Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Potent weekend excursions: Alice Ripley freewheels at GR42 and Bill T. Jones’s AFTERWARDSNESS chronicles the pandemic and BLM through dance

• By drediman
• May 23, 2021
• No Comments

This weekend, I got to two in-person performances – one an intimate cabaret, the other a large-scale dance piece – both of which I found to be downright beguiling. As per usual, here are my thoughts.

ALICE RIPLEY: RIPLEY’S GREATEST HITS
The Green Room 42
July 10

Last night, I attended Ripley’s Greatest Hits (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), Alice Ripley’s latest cabaret act at the Green Room 42. Back at full capacity (however, guests are still required to wear masks, and beverage/dining is still not an option during the show), it was wonderful to see the cabaret club sold out. Unfortunately, the venue’s air conditioning system gave out, resulting in sauna-like conditions in the packed room. Being the trooper that she is, the Tony-winner – showing off a striking new Marilyn Monroe hairdo and donning a vintage gown – used this to her advantage, incorporating the sweaty circumstance into her freewheeling banter, which was as loopy as it was inspired. It’s a gutsy, exposed, and in-the-moment approach (yes, she will go there), which Ms. Ripley, in robust voice, also deploys in her song interpretations, as expertly accompanied by music director Tracy Stark on piano and Kevin Kuhn on guitar. Singing an eclectic lineup of songs, the set included tunes by the likes of James Taylor, Patsy Cline, and Phil Collins, as well as a handful of soaring 80s rock anthems. In terms of show tunes, the Broadway star indulged her theater fans by bookending her show with a pair of Tom Kitt songs (stirring renditions of “You Learn to Live Without” from If/Then and “I Miss the Mountains” from Next to Normal) and a rousing “Pinball Wizard” from The Who’s Tommy. Ms. Ripley defiantly, and thankfully, remains her own unique creation.

AFTERWARDSNESS
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company / Park Avenue Armory
Through May 26

This weekend, I also had the opportunity to complete the Park Avenue Armory’s trifecta of productions commissioned for its Social Distance Hall when I attended Afterwardsness (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), Bill T. Jones’s austere, highly-charged choreographic response to the pandemic and Black Lives Matter (the production was supposed to have kicked-off the Armory’s Social Distance Hall season but had to be postponed when a few of the dancers tested positive for COVID-19). The production marks the first large-scale, in-person dance production I’ve seen since the pandemic effectively halted all live shows more than a year ago. Set to a haunting score (its distinct segments are played live) and performed by the choreographer’s refreshingly diverse dance company (Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company), the hourlong piece somberly registers as both deeply personal and universal. Choreographically chronicling the stretch of time between March of last year to the present moment – as chronologically marked by the announcement of specific dates at regular intervals – the work acutely captures the inner emotional turmoil, confusion, and existential panic that has been brought about by the last fourteen months. Suffice to say, reliving the disorientation and isolation all over agin through Mr. Jones’s expressive, stylized choreography and unswervingly clear-eyed vision was a potent, unnerving experience, especially at a moment in time when the collective wound is still very much gaping and raw. Try to snag a ticket to Afterwardsness if you can – the jarring immediacy of seeing it at this juncture and in this intimate/epic format is an experience that can’t likely be replicated again.