By Patti Bradshaw
Next To The Last Poem &
La Môme Bijoux - December 10-13
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Schedule
Next to the Last Poem is a day in the life of the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa who lived from 1888 to 1935. Scholars say he invented numerous heteronyms (his word) who interacted with him and each other throughout Pessoa's otherwise reclusive and lonely life. On a rainy night in March 1914 Pessoa wrote upwards of 36 poems in four distinct voices. This puppet theater show represents an imaginary day before that prolific night.
Brassai's famous photographic subject from the 1930s in Paris, "La Môme Bijou" comes to life in the form of a puppet and object theater play. La Môme Bijoux has a predilection for things that sparkle. She holds certain illusions about her notoriety and importance. Times are lean. Its just another night of fortune telling and reminiscing at her usual table. However, these moments are leading up to a future of recognition and immortality she could never have predicted.
Next to the Last Poem was first performed at the St. Anns Puppet Lab in 2009.
La Môme Bijoux was first performed at the St. Anns Puppet Lab in 2005, and was supported in part by a space grant from the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center.
About the Creator and Cast
Patti Bradshaw (creator and director of La Môme Bijoux and Next to the Last Poem) in recent years has been conceiving and directing puppet and object theater pieces as a member of the St. Anns Puppet Lab. She has also worked as a dancer and choreographer in NYC and Europe. Her work has been seen at St. Anns Warehouse, the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center, Judson Church, Dixon Place, Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project at St. Marks Church, La Mama, E.T.C., Mother, and other non-traditional venues. She has worked as a dancer and collaborating member with Celeste Hastings and Chris Maresca as part of the Butoh Rockettes. She has also performed in theater-dance pieces by Valerie Striar, Renata Celichowska, Nadine Helstroffer, Merian Soto, Poppo and the GoGo Boys, and Shiro Kondo, among others. As a puppeteer she has worked with Charles Allcroft and Chris Maresca. She teaches in the dance department of Sarah Lawrence College.
Cory Antiel (film, Next to the Last Poem) has recently performed a run of his solo show, Don't Be Scared! It's Only A Play in the NYC Fringe Festival. He has done puppetry with Dan Hurlin's Disfarmer and for Lee Breuer in Mabou Mine's Dollhouse. He played the March Hare in Anonymous Ensemble's a Wonderland at the Ohio Theater as part of the Ice Factory Festival. And he has helped create two original Commedia dell'Arte shows: Manhattanpotamia III, at Gotham Comedy Club and Rat Bastard, at Dixon Place. He has danced with David Neumann, Jules Skloot, and the A.O. Movement Collective. Cory performs regularly with Gotham Comedy Club's resident improv troupe The Red Tie Mafia.
Marie-Hélène Brabant, (actor, Next to the Last Poem) is a French performer. In New York she has performed in Disquietude (P. Bradshaw); UFO in K (A. Kiraly), St Anns Puppet Lab06 and 05; The Tortoise and the Hare, Androcles and the Lion w/New York Philharmonic orchestra, Marriage of Figaro, Corset (M.Schoevaert).
Christine Darch (puppet design, La Môme Bijoux, designs for Atlanta, Arizona, Memphis, Cincinnati, Colorado, Complexions Contemporary, Diablo, Houston, Marin, North Carolina Dance Theater, Oregon Ballet Theater, and San Francisco Ballets. She collaborates with choreographers Julia Adam, Patti Bradshaw, Renata Celichowska, Christopher Fleming, Jae Man Joo, James Kudelka, Dwight Rhoden, Amy Seiwert, and Merian Soto. Her work has been featured in Pointe Magazine, on the cover of Dance International and in performance at the Rubin Museum. New projects include a ballet for Brian Reeder with Colorado Ballet, five ballets for Dwight Rhoden and one for Jae Man Joo with Complexions, and The Nutcracker for Julia Adam. She was recently nominated for an Isadora Duncan Dance award, Izzy for the visual design of Adams' The Little Prince for Diablo Ballet.
Ivana Dragasevic (dancer, La Môme Bijoux),was born in Zagreb, Croatia. She has spent her early years studying dance at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in London, where she trained in Graham dance technique. Upon finishing her studies in London, she went on to Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. There she studied dance composition,
choreography, anatomy and psychology. She is currently doing competitions and showcases in Ballroom dancing, with her dance partner Davis Yang. She is teaching and choreographing partner dances at a Latin and Ballroom studio, Dance Chelsea.
Pepper Fajans (puppeteer and stage construction) works as a skilled labor and vaudevillian. From his South Bronx based workshop Pepper operates a creative carpentry company, taking projects in theaters, homes, and commercial spaces. He looks forward to an autumn and winter full of show work.
Chris Maresca (puppeteer, actor) has performed in the work of Jim Neu (Gang of Seven, La Vie Noir), Theodora Skipitares (Medea; Iphigenia), Toni Schlesinger (The Mysterious Disappearance of Lawrence Castle), Charles Allcroft (Dreamboats and Sleepyheads; The Rainbow Flea), Preston Foerder (Interesting Times), and, along with Patti Bradshaw and Celeste Hastings, The Butoh Rockettes.
Theseus Roche(actor) is the founder and director of the Manhattan Youth Players, a teen theater troupe that performs classical and original works in Lower Manhattan. His recreation of the evening President Lincoln was assassinated (entitled Apart From That) earned him an endorsement from the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. As a writer/director/actor, he won several local film competitions with his short film Funny Things, and he is currently writing Keening Service, a romantic comedy that revolves around funerals. He is proud to be working with Patti Bradshaw again, particularly in reprising the role of La Môme Bijoux
Tom Ross (puppeteer, actor, Next to the Last Poem) is happy to be working with Patti Bradshaw on their third puppet project together and with this great cast.
Music for La Môme Bijoux contains a piano song, Horizontal recorded especially for this show by Joel Forrester.
Music for Next to the Last Poem is used with permission from Uri Caine and is from the record: Gustav Mahler/Uri Caine Urlicht Primal Light, Music Edition Winter and Winter
PHOTOS BY RICHARD TERMINE
BEACH PHOTOS BY PATTI BRADSHAW
NEXT TO THE LAST POEM & LA MÔME BIJOUX
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