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L.E.S. THE 17TH ANNUAL LOWER EAST SIDE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS
The Theme of the 17th Annual LOWER EAST SIDE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS is
FREE!!! FREE!!! FREE!!! More Fabulous than ever and Still Free After All These Years! LES – MAY 25, 26 and 27, 2012 Well, we’re just seventeen, and if you don’t know what that means—Where have you been all these years? LES means a panopoly of Theater, Music, Dance, Comedy, Film, Video, Poetry, Performance Art, Painting, Photography and Sculpture, priced right for the 99% and all those members of the 1% willing to get down-town—TOTALLY FREE! LES is a multi-culti, crazy quilt patchwork culled from the best artistic material the East Village and Lower East Side has to offer. It is also a paean to the artists of the past who hailed from or worked there; such as Irving Berlin, Charlie Parker, Garcia Lorca, Mark Twain, James Cagney, Eugene O’Neill, the Gershwins and Yip Harburg. Numerous indigenous theater companies offer excerpts of their latest works, writers, directors, actors, singers, composers, musicians and artists of every stripe participate. Some are famous, some are on the precipice and some have just begun their Artistic Journey. Literally hundreds of performers will appear. Already aboard for the ride, star of Broadway, Film and Boites all over town, Tammy Grimes. Talk show originator Joe Franklin. Incisive, caustic comic Reno. The stunning Rod Rodgers Dance Company. An excerpt from Siren’s Heart: Marilyn in Purgatory, which began at TNC and re-opens Off-Broadway June 20th. The Slipper Room will offer cutting edge Burlesque and Take Wing and Soar will deliver the classics with an African American slant. Suspended Cirque will fly for us, dynamic husband-and-wife comic duo Epstein and Hassan, The Black and The Jew, will double us over, Mariana Bekerman will dance, folksinger Judy Gorman will strum and sing, Horse Trade Theater Company has agreed to give us something recent. As the groups and performer sign on, we’ll keep you posted. Writers Gene Ruffini, Barbara Kahn, Lissa Moira and Larry Myers have already agreed to present brand new works created just for LES. Now a breakdown of events by night and day. We kick off Friday, May 25th at 6pm upstairs in the Johnson Theater, with Maquina Mono, and continue in that venue with a sizzling, non-stop program of Theater, Music, Dance, Comedy and Performance Art. Also on Friday, May 25th, at 7pm in our Downstairs Cabaret Theater, a slightly more outré, subrosa selection of acts, swings til midnight (or 1am?) Saturday, May 26th begins early outdoors at 12pm when LES occupies East 10th Street (at 1st Avenue). Vendors of savories to eat, wear and wonder at line the streets. We throw up a stage and composer/playwright/guitarist/cultural seer Richard West hosts dancers, Flamenco, Belly and Modern, Poets, Actors, Singers, Comics and Musicians of all descriptions from Noon to 5pm. Indoors, downstairs in our Cabaret, Saturday, May 26th, the film and video portion of LES unspools from Noon to Midnight. Local auteurs and those who have their ethnic roots here exhibit films. The films are curated by video artist Francesse Maingrette and Dixie Lee Estes. AS of this press times, it looks good for the uncensored cut of Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution to head the lineup of shorts, features, animated films and videos. Also indoors in our Jam-Packed Saturday, May 26th, upstairs in the Johnson Theater, the young people’s section of LES plays from 2-5pm, curated by actor par-excellence Primy Rivera, and hosted by the NY Lyric Circus’ John Grimaldi. Children and young teens perform for the youngsters and their parents who always crowd this event. Local schools and rising young LES stars strut their stuff. Saturday, May 26th, at night, 6pm to 1am, Theater, Music, Dance, etc performances rock non-stop on our main stage in the Johnson Theater. Sunday, May 27th, Poetry leads the parade at LES from 4 to 7pm in our upstairs Community Space Theater. Playwright/Director/Actress/Poet Lissa Moira curates her Poetry Jam with Prose on the side. And a delicious jam (not slam) it is. Wordsmiths both well known and as yet discovered get equal time with an open mic at the end of the scheduled program. There will also be a tribute to Ira Cohen and a featured guest TBA. Sunday, May 27th, LES continues in the Johnson Theater, 6pm to 1am, with a dizzying array of Theater, Music, Dance, Comedy and Performance Art. Sunday, May 27th, downstairs in the Cabaret from 7pm to Midnight, the edginess continues unabated. Every LES evening in Theater for the New City’s lobby, fantastic performance artists including Human Kinetics and The Thing Machine do their thing. If you take a breath between acts, take them in. Also in our lobby, an Art show including the works of 30-40 painters, collage artists, photographers and sculptors can be viewed. The special Art Opening for the LES show, curated by Artist and Aficionado Carolyn Ratcliffe, takes place Wednesday, May 23rd, from 5 to 8pm. Feed your face and your soul on this feast for the eyes to go with the munchies and wine. As is the case with all of LES, the evening is FREE. The Art Show remains up through the month of June. Finally, in an effort to restore economic, ecological, mental and every other kind of balance to the side of good away from evil, this 17th Annual LES chooses as its theme Legalize Freedom: Art As Activism. All the talent at our Festival will be asked to “occupy” itself with this paradigm in mind. Crystal Field and every member of the LES Production Committee invites all open-hearted lovers of the Arts to join us for what is the most electric, eclectic, Free Festival anywhere in the World. May 25th to the 27th at Theater for the New City.
Attention Business people who have a love for the Arts! Since you're visiting our LES Festival Website, we know you're interested in the absolutely free Theater, Music, Dance, Comedy, Poetry, Film, Video and Fine Arts our Festival has to offer over the Memorial Day Weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 28th, 29th and 30th. But did you know we have over 4,000 people in attendance each year? And did you know we have a beautiful 8 1/2" x 11" program guide for our attendees? In this guide, we have a full schedule of all our events and performances over this 3-day Festival. You can help our Festival remain fabulous and free, and at the same time get the word out about your business by advertising in our Program Guide! $400 for a Full page ad So if you're feeling simultaneously altruistic and enterpreneurial, please contact Jonathan Weber at (212) 475-0108 or e-mail jon@theaterforthenewcity.net ASAP and he'll help you to help us! |
