Written by Eve Wolf
Directed by Donald T. Sanders
Set & Costumes by Vanessa James
Lighting Design by Beverly Emmons

January 25 & 31, 2008
Elebash Recital Hall
CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Ave.
NY, NY

November 9, 10 & 13, 2005
The Kosciuszko Foundation
15 E. 65th St. 
NY, NY

This theatrical concert recounts the dramatic final days of Tolstoy’s life when at the age of 83 he fled his wife and estates only to die tragically eleven days later at the Astapovo train station. A narrative based on diaries and letters of Tolstoy and his wife, combined with excerpts from his short story, The Death of Ivan Ilych, recounts his final predicament, during which the imagined life and death of a fictional character closely parallels the writer’s own personal voyage.

The text, intertwined with music by Rachmaninoff for violin, cello, and piano, including the Trio Elégiaque and the haunting Vocalise, creates a theatrical concert that epitomizes Russian tragedy and soulfulness.

Written by James Melo
Directed by Donald T. Sanders
Set & Costumes by Vanessa James
Lighting Design by Beverly Emmons

March 5 & 7, 2008
Elebash Recital Hall
CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Ave.
NY, NY

November 18, 2004
The Kosciuszko Foundation
15 E. 65th St. 
NY, NY

Emily Dickinson was one of the most elusive artistic personalities of the 19th century, living as a recluse for most of her adult life. Dickinson’s self-imposed solitude allowed her to construct a world of images, sensations, emotions and thoughts ruled solely by the breadth and refinement of her imagination. By delving deep into her inner world, she produced a body of poetry that remains exceedingly haunting and mysterious.

Music figures prominently in Dickinson’s poetry, and this concert offers a journey through her soul from the perspective of music. A dramatic monologue based on her letters and poems forms the textual backdrop for the magnificent music of Amy Beach, an artist whose musical talents resonate with Dickinson’s otherworldly poetic language.