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New Look. Same BRIC.

BRIClab Public Programs /

Saskia Lane & Stephanie Fleischmann THE SWEETEST LIFE (work-in-progress)

Date

--

Cost

$10 Adv | $14 Door

Location

BRIC House Artist Studio
647 Fulton Street
(Enter on Rockwell Place)
Brooklyn, NY 11217
United States
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An adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s "The Flax," The Sweetest Life is a treatise on the loss of innocence and a riff on resilience in the face of suffering. Drawing on swing, Dixie, and homespun gypsy folk, Lane weaves an idiosyncratic sound, while Fleischmann’s lyrical American vernacular magnifies the poetry in the everyday. Luminous and dark, The Sweetest Life explores how a thing gets used, how using that thing changes us—and how, in the using, it becomes integral to the stories of our lives. Performed with an all-star band, including Damon Daunno (guitar), Julian Crouch (banjo & accordion), Elena Moon Park (fiddle), and Liam Robinson (keys).

Performances will be followed by an artist-audience dialogue.

Artist Bios

SASKIA LANE is a Julliard-trained bassist, composer, performer and educator whose work spans many genres. Most recently, the Brooklyn-based artist appeared in two productions at the Salzburg Festival, Threepenny Opera and the celebrated annual production of Jedermann. Since 2010, Saskia has been a member of the noted theater company, Chekhov at Lake Lucille as performer and composer, and is set to appear in the group’s soon-to-be-released feature film of The Seagull. She also worked for several years with the British-based Improbable Theatre Company on The Devil and Mister Punch, which toured internationally. A classically-trained musician with a strong grounding in jazz, Saskia regularly tours with kids’ favorite Dan Zanes & Friends along with her own much-lauded jazz pop trio The Biddies, and has appeared with artists as diverse as Jay-Z and Beyonce, Marc Ribot and the Kronos Quartet. This fall she had the pleasure of recording with Harry Belafonte and John Legend. Saskia is currently touring BIRDHEART, a live animation piece with Designer/Director Julian Crouch. 

STEPHANIE FLEISCHMANN is a playwright, lyricist, and librettist whose texts serve as blueprints for intricate three-dimensional sonic and visual worlds. Her “lyrical monologues” (NY Times), plays, and music-theater works have been presented internationally and across the U.S. Selected works include: Red Fly/Blue Bottle (HERE; Noorderzon; EMPAC), Tinder (Exit Festival), The Secret Lives of Coats (Red Eye), all with music by Christina Campanella; and many more, at venues ranging from London’s Roundhouse Studio to T41. Opera libretti include: The Long Walk, music: Jeremy Howard Beck (American Lyric Theater/Opera Saratoga); The Root of the Wind is Water, music: David Hanlon (Houston Grand Opera’s HGOco); The Property (Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Lyric Unlimited). She has recieved numerous fellowships, grants, residencies: 2014–15 Howard Foundation Fellowship in Playwriting, 2 NYSCA Individual Artist Commissions, NEA Opera/Music-theater Commisson, 2 NYFAs, Mapfund, Greenwall Foundation, the Frederick Loewe Award, Opera America Development Award, Tennessee Williams Fellowship, New Dramatists, Macdowell, Hedgebrook, HARP, Playwrights Center Core Writer, New Georges Audrey Residency.

BRIClab is a commissioning and residency development program for both emerging and established local artists to explore and expand the possibilities of their work in music, dance, theater and multi-disciplinary performance.

Venue Information:

The intimate, flexible studio space within BRIC House is dedicated to emerging and mid-career artists, with an audience capacity of 50-75 for rehearsals and performances in a workshop setting.

Beginning Nov. 1, 2022, attendees of any BRIC House programming will no longer have to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter the building. Masks are encouraged but not required in all BRIC operated spaces. If you have questions regarding this protocol, please email Safety@bricartsmedia.org. For our full BRIC House COVID-19 policy, visit: https://www.bricartsmedia.org/safety.