"THE ATMOSPHERE IS ELECTRIC' at an AWoW SHOWCASE

 “The atmosphere is electric; it encourages creativity, imagination, and very importantly, friendship and discussion between like minds amongst the audience and the performers. Everybody is welcome at Artist’s Without Walls.” Eimear O’Connor, Ireland, author, Sean Keating: Art, Politics and Building the Irish Nation.

 

Here are a few of the great moments from AWoW’s 10/22/14 Showcase:

  

Ron Vazzano
Ron Vazzano

Ron Vazzano performed a monologue entitled “Ten Totems of Obsolescence in Passing,” adapted from an essay he had posted online in his monthly “Muse-Letter.” This stunning piece, that ran the full gamut of emotions— from pathos to joy— captivated the audience.  A highlight, was his bemoaning the fact that the 100 Watt bulb had now been replaced by a new squiggly fluorescent one, which he suddenly produced from his jacket pocket with an existential bewailing:  “A light bulb that will outlive me!”

 

Sana Musasama
Sana Musasama

 

 

Ceramic artist Sana Musasama began her compelling performance, which included a filmed photo-journey of her art and travels, stating that as a world traveler she seeks out the comfort and protection of women in traditional cultures. She visits markets that are dominated by women who invite her into their lives, guide her and teach her; they feed her passion.  Describing her mission, Sana said, “Heart first…you touch lives and you are touched by life.” A riveting presentation. 

 

 

Noah Hoffeld, Dan Yurkofsky and Melissa Sytlianou
Noah Hoffeld, Dan Yurkofsky and Melissa Sytlianou

 

Dan Yurkofsky, Noah Hoffeld,and Melissa Stylianou  performed “Wyoming” and “MIddle of the Road”, songs from Hoverhill, Dan’s recently released album of his original songs. “Wyoming” featured Melissa’s gorgeous singing voice and Noah’s superb cello playing.  Both songs displayed Dan’s evocative composing and lyric writing style. Hoverhill is available for purchase on CD Baby and Amazon.

 

Laurie Lewis, Mike Visceglia and Liz Queler
Laurie Lewis, Mike Visceglia and Liz Queler

 

Liz Queler and Laurie Lewis, were joined by musicians Mike Visceglia, Seth Farber and Robin Daniels in a piece written expressively for their AWoW performance called “The Owl and the Pussycat. Here are few of the audience’s comments:

 

“Everything about it was perfection—the contrast between the nursery rhyme and your narrative, the beauty of the underlying melody, Robin’s eerie percussive touches, it all coalesced into an incredibly moving and emotive piece of art.”

 

“Wow.  That was wonderful.  It came together beautifully and moved me to shiny tears.  I expected the piece to be poignant, but the joy and hope came from the performance.”

 

“I just loved the piece – as lulling as a lullaby but oh so subtly becomes an adult odyssey, daydream, night mare….”

 

Idan Morim
Idan Morim

Israeli born Jazz guitarist Idan Morin said, “My playing is based off of jazz, but is influenced by rock, classical and world music. The music that I write tends to be very melodic, cinematic at times.” Idan began his set playing an improvised intro to an old jazz standard called “My Ideal,” followed by the actual tune. He followed with two originals, the first called “Mental Comp” and the second “Movement.” Idan is clearly staking out his own territory with his technical brilliance and melodic sound. 

 

 

 

Richard Deane
Richard Deane

 

Richard Deane read a scene from his novel in progress “When Yesterday Comes.” In this scene Richard invites us into the private retrospection of a young woman reflecting upon the psychological abandonment and abuse that haunted her childhood. Elle Hatcher’s survival comes at the cost of her innocence and portends consequences that will affect not only her own life but those of her younger sisters. Richard’s words evoke a universal poignancy meant to scratch below the surface of our sympathetic responses to life’s tragic disappointments.

 

Warren Malone and his son Gibson lit up the theatre with three inspired tunes. Warren began with one of his own works, a soulful tune called “Ash and Smoke,” then was joined by his son Gibson on piano for “Good Golly Miss Molly” and “Mean Woman Blues.” Have a listen below.

 

 

Artists Without Walls next Showcase will be at The Cell Theatre on November 25th. For more information contact info@artistswithoutwalls.com 

 

Photos by Vera Hoar.

PHOTOS from the ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS' SHOWCASE at THE CELL, OCT 22, 2014

Vera Hoar’s photos from the Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at The Cell Theatre, October 22, 2014. The names of the photographed appear above each photo. 

 

Ron Vazzano

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Laurie Lewis, Mike Visceglia and Liz Queler

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Gibson and Warren Malone

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Noah Hoffeld, Dan Yurkofsky and Melissa Stylianou

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Sana Musasama

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Richard Deane

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Idan Morin

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Steve Silver and David Sharp

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STELLAR LINEUP for ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS' SHOWCASE at THE CELL, WED, OCT 22, 7pm

 

“Artists Without Walls allows the various artists to bring things they ‘make’ to The Cell, to share with others.  Sharing my neon animations last night was a real honor. To have been able to offer the crowd a touch of fun and joy is the icing on the cake for an artist.” Jack Feldstein, animator and scriptwriter, after a recent AWoW Showcase. 

 

And they’ll be more of the same on Wednesday, October 22nd, 7pm at The Cell Theatre, 338 W23rd Street, NYC.

 

Ron Vazzano
Ron Vazzano

Ron Vazzano is a writer and poet, and his monthly on line “Muse-Letter” (a mix of essays, reviews, poems, quotes, wordplay etc) just reached its tenth anniversary this month. Ron’s essays have been posted on the Artists Without Walls’ website and he’s also read his poetry on a number of occasions at Showcases over the past year. In a former life, he spent some years as an actor appearing in theatrical productions in New York City as well as on the road. Ron will be working in both capacities on Wednesday, doing a character monologue that he has adapted from an essay appearing on his website this month, entitled: “Ten Totems of Obsolescence in Passing.”

 

 

Laurie Lewis
Laurie Lewis

Laurie Lewis is a nationally and internationally acclaimed composer/producer/owner of Incommon Music, an original music production company, established in 1990. Incommon Music has produced hundred of scores and songs for film, commercials and multi media installations. Joining Laurie will be Liz Queler who is a touring and recording artist. Liz’s first theater piece ‘Still Will be

Liz Queler
Liz Queler

Heard’ was recently commissioned and produced by Montclair State University to rave reviews. AWoW is delighted to reunite Laurie and Liz – a songwriting and production team that began 25 years ago. They’ve developed a piece called “The Owl and the Pussycat” specifically for Wednesday’s performance.

 

 

 

Sana Musasama
Sana Musasama

 

World traveler, humanitarian and ceramic artist Sana Musasama will be joining us once again this Wednesday to discuss her efforts on behalf of abused young girls around the world and her work, which as she says, “Is about an experience that triggers an emotion, sometimes of a place or a time.” She then submerges herself with information that informs these ideas and concepts. “When I feel this overwhelming presence I poetically call my extra heart beat. I then pick up my clay and begin to build.” If you missed Sana when she visited us six months ago here’s another chance to meet this very compelling woman.

 

 

Warren Malone
Warren Malone

Singer/songwriter Warren Malone loves to sing, write songs and play guitar.  “I love traditional folk music as much as I love a great pop song. The first record I ever put on was a Hank Williams’ record when I was four years old. As a kid I loved Elvis.” Joining Warren on the piano for some old time rock ‘n’roll will be his son Gibson Malone. If you haven’t heard these two play together you’re in for a treat

 

 

 

Richard Deane
Richard Deane

Richard Deane will be reading a scene from his novel-in-progress, “When Yesterday Comes.” At a reading earlier in the year Richard read a scene that poignantly explores the existential conflict between a cabdriver’s skittish trepidations and the allurement of his prurient desires as he drives two menacing street pimps uptown to Harlem on Christmas Day. We’re looking forward to another excellent passage from Richard’s work.

 

Dan Yurkofsky
Dan Yurkofsky

 

Singer/composer Dan Yurkofsky will present two songs from his recently released CD “Hoverhill. “Although he now resides in New York City, many of the songs on the record are inspired by life in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he lived for several years. He’ll be joined by two of the outstanding musicians that play on the album: cellist Noah Hoffeld and singer Melissa Stylianou.

 

Idan Morim
Idan Morim

 

Idan Morin, a guitarist who hails from Israel and studied at the Tel Aviv Conservatory of Music and more recently at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary music in NYC, grew up studying the giants of jazz and musicians from all over the world. His ability to communicate without words is cleary present in his music and Improvisation.

 

Hope to see you at The Cell this Wednesday.