New York Art In Place: November 2022

Every few weeks, musicians, designers, artists and others speak about the powerful relationship between art and venue in our Art in Place series. It’s a way of highlighting the best events in the city at any given time, while also paying evergreen tribute to the spaces that contain them.

This November installment includes an architectural historian on a singular masterpiece: the New York skyline, as experienced from the water. There’s also a certain recently renovated concert hall and a couple of the city’s singular theater spaces.

Ongoing

AIANY Around Manhattan Architecture Tour, New York from the water

Thomas Mellins, architectural historian: “New York is a city on the water. It’s easy to forget that as we travel through it on its streets or underground, but the city’s waterfront — once largely used by industry and now full of parks — was in large part responsible for New York’s growth and success. As seen from the water, the city’s street grid seems to melt away, and its buildings emerge as part of a sprawling cityscape, each etching its profile against the sky.”

Thu 27 Oct

The Apollo Circle Benefit, Temple of Dendur, Metropolitan Museum of New York

DJ Isaac Likes: “As a DJ who lives and works in New York City, getting to play at The Met is the holy grail. You cannot get a better venue. I’ve actually never been in the Temple of Dendur at night, but during the day it has the most beautiful natural light of any room in the city. Also, my mum did her masters degree in Art History and tells me about five times a month that I need to be visiting the museum more often, so she’s very pleased with me for booking this gala.

I try to go to The Met a few times a year. I was there a couple of times over the summer to go through the Costume Institute exhibition, and on my last visit I went up on the roof for the first time — there was a DJ up there playing vinyl, the weather was beautiful, the view was insane, the whole thing felt like a movie.”

Nov 9-12

“Jurassic Park in Concert,” Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall

Guest conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos: “Geffen Hall is a place that I’ve been going to since I was a child. My father used to take me to NY Philharmonic concerts in the 1960s and 70s. It has always been part of the cultural mystique that emanates from Lincoln Center and the land on which it sits. Listening to the NY Philharmonic on LP records I always regarded the orchestra as my home town orchestra. Hearing them in person in their home, acoustically vital or not, has always been a thrill. When I made my conducting debut with the orchestra in 2013 I was in awe of the podium that hosted so many great conductors, not the least of which was Leonard Bernstein, one of my all time heroes.

These rehearsals and performances of “Jurassic Park” will be my first encounter with the new hall. My sister, Maria Kitsopoulos, just celebrated her 25th year as a member of the cello section of the NY Philharmonic. On a very personal level, any time I get to work with Maria is a good time.

John Williams has the uncanny ability to translate the human condition into music. I remember the moment that my obsession with Williams’ music was sparked. It was 1977 and the film was “Star Wars.” With that film I began to follow Williams’ music by seeing the films he scored, buying the soundtracks, etc. His score for “Jurassic Park” depicts the majesty and the terror of dinosaurs in a way that only Williams could. My understanding is that “Jurassic Park” will be the first film with orchestra performances in the new hall. I’m looking forward to hearing the hall respond to the variety of sounds and styles in the score as played by the brilliant NY Philharmonic.

John Williams’ music is the epitome of the art of the score. The NY Philharmonic playing Williams’ music will make that plainly evident.”

Until Nov 19

“Candida,” Theatre Two, Theatre Row

Set designer Lindsay Genevieve Fuori: “Theatre Row is a collection of six uniquely intimate theatre spaces all under one roof. Theatre Two is a narrow proscenium that seats 99—there isn’t a bad seat in the house. The space truly is a blank slate waiting to be transformed. The challenge with this space—especially for “Candida,” a story that unfolds in a parlor with numerous entrances and exits for it six characters—is that the stage is only about 23 feet wide. Thankfully the stage is almost as deep as it is wide, which often is not the case in a proscenium. My favorite part of Theatre Two is its height! The grid is 15 feet from the stage floor, which provides a designer with a plethora of opportunities.

Shaw set “Candida” in 1894 London, however, when David approached me about designing the show, he already knew he wanted our production to live in 1929 Harlem. He had this idea about Morell that he not only was passionate about his own beliefs, but that he was fascinated by religion more broadly and that the space should reflect that. The home is probably connected to the church in some way, so it may not adhere to typical architectural norms of the time. Furthermore, it’s a space that has likely passed through many hands—as we hear early in the play, the church has only recently moved Morell uptown. All of this told me that the space essentially needed to be another character onstage, helping tell the story.

For this project, the research phase of my process was especially important. I had a blast exploring archives of Harlem homes. I spent afternoons walking around old neighborhoods in the city, piecing together little bits of history. I even used the opportunity to explore some of my family’s history—my great grandparents had settled in Harlem and the Bronx by the time of the play.

That research informed little details like molding and window styles, but more broadly influenced my choice of colors and textures incorporated into the space. Our technical director, Sarah Schemer, did an incredible job of honoring those details. Such details make or break a set in an intimate venue, yet they are often the first to go when a production has the time and budgetary limitations that we faced.

Beyond budgeting for the details, the greatest challenge with this show was simply fitting the whole world onstage. The script calls for a number of different entrance and exit points and of course there were elements like the bookcases and windows that we felt needed to be present to help shape the world. David and I went through dozens of iterations of how the space could be laid out!

It was important to me that the space felt warm and lived in, and not like a museum piece. The work of our props manager, Sean Sanford, is much to thank for this. One of the challenges I always give myself when designing is to be mindful of the items I am asking for and what will happen to them after the show closes. Sean was able to source books that were on their way to a landfill and used furniture from every corner of New York and Connecticut. David, our director, even contributed items from his collection—perhaps most notably the rocking chair of his late partner. All of these little details, while sometimes annoyingly complicated to coordinate, made all the difference on our stage. It truly was a team effort that brought this set to fruition.”

Until Dec 18

“A Man of No Importance,” Lynn F. Angelson Theater

Lighting designer Adam Honore: “Traditionally, in the American theater, the space has been divided into three realms; the audience in the house, the actors onstage, and backstage crew space. The Angelson combines all three elements, creating a conversation between the actors and audience members alike. This has been achieved by restoring the venue to its original rustic charm — once an active east village carriage house.

The script in tandem with John Doyle’s minimalist approach leads to a lighting design that is more emotionally driven than based on place or time. We wanted to capture the warmth of the Dublin church hall. “The Hall” is the room in which the audience enters and witnesses the entire story; only departing the space spiritually and emotionally.

At the top of the show the audience is met by a lone ghost light on stage, echoing the singularity of our protagonist, Alfie. This space is then brought to life by the ensemble of characters which bring warmth and light to the show reminding Alfie he is indeed not alone. A beautiful moment that is echoed at the end of the piece.

Until Jan 1, 2023

“Asi Wind’s Inner Circle,” The Gym at Judson

Set designer Adam Blumenthal: “The environment of “Asi Wind’s Inner Circle” is intended to create a communal gathering as if the entire audience is huddled around a table sharing a seat with Asi as he performs a magic show that is intimate and highly interactive. The circular motif of the design from the seating to the scenery and the lighting is meant to draw the audiences focus to the center while also spreading the energy outwards to the entire room. The show is not just about the cards but about the audience and community that they are made up of. I wanted the design to extend in such a way that it is visually interesting to look across the room and see your fellow audience members witnessing and reacting to the miracles that they themselves take part in. The design also allows us to create motion and moments of transition that wash over the entire audience.

The Gym at Judson is an important room in the history of New York’s off-Broadway theatre and dance scene, but as a white four-sided box it was exactly the opposite of the space we needed. What it did allow for was high ceilings and a volume large enough to create our world within. When you walk into the space and are met with a minimalist passage allowing you to turn right or left and up a flight of stairs that in turn descends towards the center of our circular world. The edges of the space fade to black with no discernible edges and you would have no idea what lays beyond the visual limits of our design.

I worked closely with Asi in transforming the space for the show. From the moment we began he knew he wanted the audience to be surrounding him and feel as close to the action as possible. Creating perfect sightlines so that every audience member had the same view of the magic took months of finesse, and full scale mockups of our raked seating. The brief from Asi was to create a room to witness magic that was like no place you’d ever seen. I wanted our visual world to be as close to a full circle as possible. While our seating is only 180 degrees, our scenic portal and the overhead lighting rings serve to further the circular motif and really make you feel like you are wrapped 360 degrees around Asi and the magic he and the audience create together.”