MUSIC: An Evening with Black Francis at Symphony Space

This coming Friday, Symphony Space—2537 Broadway at 95th Street, NYC—presents an evening with Black Francis, aka Frank Black, aka Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, founder and front man of the Pixies, one of the most influential alternative rock bands of the mid-80s and early-90s.

Fans who know Thompson mostly from the Pixies may be surprised to learn that as a solo artist he has released 19 albums since 1994. Most often recording as Frank Black, Thomspon has pursued a more melodic, country and western-influenced course, but while his music has been decidedly calmando compared to the often explosive electric guitar-based sound of the Pixies, Thompson has by no means forgotten how to rock, especially on those occasions when he has stepped out as Black Francis, either with or without the reunited Pixies.

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ADVENTURE: The Mongol Rally

The Eighteenth-Century Swiss author Madame de Stael once said, “Travel is one of the saddest pleasures in life.” If travel is a lovely single malt Scotch, The Mongol Rally is akin to crack.

The Mongol Rally is a 10,000 mile unsupported car rally traveling from London, UK to Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia. It is adventure philanthropy at its best. Driving across 1/3 of the world in a tiny car, 2 continents, 14 countries, 5 mountain ranges, and 3 deserts; all while raising money for a local charity in Mongolia. I decided to leave all the creature comforts of NYC, put my career on pause for a moment, and willingly subject myself to a potentially hazardous journey.

In life there are a hundreds of ways to die an unexpectedly painful death and thousands of ways to waste away slowly and unconsciously. To feel alive often involves risk. To risk pain for love, risk humiliation to sing, risk potential harm to ascend the highest peak, risk rejection and publish…being ALIVE involves risk. Life dares you at every turn to see if you will take the bait.

I am taking the bait. I want to see where my limits are and expand beyond it.

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PERFORMANCE: The Actors' Roundtable: "Community" Part 1

For 12 weeks, Paden Fallis posed one question each week to a group of professional working actors from a variety of backgrounds in an effort to dig a bit deeper into their artistic working processes. In this second series, an expanded group of actors explores where their art fits into the larger cultural context. ACTORS’ ROUNDTABLE: COMMUNITY PT. 1 I’ve lived in the same borough, same neighborhood, and on the same street for the past decade. Maybe it’s maturity, maybe it’s on the heels of this recent Presidential election, but I’ve been thinking a lot about community lately. I think about my mailman, who’s seen to it over the past ten years to deliver my mail. I think of the guys at the local bodega, who stay open to all hours of the night with everything I need in a pinch. I think of the local shop owners and the local dry cleaner. I see their role in my life on a regular basis. What do you, as an artist, bring to your community? What makes you essential? What makes you impervious to the federal cuts to your profession or to the vagaries of our nation’s economy? Don’t be too precious with this, but tell me—what do you have to offer? - Paden Fallis, Performing Arts Contributing Editor

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PERFORMANCE: The Actors' Roundtable: "The Guru Problem"

For 12 weeks, Paden Fallis posed one question each week to a group of professional working actors from a variety of backgrounds in an effort to dig a bit deeper into their artistic working processes. In this second series, an expanded group of actors explores where their art fits into the larger cultural context. ACTORS’ ROUNDTABLE: THE GURU PROBLEM Do we have a guru problem in our line of work? Oftentimes actors hold to their methods and training with a vice grip, unwilling to deviate. They will define themselves by the school they went to or the teacher they trained with. They’ll stay with the same acting teacher for years on end, tethering themselves to one individual. They look for guidance in the ways of Scientology and Kabbalah. Is this problematic? Are too many in our line of work in danger of losing their individuality? Let me have it. - Paden Fallis, Performing Arts Contributing Editor

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PERFORMANCE: The Actors' Roundtable: "Naming Names"

For 12 weeks, Paden Fallis posed one question each week to a group of professional working actors from a variety of backgrounds in an effort to dig a bit deeper into their artistic working processes. In this second series, an expanded group of actors explores where their art fits into the larger cultural context. ACTORS’ ROUNDTABLE: NAMING NAMES In 1999, legendary film director Elia Kazan received an Honorary Academy Award for his groundbreaking work as a director. In 1952, Kazan was one of many artists who testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, naming names in order to save their own careers. HUAC destroyed careers, ruined lives, and pitted artist against artist, all in the name of fear. Some artists survived without naming names, others were never heard from again. I love Kazan’s films, but I often wonder about the work of which we were deprived when artists became blacklisted in Hollywood. Kazan and his award. What’s your take? - Paden Fallis, Performing Arts Contributing Editor

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