3 minute read
Art Inspiring Artists: Music and Visual Art in New Age and Onstage
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The tradition of ekphrasis, or literary interpretation of visual art, is a recurring motif in poetry, fiction, and dramatic writing alike. The idea of ekphrasis has also been expanded to include works inspired by music or other art forms. In New Age, visual art and music become additional characters in the play, highlighting and illustrating the lives of these women and their quest for agency, selfactualization, and freedom to express themselves.
Orlandersmith’s work often uses music, art, or poetry as tools for artistic expression and an important part of understanding her characters. In New Age, the ways that art and music are centered are key to the very existence of each character. Cass finds solace in the halls of The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Lisette is a writer, not only as a career, but in her very soul; Candy has now abandoned her dream of acting or performing; and Liberty punctuates the entire story and her life with powerful guitar riffs. While these women have different backgrounds, ages, and lives, their connection to the power of art resonates through all of their stories.
Music and visual art have been key elements in many plays in the theatrical canon. While musical theater and opera are genres of their own in which music is a central part of the story, the influence of music can also be seen in “straight” plays or plays with music. The same can be said about the appearance of visual art and artists as inspiration for theatrical works. At Milwaukee Rep, musicals and musical revues abound on our stages, especially in the Stackner Cabaret, but many plays we produce embrace the power of art, artists, music, and musicians as well.
A few other pieces produced by Milwaukee Rep in the past 25 years that embrace the world of music or art and the people who create it:
End of the Rainbow
by Peter Quilter (2013/2014 Season) brings audiences into Judy Garland’s final residency at Talk of the Town in London and her larger-thanlife personality and problems.
My Name is Asher Lev
by Aaron Posner (2010/2011 Season) examines the life of a young painting prodigy and the conflict between his talent and desire for self-expression and his Hasidic Jewish faith.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
by August Wilson (2010/2011 Season), set during a recording session with blues legend Ma Rainey and her musicians, examines art, race, religion, and the exploitation of black artists by white music producers.
Picasso at the Lapin Agile
by Steve Martin (1998/1999 Season) is an absurdist comedy that places Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso in a Paris cafe in 1904, just before they both changed their fields and the world.
by Yasmina Reza (2000/2001 Season) examines the meaning of art and friendship through the lens of three friends with wildly different opinions on a modern art piece that one of them purchases.
Anthony Fleming III and Ernest Perry, Jr. in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Photo Credit: Alan Simons. by Steven Dietz (2002/2003 Season) centers around a lonely artist who is offered the chance to forge Van Gogh’s “final self-portrait.” As he grapples with the deception, his world intersects with the spirits of various artists, including Van Gogh himself.
Bach at Leipzig
by Itamar Moses (2004/2005 Season) brings a young Bach to audition for a post as organist at the famed Thomaskirche. Farcical bribery and shenanigans ensue as the potential organists vie for the patronage of the church.
Amadeus
by Peter Shaffer (1998/1999 Season) pits the devout, eldery composer Salieri against the boorish and yet magnificently talented young Mozart while Mozart seeks approval by an aristocracy that does not seem to understand his genius.
Dinah Was
by Oliver Goldstick (2000/2001 Season) follows legendary blues singer Dinah Washington as she grapples with racism, addiction, love, and her life’s journey.
