Byham Theater (Downtown) – The Andy Warhol Museum

Off the Wall 2012 – JacobTV: THE NEWS

desi — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 21:28:52 +0000

Dutch composer JacobTV (Jacob Ter Veldhuis) has roots in rock music, though he studied composition and electronic music at the Groningen Conservatory. JacobTV, a controversial maverick within the established modern classical music scene, has scheduled over 1000 performances worldwide per year. According to the Wall Street Journal his newest work ‘makes many a hip-hop artist look sedate’. He has a unique “avant pop” sensibility that exists at the high/low crossroads of rock, pop, jazz and classical music. As he puts it: ‘I pepper my music with sugar”. It’s seems appropriate that the Dutch press called him the ‘Andy Warhol of new music’. JacobTV will première his new “reality opera”, THE NEWS. This nonfiction video opera is a topical form of Gesammtkunstwerk, based on original footage from the international media: “revealing” one-liners from the likes of Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Silvio Berlusconi, Fox News, TV evangelists and more.

Off the Wall 2012 – Mike Daisey: The Agony & Ecstasy of Steve Jobs

desi — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 21:28:46 +0000

The Andy Warhol Museum, in partnership with The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, is pleased to welcome backMike Daisey, after his sold-out Pittsburgh debut in The Warhol’s intimate theater in 2007. Daisey’s work as a writer and commentator has been featured on NPR, BBC, and the New York Times Magazine, though he is most known for his highly energetic and improvised monologues. With The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, Daisey, an admitted “Apple fanboy”, trains his patriotic criticism and moral compass on the questionable labor practices of one of the world’s most cherished companies. Ironically, the rather analog, un-mediated, and minimalist form of monologue-based theater provides the haven to focus on and emotionally connect to a subject dealing with rapid technological developments and our high-tech obsessions in an increasingly digital age.

“The master storyteller—one of the finest solo performers of his generation. What distinguishes him from most solo performers is how elegantly he blends personal stories, historical digressions and philosophical ruminations. He has the curiosity of a highly literate dilettante and a preoccupation with alternative histories, secrets large and small, and the fuzzy line where truth and fiction blur. Mr. Daisey’s greatest subject is himself.”
– The New York Times

“Mike Daisey rides two rails—tragic comedy and patriotic outrage—that identify him as a direct descendant of Mark Twain.”
– The Stranger

Stephen Petronio Company: Merce Cunningham’s RainForest and Petronio’s Locomotor/Non Locomotor

desi — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 20:58:21 +0000

Stephen Petronio has built an astonishing canon of work where music, visual art, and fashion collide to heighten bold and engaging modern dance landscapes. Now Petronio revives Merce Cunningham’s iconic RainForest. A must-see for the Pittsburgh dance and art community, Andy Warhol created his sparkling Silver Clouds especially for RainForest. The floating décor is uncontrollable, producing a score of movement that cannot play by conventional rules and an atmosphere of free-wheeling anarchy. Locomotor casts Petronio’s virtuosic dancers careening forward and backward through time and space. Non Locomotor, a companion work, explores movement deep within a torquing center, sending surges of action throughout the body while stationary in space.

The performance is co-presented with the Pittsburgh Dance Council, a division of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Tickets $19–55; visit https://trustarts.culturaldistrict.org/production/45876/stephen-petronio-company or call 412-456-6666.

Off the Wall 2013: Sandra Bernhard: I Love Being Me, Don’t You?

desi — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 19:51:56 +0000

Sandra Bernhard is an actor, comedienne, singer, and author who has been challenging fans and critics with unforgettable stage shows since she got her start at L.A.’s Comedy Store in the ‘70’s. In I Love Being Me, Don’t You?, backed by a rock band, Bernhard delivers her unforgettable blend of outrageous humor, cutting satire and fiercely energetic live performance.

Give the dame her due… it’s invigorating just to be in the presence, once again, of a true original.

– The New York Times