Love Letters
E-mail love letters to Brave New World after
To Kill a Mockingbird
What you did tonight was one of the most amazing things to happen in Brooklyn. I stood on uneven ground, packed in a crowd, for more than two hours, never realizing my hunger or my hurting feet. It was a joy to watch you work in that venue. You made us feel a part of something great and, at the very least, I wanted to thank you for it.
-Milind Shah
To Kill a Mockingbird was inexpressibly wonderful- Magnificent. What a terrific conceptualization and rendering of a modern and relevant classic. This was an event. I’ll definitely continue supporting Brave New World, not only because I’ve enjoyed all the productions and readings I’ve seen, but, this performance of Mockingbird was just exceptional. Everyone I brought, felt they witnessed something really special. Also, my husband, aka juror #3, aka Alan Schulman, was impressed with how well everyone was treated and he just felt privileged to be an extra on the set. Again, thank you so much for this. Truly a memorable experience.
-Amy Wenger, Brooklyn Family Theater
Dear Claire Beckman and company,
What a tremendous performance you all gifted us with last night. I loved every minute of the production, from the stunningly perfect setting (complete with moonlight filtering down through the trees just as Tom Robinson’s verdict was read), to the stellar acting of the entire cast (Miss Taylor Morgan has a marvelous acting career ahead of her if she so chooses!), to the perfect musical selections. Congratulations on tackling such a gigantic project and pulling it off with grace and style, in spite of a much larger-than-anticipated crowd.
I’ll be watching your web site for future performances, and if there is an email newsletter, please add me to the mailing list. I’m telling everyone I know about you–the best kept theater secret in NYC!
Best wishes,
-Meredith Wasinger
The performances by the members of “Brave New World” were as supurb and exciting as any I have ever seen on Broadway. This was not just a play, – it was a “happening”. A beautiful story, acted and directed flawlessly, in this unusual setting, – not a theater, not an outdoor amphitheater or a summer stock barn, – but on a small street, lined with trees and Victorian houses, using some of them as the stage. This was truly a performance to be remembered by all who were fortunate enough to be there.
P.S. I was born and raised at 215 Westminster Road, a few doors from the homes used in this production. I graduated from P.S. 139, around the corner, on Argyle Road, and spent some of my most memorable years in this still beautiful neighborhood.
-Bob Stichman
What an amazing event! You did your job PR too well. I’ve never seen so many people trying to get into a performance. Beat the hell out of those orange flags in the park. It was a great evening.
-Wendy Waterman – Juilliard
To the cast and company of “To Kill a Mockingbird”:
“To Kill a Mockingbird” was not just the best piece of site-specific theater I’ve ever seen, it was the best theater I’ve seen in a long time, period. To all the performers – your work was incredible: focused, dedicated, and tremendously moving. To Claire, your vision, talent and perseverance made history tonight. To the crew, well, I can’t believe everything went so smoothly and was handled with such grace and precision. Everybody who was in that huge crowd will never forget what they saw tonight, and how often can we say that? Thank you all for such a remarkable piece of work.
All the best,
-Royston- Dramaturg- Brooklyn
From the first moment that Calpurnia calls out to Scout to the last when Atticus speaks his closing lines, your production of Mockingbird was extraordinary. You used the street space in striking ways, the audio system basically worked well and the audience was with you from beginning to end. And last, but clearly not least, Taylor was extraordinary. Bravo!
-Ed Blaine – Brooklyn
WOW!!!!!!AMAZING!!!!SO UNIQUE…one of the greatest New York moments in my life. What an unbelievable happening! We enjoyed every moment of it. The weather couldn’t have been better…it was such a pleasure to be there.
-Amy Venema – Brooklyn
-Holly Venema – Manhattan
Wow. Thank you for what I can honestly say was one of the most moving theatre experiences I have ever had in my life. I had chills throughout the play. The entire ensemble was so tight, so professional, so powerful. Your daughter was incredible, you must be so proud! With very little funds you all pulled off a very complicated production with extraordinary vision and beauty. And what perfect weather! Did you also order that full moon to fit the script? I spoke to many people as we all walked home in a daze, tingling with emotion. Everyone was blown away. What can I say. I hope you will, as you said, make it an annual event. We are so lucky to have you, and your entire theater company in this very special community.
-Susan Seigel – President of The Flatbush Development Corporation- Brooklyn
It was wonderful. The entire experience, of course, and the piece itself, the wonderful way (I had forgotten) that the play knits its morals against racism and lynching into solid middle class values (a strategy that’s been forgotten by the left). But just as theatre, too, it was fabulous. Great performances.
-Charles Mee – Brooklyn Playwright
Really amazing- beautifully conceived and executed. It’s so great to see that things like that can really happen- a truly magical theater event! And hauntingly timely…
-Lizzie Olesker – Brooklyn
A Tale Of To Kill a Mockingbird
What can I say about this amazing experience that was To Kill a Mockingbird? Brave New World did a reading of the play back in May – a rainy afternoon in the back yard of Claire & John (2 of the 3 artistic directors). They were following their dream and raising money. They asked me to play Horace Gilmer, the prosecuting attorney.
Jump to September: with 2 weeks of rehearsal– we set sail for a one-night-only extravaganza. As you may know the play was performed on the porches and sidewalks of 6 Victorian homes in a beautiful old section of Brooklyn. Ditmas Park is the areaʼs name. These 100+ year homes are the big, hulking kind in Sophieʼs Choice (which was shot nearby). They all have 6-8 bedrooms, are 2 tall stories high, plus the basement and attic (often with a picturesque spire with window). They all have great porches of varying degrees of wrap-aroundness. The houses are unique and are set on smallish plots lining quaint roads with 100 year old trees.
Claire, our director/captain/inspiration/cheerleader, worked with the kids for months. Her daughter Taylor played Scout (beautifully). All the kids were really quite wonderful — playful, still children – not that “actory” style that kids can have.
The audience was to sit on rented chairs in the street – stretching their necks to see each of the 6 housefuls of action. The free event was part theatre, part “watching a film being shot” and part radio show – for with our body mics they could clearly hear whatever they couldnʼt see.
With an order for 300 chairs the publicity machine started and we began to rehearse – outdoors, in the yards and porches. After an article & photo in The New York Times, other publications were quick to be interested: NY Magazine, Time Out NY, Daily News and all of the Brooklyn papers. They quickly upped the chair order to 500. The company website was getting quite a few hits, emails and phone calls were pouring in. The chair order rose to 750. But would 750 New Yorkers really go to Brooklyn on a Sunday night to see a play version of a classic novel/movie?
The big day – Sunday, September 18th. At 6 a.m. the street was closed to through traffic. After daylight, the technical equipment arrived. The crew constructed a pipe to hang lighting and sound equipment – gently attaching it to the 100 year old sycamore trees….
-By Gary Cowling, September 2005
