Arts In The City 030508

Arts In The City

Fantasia Barrino is slated to star as Celie in the “Color Purple” on Broadway Courtesy of Barlow Hartman

The New York City Opera announced last week that Gerard Mortier will take on the role of general manager and artistic director beginning in the 2009 season. “Great challenges have always inspired me,” said Mortier in a statement. “It will give me pleasure to serve a New York institution that has internationally a special flavor thanks to the important contribution of artists such as Julius Rudel, Christopher Keene, and Beverly Sills, or leaders such as Paul Kellogg.”

Participant Inc. celebrates the 13th anniversary of artist Renée Green’s Free Agent Media, an endeavor that fosters collaboration between artists. The exhibition “United Space of Conditioned Becoming” evokes distant locales from Angola to Vienna. Through April 8. participantinc.org.

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NEW OPERA CHIEF

WEEKLY PICKS

Kellogg, the outgoing director, is scheduled to retire in June, after 12 years with the opera. Mortier’s contract with the City Opera extends through 2015. Since 2004, Mortier has been the director of the Opéra National de Paris, where he made a splash by focusing on 20thcentury opera and innovative new productions, including collaborations with visual artists and film directors. nycopera.com. –H.C.

CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIE’S Christie’s made a bold move in cornering the contemporary art market, when the auction giant purchased London’s Haunch of Venison Gallery last week. The gallery, which boasts a roster of talents including video art pioneer Bill Viola, will be opening a space in New York, just around the corner from Christie’s Rockefeller Center location. The New York location will be Haunch of Venison’s fourth, joining galleries in London, Berlin and Zurich. Critics of the deal say that by buying the gallery, the auction house will be crossing the line from middleman to primary sales agent. christies.com – H.C.

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Television’s American Idols are proving that you can make it big after reality TV. First Carrie Underwood won twice at the Grammy’s. Then Jennifer Hudson took home Oscar gold. Now, Fantastia Barrino, winner of “American Idol’s” third season, is headed to Broadway. Starting April, 10, Barrino is slated to star as Celie in the “Color Purple” at the Broadway Theater, with fellow Idol alum LaToya London. The musical, which is produced by Oprah Winfrey, has grossed over $60 million in ticket sales since opening in December 2005. Barrino is not the first idol to make it to Broadway. Fan favorite Constantine Maroulis was a member of the international touring company of “Rent” before

appearing on the show. In fall of 2006, he played the role of Sammy in Broadway’s “The Wedding Singer.” In January, he was scheduled to take a role in the off-Broadway production, “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris,” but bowed out due to a back injury two weeks later. colorpurple.com. – Heather Corcoran

music

IDOLS ON BROADWAY

10 • Resident The Week Of March 5, 2007

Lorna Simpson, “Corridor (Phone),” 2003

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Courtesy of the artist

The photographs and film works by Lorna Simpson explore issues of identity through the lenses of race and gender. Now through May 6, the Whitney Museum of American Art hosts a mid-career retrospective of the artist’s work, including film installations and pieces combining images and text. whitney.org.

opera

SPOTLIGHT

Speak up at the Film Forum’s screenings of “Into Great Silence,” a documentary about Carthusian monks, an order who live in near silence. Father Michael Holleran, a member of the order, will be in the theater for a Q&A on March 10 and 11. filmforum.org. Philly favorites The Roots, bring their jazzy hip-hop sounds to Times Square’s Nokia Theatre March 11 and 12. With special guest Lupe Fiasco. nokiatheatrenyc. com. The New York City Opera kicks off its 63rd spring season with Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance” on March 7. nycopera.com. Author Lawrence Wright presents “My Trip to Al-Qaeda” a multimedia performance based on his bestselling book “Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Path to 9/11.” At the Culture Project through April 14. cultureproject.org.