Fringe News
Fringe News
Toronto: Musical Pawns will be playing at the Tarragon Theatre Main Space (20 Bridgeman
Avenue near Bathurst/Dupont) from July 4-14, 2012 as part of the Toronto Fringe Theatre Festival. Box Office: 416-966-1062 ext. 1 –will be located during festival in parking lot behind Honest Ed’s (581 Bloor St. W.) Tickets $10/$9 cash at door. Discounts for groups 5+.
“When I was asked to help bring David Nowakowsky’s music to the public, I thought it would only take a couple of weeks,” exclaims Ron Graner, “twenty-two years later, I’m still at it!”
When David Leftkowitz approached Graner with the project, it had already been years in development. Leftkowitz dedicated 30 years, getting up at 3am every day, to catalogue over 2000 of Nowakowsky’s works.
Only an extraordinary story could garner such dedication. In 1937, Nowakowsky’s granddaughter Sofie, her husband Boris and son Alexandre fled Germany as stateless refugees. They were eventually able to smuggle themselves into Switzerland while Sofie’s grandfather’s music was buried on a farm in occupied France. Incredibly, after the music was recovered after the war by Boris, it was nearly destroyed again in a fire at the New York’s Hebrew Union College in 1978. The rescued manuscripts took another 10 years to edit and were given their first performance in 1989. Publication of the music is still ongoing.
The story of how the music was rescued was dictated to Ron Graner in 1995 by Alexandre, who was only 5 years old when he became a refugee in 1937. This heart-wrenching tale was presented at the 2012 FRIGID New York Theatre Festival, where it won the prestigious “Audience Choice Award”. Now, it will appear at the 2012 Toronto Fringe Festival, featuring song, dance and political satire. Toronto’s production will be further enhanced by introducing multimedia.
While Musical Pawns injects humour and song-parodies to lighten the mood, behind the jokes are serious questions regarding the effects of defying copyright law, and a vicious 19th century political slander disguised as an innocent bedtime story. Truth and fiction are skillfully woven together to explore the many generations of people who sought to protect, destroy, restore and share the lifetime work of the brilliant 19th century composer who was David Nowakowsky.
For further details on the story, and to see clips from the New York production, please visit: www.musicalpawns.domecountry.com
show times
July 04 10:30 PM
July 06 03:00 PM
July 09 08:00 PM
July 10 03:00 PM
July 12 12:00 PM
July 13 08:45 PM
July 14 04:00 PM
Toronto Fringe Festival, July 4-15
Fringe Box Office Information: On-line sales www.fringetoronto.com
By phone: 416-966-1062; Ticket cost: $10.00 (at the door); $11.00 (in advance)
Photo: David Nowakowsky (1848-1921).
2012-06-19
Musical Pawns