Posts by: sbmeyers

Jay Scheib!

I know that I had promised to post some information on Jay Scheib, who directed the American premiere of Women Dreamt Horses, so here it is!: “Jay Schieb is an American stage director noted for his contemporary productions of both classical and new plays and operas. Scheib is Associate Professor of Theater Arts at the […]

Art and/or Pornography Continued

While milling over my thoughts and feelings about Bruce LaBruce’s film Super 8 1/2, which puts the notion that pornography can be art on trial, I decided to investigate artists whose experimentations center around sex and sexuality.  Through my research, I found La Petite Mort Gallery in Ottawa, Ontario (Bruce LaBruce is also from Canada […]

Friends or Foes?: Art and Pornography

Sometimes, when I’m feeling in the mood to watch experimental video art (which actually happens), I go to ubu.com, a wonderful source for all things experimental.  Once I’m on the site, I find the directory for online video art and click on an artist’s name at random.  The other day, upon fulfilling this urge, I […]

Hookman and the Facebook Generation in Writing

This past Saturday evening, I had the pleasure of seeing Company One’s Workshop Production of Lauren Yee’s Hookman at the BCA.  I say pleasure because as I digest my experience with the play a few days later, I recognize all that I learned from watching this wonderful new play in development. This semester, I am enrolled […]

Ben Brantley on Criticism

After watching the wonderful Humana Festival panel with Ilana, I too began thinking more critically about criticism and its place in contemporary culture.  I find that when I am looking for arts and entertainment news through a critical lens, my first impulse is to checkout the NYTimes’ artsbeat blog.  I think the articles are generally […]

Trajal Harrell…Wer(q).

After having read A Critics’ Conversation: Modern Dance Madness and researched all the artists mentioned in the conversation, I have been incredibly inspired by the works of Trajal Harrell. Trajal Harrell is an American choreographer who graduated from Yale and has been working globally ever since.  What fascinates me most about this artist is the […]

Paul Taylor at the Center of American Modern Dance?

Recently, I read an article titled A Critic’s Conversation: Modern Dance Madness on the artsbeat blog.  Alastair Macaulay, a NYTimes critic, introduced a critical dialogue with his peers about the state of Modern Dance today.  In his introduction, he writes: “The recent season has prompted me to propose that Taylor stands at the center of […]

An Illiad at the New York Theatre Workshop

This Spring Break, I fortunately purchased the last ticket to a Wednesday night performance of An Illiad produced by the New York Theatre Workshop.  The production was created by Denis O’Hare, an actor you may recognize from HBO’s TrueBlood and director Lisa Peterson.  It is a one man show, performed on alternate nights by O’Hare […]

Reflections After a Workshop with Betty Buckley

This past week, a few individuals in the School of Theatre and the Opera Institute were invited to participate in a musical theatre workshop with Betty Buckley.  Many musical theatre enthusiasts will recognize that Betty Buckley originated the role of Grisabella in the Broadway production of Cats and is famous for singing “Memory.”  For more […]

More Thoughts on Writing for Film, TV and the Stage

Last night, I arrived back to NJ and while sitting by the TV with my Mom, she urged me to watch Lars and the Real Girl with her.  I agreed to watch the movie, and as it began, I thought immediately of our conversation on Friday morning.  My mom kept commenting on how much she […]

Peeping Tom from Belgium!

When put to the test to figure out what theatrical companies are resonating with me right now, my mind automatically goes to Europe (I wish mind and body always traveled together…)  More specifically, I think of one of the companies I have both worked with and seen in performance: Peeping Tom. Talk about awesome!!!  The […]

50 Faggots

After having read Sonia’s post, and while in the process of mourning the end of Execution of Justice, I am reminded of the work I did in Chicago this past summer.  For two weeks, I worked on a documentary series called 50 Faggots: How Gay Do You Want To Be Today? Here is how my […]

Dennis Cooper

When I was working with Ishmael Houston-Jones, he sent me a copy of one of his full length pieces called THEM.  The piece, which was created in 1986, explores the fears of the gay community in response to the beginnings of the AIDS Crisis through improvisational movement.  While I was watching, I suddenly saw a […]

Improvisation in Performance

Over my Winter Break, I spent a full week in Philadelphia studying Movement Improvisation in Performance.  Included in this work was Contact Improvisation and Authentic Movement.  As a performer, it was one of the most liberating experiences I’ve had in a while. I don’t want to talk about CI too much, but just to give […]

Marlon Riggs

Has anyone, besides me, heard of the wonderful filmmaker and poet Marlon Riggs?  I hadn’t until today, when I came upon his film, Tongues Untied, on ubuweb (which is an unbelievable source for films, sounds, essays and information on artists and the arts). In this film, Marlon Riggs and his friends investigate their feelings surrounding […]

Salo, a film you may…or may not want to watch.

When studying the Marina Abramovic controversy with Yvonne Rainer, there were several allusions to Pier Paolo Pasolini’s film Salo or The 120 Days of Sodomy.  Having seen Pasolini’s “Medea” and “Oedipo Re,” I thought it would be worth watching this film that inspired Abramovic’s work.  Reading a bit about it, it was described as one […]

Todd Haynes’ “Poison” (Watch it!)

Some of you may have already caught on that I am a huge film buff.  My favorite films are independent and experimental, portraying life as the artist sees and experiences it.  I also find myself especially moved by pictures made by queer filmmakers.  One film that I’ve recently watched for the second time is Poison. I […]

Connecting the Dots: Yvonne Rainer in response to Marina Abramovic

For those of your who read my last post, I talked about the incredible work of Serbian, New York-based performance artist Marina Abramovic.  I felt a need to discuss her and her work after the fun website source I talked about earlier, Visual Therapy, posted photographs and information about a gala Marina artistically directed at […]

Marina Abromovic is present…

Marina Abramovic has been calling out to me this week, and I have only touched the surface of a deep, rich pool of art and creation. A New-York based Serbian artist, Marina Abramovic has been making work since the 1970’s. Since the beginning, her work has explored the relationship between performer and audience, the limits […]

Mabou Mines’ “A Doll’s House”

I found Mabou Mines’ production of Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” visually stunning, hilarious and horrific. What I am most interested in exploring is how the production fits into the “avant garde” canon. What makes this production avant garde? Well…it’s cutting edge in it’s representation of a “classic.” What makes it cutting edge then? The fact […]