Photo Flash: First Look at Obie Winner Ellen Maddow and Talking Band's FUSIFORM GYRUS

Talking Band will present the world premiere of Fusiform Gyrus - A Septet for Two Scientists and Five Horns, written and composed by OBIE Award winner Ellen Maddow, and directed by Ellie Heyman, running from February 7 - 25, 2018 in a limited engagement at HERE, located at 145 6th Avenue (Enter on Dominick, 1 block south of Spring) in New York City. Previews begin February 7 for a February 13 opening.

Check out photos below!

The cast includes OBIE Award winners Tom Nelis (Broadway's Indecent, The Visit, Enron) and Paul Zimet (The Room Sings, The Golden Toad, This Was the End), and a motley quintet of horn players, including Chris DiMeglio (trumpet), Lathan Hardy (alto sax), Sam Kulik (tuba), Jessica Lurie (baritone sax) and Peter Zummo (trombone).

In Talking Band's new music-theater work, big ideas bump up against big sound. Five brassy horns and two eccentric scientists leapfrog from epiphany to epiphany. Fusiform Gyrus - A Septet for Two Scientists and Five Horns celebrates the resilience of friendship, the power of music to make us feel like anything can happen, and the rigorous tradition of scientific discovery in a world where scientific truth is often challenged.

Talking Band's original interdisciplinary performance work has been a cornerstone of New York City's avant-garde theater community for 44 years. Founded in 1974 by Ellen Maddow, Tina Shepard and Paul Zimet, the company has produced over fifty new works illuminating the extraordinary dimensions of ordinary life, combining richly textured music-theater with striking visual imagery. Collectively, the company and founders have earned 15 OBIE Awards and numerous other honors. Talking Band has performed at nearly all of New York City's celebrated downtown venues and its original productions have toured throughout the U.S. and internationally to 14 countries. For more info visit http://TalkingBand.org.

Ben Brantley of The New York Times called Talking Band "one of the boldest and most venerable politically minded companies in New York experimental theater." Their production of Burnished by Grief was a New York Times Critics' Pick, with Andy Webster describing it as "a mildly morbid but irrepressibly effervescent lark and exuberant celebration of color and quirk." Time Out New York's Helen Shaw noted their production of The Golden Toad as "the Talking Band at its best in a wistful shaggy-dog tale and soap-operatic epic-with-music." On their production of The Room Sings, The Village Voice's Elizabeth Zimmer said, "Take a holiday from our current woes and revel in it...the show's allusive text resonates with a viewer long after the lights fade." American Theatre called Talking Band "one of the most exceptional theater companies in the country."

The production team includes Anna Kiraly (Set & Video Design), Mary Ellen Stebbins (Lighting Design), Kiki Smith (Costume Design) and Kristin Kelly (Production Stage Manager).

Performances are Tuesdays - Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $25 from Feb 7-11, $30 from Feb 14-25, and $75 for the opening night Feb 13benefit performance and post-show reception. Student tickets are $20. Purchase at http://HERE.org or by calling 212-352-3101. The running time is 85 minutes. For more info visit http://TalkingBand.org and Like them on Facebook at https://www.Facebook.com/TalkingBand.

The production is a part of SubletSeries@HERE: a curated rental program, which provides artists with subsidized space and equipment, as well as technical support. HERE is accessible from the C or E train to Spring St., 1 to Houston St., or N or R to Prince St.

Photo Credit: Suzanne Opton