Theaterlab Presents Round the Block: Celebrating Arts and Community in the Garment District
When: Sat., Aug. 27, 2022 at 3:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Saturday, August 27
Tours depart from ART NY building at 520 8th Ave at 3:00 pm, 3:30 pm, 4:00 pm, and 4:30 pm.
Now in its fourth season, Theaterlab’s Round The Block! Celebrating Arts and Community in the Garment District is a promenade-style performance connecting all the creative people in the neighborhood – businesses, community organizations, garment workers, visual artists, and theatermakers. This season, our walking tour is focusing on enlivening the five senses, by highlighting different artistries that awaken our ears, taste, smell, and more. Walking down 36th Street, the guides will show our guests hidden treasures of the neighborhood and discuss its reach and mostly unknown history, The tours, led by our artistic guides – some returning, some new – will depart every 30 minutes, and last about 45 minutes each, and conclude at Theaterlab’s West 36th Street home with a mini-performance, art installation, and a snack.
Please Note: Proof of COVID-19 vaccination (with booster) and KN95 mask are required for the tour.
Guides: Claire Lebowitz, Curt Upton, and more!
Featured Artists: Orietta Crispino, Neel Ghosh, and more!
Featured locations: The Tank, International Pleating, Adaptive Design, Theaterlab, and more!
Video from May 2022 event: https://vimeo.com/73791438
Theaterlab
357 W 36th St, 3rd floor, NYC, 10018
212.929.2545 | [email protected]
THE VENUES
Theaterlab’s mission is to serve the Garment District’s diverse population of artists and audiences by producing energetic and experimental art that interrogates the nature of live performance. Under Artistic Director Orietta Crispino, it has served as a hub for experimental performing arts in our Midtown home since 2013. Its signature white box studios offer a clean and well-kept creative canvas for new work that subverts expectations and defies categorization. Theaterlab produces a number of new work programs, focused on cross-disciplinary experimentation. Among the works presented recently was the play This Beautiful Future which was New York Times’ Critic’s Pics. Recurring programming series include Hotel New Work, a short-term residency for ensemble-driven works; [im]permanence, connecting our theater to our street through live-action painting; Mothers, Myths, Monsters, presenting short works-in-progress; Voices Inside, a playwriting and theater program for incarcerated writers; Round the Block!, bringing together performance venues and business throughout the Garment District; and Celebrate the Artist, introducing New York audiences to international artists www.theaterlabnyc.com
520 8th Avenue Building is home to a number of performing arts companies including: The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, ArtsConnection, Dreamland Theater, Fault Line Theatre, Gingold Theatrical Group, Keen Company, Ma-Yi Theater Company, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, National Asian American Theatre Company, National Guild for Community Arts Education, New Georges/The Room, Origin Theatre Company, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, Playwrights Realm, Prospect Theater Company, SITI Company, Tectonic Theater Project, Transport Group Theatre Company, Working Theater.
The Tank is a non-profit arts presenter and producer. Our mission is to remove economic barriers from the creation of new work for artists launching their careers and experimenting within their art form, and to do so in an environment that is inclusive and accessible. We serve over 2,000 artists every year in over 800 performances, and work across all disciplines, including theater, comedy, dance, film, music, puppetry, and storytelling. The heart of our services is providing free performance space in our two-stage theater complex Manhattan, and we also offer a suite of other services such as free rehearsal space, promotional support, artist fees, and much more. We support work at all phases of development, from readings and residencies to fully produced world premieres. We keep ticket prices affordable and view our work as democratic, opening up both the creation and attendance of the arts to all. thetanknyc.org
Adaptive Design Association advances healthcare, education, and social well-being by engaging everyone—novice to expert—in building custom adaptations, discovering untapped potential, and nurturing communities that thrive with diversity. www.adaptivedesign.org
Tom’s Sons International Pleating is a high-end fashion pleating company. Since 1931, it has been a family owned fabric and textile pleating business. Their full service facility is located in the heart of New York City’s Garment District and offers all aspects of pleating services: from sample development to production. Quality is our legacy and a heritage that we work tirelessly to uphold. Full attention is always paid to even the finest detail. The family master craftspeople posses the level of artistry and unsurpassed technical design skill, that has been acquired and passed down through five generations of expertise in this industry. internationalpleating.com
ABOUT THE ARTISTS/GUIDES
Neel Ghosh (Performer) is a saxophonist and a comedian. A Bengali-American and native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, his artistic work has embodied many forms within the comedic, musical and improvisational space. Neel attended the University of Southern California and Emory University where he studied with Gary Motley, Randy Hunter, and Bob Mintzer, respectively. Neel was a member of the Thornton Jazz Orchestra and toured and taught in Colombia in the summer of 2015 as part of an educational outreach by Centro Colombo Americano. Neel is currently pursuing his Master’s degree at The New School in New York City, expanding his training even further in live looping, composition, saxophone and electronics. www.neelghosh.com
Claire Lebowitz King (Guide) is very excited to return to Theaterlab with Round The Block. Street theater is a love of hers as she performed in the streets with the People’s Puppets of Occupy Wall Street. Claire is an actor, writer and director splitting her time between NYC and the UK. She is a former member of the Living Theatre and assisted Judith Malina on The Brig. She has performed at Theaterlab before and was in Orietta’s Three Sisters Come and Go. In London she was in The Time of Our Lies directed by Che Walker and the VR experience Playing God which showed at the Cannes Film Festival. Currently her play Outside the Gate is showing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival online. Instagram: @i_d_clairez
Orietta Crispino (Guide) is the Artistic Director of Theaterlab, an actor, writer, and theatre director. Born in Italy, where she worked with the prominent Italian directors Giorgio Strehler and Massimo Castri, she later taught acting and directing there. Orietta has been living in New York for over two decades, and is passionate about the community-building about her neighbors. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab. Her most recent productions at Theaterlab were Let Me Cook For You, a collage of inherited myths and apocryphal histories, melding the intoxicating act of storytelling with the ritual of preparing food; and This Would Look Good on You, a personal journey inspired by her impressive collection of designer garments. These projects will return this September in a form of a brand-new trilogy.
Curt Upton (Guide) has been living in NYC for over 20 years, and for 17 of those, he gave food walking tours of Greenwich Village and the meatpacking area. Launching his company gives him the chance to offer better food, with smaller groups. He likes performing standup comedy and is an equity actor. www.eatnyc.tours
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