Proceeds from the event will benefit fishermen and their families, whose livelihoods depend on the Gulf, as well as organisations that protect Louisiana's coast. Ewell Smith, executive director of the Lousiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board said the fishermen "appreciated" the effort. "Thousands of families across South Louisiana will potentially be impacted for years to come and will need all the help they can get to survive," he added. "Without them, we lose a vital part of our culture and heritage."
In The Park - Fatboy Slim will make history this coming weekend as the first artist to perform a concert at Giant's Park in north Belfast. Promoters say the event is the biggest concert in Northern Ireland since U2's Popmart gig in Botanic Park in 1997.
Small is Beautiful - In the centre of the New York City Theatre District, Broadway set designer Christine Jones will publicly debut Theatre for One, a four foot by nine foot portable theatre with one performer playing to one audience member. The intimate theatrical experience will be available to anyone on a first-come, first-served basis between 14 and 23 May in Times Square.
Theatre for One may be very small, but it is fully operational with computer controlled lights and sound, stage and audience doors and solid sliding 'curtain' in a proscenium to start and end the performances. A stage manager runs the show while a house manager guides the guests into the red velvet interior which includes an actual peep booth seat. Jones was inspired by peep show booths of Times Square's past in development of this new type of theatrical space "to intensify the audience and performer relationship that is being lost in the new digital Times Square".
"We are thrilled to provide Theatre for One with its Broadway debut," said Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance. "This installation marks not only the public and world premiere of Theatre for One, but also a number of new commissions for this unique performance space."
Artists of different disciplines, including theatre, dance, poetry, magic, and music, will create and perform five- to 10 minute pieces that will be presented in rotation for six hours a day, (including breaks), during a ten day residency in Times Square. Each of the days will be devoted to a specific medium: a day of dance, a day of new plays, a day of magic, etc.
(Jim Evans)
