a play by Anna Ziegler Directed by Mikael Burke (Chicago) Wisconsin Premiere!
Esther and Schmuli are young Orthodox Jews whose future is written in scripture. Abe and Sophie believe they can write their own destiny. On the surface, these two couples couldn’t seem more different. But when a Hollywood actress upends Abe’s world, the hidden connections between all of them start to appear. This funny and mysterious drama explores the question of whether happiness lies in what we have, or on the road not taken.
“As perfect a piece of theater as I’ve seen in many years. The script by Anna Ziegler is a revelation, touching on family truths, marriage, and personal histories…Go see this show. It’s magnificent.” – DC Theatre Scene
Buy Tickets here
With Cassandra Bissell, Elyse Edelman, Alanna Lovely, Paris Hunter Paul, Greg Pragel
Scenic Designer: Sarah Ross Lighting Designer: Brad Toberman Costume Designer: Karen Brown-Larimore Sound Designer/Composer:Brian Grimm Props Master: Pam Miles Technical Director: Kevin Zimmer Stage Manager: Kira Neighbors Asst. Stage Manager: Abbi Hess
I had such a blast recording music with Madison’s own Yid Vicious Klezmer Ensemble for the score of “The Wanderers” by Anna Ziegler! I’m so honored to have collaborated with such fine musicians & friends and can’t wait for you to hear their beautiful playing in this production!
Pictured members of Yid Vicious: Matt Appleby – guitar Kia Karlen – accordion & horn Geoff Brady – vibraphone Greg Smith – flutes & clarinets
Also pictured: Brian Grimm – composer, cello at the playhouse theater Zelda Brethauer – sleeping studio assistant
Sat, 08/09 | Lyre Power has over 10 workshops available for their August 9th festival at Edgewood College‘s center for visual & theater arts, The Stream. I (BC Grimm) will teach a new workshop, ‘Conversation = Improvisation’, in parallel with other workshops taught by some very talented friends of GrimmusiK including; Rob Lundberg, Yid Vicious (Geoff Brady of Brennan Connors & Stray Passage), Nick Zielinski (ARP of the Covenant) & more!
The workshops are open to all ages, child to adult! Choose your 2 favorite sessions & sign up today! “The cost to participate is $35, which covers the full day (two workshops and performances) from 9:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. on Saturday, August 9. No money is due upon pre-registering online. The registration form we send by mail will include payment information.”
Special thanks to Jeff Stanek, Shad Wenzlaff, & Debbie Yee, the coordinators of Lyre Power, for organizing what will prove to be a most excellent day of improvisation & composition workshops!
Thursday, October 10, 7:30 PM Gates of Heaven Synagogue James Madison Park, Madison, WI Any Donations* Gratefully Accepted
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Below, a message from Yid Vicious & Co. ᗐ
“ For nearly two decades, Madison’s Yid Vicious have been charming, baffling, or annoying audiences with their interpretations of klezmer music, most often in the key of D. But what if they changed the key? What if, for one evening, they were…In C?
And they will be! This one time! When Yid Vicious, joined by special guests Michael Brenneis, Alexis Carreon, Brian Grimm, Flora van Wormer, and possibly others perform Terry Riley’s In C. [ed. also including Spires That In The Sunset Rise, Sue Ellen Dubbert Miller, Jeff Stanek, Cody White, and more]
Also, Yid Vicious member David “Dave” Spies will lead the ensemble through a set of Sound Paintings (paint not provided).
Terry Riley’s In C, composed in 1964, is a landmark of American music minimalism. Using spare notated music fragments combined with repetition and the mores of the performers, In C creates a sprawling and engaging sonic landscape that’s always changing, but in an organic, protean way. If you’ve never heard it, it could change the way you listen to music.
Sound Painting is a form of directed group improvisation. The members of the ensemble respond to various cues from a conductor (see above) to create something free yet focused. As in In C, the performers are given great freedom, yet there remain unifying elements of form and flow.
Also, there will be a piece by other Yid Vicious member Geoffrey “Greg” Brady. It will include use of the Theremin.
After this performance, Yid Vicious may never not play in D again! Please weigh this carefully as you choose whether to attend! And also remember the thing about how gratefully donations* will be accepted!
Yid Vicious and our Very Special Guests thank you!
*Donations may include but are not limited to: cash, jewelry, food, gum, valuable collectable baseball cards, romantic mix tapes, lottery tickets, candlestick holders that are nice but not ostentatious, pogs, coupons, flowers, career advice, and alcohol, provided it changes hands OFF PARK GROUNDS, as they have rules. Also, puppies and hugs. “
“The books are back, but the party’s still on. On September 19, Central Library will be STACKED.We’re filling it with art, music, and local fare. Grab a drink and check out the art displayed around the new library and be prepared to meet your “Makers.” The Bubbler at Madison Public Library is bringing in community partners to set up hands-on activities. Don’t miss the Paka Paka light show dance party on the brand new 3rd floor! We’ll have live music and DJs on every floor.“
Proceeds benefit Central Library
100 Artists/ 1 New Library / 1 Day Only
DJs | Nick Nice, Wangzoom, Doctor Oxygen w/ PAKAPAKA Lightshow
LIVE MUSIC | MAIN STAGE———————–FIRST FLOOR ———————- SECOND FLOOR 08:30 Pioneer ——————— ———————– —————– ————————– 09:15 The Wets ——————-09:00 Spires… Sunset Rise ——-09:00 Pidge Anther
10:00 Golden Donna ———— 10:00 Samantha Glass ———– 10:00 Dietrich Goesser
11:00 Trin Tran ——————- 11:00 Noxroy ———————— 11:30 DB Pedersen
12:00 Control ———————- ———————– —————-⇝w/ BCG ————-
Wrest (on tour) ———————————-|Eric Miller + BC Grimm
Jack Wright – sax ——————————–| BC Grimm – cello / 古筝 / 古琴 / 二胡
Evan Lipson – upright bass ——————–| Miller – trumpet/viola da gamba/baroque cello
Benjamin Bennett – percussion —————| “Sounds of today, instruments of antiquity!”
The Brothers Grimm were lucky to share a set with Benjamin Bennett in 2012 at Audio For the Arts (> recent isthmus article) for the Surrounded By Reality series. Ben, fresh off an intensive meditative retreat, brought the house down with a fantastic sit on the floor set. Those in the control room claimed there had to have been more than just one percussionist performing in the room! He’s back in town on tour with a trio called Wrest (sax, bass, & percussion). These guys listen intently, resulting in delightfully sensitive free-improv – perfect for the Tea Room!
Wrest“The kind of music we play is called Free Improvisation, where Wrest cannot be counted on to play the same way each time. There is no typical Wrest “experience.” We are using all our imagination each show to get past what we did the night before. Free Improvisation is not a genre of music with characteristics that separate it from other musics. Rather it’s an approach to playing by musicians who would be bored representing an image of what they are. That’s why we can say, we don’t know what we’re doing until we do it. “
Described twenty years ago as an “undergrounder by design,” Jack Wright is happy to inhabit the vast territory below the radar of the professional music world. Since 1979 he has been traveling through the US and Europe in search of interesting partners and playing situations, and open to whatever might happen. Now living in a small Pennsylvania town, at 70 he is still the “Johnny Appleseed of Free Improvisation,” as Davey Williams called him back in the 80s. And he is still inspiring players outside music-school careerdom. Whenever he plays today, all that he has traversed is present, from fiery, breathless free jazz to quiet, breath-filled, and often animalistic sounds. A reviewer for the Washington Post said, “In the rarefied, underground world of experimental free improvisation, saxophonist Jack Wright is king”. For more info go to springgardenmusic.com, for sounds:soundcloud.com/#jackwright writings: http://jackiswright.wordpress.com/
Evan Lipson (b. 1981), now from Chatanooga, has been active as a musician since adolescence. In an on-going pursuit of all things occult and aberrant, Lipson acquired an early interest in the lateral realms of visionary & experimental music — seeking to transcend the existent paradigms of idiomatic expression. His formative experiences were in underground rock, modernist composition, freak pop, jazz, noise, as well as various modes of improvisation. Lipson cultivates a palpably intense and vehemently iconoclastic body of music. He has performed in numerous groups including Normal Love, Satanized, WREST, Psychotic Quartet, Femme Tops, Legion of Strategic Deception, Dynamite Club, and Ruins. Past tours have taken him throughout North America, as well as Brazil, Taiwan, and Japan. His music has been released on several imprints including SKiN GRAFT, UgEXPLODE, Public Eyesore, High Two, Badmaster, Caminante, New Atlantis, and Damage Rituals..
Ben Bennett, living most of the time in Columbus Ohio, started playing music as a young child, with an interest in jazz that moved steadily towards the more avant-guarde, then to free jazz, and onward into the world of free-improv. Using extended techniques involving breath and friction, as well as the time-honored tradition of hitting things with sticks, he plays an evolving pile of frame drums, pre-tuned drum heads, metal things, tubes, and other objects that can be combined and recombined to get a variety of sounds. This set-up lends itself greatly towards being crammed in a backpack, strapped to a bike, dragged along the ground, or thrown down the stairs, generally without physical or psycological damage. Recent projects besides Wrestinclude: bst.cr – trio with Ryan Jewell and Wilson Shook, Rotty What – trio with Jack Wright and John M Bennett; Central Ohio War Coalition – with Mike Shiflet, Joe Panzner, and others; duos with Ryan Jewell, Jack Callahan, and Ben Hall; and solo performances. Ben will be resident at the Spring Garden Music house during Dec. and Jan. 2012-13.
Eric Miller, gambist and cellist, plays viola da gamba and baroque cello with the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble and Eliza’s Toyes, Ensemble Musical Offering, and has appeared with the Madison Bach Musicians, and many others. As a modern cellist, Eric has performed with American Players Theater. Additionally, as an accomplished trumpeter and able improvisor, Eric can be heard in settings around Southern Wisconsin such as jazz ensembles, singer/songwriters, and experimental ensembles. A passionate educator trained in the Suzuki approach, Eric maintains a large cello and trumpet studio in Madison.
FREEMAN//BORDEN//CAIN Trio (Buffalo)
Brothers Grimm recently played a Dobra Tea set with TJ Borden, which was one of our finest guest performances to date. A vast array of Contemporary & avant-garde techniques, improvised with classical precision. He is also back, on tour with a trio including cello, electronics, & sax. We can’t wait to hear what this intense, skronky, free-improv noise-trio has to offer!
YID VICIOUS Madison’s premiere quirk-fest Klezmer Ensemble, prepare for a face-melt!
