfectly in synch with Kathleen’s vision— it made for an event the likes of which you will rarely, if ever, experience. A melding of artists within the walls adorned by Kathleen’s masterful works… it was a memorable night. Yes, it was that good.” Ron Vazzano
“Visual and performing arts converged at First Street Gallery in Chelsea for a fabulously entertaining evening. The gallery walls were lined with Kathleen Bennett Bastis’ artistic sculptures. Sallie Benton aptly described Kathleen’s work on Facebook: ‘Bastis works primarily in metal; but there are stone & tile pieces, glass and mirrored pieces, cardboard, wire, string, etc. The pieces are quite varied but all have one very strong, exceptional and true artist’s voice.’
Martina Fiserova began the performances with an experimental number, displaying her unique talent on the guitar. Allison Sylvia followed with a ten minute thoughtful and humorous soliloquy on life, a well-written monologue with each word carefully chosen and placed. The inimitable violinist Annette Homan finished the night with pieces ranging from classical to pop. The joy exuded from Annette, particularly during one number when she provocatively engaged the audience with her violin music and playful dance. ” Tom Myles
“Lovely and talented! Brilliant across the board; Martina, Allison, Kathleen, and Annette. Happy I was able to attend; super sounds, sights and words – magical evening it was!” Michael Muller
“An extraordinary evening. Unequivocally original. Martina ended her set with a song that was amazing and daring. Equally daring was Allison’s poetry; her words seem to come from the deepest parts of her energetic psyche. And violinist Annette Homann’s performance of “Skyfall” brought the audience to their feet. In a perfect world Annette would team up with Niamh Hyland to do the title track for the next Bond movie.” Sam Adelman
“Thank you for a night that brought back memories of New York City “Happenings” of bygone days.” Joanna Migdal
Last three photos by Vincent Nauheimer
"TALENTED PERFORMERS, FRIENDLY PEOPLE and TIME to MINGLE": AWoW's SHOWCASE at THE CELL THEATRE, TUESDAY 3/24
“As a first time visitor of an AWoW Showcase, I enjoyed everything about the evening…. Talented performers, friendly people, time to mingle … fantastic. I will be back for certain.” Clyde Berger
Ashley Galvani Bell has performed as a soloist in the United States, Italy, Spain, France and Russia. Recent performances include Donna Anna in Don Giovanni in Narni, Italy, Musetta in La Bohème at the National Opera Center, and Norina in Don Pasquale with Rioja Lirica in Spain, where she was called unstoppable in her brilliant singing and a true “stage animal” with her hilarious interpretation of the two sided character of Norina/Sofronia. This will be the popular soprano’s third appearance at an AWoW Showcase.
I.S. Jones is a spoken word poet hailing from Southern California. She moved to New York to pursue her passion for poetry. Her intense fire & honesty brims through every performance; It has been said she has a voice bigger than her body. Her works have appeared in Chaparral, The Harpoon Review, Fat City and various others literary magazine.
Mary Tierney will be directing a scene from Brendan Connellan’s Savage. According to Mary, “We’ve given it the Ingmar Bergman treatment. In Sweden, he’d rehearse actors from the National Theater for six months before a production was ‘ready.’ That’s what our actors, Larry Fleishman and Courtney Torres have done. ” Fleischman, has performed at a number of AWoW Showcases, and Torres, who recently performed at Beal Bocht in Sacred Sow, will be making her AWoW debut.
Prague born singer/songwriter Martina Fiserova has established a following on the NYC music scene with her unique songwriting approach and intimate and emotional vocal performance. She is finishing up an album of her original music, which will be her second release after the jazz oriented debut Clearing Fields.
Alison Sylvia is a “poet.in.progress,” and Tuesday, she will connect her poems with dance. Allison dazzled the audience with a spellbinding performance of her epic poem “Scroll” at her first AWoW appearance. “I am honored to have performed for such a receptive audience and to share the space with such talented artists,” she said. “That was the first performance I’ve done where I summoned the appropriate chutzpah to make the concluding sword trick work.” Her’s was an absolutely mesmerizing performance.
Gabriela Gyergeva was born in Macedonia and studied at University in Bulgaria, majoring in opera and voice. Gabriela performed extensively in Bulgaria and Macedonia before moving to NYC three years ago. Last year she performed at Carnegie Hall and the Mono No Aware film festival in Brooklyn. Currently Gabriela performs at St. Francis Xavier church in the city.
Joanna Migdal is a poet working on a chapbook of centos, one of which she is reading Tuesday night in honor of women poets of the past as part of the celebration of March Women’s History Month. Her cento will be posted 3/31 on a site called www.womenyoushouldknow.com
AWoW’s Showcase is hosted by The Cell Theatre, located at 338 W23rd St., NYC. Drinks at 6:45; the show begins at 7:20. Hope to see you then.
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