Urban Agenda New York City

URBAN AGENDA: NEW YORK CITY

Jonathan Adler

M AY

Q&A with

Breakfast at Tiffany’s: Audrey Hepburn // Accessible Design Lee Strasberg and The Actors Studio // Chelsea Galleries $5.99 URBANAGENDAMAGAZINE.COM

E X T R A O R D I N A RY A RT

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A N E X T R A O R D I N A RY

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E X T R A O R D I N A RY H O M E S

C O L L A B O R AT I O N

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ART SCENE

CONTENTS

6

20

Q&A with Jonathan Ad ler 6

Accessible Design

BY LIN DA A RN TZEN IU S

12

26

Breakfast at Tiffany’s: Audrey Hepburn as Independent Woman

BY LIN DA A RN TZEN IU S

20

Lee Strasberg and The Actors Studio

BY DILSHA N IE P ERERA

26

Day Trip: Chelsea Galleries

BY ILEN E DU B E

42

42

Five New Theaters

BY INGRID W. REED

48

This Cook’s Journal: Dining and the Theater

BY PAU L GRIMES

48

56

C alendar 10 Acting Ag ents, Ag encies and M anag ers in N YC 24

C ountdown to S u mme r: Top Five De s ti na ti ons !

32 Day in the Ha mp tons 38 N ig ht i n AC 40

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

MAY 201 3

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DiStiNctive SelectioNS of DiStiNctive SelectioNS of iNSpiriNg cuStom WooDS, fiNiSHeS aND StyleS WooDS, fiNiSHeS aND StyleS DiStiNctive SelectioNS of WooDS, fiNiSHeS aND StyleS iNSpiriNg cuStom DeSigNS proJect maNagem iNSpiriNg cuStom DeSigNS from coNcept to proJect maNagemeNt iNSpiriNg cuStom DeSigNS proJect maNagemeNt from coNcept to completioN from coNcept to completioN may 2013 proJect maNagemeNt from coNcept to completioN

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Lynn Adams Smith CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jorge Naranjo ART DIRECTOR Jeffrey Edward Tryon GRAPHIC DESIGNER Matthew DiFalco CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Linda Arntzenius Dilshanie Perera Ingrid W. Reed Ilene Dube Paul Grimes Gina Hookey Taylor Smith ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Robin Broomer SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Jennifer McLaughlin ACCOUNT MANAGERS Lindsey Melenick Bozena Bannett Sophia Kokkinos Kristin McGeeney ADVERTISING ASSISTANTS Jennifer Covill OPERATIONS MANAGER Melissa Bilyeu URBAN AGENDA: NEW YORK CITY Witherspoon Media Group 305 Witherspoon Street Princeton, NJ 08542 P: 609.924.5400 F: 609.924.8818 urbanagendamagazine.com

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Advertising opportunities: 609.924.5400 Media Kit available on urbanagendamagazine.com

DiStiNctive 48 West Broad Street • SelectioNS Hopewell, NJ 08525of • of p: 609.466.1445 • f: 609.466.1499 • tobiasdesignll DiStiNctive SelectioNS of DiStiNctive SelectioNS of DiStiNctive SelectioNS DiStiNctive SelectioNS of WooDS, fiNiSHeS aND StyleS WooDS, fiNiSHeS aND StyleS WooDS, fiNiSHeS aND StyleS WooDS, fiNiSHeS aND StyleS WooDS, fiNiSHeS aND StyleS iNSpiriNg cuStom DeSigNS iNSpiriNg cuStom DeSigNS iNSpiriNg cuStom DeSigNS iNSpiriNg cuStom DeSigNS iNSpiriNg cuStom DeSigNS

Subscription information: 609.924.5400 Editorial suggestions: editor@witherspoonmediagroup.com

proJect maNagemeNt proJect maNagemeNt proJect maNagemeNt proJect maNagemeNt proJect maNagemeNt from coNcept to completioN from coNcept to completioN from coNcept to completioN from coNcept to completioN 48 West Broad Street •coNcept Hopewell, NJ 08525 • p: 609.466.1445 • f: 609.466.1499 from to completioN

• tobiasdesignllc.com

48 West Broad Street • Hopewell, NJ 08525 • p: 609.466.1445 • f: 609.466.1499 • tob

Urban agenda: New york City is published 6 times a year ewell, NJ 08525 • p: 609.466.1445 • f: 609.466.1499 • tobiasdesignllc.com with a circulation of 50,000. all rights reserved. Nothing herein may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher. To purchase PDF files 445 • f: 609.466.1499 • tobiasdesignllc.com or reprints, please call 609.924.5400 or e-mail melissa.bilyeu@witherspoonmediagroup.com.

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

may 201 3

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PRESENTED BY

TO BENEFIT The

Breast Cancer

Research

Foundation

速

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

may 201 3

JONATHAN ADLER Jonathan Adler is an internationally recognized designer, best known for his fashionable products for the home and as the author of four books on the “Happy Chic” philosophy. His growing empire encompasses over 20 stores, a thriving e-commerce site, and a wholesale business with over 1,000 locations. The signature Adler aesthetic is influenced by Mid-century modern style, art, and pop culture. His products are whimsical, elegant, and fun to own.

UA: Your big break came in 1994 with an order from Barneys New York, then the orders poured in. How has your aesthetic evolved since then?

UA:What designers from the past have you been most inspired by?

images courtesy of shutterstock.com

JA: Today, as then, I want everything I make to add style, craft, and joy to your life. My aesthetic may evolve as I expand into other categories but it always keeps the same spirit of irreverent luxury.

JA: My holy trinity is Bonnie Cashin, David Hicks, and Alexander Girard.

UA: What is the difference between designing a piece of pottery and other products?

JA: Everything I make starts in the pottery studio—it’s where I work out all my ideas. When I design I am problem solving, not just creating a beautiful object. Whatever I make has to work, so there is always a set of welcome restrictions when designing.

UA:.What advice would you give a passionate artist who also aspires to be financially successful?

JA: My entire career has been an improbable adventure. When I started, I was the most scatterbrained, impractical, carefree craftsperson ever to walk the face of the earth and somehow I managed to make it. If I did it, you can too. may 201 3

URBAN AGENDA New York City

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UA:Over the years, which of your pottery pieces have been the most popular?

JA: I love the faces on my Dora Maar. They’re blank and compelling at the same time and they look like they’re just supposed to be there.

Owls have been popular since they appeared in the Menagerie Collection around 2003. As a designer, I love to interpret owls.

They’re great because Mother Nature has already done the design work—she made owls just a couple of giant eyes with a head that goes anywhere you want it.

UA:What color palette and other trends for the home are you most drawn to this spring?

JA: The color combo of grey and orange and white is making my chakras tingle right now. And I love the return of brass as the finish du jour. Brass is like jewelry for the home and it just gets better and better as it patinas.

UA:What activities do you enjoy in NYC when you’re not working?

JA: New York is the best city in the world. When you’re here the best people, food, and culture surround you. I like walks with my pooch Liberace and dinners with my hubby Simon.

UA:What new projects are on the horizon for you?

JA: More stores, more products, more, more, more.

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

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YOUR TABLES ARE READY.

may

calendar highlights

Mon, May

6

Tues, May

The NYU Jazz Orchestra plays at the Blue Note.

Tues, May

7

Kips Bay Decorator Show House at the Sharp Townhouse features the work of the nation’s most successful interior designers, architects, and landscape artists (through Tuesday, June 4).

Molo, ICFF New York Installation.

5/21

14

Sun, May

19

Queens Taste Food Festival at Citi Field’s Caesars Club. Over 50 food vendors from the Queens borough will be on hand. There will also be wine and coffee vendors.

BAM presents Dance Africa, an African dance festival with opening night performances by the a capella group Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Folk rock group Iron & Wine perform at the Beacon Theatre.

Mon, May

Wed, May

Ann Liguori Foundation Charity Golf Classic on the Bridge Golf Course in Bridgehampton.

15

The 17th Annual Nantucket Wine Festival. This weekend event includes wine tastings, private dinners, and the Harbor Gala (through Sunday, May 19).

Thurs, May

20

16

The 2013 Jacob’s Cure Dream Big Gala will take place at Pier 60. Join hundreds of guests in a benefit aimed at trying to find a cure for Canavan, a fatal genetic brain disease.

Tues, May

21

Public Day at the 25th annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

The Lincoln Center Business Council hosts its third annual spring event at the Lincoln Center. Join fellow art enthusiasts for a night of cocktails, hors d’ouevres, and jazz music.

Tues, May

28

Start of Public Theater’s free Shakespeare in the Park Festival, which runs through the end of August. One of New York City’s most beloved traditions, this year’s Festival includes performances of “The Comedy of Errors” and “Love Labour’s Lost, A New Musical.”

Fri, May

31

The spirit of Allen Ginsberg lives on at the annual Howl! Festival in the East Village (through Sunday, June 2).

6/17

6/9

ongoing

Fri, May Maserati of Manhattan teams up with KTCHN Restaurant to host a culinary event to benefit amfAR, a nonprofit dedicated to funding AIDS and HIV research. The event will be held at the Maserati of Manhattan showroom.

Thurs, May

9

Rockefeller University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne hosts the 16th Annual Women & Science Lecture and Luncheon. The lecture event at Rockefeller University will feature Rockefeller professor, Dr. Cori Bargman.

Sat, May

11

2013 Family Overnight Safari at the Bronx Zoo.

10

URBAN AGENDA New York City

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The Manhattan Cocktail Classic.

An annual celebration of Manhattan’s cocktail culture held at the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (through Tuesday, May 21).

The Philadelphia Orchestra performs Mysteries of the Macabre at Carnegie Hall.

Sat, May

18

The 40th Annual Ninth Avenue International Food Festival (through Sunday, May 19).

River to River Festival in Lower Manhattan featuring free indoor and outdoor film, theater, and dance performances (through August).

The Brooklyn Half Marathon sponsored by the New York Road Runner’s Club.

Sat, June Thurs, May

23

Those Navy men and women are back in town for Fleet Week.

During the event, which runs through Thursday, May 30, civilians can visit the docked ships in city harbor, watch military demonstrations, and listen to musical performances.

Sat, May

25

Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit at Washington Square Park. More than 100 artists and artisans exhibit their wares. New York artists Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning once exhibited their paintings here (through Sunday, September 8).

may 201 3

1

The Newport International Polo Series kicks-off its 2013 season in Newport, RI. This summer tradition features teams from around the world and from major US cities. Matches take place every Saturday, from June through early September.

Mon, June

3

The Alzheimer Association’s New York City Chapter hosts its annual Forget-Me-Not-Gala, An Evening to End Alzheimer’s at The Pierre.

Wed, June

5

Celebrate Brooklyn! 35th Opening Night Gala and Concert with Patty Griffin at Prospect Park.

Fri, June

7

The Governors Ball three-day musical festival descends on Randalls Island Park. This year’s performers include Fiona Apple, Beck, Modest Mouse, Passion Pit, and many more.

Sun, June

9

Listen to the salsa music blare and watch the colorful floats head down Fifth Avenue at the National Puerto Rican Day Parade.

Experience a meld of Jewish and Chinese culture at the Egg Rolls and Egg Creams Festival at the Museum of Eldridge Street.

This Lower East Side block party celebrates the blended Jewish and Chinese communities that call this neighborhood home.

Mon, June

17

Folk-rock icon Joan Baez performs a free concert in Central Park.

Sat, June

22

Glitter-covered revelers and aquatically-themed floats fill Surf Avenue for the Coney Island Mermaid Parade.

Sun, June

Theatre Performances:

“PUNK: Chaos to Couture”; The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Matilda: The Musical; Shubert Theatre

Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit; Washington Square Park

Once; Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre

Lower East Side Festival of the Arts; Theater for the New City “The Butterfly Conservatory;” American Museum of Natural History (through May 28) “Sleeping Eros;” Metropolitan Museum of Art

23

The first-ever Holiday House Hamptons sponsored by Holiday House NYC. Tour the interiors of luxury residences in Bridgehampton, NY, open to the public until July 21.

Thurs, July

Art Exhibits:

25

Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival (runs through Sunday, July 28).

6/11

Ellsworth Kelly: Chatham Series at the MoMA (through September 8) “Kandinsky: 1911-1913;” Guggenheim “The Sau-Wing Lam Collection of Rare Italian Stringed Instruments;” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Flight of the Butterflies IMAX Film; American Museum of Natural History (through July 7) London Street Photography with “City Scenes: Highlights of New York Street Photography;” Museum of the City of New York “Picturing Science: Museum Scientists and Imaging Technologies;” American Museum of Natural History The New York Historical Society reopens after a three-year renovation

The Assembled Parties; Samuel J. Friedman Theatre Pippin; Music Box Theatre Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike; John Golden Theater Kinky Boots; Al Hirschfeld Theatre Rock of Ages; Helen Hayes Theatre Macbeth; Ethel Barrymore Theatre Nice Work If You Can Get It; Imperial Theatre Lucky Guy; Broadhurst Theatre The Last Five Years; Second Stage Theatre Motown: The Musical; LuntFontanne Theatre The Nance; Lyceum Theatre The Testament of Mary; Walter Kerr Theatre The Trip to Bountiful; Stephen Sondheim Theatre Here Lies Love; Public Theater I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers; Booth Theatre Julius Caesar; BAM Harvey Theater

“Activists of New York;” Museum of the City of New York

Tues, June

11

A 23-block stretch of Fifth Avenue becomes a car free promenade when the city’s most prestigious art institutions host Museum Mile Festival. Museums like the Guggenheim, the Met, and the Museum of the City of New York open their doors to the public free of charge for three hours.

Start of the City Parks Foundation’s 2013 SummerStage Festival. All summer-long, SummerStage brings free art, theater, and music performances to Central Park.

ONGOING

ONGOING

Vasily Kandinsky, Improvisation 28 MAY 201 3

URBAN AGENDA New York City

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

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ACCESSIBLE DESIGN it’s no longer trade only {BY LINDA ARNTZENIUS}

A

ccess to designer home furnishings used to be a Trade Only affair, with highend showrooms closed to the public and open only to those in the design trades. No more. Although most showrooms still prefer to work with professionals rather than consumers, an increasing number will work directly with members of the public, or offer design services that facilitate their projects. Since the choices are staggering, however, the services that only a design professional can provide might turn out to be a boon.

Whether you are working with a designer or going it alone, chances are you’ll find what you’re looking for at the Architects & Designers Building or the New York Design Center. And if these don’t sate your appetite for innovative ideas, there’s Public Day at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, which celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year.

Opposite page, clockwise from left: Pelle, X-Tall Bubble Chandeliers; Mary Wallis, Neon Mobile; Ercol, Renaissance Three-Seater Sofa; Opiary, Totem.

Above: Caste, Bridger Cast Bronz Tables.

URBAN AGENDA New York City

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Top: The A&D Building at 150 E. 58th Street.

Bottom: Holly Hunt Barbarella Bench.

A

rchitects & Designers Building of New York (A&D) Known simply as the A&D Building, the Architects & Designers Building on East 58th Street, near Lexington Avenue, boasts 35 of the best luxury showrooms in town with 12 floors and 200,000 square feet devoted to everything you could possibly need for office and home: appliances, kitchen and bath, tile and stone.

With the motto “Walk Right In,” the building is open to both the general public and the design trades. Pick up a directory at the door so as to better focus on what you are looking for. This isn’t IKEA. Get lost here and you might never be seen again.

Some of the showrooms, like Holly Hunt on the second floor, will want you to work with a designer, others will work directly with you. Inside Holly Hunt, a trio of tiny bronze tables offers a flavor of what you’ll discover: lots of fun items such as a small stool/table (pictured below) with what looks like a five-buttoned, upholstered pillow on top until you see that the cushion is imbedded in a clear Lucite-style polymer. Holly Hunt bursts with ideas to spur your own invention. www.hollyhunt.com.

Brown Jordan, which has a large space filled with high-end outdoor metal and mesh furnishings that might well be brought indoors, will also want you to have a designer and is a good place to snag discounted floor models. www.brownjordan.com.

For bath or kitchen fixtures, Davis & Warshow serves up elegance in rows of gleaming white porcelain. Who knew shopping for plumbing could be so enthralling. Here are bathing options fit for the Queen of the Nile. www.daviswarshow.com.

Step into the Exquisite Surfaces showroom and you’re in Tuscany. Owner Alexis Nataf specializes in antique materials as well as new materials that have been aged and distressed to convey an antique look. Here you will find stone, terra cotta, wood, and tile: rustic wide plank flooring and Tuscan tile among a range of “freeze-thaw” indoor/outdoor flooring. www.xsurfaces.com.

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

Whether you’re looking for high-tech, French Country-inspired, or clever mixes of both, Bilotta Kitchens will have you drooling.

Here you will find the carefully thought-out and beautifully detailed kitchens of Bilotta’s senior designer Rita Luisa Garcés, among others. www.bilotta.com.

The A&D Building has resources for the entire home with midrange to high-end appliances and fixtures, cabinets and counter tops, tiling and flooring, bathtubs and sinks, as well as bedding and bath linens, window treatments, decorative accents, and furniture for the living room, kitchen and home office. In addition to those mentioned above, you’ll find brands that include Poggenpohl, B&B Italia, SieMatic, Poliform, Sub Zero/Wolf, GE Monogram, Miele, SieMatic, Artistic Tile, Paris Ceramics, and more.

“The advantage of the A&D Building is that it contains everything from appliances to flooring, so it’s one stop shopping,” says Linda Foa, the building’s marketing director. “We are the only design center that is open directly to the public, just walk right in.”

A small café at the back on the building on the first floor has a nice fresh menu breakfast, lunch sandwiches, and coffee.

The A&D Building is located at 150 East 58th Street, New York, NY 10155, near Lexington Avenue. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM. For more information, call 212-644-2766, or visit: www.adbuilding.com. www.adbuilding.co

MAY 201 3

Clockwise from left: Carlo Aiello, Parabola Chair; Grain, Chi-Chi Multi-Strand Necklace; Bensen, Lotus Chair; Molo, Softblock Modular System.

MAY 201 3

URBAN AGENDA New York City

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

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Opposite: Grain, Cafe America Folding Chair; Poliform Kitchen.

New York Design Center (NYDC) Although it is ostensibly, a “Trade Only” building, members of the public are welcome to browse the New York Design Center’s 16 floors and 500,000 square feet of designer heaven with an antique mall on the 10th floor that is an Aladdin’s treasure trove.

Just register with the concierge in the entrance hall and take a copy of the helpful directory provided.

Be sure to refer to the directory before you even think of wandering at will. Here you’ll find classic and contemporary as well as cutting-edge designs housed in an historic Lexington Avenue building that dates to 1926 and was originally the New York Furniture Exchange. Buyers for furniture and department stores came here until the seventies when interior design came into its own and the building became the New York Design Center in 1981.

Browse to your heart’s content but remember again that not every showroom sells directly to the public. Hickory Chair Furniture Co., with everything from sofas to lamps to wall art, for instance, sells only to designers. But here’s the good news: the building always has a designer on call through a new program started just last year: Access to Design. So, if you fall in love with a high wing back chair, you can take it home with the help of a professional designer to facilitate the sale (for a fee).

“We get people coming off the street to browse the showroom all the time,” says Janet Henderson of Hickory Chair Furniture Co. “I tell them ‘I can’t sell to you,’ but the ‘Access to Design Program,’ can help you out with any purchase.” www.hickorychairpearson. com.

The Access to Design program runs out of an office in suite 424 where you can browse designer portfolios and find a skilled professional for your project no matter how big or small, and whatever your preferred style, budget, and timeframe. The program provides insight into the design process and a design services manager can liaise between consumer and designers until one is hired.

Whatever you’re looking for, it’s here: antique rugs, lighting, furniture. A small selection of companies yields but a tantalizing scent of the feast for the senses inside the Center: Renaissance Carpet & Tapestries; Saladino Furniture; Weinberg Modern; Good Design; Julian Chichester; Metropolitan Lighting Fixture Co.; Orrefors Kosta Boda . . . .

Don’t miss 1stDibs on the Tenth floor, which offers a change of pace from the designer showrooms as well as a central gallery with an exhibit of posters commissioned for the Lincoln Center by philanthropist and patron of the arts, Vera List. First opened in 2011, the 1stDibs collection has grown considerably since then.

It’s a collection of antique dealers showing their wares in a malllike setting. Here you can buy direct from the vendor. One visitor described it as “the East Side on steroids.” for the amount of unique and vintage items on display, everything from a 19th century Venetian bookcase to Victorian silver and Art Deco candelabra, a pair of Swedish Gustavian stools or a pair of leather lions, crystal sconces, busts of Roman gods and emperors, artwork, rugs and textiles from across the globe . . . well, you get the idea. Here are 60 fine arts and 20th century vintage dealers. www.1stdibs.com.

The New York Design Center has something for everyone. The informative directory includes information and a map on eateries in the area.

The New York Design Center is located at 200 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY10016, between 32nd and 33rd Streets.

Hours are Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM. (some showrooms are open on Saturday, 10AM to 5PM) Closed Monday, May 27. For more information, call 212.679.9500, email: info@nydc.com; or visit: www.nydc.com. For more on 1stDibs, call 646.293.6633, or visit: www.1stdibs.com. For more about the Access to Design program (open Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM), call 212.679.9500 x19, or email accesstodesign@nydc.com.

International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) For unprecedented access to designer home furnishings, go to the Public Day at this year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The four-day event takes place May 18 to May 21 and members of the public are welcomed on Tuesday, May 21.

The Fair celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and promises to be bigger than ever. There is nothing like the ICFF for showcasing design from across the globe: indoor and outdoor furniture, seating, carpet and flooring, lighting, wall coverings, accessories, textiles, and residential and commercial kitchen and bath. You name it and it’s here.

Last year, over 530 exhibitors filled the Convention Center’s 145,000 square foot space, 225 of those from outside the United States. More than 26,000 interior designers, architects, retailers took note. This year even more are expected to view Artek USA, Bernhardt Design, Brizo, Fermob, Jake Dyson LLP, molo, Rich Brilliant Willing, Tom Dixon, Vitra, among others.

The ICFF Opening Night Party at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will take place on Saturday, May 18. This year, the event celebrates “25 Years of Design, 25 Years of Ideas, 25 Years of Innovation, 25 Years of ICFF,” and launches the MoMA Design Store program “Destination: NYC-Made in the USA,” promoting designers living and working in New York City’s five boroughs.

The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center is located at 11th Avenue and 38th Street, New York City. Trade, Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19, 10AM to 5PM; Monday, May 20, 10AM to 6PM. Trade and General Public, Tuesday, May 21, 10AM to 4PM. For more information, visit: http://www.icff.com/general-information/ information.

Decoration and Design Building (DDB) Although its serves trade professionals, exclusively, it’s worth mentioning one other design building, just in case you end up working with a designer. Not too far from the A&D Building is the Decoration & Design Building, known at the DDB, at 979 Third Avenue, between 58th and 59th Streets. Here are 120 showrooms on 18 floors, a total of 570,000 square feet. Not for the faint of heart and although a directory is available there’s a charge of $20 from the concierge desk in the lobby. The directory is online, however, at www.ddbuilding.com.

Moonish, Decorative Wood Tiles.

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

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SINCE 1945

brownjordan.com

urban books/movies

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

may 201 3

Breakfast at tiffany’s

Audrey Hepburn as Independent Woman {by LIndA ArntzenIus}

M

anhattan never looked so good as when Audrey Hepburn in a long black Givenchy evening gown strolled languidly, paper bag in hand, along Fifth Avenue. From the moment you hear the lush melody of “Moon River,” and take in the early morning Manhattan streets you are hooked. Ms. Hepburn steps from a yellow taxi cab, walks to the window of Tiffany & Co., opens her paper bag and takes a bite of croissant. She sips her coffee from a paper cup and casually strolls on her way. Who is she? Where has she come from? And what will become of her?

Breakfast at Tiffany’s brought Truman Capote’s Miss Holiday Golightly to the screen.

Holly lives on her looks, and, it has to be said, her sex. She takes money from men—for dining and dancing, cab fare, a trip to the powder room, even for an hour’s conversation—and outwits them when they try to collect on the favor. She lives in a brownstone apartment on the Upper East Side with a no-name cat. She goes to sleep when all New York is waking up and, when she’s hit with “the mean reds,” she goes to Tiffany’s. “Calms me down right away,” she says. Nothing bad can every happen to you at Tiffany’s.

Audrey went against type to play Capote’s unlikely heroine in 1961. And yet, she brought a whole new dimension to the role: the huge sunglasses, the pearls, the diamond tiara.

The image of Hepburn as Holly, slim and elegant with hair piled high and sporting a long, long cigarette holder is one of the 20th century’s most iconic. Is it possible to imagine any other Holly?

It’s a shock to learn that Capote’s choice was not Audrey but Marilyn. Monroe and Tony Curtis, rather than Hepburn and the wholesome George Peppard, were the leads in Capote’s vision. Breakfast

at Tiffany’s would have been a different film altogether. Don’t get me wrong, who doesn’t love Marilyn. But fortunately for cinematic history, Lee Strasberg advised Monroe that playing a prostitute would not be good for her image. Monroe turned it down and went on to do The Misfits instead.

Following her brown-bag breakfast in front of Tiffany & Co., Holly reaches her apartment building where she fends off last night’s date, who’s been waiting for her, and meets a new tenant.

Paul is a young writer, played by Peppard. He learns about Holly’s eye-opening lifestyle as they chat and she dresses for her weekly visit to Sing Sing to see Sally Tomato, a mobster whose lawyer pays her $100 a week for passing on “the weather report.”

Is she a holy innocent or a streetwise dame no better than she should be? As one character in the film asks: Is she or isn’t she, a phony? Can she really be so naïve or does she simply choose to be?

As readers of Capote’s story begin to understand, everything that Holly knows has come to her from experience. It’s an odd mix of fantasy and hard-boiled fact, but it’s all hers. Holly is a young woman in search of herself, an eccentric mix of naïve waif and café society girl.

At a cocktail party, Paul finds out more about Holly’s transformation from teenage runaway to Manhattan socialite. He meets the man she has set her sights on as future husband, rich naturellement.

Holly needs money to support herself and her brother, Fred, when he gets out of the Army. One day, a stranger arrives on the scene. He’s the country vet Holly married when she wasn’t yet 14. Doc Golightly explains that Holly is really Lula Mae Barnes from Tulip, Texas and he wants her to come home. It’s Doc who returns to Texas, however. Alone.

One of the sweetest moments in the film is when Holly and Paul spend the day together, taking turns doing things they’ve never done before. They walk sunlit streets. They pinch Halloween masks from Woolworth’s. At Tiffany & Co. Paul has a ring from a box of Cracker Jack engraved for Holly. Unlike Capote’s novella, the film

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urban books/movIes has a romantic happy ending.

When Holly’s marriage plans are thwarted she settles down with a Brazilian diplomat and dreams of wealth and privilege. But her association with the incarcerated mobster nixes this plan too.

She’s arrested as Sally’s “girlfriend” and spends the night in jail. Her Brazilian leaves a note and vanishes.

The relationship between Holly and Paul, as between fact and fantasy, reaches a climax when Holly insists on going to Brazil anyway and packs to leave. In the cab to the airport, she sobs: “I’m not Holly. I’m not Lula Mae, either. I don’t know who I am! I’m like cat here, a couple of no-name slobs. We belong to nobody and nobody belongs to us. We don’t even belong to each other.”

The movie ends with Holly and Paul locked in embrace, with the cat snuggled between them.

When the movie came out, everyone talked about the cocktail party and everyone wished they’d been there, dressed to the nines. Director Blake Edwards supplied the champagne and gave his seasoned performers license to be inventive. They had a ball, according to the remembrances of those involved recorded on the DVD of the film.

Edwards hired a choreographer for this party sequence and it is as fluid as any ballet. Multiple bits of business go on simultaneously.

A phone rings and George Peppard searches and finds it in a suitcase. Holly’s cigarette sets alight a woman’s hat. No-one notices and the fire is put out when a drink is accidentally spilled. Holly’s cat, played by Orangey, a star in his own right, insinuates his way through the throng of guests as they down Martinis and Manhattans. The cocktail part is a riot of action: talking, smoking, dancing, laughing and, since all such activities are bound to end in tears, crying.

Capote did not care for the film. His Holly Golightly is most definitely a hooker, albeit one in white gloves. Audrey Hepburn could in no way be thought of as a hooker. But the film was a huge success. Henry Mancini won his first Oscar for the Breakfast at Tiffany’s score and the song “Moon River,” written with lyricist Johnny Mercer, won for Best Song. Written with Hepburn in mind, the song is delivered with a simple guitar accompaniment on the fire escape of Holly’s

apartment. As the story goes, Hepburn fought to keep this scene from being cut from the film. Her portrayal of Holly Golightly is considered her most memorable. She regarded it as one of her most challenging, since she was an introvert playing an extrovert.

Screenwriter George Axelrod (The Seven Year Itch, 1955) adapted the Oscar-nominated screenplay from Capote’s novella, which Harper’s Bazaar had refused to publish.

Before Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Edwards had directed Operation Petticoat with Tony Curtis and Cary Grant in 1959. After it, he made the dark psychological drama Days of Wine and Roses with Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick in 1962, before going back to the comedy genre with the Pink Panther series starring Peter Sellers as the inept Inspector Clouseau.

The IndependenT Woman In Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman, Sam Wasson argues that cultural touchstones such as Sex and the City owe a debt to Breakfast at Tiffany’s. His thoroughly researched book reveals the movie’s backstory and situates “the woman in the little black dress” in late 1950s America on the cusp of the era of “the pill” and feminist “braburning.”

According to Wasson: “the casting of ‘good’ Audrey in the part of ‘not-so-good’ call girl rerouted the course of women in the movies.” . . . “There was always sex in Hollywood, but before Breakfast at Tiffany’s, only the bad girls were having it” and they generally paid for their sins in the end. But in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, all of a sudden—because it was Audrey who was doing it—living alone, going out, looking fabulous, and getting a little drunk didn’t look so bad anymore. Being single actually seemed shame-free. It seemed fun.”

Here was a young woman making her own way in life, albeit touched with glamorous fantasy: a life of wild, kooky independence and sexual freedom at a time when leaving the lights on in the bedroom was seen as “unconventional.”

Golightly is the prototype for Hepburn’s later “kooks in capers” films: Charade with Cary Grant in 1963, Paris When it Sizzles with William Holden in 1964, and How to Steal a Million with Peter O’Toole in 1966.

When it came out, The New York Times called the film a “completely unbelievable but wholly captivating flight into fancy composed of unequal dollops of comedy, romance, poignancy, funny colloquialisms and Manhattan’s swankiest East Side areas captured in the loveliest of colors.”

Holly’s brownstone at 169 East 71st Street, between Lexington and Third and the places she frequented are worthy of a New York Street Tour. They include the 21 Club, still going strong at 21 West 52nd Street; El Morocco at 154 East 54th Street, long since moved, and where, incidentally, Capote danced into the night with Marilyn Monroe; The Plaza Hotel at 58th Street and Fifth Avenue; and, of course, Tiffany and Co. at 727 57th Street at Fifth Avenue.

Last year, the film was added to the U.S. National Film Registry as worthy of preservation in the Library of Congress.

CapoTe’s holly GolIGhTly If you haven’t read the book, give it a go.

Capote is a master of the short form and this is a true gem: small, hard and bright. As written, the story takes place during WWII, which lends a backdrop of desperation, especially as Holly’s brother is in the thick of it and is ultimately killed in action. The cocktail party is filled with uniforms.

Holly’s dialog for the film is plucked directly from the book, so perfectly does it convey her character. Above all else, she values freedom. She says what she wants, does what she pleases. She is, in other words, true to herself. Blake Edwards and screenwriter

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IMAGES COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

George Axelrod knew not to mess with a good thing. But there is some distance between the film and the book. Capote’s nameless narrator becomes George Peppard’s character, Paul, and on screen the story has a happy ending. In the book, there is no such neat embrace. Holly departs and is never heard from again. The cat, however, finds a safe haven in a new home.

According to Wasson, Golightly was an amalgam of Capote’s mother (Lillie Mae Faulk), Capote himself, and aspects of the glamorous women he hung out with at La Grenouille and La Côte Basque. He called them his “swans” and they included socialites Oona Chaplin, Gloria Vanderbilt, Carol Marcus, Gloria Guinness and Babe Paley.

Capote said that his inspiration was a 17-year-old European refugee who lived next door in his brownstone. Even so, he was sued for libel by Bonnie Golightly, a former Greenwich Village bookstore owner who, like Holly, lived with her cat in a brownstone on the fashionable Upper East Side. She later dropped the suit.

Casting With one glaring exception, Breakfast at Tiffany’s benefitted from expert casting. Buddy Ebsen is gentle as Holly’s hillbilly husband, Doc Golightly. George Peppard is preppy and handsome and Patricia Neal smoulders as his older, married lover, leaving her appreciation as cash on the nightstand.

The film is marred by an outrageous and ill-conceived performance by veteran actor Mickey Rooney who donned “yellow face” to portray Holly Golightly’s Japanese neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi.

Rooney, wearing thick glasses and with a mouthful of prosthetic teeth, made Japanese Americans cringe. It’s an anachronism that smacks of World War II propaganda figures and the hurt it caused in the Asian American community is recorded in commentaries that accompany today’s DVD of the film. Interviewed in 2008, Rooney said that if he’d known people would be so offended, he wouldn’t have done it. Yunioshi in the book is far from this on-screen caricature.

a touCh of tristesse According to her son Sean Ferrer, in his book Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Spirit, Hepburn was beset with sadness and self-doubt. Born in 1929, she lived through the Nazi occupation of The Netherlands as a child and vividly remembered her fear of the German troops.

“She told us about how her brothers ate dog biscuits when there was nothing else to eat . . . how the bread was green because the only flour available was made from peas. She spent the whole day in bed reading so as not to feel the hunger.”

Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirit is a intimate look at the actress’s personal life up to her untimely death from cancer in 1993, at age 63. In later years, Hepburn devoted her efforts to UNICEF and created the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund.

Other books about her include: Donald Spoto’s 2006 Enchantment, The Life of Audrey Hepburn; Diana Maychick’s 1993 Audrey Hepburn: An Intimate Portrait; as well as several devoted to her image such as Audrey 100 compiled by her family with candid snapshots, and the sumptuously-illustrated 2010 Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Official 50th Anniversary Companion with a foreword by her friend Hubert de Givenchy.

his designs in Sabrina, 1954 and Funny Face, 1957.

Hepburn inspired women to underdress rather than the opposite. To this day, “it’s so Audrey,” refers to a clean, simple yet sophisticated style.

Think of her signature polo shirt and Capris.

One of three dresses that Givenchy designed for her for Breakfast at Tiffany’s sold at a Christie’s auction in 2006 for £467,200 (about $947,000).

The “Little Black Dress” she wore at the beginning of the film is cited as one of the most iconic items of clothing in the history of the 20th century and perhaps the most famous little black dress of all time. Some version of the little black dress has become a staple of every woman’s wardrobe.

tiffany & Co

audrey as style iCon Audrey Hepburn was an unconventional beauty. She trained as a ballerina and her figure was boyish. She was the ingénue, the gamine. “Scrawny” was how some described her, flat-chested and with big feet. But, as Billy Wilder said “This girl single-handedly could make bosoms a thing of the past.” She became the muse of couturier Hubert de Givenchy, even thought when she first visited him, he thought he was about to meet Katherine rather than Audrey Hepburn and off-handedly said he didn’t have time for her. She wore

An American institution and a byword for quality, Tiffany & Co. has served the likes of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy since 1837. The Tiffany setting became de rigeur for engagement rings; a blue box tied with a white bow, the symbol of quality. Its famous canary yellow 128 carat diamond is still on display for all to see. “It’s fun to dream, that’s what Tiffany’s is all about,” wrote Hepburn in the company’s 150th anniversary book in 1987. “A thing of beauty is a joy forever, that is why the luster of the art of Tiffany remains undiminished,” she wrote. “Class doesn’t age.” How true.

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urban stage!

acting agents,agencies, and Managers in new York City

By Taylor Smith Interested in breaking into television or film? Do you have a strong desire to perform on stage? Let Urban Agenda help you find an agent to represent you and set-up those all important first auditions.

Not only do you need an agent, you need a licensed agent. Ideally, your agent should understand the “type” of roles you are looking for. Working in television is different from performing in a theater and acting in a psychological thriller is a far cry from romantic comedies.

Rather than sift through page after page of franchised agencies, Urban Agenda has researched some of the most respected talent and acting agencies in New York City. Depending on where you are in your career, some agencies may suit you better than others. For those just starting out, a smaller agency may offer more guidance and individual attention. In contrast, a larger agency may have more influential industry connections, which means that your headshot and audition tape will land on the right desk. Two good agencyworkshops in New York City are “One on One” and “Actors Access.” Actors pay to attend but each offers the chance to audition for a number of agencies and casting directors all at once. Think of it as one, big networking event.

Bon courage!

Abrams Artists Agency 275 Seventh Avenue, 26th Floor www.abramsartists.com For young people, Abrams’ Youth Division is one of the most well-connected in the industry and frequently showcases top young talent on the Disney channel and hit-TV shows like “The New Normal” and “Modern Family.”

APA 45 West 45th Street, Fourth Floor

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

www.apa-agency.com APA is unusual in believing there should be no delineation between film, television and theatre. Many APA actors and actresses move readily between these genres, which is ideal for “cross-over” performers.

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) 162 Fifth Avenue, Sixth Floor www.caa.com Headquartered in Los Angeles but with offices in New York, CAA has numerous entertainment industry clients.

Created by a group of talent agents from the William Morris Agency, CAA’s current clientele includes Harry Connick, Jr., Alanis Morissette, and Mariah Carey.

The Gersh Agency (TGA) 41 Madison Avenue www.gershagency.com This talent and literary agency was established in 1949

by Phil Gersh and maintains seven full-service departments across the film, literary, and comedic genres. The comedy division represents well-known performers like Kevin Nealon, Joel McHale, and Patton Oswalt.

ICM Talent 825 Eighth Avenue www.icmtalent.com ICM’s television department is one of the best represented in the entertainment industry with well-known actors and executive producers on “Breaking Bad,” “House,” “Sex and the City,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Friends,” and more.

IMG Worldwide 767 Fifth Avenue www.IMGWorld.com A prominent figure in the global fashion, sports, and media business, IMG represents everyone from fashion models to

actors to professional athletes.

Their television division is the largest independent producer of televised sports in the world.

UAA is located in the heart of New York City and is credited with launching the career of legendary soul singer James Brown.

Innovative Artists 235 Park Avenue South, Tenth Floor www.innovativeartists.com Innovative Artists represents a competitive set of Oscar, Emmy, and Tony award winners and is wellknown for its voice-over and commercial division, employing a diverse list of actors of all ages.

United Talent Agency (UTA) 888 Seventh Avenue, Ninth Floor www.unitedtalent.com UTA is a talent and literary agency with offices in New York and Beverly Hills. Key clients include Johnny Depp, Harrison Ford, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kirsten Dunst, and Anthony Hopkins.

One Management 42 Bond Street, Second Floor www.onemanagement.com Founded in 2002 by Scott Lipps, One Management is a hybrid branding company whose primary focus is bringing together fashion, film, music, and celebrity.

Their talent runs the gamut from Claudia Schiffer to Duran Duran.

Paradigm 360 Park Avenue South, 16th Floor www.paradigmagency.com Paradigm is a full-service entertainment agency with offices in Beverly Hills and New York City. It represents Gary Oldman, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Adrien Brody, and Laurence Fishburne.

Their musical artists include Aerosmith, Coldplay, Phish, and the Dave Matthews Band.

UAA (Universal Attractions Agency) 135 West 26th Street, 12th Floor www.universalattractions.com In business since 1949,

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Wilhelmina Models 300 Park Avenue South www.wilhelmina.com Wilhelmina Models created a separate Artists Management Division (WAM) in 1998. Their roster includes well-known entertainers from both music and film. Wilhelmina is also known for a powerhouse ability to negotiate and represent entertainers in the worlds of advertising, marketing, branding, and sponsorships.

Beyoncé, Katherine Heigl, and Jessica Lange are clients.

William Morris Endeavor (WME) 1325 Sixth Avenue www.wma.com WME is the largest and oldest global talent agency in the United States. It represents all facets of the entertainment industry, including movies, television, music, publishing, and reality television shows like “American Idol” and “America’s Next Top Model.”

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METHOD MAN

LEE STRASBERG AND THE ACTORS STUDIO

Acting is not pretending. No one would say that Al Pacino is pretending to be Michael Corleone in the Godfather trilogy. Al Pacino is Michael Corleone. It would be unthinkable to pierce the veneer of Corleone and come to an inner truth that is Pacino. On film, Pacino and Corleone are one and the same: mentally, emotionally, and physically. Lee Strasberg is credited with developing The Method, a set of training techniques whereby actors come to embody their characters, no pretending or dissembling involved. {BY DILSHANIE PERERA}

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PHOTO CREDIT LEFT PAGE: METHODACTINGSTRASBERG.COM. RIGHT PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: METHODACTINGSTRASBERG.COM, DESKARATI.COM, GODFATHER.WIKIA.COM, LOS ANGELES TIMES.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Lee Strasberg teaching; Strasberg playing Hyman Roth in Godfather II, in 1974, with Al Pacino; Strasberg In Los Angeles In 1978.

A

n autodidact given to tyrannical tendencies, Strasberg launched and bolstered the careers of Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Dustin Hoffman, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, and myriad others. If you can recall the gangster, Hyman Roth, from The Godfather Part II, then you already know his face. Strasberg is an acclaimed and controversial figure in the history of American acting.

Strasberg’s brand of method acting got actors to tap into the dark recesses of their psyches to harness affective memories and past experiences, in order to use them to produce authentic emotions onstage or onscreen. “If you’re nervous or angry about something in real life, don’t cut off those impulses, but bring them right on the stage with you,” he told his students. “Actors are first of all human beings, and actors are usually the first ones to forget that.”

It was psychoanalysis in the service of art. But instead of being laid out on the couch, actors were revealing their innermost secrets in public. One exercise to get students into the right mindset was the “private moment.” An actor would recall a mundane personal experience and recreate it onstage. It could involve smelling an aroma, brushing one’s hair, or taking a shower. This theatrical etude is inspired by Russian actor and theater director Konstantin Stanislavski, who said an actor “must learn to be private in public.”

The intention was to unblock repressed personal concerns. For Strasberg, the private moment is “God’s business, and even God doesn’t know unless he has Freud at his side.”

There was no faking it with Strasberg. His eye was always seeking out the authentic and real in a business that embodies the polar opposite of those qualities. Continually accessing unfiltered expression and sustaining it is a Sisyphean task, additionally complicated by the fact that not everyone was granted an audience with Strasberg, much less entry into his coveted classes.

THE ACTORS STUDIO As a young man living on New York’s Lower East Side in the 1920s, Strasberg had dropped out of high school and was working in a wig factory. Meanwhile, he was becoming increasingly active in the area’s emerging drama scene. He preferred the pathos of Russian actors performing out of the Moscow Art Theater (MAT) to the over-acted glitz of some other contemporary productions. Indeed, when two MAT members, Maria Ouspenskaya and Richard Boleslavsky opened their own school and theatrical company, Strasberg quickly enrolled to study with them. The duo espoused the methodology pioneered by Stanislavski, and it was there that Strasberg gained first-hand exposure to method acting and met his future collaborators.

Cut to 1931. Strasberg and his friends Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford throw open the doors of the Group Theater.

Eschewing the decadence of the Jazz Age and commercial cinema, they wanted naturalistic, visceral acting. It was a place of experimentation. They weren’t interested in producing divas or pop celebrities. They were devoted to finding new ways of harnessing a more authentic experience.

Strasberg, Clurman, and Crawford assembled a team of like-minded compatriots, among them, Elia Kazan, Stella Adler, and Robert Lewis.

Differences of opinion quickly striated the Group, but they remained friends and continued developing skills as actors and teachers, honing their own methodologies. Some of the initial members of the Group Theater—namely, Crawford, Kazan, and Lewis—opened The Actors Studio as a new kind of theater training laboratory in the spring of 1947. The institution’s first home was in a United Methodist Church on West 48th Street in Manhattan before it moved to a dance studio on East 59th Street

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LEFT: Al Pacino with Lee Strasberg at Lee's 75th birthday party, 1976.

ABOVE AND RIGHT: Besides Pacino, Strasberg also launched and bolstered the careers of Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Marilyn Monroe and many others.

and then finally landed upon a red-brick Greek Revival building and former church on West 44th Street in 1955, where it is based today.

Kazan initially took the administrative reins at the Actors Studio and in 1951 he invited Strasberg to become Artistic Director. Strasberg came in like a whirlwind, implementing new rules, foremost among them: auditions. Members would meet twice a week on Tuesday and Friday for two-hour sessions.

Strasberg would preside.

Typically, one or two actors would be onstage at a given time, with the rest seated in the audience. They would showcase something—a scene, a monologue, even a “private moment”— that they had been preparing, and the rest would offer commentary on everything from movements, vocal register, demeanor, believability, success in the overall scene, and so on.

Strasberg’s critiques were eagerly awaited. And dreaded. He could be cutting at one moment and sweet the next, sparing with praise and relentless with criticism. He would assign exercises to address weaknesses. The consensus seems to be that the process was grueling but effective.

THE METHOD “Use yourself, your past, your pain” was a constant refrain at the Actors Studio. If a troubled past allows for accessing the authentic, then Strasberg was an alchemist, turning trauma into cinematic and theatrical gold. Actors wouldn’t necessarily have to be distressed to be effective, but Strasberg did develop sensory and emotional exercises akin to the “private moment” to allow for an unfettered access to the characters the actors became onstage. This was all in the service of “unblocking the instrument” or allowing the body, mind, and voice to take on the qualities of another character while letting go of unconscious fears that may

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be repressed.

Like a piano player practicing scales, actors would engage their affective memories by recalling a favorite object from childhood and interacting with it onstage. Strasberg was clear that this did not involve pretending to play with an imaginary toy, but rather that these objects actually were there and needed to be treated as such, not so much to convince an outside audience but to get the actor into the right frame of mind. There were animal exercises. There was speaking in gibberish. There was improvisation. There were moments in which an actor confounded by excessive body movements was asked to do a scene sitting down instead. Tears were frequent and those tears were real. One story has become lore: two female actors who were having difficulty with a scene arrived at a “breakthrough” after one slapped the other and they traded punches for a while.

Strasberg was delighted.

Liberating deeply repressed feelings and anxieties was not universally applauded. Other directors worried about the effects of Strasberg’s Method. Robert Lewis decried some of the training, saying “this is pathology, not art.” Achieving one’s pedigree at the Actors Studio was no guarantee of success on Broadway or in Hollywood, but it seems to have helped. By the 1950s and 60s the Studio boasted graduates who were frequently featured on the silver screen. As the institution gained prominence and Strasberg gained greater renown, more and more people clamored for entry and access to the Studio’s secrets.

THE PLAYERS When he was still merely a good-looking boy from Indiana, James Dean sought out The Studio. His idols, Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando, had trained with Strasberg and Kazan. He made it through the audition and Strasberg was immediately drawn to his youthful prowess. Dean was invited back.

Under the lights in a matador’s costume with a cape in tow, Dean staged a silent bullfight for Strasberg and his fellow actors for his first Studio showcase. It did not go over well. Strasberg lambasted Dean’s use of props and his flashy clothing and excessive movement. At age 21, Dean was the youngest member of the Studio and he was devastated by the critique. Nonetheless, he persevered and within the year Kazan cast him in his breakthrough role as Cal in East of Eden.

Following Dean’s premature death in a car accident in 1955, Strasberg wept at a weekly meeting at the Studio: “I saw Giant the other night, and when I got into the cab, I cried...I cried for pleasure and enjoyment in seeing Jimmy on the screen. I didn’t cry when Jack called to tell me Jimmy was dead. But I cried when I saw him on the screen. I cried at the waste, the waste in the theatre, the senseless waste of the talent.”

Later that year, the already-famous Marilyn Monroe appeared

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PHOTO CREDIT LEFT TO RIGHT: FLICKR.COM, BROTHERSOFT.COM, EXPEDIENTMEANS.COM, DEZFULTLS.COM.

at Strasberg’s door petitioning entry into the Studio. She was tired of being typecast in roles as a naif or dumb blonde and wanted the Studio’s support as she tried out for other roles. At the time, she was married to the playwright Arthur Miller who supported her choice.

Monroe’s presence at Actors Studio sessions was controversial, not only because she was seen as an émigré from commercial cinema, but also because others suspected Strasberg of using Monroe’s fame for his own pursuit of celebrity. An additional layer of controversy cohered around Monroe and The Method. It is common knowledge that the woman who was Norma Jean Baker had a difficult childhood and early adulthood, and was prone to bouts of depression. Some feared that tapping into Monroe’s past would bring about unforeseen results, which might enhance her acting but be damaging to Monroe herself.

Strasberg dismissed these claims and took Monroe under his tutelage, giving her private lessons outside of Studio time. His wife, Paula, became Monroe’s coach and traveled with Monroe to film locations. The Strasbergs even invited the actress to live with them and their children when her relationship with Miller faltered.

Miller would later accuse the Strasbergs of taking advantage of Monroe. After her death in 1962, which was ruled a suicide, some speculated that the more psychoanalytically-oriented training in Method acting didn’t help Monroe. Lee Strasberg delivered the eulogy at Monroe’s funeral, highlighting the “startling sensitivity which she possessed and which remained fresh and undimmed, struggling to express itself despite the life to which she had been subjected.”

By the 1960s, The Actors Studio had programs in playwriting and directing, and invited various established and emergent writers to take up residency there. The novelists James Baldwin, Norman Mailer, and John Updike came and went, and playwrights

Lorainne Hansberry and Edward Albee took up a longer tenure.

Meanwhile, other actors auditioned. Al Pacino was summarily rejected at his first audition, but eventually gained entry in 1967.

In his first-ever scene onstage at the Actors Studio, Pacino performed as the character Hickey from Eugene O’Neill’s play The Iceman Cometh and immediately afterward segued into the soliloquy from Hamlet. He received a spontaneous round of applause from the other Studio members and congratulations from Strasberg, who noted, “I assume you knew it was a dangerous confrontation...The courage you have shown today is rarer than talent: that kind of courage tends to die subject to the pressures of career.” The two worked together closely thereafter, and Pacino cites his tenure at the Studio as the formative moment of his later success.

THE STUDIO TODAY Strasberg remained Artistic Director of the Actors Studio from 1951 until his death in 1982. The Studio is still a destination for those involved in the theatrical arts. In 1994, a collaboration with the New School led to a formal degree program: The Actors Studio Drama School, which then moved to Pace University in 2006. These institutional collaborations were spurred by writer and actor James Lipton, dean of the Actors Studio Drama School.

Lipton also began hosting a seminar called “Inside the Actors Studio,” which was quickly picked up as a television show. Lipton interviews actors at various stages of their careers about their lives and their crafts. Many of his early subjects are alumni of The Actor’s Studio, like his first guest, Paul Newman, no less. U

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ART SCENE

TOP 5 DESTINATIONS!

Countdown to Summer

By Taylor Smith

SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Beach communities throughout New England and the Eastern Seaboard come alive during the summer months. Fishing villages and sleepy New England towns turn into worldclass destinations filled with social and sporting events, fine dining, and more. Here are five of the best-known summer destinations within a short driving distance from the New York City-area. Urban Agenda’s introductory guide includes transportation, food, lodging, events, and activities in places like Nantucket and Atlantic City. All of these destinations maintain comprehensive Chamber of Commerce websites, so be sure to check for the most updated bus, boat, plane and train schedules.

The Berkshires, Mass.

Main Event: The 2013 Berkshire Arts Festival will take place on July 4, 5, 6 and July 12, 13, and 14 at the Butternut Ski Area in Great Barrington. The juried art event features over 200 artists, live demonstrations, music, and good food. This event will appeal to the whole family.

Activities: Dining, wine, and the arts are fulltime activities in the Berkshires.

Lodging & Dining: The Berkshires are a great place to relax and revive oneself. Places like Canyon Ranch and Cranwell Resort, Spa, and Golf Club in Lenox, feature a plethora of wellness and pampering opportunities.

Comfortable Inns and vacation rentals are also available. For those seeking to get in touch with nature, the Berkshires are home to many campgrounds and campsites where you can pitch a tent or park an RV.

The upscale restaurants in the Berkshires attract internationally known chefs and culinary fans.

Almost all of the food fits into the “farm-to-table” category and includes local wines.

Looking for something quick and casual? Barrington Coffee Roasting is one of the best-known coffee places in the region. Try their artisanal “Berkshire Blend,” the next time you are in the town of Lee. Berkshire Mountain Bakery located in Housatonic, Mass. bakes naturally leavened sourdough bread, while the Elm Street Market in Stockbridge is really an old-fashioned lunch counter with its own deli and butcher shop. Here, you can pickup fresh produce, sandwiches, beer, and wine to-go.

Transportation: The Berkshires represent a mountain range and a sizeable region located in Western Mass., bordering Vermont and New York. The area includes a slew of quaint towns such as Great Barrington, North Adams, Pittsfield, Sheffield, Stockbridge, and Williamstown.

The best way to access the Berkshires is by car or by plane.

From the New Jersey and New York areas, the drive is between three and four hours. Those in Southeastern Connecticut can get to the Berkshires in less than three hours depending on traffic.

By air, the closest airport is in Albany, N.Y., an hour’s drive from the Berkshires. Logan Airport in Boston is a two-and-a-half hour commute, while New York City’s JFK and NJ’s Newark airports are about threeand-a-half hours away.

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For music and theater lovers, there is the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Shakespeare & Co. of Lenox, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Berkshire Theatre Festival, and more.

Take a tour of the many vineyards and wineries like Les Trois Emme Vineyard in New Marlborough, Mass. and Furnace Brook Winery at Hilltop Orchards in Richmond, Mass. Tucked between the historic Hudson Valley in upstate N.Y. and the Berkshire Mountains, the Hudson Berkshire Beverage Trail is a fun way to sample the many wines, beers, spirits, and ciders offered throughout the area.

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ART SCENE

top 5 destinations!

Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

With a mix of upscale dining and relaxed pub atmospheres, Martha’s Vineyard is filled with good eating.

Main Event: Pack a picnic and get your lunch Martha’s Vineyard Restaurant Week to go at places like Skinny’s Fat is the kick-off to the island’s summer Sandwiches, voted the best deli fare social season. The week-long around by the islanders. celebration offers the island’s best food, wine, and handcrafted beers.

Transportation: This year’s Restaurant Week will take The Steamship Authority is the only place June 16 through June 20. ferry that transports automobiles.

It departs from Woods Hole, Mass.

Activities: multiple times per day during the Martha’s Vineyard boasts a sizeable summer months. The trip lasts year-round community, so there is approximately 45 minutes. There an abundance of activities no matter when you go. That being said, the most popular time to visit is from the end of June through the end of August when temperatures reach into the high 80s. The Vineyard is home to six towns, each with its own personality and flavor. The landscape is also varied with vistas that range from the red clay cliffs of Aquinnah to meadows and scenic beaches.

are also a variety of passengeronly ferries arriving at Martha’s Vineyard from Falmouth, Hyannis, Nantucket, New Bedford, Quonset Point (Rhode Island), Montauk (New York), and New York City.

These ferries run seasonally.

Martha’s Vineyard is home to two airports serviced by private planes and Cape Air, US Airways, Jet Blue, and Delta. Direct flights are often available from Boston, Providence, New York City, and Washington, DC.

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Lodging & Dining: From million dollar rentals to campgrounds and quaint inns, the Vineyard has something to suit everyone’s tastes. Charlotte Inn and Lambert’s Cove Inn are two of the best-known lodges, outfitted with luxury suites and convenient locations.

may 201 3

Providence Airport: T.F. Greene (PVD)

Located only 12 minutes from the Fast Ferry

Amtrak: Kingston Station (KIN)

Located only 20 minutes from the Fast Ferry

Shuttle Service: Connecting the airport and train to/from Vineyard Fast Ferry

Driving Your Car: The only ferry service to offer convenient dockside parking for only $10/day

Inte

Nan tu r-Is cket land Fer ry

ART SCENE

TOP 5 DESTINATIONS! Main Event: The Annual Figawi Race takes place May 25 to 27. The famous boat race from Hyannis to Nantucket is one of the largest on the East Coast and attracts national and international sailors. The two-day celebration features an islandwide clambake and post-race cocktail party.

Activities: Beyond the natural beauty of the island, there are several interesting historic sites including the Nantucket Whaling Museum, the Nantucket Shipwreck and Lifesaving Museum, and Nantucket’s oldest house dating to 1686.

Young children will enjoy Monomoy Charters’ Critter Cruise, a one-hour cruise to Monomoy Harbor where they can fish for lobster, crab, and other sea creatures. Even for adults, Monomoy Charters is one of Nantucket’s most popular charter boat companies, ideal for luxurious fishing outings with large groups.

Renting bicycles and mopeds is an enjoyable way to visit the island’s many beaches. Nantucket is also known for its high-end shopping and dining.

Lodging & Dining: Like Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket is dotted with a variety of housing options, from centrally-located inns to beachfront rentals. It is important to secure your place well in advance (in some cases up to a year), since housing is limited and many return visitors reserve rentals well ahead of schedule.

In town, you will generally find upscale dining, so remember to pack some refined attire. The Pearl was recently listed as one of Zagat’s “Top Tables,” while The SeaGrille was voted as the best chowder on the island at The Nantucket Chowder Festival.

are not required, but are strongly recommended during the high season (late June through late August).

To get to Nantucket as quickly as possible, there are several airline options. Beyond private airplanes, Island Air can take you from Hyannis, Mass to Nantucket in just 15 minutes.

Nantucket Airlines and Cape Air fly from all over the United States to and from Nantucket.

NANTUCKET CHAMBER OF COMMERCE/MICHAEL GALVIN

Nantucket, Mass.

Transportation: If you wish to bring your vehicle onto the island you must take one of the Steamship Authority’s slower ferries. The Eagle, along with the Motor Vessel Nantucket, makes up to 12 trips per day during the high season. The trip lasts approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes.

For those who wish to bring only their luggage and bicycles, the high speed, Hy-Line ferries are the best choice. Both types of ferry depart from Oak Bluffs, Mass. Reservations

Cliffside Beach Club brings the European flair of St. Tropez to Nantucket’s most beautiful private beach. The prestigious French magazine Elle Décor picked the hotel as one of the best resorts in New England.

A unique combination of boutique hotel and private beach club, Cliffside offers 22 charming rooms and suites, a superb exercise and spa facility, a resort-only private bar and café exclusive to hotel guests and beach club members, and a stunning pool area. New for the 2013 season, Beach House residences are also available.

Guests enjoy one of the most pristine and well-groomed stretches of white sand beach on the island. The water of the placid north shore is perfect for swimming, and the offshore sand bar at low tide is a favorite with children. With its breathtaking view of Nantucket Sound and the continued addition of amenities and services, Cliffside offers an unparalleled intimate resort experience.

www.cliffsidebeach.com

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

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DAY IN THE HAMPTONS Tori Praver, Kalani Ruched Bikini, $195. Intermix, 212.533.9720

Tory Burch, Cecil Floral Riviera Hinge Bracelet, $350. 212.510.8371

Missoni, Patchwork Crochet-Knit Kaftan, $980. 212.517.9339

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Longchamp, Le Pliage Tote Bag, $125.

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Burberry, 38mm Leather-Strap Watch. $495. 212.407.7100

Joie A La Plage, Knotted Flat Leather Sandal, $115. Intermix, 212.533.9720

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

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TOP 5 DESTINATIONS! The Hamptons, N.Y. Main Event: The Hampton Classic Horse Show is one of the largest outdoor horse shows in the United States and a premier destination for horse people and curious spectators, alike. The 2013 event will take place August 25 to September 1.

As the first stop for the East Coast World Cup League, the quest for elite spots in the World Cup Finals begins in Bridgehampton.

Activities: It’s easy to see how the natural wetlands and sand dunes, which inspire visitors today, once shaped the artistic inspiration of artists Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner.

The beaches here offer unspoiled ocean views and peaceful bays.

There are also opportunities to charter fishing boats, surf, walk, and bike through the many public parks and acres of preserved land.

Those with an interest in wine can visit historic family farms and vineyards such as Duck Walk Vineyards in Water Mill and Channing Daughters Winery in Bridgehampton.

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The experienced shopper will find world famous brand names and boutiques scattered throughout the historic villages. Families, celebrities, and casual visitors mingle within the towns during the summer months.

Lodging & Dining: The Hamptons are stocked with world-class real estate. Take a bike ride through East Hampton and peek behind the hedges at homes belonging to celebrities like Martha Stewart and Steven Spielberg. Southampton is also a

hot spot for high-end real estate with homes owned by Gwyneth Paltrow, Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Matthew Broderick.

From boxed lunches to haute cuisine, dining in the Hamptons caters to a sophisticated palate. The Boat House in East Hampton is a favorite and offers unobstructed views of Three Mile Harbor, convenient for watching the boats sail by. Food options include their famous oysters on the shell and lobster macaroni and cheese.

Transportation: The Hamptons are a reasonable drive from New York City, located approximately 75 to 100 miles east of Manhattan on the eastern end of Long Island. If you are without a car or would rather not drive, there are several mass transit options, as well.

By train, the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) is the cheapest and fastest option. From Penn Station, the LIRR makes five trips to the Hamptons daily.

The Hampton Jitney is a popular bus service that stops in four Upper East Side locations in Manhattan and makes more than 20 daily trips to Montauk during the summer months. Depending on traffic, the Jitney can take anywhere from 2.5 to 3.5 hours.

Reservations are a necessity.

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39

4/18/13 10:56 PM URBAN AGENDA New York City

NIGHT IN AC Alexander McQueen, De-Manta Honeycomb Clutch Bag, $925. 212.645.1797

Oscar de la Renta, Triangle Cluster Earrings, $450. Neiman Marcus, 877.777.5321

TAG Heuer, Formula 1 Stainless Steel Watch with Pave Diamonds, $5300.

Bloomingdale’s, 212.729.5900

Prada, Saffiano Calfskin Billfold, $470.

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DSQUARED2, Deep V Back Dress, $620. Intermix, 212.533.9720

Saint Laurent, Tribute Ankle Strap Platform Heel, $850.

212.980.2970 Rachel Zoe, Pave Crystal Enamel Ring, $175.

Neiman Marcus, 877.777.5321

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

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top 5 destinations!

Atlantic City, N.J. Main Event: The Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival runs from July 25 to 28. Presented by Caesars Entertainment, the Food Festival is one of the premier food and wine events in the Mid-Atlantic.

Headlining talent at this year’s event includes Robert Irvine, Rocco Dispirito, and The Neely’s.

Attendees have the opportunity to sample excellent food, wine, and shake the hands of celebrity chefs. Advance tickets are required.

Activities: Similar to Las Vegas, Atlantic City is about indulging in fantasy and luxury. Book an afternoon at a world-class spa, watch Celine Dion perform live, try your luck at gaming and poker, or dine in the many restaurants and bars that dot the boardwalk and the beach.

Atlantic City is also a popular spot for birthdays, anniversaries, bachelor, and bachelorette parties. All-inclusive spa, hotel, and golf packages are available for those who book in advance.

Lodging & Dining: Non-stop nightlife is one of the main attractions in Atlantic City.

Restaurants and bars like Buddakan and Dusk at Caesars Atlantic City stay open until late in the evening.

Casbah Nightclub at the Taj Mahal Casino and Resort offers an exceptional club experience while Blue Martini at Bally’s Atlantic City features more than 100 variations of martinis, top-shelf liquor, live music, and a bar with a frosted ice railing.

In general, you can find high-quality dining and live entertainment on any given night of the week in Atlantic City.

Transportation: Atlantic City is located at the southern end of New Jersey’s coastline near many other popular beach destinations like Ocean City and Cape May. A two-hour drive from Manhattan, Atlantic City is also easily accessed by nearby Philadelphia Airport and Atlantic City International Airport. Spirit Airlines offers seasonal non-stop flights from key cities in Florida, Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, and more.

NJ Transit offers train service to Atlantic City from almost anywhere in New Jersey.

Martha’s Vineyard You have arrived.

Martha’s Vineyard You have arrived.

MARTHA’S Martha’s Vineyard VINEYARD Chamber Commerce You haveofarrived.

MARTHA’S VINEYARD Chamber of Commerce

To plan your perfect Vineyard experience visit us online at www.MVY.com or 508-693-4486

Because after working hard throughout the year all you want to do is slow down To plan your and recharge, to play, to eat great food, perfect to luxuriate in naturalVineyard beauty and connect visitdeserveMARTHA’S experienceYou with what’s important. an VINEYARD experience like us no online other –atan experience Chamber of Commerce as distinctivewww.MVY.com and simple as everyday To plan your should be. or 508-693-4486 perfect Vineyard experience visit

us online at When you arrive on the Island of Martha’s www.MVY.com Vineyard you enter “Vineyard-time” where or 508-693-4486 flip-flops are always welcome, activities are as diverse as the colors of the sea, and chances are your dinner was locally caught or harvested, that very morning.

And, no matter what you’ve been told, there really is a Vineyard experience for every budget.

For more information, including where to stay, dine and play, visit www.MVY.com or call 508.693.0085

may 201 3

URBAN AGENDA New York City

41

(LEFT): David RodrĂ­guez Caballero at Marlborough Chelsea.

(RIGHT): Zhang Xiaogang at Pace Gallery.

DAY TRIP CHELSEA Manhattan has its theater district, its garment district and its meat packing district. For contemporary art, there’s Chelsea.

The neighborhood bordered by Tenth and 11th avenues and between 18th and 28th streets became an international hub for art in the 1990s, when Soho rents forced galleries uptown. Converted industrial buildings were turned into large open spaces, and today, with more than 300 galleries, surrounded by water views, an elevated park and culinary adventures, Chelsea is considered the art capital of the world. In fact, with the addition of the High Line, the elevated park that runs from 30th Street to Gansevoort, rents have climbed so high, some galleries are moving back to Soho.

Those that can afford to stay are thriving, especially on Thursday nights when the glitterati come to gallery openings. Saturdays are a quieter time to visit, and offer a chance to focus on the art. {BY ILENE DUBE}

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PHOTO SOURCE: WWW.TOKYO-WS.ORG

MAY 20 1 3

URBAN AGENDA New York City

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M

y urban agenda started at Penn Station. From there I walked west on 30th Street to get to the High Line just past Tenth Avenue. Thanks to Friends of the High Line, High Line Art presents seasonal installations on the elevated park, but with a full day worth of galleries to explore, I took just enough time to see the El Anatsui installation between 21st and 22nd streets—more on that later.

THE HIGH LINE is a nice way to get to some of the galleries—you can glance down each street to see the banners hanging from the brick buildings, then check details on your smartphone. On a sunny day the High Line can be so crowded, walking at ground level will get you there faster.

I descended at 26th Street, then walked up to 27th. First stop, Tenth Avenue and 27th Street, PAUL KASMIN GALLERY: James Nares Road Paint will be on view May 8-June 15. Nares, who works in painting, sculpture, drawing, film, and video, here explores the form, direction, rhythm, and repetition of objects in motion. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is screening his video Street through May 27, and in the Road Paint series, Nares records the nuances of kinetics.

Across 27th Street, I stopped in at the PAUL KASMIN STORE. A line by Shelter Serra includes toy guns in cases and metalicized baseball caps, as well as Homemade Birkin Bags in white, gold and black. You can actually buy these works of art—in fact, unlike museums, everything in the galleries is for sale.

I was hoping to hold out, food-wise, for the Chelsea Market, but OVEST PIZZOTECA, 513 West 27th Street, with its divine smoky wood aroma, is impossible to resist. A cross between a pizzeria and an enoteca, Ovest also offers pastas and panini and its own brand of Tuscan olive oil.

The building at 547 WEST 27th Street is like a department store of galleries—one-stop shopping, like a museum with no admission charge. And there are well-appointed restrooms on every floor, just like in the department stores of yore. Enter the building and there’s a big steel gray desk covered with flyers for all the galleries in the building (the flyers are also posted in the glass panes of the front window). The building has an upscale ambience in spite of the worn stair treads and chipped paint floorboards from its former industrial use.

SUNDARAM TAGORE GALLERY, on the first floor, is devoted to the exchange of ideas between Western and non-Western cultures. Its mission is posted on the wall: “We focus on developing…spiritual, social and aesthetic dialogues. In a world where communication is instant and cultures are colliding and melding as never before, our goal is to provide venues for art that transcend boundaries of all sorts.”

When I visited, there was an exhibition of six cutting-edge

Garvey Simon Art Access showcases Peri Schwartz May 15-June 15, 2013.

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

Thai artists. Phaptawan Suwannakudt’s “Cast-off Series” lined a wall with book-size pieces of handmade paper covered with Thai writing overlaid with images of traditional Thai architecture, goddesses, animals and artifacts. Through May 11 there will be an exhibit of works by Golnaz Fathi, a young Iranian artist whose references to Iranian culture are juxtaposed with white areas of canvas that signify silence.

FLOMENHAFT GALLERY on the second floor has a mural painted around its door by Iliya Mirocknik, a native of Ukraine. The painting includes boats and fish in a port, and incorporates the “Sprinkler Control Valve” sign by hanging it from a painted tree with painted string. The gallery is “dedicated to showing the finest exhibitions of original paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints and photography by a roster of nationally and internationally renowned artists.”

Some of the galleries scheduled to be open post “be back in half an hour, please deliver packages next door” signs.

Sometimes a gallery will be completely empty, save for the person at the desk, or a docile Chihuahua walking the creaky planks.

There’s Outsider Art and Insider Art, and art that can be completely inscrutable. One door has a sign, “Plant on Premises.”

This is actually a gallery.

I once saw an “installation” of a pink tissue box sitting in the corner of a gallery. Sometimes you may have to look really hard to see that a pile of garbage is just that, a pile of garbage. But isn’t that the point of art, to get you to see things that aren’t art as art?

On occasion the art is simply a beautiful expression of what is seen in nature, such as David Morrison’s colored pencil paintings of trees and branches at GARVEY SIMON ART ACCESS. At AC INSTITUTE, one installation included a speaker box sending out a sonic rhythm while a row of little black winged insects above it lit up in blue lights. A leather sofa was situated in the darkened room for enjoying the meditative experience that included two more works with blinking tiny blue lights on winged creatures.

At RARE GALLERY, sculpture is made from pink housing insulation, and a beehive is made of plastic pen caps.

For a fun diversion, visit VASARI CLASSIC ARTISTS’ OIL COLORS retail space at 547 West 27th Street. Color-tipped foil tubes are splayed out on a table with samples squeezed onto white butcher paper. These paints are not priced for the starving artist—or, rather, an artist could starve if she grew dependent on these paints. Even if you don’t paint, you will lust for these paints.

When the small of your back starts to get that too-much-art twinge, it’s time to head for HUDSON RIVER PARK where joggers, cyclists and parents pushing strollers keep up a good pace. You

Rona Pondick at Sonnabend.

MAY 20 1 3

David Zwirner showcases Jeff Koons May 8-June 22, 2013.

Miroslaw Balka at Barbara Gladstone Gallery.

Zhang Xiaogang at Pace Gallery.

MAY 20 1 3

URBAN AGENDA New York City

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Ten Not-to-be-Missed Chelsea Galleries

545

W 25TH STREET

510

Marlborough Chelsea 545 W 25th Street www.marlboroughgallery.com

Gagosian Gallery Chelsea 555 W 24th Street www.gagosian.com Matthew Marks Gallery 523 W 24th Street www.matthewmarks.com

555

523

W 23RD STREET

548

Zach Feuer Gallery 548 W 22nd Street www.zachfeuer.com

536

10TH AVENUE

Barbara Gladstone Gallery (Two Locations on Map) 515 W 24th Street 530 W 21th Street www.gladstonegallery.com

W 22ND STREET

521

Sonnabend 536 W 22nd Street www.sonnabendgallery.com

534 530

W 21ST STREET

TH

11

E

U AVEN

Paula Cooper Gallery 534 W 21st Street www.paulacoopergallery.com

515

W 24TH STREET TH 11TH 11AVENUE AVENUE

Pace Gallery 510 W 25th Street www.pacegallery.com

Tanya Bonakdar Gallery 521 W 21st Street www.tanyabonakdargallery.com

W 20TH STREET

David Zwirner 525 W 19th Street www.davidzwirner.com W 19TH STREET

For maps and a complete directory to all Chelsea Galleries: www.chelseagallerymap.com

can sit on a bench in the sun or walk out on a pier. There’s a skate park, carousel and The Sports Center at Chelsea Piers. In fine weather, Hudson River Park offers kayaking, rowing, sailing, boat building, a farmers market and musical performances.

Back to the High Line, where HIGH LINE ART presents Nigeria-based artist El Anatsui's Broken Bridge II, the largest outdoor installation by the artist on view between 21st and 22nd streets through summer 2013. The monumental sculpture is made of pressed tin and mirrors.

El Anatsui is one of the foremost artists of his generation, known for tapestry-like sculptures made of recycled materials collected near his home in Nigeria. Crushed metallic bottle caps, culled from discarded liquor bottles, are woven together with copper wire. Seen from a distance, the undulating tapestry shimmers and sparkles like royal brocade, and it is only upon closer examination that you discover the medium is refuse, a symbol of the economic and cultural traditions of West Africa.

Claes Oldenburg wrote “I am for an art that is politicalerotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum.” You will see plenty of that in the galleries of Chelsea,

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but you can also see mystical art at the RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART, 150 17th Street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues. The collection of art from the Himalayas and surrounding regions reflects major periods and schools of Himalayan art from the 12th century onward. On view through Sept. 16 is Fiercely Modern, from the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna, with ornaments, woodcarvings, and vividly colored textiles of the Naga, a group of culturally and linguistically linked tribes living on the border between India and Burma. From May 31, 2013 through July 7, 2014, From India East, on loan from the Brooklyn Museum, includes art from Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, and Japan.

For an end-of-the-day treat, visit CHELSEA MARKET, 75 Ninth Ave., between 15th and 16th streets. Housed inside the building that was once the National Biscuit Company, is now an enclosed food court and foodie emporium with shops that sell teas, coffees, chocolates, cheeses, Italian delicacies, spices and more. As you sample a snack or enjoy a more substantial meal, the original factory floors and exposed brick walls may start to look like art, and you will know that Chelsea’s galleries have opened your eyes. U

MAY 20 1 3

NEW 5THEATERS

RE-IMAGINING THE USE OF LIGHT AND SPACE

Designed to enhance the magical illusion of stage and screen, theaters of the past boasted plush red velvet and gilded carvings. Radio City Music Hall comes to mind. Part of the mystique was the slow reveal: no exterior windows reduced the impact of the splendor to come when the doors were thrown wide. Nor was there any desire to keep you there once the show was over. If these five new theaters are anything to go by, a paradigm shift has occurred, in purpose as well as in design.

Inspired and executed by renowned architects, these are as bright and transparent on the outside as they are welcoming on the inside. Indeed, with the predominant use of glass, these theaters light up the New York scene. Each encourages visitors to savor the theater-going experience with spaces for eating, drinking and gathering. And each is the conception of a non-profit organization made possible by philanthropic supporters as well as loans and grants and inclusionary zoning from the City of New York. The nature of these non-profits should not go unremarked since they too have come a long way from the days of cap-in-hand charity. Entrepreneurial in spirit, they create their own revenue streams by renting out their facilities and they see it as their role to develop an audience through smart programming, low ticket prices and community outreach. Clearly, a winning combination. {BY INGRID W. REED}

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PHOTO CREDIT: FRANCIS DZIKOWSKI | ESTO.

1

BARYSHNIKOV ARTS CENTER (BAC) AND THE DIMENNA CENTER FOR CLASSICAL MUSIC BAC opened in 2005 at 450 West 37th Street and is a pioneer in breaking new ground on the far-West Side. The six-story building fronted entirely by an elegant glass façade in a striped motif is in a strategic spot. New towering apartment buildings surround it.

Nearby, Hudson Yards are ready to be developed and the northern end of the High Line is only a few blocks to the south. The area between Ninth and Tenth Avenues is booming with construction and teaming with old vitality.

World-famous dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov envisioned a place where creative projects in dance, music and theatre are fostered and performed, and artists-in-residence can research their ideas. A fall and spring season of events is presented in the Howard Gilman Performance Space and the Jerome Robins Theatre. BAC’s facilities on the upper floors include flexible spaces with great views of the Hudson and southwest Manhattan.

The DiMenna Center joined BAC as the building’s co-owner in 2008 to create a permanent home for the Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL).

It provides rehearsal and recording space for its musicians as well as others who need modern facilities. Hugh Hardy and Geoff Lynch of H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture redesigned 20,000 square feet which opened in 2011 to reveal a new second and third floor with seven beautiful, high tech spaces. The largest space, Mary Flager Cary Hall, is finished in wood paneling and acoustically-calibrated wall coverings to accommodate a full symphony orchestra and chorus. All the spaces, even the smallest practice rooms, are designed to eliminate outside noises from the Lincoln Tunnel. OSL musicians perform free for the public and for community education events while the DiMenna Center is often used by other groups for a wide variety of performances. The light-filled lobby with a bright red staircase brings the public to the Charles Grossman Café on the second floor, and third floor Lounge, both of which offer views of the changing cityscape through the glass façade.

If you go: Start from Penn Station at 33rd and Eighth Avenue. Walk west to Ninth Avenue. Turn right and continue walking to 37th Street.

Cross on the south side of the intersection and walk toward Tenth Avenue. Watch for the prominent vertical lighted “450” sign. www.bacnyc.org. www.oslmusic.org/dimenna-center-welcome.

MAY 20 1 3

URBAN AGENDA New York City

49

PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID SUNDBERG | ESTO.

2

PERSHING SQUARE SIGNATURE CENTER FOR THE SIGNATURE THEATRE COMPANY Since the fall of 2011 when Signature opened its multipurpose new Center at 480 West 42nd Street, the bright lights and excitement of Broadway have been closer to the far-West Side, now filled with high rise apartment buildings. The two blocks of 42nd Street beyond Eighth Avenue, rather dim and uninviting in comparison to Times Square, now draw pedestrians to the sparkling two story canopy of the innovative Signature Center.

The building is designed by Frank Gehry who formed a relationship with Signature when it had plans to build at the new World Trade Center site. However, that was not to be and Gehry stayed to design a very different building created as part of the MIMA mixed-used development. The new concept now attracts visitors and theater-goers for outstanding productions in a unique environment. The innovative approach starts at the glassed-in ground-level entry space and ticket office, a contrast to the more usual prison-window for ticket purchases. The walls are graced with large sketches of the playwrights connected with Signature since it began in 1991.

The sketches continue on the second floor, reached by a graceful but practical wide staircase of architectural plywood that is a hallmark of Gehry design. Two surprises await at the top of the stairs. One is the band of wide windows with sills to lean on that stretch across the entire front of the building overlooking the always active scene on 42nd Street. The other is the open landscape of the lobby.

Open noon to midnight, its informal café and full bar, bookstore, tables and colorful chairs (also Gehry designed) signal that this is a place for conversation and interaction.

Signature’s three theaters, each created for a different theater experience, are reached through the lobby. The energy of people in the midst of diverse activity, either a play or special program, is palpable. Casual visitors stopping by for a sandwich at noon or for a late drink in the evening can learn of Signature’s $25 ticket policy and its playwrights-in-residence on the three panel Interactive Media Wall.

If you go: Walk west on 42nd Street or take the crosstown bus on 42nd Street to Tenth Avenue. Note Dyer Street is between Ninth and Tenth Avenues and brings traffic out of the Lincoln Tunnel. The convenient Manhattan Plaza Parking Garage is on the north side of 42nd Street across from Signature. www.signature.org.

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

MAY 20 1 3

PHOTO CREDIT: FRANCIS DZIKOWSKI | ESTO.

3

RICHARD B. FISHER BUILDING OF THE BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC (BAM) When it comes to arts and culture, Brooklyn is part of the New York City scene with neighborhoods as distinctive as those of the Upper East Side or The Village in Manhattan. The addition of the Fisher building, at 312 Ashland Place, to BAM in 2012 augments its venerable Howard Gilman Opera House in the Peter J. Sharp Building and the 874-seat Harvey Theater built more the 20 years ago. It creates new artistic and outreach opportunities with its small 250 seat “black box” space which can be arranged in a flexible manner.

The building will first be noticed for bringing energy to a dark and faceless block, the route from the modern Atlantic Avenue Subway stop to the lively BAM center. The creation of Fisher BAM, as it is known, saved the boarded-up historic citadel for the Salvation Army centered between the side walls of the old Willamsburg Bank Building which is now condos and the Gilman Opera House.

In a transformation designed by architect Hugh Hardy, the graceful arches of the citadel were opened and glassed-in and new glass entrances added. Light pours out on the sidewalk and passers-by are captured by the colorful, dynamic mural by Brooklyn-based artist José Parlá that stretches across the 37-foot back wall of the open lobby. A pair of glass stairs brings light down to an informal space for community and educational uses on the lower level.

The street-level structure is supported by a new seven-story addition that includes BAM facilities for rehearsals, offices, and classrooms as well as a glamorous roof deck with views of Brooklyn neighborhoods and the Statue of Liberty. Between September and January during the annual New Wave Festival, all BAM spaces are engaged in music, dance and drama. Tickets are $20 at the Fisher BAM which features artists, early in their careers, experimenting with new forms of performance.

If you go: You don’t have to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge to find BAM. It’s a short express ride on Subway #2 or #3 to Atlantic Avenue.

Good signs point you to Hanson Place and BAM. Cross the street and walk to your left to find Ashford Place. Be sure to save enough time to walk about five minutes in the opposite direction from Hanson Place to view the new Barclay Center, a huge impact on the Brooklyn scene. With its imaginative design and color scheme and unusual shape, it’s a big presence in the sports and entertainment world. www.bam.org.

MAY 20 1 3

URBAN AGENDA New York City

51

PHOTO CREDIT: ALBERT VECERKA ESTO.

4

ELINOR BUNIN MUNROE FILM CENTER Imagine what a small movie theater would be like if it had to stand out against the recent transformation that opened up Lincoln Center in all its glory of white marble and glass. You could not do better than the Elinor Bunin Monroe multi-screen theatre and cultural venue at 144 West 65th Street. It’s the second theater space of the 50 year-old Film Society at Lincoln Center, long known for its Walter Reade Theatre hidden away on the second floor near the Julliard School building.

The best first view of the Film Center is from the top of the new glass-sided foot-bridge that starts near the Walter Reade Theatre.

Walking across 65th Street brings into view the arresting and elegant orange glass sculpture-like sign that says “ FILM,” what else?

You want to smile and say “I get it!” and head straight to it. The dramatic orange material also serves as the entrance portal with a ticket window right on the side walk. No red carpet here but rather a walkway of bright yellow large dots to greet the filmgoer.

The excitement of the entrance is toned down by the subdued inner lobby leading to three small theaters, one an unusual amphitheater with comfortable cushions perfect for discussions with filmmakers as well as for viewing their films. The space designed

by David Rockwell and the Rockwell Group, carved out of garage space under the Lincoln Center, also includes a café facing on the street, a convenient place to eat at any time or for friends to meet before a movie for something other than popcorn, or simply to sit at the counter in front of the window watching passers-by.

If you go: Go to the Lincoln Center, Broadway at 64th–66th (Subway # 1). Walk west on 65th Street. To find the bridge over 65st Street by walking on the north side of the street, take the escalator to the Walter Reade Theater level; the bridge will on your right. The Film Center is on the south side of 65th Street. www.filmlinc.com.

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

MAY 20 1 3

PHOTO CREDIT: FRANCIS DZIKOWSKI | ESTO.

5

CLAIRE TOW THEATER AND LCT3 Look up to see the expansion of Lincoln Center Theaters (LCT) from two—the large Vivian Beaumont and the small Mitzi E.Newhouse —to three. If you stand in front of the redesigned pool plaza to the right side of the Metropolitan Opera during daylight, the roof of the Beaumont appears to be capped with an elegant HVAC screen rather than a new third theater. On the other hand, the view at night, when the Claire Tow Theater is lit, reveals it as a very special space, the perfect final touch to the ambitious remaking of the Lincoln Center complex by Diller Scofidiot + Renfro.

The creation of this mixed-use space, at 150 West 65th Street, for performances, rehearsals and offices, results from LCT’s successful experiment with producing new work from emerging artists playwrights, directors and designers in off-Broadway rented space.

Bringing it home to Lincoln Center raised the issue of where it should go. The architect Hugh Hardy was asked to design a solution because of his talent for creating marvelous theater spaces and because of his work with Eero Saarinen, architect of the Vivian Beaumont; a choice to ensure that the innovative decision to build on the roof would respect and enhance the original.

The night view of LCT3 is very likely to include people moving outside of the “box.” They are ticket holders (tickets are each $20) for plays produced in the 40-seat theater. The Claire Tow Theater is reached by an elevator in the Beaumont lobby and opens onto a bright space with a bar on one side and a glass wall on the other, with doors that lead to an outdoor space of magical quality. Stepping out on the deck reveals the Lincoln Center and beyond; one is tempted to wave to people below who are enjoying its beauty and vitality.

Surrounding the viewing deck is a roof garden planted with a field of sedums of astounding variety, a feature of the Green Building certification held by the Tow. This addition to the City’s new theater scene casts its light on the sky rather than the sidewalk and is a reason to look up.

If you go: Go to the Lincoln Center, Broadway at 64th–66th (Subway # 1). Walk to the fountain in the center. Facing the Metropolitan Opera, look up to the right. www.lct.org.

MAY 20 1 3

URBAN AGENDA New York City

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THIS COOK’S JOURNAL RNAL

DINING AND THE THEATER EATER “All the world’s a stage...” —William Shakespeare: As You Like It

T

here’s never been a more exciting time to visit the Great White Way, where shows—both dramas and musicals—are keeping up a steady beat. Theater is alive and well, whether downtown, midtown or uptown at Lincoln Center, with performances sizzling on Broadway, Off Broadway and Off Off Broadway. From long runs like Jersey Boys, Once, and The Book of Mormon to new openings and short runs like Lucky Man, Kinky Boots, and Motown, the lights of Broadway have never shone brighter.

Recently, media luminaries have provided Hollywood glamour, with the likes of Tom Hanks in the late Nora Ephron’s new Lucky Man. Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain treads the boards in The Heiress, along with Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey fame (Lady Mary’s sudden loss being our happy gain). “Harry Potter’s” Daniel Radcliffe danced his way to acclaim in How to Succeed. And now, grab seats for The Divine Miss M’s return after 30 years for a very limited run in I’ll Eat You Last. The Book of Mormon will set you back a pretty penny, but it’s more than worth it and will keep you chuckling for long afterwards. Who could resist Matthew Broderick and Kelli O’Hara in Nice Work if You Can Get It? And that other stalwart of the Broadway scene, Nathan Lane, is back, center stage, in The Nance.

While picking a show from choices so varied and tasty might be a cinch, picking a place with good food to match is way harder. Here are a few pre-theater options that, in their own more intimate settings, deliver star quality.

East of Broadway on 44th Street is the Stanford White-designed building that houses THE LAMB’S CLUB in what is now the chic Chatwal Hotel. Just a hop, skip and jump from Grand Central Terminal and en route to the heart of the Theater District, The Lambs Club was originally established in 1905 as the first professional theater club. It’s walls are adorned with photos of past illustrious members, including to name but a few, Fred Astaire, Spencer Tracy, Charlie Chaplin, Oscar Hammerstein, and Irving Berlin—a veritable “Who’s Who” of American theater and film. The sleek Deco polish and big fireplace of the dining room prepare you for the well-crafted food to come, delivered by a staff that handles you with care and expertly guides you through a pre-theater menu, giving you ample time to dine at a relaxed pace yet still get to the show.

No Stranger to show business, chef Geoffrey Zakarian has been an “Iron Chef,” a judge on the Food Network’s “Chopped,” and has authored several cookbooks. Veteran of starred kitchens in both the U.S. and Paris he and his chefs, Eric Haugen and Jon Oh, offer a $49 theater prix-fixe as well as full a la carte. The menu marries classical roots with contemporary market flavors, and you can eat light so you won’t fall asleep during Act II and miss the grand denouement. Wine selections for each dish are available by the glass, making it easier to navigate the list and thus save you time.

The presence of Daniel Boulud on the world’s stage expanded some time ago into the Theater District at DB BISTRO MODERNE. The setting is cool modern Parisian—this is certainly a new take on the more traditional Paris bistro of aged patina, lusty food, and cheap house wine. Here the décor is simple and the food sits straighter in its chair. The hyper knife skills of a Boulud production are evident. One block east of Times Square, DB Bistro Moderne embraces both traditional French and contemporary American cuisine. Enjoy a tarte flambee as you peruse the menu; perhaps the famous DB burger, a meaty construction stuffed with truffle, short rib and foie gras—decadent, delicious and served with frites in a handsome silver tumbler. This could be the “eleven o’clock number” that sends you off on a high. Let the staff help you through the $45 prix-fixe or a la carte selections.

Either way, let them know you’re going to the theater and they’ll be sure to get you there on time.

The Great White Way, as Broadway has long been known, snakes its way up the West Side, where Lincoln Center offers not just theater, but ballet, opera and symphony options. This flurry of activities demanded an increase in local dining choices, for as creatures of culture we may be hungry for art

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URBAN AGENDA New York City

but we’re also hungry for good food. Happily, right across from Lincoln Center, Monsieur Boulud has expanded his real-estate footing with a triology of fine choices—BAR BOULUD, EPICERIE BOULUD and BOULUD SUD. I speak of them almost as one because they’re right next to each other.

If you find you’re running a bit late for the opening curtain, Epicerie is a cool European on-the-go place for a quick bite. Elbow-high tables allow you to stand and select from a raw bar as well as a nice choice of libations by the glass. Sandwiches, cheeses and charcuterie plates are available as well as coffee and sweets.

With a little more time available, book a table at Bar Boulud, where the wonderful vaulted ceiling makes you feel as if you’re in a wine cellar. The menu offers soupe de poisson and homemade patés and terrines made by master charcutier Gilles Verot. The wine list specializes in Burgundies and wines from the Rhone Valley. Make sure to book ahead, but if you haven’t, you may with luck, be able to grab a seat at the long communal counter with its glass-encased selections of cured meats, cheeses and the aforementioned patés and terrines.

At the third pre-theater favorite, Boulud Sud, the pace though more sedate, keeps up with the Lincoln Center-going crowd, concentrating as the name suggests on the southern flavors of the Mediterranean. Flavors crisscross the menu like the spices and great ingredients that crisscross the eponymous sea, with selections from France, Italy, Spain and North Africa.

The restaurant is divided into three distinct zones; a front section that welcomes walk-ins; a full-service, spacious dining room; and a fully accommodating bar, all with an informed staff. The lively selections are well seasoned, expertly crafted and bring with them a touch of the sun. Just the job before the lights go down in theater or concert hall.

So let the show begin. Would everyone please turn off all electronic devices and unwrap any hard candies….

{BY PAUL GRIMES}

Clockwise from top left: THE LAMB’S CLUB (PHOTO SOURCE: WWW.THELAMBSCLUB.COM/) BOULUD SUD (PHOTO SOURCE: WWW.BOULUDSUD.COM) DB BISTRO MODERNE (PHOTO SOURCE: WWW.DBBISTRO.COM) EPICERIE BOULUD (PHOTO SOURCE: WWW.EPICERIEBOULUD.COM/)

THE LAMB’S CLUB

EPICERIE BOULUD

Chatwal Hotel 132 West 44th St (between

1900 Broadway (at 64th Street) Tel: 212.595.0303 www.epicerieboulud.com

Sixth and Seventh Avenues)

Tel: 212.997.5262 www.TheLambsClub.com

DB BISTRO MODERNE 55 West 44th St (between Fifth and Sixth Avenues)

Tel: 212.391.2400 www.dbbistro.com

MAY 20 1 3

BOULUD SUD 20 West 64th Street (between Broadway and Central Park West)

Tel: 212.595.1313 www.bouludsud.com

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We care for you your whole life through.

Introducing the Holy Name Medical Center Physician Network.

More than 60 physicians representing 13 specialties in 10 locations to care for you through every stage of your life.

PRIMARY CARE Laura Chavez, DO Alan Felsen, MD Carla Germinario, MD Hackensack

Foram Desai, MD Judith Kutzleb, DNP Bergenfield

PEDIATRICS

Henry Fernandez-Cos, MD

Teaneck

Teaneck

Teaneck

Bernice Adu-Amankwa, MD

Diagnostic Radiology Jacqueline Brunetti, MD Eva Horn, MD James Park, MD Vinay Ravi, MD

INTENSIVE CARE Randolph Cole, MD

Teaneck

Teaneck

Union City

Mario Pelletier, MD West New York

Ronald Rigolosi, MD Lodi

BREAST SURGERY Erika Brinkmann, MD Nancy Fremed, NP Teaneck

CARDIOLOGY Stephen Angeli, MD Gerard Eichman, MD Tariqshah Syed, MD David Wild, MD Teaneck

RADIOLOGY

Padmini Chelliah, MD Eden Llamas, MD Comfort Quaye, MD Shanthi Shenoi, MD Mauricio Restrepo, MD

Andrew Fruhschien, NP Gilberto Gastell, MD Alexander Hesquijarosa, MD

OB-GYN

NEONATOLOGY Nicole Anderson, MD Hyejin Robin Lee, DO Teaneck

PULMONOLOGY Selwyn Levine, MD Gregory Magee, MD Theophanis Pavlou, MD Victor Gorloff, MD Paul Han, MD North Bergen and Englewood

Stuart Silberstein, MD Adam Glassman, MD Brian Benoff, MD Englewood

NEUROLOGY/MS Mary Ann Picone, MD

West New York and Cliffside Park

Stefano Stella, MD Rutherford and Union City

Hazel Brana-Leon, MD

Cliffside Park

GYN Jacinto Fernandez, MD Teaneck

CANCER SERVICES GYN Oncology Daniel Smith, MD Teaneck

Hematology/Oncology Beata Pieczara, MD Yadyra Rivera, MD Giuseppe Condemi, MD KarLeung Siu, MD Raimonda Goldman, DO Cliffside Park and Teaneck

Interventional Radiology John Rundback, MD Kevin Herman, MD David Singh, MD Darlene Dobkowski, PA

Teaneck

Breast Imaging David Chun, MD Arifa Faiz, MD Rina Felman, MD Joshua Gross, MD Ilona Hertz, MD William Ko, MD Teaneck

SPORTS MEDICINE James C. Mendler, MD Teaneck and Oradell

Radiation Oncology Benjamin Rosenbluth, MD Charles Vialotti, MD Teaneck

Teaneck

Our physicians have collaborative relationships with one another, enhancing your access to multiple medical specialties. They use the most advanced techniques and procedures for diagnosis and treatment, always with attention to patient safety and satisfaction. They offer health care that is among the finest in the region and something else that’s just as important: a promise to care for you like family.

Find a Holy Name physician who’s right for you at holyname.org/network, or call 1-877-Holy-Name (1-877-465-9626).