Staging Old Masters

Staging Old Masters Extended Until May 10!

Jay — Sat, 30 May 2009 16:10:18 +0000

Interviews With the Actors

Jay — Sat, 30 May 2009 15:16:23 +0000

First Looks: the Actors’ First Observations of the Old Masters

Jay — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:07:32 +0000

Staging Old Masters in the News

Jay — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:05:58 +0000

Staging Old Masters is making waves in the local press. The St. Louis American, the region’s premier African-American news, entertainment, and business paper, featured this April 22 writeup (including an interview with actor Travis D.). And Judith Newmark, theater critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, caught a show last week, interviewed actors and staff, and wrote this lovely piece.

Interview With Matthias Waschek, Director of the Pulitzer Foundation

Jay — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:40:42 +0000

This week, I sat down with Matthias Waschek, director of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, for a conversation about Staging Old Masters—the project’s relationship to the Pulitzer’s mission, the Pulitzer’s context in urban St. Louis, audience reactions to the performances, and what has surprised him about actors’ perspectives on these works of art. Enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tune in early next week for more interviews, and video of actors backstage and in performance.

Only Two Weekends Remain!

Jay — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:26:56 +0000

Only two weekends remain for Staging Old Masters: our final show is May 3, a week from Sunday. The run of performances has been a complete success so far. We’ve sold out every performance, and have drawn in diverse audiences from all over St. Louis. We hope you can join us in our final two weekends of shows!

Tickets to Staging Old Masters are free, but they’re not available in advance. Because of high demand, we’re recommending that interested audience members arrive at the Pulitzer a half hour before the first show of the day (the first show is 6:30pm on Saturdays, 1:30pm on Sundays). Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this unique theatrical collaboration.

Already Seen a Show?

Jay — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:24:12 +0000

If you’ve already come to a performance, you can stay involved with Staging Old Masters!

You can return to the Pulitzer during open hours, for a second look at the Old Masters exhibit. How have the actors’ stories, recreations, observations and dramas shaped your experience of these timeless works of art?

If you are an employer interested in seeing the resumes of the actors, or if you’d like to interview an actor for employment, you can contact Employment Connection, or e-mail Lisa Harper Chang (Staging Old Masters producer, MSW, Master of Community Engagement at the Pulitzer) at lharperchang@pulitzerarts.org. Every actor who has completed Staging Old Masters’s six-week training and run of performances has demonstrated him- or herself to be motivated, imaginative, punctual, hard-working and team-oriented.

If you’re interested in getting involved with the programs at the Pulitzer Foundation or its collaborative partners— Prison Performing Arts, Employment Connection, the Brown School of Social Work and the Performing Arts Department at Washington University—you can contact Lisa Harper Chang.

Two Actors From Staging Old Masters on Their Favorite Paintings

Jay — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 22:13:02 +0000

As part of their preparation for performances, every actor chose a favorite painting from the Old Masters exhibit at the Pulitzer. The actors’ reflections and thoughts on their paintings inspired scenes, sharpened their own observations, and stretched their perceptions of the work of the Old Masters. Two actors speak below.

Paolo Finoglia, Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, Harvard Art Museum, Fogg Art Museum, Gift of Samuel H. Kress Foundation, 1962.163, Photo by Rick Stafford, President and Fellows of Harvard College

I just respect Joseph for fighting the urge, you know? For him being such a desirable man, and not succumbing to every woman who comes his way—that’s real hard for men. And I respect him on that.

Reuben S., on Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

Giambattista Tiepolo, Italian, 1696-1770, The Crucifixion, 1745-50, oil on canvas, Saint Louis Art Museum

The people in the crowd… how did they sleep at night? After their conscience kicked in about what they’d just witnessed?

Naheem H., on The Crucifixion

Interview With Director Agnes Wilcox, Part 2

Jay — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:52:59 +0000

Here’s the second half of an interview with Staging Old Masters director, and founder of Prison Performing Arts, Agnes Wilcox. (By the way, here’s a nifty addition: Prison Performing Arts’s 2002 production of Hamlet at Missouri Eastern Correction Center was featured in an episode of the acclaimed radio show This American Life entitled “Act V.” You can listen to it here.)

How did you get involved with working with Prison Performing Arts?

I originally came to St. Louis in the 1980s to teach. I was hired by Webster, and my husband got a teaching job here at the same time. Within two years, I worked with two other women to create The New Theater. Creating a theater company was I had always said I wanted to do, but had never done. In the mid-80s, even doing off-Broadway hits was almost too radical for St. Louis… At that time, there were three or four companies here, two of which did musicals, and the other two of us, who did (I think) the important, adventurous work of the last quarter of the 20th century. And we just couldn’t find an audience. It was glorious while it lasted, but when it was over it was very much over. When TNT could no longer pay its bills, I went to its board and said, “I’m willing to give up the company, but I’d like to continue our prison outreach program.”

And we actually got support, from MAC [Missouri Arts Council] and RAC [St. Louis Regional Arts Commission], and from individuals, and we built Prison Performing Arts. We committed ourselves to trying to serve inmates in town. We started by working at St. Louis City Juvenile Detention, the County Jail, and the City Workhouse. We later expanded to the half-way house known as St. Mary’s Honor Center, which is on the river, just north of downtown.

Now that you’re a few performances into its run, anything you like to look back on about the process of developing Staging Old Masters?

I like the way [producer] Lisa Harper Chang always talks about changing perceptions. She talks about changing audiences’ perception of the Pulitzer; changing audiences’ perceptions of ex-cons and homeless vets; changing audiences’ perception of Old Masters; and changing ex-cons’ and homeless vets’ perceptions of Old Masters and themselves. I’m glad I didn’t know that’s what she had in mind—because that’s way too big a job. [laughs]

Right—only on the other side of the line do you look back, and see how far you’ve come.

Absolutely.

Opening Night Is This Saturday!

Jay — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 05:31:02 +0000

Be there when it starts! Staging Old Masters opens this weekend, April 4 and 5, at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. Come see the short, utterly unique theatrical pieces created by the programs’ actors about the works of Old Masters which have inspired them.

The audiences for these theatrical pieces can expect storytelling and history, singing and dancing, vibrancy and passion, and swatches of culture from medieval Europe to modern-day Africa to urban St. Louis, as the students explore the works exhibited at the Pulitzer.

Shows will be held every Saturday, April 4 through May 2, at 6:30 and 7:30pm, and every Sunday, April 5 through May 3, at 1:30pm and 2:30pm. They’re free and open to everyone. Join us for an evening of theatre, art and creative exploration like nothing you’ve seen before!