Isle of Klezbos Brings 'J. EDGAR KLEZMER' to HERE This Weekend

Isle of Klezbos and Eve Sicular are proud to announce their New York City debut engagement of J. EDGAR KLEZMER: Songs from my Grandmother's FBI Files at HERE (145 Sixth Ave) for five shows only this weekend, June 4 - June 7. J. EDGAR KLEZMER is a musical documentary theater adventure, researched and written by grandchild and bandleader Eve Sicular (Isle of Klezbos / Metropolitan Klezmer).

From klezmer to Kodaly to jazz, baroque to boogie woogie to gospel, from a New York Times clipping on Hazel Scott's cancelled TV show to derelict theories of homosexuality, J. EDGAR KLEZMER's exploration of surveillance files leads in even more directions than the Department of Justice could have foreseen. An earlier sold-out preview of the show at Dixon Place was named a Time Out New York "Critic's Pick." The stellar six-woman cast features actress Yelena Shmulenson (Joel and Ethan Coen's A Serious Man; "Boardwalk Empire"), lead vocalist Melissa Fogarty (New York City Opera, Seattle Baroque) and veteran director Gwenyth Reitz.

J. EDGAR KLEZMER is based on the true story of the late Dr. Adele Sicular, grandmother of drummer, lyricist/composer and bandleader Eve Sicular. Using documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act filing, plus myriad other archival findings, and combined with family gossip, this piece investigates the dealings of the FBI and Adele - pianist / psychiatrist / activist - during the McCarthy Era and beyond, through live theater, multi-media projections, and live music.

J. EDGAR KLEZMER will feature Melissa Fogarty on lead vocals, Eve Sicular on drums, Debra Kreisberg on clarinet and alto saxophone, Reut Regev on trombone and Shoko Nagai on piano and accordion, in addition to performer Yelena Shmulenson. Lighting Design is by Jeanette Yew.

This full-staged version of the show enjoyed a successful premiere run at Centenary Stage Company in Hackettstown, NJ. The current production was supported by Third Street Music School Settlement, Caravan of Dreams, and A Repeat Performance. Development and previous performances received support from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, New York Theatre Workshop, and the Sparkplug Foundation. Staged readings of the show were also presented in June 2009 by The Jewish Community Center in Manhattan under the direction of Isabel Milenski and in February the same year at the Puffin Cultural Forum in Teaneck, New Jersey.

This production is a part of SubletSeries@HERE, HERE's curated rental program, which provides artists with subsidized space and equipment, as well as technical support.

J. EDGAR KLEZMER: Songs from my Grandmother's FBI Files will run Thursday, June 4 through Sunday, June 7 at 7:00 PM with an additional 2:00 PM matinee performance on Sunday, June 7 at HERE. Tickets for J. Edgar Klezmer are available by calling the HERE box office at (212) 352-3101 or at www.here.org/shows/calendar. Tickets are $25 for general admission and $20 for student/senior admission. For more information please visit www.klezbos.com/JEK.

EVE SICULAR (Bandleader, drummer & grandchild) founded Metropolitan Klezmer in 1994 and sister sextet Isle of Klezbos in 1998. She has produced the two bands' seven acclaimed CDs, as well as band tours throughout North America and Europe. Her award-winning musical and multi-media archival projects have also included research and arrangements for the 1911 Yiddish Triangle Fire ballad "Di Fire Korbunes" premiered at the Cooper Union Great Hall centenary commemoration. She has written original instrumental music for Isle of Klezbos; J. Edgar Klezmer marks her debut as composer/lyricist. She has also played a wide variety of genres with such artists as The Voodoobillies, Charming Hostess, and Daughters of Cybele. A Harvard graduate, she has published and lectured internationally on topics such as The Yiddish Celluloid Closet and Music in Yiddish Cinema, as well as Soviet filmmaking pioneer Esther Shub, and has worked in film & photo archives at YIVO Institute, the Warhol Foundation, and The Museum of Modern Art's cinema retrospective Bridge of Light: Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds.

GWENYTH REITZ (Director) Recent directing work includes a production of J Edgar Klezmer: Songs From My Grandmother's FBI Files with the Centenary Stage Company in New Jersey, abridging and directing an interactive production of Macbeth for student audiences with Lincoln Center Theater in 2010 and again in 2014, the critically acclaimed Family Room, written and co-produced with Aron Eli Coleite (Writer/ Executive Producer NBC's "Heroes"), Spare Change at the Soho Playhouse, Class Behavior and 320 Jones with Vital Theater Company, Othamlet (workshop) with the Judith Shakespeare Company, I (heart) Kant with Theater 1050, Lysistrata with The Trilogy Theater, The Rhinestone Experience commissioned by On The Boards for the Northwest New Works Festival, The Vulgar Librarian with Manual Arts Theater Collective and the documentary Growing Pains: Galena, Alaska shot in a remote village in the arctic interior of Alaska. With choreographer Alethea Adsitt and her company, Gwenyth directed the new jalopy a dance/theater work that premiered at the Joyce Soho and later with Dance New Amsterdam's Leading Ladies Series. As an actress Gwenyth has performed with The McCarter Theater, The New York Theater Workshop, The NTUSA, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, The Washington Shakespeare Festival, and the Judith Shakespeare Company, where she is a company member. Gwenyth is an alumnus of Lincoln Center Theater's Directors Lab 2006 and 2007.

MELISSA FOGARTY (Lead Vocals) was hailed by The New York Times for her "delirious abandon" onstage. The versatile soprano has appeared at diverse venues ranging from New York City Opera to popular clubs such as Le Poisson Rouge and City Winery. Known for her lively and elegant interpretations of Baroque music, highlights include King Arthur at New York City Opera, La serva padrona and Agar e Ismaele in esiliate with the Seattle Baroque. She excels at contemporary classical and has been featured in NYCO's VOX, American Opera Projects, Metropolis Ensemble, and has premiered a number of works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Del Tredici. In the "cross-over" realm, Fogarty has been a member of Metropolitan Klezmer and Isle of Klezbos since 2008. She is also a founding member of The Highliners Jazz Quintet.

YELENA SHMULENSON emigrated to the US in 1993. She's perhaps best known as the icepick­-wielding wife in the Coen brothers' Oscar­-nominated "A Serious Man". Other TV & film: "Boardwalk Empire" (Mrs. Manny Horvitz), The Good Shepherd, Chinese Puzzle, Romeo & Juliet in Yiddish, "The Knick", "OITNB". Stage: Folksbiene, the Ellis Island Theatre, The Golem of Havana (La MaMa), Covers (New York/Moscow/Montreal), etc. She's also won three Earphones Awards for her recorded books.

ISLE of KLEZBOS soulful, fun-loving powerhouse all-women's klezmer sextet approaches tradition with irreverence and respect, touring from Vienna to Vancouver since 1998. Band repertoire ranges from rambunctious to entrancing: neo-traditional folk dance, mystical melodies, Yiddish swing & retro tango, late Soviet-era Jewish drinking song, re-grooved standards, and genre-defying originals. Broadcast highlights: "CBS Sunday Morning," "The L Word," "CNN World Beat," "PBS In The Life," as well as numerous film soundtracks. The band has also enjoyed commissions from artist Kiki Smith; multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated Scissor Sisters; and singer/songwriter Jill Sobule's original "Music for Yentl." Klezbos features alumnae of Juilliard & Eastman Schools of Music and has been honored by multiple awards from New York State Council on the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Outmusic, and Sparkplug Foundation. Latest Klezbos CD "Live From Brooklyn" made New York Music Daily's Best Albums of 2014.