JAN 08 - FEB 13
New York, NY

See photos from The Connection here!




The Week Ahead: Dec. 28 — Jan. 3

"What with the horrific economy, 2008 sure looks like a year we are better off leaving behind. Even loyal theater investors are so skittish that they’re putting their money in Treasury bills instead of Broadway shows. With the future of Midtown stages so uncertain, it seems the right time to visit 21 Clinton Street on the Lower East Side for a reminder that theater people have a long history of belligerent survival."

"That’s where you can find THE LIVING THEATRE’s 50th anniversary production of Jack Gelber’s “THE CONNECTION,” directed by the company’s artistic director, Judith Malina, a co-founder of the group (with Julian Beck, her husband, who died in 1985). Ms. Malina, 82, has weathered the deaths of two husbands, a forced closing of her theater because of tax troubles and more than one trip to jail for acts connected to her leftist-pacifist-anarchist views, but she remains an unyielding force in political theater. In September she was honored for lifetime achievement at the New York Innovative Theater Awards."

"When it opened, “The Connection,” a hyper-naturalistic tale about heroin addicts waiting for their dealer, did not impress the New York Times critic Louis Calta, who called it a “farrago of dirt.” Others, including Harold Clurman and Robert Brustein, described the show — also noted for its inclusion of live jazz music — as a seminal work that shattered barriers between actors and audience. And the company, after more than 50 years, remains a fearless role model for the skittish."

Directed by Judith Malina

Music by Jackie McLean and Rene McLean

Director of Production and Design: Gary Brackett

Featuring Judith Malina, The Living Theatre Ensemble, & The Rene McLean Quartet.

The Connection features Gary Brackett, Eric Olson, John Kohan, Eno Edet, Anthony Sisco, Brad Burgess, Jeff Nash David Copley, Albert Lamont, Enoch Wu & Judith Malina.

Assistant Director is Judy Rhymer, Set and Lghting Design is by Gary Brackett, Music Director is Rene McLean, Music Supervisor is Patrick Grant, Stage Manager is Erin Downhour.

Performances are on Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 4 p.m. Tickets are $30. Students and senior tickets are available for $20. Wednesday is “Pay What You Can” night and seating is on a first come first serve basis.

Previews begin Wednesday, opens Jan. 8, (212) 352-3101, livingtheatre.org; $30.

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JAN 21 - MAR 26
São Paulo, Brazil

in a new engagement for 2009






Photos by Patricia Cividanes

COMPLEXO SISTEMA
DE ENFRAQUECIMENTO DA SENSIBILIDADE

Com Diego Torraca, Guilherme Gorski
e Cia. de Teatro Antro Exposto

Direção: Ruy Filho
Música original: Patrick Grant
Preparação de ator: Gustavo Sol
Preparador convidado: Alexandre Caetano

ESTREIA TEMPORADA 2009: dia 21 de Janeiro

DATA: Quartas e Quintas-feiras

HORÁRIO: 22h30

TEMPORADA: até dia 26 de março de 2009

LOCAL: Espaço Satyros 2 Praça Roosevelt, 134
Tel. (11) 3258. 6345

INGRESSOS: R$ 20,00

ESTUDANTES, CLASSE E TERCEIRA IDADE: 50%
Reserva: (11) 9908-0480 ou antro.exposto@yahoo.com.br

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COMING UP

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APEIROPHOBIA
a fantasy concept album


Photo credit: Katherine Soutar

Patrick Grant is composing and producing a fantasy concept album for children of all ages, APEIROPHOBIA, with the Australian MC Larry Trevelyan. Part contemporary hip-hop and part orchestral soundtrack, it is about a young witch who is terrified of infinity itself. She casts a spell to eradicate infinity's existence without first contemplating the consequences that follow.

More details TBA

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An Original Musical Score for
ANOTHER GLORIOUS DAY

A film by Karin Kaper & Dirk Szuszies







A film adaptation/documentary of Kenneth H. Brown's
THE BRIG as produced by The Living Theatre and
directed by Judith Malina on their 2008 European tour

More details TBA

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Sound Mixing & Designing for a Documentary on
KID CREOLE & THE COCONUTS

"Kid Creole and My Coconuts" is a new documentary by producer, director and "Mama Coconut" Adriana Kaegi about the rise and fall and rise again of the 80s multicultural tropical funk machine "Kid Creole and the Coconuts" called by many "the best live band in the world."

Kid Creole and the Coconuts are an American musical group created and led by August Darnell. Their music incorporates styles like big band jazz, disco, and in particular Caribbean/Latin American salsa. The Coconuts are a glamorous trio of female backing vocalists whose lineup has changed throughout the years. Darnell began producing for other artists before adopting the name Kid Creole (from the Elvis Presley film King Creole) in 1980, and forming The Coconuts, a trio of female backing vocalist/dancers, including his wife Adriana Kaegi, and a band including his associate vibraphone player Andy Hernandez aka Coati Mundi, who served as co-leader as well as musical director and arranger.

One of their standout works was Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places, a concept album matched with a New York Public Theatre stage production; it received rave reviews, and Darnell was recognized as a clever lyricist and astute composer, arranger and producer.

The documentary features concert footage, never-before-seen home movies, and a new interview/commentary with producer and ex-coconut Kaegi with "The Punk Professor" Vivien Goldman. The movie is edited by Peter Shelton.

For more iNFO, go to the "Kid Creole and My Coconuts" documentary's official web site HERE.

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A Collaboration with
Nigerian Musicians



Ogunyemi "Titus" Oladimeji, a violist from Lagos, Nigeria (pictured above on the left), has initiated a project with Patrick Grant for string quartet. Titus and musicians have been recording and collecting local songs from their region and are presenting them to PG as the musical material from which new compositions will be written. This group has presented the African premieres of other works by Grant in 2007, amongst them Hip-Hop Experience and are currently working on Children at War (see below) and a quartet arrangement of Three Choral Pieces in Latin.

More details TBA

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www.strangemusic.com