A Family Musical
We created a set and costume design for a family musical production by FolksbieneRU.
Premiered on June 21st, 2015, at the Abrons Arts Center as part of Kulturfest NYC.
Meet Aaron, a young boy dreaming about being a superhero, who one day finds himself magically transported from his room to the strange and whimsical town of Chelm. In the upside-down and backward universe of this small shtetl Aaron, together with the fools and the wise men of Chelm, will go on a journey to find out what it means to be a hero.
The King of Chelm is based on the poetry and short stories of well-known Soviet poet Ovsey Shike Driz.
CREDITS
Directed by Sandler Gera
Written by Boris Zilberman
Score composed by Dmitri Zisl Slepovitch
Co-score arranged by Alex Ryaboy
Set & costume design by L2coLAB, Katya Meykson, Anna Kegeles
Translation by Mike Lion and Greg Dolin
Produced by Anya Zicer & Alla Igolnikova
SHADOW PUPPET THEATER
"Castle in the Clouds" L2coLAB's latest shadow puppet musical for children, celebrates the immigrant experience with warmth and wit through original music and lyrics.
Inspired by the PJ Library book "The Castle on Hester Street' by Linda Heller, "Castle in the Clouds" retells stories from our parent’s and grandparents’ generation.
The state-of-the-art production, which uses a uniquely-designed spherical "bubble" as its stage, will appeal to children and adults alike on the strength of the high-quality set, design, musical score, and lyrics, conceived and performed of by some of the best professionals in the field.
'Castle in the Clouds' is funded by
Genesis Philantropy Group
L2coLAB TEAM Collaborators
Directors: Leonid Khanin & Luba Proger
Script, Story Adaptation: Evgenia Lianskaya, Luba Proger, Leonid, Khanin, Anya Lianski
Music and Lyrics: Evgeniia Lianskaya
Musical Arrangements: Alexander Alabin
Vocals: Anya Fidelia, Roman Freud, Alexandra Lushtak, Ilya Lushtak, Lisa Lushtak
Musical Direction: Anya Fidelia
Puppeteers: Katya Rachkovskaya, Sasha Maslouskaya, Alla Igolnikova, Luba Proger
Recording Engineer: Dmitri Portnov
Video/Sound Operator: Boris Krichevsky, Alexander Alabin
Set & Puppet Design: Leonid Khanin & Luba Proger
Set Graphics Animation: Luba Proger, Boris Krichevsky
Shadow Puppet Theater
The unique staging of The Purim Spiel Shadow Theater gives a new life to the Jewish tradition of the Purim Spiel. The joyous holiday of Purim celebrates the salvation of the Jews in ancient Persia thanks to the cleverness of Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai who prevail over the King's evil adviser Haman. This unique children’s puppetry production of the Purim story is performed in two languages. The Russian version is based on songs from classic Soviet cartoons while the English one features parodies of well-known musical theater, pop and rock tunes.
Original Russian Language Production was created in March 2009, followed by the English Language Production in 2011
CREDITS:
Directors: Leonid Khanin & Luba Proger (L2coLAB)
Script-writers, Russian Lyrics: Anya & Maxim Lianski
English Lyrics: Annette Powers and Adam Karol
Musical Arrangements: Alexander Alabin
Casting & Musical Preparation: Anya Fidelia
Vocals Russian: Alexandra Lushtak (Esther/Narator), Zheka "Koshmar" Varva (Achashvarosh, Hamman), Peter Nasonov (Mordechai)
Vocals English: Annette Powers (Esther), Ben Rauch (Achashvarosh/Hamman), Adam Karol (Mordechai/Narrator)
Puppeteers: Yana Manovskaya, Katya Rachkovskaya, Elena Zavelev, Luba Proger
Sound Mixing/Recording Engineer: Ben Rauch
Video/Sound Operator: Alexander Alabin
Set & Puppet Design: Leonid Khanin & Luba Proger
The Story about the Production of the Shadow Puppet Theater aired on March 9th 2012, www.tjctv.com
Project OKNA is a multimedia installation inspired by diverse individual views and personal stories on the subject of Jewish identity coming from people within the Russian-speaking community. Through an artistic interpretation, Project OKNA explores the unique juxtaposition of Soviet/Russian past with Jewish identity. We are looking through the ‘windows’ into memories, unforgettable moments, conflict, rejection, and nostalgia. Video art and music create an immersive environment to raise important questions of ‘where we come from’ and inspire to understand ‘who we are’.
The ProjectOKNA Workshop is based on the multimedia installation. This is an educational workshop, where participants are invited to explore and voice the collective components of a Russian Jewish narrative within an historic context, its uniqueness in relation to the American Jewish narrative and its impact on the participants’ Jewish identity. www.ProjectOKNA.com
60 Reflections is a photography installation celebrating the 60th year of Israel's independence through photographs of people’s “reflections” of Israel. L2COLab curated and participated in the exhibition in collaboration with a group of Jewish-Russian New Yorkers.
In 60 Reflections , twenty-seven individuals contributed sixty images that together present a photographic panorama of how each sees and celebrates Israel, and finds common bonds and a shared commitment to the Jewish state on the 60th anniversary of its birth.
Art inspired by Science
The InsideOut installation made people aware of the immense beauty kept inside of us, exploring the mind and body, diving in as deep as the molecular level. InsideOut merged art, science and fashion. We may discover, looking deep inside our bodies, how beautiful and pure we are, just like the nature that surrounds us. This “inner beauty” may seem abstract and dreamy, but like many dreams, it is based on reality.
The Science Fashion merges art, science and fashion, exploring the mind and body, diving in as deep as the molecular level. Fashion, like many things in our culture, constantly changes in the fast-moving pace of our lives. The Science Fashion makes the inner beauty of the body fashionable, lasting longer than just one season.
Installation for Rio Museum of Technology
The concept of a moving platform ship with the multimedia lighthouse - powerful video projector sending a colorful content on the dark building in the downtown Rio De Janeiro.
Media Man in Utopia Art
April 4 2006 Funhouse Gallery Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Sculpture piece represents the men overloaded with media.
Media Man was a part of Utopia art event presenting dreams, visions, fantasies of what our world should be if we had any say in it.
The rebirth of Action Arts League's Tompkins Scare Park and Healthy Halloween programs, Green Halloween NYC teaches "creativity over candy" in a fight against epidemic child obesity and diabetes while demonstrating ways to make all holidays more sustainable. Part of a growing movement, we merged our Healthy Halloween program with the national Green Halloween project and together we are demonstrating to the world how Halloween can be more about community participation and artistic expression than about consumerism, consumption and teaching children that large doses of high fructose corn syrup is a "reward" to be prized.
Architectural Competition 2006
The new Roosevelt Island Universal Art Center has the potential to transform South point and its adjacent neighborhoods, to write new page in the history of the area and reorient the energy of the island toward the future. Architecturally we wrap the existing space – we turn it inside out by turning the outside in. The inside of the existing structure becomes the outside of the new one and the outside becomes the new inside. The inside of the old hospital becomes an outdoor sculpture garden; the outside becomes the new indoor space which hosts galleries, studios, amphitheaters, a black box, etc.
The new structure is wrapped in a soft cloak of glass and grass, inspired by the existing terrain south of the main building. A glass curtain sweeps down the middle of the structure in the west, facilitating visual interaction between the old structure, the new indoor galleries and Manhattan's east side skyline. Walking paths spiral around and over the structure, taking pedestrians up to the top for an overhead view of the sculpture garden. On the north side, the ramped structure is cut by a curved glass wall, which functions as the entrance to the inside of the complex and allows for an open dialogue between the entrance hall and outdoor garden.
Across from Manhattan’s extreme verticality, we propose an extreme horizontality – a cultural center and park that stretches in the middle of the East River, leaving open the horizon between Manhattan and Queens. The Roosevelt Island Universal Art Center functions as a breathing space between the two boroughs, a peaceful green retreat that contrasts with and complements the city’s skyline.
NO EXIT interactive theater production features synchronized video projection, it takes an innovative approach to the staging of Jean-Paul Sartre's masterpiece about tree ordinary people condemned to spend eternity together in hell, where they unwittingly become each other’s tortures. Transcending genre boundaries and incorporating cinematography as a backdrop, the staging of the play brings out the contrast between reality and it’s on screen representation as metaphor for the disparity between a person's true self and the social representation of self - a key theme in No Exit.
Staging is produced in collaboration with GlassBead Collective.
