NYU SKIRBALL Presents The Builders Association's ELEMENTS OF OZ

NYU Skirball will present Elements of Oz, a live performance/augmented reality mash-up of theater, technology and pop culture that celebrates and deconstructs The Wizard of Oz, from the New York-based performance company, The Builders Association, on Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 8, 2019 at NYU Skirball. The MGM film is celebrating its 80th Anniversary as one of America's most beloved films (it opened on August 25, 1939).

A narrator recounts juicy background details about the making of the film as three powerful performers recreate famous moments live on stage. Interspersed with excerpts of the original novel, YouTube tributes, fan theories and critical interpretations from the likes of Salman Rushdie, Elements of Oz revels in the ways tens of thousands of people around the globe have made Oz their own.

In much the same way the classic MGM movie transported us from the stark black and white of Kansas to a vibrant Technicolor Oz, Elements of Oz uses AR (Augmented Reality) to enliven and deepen the viewers experience. Audience cell phones remain on and the stage action interacts with personal smart phones through a unique app that delivers the Technicolor Land of Oz of our imaginations.

The Elements of Oz cast features Moe Angelos, Sean Donovan and Hannah Heller. It is directed by Marianne Weems, and written by James Gibbs, with costumes by Andreea Mincic, lighting design by Jennifer Tipton, scenic design by Neal Wilkinson and video design by Austin Switser. https://www.elementsofoz.com/

The production closes out NYU's year-long Stonewall 50 celebration with this tribute to Oz and all the many friends of Dorothy.

The Artists

Moe Angelos (actor) is a theatre artist and writer. She is one of The Five Lesbian Brothers and has been a member of the Wow Café Theater since 1981. She has collaborated with many downtown NYC performance luminaries and is a mentor in Queer/Art/Mentorship.

Sean Donovan (actor) is an actor, dancer, writer, choreographer and director, and has been nominated twice for BESSIE awards for Outstanding Performer for his body of work. Recent credits include Cabin at Bushwick Starr; Thank You for Coming: Attendance; Play; Age & Beauty Part 2.

Hannah Heller (actor) is a New York based performer and writer. Select New York theater credits include Emily Climbs, Evelyn, Actress Fury and All Long True American Stories. She is the director and co-creator of the web series Morning Chardonnay. As a dancer, Hannah has worked with Dorrance Dance and Savion Glover.

Marianne Weems (director) is artistic director and co-founder of The Builders Association and has directed all of their productions. She has also worked in various creative roles with Susan Sontag, Taryn Simon, The V-Girls, the Wooster Group, David Byrne, and many other artists. She has served on the board of the small but fierce foundation Art Matters since the early 90's and participated in the formation of Visual AIDS, and the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression. She is the co-editor of Art Matters: How the Culture Wars Changed America and co-author with Shannon Jackson of The Builders Association: Performance and Media in Contemporary Theater.

About The Builders Association

Led by artistic director and co-founder Marianne Weems, the award-winning New York-based performance and media company The Builders Association celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2019. Since their inception in 1994, The Builders have created 17 original large-scale productions at the forefront of crossmedia performance - The New York Times said "The Builders Association makes other multimedia theater look as if it's from the Stone Age." The company's pioneering and innovative process creates original, impactful stories about the human experience in the 21st century. Its productions provide a cultural context in which to explore what it means to live with contemporary technologies and have addressed such issues as outsourcing and corporate colonialism in Alladeen (2003), dataveillance in Super Vision (2005), and the global financial crisis in House/Divided (2010). The company's work has appeared at over 80 venues across the globe including the Barbican Theater in London, Melbourne Festival, Seoul International Theater Festival, RomaEuropa, and Festival Iberoamericano de Bogotá, to name a few. In New York City, it has been presented at Lincoln Center, St. Ann's Warehouse, The Kitchen, New York Theater Workshop, the Whitney Museum, the Guggenheim Museum, 3LD Art & Technology Center, and BAM (its last five productions). buildersassociation.org

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