To: puptcrit-AT-driftline.org
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 16:12:29 -0400
Subject: [Puptcrit] "The Bass Saxophone" returns to Grand Army Plaza,


THE BASS SAXOPHONE
By Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre (www.czechmarionettes.org)
Based on a story by Josef Skvorecky.
Return engagement May 27 to June 25 in Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn.
In wartime Czechoslovakia occupied by Nazis, young jazz lovers risk their lives to play prohibited swing music

WHERE AND WHEN:
*  May 27 to June 25 -- Saturdays at 2:00pm and 7:00 pm; Sundays at 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm.  Runs 90 minutes.
*  All performances take place at the historic Grand Army Plaza Memorial Arch in Brooklyn, at the center of Flatbush, Eastern Parkway and Prospect Park West.  Presented by GOH Productions.
*  Accessible to subways (2, 3 to Grand Army Plaza; B, Q to 7th Ave. & Flatbush) and busses (B41, B69, B71).  
*  Free.  Recommended donations (guarantees reserved seats):  $18, $11 Students and Seniors, $10 for the economically challenged.  Limited seating; reservations recommended.  Box office: Smarttix 212-868-4444.
*  Online ticketing:  http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=BAS0  
*  Intended for adults, this production will delight kids from ages 8 and up.

DESCRIPTION
The play is based on a brilliant, ironic short story (of the same name) by Czech born writer, Josef Skvorecky (1924-). It tells of jazz lovers risking their lives to play prohibited swing music during WWII, while Czechoslovakia was occupied by the Nazis. The piece is adapted and directed by Vit Horejs. This is the first performance ever designed and staged for the majestic Grand Army Plaza Memorial Arch.  In its debut run last fall, it was praised as "brilliantly staged=85totally fascinating and original" by the New York Theatre Wire (Paulanne Simmons).

"The Bass Saxophone" highlights a group of jazz-obsessed youths in 1944 German-occupied Czechoslovakia, who risk their lives to attain inner freedom by playing, in the words of Goebels, "decadent judeo-negroid music."  The teens give new absurd German and Czech titles, authors, and lyrics to forbidden swing standards, and thus find a way to fool the occupation authorities. The audience passes a series of marvelous installations on the spiral staircases while ascending to and leaving the theater.  This production is recommended for ages 8 and up.

Live music by John Hyde and Colin Stetson includes international swing standards from the period and music written and improvised for the action, with the bass saxophone, a rare instrument, in full swing.  By the way, "hep cats" in Czech is "potapka."  (The name for a duck-like bird.  It comes from the haircuts they wore.)


PAST REVIEWS OF THIS COMPANY

HAMLET
"[Horejs should be credited with] uniting the honored tradition with post-modern sensibilities, giving his mute figures from a bygone era a startling new place in the theatre." 
--Time Magazine (Emily Mitchell)

"[CAMT's approach] reflects a new trend in Czech puppetry. It shatters the illusion of traditional marionette theatre, with invisible puppeteers pulling the strings, by having the puppeteers on stage as human actors performing opposite their wooden counterparts."
--UPI (Fred Winship)

THE FISHERMAN'S CLEVER DAUGHTER
"Feminist fairy tales are hard to find...It is refreshing then, to meet Lenka, the title character in 'The Fisherman's Clever Daughter.'...The puppet play is performed by someone with rare powers himself: Vit Horejs...With his long hair, gray beard and floor-length 'coat of many colors,' Mr. Horejs is almost as dramatic a figure as his marionettes, 50-year-old puppets that step, dance, ride horseback and even play a violin."
--New York Times (Laurel Graeber)

GOLEM
"In a production which was as much dance performance as marionette theatre, the interaction between puppeteers and puppet was fascinating...'The Golem' was staged with sensitivity, dedication and tremendous energy."
--Theatre Journal (Arthur Horowitz)

"'Golem' is a wonderful blend of puppetry, dance, and music...Director Vit Horejs put together an extraordinary team to realize his conception...'Golem' is a joyful celebration of Jewish culture and resilience."
--The Journal, Pasadena, California

RUSALKA, THE LITTLE MERMAID
"Rusalka, the Little Rivermaid" is a retelling of 'The Little Mermaid'...It is an irreverent blend of tradition and modernism...The results are sometimes maddening, sometimes beguiling, never subtle and never boring. 
--New York Times (Laurel Graeber)

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(212) 777-3891
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