For those who enjoy their performing arts
al fresco, the Celebrate Brooklyn summer performance schedule
has been an annual treat for the last 24 years.
With free admission, and a suggested contribution of $3, the
price is a steal to see veteran performers. And as for performances
by emerging artists, Celebrate Brooklyn’s low entrance fee has
made it possible for audience members to take a gamble and discover
new faces, because they literally have nothing to lose.
Co-producer Jack Walsh has labored over Celebrate Brooklyn for
the last 21 seasons, and says the summer of 2003, the festival’s
25th, promises to contain more heaping helpings of the same recipe
for success.
"We were coming off last summer’s incredibly strong program,
with a really strong lineup," Walsh told GO Brooklyn. "We
had set the bar pretty high for ourselves. We came in saying,
if we do not match the level of what we did last year, we wanted
to exceed it."
The 2002 season attracted more than 200,000 visitors to Prospect
Park and included performances by dozens of artists including
Dr. John, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis,
the Brooklyn Philharmonic, a screening of the Elvis Presley movie
"Jailhouse Rock" and new work by choreographers David
Neumann and NicholasLeichterDance – commissioned by Celebrate
Brooklyn.
Held at the Prospect Park Bandshell at Prospect Park West and
Ninth Street, this year’s festival will kick off on June 12 with
a performance by singer Joan Armatrading. The British vocalist
has been performing her blend of rock, reggae, blues and jazz
for 30 years. After an eight-year hiatus, she returned this year
with her March release "Lover’s Speak" (Denon, $16.98).
Armatrading’s concert will be preceded by a 25th birthday gala,
a benefit to raise funds for Celebrate Brooklyn. Honorees will
be Gordon Davis, former chairman of the city Parks Department,
and Fort Greene-based choreographer Mark Morris.
Walsh credits Davis with the creation of Celebrate Brooklyn in
1979.
"Davis was the Parks commissioner from 1978 to 1983, and
he was instrumental in making Celebrate Brooklyn," said
Walsh. "We’re honoring him for that initiative. Since then
he has gone on to be active in New York City’s cultural world."
The world-renowned Mark Morris Dance Group made its Celebrate
Brooklyn debut in 1985, and has performed there two additional
times. Morris opened the Mark Morris Dance Center in Fort Greene
in 2001.
"We love it, truly love it," said Barry Alterman, general
director of the Mark Morris Dance Group. "Mark gets a lot
of honors, but to be honored by an organization that we both
esteem and love is just the best. We’re hoping to perform every
year starting next year – into perpetuity!
"It’s the greatest scene – to have all of those people come
to Prospect Park and see great performers in a setting that’s
beautiful, relaxed and exciting. It’s one of the great things
that Brooklyn and New York has."
While favorite performers like the Alloy Orchestra and the Mark
Morris Dance Group return regularly, the festival is always being
tweaked. Last year, Walsh even revamped the Friends of Celebrate
Brooklyn membership program with additional perks and added new
concessionaire Two Boots.
"We were able to get through the renovation of the bandshell
in 1998-99 with extraordinarily successful seasons," said
Walsh, "resulting in the fabulous facility we have now with
enhanced production values and comfort level for the audience
and improved sightlines."
When Walsh became director of the festival in 1994, he made a
significant change in its programming philosophy.
"Rachel Charnoff, my co-producer, and I made it our mandate
at that point to focus on a slightly different program model,"
explained Walsh. "We paired a local emerging artist of highest
quality with a nationally oriented recognized artist. It took
some time to be able to afford that, but the result was to attract
larger audiences and to introduce lesser known but deserving
artists to a larger audience."
In 1996, Walsh said, he introduced the concept of live musical
accompaniment to silent films.
This summer, the Alloy Orchestra will perform the score to "The
Black Pirate," the 1926 film written by and starring Douglas
Fairbanks.
This summer’s festival is again commissioning new dance works
(by Keely Garfield and Jamel Gaines) and will see the return
of Jazz at Lincoln Center; the Brooklyn Philharmonic, with Tony
Award-winning singer Lillias White; the African Festival, featuring
Salif Keita; the Boricua Festival; and the Irish rock group the
Saw Doctors.
Walsh has been able to keep Celebrate Brooklyn afloat despite
the city’s economic highs and lows by creating corporate sponsorships,
the Friends of Celebrate Brooklyn membership program, the "Keep
it Great give $3 at the Gate" campaign and by offering benefit
concerts.
"Now I would say it’s fair to say that we’re feeling the
pinch along with everyone else," said Walsh. "We fear
what the future holds if the economy continues to drag along.
That said, we’re in pretty good shape going into this year, and
we have as full a season as we had last year."
The 25th Birthday Gala on June 12 to
benefit Celebrate Brooklyn will feature cocktails and dinner
at 5:30 pm followed by a performance by Joan Armatrading at 8
pm and post-concert party, at 9:30 pm, featuring Globesonic DJ
Collective. Tickets are $250 and up for VIP seating at the concert,
pre-concert dinner and post-concert party.
Admission to the concert is free and open to the public with
a suggested donation of $3. For the complete Celebrate Brooklyn
schedule, log on to www.brooklynx.org/celebrate.
