More than 150 theatre artists have come together for Brave New World—a three-day benefit performance at Town Hall designed to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Sept. 11. The unique event, which features dozens of new plays and songs, began at Town Hall on Sept. 9. The final performances will be at 2 PM and 8 PM on Sept. 11.
Brave New World is the brainchild of playwright J. Dakota Powell. According to Powell's associate, Erica Gould, Powell felt an immediate impulse to respond to Sept. 11 through her art. She soon discovered that many of her fellow artists felt the same way. The idea for Brave New World was born soon after.
Each one of the playwrights, composers, actors, singers and directors involved were personally invited to participate by Powell and Gould. Among those slated to take part are Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, Alec Baldwin, Len Cariou, Jill Clayburgh, Edie Falco, Adolph Green, John Guare, Marvin Hamlisch, Neil Patrick Harris, Ethan Hawke, Beth Henley, Jerry Herman, Tina Howe, Elias Koteas, Marsha Mason, Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann, Neil Labute, Julianna Margulies, Terrence McNally, Alan Menken, Idina Menzel, Bebe Neuwirth, Phyllis Newman, Michael Nouri, Jason Patric, Amanda Peet, Ann Reinking, Isabella Rossalini, Lea Salonga, John Patrick Shanley, Marlo Thomas, Marisa Tomei and Stanley Tucci.
The performance schedule, subject to change, follows:
Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 2 PM:
Excerpt from Return to the Upright Position by Caridad Svich
The Moon Please by Diana Son, performed by Gloria Reuben and Frank Wood, directed by Christopher Smith
Stop All the Clocks by Erin Cressida Wilson, performed by Joel Grey and Anne Reinking, directed by Steve Lawson
Exodus by J. Dakota Powell, performed by Maya Gabrielle (UK), Robert Neill, Laura Flanagan, Ninon Rogers, Christen Clifford, Kenajuan Bentley, Ivan Davila, Randy Ryan, Sarah Hayon, directed by Stephen Wisker (UK)
"give them wings", an excerpt from 110 Stories by Sarah Tuft, performed by Chita Rivera
Impact by Jose Rivera, performed by Marisa Tomei and Jason Patric
3 Weeks After Paradise: A Voice From NYC by Israel Horovitz, performed by Israel Horovitz
"I'm Still Here", a song by Stephen Sondheim, performed by Polly Bergen
"Strong as a Lion, Soft as Silk", a poem by Tyler Wallach, performed by Eli Wallach
Adopt a Sailor by Charles Evered, performed by Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson and Craig Williams, directed by Stephen Wisker (UK)
We Never Knew Their Names by John Henry Redwood, performed by Brennan Brown, Gina Bardwell, Kate Rigg, James Ascher, James Martinez, directed by Amy Saltz
Woman at a Threshold, Beckoning by John Guare, performed by John Turturro, directed by Michael Wilson
Antigone's Red by Chiori Miyagawa, performed by Christina Chang, Mishi Baral, Brian Niishi, Andrew Garmen, George Sheffey, directed by Mary Robinson
Some Other Time, song by Adolphe Green and Leonard Bernstein, performed by Phyllis Newman
4/19(/95) by John Pielmeier, directed by Shep Sobel
The Marriott by Jacqueline Reingold, performed by Michael Nouri and Louise Pitre, directed by Michael Warren Powell
Strange Fish by Jaye Austin-Williams, performed by Robert McKay, Mylika Davis, Sue Jin Song, Jeff Breckfield, Jeanine Carter, Craig Williams, Haythem Noor, Carl Vitali, Louis Menken, directed by Monika Gross
The Grand Design by Susan Miller, performed by Marlo Thomas and Scott Cohen, directed by Cynthia Croot
"Coming Together", a song by Jason Robert Brown Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 8 PM:
Excerpt from "Return to the Upright Position" by Caridad Svich
Ribbon in the Sky by Jonathan Marc Sherman, performed by Ethan Hawke and Amanda Peet, directed by Michael Wilson
2001: An Oral History by Lillian Ann Slugocki, performed by Judith Hawking, Catherine Curtin, Brian Carter, Saidah Eukolona, Carolyn Baeumler, Steven Rattazzi, directed by Erica Gould
Pops by Edwin Sanchez, performed by Ivan Davila, directed by Dennis Smith
Lakeera by Christopher Shinn, performed by Armando Riesco, directed by Mark Brokaw
Land of the Dead by Neil LaBute, performed by Kristin Davis and Liev Schreiber, directed by Neil LaBute
"Last Year", a song by Michael John LaChiusa
9-19 by Eric Mendelsohn, performed by Edie Falco and Stanley Tucci The New Rules by Laurence Klavan, performed by Erik Jensen and Danny Zorn, directed by Robert Knopf
Hands by Erin Cressida Wilson, performed by Julianna Margulies, directed by Nela Wagman
Steve by Bill Leavengood, performed by Fisher Stevens and Dariush Kashani, directed by Larry Sacharow
Thirty-Fourth and Dyer by Lee Blessing, performed by Cynthia Nixon and Keith Nobbs, directed by Nela Wagman
"Lullaby", music by Geoffrey Menin, performed by Geoffrey Menin
Woman at a Threshold, Beckoning by John Guare, performed by John Turturro, directed by Michael Wilson
Anonymous Remailers by Constance Congdon
"I Am Strong In the Face of Everything Except Nuclear War", a poem by Eve Ensler, performed by Marlo Thomas
"Will the Sun Ever Shine Again?", a song by Alan Menken/Glenn Slater, performed by Alan Menken
Skylab by Christopher Durang, performed by Dana Ivey, directed by Walter Bobbie
Special Price for You, Okay?, by Leah Ryan, performed by Kate Rigg Adopt a Sailor by Charles Evered, performed by Liev Schreiber, Sam Waterston and Amy Irving
Late Night, Early Morning by Frank Pugliese, performed by Marisa Tomei and Scott Cohen, directed by Frank Pugliese Disorderly Conduct by Tina Howe, performed by Lorinne Towler, Ned Eisenberg, Kate Rigg, Blake Robbins, Malika Davis, Charles Montgomery, Kalimi Baxter, Kenajuan Bentley, Ivan Davila, Rana KazKaz, Mather Zickel, directed by George White *
All proceeds will benefit the New York Childrens Foundation, created to help children affected by 9/11. The name of the event is taken from Shakespeare's The Tempest, in which the young Miranda finds herself shipwrecked on an island and seeing her first site of men: "O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people in't!"
For more information visit www.bravenewworldarts.com or call (212) 252-3539.
Tickets to the event, are now on sale. Tickets run $35-$100. Call Ticketmaster at (212) 307-4100.
—By Robert Simonson
