MCA Stage
Encyclopedia
The MCA Stage is the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
’s performing arts program. Founded in 1996 with the opening of the MCA’s new building at Chicago, Illinois.
was appointed to his position in 1996. Taub was executive director of the Randolph Street Gallery before joining the MCA. His first year of programming included Latin-jazz trumpeter Jerry Gonzalez
, experimental reedist Douglas Ewart
, and local free-improv artist Liof Munimula.
The MCA Stage has featured local, national, and international theater, dance, music, multimedia, and film performances in its 15-year history. The MCA Stage is known as the "most active interdisciplinary arts presenter in Chicago" in addition to working with local community organizations for the co-presentations of performing arts. The performance program developed Artists Up Close, which is a series of post-show talks, panels, discussions, and artist-led workshops designed to engage the audience with the artists. The 2009 season saw 80 performances featuring dance, music, theater, and cross-disciplinary forms, as well as 40 Artists Up Close discussions or workshops.
is the first combination exhibition and performance project Taub curated for the MCA. The 2011 exhibition consists of three performances—Naked, The Caravan Project, and Regeneration—and a gallery presentation.
In September 2010, the MCA and Chicago-based Redmoon Theater
co-produced the project The Astronaut’s Birthday, a multimedia public art spectacle inspired by science fiction and comic books that was projected onto the MCA façade as audience members watched from the MCA plaza. The production used new technologies, live performers, and hand-illustrated shadow imagery to display the 80-foot tall production turning pages like a comic book.
New York-based theater company Elevator Repair Service
performed Gatz at the MCA in the company’s Chicago debut. The performance—a verbatim retelling of the unabridged version of F. Scott Fitzgerald
’s The Great Gatsby
—took six hours as performers reenacted the story.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary art venues...
’s performing arts program. Founded in 1996 with the opening of the MCA’s new building at Chicago, Illinois.
History
MCA Director of Performance Programs Peter TaubPeter Taub
Peter Taub is the director of performance programs at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Taub has been at the head of the MCA’s performing arts program since its conception in 1996.-Education and career:...
was appointed to his position in 1996. Taub was executive director of the Randolph Street Gallery before joining the MCA. His first year of programming included Latin-jazz trumpeter Jerry Gonzalez
Jerry Gonzalez
Jerry Gonzalez is an American-born Latino jazz trumpeter and percussionist, most noteworthy for his contributions to Latin jazz.-Biography:-Early life and career:...
, experimental reedist Douglas Ewart
Douglas Ewart
Douglas R. Ewart is a multi-instrumentalist and instrument builder. He plays sopranino and alto saxophones, clarinets, bassoon, flute, bamboo flutes , and didgeridoo; as well as Rastafarian hand drums .Ewart emigrated to the United States in June 1963 and became...
, and local free-improv artist Liof Munimula.
The MCA Stage has featured local, national, and international theater, dance, music, multimedia, and film performances in its 15-year history. The MCA Stage is known as the "most active interdisciplinary arts presenter in Chicago" in addition to working with local community organizations for the co-presentations of performing arts. The performance program developed Artists Up Close, which is a series of post-show talks, panels, discussions, and artist-led workshops designed to engage the audience with the artists. The 2009 season saw 80 performances featuring dance, music, theater, and cross-disciplinary forms, as well as 40 Artists Up Close discussions or workshops.
Productions
Time is Not Even, Space is Not Empty by the Japanese-American dance artists Eiko & KomaEiko & Koma
Eiko Otake and Takashi Koma Otake, generally known as Eiko & Koma, are a Japanese performance duo. Since 1972, Eiko & Koma have worked as co-artistic directors, choreographers, and performers, creating a unique theater of movement out of stillness, shape, light, sound, and time...
is the first combination exhibition and performance project Taub curated for the MCA. The 2011 exhibition consists of three performances—Naked, The Caravan Project, and Regeneration—and a gallery presentation.
In September 2010, the MCA and Chicago-based Redmoon Theater
Redmoon Theater
Redmoon Theater is a Chicago based not-for-profit theatrical company under the direction of Jim Lasko and Frank Maugeri that specializes in site-specific productions, emphasizing visual spectacle, pageantry, elaborate sets, live music, puppetry, and physical theater. Productions are often out of...
co-produced the project The Astronaut’s Birthday, a multimedia public art spectacle inspired by science fiction and comic books that was projected onto the MCA façade as audience members watched from the MCA plaza. The production used new technologies, live performers, and hand-illustrated shadow imagery to display the 80-foot tall production turning pages like a comic book.
New York-based theater company Elevator Repair Service
Elevator Repair Service
Elevator Repair Service are a New York-based theater ensemble founded by director John Collins and a group of actors in 1991.ERS have performed in various New York including Performance Space 122, The Performing Garage, HERE, The Ontological at St. Mark's Church, The Flea, The Kitchen, and Soho...
performed Gatz at the MCA in the company’s Chicago debut. The performance—a verbatim retelling of the unabridged version of F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
’s The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
—took six hours as performers reenacted the story.
Additional Performances
- Abbey TheatreAbbey TheatreThe Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day...
of Ireland (2011) - Trisha BrownTrisha BrownTrisha Brown is a postmodernist American choreographer and dancer.Brown was born in Aberdeen, Washington, and received a B.A. degree in dance from Mills College in 1958. Brown later received a D.F.A. from Bates College in 2000. For several summers she studied with Louis Horst at the American Dance...
Dance Company (2011) - Cie Heddy Maalem (2011)
- Olafur ArnaldsÓlafur ArnaldsÓlafur Arnalds is a multi-instrumentalist and producer from Mosfellsbær, Iceland. Ólafur Arnalds mixes strings and piano with loops and edgy beats crossing-over from classical to pop....
(2011) - John JasperseJohn JasperseJohn Jasperse is an American choreographer and dancer. Since 1990 he has been artistic director and choreographer of the New York City-based John Jasperse Company....
Company (2011, 2005, 2003) - Young Jean LeeYoung Jean LeeYoung Jean Lee is a Brooklyn-based playwright and director working in experimental theater. She is the artistic director of Young Jean Lee's Theater Company, a not-for-profit theater company dedicated to producing her work...
’s Theater Company (2010) - Akram KhanAkram KhanAkram Khan may refer to:*Akram Khan *Akram Khan *Akram Khan...
Company (2010) - Philip GlassPhilip GlassPhilip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
(2009) - Anna HalprinAnna HalprinAnna Halprin helped pioneer the experimental art form known as postmodern dance and referred to herself as the breaker of modern dance. Halprin, along with her contemporaries such as Trisha Brown, Simone Forti, Yvonne Rainer, John Cage, and Robert Morris, collaborated and built a community based...
/Anne Collod & guests (2009) - Compagnie Marie ChouinardMarie ChouinardMarie Chouinard, OC is a Canadian dancer, choreographer, and dance company director.-Company Background:In 1978 Chouinard presented her first work, Crystallization. After 12 years as a solo performer and choreographer, Chouinard founded her own company in 1990, the COMPAGNIE MARIE...
(2009) - Lucinda ChildsLucinda ChildsLucinda Childs is an American postmodern dancer/choreographer. Her compositions are known for their minimalistic movements yet complex transitions. Childs is most famous for being able to turn the slightest movements into an intricate choreographic masterpiece...
(2009) - Bill T. JonesBill T. JonesBill T. Jones is an American artistic director, choreographer and dancer.-Early life:Jones was born in Bunnell, Florida and his family moved North as part of the Great Migration in the first half of the twentieth century. They settled in Wayland, New York, where Jones attended Wayland High School...
(2008) - Laurie AndersonLaurie AndersonLaura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
(2008) - Mike DaiseyMike DaiseyMike Daisey is an American monologist, author, and actor best known for his full-length extemporaneous monologues. His breakthrough work 21 Dog Years is an account of life as an Amazon.com employee during the dot-com boom. Since that time he has created monologues about Nikola Tesla, L...
(2008) - Complaints ChoirComplaints ChoirComplaints Choir is a community art project that invites people to sing about their complaints in a choir together with fellow complainers. The first Complaints Choir was organized in Birmingham in 2005, followed by the Complaints Choirs of Helsinki, Hamburg and St. Petersburg in 2006. The project...
(2007)
- Diamanda GalasDiamanda GalásDiamanda Galás is an American avant-garde composer, vocalist, pianist, organist, performance artist and painter.Galás has been described as "capable of the most unnerving vocal terror", with her three and a half octave vocal range. She often screams, hisses and growls...
(2007) - Martha GrahamMartha GrahamMartha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
(2007) - Merce CunninghamMerce CunninghamMercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American avant-garde for more than 50 years. Throughout much of his life, Cunningham was considered one of the greatest creative forces in American dance...
(2007) - Chunky MoveChunky MoveChunky Move is an Australian contemporary dance company from Southbank, VictoriaIt was founded in 1995 and debuted at the Melbourne International Arts Festival with artistic director Gideon Obarzanek....
(2007) - Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group (2007)
- Paul TaylorPaul TaylorPaul Taylor is one of the foremost American choreographers of the 20th century.Paul Taylor is the last living member of the pantheon that created America’s indigenous art of modern dance...
Dance Company (2007) - Liz LermanLiz LermanLiz Lerman is an American choreographer and founder of Liz Lerman Dance Exchange.They have appeared at the National Cathedral, Kennedy Center Opera House, and Millennium Stage, Lansburgh Theater, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center,and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.She plans to retire...
Dance Exchange (2006) - Mark MorrisMark MorrisMark William Morris is an American dancer, choreographer and director whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments...
Dance Group (2006) - Kiki & Herb (2005)
- Emio Greco PC (2005)
- DJ SpookyDJ SpookyPaul D. Miller , known by his stage name DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is a Washington DC-born electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics or his fans as "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntablist, a producer, a philosopher, and an author...
(2004) - Societas Raffaello Sanzio (2002)
- dumb typeDumb TypeFounded in 1984, the artist collective Dumb Type is based in Kyoto, Japan.Members are trained in varied disciplines, including visual arts, theatre, dance, architecture, music composition and computer programming...
(2002) - Roger Guenveur SmithRoger Guenveur SmithRoger Guenveur Smith is an American actor, director, and writer.-Early life:Smith was born in Berkeley, California, the son of Helen Guenveur, a dentist, and Sherman Smith, a judge...
(2002)