Still Life premiers tonight, June 8, 2007
Georgia and Frida Visit San Miguel

Theater

Still Life: A Theatrical and Musical Portrait of Georgia O’Keefe and Frida Kahlo

Fridays & Saturdays, June 8, 9, 15 &16, 8pm Sunday, June 10, 3pm Sunday, June 17 7pm Teatro Santa Ana  Biblioteca Pública Reloj 50 A

The world premier of Still Life: A Theatrical and Musical Portrait of Georgia O’Keeffe and Frida Kahlo opens tonight, June 8, at the Biblioteca Pública’s Teatro Santa Ana.

Staged readings of the play have been given in Hartford, CT, and in Tucson and Phoenix, AZ; however, San Miguel audiences will see the first full-scale presentation of the work. Co-produced by the National Hispanic Cultural Center and Camino Real, Still Life recently opened to packed houses and enthusiastic audiences at the Disney Center for the Performing Arts in Albuquerque, and the cast and crew are bringing the production to San Miguel for two weekends, June 8-10 and June 15-17.

Of the production, Carol Boss of public radio station KUNM, Albuquerque, said, “What a fitting birthday celebration for these two remarkable women, Georgia O’Keeffe and Frida Kahlo—gifted actors, some art and live music, and even a recipe for pumpkin flower quesadillas woven together into an intimate portrait. It’s quite delicious!”

The work is the latest in a series of “parallel portraits” by playwright/musician Harry Clark which combine drama, live music and visual elements. Clark’s Raisin’ Cane, celebrating the Harlem Renaissance, is currently on national tour.

Others of his inventive multimedia productions, blending fact and a bit of fancy, have attracted dozens of acclaimed American actors to leading roles. 

Still Life stars Nancy Jeris as Georgia and Sabina Zúñiga-Varela as Frida, portraying remarkable women married to remarkable men who formed a unique friendship over two decades.

Dialogs are based on actual correspondence between the two artists and on imagined conversations drawn from biographical material. Scenes are interspersed with musical interludes and visual projections of Kahlo’s and O’Keeffe’s distinctive paintings. Guitarist Carl Bernstein and cellist Christien Beeuwkes accompany the cast in performing the live music. The production is directed by Linda López McAlister, who also directed Copenhagen at the Teatro Santa Ana in 2006.

Tickets will be on sale at the door. A reception follows Friday’s opening night performance. Performances of Still Life will benefit the AnYel School of Music, which provides school children in the San Miguel area with musical experiences and training.