Opera in the Better Borough

So I'm a little Brooklyn biased, and when good things are happening here, I think everyone should know about them.  When this nugget came across my radar, I couldn't help but share it.  I mean, they made a docu-trailer for an opera!  Who doesn't love a good trailer?  Any how, this isn't your typical opera, and I have a feeling the crowd won't feel quite the same as the one at the Met, but I think its pretty cool, and definitely worth checking out.

Tydrus the Twit
A new opera by Zeke Virant and the Brain Rain Players

December 8, 10, 11 at 8pm

December 9 at 9pm * $5
Presented by The Bushwick Project for the Arts



The Brain Rain Players and Bushwick Project for the Arts are proud to present the premiere of “Tydrus the Twit,” a new opera. "Tydrus the Twit" is about a middle-Georgia punk's inability to get a job and his bad trip through a dream world filled with witches and hopeless love. The opera is an immersive musical world spanning the intense reality of a small, southern town and the dreams of its occupants.

The Brain Rain Players are an operatic group of free jazz improvisors, untrained singers, performance artists,
and other widely talented persons. With a multi-disciplinary approach that combines spoken dialogue with
environmental and procedural music, the Brain Rain Players bring opera's irrational forms to the forefront of the theater.

ABOUT THE MUSIC



The music for “Tydrus the Twit” combines instrumental music and unmusical sounds made by the mouth. The
score specifically avoids the carefully notated practices of traditional opera, relying instead on procedural
notation and musical games employing the entire ensemble. These practices, designed with an eye to creating
an immersive theatrical environment, includes singing, blowing on bottles, laughing, clicking tongues, whistling,
buzzing, grunting, yawning, and spitting.  “Tydrus the Twit” expresses a world of sound that is not dependent on technical ability and draws out unique responses from each musician.

LOCATION
Bushwick Project fot the Arts
304 Meserole St. 

Brooklyn, NY 11206
Off the Montrose Ave. L stop

The More You Give The More You Get

image from marathondynamics.com

It's December.  Tonite's the first night of Hanukkah and we're a few short weeks away from Christmas.  The holidays can be daunting, especially when you're already juggling a busy schedule and carrying the world on your shoulders.  The moment that you feel you're completely running on empty is exactly when you should start giving. 

I'm not talking about annual appeals and end of the year giving, I'm not even talking about toys for tots.  When you feel like your plate is overflowing you have reached the perfect moment to ask your coworkers, friends, family if they need any help.  It seems counterintuitive to offer favors left and right when you can't get your own checklist wittled down, but it works.  When you open yourself up to helping others, you fill up your tank in more ways than one.  Think about it:

"When you help others, you can't help helping yourself." ~Avenue Q (gotta throw in those theater references)  Helping out someone else just feels good.  You get a break from your own tasks and you help someone cross something off their list.  Instant satisfaction from crossing something off a list? Check.

What goes around, comes around.  When you help someone, they remember it.  They're going to want to help you out too.  People often don't remember things you say, but they remember the way you made them feel, and if you helped them reach a sense of accomplishment, they're going to feel good.  Instant teamwork? Check.

There are a million reasons to pay it forward, so get to it!