BY LUCIA MAURO
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The term "museum piece" implies something dated and static. But now that very phrase has become obsolete as museums are being steadily transformed into lively centers for performances and educational activities. The Museum of Contemporary Art–opened in 1967–offers one of the most comprehensive, experimental and multifaceted performance programs in Chicago.
Although poetry readings and live concerts (including one by Phillip Glass) have been staged throughout the galleries of the MCA’s old space on East Ontario Street, a full-fledged arts series was not implemented until it moved to its expanded facility at 220 E. Chicago Avenue in 1996. Here a new 300-seat theatre was constructed to accommodate a wide range of local, national and international performing artists (including musicians, dancers, actors and multimedia innovators).
Peter Taub, the MCA’s director of performance programs, says the series grew in an organic manner.
Early on, the MCA began an ad hoc schedule of programs highlighting Chicagoans, like solo performance artists Paula Killen, Jenny Magnus and Bob Eisen; Mordine & Company Dance Theatre; Redmoon Theater; and Goat Island.
The series expanded to co-presentations with arts groups from here and across the globe, including the Chicago debut of New York’s Wooster Group and other hot tickets like hip-hop poet Danny Hoch, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Rennie Harris PureMovement, the Digital Film Festival, and Ridge Theater’s Jennie Richee (which recently won an Obie award).
"Our performing arts program is defined by multidisciplinary pieces," notes Taub, "active collaborations with other Chicago organizations to utilize the space as a resource, and national and international performances that reach diverse audiences."
While he acknowledges that the performance series does not regularly complement the museum’s exhibitions, Taub says that this fall, a number of performing artists will appear in conjunction with the MCA’s visual-art exploration of African liberation movements from World War II to present day.
He is particularly excited about his department’s first major live work co-commissioned by the MCA, Walker Art Center and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. William Kentridge’s "Zeno at 4 am"–a new music-theatre piece with film about how people respond to adversity, by South African artist and director Kentridge–will tie in with the exhibition, "William Kentridge." The original music is by Kevin Volans and performed live by England’s Duke Quartet. The stage performers are members of the Handspring Puppet Company.
"William Kentridge’s performance is pivotal for us," says Taub. "It overlaps with an exhibition; it marks an important next step for us." The piece is commissioned, features an international artists and is multidisciplinary.
This past season, the MCA fostered a fruitful artistic exchange between Chicago theatre artists (including Anita Loomis and Conor Kalista of the Neo-Futurists) and OM2, a Japanese experimental theatre group. They expanded on OM2’s existing multimedia theatre work, Convulsions of Mr. K, which was developed through a multi-month residency.
"A lot of the groups we present now participate in a residency," says Taub. "Initially, we were doing about four residencies per year; now almost everyone has a residency tie in."
The MCA’s flexible, blank-canvas-style theatre–with a loose proscenium structure–was designed as a multi-use facility. It offers a generous performance space (35 feet deep/55 feet wide) and provides great sight lines, especially for dance because the floor is clearly visible. It also has fine acoustics for music, ranging from electronic and contemporary-classical to jazz.
"The space is kind of raw and kind of elegant," says Taub. "It gets used in so many different ways."
Taub also reports that attendance continues to increase–now up to 85 percent–and that the performance audience skews slightly younger than the museum patrons. However, consistent cross-over occurs between the theatre and museum.
"About 40 percent of our audiences are made up of persons of color," he says. "We place an emphasis on racially and culturally diverse audiences. We conduct workshops and classes in communities, and we do a lot of target marketing."
Taub points out that next season marks the tenth anniversary of "WBEZ’s Stories on Stage" (co-produced with the MCA for the past five years). This monthly series of live readings of short stories is coordinated and directed by Chicago theatre directors, like Kate Buckley, Steve Scott and Cheryl Lynn Bruce.
One of the MCA’s most anticipated multidisciplinary events is its "Summer Solstice Celebration" (now in its sixth year), June 22 and 23. This around-the-clock festival of modern art, music, dance, performance and hands-on workshops takes over the entire museum, including the galleries, theatre, restaurant, plaza and sculpture garden,
In addition, the MCA will participate in "Puppetropolis Chicago" activities, including a production of Redmoon Theater’s Galway’s Shadow, in which the building’s façade will be transformed into a giant shadow-puppet theatre. On Aug. 3, the MCA hosts the opening night and awards ceremony for the Chicago Human Rhythm Project, an extensive festival of tap and percussive dance.
"We work to establish effective connections," states Taub. "We have a steady cross-fertilization of different constituents. The defining quality of the MCA performance series is that it’s part of the larger museum, which is culturally diverse."
For more information on performance opportunities and residencies at the MCA, call 312/280-2660 or log onto www.mcachicago.org.