Fw: Psycho-Pious Purim Rock Opera March 2003

[Shayna Silverstein <shaynasilverstein...>]

Estherminator Press Release



        
      ESTHERMINATOR
      Psycho-Pious  Rock Opera to Hit NY, LA, SF in March
      Bi-coastal Jewish creative team is putting the "fun" back in 
fundamentalism 
        www.storahtelling.org
      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
      Press Contact:
      Shayna Silverstein
      (917) 969-2449
      office (at) storahtelling(dot)org 
     
         
      New York - Monday, February 17, 2003 - Purim's back! And coming to a city 
near you is Estherminator: a psycho-pious Purim rock opera, twisting the Scroll 
of Esther to unveil the truths and taboos about Jewish power, royal vengeance, 
inter-racial relations, and the death penalty. Estherminator weaves original 
music, a timeless tale of sex and politics, and a masquerade ball where you 
have to drink until you can't tell the difference between right and wrong.
       
      For 4 years, Amy Tobin and Amichai Lau-Lavie have been creating and 
performing radical shows that reinterpret Jewish culture for our times in San 
Francisco and New York, respectively. Estherminator is their first 
collaboration and will travel on a three-city flying carpet ride, premiering in 
New York on Saturday, March 15 at Opaline in the East Village, in Los Angeles's 
Echo Club on Sunday, March 16, and in San Francisco on Monday, March 17 at 111 
Minna Gallery.
       
      The show will be presented to celebrate Purim, the only Jewish holiday 
where all are instructed to actively blur the boundaries of the ordinary, to 
get intoxicated, wear masks and thus reveal, if briefly, their secrets and 
shadows. The night's 3,000 years old ritual calls for a public retelling of the 
Biblical Scroll of Esther, reenacted with bawdy audience participation.
       
      Estherminator will reclaim this enduring and problematic drama of sex and 
politics, using the Scroll of Esther and the Purim tradition of turning things 
upside down as an allegory for understanding power, courage, and the 
ambivalence towards the "other." Like much of Amy and Amichai's work, this 
Purim show finds the modern resonance in an old Jewish text, boldly examining 
the roles of Jews as victims and/or victimizers, the traditional roles of women 
in biblical texts, and the taboos relating to gender, sexuality and violence. 
Purim is, after all the day of the trickster, where transgression is sacred and 
change is possible.
       
      The NY show will mark Amichai Lau-Lavie and the Storahtelling Group's 
fourth consecutive year of celebrated Purim events. Last year's Transgresther 
Ball - held at the Elbow Room on two packed nights - was reviewed by Time Out 
as "You couldn't ask for a more colorful Purim celebration!"  Estherminator, 
held this year at Club Opaline on Avenue A will be followed by the underground 
sounds of dj's Nickodemus & Mariano's "Turntables on the Hudson" party.
       
      Musicians  include Kevin Carnes of the San Francisco-based band Broun 
Fellinis, Jacob Elijah Aginsky, pianist for Vivendo de Pao and Subnautic, and 
David Ewell, also from Vivendo de Pao.
       
      The three city tour is the brainchild of Amy and Amichai, two creative 
performance artists on two coasts, seeking to nationally promote new and bold 
interpretations of Jewish life, reclaiming Jewish rituals and texts that can 
provide a guide to understanding the social issues that face us today. This 
collaboration was fostered and is supported by the Reboot Network, a 
philanthropic think tank geared towards the enhancement of the renaissance of 
interest in Jewish culture. Reboot is supported in part by Stephen Spileberg's 
Righetous Persons Foundation.
       
      Amichai Lau-Lavie, storyteller and mythologist, is the artistic director 
of the Storahtelling Project, a NYC based experimental ritual-theatre group, 
comprised of artists and educators, reclaiming the art of sacred Jewish 
storytelling. This project is committed to promoting and fostering an informed, 
dynamic and relevant Jewish culture.
       
       
      "Full of drama, ancient wisdom and suspense, Storahtelling is a 
revolutionary approach to Judaism." Jewish Journal, LA
       
       
      Estherminator: a psycho-pious Purim rock opera
      Saturday, March 15, 2003
      Doors open 8:00PM with live dj's
      Showtime 9:00PM
      $15 cover, $10 with costume
      Reserved Tix: 212.284.6776 office (at) storahtelling(dot)org
       
      www.storahtelling.org
       
      Club Opaline is located at 85 Avenue A between 5th and 6th Streets.  F,V 
train to 2nd Avenue.  N,R,6 to Astor Place.  Club details available at (212) 
995-8684. 




_______________________________________________________  



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                           

PRESS CONTACT: Shayna Silverstein   (917) 969-2449 office (at) 
storahtelling(dot)org      

ESTHERMINATOR Psycho-Pious Rock Opera to Hit NY, LA, SF in March Bi-coastal 
Jewish creative team is putting the "fun" back in fundamentalism     New York, 
February 17, 2003 - Purim's back! And coming to a city near you is 
Estherminator: a psycho-pious Purim rock opera, twisting the Scroll of Esther 
to unveil the truths and taboos about Jewish power, royal vengeance, 
inter-racial relations, and the death penalty. Estherminator weaves original 
music, a timeless tale of sex and politics, and a masquerade ball where you 
have to drink until you can't tell the difference between right and wrong.   
For 4 years, Amy Tobin and Amichai Lau-Lavie have been creating and performing 
radical shows that reinterpret Jewish culture for our times in San Francisco 
and New York, respectively. Estherminator is their first collaboration and will 
travel on a three-city flying carpet ride, premiering in New York on Saturday, 
March 15 at Opaline in the East Village, in Los Angeles's Echo Club on Sunday, 
March 16, and in San Francisco on Monday, March 17 at 111 Minna Gallery.   The 
show will be presented to celebrate Purim, the only Jewish holiday where all 
are instructed to actively blur the boundaries of the ordinary, to get 
intoxicated, wear masks and thus reveal, if briefly, their secrets and shadows. 
The night's 3,000 years old ritual calls for a public retelling of the Biblical 
Scroll of Esther, reenacted with bawdy audience participation.   Estherminator 
will reclaim this enduring and problematic drama of sex and politics, using the 
Scroll of Esther and the Purim tradition of turning things upside down as an 
allegory for understanding power, courage, and the ambivalence towards the 
"other." Like much of Amy and Amichai's work, this Purim show finds the modern 
resonance in an old Jewish text, boldly examining the roles of Jews as victims 
and/or victimizers, the traditional roles of women in biblical texts, and the 
taboos relating to gender, sexuality and violence. Purim is, after all the day 
of the trickster, where transgression is sacred and change is possible.   The 
NY show will mark Amichai Lau-Lavie and the Storahtelling Group's fourth 
consecutive year of celebrated Purim events. Last year's Transgresther Ball - 
held at the Elbow Room on two packed nights - was reviewed by Time Out as "You 
couldn't ask for a more colorful Purim celebration!"  Estherminator, held this 
year at Club Opaline on Avenue A will be followed by the underground sounds of 
dj's Nickodemus & Mariano's "Turntables on the Hudson" party.   Musicians  
include Kevin Carnes of the San Francisco-based band Broun Fellinis, Jacob 
Elijah Aginsky, pianist for Vivendo de Pao and Subnautic, and David Ewell, also 
from Vivendo de Pao.   The three city tour is the brainchild of Amy and 
Amichai, two creative performance artists on two coasts, seeking to nationally 
promote new and bold interpretations of Jewish life, reclaiming Jewish rituals 
and texts that can provide a guide to understanding the social issues that face 
us today. This collaboration was fostered and is supported by the Reboot 
Network, a philanthropic think tank geared towards the enhancement of the 
renaissance of interest in Jewish culture. Reboot is supported in part by 
Stephen Spileberg's Righetous Persons Foundation.   Amichai Lau-Lavie, 
storyteller and mythologist, is the artistic director of the Storahtelling 
Project, a NYC based experimental ritual-theatre group, comprised of artists 
and educators, reclaiming the art of sacred Jewish storytelling. This project 
is committed to promoting and fostering an informed, dynamic and relevant 
Jewish culture.     "Full of drama, ancient wisdom and suspense, Storahtelling 
is a revolutionary approach to Judaism." Jewish Journal, LA     Estherminator: 
a psycho-pious Purim rock opera Saturday, March 15, 2003 Doors open 8:00PM with 
live dj's Showtime 9:00PM $15 cover, $10 with costume Reserved Tix: 
212.284.6776 office (at) storahtelling(dot)org,   www.storahtelling.org   Club 
Opaline is located at 85 Avenue A between 5th and 6th Streets.  F,V train to 
2nd Avenue.  N,R,6 to Astor Place.  Club details available at (212) 995-8684. 
_________________________________________________________________