SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

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Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowtiz has long dreamed of building a permanent amphitheater in Coney Island to house the popular summer concert series and now it seems that the dream will come true. According to a report in the New York Times, Markowitz and other city officials have reached a deal to build a brand spanking new $58 million music hall and theater. It will be announced at the beep’s State of the Borough address tonight.

The  5,000-seat theater will be built out of the remains of the landmarked Childs Theater, near the boardwalk’s western end. Markowitz has $48 million in his capital budget with the city pledging $10 million extra for hte project. The theater is being developed by iStar Financial.

If built, the Times describes where the theater would fit in the community and how the theater would serve a variety of events:

[T]he theater would occupy part of a building on the Boardwalk that once housed a branch of the Childs Restaurant chain and is protected by city landmark designation. The theater would also occupy an adjoining lot that has been used as an unauthorized community garden. The concerts would be run by a nonprofit operator. The theater could be used for year-round events, including graduations. There are also discussions about designing the theater so that hundreds of additional people can watch from an adjacent lawn when the weather is warm and dry.

The developer is planning to revive the 90-year-old Childs building as a restaurant, retaining the palatial facade, which is famed for its terra cotta seashell ornamentation, wide-mouthed smiling fish and Neptunes. Part of the building’s western wall would be breached to create the backstage area for the theater.

The proposed theater has faced a long stream of resistance from local synagogues and other neighbors afraid of traffic and noise. Neighbors are also not thrilled at the idea of groups like Iron Maiden blasting heavy metal riffs through the community, but Markowitz told the Times that, in the end, the theater will be a net positive.

“Change, I know, is not easy. This will bring so much joy and happiness to the people of New York and Brooklyn,” said Markowitz.

According to officials, the theater would take two years to complete.

As we reported on Sheepshead Bites last month, the Brooklyn Philharmonic’s “Brighton Beach Series” — which will not be taking place in Brighton Beach — will feature the family workshop, “A Bad Workman Blames His Tools” at the Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst, 7802 Bay Parkway, March 3 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

A description of the event from organizers:

Russian folk music was born in a rich peasant culture, centuries ago and 5,000 miles away, by artists who created music using whatever resources were at their disposal, from wood blocks to washboards to tablespoons. Lack of proper tools held no sway over creativity of the human spirit! The remarkable and distinctive folk music they created had an enormous impact beginning with orchestral music of the 19th century and expanding on into the music of today. The public is invited to join charismatic teaching artists and Brooklyn Phil musicians in a hands-on discovery of these creative traditions.

The event is free of charge, and you can RSVP by going here. For further information, call (718) 488-5700, email info@bphil.org or go to www.bphil.org.

We reported yesterday that the Brooklyn Philharmonic would return to Brighton Beach for the second year in a row. However, we found out after it went up that organizers had to cancel with the Brighton Beach venue, instead hosting two events as part of the “Brighton Beach Series” – and neither will be in Brighton Beach.

The news was distressing for those of us who found comfort in knowing that at least one Brooklyn cultural organization gave some thought to the borough’s nether regions, but there is some hope on the horizon. A rep for the Brooklyn Phil could not comment on why the event was canceled, but said that the organization “is still very much attached to Brighton Beach, and has plans to continue its ties there.”

Here’s the information for the two shows in the Brighton Beach Series:

Chamber Concert
VERA PAVLOVA’S ALBUM FOR THE YOUNG
Sunday, February 10, 2013, 4:00 pm
S. Stevan Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture
Brooklyn Public Library Central Library
10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Free

Tchaikovsky gets personal as acclaimed poet Vera Pavlova and the Brooklyn Phil Chamber Players take an intimate look at the life of a great Russian artist through original poetry, imagery, and music for strings and piano.  Born in Moscow, Pavlova is a graduate of the Gnessin Academy of music and has published eighteen collections of poetry in her native Russian in addition to authoring five opera libretti and lyrics to three cantatas. Now living in New York, Pavlova recalls her childhood and coming of age in Russia through the lense of Tchaikovsky’s Album for the Young and Piano Trio in A minor.  Texts will be presented in Russian with English translations. This free performance will be followed by a post-concert Q&A.

The Brooklyn Philharmonic is honored to partner with the Brooklyn Public Library to present this performance.

Featuring:
Vera Pavlova, poet
Steven Seymour, translator

Program:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Album for the Young, Op. 39
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50 – Mvt. 1. Pezzo elegiac

_____________________________________________

Family Workshop
A BAD WORKMAN BLAMES HIS TOOLS
Sunday, March 3, 2013, 4:00 – 6:00 pm
Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst
7802 Bay Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11214
Free

Russian folk music was born in a rich peasant culture, centuries ago and 5,000 miles away, by artists who created music using whatever resources were at their disposal, from wood blocks to washboards to tablespoons. Lack of proper tools held no sway over creativity of the human spirit! The remarkable and distinctive folk music they created had an enormous impact beginning with orchestral music of the 19th century and expanding on into the music of today. The public is invited to join charismatic teaching artists and Brooklyn Phil musicians in a hands-on discovery of these creative traditions.

UPDATE (1/29/2013 at 9:50 a.m.): We have just learned that this event has been canceled. We are awaiting an explanation from the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

Last year’s successful reinvention of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, led by Artistic Director Alan Pierson, continues with another venture to Brighton Beach.

The 155-year-old institution has been on a new mission to tour “artistically under-served” communities of Brooklyn after losing its home base at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2005. The Philharmonic tailors its performances to reflect the roots of the communities it tours, and for the Brighton Beach series this year, the theme is “All Music is Folk Music: Traditions of the Former Soviet Union.”

The program has been lauded as “remarkably innovative, perhaps even revolutionary,” by Alex Ross of the New Yorker.

“I’m thrilled to be deepening the roots we built last year in Brighton Beach, Downtown Brooklyn and Bed-Stuy; there’s still so much to explore in Brooklyn’s extraordinarily rich and varied communities,” Pierson said in a press release.

The Brighton Beach show will take place February 1.

More event details after the jump.

The following is from our friends at the Bay Improvement Group:

The music of cellos, harpsichords, flutes and clarinets will soon fill Good Shepherd Church as the Homecrest house of worship gets ready to hold its annual concert series.

Every Sunday, from October 7 through December 16, New Yorkers are invited to enjoy recitals by some of the best classical musicians in the world – for free.

This year’s series features clarinetist Tom Piercy, mandolin player Joe Brent, classical guitarist Dan Lippel and acclaimed ensembles like Brooklyn Baroque and Duo Cantabile, among others.

“I wanted to give conservatoire musicians a place to play in beautiful acoustics like these,” said Michael Fontana, the church’s music director for the past 20 years. “It’s really a great venue.”

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George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah,” written in Beethoven’s handwriting; “Beethoven so admired Handel’s work that he wrote it out so as to get the ‘feeling of its intricacies’ and ‘to unravel its complexities’.” Source: Rain.org

The 17th annual “Music from Good Shepherd” chamber music series kicks off October 7 with a performance by clarinetist Thomas Piercy.

The series of concerts, under the leadership of Musical Director Michael Fontana, will take place over the course of 11 consecutive Sundays at 6:00 p.m. in Good Shepherd Church, Avenue S at Brown Street, in Marine Park.

The series’ concluding concert will be a rousing performance of George Frideric Händel’s “Messiah,” December 16, featuring a full orchestra, choir and soloists.

Admission is free and open to the public. Donations for the performers, however, are encouraged and greatly appreciated.

For information, call (718) 998-2800 or email mforgan@aol.com.

The complete concert schedule is below:

OCTOBER

October 7: Thomas Piercy, clarinet

October 14: Brooklyn Baroque, flute, cello, harpsichord

October 21: Joseph Brent, mandolin

October 28: The Brandy String Trio

NOVEMBER

November 4: Daniel Lippel, classical guitar

November 11: Eight Strings and a Whistle, violin, cello, flute

November 18: Gregory Harrington, violin

November 25: Orlando Cela, flute

DECEMBER

December 2: The Vento Trio, bassoon, clarinet, flute

December 9: Duo Cantabile, soprano, guitar

December 16: George Frideric Händel’s “Messiah” (Part 1) Choir, soloists and orchestra, Michael Fontana, director

State Senator Golden’s final concert of the season in Marine Park, which was supposed to happen August 15, has been rescheduled for tomorrow, August 29. The correct information is in the flyer below:

Yours truly, backstage with Mick in Atlantic City, NJ, December 1989. Photo courtesy of Neil Friedman

BETWEEN THE LINES: This past July 12 marked the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones’ first performance. I became a fan within a few years, but didn’t see them live until 27 years later.

On August 31, 1989, in Philadelphia, I saw the first of 115 concerts.

I had not become an obsessed fan; rather an employee — a tour press representative — of the band for four months across the U.S. and Canada and another four months the following spring and summer in Europe. It was exciting, demanding 24/7 work, but it was also a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I’ve been a journalist and editor for more than 20 years, including almost a year at Sheepshead Bites. I’ve also had a 12-year entertainment public relations career, which included stints at Radio City Music Hall, Showtime and with marquee celebrities, but they were nothing like — or as exhausting — as my job with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman.

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Source: Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons

Saturday, July 14 visitors to Coney Island may have been having too much fun on the Cyclone or eating Nathan’s to notice the motley crew of seven that came there for a very special purpose. Perhaps, this is what they wanted, an unnoticed and intimate gathering to celebrate the 100th birthday of their father, grandfather, great-grandfather and musical icon, American folk legend Woody Guthrie.

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