Series 2 Edition 12: LoL Finding the Funny in Life in Art

Artsy Fartsy Show's annual Spring light show – finding humor in the bizarre and scary, stand-up comedy and much more with guests: Comedian, Harrison Greenbaum; CORDIS Ensemble member, Richard Grimes; artist, Robin Antar, and the actors from Silence The Musical: Jenn Harris and Stephen Beinski. 

SILENCE! The Musical,The unauthorized parody of The Silence of the Lambs, with book by Hunter Bell, music & lyrics by Jon and Al Kaplan, and direction & choreography by Christopher Gattelli, opened July 9, 2011 to unanimous rave reviews.The show immediately became a sold-out phenomenon and was selected by Time Magazine as one of the year’s Top 5 Musicals.

In the Academy Award-winning film The Silence of the Lambs, rookie FBI agent Clarice Starling matches wits with the brilliant but insane cannibal, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, to catch the serial killer known only as Buffalo Bill.Clarice faces her own demons while racing the clock to unlock Lecter’s clues before another innocent girl is killed and skinned by Buffalo Bill. The laugh-out-loud naughty satire, SILENCE! The Musical, features a singing chorus of floppy eared lambs narrating the action as Buffalo Bill gleefully dances a hoedown while kidnapping hapless Catherine Martin. Even Dr. Lecter, scary as ever, sings about the life he’d like to lead someday outsidethe prison walls.

There have been an unusually high number of recent celebrity sightings at SILENCE! The Musical, including such luminaries as Jodie Foster, James Earl Jones, Kelly Ripa, Josh Groban, Lisa Lampanelli, Jonathan Demme, Matt Bomer, Joan Rivers, Chita Rivera, Stephen Schwartz, Jeremy Jordan, John Kander, Mario Cantone, Jonathan Groff, Justin Kirk, David LaChapelle, Willie Garson, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, TR Knight, Steven Pasquale, Christian Campbell, and Anthony Heald.

Barika interviews Jenn Harris (Clarice Starling) and Stephen Bienskie (Buffalo Bill).

AND GUESS WHAT? They’ve written Artsy Fartsy Show into the Musical for the Wednesday, April 4th performance. Here the scoop from BroadwayWorld.

Stand Up Comedy: Harrison Greenbaum

Harrison Greenbaum has made many audiences laugh with his personality and is also the co-producer of one of the most successful weekly comedy shows in New York City.

Harrison  is a stand up comedy person, who put smiles on peoples face, and makes them laugh. He is also the co-founder of the Harvard College stand-up comic society. As a senior, Harrison received the Gordon W. Allport Prize from Harvard’s psychology department. He currently lives in Manhattan where he does his stand up comedy. Harrison has performed in more than 600 shows on average, and has been featured on Spike TV, Discovery Channel, and Sirius Satellite Radio. Other works that Harrison has done are being a creator and co-producer of the longest running and successful weekly comedy shows in New York City. From colleges to comedy clubs, Harrison brings his unique style of comedy to audiences across the country and across the world.

CORDIS Ensemble

The band is led by leader Richard Grime and will perform live in the cities of Boston and New York City.

Known for its signature, eclectic sound, the critically acclaimed chamber ensemble, CORDIS, makes its New York City and Boston debuts April 5^th and 6^th, respectively.  Led by world renowned composer/cimbalomist Richard Grimes, CORDIS is made up of the dynamic energy of electric cellist Jeremy Harman, pianist Brian O’Neill, percussionist Andrew Beall, and the primitive craft of customized, global instruments including the electric mbira, the melodica, the hammered-dulcimer-esque stringed instrument called the cimbalom (both traditional and electric), and the world’s longest playing music box cylinder-driven music box.

By fusing traditional and specially made ethnic instruments, CORDIS showcases a unique perspective on 21^st century chamber music. “We offer an intriguing mix of instrumentation from vintage keyboards to one-of-a-kind indigenous percussion,” explains Grimes.  “By redefining the makeup of a chamber group, we’re creating this whole new, uncategorical sound.”

www.cordismusic.com

Jack Dourakos will interview Richard Grimes, composer/concert cymbalist who specializes in contemporary orchestral and chamber repertoire for the instrument. Since 1999, Grimes has performed extensively throughout North America with Symphony Orchestras (cwww.concertcimbalom.com) and with CORDIS.  In addition to writing repertoire for the instrument, Grimes has also authored the book Gypsy Son: The Evolution of the Concert Cimbalom, which chronicles the divergent paths of the classical and gypsy concert cimbalom performance practices throughout the 20th Century. After receiving his Bachelor of Music Performance from Peabody Conservatory/Johns Hopkins University, Grimes graduated from Yale with a Masters in Music Performance and subsequently from New York University with a Ph.D. in Music Performance and Composition.  Grimes currently serves as the Executive Director of the American Concert Cimbalom Festival held in Boston each summer.

 Robin Antar talks to Melissa Silver about her work in the stone sculpture of foods