(via: John Wyszniewski, Blake Zidell & Associates.)
Commissioned and Produced by Harlem Stage, Notes Of A Native Song Is A Live Collage of Songs, Text, and Video Inspired by James Baldwin’s Work and Legacy
Harlem Stage Gatehouse (150 Convent Avenue, Manhattan)
June 3–6 at 7:30pm; June 6 & 7 at 2pm
Tickets $55 ($44 MyHarlemStage members)
harlemstage.org; 212.281.9240 ext. 19/20
Harlem Stage to present the world premiere of Notes of a Native Song, inspired by James Baldwin’s work and Legacy . . . The live collage of songs is by the Tony and Obie award-winning playwright Stew (Passing Strange),co-composed with his long-time collaborator Heidi Rodewald . . . Commmissioned and produced by Harlem Stage, the Notes of a Native Song text and video is inspired by James Baldwin’s brave and visionary proclivity for airing uncomfortable truths as celebratory events of poetry and beauty . . . Notes Of A Native Song is the culminating presentation of The Year of James Baldwin, a 14-month celebration of Baldwin spearheaded by Harlem Stage . . . In his most personal work to date, Stew filters Baldwin’s wisdom through his joyfully irreverent, surrealist aesthetic, utilizing the great individualist’s work as a prism, shield and springboard to contemplate the limits of “socially engaged art” . . . Along with his band, Stew creates a deeply personal and bitingly funny show . . . Stew says, “In this show I want to rescue Baldwin from respectability. I want to pull him out of the stuffy, noble, artist-activist tearoom and drag him back to the freaky cafe where he belongs. I want to reclaim him for those of us who knew we had to go to another country if we wanted to get to Giovanni's room. Notes of a Native Song deals with the complicated aspects of Baldwin’s legacy, through a deeply subjective fan-boy's lens, with focus on his ideas around the limitations of protest art and his commitment to solutions that challenged us to see both the humanity behind the hurt and the healing power of art.”