The people's Review of Zuccotti Park
Zuccotti Park, a new musical about the human side of economics has been selected for the final rounds of Venus/Adonis 2015 festival after running to full house on each performance.
Here is what some amazing audience members had to say:
"For the last 7 years, I've been lucky enough to come to NYC and see the
most amazing shows. This year, I saw a show that impacted me far
greater than any show had in a long time, and it wasn't even on
Broadway! ZUCCOTTI PARK which is playing at the Robert Moss theater is
an original work with Music by Vatrena King and Book and Lyrics by Catherine Hurd. The show deals with the OCCUPY MOVEMENT held in Zuccotti Park. The work had a "staged reading" at the Woodland Opera House
in which I was lucky enough to play a few of the parts, and when I had
heard that it was accepted in the Venus Adonis Theater Festival AND was
being directed and choreographed by the other worldly talented Luis Salgado,
I HAD to go. 
Now because I was in this show, it may seem I would have
some bias, but I made a promise to myself that if I didn't like it, even
in the least, I wouldn't say a world. Now, that said, what I saw
tonight was the most heartfelt, raw and poignant show I have seen in a
VERY long time. The young cast had poured it's heart and soul into this
work, and there was NOT a false note either sung or said during the
whole night. Luis Salgado looked deep into the work and created images
and moments that were powerful, touching, and literally had me in tears 3
times during the night. The music is BEAUTIFUL, and flowing and
breaths life into the characters as their words flow into song, and
spoken conversation. Levin Valayil who plays the protestor leader put
in a powerful, and natural performance. Daniel Karp who plays a soldier
back from his 2nd duty in Afghanistan is strong and tender, and the
last look on his face as he reads the beginning words of the DECLARATION
OF INDEPENDENCE says it all. Ended by a powerful number, WE THE
PEOPLE, the whole audience felt like they had just witnessed something
very special. It has made it to the final rounds of the festival, and
will be playing again this Wednesday the 4th, and if I wasn't leaving
that day, I'd be there. If you are in NYC, go see this show at the
Robert Moss Theater. Congratulations Catherine Hurd, Vatrena King and
the beyond talented Luis Salgado! May it move ever close to the great
white way!" - Michael Maples
Actress and Singer Elasea Douglas " Lady E" came to Zuccotti Park
the musical and said: "I had the privilege of seeing the beginning
stages of Director & Choreographer Luis Salgado work in Zuccotti
Park. Check it out. Its Great!"
"I confess I wanted them gone. After months of protesting, of running a gauntlet morning, noon & night between the cops and the 99% I had my fill of them. Of news trucks blocking & the city closing streets in lower Manhattan, of not having “my” park available during lunch. I wanted THEM gone. The funny thing is I AM THEM! I worked 2 blocks away from Zuccotti Park when the real life drama of what is now known as the Occupy Wall Street movement played out in living color every day for almost 2 years right in front of my eyes.
Needless to say I was curious to see how what many others and I had witnessed would be interpreted on stage. Here’s the deal, I learned more about the reasons this movement came about in 90 minutes than I could have imagined. And, I learned it all through the power and beauty of music, song and dance. Luis Salgado and Company do a spectacularly brilliant job of helping us understand the multi facets of Occupy on all sides. The theater where it plays is perfect because much like Zuccotti Park, the locale may be small but the reverberations of what transpire both in the park and on stage are bigger than the space. It’s simply sublime to hear and experience everything that is happening in this intimate setting and to be one with the ensemble as the story unfolds.
It would be a shame to miss tomorrow’s last performance at 7 PM of this provocative work. I was moved almost to tears during Bill of Rights and Hero. I think that Jessica Smith who has a minor role as Sarah has a voice that is sweetly soothing. I also give a special shout out to the unseen band who do an outstanding job. Go see this, I’ve full confidence that like me you will be very, very, glad you did! SUPPORT LIVE THEATER!" - Priscilla Hernandez
Founder of Occupy.com David Sauvage said: "Tonight I saw Zuccotti Park the Musical. And it was GOOD. True to the spirit of Occupy. And FUN. I recommend it in good conscience to all my fellow Occupiers of yore. It's worth it".
"I loved the work. It's amazing how you get to do so much with so little, and how effective it is when the direction of a text is based on truth honesty, and emotions are focused on the real experiences of the human being (as it applies and impact everyone - without prejudice, preconceptions or agendas), the result is extraordinary! The work is focused on a very huge in the love for the craft and humanity, and I'm deeply touched" - Javier E. Gomez (Translated to English form original review in Spanish)
Luis Salgado is a genius! That is the only thing Catherine Hurd, Laura Poppy Peach-Nichols and I have to say after a long, wonderful, chilly, fulfilling day in New York City after spending an afternoon rehearsal with 50 or so young people who gave Zuccotti Park an ecstatic standing ovation... and then waxed poetical about what it meant to them. - Feeling grateful... and humble.. and well.. that's MORE words than I said I could say!! smile emoticon Much LOVE!! - Vatrena King
All Pictures in this blog are credited to the amazing Victoria Medina:
The Zuccotti Parkdproduction has a special contribution of this loving writer & photographer who donated some of her pictures from her current book "One Nation, One Mission, One Promise" to support this Festival Presentation. Audience members get to take a copy of it with them when they come to see the show.
Enjoy the pics she took from our show:
The show with book and lyrics by Catherine Hurd and music composed by Vatrena King begins when William Cooper (Daniel Karp) takes leave to visit childhood friend, Kate (Ashley Brooke) in NYC after eight years at war. She is now beautiful, spirited and passionate about the Occupy Movement. As his feelings for Kate grow, Cooper also connects with her protester friends, learns their stories and takes a good hard look at what it means to be an American. Joshua Coyne serves as Music Director.
The cast includes: Corrado Alicata, Ashley Brooke, Dylan C. Digel, Tim Fitzsimons, Sonya Higgins, Dan Iwrey, Becky Grace Kalman, Daniel Karp, Brian Kinnard, Cara Maltz, Adriana Martinez, Matthew Martinez, Cait Murphy, Sarah Sirota, Evan Michael Smith, Jessica Smith, Baba Tavares, Megan Tischhauser, Alexander Tomas & Levin Valayil.
The Salgado Productions team, consulting all departments are Lighting Designer: Herrick Goldman, Costume Consultant: Harry Nadal, Scenic Design Consultant: Kate Rance, Production Supervisor Heather Hogan, Production assistant Greg Uliasz, Props by Alina Uzlov, and Assistant Director Valeria Cossu. From California Project Supervisor Poppy Peach. General Management for Zuccotti Park will be handled by Denisse Ambert and Salgado Productions.
http://thejourneytoartwithapurpose.com
Here is what some amazing audience members had to say:
"For the last 7 years, I've been lucky enough to come to NYC and see the
most amazing shows. This year, I saw a show that impacted me far
greater than any show had in a long time, and it wasn't even on
Broadway! ZUCCOTTI PARK which is playing at the Robert Moss theater is
an original work with Music by Vatrena King and Book and Lyrics by Catherine Hurd. The show deals with the OCCUPY MOVEMENT held in Zuccotti Park. The work had a "staged reading" at the Woodland Opera House
in which I was lucky enough to play a few of the parts, and when I had
heard that it was accepted in the Venus Adonis Theater Festival AND was
being directed and choreographed by the other worldly talented Luis Salgado,
I HAD to go. Now because I was in this show, it may seem I would have
some bias, but I made a promise to myself that if I didn't like it, even
in the least, I wouldn't say a world. Now, that said, what I saw
tonight was the most heartfelt, raw and poignant show I have seen in a
VERY long time. The young cast had poured it's heart and soul into this
work, and there was NOT a false note either sung or said during the
whole night. Luis Salgado looked deep into the work and created images
and moments that were powerful, touching, and literally had me in tears 3
times during the night. The music is BEAUTIFUL, and flowing and
breaths life into the characters as their words flow into song, and
spoken conversation. Levin Valayil who plays the protestor leader put
in a powerful, and natural performance. Daniel Karp who plays a soldier
back from his 2nd duty in Afghanistan is strong and tender, and the
last look on his face as he reads the beginning words of the DECLARATION
OF INDEPENDENCE says it all. Ended by a powerful number, WE THE
PEOPLE, the whole audience felt like they had just witnessed something
very special. It has made it to the final rounds of the festival, and
will be playing again this Wednesday the 4th, and if I wasn't leaving
that day, I'd be there. If you are in NYC, go see this show at the
Robert Moss Theater. Congratulations Catherine Hurd, Vatrena King and
the beyond talented Luis Salgado! May it move ever close to the great
white way!" - Michael MaplesActress and Singer Elasea Douglas " Lady E" came to Zuccotti Park
the musical and said: "I had the privilege of seeing the beginning
stages of Director & Choreographer Luis Salgado work in Zuccotti
Park. Check it out. Its Great!" "I confess I wanted them gone. After months of protesting, of running a gauntlet morning, noon & night between the cops and the 99% I had my fill of them. Of news trucks blocking & the city closing streets in lower Manhattan, of not having “my” park available during lunch. I wanted THEM gone. The funny thing is I AM THEM! I worked 2 blocks away from Zuccotti Park when the real life drama of what is now known as the Occupy Wall Street movement played out in living color every day for almost 2 years right in front of my eyes.
Needless to say I was curious to see how what many others and I had witnessed would be interpreted on stage. Here’s the deal, I learned more about the reasons this movement came about in 90 minutes than I could have imagined. And, I learned it all through the power and beauty of music, song and dance. Luis Salgado and Company do a spectacularly brilliant job of helping us understand the multi facets of Occupy on all sides. The theater where it plays is perfect because much like Zuccotti Park, the locale may be small but the reverberations of what transpire both in the park and on stage are bigger than the space. It’s simply sublime to hear and experience everything that is happening in this intimate setting and to be one with the ensemble as the story unfolds.
It would be a shame to miss tomorrow’s last performance at 7 PM of this provocative work. I was moved almost to tears during Bill of Rights and Hero. I think that Jessica Smith who has a minor role as Sarah has a voice that is sweetly soothing. I also give a special shout out to the unseen band who do an outstanding job. Go see this, I’ve full confidence that like me you will be very, very, glad you did! SUPPORT LIVE THEATER!" - Priscilla Hernandez
Founder of Occupy.com David Sauvage said: "Tonight I saw Zuccotti Park the Musical. And it was GOOD. True to the spirit of Occupy. And FUN. I recommend it in good conscience to all my fellow Occupiers of yore. It's worth it". "I loved the work. It's amazing how you get to do so much with so little, and how effective it is when the direction of a text is based on truth honesty, and emotions are focused on the real experiences of the human being (as it applies and impact everyone - without prejudice, preconceptions or agendas), the result is extraordinary! The work is focused on a very huge in the love for the craft and humanity, and I'm deeply touched" - Javier E. Gomez (Translated to English form original review in Spanish)
Luis Salgado is a genius! That is the only thing Catherine Hurd, Laura Poppy Peach-Nichols and I have to say after a long, wonderful, chilly, fulfilling day in New York City after spending an afternoon rehearsal with 50 or so young people who gave Zuccotti Park an ecstatic standing ovation... and then waxed poetical about what it meant to them. - Feeling grateful... and humble.. and well.. that's MORE words than I said I could say!! smile emoticon Much LOVE!! - Vatrena King
All Pictures in this blog are credited to the amazing Victoria Medina:
Victoria is a photographic artist, writer and performer. Her work can be viewed at http://victoriamedinagallery.com/ Her book, One Nation, One Mission, One Promise is based on her American Spirit Exhibit, and became an Amazon Best Seller in the Art &
Photography category. She is now completing a theater performance piece
based on the same name. Victoria is also a published photographer who
has photographed celebrities and events, and she is a contributing
writer to ANDMagazine.com and ANDSociety.com.
As a performer Victoria has performed in classical and contemporary
productions in the United States and abroad. She is currently a member
of the Articulate Theater Company.
The Zuccotti Parkdproduction has a special contribution of this loving writer & photographer who donated some of her pictures from her current book "One Nation, One Mission, One Promise" to support this Festival Presentation. Audience members get to take a copy of it with them when they come to see the show.
Enjoy the pics she took from our show:
The cast includes: Corrado Alicata, Ashley Brooke, Dylan C. Digel, Tim Fitzsimons, Sonya Higgins, Dan Iwrey, Becky Grace Kalman, Daniel Karp, Brian Kinnard, Cara Maltz, Adriana Martinez, Matthew Martinez, Cait Murphy, Sarah Sirota, Evan Michael Smith, Jessica Smith, Baba Tavares, Megan Tischhauser, Alexander Tomas & Levin Valayil. The Salgado Productions team, consulting all departments are Lighting Designer: Herrick Goldman, Costume Consultant: Harry Nadal, Scenic Design Consultant: Kate Rance, Production Supervisor Heather Hogan, Production assistant Greg Uliasz, Props by Alina Uzlov, and Assistant Director Valeria Cossu. From California Project Supervisor Poppy Peach. General Management for Zuccotti Park will be handled by Denisse Ambert and Salgado Productions.
-&-
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