“Artists Without Walls creates the space—literally and figuratively—for artists of all stripes to be their best selves, to push boundaries, to experiment, to collaborate in a safe, nurturing environment.” Connie Roberts, poet and author of Little Witness.
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Singer/songwriter Terry McCarthy got the evening got off to rocking start. Performing solo for the first time at The Cell, Terry opened the show with two songs from his latest CD The Charm, and followed those with two tunes from his new EP Go Fourth. We’re looking forward to Terry’s upcoming show, Words in Music: An Artists Without Walls Presentation at The Cell Theatre, Nov 15th, which will feature a number of AWoW’s members, including Jack O’Connell, Connie Roberts, Noah Hoffeld, Liv Mammone and Cecil Hooker.
Kathleen Frazier read from her recently released memoir, SLEEPWALKER: The Mysterious Makings and Recovery of a Somnambulist accompanied by cellist and vocalist Serena Jost. Their collaboration was hauntingly beautiful and emotionally stirring. Kathleen is a Norman Mailer Fellow, member of The Actors Studio and envisions a reality show in which Serena plays alongside her day and night:) For more on her memoir visit www.kathleenfrazier.com and for more on Serena’s otherworldly music: www.serenajost.com
Maeve Price debuted a very charming performance piece based on a singing engagement at Maple Grove Cemetery. Looking splendid in her very own civil war era dress, she regaled a delighted AWoW audience with a pithy and charming true tale that included music blowing in a ghostly wind, a chat over champagne with Frederick Douglass and a cameo appearance by a local Raccoon. Clearly everything that could have gone wrong at this gig, did go wrong – but Maeve lived to tell the tale with a little singing and a dash of graveyard humor! Connie Roberts summed up Maeve’s performance perfectly, “H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S. Brilliant Maeve.”
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Jim Hawkins brought to life the wit, humor and wisdom of Frank O’Connor’s story, “My First Confession.” He built layers of humor clearly segueing through the plots of the story and the characters as they were introduced. He demonstrated his acting skills bringing to life the characters with a variety of facial expressions and vocal intonations. There were moments in Jim’s telling when the audience were in howls of laughter. Great showcase Tuesday night. Mark Donnelly commented, “Wonderful performance! And Jim even got me examining my conscience about Bad Confessions I’d made, oh so many years ago.”
Brian Carbee is a choreographer, dancer, writer & performer who began his dance career in Cambridge, and has since performed all over the world. Brian performed a scene from a play he and Sarah Carradine wrote called Perch, in which Perch answers an ad to watch over Susan while she sleeps, and arrives dressed as an owl. Of Brian’s performance, Richard Stillman said, “His sense of mimetic movement was impeccable.” Perfect description.
Flutist Sean Schulich heralded in Autumn with the opening few notes from Johnny Mercer’s “Autumn Leaves.” The audience at times was enraptured and at others hypnotized by the Sean’s fluid sounds, which were the perfect denouement to an evening filled with performance art, singer-songwriter music and theatrical scenes. Sean will be appearing at Carnegie Hall, Sunday, Nov. 1st as part of the The Phantom and the Illharmonic Orchestra.
The next Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at The Cell Theatre will be on October 27.
Photos by David Goldman.
