WHERE AND WHEN:
September 30 to October 17
La MaMa E.T.C. (Ellen Stewart Theater), 74A East Fourth Street
Presented by La Mama E.T.C. and Instituto Italiano di Cultura di New York
Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM, Sundays at 2:30 PM
$25; box office (212) 475-7710, www.lamama.org
Running time 70 minutes. Critics are invited on or after Friday October 1.

NEW YORK, July 24 - "I Fioretti in Musica- Opera in Danza" is an original opera with concept, libretto, direction and set design by Gian Marco Lo Forte and music composed by Sasha Zamler-Carhart and Ryan Carter. The piece takes rituals enacted in the towns of Umbria, Central Italy that are inspired by St. Francis of Assisi and transplants them to New York. Labeled an Opera in Danza, the work's form derives from Commedia Harmonica Italiana, a typical Italian stage form of the late 15th Century where the singers perform in concerto and the dancers are the visual interpreters of the music throughout the stage. The work is performed in Italian with English subtitles.

This adaptation imagines St. Francis living today in New York City and finds him completely at home while being homeless, seeing treasures in our trash, and speaking words of compassion to all he meets...even to the pigeons. The "fioretti" (little flowers), a series of charming medieval poems based on his miracles, are adapted into contemporary scenes with puppets that are assembled on stage by five performers and made of recycled materials and refuse from the streets. Five puppeteers are joined by five singers and four dancers. The singers perform in concerto form from the sides of the stage (on a stage level close to the audience) into microphones with live electronic voice processing. Choreography is by Philip Montana. The puppets are by Jane Catherine Shaw, co-Artistic Director of the Voice 4 Vision Puppet Festival, and Abby Felder, who is known for her work with Pan Asian Rep. The contemporary setting includes projections of drawings and paintings by visual artist Mark Tambella and the environment utilizes everyday materials such as plastic, newspaper and tape to create 2D and 3D sculptural elements and mask representing animal faces. The setting brings the audience into close proximity to the performers' action, generating an intimate opera experience.

The libretto by Gian Marco Lo Forte is based on "I Fioretti di San Francesco," an anonymous 14th century Italian text sometime ascribed to Fra. Ugolino da Santa Maria. The text has been inspiration for several significant modern works, including Roberto Rossellini's film "Francesco, giullare di Dio" ("Francis, God's Jester"), 1950, which was co-written by Federico Fellini, and Olivier Messiaen's opera "Saint-François d'Assise."

Francis (Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone; 1181/1182 – October 3, 1226) shunned the opulent life of crusaders and courtiers, even to the point of returning the clothes from his body to his father in the public square. "I Fioretti in Musica" is a selection of four chapters from "I Fioretti Di San Francesco" and each scene is an important event in the life of Francis: Assuming a life of simplicity, Preaching to the birds, Taming the Wolf and Welcoming the Thieves to the Monastery. These chapters are an exquisite expression of the religious life of the Middle Ages. Their peculiar charm and atmosphere comes from the early Franciscan spirit: a childlike faith, a lively sense of the supernatural and a simple literalness.

The score contrasts medieval musical idioms called mottetti (polyphonic voice compositions), composed by musician Sasha Zamler-Carhart with an original rhythmical and virtuosic score contributed by Ryan Carter. The latter is layered with metallic and electro-acoustic live voice processing and fixed sounds inspired by the sounds and noise characteristic of everyday life in New York City streets. Philip Montana will create contemporary choreography sequences evoking ancient medieval rituals of Umbria, utilizing four dancers who have collaborated many times on his projects.

The libretto is written in a distinctive and genuine theatrical vernacular inspired by medieval folk and religious festivals such as Le Infiorate in Spello and La Corsa dei Ceri di Gubbio, spectacles of ancient origin, which can be still experienced in Umbria, Italy today. The opera's source work, "I Fioretti Di San Francesco," was written in vulgar Italian of 15th century whose unique locution lives on today in the dialect of Umbria, which is Gian Marco Lo Forte's home region. The production is complex but relies largely on Sasha Zamler-Carhart's expertise in writing music for Early Italian and Latin, making him an ideal composer for the specialized language in this work.

There will be an Opening Gala Party Saturday, October 2 and a Closing Gala Party on Saturday, October 16, both with Italian food and wine sponsored by Ballaró Caffé Prosciutteria (www.ballaronyc.com), an Italian café and wine bar on 2nd Ave near 4th Street. During both gala events, there will be an exhibition in The Ellen Stewart Theater lobby. with paintings and drawings by Mark Tambella that have influenced the production of "I Fioretti in Musica."

Costume designer Angela Wendt will bring many contrasting NYC street looks into the production, such as hipsters juxtaposed with homeless people, as a commentary on the hardship of poor people. Lighting design is by Jiji Francesca Chang. George Drance is Assistant Director and Dramaturge.

Gian Marco Lo Forte (libretto, concept & direction, set design) is a member of La MaMa's Great Jones Repertory Company. He has been an artist-in-residence at La MaMa since 2001. In 2005, he founded Pioneers Go East Theater Company (www.pioneersgoeast.org), which has developed original projects and Italian adaptations of classic plays. Its last production at La MaMa was "Caravaggio Chiaroscuro" (2007), an experimental opera which depicted Caravaggio's Roman life and his struggles as a young artist. Lo Forte graduated from the University Theater Conservatory in Perugia, Italy, and studied at the International Center for Performing Arts in Rome. He holds an MFA in Theatre Design from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He has worked as a director and set designer in NYC and Italy for the past nine years. His directing credits include "Bastiano e Bastiana" (2000) by W.A. Mozart in Perugia and a dance adaptation of Checkov's "The Seagull" at La MaMa (2003). He wrote, designed and directed "Butter Melts away my Letters," a multimedia dance theater work that premiered at La MaMa in 2005. He has also collaborated on several projects directed by visual artist Sam Samore and was his assistant director on his multimedia piece, "Love, Death, Beauty" in Firenze Pitti Immagine. He has been set designer of La MaMa productions by Kim Ima, SLANT, Zishan Ugurlu and Watson Arts. He was assistant to set designer Donald Eastman on "Frog and Toad," "The Servant of Two Masters," "M. Butterfly" and "Death in Venice." He was assistant to set designer John Conklin on "Orphee et Eurydice." He has also been a contributing designer in a variety of Great Jones Repertory productions. As an actor, he has appeared in productions of the Great Jones Repertory and in works by Ping Chong, Elizabeth Swados, Federico Restrepo, and Roberta Nicolai. He has toured to Poland, Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Italy and the U.S. His work can be found at: www.gianmarcoloforte.com and www.pioneersgoeast.org

Sasha Zamler-Carhart (composer) is founder and director of the medieval music ensemble "The Ascoli Ensemble," renowned across Europe for its vocal quality and groundbreaking scholarly approach. He primarily composes large thematic stage pieces, including "The Death of the King of Bandjoun" (2004-2006), a madrigal comedy; "Le Roman de Fauvel" (2009), a recomposition of a French Ars Nova work subverted into a Calvinist crusade against sin; and "The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp," an oratorio about one of the earliest Christian martyrs. He is a lecturer in medieval music and Latin at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague in The Netherlands.

Ryan Carter (composer) has had works performed throughout Europe and North America by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the Nieuw Ensemble, NOW Ensemble and Margaret Lancaster. He has received commissions from Carnegie Hall, Present Music, The Milwaukee Children's Choir, and the Calder Quartet, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and Meet the Composer. His awards include the Lee Ettelson Award, the Aaron Copland Award and the ASCAPlus Awards. (www.ryancarter.org)

Philip Montana (choreographer) has danced for Tatiana Bagonova, Michael Foley and Shapiro & Smith Dance. He was a company member of the world renowned Shen Wei Dance Arts. He is currently performing with Liz Gerring Dance Company, Adele Myers and Dancers, Christopher Williams and Mark Dendy Dance Theater. He is Artistic Director and founder of PM Dance Co. His works have been presented at WAX, Pier 63, Galapagos Art Space, New York University, the American Dance Festival and Dance Theater Workshop. He hold an MFA in dance from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

George Drance (assistant director) staged Gian Marco Lo Forte's "Caravaggio Chiaroscuro" (2007). He has performed and directed in over twenty countries on five continents.. He received his MFA in acting from Columbia University. In New York, he has acted with The Metropolitan Opera, The Public Theatre/NYSF, and the Shakespeare Project. With La MaMa, he has toured throughout Europe and Asia, performing in Andrei Serban's epic "Fragments of a Greek Trilogy." He was a guest artist and lecturer at Columbia University, Cornell University, Marymount Manhattan College and Hebrew Union College. He is Artistic Director of the Magis Theatre Company, which focuses on training the actors' instrument. He is currently on the faculty of Fordham University at Lincoln Center where he is an artist-in-residence. www.magistheatre.org

Angela Wendt (costume design) was costume designer for Broadway's "Rent," for which she received an American Theatre Wing Design Award for Best Costume Design. Her film credits include Adrian Lynne's "Jacob's Ladder" and Uli Edel's "Last Exit To Brooklyn." Her other theatre credits include Barry Edelstein's "RACE" at CSC, "Julius Caesar" at NYSF and Michael Greif's "Marisol" at NYSF. (www.angela.wendt.net)

Jane Catherine Shaw (puppet design) is the co-founder/co-director (with Sarah Provost) of the Voice 4 Vision Puppet Festival (www.voice4vision.org) at Theater for the New City, which was presented for the fifth time last fall. Shaw also has deep roots at La MaMa, which has presented the NY premieres of all her major full-length works for adult audiences, many with scientific themes. These include "The Lone Runner" (a play about Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla, 1999), "Bed of Light" (an exploration of recurring dream imagery from anonymous sources, worldwide, 2001), "Universe Expanding" a piece that explored physics, myth and religion (2005) and "Thirst: Memory of Water," which dramatized the world water crisis with puppets (2010). (www.janecatherineshaw.com)

Mark Tambella (paintings and drawings) is a resident designer at La MaMa and a prolific painter. He has had solo exhibitions in 2010 and 2009 at John Davis Gallery in Hudson, NY; in 2005 at Marmara Manhattan Gallery, and two solo exhibitions (2001 and 1990) at La MaMa's La Galleria. He has been in group exhibitions at La MaMa's La Galleria in 2004, 2003 and 1990, at PS122 in 1991, and in a show to benefit St. Vincent's Hospital in 1990. His art has been published in Bomb Magazine, Bazzano Superiore, Italy? and in illustrations of poems by Richard George-Murray. (gallery: www.johndavisgallery.com)

Ji-youn Francesca Chang (lighting design) holds an MFA in Design from Yale School of Drama. She was a finalist in Opera America Director/Designer Showcase'09 and has won a Donald and Zorka Oenslager Fellowship Award in Design in 2008 and a Stanley McCandless Scholarship. Her NY credits include "The Country and the Happiness" and "Ching Chong Chinaman" at West End Theatre; "The Rain Machine" and "Lifetime Fairytale" at Kafka Project; "Bully To You" at Soho Rep, "Glass Menagerie" at Schapiro Theatre, "Turkey Day" at One Act Play Festival, "Unfiltered" at Ensemble Studio Stage, "Obama Drama" at Creative Destruction; "Festival O'Clock," "Danton's Death" and "Rumi's Mathnavi" at La MaMa; "Illyria" by Prospect Theatre Company and "Ballerina meets Bboy" at 37 arts. Overseas, she has designed "The Blue Room" at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, "Durang/Durang" in Edinburgh'09/London'10; "Wedding Plan" by Duke Maeng's at MyeungDong Theatre, Seoul (Korea) and "Women at Four"at Edinburgh Festival. www.Jiyounchangdesign.com

Megan Schubert (mezosoprano, Francesco), a collaborator with over 40 premieres to her credit, is a devoted ambassador of new and experimental music. Versatile and sensitive to style and context, she has been heard singing everything from jazz standards to Webern to solo works of Meredith Monk. Schubert has shared the stage at Zankel Hall and Merkin Hall with such luminaries as Meredith Monk and the Bang on a Can All Stars. Her solo show at John Zorn's venue The Stone was recently listed as a Critic's Pick in Time Out New York Magazine. Schubert has performed in venues from the usual to the unusual: in world premieres at Carnegie Hall; in music by Stockhausen in a torrential downpour in Sakura Park; with robots while locked inside a Van de Graaff Generator at Boston's Museum of Science; on a bike flying by the audience in an installation piece at McCarren Park Pool, Brooklyn; in a tribute to Pablo Neruda with Clogs at the Winter Garden in a lineup with the likes of Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson; in a giant potato sack while video was projected onto my frontside at Webster Hall; with experimental jazz musicians at the Brooklyn Lyceum; for inmates at a maximum security prison; in live concert footage used as part of a promotion for Alex Ross's book, "The Rest is Noise," and with many New York-based ensembles championing art music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Schubert holds degrees from Bennington College and Manhattan School of Music. Upcoming projects include a Halloween performance of Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire," a New York premiere of Aperghis's "Sextour"--an opera using texts from Darwin's The Origin of Species--and a world premiere of a song cycle by Kitty Brazelton.

# # #

CRITICS ARE INVITED on or after OCTOBER 1.