A long-term stay on Little Island offers theater makers Tina Landau, Michael McElroy and PigPen Theater Co. as well as tap dancer and choreographer Ayodele Casel the opportunity to build the performance arts program of the new public park from scratch.
The selected artists, announced on Wednesday, will tinker, curate and perform for three seasons in the outdoor area currently under construction in Hudson River Park near West 13th Street.
“They all share this feeling of joy and adventure and a real passion for embracing the things that could be possible in this public space,” said Trish Santini, the park’s general manager, in an interview.
The residences were planned before the coronavirus pandemic broke out, but the ongoing performing arts shutdown has made them more meaningful: Little Island plans to start performances in late spring – before actors, dancers and musicians are likely to hit the indoor stages City can return.
“There is a sense of urgency at the moment – artists need to be able to get their work done and help shape how that work manifests itself in a new public space,” said Santini.
The scale and extent of artistic involvement set the Little Island Residences apart from some of their counterparts elsewhere. In addition to directing and performing work, the artists will cultivate relationships with the park’s community partners and organize festivals and other events across multiple seasons.
It’s an opportunity that McElroy, actor, music director, and director of the Broadway Inspirational Voices Choir, is enjoying.
“There is an investment in artists and you can tell by the length of the residence,” he said. “It’s not a one-and-do. It allows me to dream big. “
His plans include creating new musical theater works, organizing a community-based initiative focused on the senior experience, and providing opportunities for other musicians and singer-songwriters.
The other three resident artists also tend to work across borders.
Landau, the Tony Award nominated director of “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical,” began her career with site-specific work at En Garde Arts, including “Orestes” at Penn Yards and “Stonewall: Night Variations” at Pier 25 on the Hudson River.
Casel has been combining tap dancing and storytelling since 2005 in order to shed more light on the art form with her series “Diary of a Tap Dancer”. And PigPen, whose musical “The Tale of Despereaux” debuted at the Old Globe Theater in 2019, is known for skillfully combining music, film and theater.
The resident artists have already started to design what the park has to offer. You recently helped review the submission of local artists looking to contribute to Little Island’s inaugural season. The selection will be announced in spring.
When completed, Little Island will contain three open-air venues: a 700-seat amphitheater, a garden area for small productions for 200 visitors, and an open space for educational activities.
This flexibility gives the seven members of Landau, McElroy, Casel and PigPen the opportunity to design and present their work. It should also make it easier to conduct appearances safely during the pandemic.
Little Island has overcome several obstacles since it was announced in 2014.
Legal challenges and rising costs caused Barry Diller, the park’s sponsor, to temporarily cancel the company in 2017. It was revived later that year after Governor Andrew M. Cuomo convinced his opponents to drop their lawsuits by agreeing to complete Hudson River Park and protect the local estuary.
