Press Room
See what they're saying about us. The 2016 SummerScape Gala: A Summer Celebration at Montgomery Place: The Bard College Campus to Benefit The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, July 16
Featuring Premiere Live Performance of Sergei Polunin’s Take Me To Church Performances by Blythe Danner, Parker Posey, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Mx. Justin Vivian Bond
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY—The 2016 SummerScape Gala celebrates the spirit of Montgomery Place, the historic Hudson Valley estate that recently became part of the Bard College campus, with an elegant evening in the company of some very special guests on Saturday, July 16, 2016.
Ballet star Sergei Polunin will make a rare U.S. appearance to give the world premiere live performance of his internet video sensation Take Me to Church, which has garnered more than 15 million views on YouTube. Choreographer Jade Hale-Christofi will adapt his work for that video, directed by David LaChapelle, to an outdoor stage with sweeping views of the Hudson River.
Called “the James Dean of the ballet world” (Daily Telegraph), Polunin is the subject of a forthcoming documentary, Dancer, from West End Films to be distributed in the U.S. by IFC-Sundance Films in September 2016. Known as ballet’s ‘hottest property,’ Polunin was the Royal Ballet’s youngest ever principal dancer.
Actors Blythe Danner ‘65, Parker Posey, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Mx. Justin Vivian Bond will perform a lighthearted homage to the matriarchs who created and sustained Montgomery Place, its landscape and gardens, and in particular its apple orchards, written and directed for the occasion by Jack Ferver.
Performances will be followed by an alfresco dinner designed by Chef Rocco DiSpirito, a James Beard Award winner and best-selling author, with cocktails curated by Leo Robitschek, beverage director of two of New York’s hottest restaurants: Eleven Madison Park and The NoMad Hotel.
A stellar lineup of artists from across disciplines comprise the SummerScape Gala Artists’ Committee, showing their support for the work of the Fisher Center, including: Joan Juliet Buck, Jeremy Davidson, Nick Flynn, Neil Gaiman, Arliss Howard, Lola Kirke ’12, Stephin Merritt, Amanda Palmer, Peter Riegert, Ally Sheedy, Kiki Smith, Lili Taylor, Dawn Upshaw, and Debra Winger.
The evening begins at 6 p.m. Tickets are available online from the Fisher Center or by emailing events@bard.edu or calling 845-758-7414. Performance program subject to change.
SummerScape 2016 Gala Cochairs
Carolyn Marks Blackwood and Gregory Quinn • Stefano Ferrari and Lilo Zinglersen
Advisory Board of The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts
Jeanne Donovan Fisher, Chair • Carolyn Marks Blackwood • Stefano Ferrari
Denise Simon • Thurmond Smithgall • Martin T. Sosnoff • Toni Sosnoff
Felicitas S. Thorne • Andrew E. Zobler
Gala Host Committee
Harlan Bratcher and Toby Usnik • Steve Dawson and Chandler Williams
Barbara Ettinger and Sven Huseby • Emily H. Fisher and John Alexander
Chris Lipscomb and Monique Segarra • Tricia and Foster Reed
Illiana van Meeteren and Terence Boylan ’70
Artists’ Host Committee
Joan Juliet Buck • Blythe Danner ’65 • Jeremy Davidson • Nick Flynn • Neil Gaiman
Arliss Howard • Lola Kirke ’12 • Mary Stuart Masterson • Stephin Merritt
Amanda Palmer • Parker Posey • Peter Riegert • Ally Sheedy • Kiki Smith
Lili Taylor • Dawn Upshaw • Debra Winger
ABOUT THE FISHER CENTER
The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, designed by Frank
Gehry, illustrates the College’s commitment to the performing arts as a cultural and
educational necessity. The Fisher Center’s adventurous programs and world-class facilities provide an outstanding environment in which to create, learn about, and experience the performing arts. Acclaimed as “seven weeks of cultural delight,” SummerScape 2016 presents opera, music, theater, dance, film, and cabaret. The focus of these offerings is the 27th annual Bard Music Festival, exploring the life and times of Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. SummerScape presents over 60 and draws 25,000 attendees every summer. The SummerScape Gala is the Fisher Center’s largest and most prestigious annual fundraising event.
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Ballet star Sergei Polunin will make a rare U.S. appearance to give the world premiere live performance of his internet video sensation Take Me to Church, which has garnered more than 15 million views on YouTube. Choreographer Jade Hale-Christofi will adapt his work for that video, directed by David LaChapelle, to an outdoor stage with sweeping views of the Hudson River.
Called “the James Dean of the ballet world” (Daily Telegraph), Polunin is the subject of a forthcoming documentary, Dancer, from West End Films to be distributed in the U.S. by IFC-Sundance Films in September 2016. Known as ballet’s ‘hottest property,’ Polunin was the Royal Ballet’s youngest ever principal dancer.
Actors Blythe Danner ‘65, Parker Posey, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Mx. Justin Vivian Bond will perform a lighthearted homage to the matriarchs who created and sustained Montgomery Place, its landscape and gardens, and in particular its apple orchards, written and directed for the occasion by Jack Ferver.
Performances will be followed by an alfresco dinner designed by Chef Rocco DiSpirito, a James Beard Award winner and best-selling author, with cocktails curated by Leo Robitschek, beverage director of two of New York’s hottest restaurants: Eleven Madison Park and The NoMad Hotel.
A stellar lineup of artists from across disciplines comprise the SummerScape Gala Artists’ Committee, showing their support for the work of the Fisher Center, including: Joan Juliet Buck, Jeremy Davidson, Nick Flynn, Neil Gaiman, Arliss Howard, Lola Kirke ’12, Stephin Merritt, Amanda Palmer, Peter Riegert, Ally Sheedy, Kiki Smith, Lili Taylor, Dawn Upshaw, and Debra Winger.
The evening begins at 6 p.m. Tickets are available online from the Fisher Center or by emailing events@bard.edu or calling 845-758-7414. Performance program subject to change.
SummerScape 2016 Gala Cochairs
Carolyn Marks Blackwood and Gregory Quinn • Stefano Ferrari and Lilo Zinglersen
Advisory Board of The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts
Jeanne Donovan Fisher, Chair • Carolyn Marks Blackwood • Stefano Ferrari
Denise Simon • Thurmond Smithgall • Martin T. Sosnoff • Toni Sosnoff
Felicitas S. Thorne • Andrew E. Zobler
Gala Host Committee
Harlan Bratcher and Toby Usnik • Steve Dawson and Chandler Williams
Barbara Ettinger and Sven Huseby • Emily H. Fisher and John Alexander
Chris Lipscomb and Monique Segarra • Tricia and Foster Reed
Illiana van Meeteren and Terence Boylan ’70
Artists’ Host Committee
Joan Juliet Buck • Blythe Danner ’65 • Jeremy Davidson • Nick Flynn • Neil Gaiman
Arliss Howard • Lola Kirke ’12 • Mary Stuart Masterson • Stephin Merritt
Amanda Palmer • Parker Posey • Peter Riegert • Ally Sheedy • Kiki Smith
Lili Taylor • Dawn Upshaw • Debra Winger
ABOUT THE FISHER CENTER
The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, designed by Frank
Gehry, illustrates the College’s commitment to the performing arts as a cultural and
educational necessity. The Fisher Center’s adventurous programs and world-class facilities provide an outstanding environment in which to create, learn about, and experience the performing arts. Acclaimed as “seven weeks of cultural delight,” SummerScape 2016 presents opera, music, theater, dance, film, and cabaret. The focus of these offerings is the 27th annual Bard Music Festival, exploring the life and times of Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. SummerScape presents over 60 and draws 25,000 attendees every summer. The SummerScape Gala is the Fisher Center’s largest and most prestigious annual fundraising event.
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This event was last updated on 09-09-2016