View from the bridge...

Our Milan Workshop: October 2013

As I sit here on the bridge of the ship, facing this huge rough ocean ahead, I feel both nervous and excited simultaneously. What an incredible year this has been. Two wonderful European and Asian Tours, making many new short films and the planning of many new projects. As I write, we are on the way to South Africa, the first visit in many years, to visit family and friends and shoot a few interviews to  complete a family documentary I am working on.

Next year has much more extensive work in Europe planned for me, combined with shooting a film in Paris in April, but that's jumping the gun. So what's been in the news since my return from Europe already two weeks ago?

Echo in Camera by Roman Paska

I received an email from a puppeteer friend, Sam Gold, who is working with Roman Paska on his new production, Echo in Camera at La MaMa in New York.

Echo in Camera is a performance that recasts the Orpheus legend as a puppet play-within-a-play. Roman Paska's work in residence at Watermill focused on the development of the performance through discussions, improvisations and rehearsals, particularly on refining the performance technique with puppets created uniquely for the production. You can read a review of this production here!

A performance was streamed live on the Culture Hub website, but unfortunately due to the vast time difference, I never managed to catch more than the last bit, which looked fascinating. The season runs through tomorrow, but if you cannnot make it, you can still view a preview of the show here!

Finally, I need to bring your attention to another wonderful project, the reimagining of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.”  When the Komische Oper Berlin debuted its edgy and nontraditional reimagining of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” combining live singing and hand-drawn animation, the 2012 run of 13 performances sold out in two days.  The US premiere of the production opens today at Los Angeles Opera.

The production is a collaboration between Australian opera director Barrie Kosky, who is the Komische’s artistic director, and the British avant-garde theater company 1927, led by Suzanne Andrade and Paul Barritt. It debuted at the experimental Komische in late 2012. Andrade co-directs with Kosky and Barritt drew the animation.  Check out the video and article here!