Spring gets an early start with world-premiere concerts of John Zorn's The Dreamers (Feb. 29) and Essential Cinema (Mar. 1). Zorn will be joined by his band Electric Masada, which features Marc Ribot, Jamie Saft, Ikue Mori, Trevor Dunn, Cyro Baptista, Joey Baron and Kenny Wollesen.
Cynthia Hopkins and her band Gloria Deluxe will return to St. Ann's March 2 to present Transmissions from the Future in concert. The evening features music from Hopkins' Must Don't Whip 'Um; The Success of Failure (or, The Failure of Success (Part III of The Accidental Trilogy); and songs from the Gloria Deluxe album-in-progress, "LOVE is gonna be my weapon and YOU are gonna be my first victim."
On April 1 St. Ann's stages a benefit concert of Hal Willner's Disney tribute album Stay Awake Live. Featuring tunes from the Disney songbook, Willner enlisted such contemporary talents as Tom Waits, Sinead O'Connor, Harry Nilsson and Sun Ra & His Arkestra for the landmark album. St. Ann's promises an exciting line-up of new talent to bring the album to life once again.
The first theatre production of the season will be Irish playwright Enda Walsh's The Walworth Farce (April 15-May 4). Originally commissioned by the Druid Theatre Company of Galway (The Beauty Queen of Leenane), St. Ann's presents the U.S. premiere of the work, described in press notes as a "play disguised as an old-fashioned high farce, complete with rapid costume changes, cross-dressing, and mistaken identity. The Walworth Farce combines hilarious moments with shocking realism—frenetic, madcap slapstick with deeper, darker concerns—to deliver an achingly tender insight into what happens when we become stuck in the stories we tell ourselves about our lives."
From May 23-June 1, St. Ann's presents the 8th Annual International Toy Theatre Festival, Great Small Works. The ten-day festival will feature international theatre miniaturists exploring new and traditional forms of the 18th century art form. St. Ann's will also host a temporary toy museum covering the history of toy theatre. Summer begins with TR Warszawa's Macbeth (June 17-29). Grzegorz Jarzyna directs the work from Poland's theatre company TR Warszawa, who staged Krum as part of BAM's Next Wave Festival this past October.
Macbeth will be staged in an outdoor theatre, across the street from St. Ann's, in the Civil-War era Tobacco Warehouse on the Brooklyn Waterfront. The production utilizes a dramatic two-story set, video walls, special effects and an underscore of original composition, pop songs, sound effects and spoken text. Macbeth will be performed in Polish with English supertitles.
Tickets to the upcoming shows at St. Ann's Warehouse go on sale Jan. 23. They can be purchased by calling (718) 254-8779 or online at artsatstanns.org.
St. Ann's Warehouse is located at 38 Water Street (between Main and Dock St.) in Brooklyn, New York.
