A Glance at New York
Written by Benjamin Baker
Conceived & Produced by Axis Company | Directed by Randy Sharp
October 12 - November 16, 2007Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00PM
Additional performance Tuesday, October 16 at 8PM
Adults $20; Seniors/Students $10
Axis Company presents the revival of Benjamin A. Baker's 1848 A Glance at New York. The original production of this vaudeville play following the adventures of Mose The Fireman became the first true American stage blockbuster filling theatres for years. The Axis production is an experimental event adapted by the Company for a contemporary audience.
A Glance at New York is set during a particularly dangerous, raw and inspirational period in New York City history. It is an unmitigated conglomeration of historic filth and fury following the burly firefighter Big Mose. Known as the toughest man in the nation's toughest city, Baker's Mose was a brave trailblazer for a new kind of American theatre populated by recognizable street-familiar characters that spoke to the common man. 1848 vaudeville actors from this play have found themselves spat out onto the stage of a theatre in New York 2007. Are they historic ambassadors or panicked children on the run? Are they diseased slum inhabitants or master story tellers? What is there to guide them? Only the memory of their play and each one's love for the distant, forgetful city that threw them away.
A Glance at New York is set during a particularly dangerous, raw and inspirational period in New York City history. It is an unmitigated conglomeration of historic filth and fury following the burly firefighter Big Mose. Known as the toughest man in the nation's toughest city, Baker's Mose was a brave trailblazer for a new kind of American theatre populated by recognizable street-familiar characters that spoke to the common man. 1848 vaudeville actors from this play have found themselves spat out onto the stage of a theatre in New York 2007. Are they historic ambassadors or panicked children on the run? Are they diseased slum inhabitants or master story tellers? What is there to guide them? Only the memory of their play and each one's love for the distant, forgetful city that threw them away.
Featuring: Brian Barnhart, Marlene Berner, Regina Betancourt, David Crabb, George Demas, Britt Genelin, Laurie Kilmartin, Edgar Oliver, Marc Palmieri, Jim Sterling, Ian Tooley
director: Randy Sharp
light design: David Zeffren
assistant light design: Amy Harper
sound design/music production & arrangements: Steve Fontaine
costume design: Lee Harper, Matthew Simonelli
stage manager: Edward Terhune
assistant stage manager: Marc Palmieri
sound operator: David Balutanski
website & graphic designer: Ethan Crenson
photographer: Dixie Sheridan
AXIS COMPANY
artistic director: Randy Sharp
producing director: Brian Barnhart
executive producer: Jeffrey Resnick
production manager: Ian Tooley
This production is made possible by a generous grant from the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation.
The Producers wish to thank the tdf Costume Collection (NYC) for its assistance in this production.
Special Thank You to the New-York Historical Society
PROGRAM NOTES
Axis Company presents the revival of Benjamin A. Baker's 1848 A Glance at New York. The original production of this vaudeville play following the adventures of Mose The Fireman became the first true American stage blockbuster filling theatres for years. The Axis production is an experimental event adapted by the Company for a contemporary audience.
A Glance at New York is set during a particularly dangerous, raw and inspirational period in New York City history. It is an unmitigated conglomeration of historic filth and fury following the burly firefighter Big Mose. Known as the toughest man in the nation's toughest city, Baker's Mose was a brave trailblazer for a new kind of American theatre populated by recognizable street-familiar characters that spoke to the common man. 1848 vaudeville actors from this play have found themselves spat out onto the stage of a theatre in 2007. Are they historic ambassadors or panicked children on the run? Are they diseased slum inhabitants or master story tellers? What is there to guide them? Only the memory of their play and each one's love of the distant, forgetful city that threw them away.
The Producers wish to thank the tdf Costume Collection (NYC) for its assistance in this production.
Special Thank You to the New-York Historical Society
PROGRAM NOTES
Axis Company presents the revival of Benjamin A. Baker's 1848 A Glance at New York. The original production of this vaudeville play following the adventures of Mose The Fireman became the first true American stage blockbuster filling theatres for years. The Axis production is an experimental event adapted by the Company for a contemporary audience.
A Glance at New York is set during a particularly dangerous, raw and inspirational period in New York City history. It is an unmitigated conglomeration of historic filth and fury following the burly firefighter Big Mose. Known as the toughest man in the nation's toughest city, Baker's Mose was a brave trailblazer for a new kind of American theatre populated by recognizable street-familiar characters that spoke to the common man. 1848 vaudeville actors from this play have found themselves spat out onto the stage of a theatre in 2007. Are they historic ambassadors or panicked children on the run? Are they diseased slum inhabitants or master story tellers? What is there to guide them? Only the memory of their play and each one's love of the distant, forgetful city that threw them away.
“Sharp's adaptation of ...A Glance at New York is stylistically impressive. ”
—Edinburgh Evening News
“[Axis] bristled with energy and absolutely rippled from the moment the ensemble catapulted from behind the simple red curtain. ”
—Total Theatre
“[Axis has] managed to creat one of the freshest pieces of theatre on the Fringe.. ”
—The List (Edinburgh)
“Axis Company has shaken the dust off a lowbrow stage work ... that was a hit in 1848 and injected it with a huge dose of 21st-century adrenaline. The players don’t so much perform the show as attack you with it ... it’s a visual and aural treat.”
“... eye-filling ... entertaining ... (with) its brevity ... and those surreal touches, the show resembles a miniature version of the RSC's famous 'Nicholas Nickleby'.
”
—Backstage
“Axis Company's production of 'A Glance at New York' is a remarkable experience. I'm not sure that I've ever seen any work of theatre this Brechtian and this postmodernly deconstructionist accomplish its artistic goals so effectively.”
—Martin Denton, NYTheatre.com
“... a spellbinding 50-minute theatrical tour ... a must-see for anyone who enjoys wildly imaginative ensemble work ... combined with the superb, sumptuously ragged costumes by Lee Harper and Matthew Simonelli, the company cracks open a window into a now distant New York era ... Sharp builds her bridge to the past not with the typical naturalistic theater devices but with a sprawling surrealism, rambunctious as the city itself.”
—Gothamist
