Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, is proud to present the world premiere of Third Bird, with a libretto and direction by Isaac Mizrahi, music by composer Nico Muhly (played by Ensemble Signal and conducted by Brad Lubman), choreography by John Heginbotham, and lighting by Brandon Stirling Baker. Performances are on Friday, June 3, 2022 at 6pm and 7:30pm; Saturday, June 4, 2022 at 2:30pm and 4pm; and on Sunday, June 5 at 2:30pm and 4pm. Each 30-minute performance will take place in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designedPeter B. Lewis Theater at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Recommended for Ages 5 and older. Full vaccination required for all.

 

CAST

Isaac Mizrahi, Narrator

Marjorie Folkman, Duck

Christine Flores, Bird

Ramona Kelley, Zookeeper

Lindsey Jones, Cat

Daniel Pettrow, Ostrich

Derrick Arthur, Ornithologist

Norton Owen, Grandfather

Gus Solomons Jr, Moon

 

Since 2007, Works & Process has produced sold-out performances of Sergei Prokofiev's charming children's classic Peter & the Wolf directed and narrated by Isaac Mizrahi. After over one hundred performances, Mizrahi was inspired to create an homage to this iconic work, and during the pandemic Works & Process commissioned Third Bird. Highlighting a cast of eight, including a flying bluebird, a swimming duck, and a running ostrich, Third Bird celebrates each individual's unique strengths.

 

Throughout the pandemic, Works & Process continued to provide opportunities for artists and pioneered the bubble residency making it possible for artists to safely gather and create. The spring 2022 season will feature the official world premieres of works created by New York artists – many representing historically marginalized performing arts cultures – and incubated during the peak of the pandemic inside 2020-21 Works & Process bubble residencies. Third Bird was developed in an April 2021 Works & Process bubble residency at the Catskill Mountain Foundation and a November 2021 Works & Process LaunchPAD "Process as Destination" residency at The Church, Sag Harbor. Alongside premieres of commissions, Works & Process will present performance excerpts and artist discussions about new works prior to their premieres at leading organizations including BAAD!, Federal Hall, Glimmerglass Festival, The Metropolitan Opera, and New York City Ballet.

 

WORKS & PROCESS TICKETS 

$35, $15 partial view. Pay-what-you-wish tickets are available for purchase online only at worksandprocess.org.

 

Health and Safety Information

Every audience member must be fully vaccinated and will be required to show proof in person of vaccination authorized by the FDA or WHO against COVID-19 before entering the theater. Proof of vaccination may include a CDC Vaccination Card (or photo), NYC COVID Safe app, New York State Excelsior Pass, NYC Vaccination Record, or an official immunization record from outside New York City or the United States. Full vaccination is defined as being two weeks or more after receipt of the second dose in a two-dose series, or two weeks or more after receipt of one dose of a single-dose vaccine.

Visitors over the age of 18 will also be asked to show a photo ID.

At this time, children under the age of 5, for whom there is currently no available vaccination, will not be permitted to attend this performance regardless of the vaccination status of their guardian.

Bring your three-ply face mask, N-95, or equivalent to keep yourself and one another safe. All individuals will be required to wear a face mask at all times.

There is no coat check; please do not bring bags.

Do not attend if in the ten days leading up to the performance, you have tested positive or experienced COVID-19 symptoms or come into close or proximate contact with a confirmed or suspected COVID-19 case. If you are unable to attend due to COVID-19 exposure, please contact boxoffice@guggenheim.org in advance of the performance.

An inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public environment where people are present. Those visiting the museum do so at their own risk of exposure.

 

Commissioned by Works & Process, Third Bird was developed in a Works & Process bubble residency at Catskill Mountain Foundation in spring 2021, made possible through the generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Subsequent development of Third Bird took place through Works & Process LaunchPAD "Process as Destination" residency at The Church, Sag Harbor. Music commissioning supported by the Ellis L. Phillips Foundation. Works & Process has received support from the U.S. Small Business Administration Shuttered Venue Operators Grant and Paycheck Protection Program and NYC Employee Retention Grant Program.

 

Isaac Mizrahi

Isaac Mizrahi has worked extensively in the entertainment industry as a performer, host, writer, designer and producer for over 30 years. He has an annual residency at Café Carlyle in New York City and has performed at various venues across the country such as Joe's Pub, The Regency Ballroom and several City Winery locations nationwide. The New York Times noted, "he qualifies as a founding father of a genre that fuses performance art, music and stand-up comedy." He is the subject and co-creator of Unzipped, a documentary following the making of his Fall 1994 collection which received an award at the Sundance Film Festival. He hosted his own television talk show The Isaac Mizrahi Show for seven years, has written three books, and has made countless appearances in movies and on television. He served as a judge on Project Runway: All-Stars for the series' entire seven-season run. Mizrahi has directed productions of A Little Night Music and The Magic Flute for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Mizrahi has his own production company, Isaac Mizrahi Entertainment, under which he has several projects in development in television, theatre and literature. His New York Times Bestselling memoir, I.M., was published in February 2019. helloisaac.com

 

Nico Muhly

Nico Muhly, born in 1981, is an American composer who writes orchestral music, works for the stage, music for film, chamber music and sacred music. He's received commissions from The Metropolitan Opera: Two Boys (2011), and Marnie (2018); Carnegie Hall, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Australian Chamber Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Tallis Scholars, and King's College, Cambridge, among others. He is a collaborative partner at the San Francisco Symphony and has been featured at the Barbican and the Philharmonie de Paris as composer, performer, and curator. An avid collaborator, he has worked with choreographers Benjamin Millepied at the Paris Opéra Ballet, Bobbi Jene Smith at the Juilliard School, Justin Peck and Kyle Abraham at New York City Ballet; artists Sufjan Stevens, The National, Teitur, Anohni, James Blake and Paul Simon. His work for screen includes scores for The Reader (2008) and Kill Your Darlings (2013), the BBC adaptation of Howards End (2017) and Pachinko (2022). Recordings of his works have been released by Decca and Nonesuch, and he is part of the artist-run record label Bedroom Community, which released his first two albums, Speaks Volumes (2006) and Mothertongue (2008). nicomuhly.com

 

John Heginbotham

John Heginbotham is a Brooklyn-based choreographer, performer, and teacher. Mr. Heginbotham graduated from The Juilliard School in 1993 with a BFA in Dance, and was awarded the Martha Hill Prize for Sustained Achievement in Dance. From 1998 – 2012, John was a member of the internationally renowned Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG). Mr. Heginbotham is active as a freelance choreographer, working frequently in the worlds of ballet, opera, and theater. In 2011, he founded a contemporary dance company committed to supporting, producing, and sustaining his choreographic work. In 2015, Mr. Heginbotham choreographed Daniel Fish's TONY Award-winning production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! (Bard Summerscape, St. Ann's Warehouse, 2019 Broadway Revival, National Tour, London's Young Vic). In Spring 2020, as NYC went into lockdown, John and Dance Heginbotham shifted focus from preparing in-person performances to the creation of dance and theater works specifically for video, including the ongoing 24 Caprices project. Dance Heginbotham celebrated its 10th Anniversary in January 2022 with an in-studio performance at the historic Martha Graham Studio Theater. Following Third Bird, Dance Heginbotham will share a new work set to Holst's The Planets with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony in July, will return to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in August, and collaborate with The Knights in August at La Jolla Music Society's Summerfest 2022. Mr. Heginbotham is currently a Research Fellow at the National Center for Choreography at The University of Akron (NCCAkron). As a teacher, he offers dance master classes in the United States and abroad. He has taught at institutions including Princeton University, Barnard College, George Mason University, Laban Centre in London, School of Visual Arts, University of California, Berkeley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Washington. Mr. Heginbotham is on faculty at Dartmouth College and is the Director of the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble, and is a founding teacher of Dance for PD®, an ongoing collaboration between the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson Group. danceheginbotham.org

 

Ensemble Signal and Brad Lubman

Ensemble Signal is a NY-based ensemble dedicated to offering the broadest possible audience access to a diverse range of contemporary works through performance, commissioning, recording, and education. Since its debut in 2008, Signal has performed over 350 concerts, premiered numerous works, and co-produced ten recordings. Signal was founded by Co-Artistic/Executive Director Lauren Radnofsky and Co-Artistic Director/Conductor Brad Lubman. Described by the New York Times as "one of the most vital groups of its kind" and "A new-music ensemble that by this point practically guarantees quality performances," Signal regularly performs with Lubman and features a supergroup of independent artists from the modern music scene. Lubman, one of the foremost conductors of modern music and a leading figure in the field for over two decades, is a frequent guest with the world's most distinguished orchestras and new music ensembles. signalensemble.org

 

Brandon Stirling Baker

Brandon Stirling Baker is an award-winning lighting designer working internationally in the areas of dance, opera and theatre. Baker has worked with a diverse group of directors, choreographers, composers and visual artists including Justin Peck, Savion Glover, Shepard Fairey, Sufjan Stevens, Jamar Roberts, William Forsythe, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Bryce Dessner, Daniel Buren, Eva LeWitt, George Condo, Pam Tanowitz, Alonzo King, Damian Woetzel, Karl Jensen, Marcel Dzama, Stephen Powers, Michelle Dorrance, and Benjamin Millepied. His lighting can be seen internationally in the repertories of New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Berlin Staatsballet, Miami City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Boston Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Houston Ballet, Semperoper Dresden, Opera Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Paul Taylor's American Modern Dance, Los Angeles Dance Project and many others. Since 2010, Baker has been a frequent collaborator with Tony Award winning choreographer Justin Peck. Baker's lighting has been presented nationally and internationally by major venues including Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Theatre du Chatelet (Paris), Sadlers Wells (London), Hong Kong Cultural Center, Maison de La Danse (Lyon), Teatro Carlo Felice (Genoa) and the Guggenheim Bilbao (Spain). Other international credits include premieres in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, South America, Cuba, Jamaica, United Kingdom and Canada. In 2019, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Works & Process series commissioned Mr.Baker with a program "The Choreography of Light" dedicated to his work as a lighting designer for ballet. Mr.Baker received the prestigious Knight of Illumination Award (KOI-USA) in 2019, Lotos Foundation Prize in 2016, and Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU Residency in 2018. Mr.Baker was appointed Lighting Director and Lighting Designer of Boston Ballet in 2018. stirlingbaker.com

 

Works & Process at the Guggenheim 

Described by The New York Times as "forward thinking" and "an exceptional opportunity to understand something of the creative process," since 1984 Works & Process has welcomed New Yorkers to see, hear, and meet the most acclaimed performers and creators of the performing arts. Led by Producer Caroline Cronson and Executive Director Duke Dang, Works & Process nurtures and champions new works, shapes representation, amplifies underrepresented voices and performing arts cultures, and offers audiences unprecedented access to generations of leading creators and performers. Artist-driven programs blending performance highlights with insightful discussions are, when permitted, followed by receptions in the rotunda, producing an opportunity for collective learning and community building while also helping to cultivate a more inclusive, fair, and representative world.

Approximately fifty performances take place annually in the Guggenheim's Frank Lloyd Wright–designed, 273-seat Peter B. Lewis Theater. Annually, Works & Process produces a program at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain as well. In 2017 Works & Process established a residency program inviting artists to create newly commissioned performances made in and for the iconic Guggenheim rotunda. In 2020 Works & Process Artists (WPA) Virtual Commissions was created to financially support 84 new works and over 280 artists and nurture their creative process during the pandemic. To forge a path for artists to safely gather, create, and perform during the pandemic from summer 2020 through spring 2021, Works & Process pioneered and produced 250 bubble residencies supporting 247 artists, made possible through the generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. On March 20, 2021, after over a year of shuttered indoor performances and with special guidance from New York State's Department of Health, Works & Process was the first cultural organization to reopen live, indoor ticketed performances in the rotunda of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. worksandprocess.org