Header

Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State

Event Slides Per Node 1415

  • Darcy James Argue stands with his back to the crowd as he leads his 20th-century-clothing-clad Secret Society jazz ensemble in a performance while an illustration of a man looking down appears on a screen behind the musicians who stand in a circle as they play.
  • Darcy James Argue's stands with his back to the crowd as he leads his 20th-century-clothing-clad Secret Society jazz ensemble in a performance while a video depicting a child pointing to the right down appears on a screen behind the musicians who stand in a circle as they play.
  • Clad in early 20th-century-inspired clothing and hats, jazz musicians from Darcy James Argue's Secret Society play their tuba and trombones.
  • Darcy James Argue stands with his back to the crowd as he leads his Secret Society jazz ensemble in a performance while an illustration of two men shaking hands and a boy looking downward appears on a screen behind the ensemble.
  • An artist dressed in early 20th-century-inspired clothing paints a cityscape on a screen.

Brooklyn Babylon
Darcy James Argue, composer
Danijel Zezelj, story, animation, and live painting
Featuring Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society
Jim Findlay, scenic and projection design
Paloma Young, costume design
Scott Bolman, lighting design
Isaac Butler, directorial consultant
Produced by Beth Morrison Projects
Brooklyn Babylon was commissioned by BAM for the 2011 Next Wave Festival.

7:30 pm Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society is one of the most admired ensembles in contemporary jazz. The band has toured in Europe, Brazil, and North America; been featured twice at the Newport Jazz Festival; and topped the Big Band category in the 2015 DownBeat Critics Poll. Weaving progressive jazz, early-American popular styles, Balkan folk music, and the sounds of Brooklyn’s diverse contemporary music scene, Argue creates in the multimedia work Brooklyn Babylon an evocative musical narrative that’s at once timeless and unlike anything heard before.

Brooklyn Babylon was conceived in collaboration with Croatian-born visual artist Danijel Zezelj, whose narrative inspired Argue’s mash-up of musical styles. Zezelj’s artwork, created live on stage, places the action in a larger-than-life, mythic Brooklyn in which past, present, and future coexist. Plans are afoot to construct an immense tower—the tallest in the world—in the heart of the city. Lev Bezdomni, a master carpenter, finds himself torn between his personal ambition and his allegiance to the community when he is commissioned to build a carousel that will crown the skyscraper. It’s an urban fable about an artist torn between his ambition and his connection to the people of his neighborhood.

Live music, live painting, and projected animation combine to create a uniquely immersive experience that David Krasnow of public radio’s Studio 360 called “a masterpiece… a new work of originality, power, and beauty.”

Performers will also participate in a post-performance discussion with audience members.

Adult $48
University Park Student $15
18 and Younger $38

Create your own Choice series, and save 10 percent, by purchasing tickets to four or more eligible events in one transaction.

sponsor
Juniper Village at Brookline

Secondary Events on Each Event

Artistic Viewpoints

6:30 pm Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Eisenhower Auditorium

Artistic Viewpoints, an informal moderated discussion featuring Brooklyn Babylon directorial consultant Isaac Butler, is offered in Eisenhower one hour before the performance and is free for ticket holders. Artistic Viewpoints regularly fills to capacity, so seating is available on a first-arrival basis.