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Archives for October 2010

Theatre Review: “Cop Piece: Undercover Mime”

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Sean Edward Lewis and Laura Murphy at Lilac Co and St. John's Theatre. Photo by Philippe Theise

“Cop Piece: Undercover Mime,” the new play from Greenpoint company Lilac Co and St. John’s Theatre, delves into the frenetic cohabitation of two marginalized, unsteady characters who claim to be on the run: David, a former beat cop, and Cleo, a vampish malcontent in the fragrance industry.

“We all go through periods that can’t be skirted,” David declares in an unusually lucid moment, and this principle underlies the pair’s expression of and assault on their afflictions with a variety of dubious tactics. “I love pornography. Maybe, with that love, we can build something,” Cleo opines. It doesn’t happen.

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An evening with Hungarian composer Tibor Szemzö @ WG Gallery

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Alma on Dobbin / WG Gallery present an evening with the renowned Hungarian composer Tibor Szemzö, who will discuss his current musical composition,”Kafka” with clips of past films and musical works.

Hungarian composer TIBOR SZEMZO was born in Budapest in 1955, beginning his musical studies at the Kodály method school at the age of six, graduated at the Hungarian Academy of Music. Szemzö formed his own trio (later a quartet), and in 1979 he founded the minimalist ensemble Group 180. It was a profoundly influential ensemble, renowned for its performances of Hungarian minimalism; it also performed works by John Cage and Steve Reich.

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Last Chance to See “The Vanishing Icons of Metropolitan Ave”

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Styrofoam hammer signage created by Stanley Wisniewolski in the 1980s. It still hangs over Crest Hardware on Metropolitan Avenue.

Styrofoam hammer signage created by Stanley Wisniewolski in the 1980s. It still hangs over Crest Hardware on Metropolitan Avenue.

Partners & Spade is currently displaying hunks of Williamsburg history at its space on Great Jones Street. “The Vanishing Icons of Metropolitan Avenue: A History of Williamsburg’s Handmade Shop Signs from the 1980s,” curated by Karen Hudes, features three-dimensional signs that were once ubiquitous along Grand Street and Graham and Metropolitan Avenues. Hanging from the ceiling are cartoonish Styrofoam sculptures of an apple, a barber pole, a water tower, a cow’s head, and a phallic cigar with a pack of cigarettes.

Stanley Wisniewolski concocted the emblems as part of a community revitalization project spearheaded by St. Nick’s Neighborhood Preservation Corporation, where he worked as the resident graphic designer. Over seventy-five of the hand-carved and hand-painted signs had adorned local shops in the 1980s, bringing color and whimsy to the somewhat desolate area. Today, only two signs survive in their original element: a well-maintained hammer over Crest Hardware and a weathered Italian chef holding a pizza over Tony’s Pizza. Fortunately, Hudes has retrieved from the municipal archives a trove of color photographs showing the signs as they appeared in the 1980s, among them a camera over Metro Photo, a ketchup bottle over Thriftway Discount Center, a skeleton key over The Penny Saver, and a mortar and pestle over Napolitano Pharmacy. The exhibition originated at the City Reliquary, in Williamsburg, last spring and can be seen at Partners & Spade through October 31.

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Nicolette Camille Floral Design

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A job that allows Nicolette Camille to always be surrounded by beautiful flowers

Photos by Eric Ryan Anderson.

Asked if she has any bridezilla stories she can share, Nicolette Owen, owner of Nicolette Camille Floral Design, knocked on wood and said, “No!” Surrounded by beautiful flowers in her Williamsburg studio—white peonies, blue and purple hydrangea, velvety lambs ears, young blueberries, columbine, sweet peas and antique roses—one must deduct that floral design is among the most coveted jobs in the world, especially when you have your own company and can bring your creative visions to fruition.

“A lot people say they would love to have my job,” says the young designer, “but I remind them of all the hard work that goes into it, like getting up at five in the morning to get to the flower market. Doing deliveries. There are times when I’m so tired after working on a big wedding, that immediately after the flowers are delivered all I want to do is to go to sleep,” she says.

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