Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Scoping out the Fringes: Gems at LA MAMA PUPPET FESTIVAL and Heartbeat Opera’s lively drag riff on THE GOLDEN COCK(erel)

• By drediman
• November 13, 2023
• No Comments

This past weekend – in the midst of some high profile fall theater openings – I had the urge to scope out the fringes of New York’s vibrant performing arts scene. Here are some of the gems I encountered on the hunt. Read on for my thoughts.

MOTEL / TRICYCKLE
La MaMa
The La MaMa Puppet Festival runs through November 18

La MaMa has long been a proponent of more experimental forms of theater. This weekend I had a chance to take in a pair of offerings from the indispensable East Village-based company’s well-regarded annual puppet festival, both of which captivated my imagination as any worthwhile work of puppet theater should. First up was Dan Hurlin’s stark and unsettling installation Motel (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) at La Galleria (La MaMa’s gallery space on Great Jones Street). Although visually static, the mysterious piece reeks of existential tension and a pregnant narrative, thanks to subtle hints Hurlin scatters throughout his meticulously designed installation (e.g., a bible on the bed, money on the table, a written note), as well as an evocative soundscape that activates the imagination to conjure potential scenarios that could have entangled the young woman sitting pensively in the stark motel room. Then just a block over, I also had the opportunity to take in another offering of the La MaMa Puppet Festival – Quebec-based Les Sages Fous’ production of Trycickle (RECOMMENDED). A far more traditional work of puppet theater, the family-friendly piece episodically chronicles the fantastical adventures of a young man through various environments – a vibrant circus, a noirish cityscape, and eventually extending out to a creepy extraterrestrial realm. Acting as both puppeteer and subject, jovial puppeteer/actor Jacob Brindamour masterfully taps into his vivid imagination as he manipulates his tricycle and the contents of an attached wagon to bring the amazing journey to life.

THE GOLDEN COCK
Heartbeat Opera at Roulette
Closed

Then over at Roulette in Brooklyn, I indulged in the frisky late show of Heartbeat Opera’s lively drag riff on Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel. Given that the title of the opera has been naughtily abbreviated to simply The Golden Cock (RECOMMENDED), it goes without saying that those expecting anything approaching a traditional rendition of Rimsky-Korsakov’s slight fairy tale opera should probably look elsewhere (but why would you want to?). Re-set in an underground queer cabaret/nightclub in St. Petersburg, the opera (now augmented with some of classical music’s greatest hits) comes alive as a cheeky opera-within-an opera. Mostly performed in outrageous drag – complete with naughty props, facekinis, burlesque strip tease, sassy roasting, and the requisite little lip-syncing – the interpretation has re-envisioned the piece as a joyous political act of defiance against a society bent on repressing queerness. Even in terms audience behavior, the experience was unorthodox for an opera performance – the taking of photographs and videos were encouraged, as were hooting and hollering and excessive imbibing. Ironically, I’d gather that my experience at The Golden Cock (which unfortunately was limited to only three performances over the course of two nights) was probably akin to how the purportedly rowdy first performances of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Theater auf Der Wieden in Vienna must have felt like. Unsurprisingly and understandably, the performances were scrappy, with some of the singers more comfortable performing in the operatic vernacular than others. Nevertheless, there was an infectious and celebratory spirit that overtook the sold out audience, trumping any musical deficiencies in sight.