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New Look. Same BRIC.

WOW: An Opera

Date

January 24-25, 30-31, & February 1, 2014

Cost

$15/$18 at the door

Location

BRIC House
647 Fulton Street
Brooklyn, NY 11217
United States
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  • WOW (work-in-progress) performance, photo: David Andrako

  • WOW (work-in-progress) performance, photo: David Andrako

  • WOW (work-in-progress) performance, photo: David Andrako

Created by Joe Diebes, Christian Hawkey and David Levine

January 24-25, 30-31, & February 1, 2014

 

BRIC continued its inaugural season with work-in-progress performances with WOW, an experimental opera by Fort Greene residents Joe Diebes, Christian Hawkey and David Levine developed, in part, during a BRIC House Fireworks Residency. All three artists are known for trying to radically rethink or reinvent their respective backgrounds: musical composition (Diebes), poetry (Hawkey), and theater (Levine). This is the first time that all three of them have collaborated together, putting their drive for reinvention towards the creation of the most antiquated multimedia spectacle of them all: the opera. The chosen subject of this work-in-progress opera? The story of Milli Vanilli, a manufactured German pop duo whose spectacular rise and fall has become an American legend.

Milli Vanilli's troubled history is not only tragically operatic in terms of its story; it is also a tragedy of the digital. WOW challenges the endless repetition of the CD-skip moment that led to the destruction of the pop duo's career with a real-time opera production environment in which the score, libretto, and staging intersect differently during each performance, evoking news ways of thinking and feeling about a story that's not as simple as it first may seem.

The developmental version of WOW used nearly all of the architectural spaces inside BRIC House (gallery, ballroom/performance space, media production room, rehearsal studio and  Project Room) as a laboratory for a multi-layered experience. Using Milli Vanilli's four major videos as cardinal points on, and settings for, their journey, Levine’s staging of WOW continued his examination of the relation of performance to labor by taking the audience through BRIC’s various spaces as they witnessed Milli Vanilli’s rise and fall. Hawkey generated a libretto using remixed, pirated, and appropriated language, including transcriptions of various Milli Vanilli press conferences and interviews; examining how exploited labor and racism are often at the heart of manufactured fame. Diebes constructed more of an information-processing system than a traditional score, recombining fragments from Wagner’s Der Meistersinger von Nürenberg into a sound stream that jumps, skips, and loops. Both the orchestra and singers received their parts ‘just in time’ on live feed video monitors as Diebes composed the score measure by measure live during each performance. Renowned artist duo Merkx & Gwynne brought their vision to the piece as art and video directors, and acclaimed downtown choreographer Clarinda Mac Low rounded out the creative team.

Learn more about "Former Models: An Exhibition," curated by Merkx&Gwynne in conjunction with WOW. >>

This work is supported by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation’s NYC Cultural Innovation Fund. Support for WOW has also been provided by New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New YorkState Legislature. 

 

WOW: An Interview from BRIC on Vimeo.

Christian Hawkey on BK Live 11/1/13 from Brooklyn Independent Media on Vimeo.
(Segment on WOW  begins at 35:40 mark)

 

Read the full WOW PRESS RELEASE >>

Venue Information:

BRIC House is Brooklyn’s cultural living room: a 40,000 square foot multi-disciplinary arts and media complex in the former Strand Theatre, where emerging and established artists can create work that deepens their practice and engages the diverse communities of the borough. 

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.

BRIC is committed to welcoming people of all abilities. BRIC's main entrance, located on Rockwell Street, is fully accessible. In addition the main floor of BRIC House has an accessible, all-gender bathroom. The BRIC Media Center, located on the 2nd floor, is accessible via elevator. The Gallery level is accessible via a wheelchair lift. Portable FM assistive listening devices are available for programs on the Stoop and in the Ballroom upon request. To make a specific access request, or to let us know other ways we can provide you with a welcoming experience, please contact Benno Orlinsky at borlinsky@bricartsmedia.org or (718) 683-5637.