Brooklyn Cultural District Tour, Part 1 Preview

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The Center for Fiction

In which we learn about one of the newest, and oldest, cultural institutions to join the District - The Center for Fiction - and begin to discover a pattern regarding parking lots.Note: Audio recording describes The Center for Fiction from Plaza at 300 Ashland.Produced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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The Mark Morris Dance Center

In which we learn about The Mark Morris Dance Center, and how the sense of humor of the world renowned choreographer is carved in stone.Note: Audio recording describes The Center for Fiction from Plaza at 300 Ashland.Produced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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Rockwell Community Garden and the Piano District of Brooklyn

In which the Piano District plays its final note and we learn why the government destroys community gardens in order to stop terrorists.Tour guide: Ron JanoffMusic: "If I Could Be with You (One Hour Tonight)" (1926) - Player piano version. Composer: James P. JohnsonProduced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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Rockwell Place

In which we learn about how Rockwell Place got its name, a story that takes us from the prostitutes of the Navy Yard to the desegregation of the New York City transit system.Tour guide: Ron JanoffProduced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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Rockwell Place and Fulton Street

In which the now-quiet intersection becomes the noisy and dangerous heart of Brooklyn's entertainment district.Tour guide: Ron JanoffProduced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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The Orpheum Theater (66 Rockwell Place)

In which an 800 seat theater becomes one of the top vaudeville houses in the country and Harry Houdini is locked in a box by a Brooklyn department store.Tour guide: Ron JanoffProduced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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Song: "He’s a Cousin of Mine" (from Marrying Mary)

Brooklyn contralto Nicole Mitchell sings "He’s a Cousin of Mine" (from Marrying Mary), made famous by Brooklyn-born Broadway actress/vocalist Marie Cahill, who starred in the vaudeville show. Many of the most popular female vocalists of the vaudeville years combined contralto voices with a mastery of the newly popular raggy rhythms. Sophie Tucker, Marie Cahill, Belle Baker and others commissioned songs from the African-American songwriters, such as Shelton Brooks and Chris Smith, or from Irving Berlin and those of his younger generation. They often brought their vaudeville specialties with them for Broadway appearances. Marie Cahill interpolated Smith's "He's a Cousin of Mine" into Marrying Mary, where it acted as an anti-"After the Ball." (In that ballad, a man dooms himself to loneliness by failing to trust his fiancée when she is seen talking to her brother.) Each time her character was caught kissing another man, she sang "he's a cousin of mine." When she returned to vaudeville, she commissioned a follow-up song – "He's My Cousin (if she's your niece), which continued "What's good for the gander is good for the geese.""He's a cousin of mine" (1906)Composer: Smith, Chris -- 1879-1949Contralto: Nicole MitchellPiano: Mila HenryRecorded 2021 for the American Opera Project at South Oxford Space, Fort Greene, Brooklyn.Produced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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The Hofbrau House and The Rockwell Terrace Cafe

In which a German dining hall becomes a cabaret where waiters are arrested, the mob murders people and other rollicking good fun.Tour guide: Ron JanoffProduced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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The Majestic

In which we finally meet a theater that still exists and learn about how Eugene O'Neill's actor dad traumatized him into writing a masterpiece.Tour guide: Ron JanoffProduced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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The Strand

In which a massive theater joins the district, big enough to hold Trigger the Horse and a bowling alley. Tour guide: Ron JanoffProduced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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BRIC House / BRIC Arts Media

In which the former home of the Strand becomes BRIC House, the home of BRIC Arts Media, an organization founded in 1979 to sponsor contemporary art shows, performances and community media training programs throughout Brooklyn. Tour guide: Ron JanoffProduced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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UrbanGlass

UrbanGlass, a New York City-based nonprofit, is comprised of two primary spaces: the Agnes Varis Arts Center which is open to the public; and our studios which can be seen by appointment.Agnes Varis Art Center, containing the Robert Lehman Gallery and the UrbanGlass|ware Store is open to the public and free of charge. Tour guide: Ron JanoffProduced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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BAM Strong / BAM Harvey Theater / Rudin Family Gallery

In which a little breaking and entering and a desire to produce a nine hour play leads to the revitalization of The Majestic theater and the creation of a modern arts complex.Tour guide: Ron JanoffProduced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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Momart Newsreel Theater

In which not being able to pronounce a neighborhood in Paris leads to a simple name for a cool foreign film and newsreel movie theater.Tour guide: Ron JanoffProduced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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The Hotel Granada

In which a 15-story luxury residential hotel serves the entertainment district only to descend into one of the most derelict hotels in Brooklyn before meeting the same fate as the old theaters nearby.Tour guide: Ron JanoffProduced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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Polonsky Shakespeare Center / Theatre for a New Audience

In which we meet the world-renowned Theatre for a New Audience at The Polonsky Shakespeare Center, the first freestanding theater for live performance built in New York City since the Vivian Beaumont at Lincoln Center in the 1960s. Tour guide: Ron JanoffProduced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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Song: "Greensleeves"

"Let the sky rain potatoes! Let it thunder to the tune of 'Greensleeves'!" - FalstaffWilliam Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor (written c. 1597; first published in 1602)Contralto: Nicole MitchellMusic Director: Mila HenryRecorded 2021 for the American Opera Project at South Oxford Space, Fort Greene, Brooklyn.Produced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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Betty Carter Park

In which a newly renovated triangle park allows us to acknowledge many of the incredible artists that have called Fort Greene home.Tour guide: Ron JanoffProduced by The American Opera Project and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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