Arts at St. Ann’s and the Sydney Festival Present the world premiere of LOU REED’S BERLIN,

DECEMBER 14, 15, 16, 17 AT ST. ANN’S WAREHOUSE
JANUARY 18, 19, 20 IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

LIVE DEBUT OF REED’S CONTROVERSIAL 1973 LANDMARK SONG CYCLE TO FEATURE MUSICAL DIRECTION BY BOB EZRIN AND HAL WILLNER, DIRECTION AND DESIGN BY JULIAN SCHNABEL, LIGHTING BY  JENNIFER TIPTON AND PERFORMERS INCLUDING REED, ANTONY, SHARON JONES, RUPERT CHRISTIE, STEVE HUNTER, FERNANDO SAUNDERS, TONY SMITH, ROB WASSERMAN AND OTHERS

When Lou Reed’s Berlinwas released in 1973, it was a shock to critics and fans that had just seen Reed reaffirmed as a rock visionary with the runaway success of Transformer, which included the Top 20 hit “Walk on the Wild Side,” among other now-classic Reed compositions. Instead of delivering another, similar album that would further cement his reputation as glam-rock innovator, Reed betrayed the pigeonhole and all expectations and immersed himself in a highly ambitious, emotionally and psychologically exhausting, and ultimately, utterly surprising work: a dark concept album about drifting, tormented addicts in love, broken hearted and willfully disabled ex-pats, formalizing their own downfalls in the outskirts of a divided city. Though set it Berlin, this was a narrative so many of Reed’s peers had lived and felt firsthand.

The depth and impact of the album is evident in the critical response it received upon release: It provoked hyperbolic reactions, both positive and negative. The New York Times called the album “one of the strongest, most original rock records in years.” Rolling Stone raved, “It is not an overstatement to say that Berlinwill be the Sgt. Pepper of the Seventies.” But then the same magazine—among many others—attacked Reed for the work: “There are certain records that are so patently offensive that one wishes to take some kind of physical vengeance on the artists that perpetrate them. Reed’s only excuse for this performance…can only be that this was his last shot at a once-promising career.”

Over time, Berlin has come to be known not just as a cult favorite, but as an influential masterwork and an essential album in a career that—over 30 years later—has included countless surprises and landmark artistic endeavors. But Reed never performed Berlin live. Until now.

Arts at St. Ann’s and the Sydney Festival have joined forces with Reed to present a theatricalized concert version of the work, which makes its world premiere at St. Ann’s Warehouse for four nights only: December 14, 15, 16 and 17 at 8:00 P.M. The entire Berlin recording will be performed live, incorporating five additional songs by Reed that enhance the song cycle. Tickets are $65.

As in the making of the album, Reed is collaborating on the concert with an all-star creative team including musical direction by the original producer, Bob Ezrin—who produced the Berlin album as well as Pink Floyd’s The Wall and hit albums by Alice Cooper, Kiss and others—and record producer, Hal Willner, who has music-directed numerous multi-artist concerts at St. Ann’s original  home at  St. Ann’s Church in Brooklyn Heights. Willner’s most recent works include the Leonard Cohen tribute concert I’m Your Man (now a theatrically released documentary film and an album on Verve Forecast) and the compilation album Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys. Reed’s friend, painter Julian Schnabel is directing and designing, and Jennifer Tipton, who is beloved for her innovative work with The Wooster Group and many others, is designing lighting for the concert.

Producing the Berlinrecording, Ezrin met Reed’s ambition of vision with grand execution, assembling an all-star band for the recording in London: Steve Winwood, Jack Bruce, Michael and Randy Brecker and others. For the live performances at  St. Ann’s and in Sydney, Reed will be joined onstage by friends and favorite collaborators such as singers Antony and Sharon Jones, Rupert Christie ( keyboards), Steve Hunter (guitar), Fernando Saunders (bass), Rob Wasserman (bass), Tony Smith (drums), brass and strings contracted by Hal Willner with Steve Bernstein and Jane Scarpantoni.

Lou Reed has collaborated with Arts at St. Ann’s since 1990, when ASA co-commissioned and premiered the Lou Reed/John Cale work Songs for ‘Drella, which also became an acclaimed album and concert video. In 2003, Reed performed The Raven at St. Ann’s Warehous, and, last year, he performed as a guest in Arts at St. Ann’s 25th anniversary benefit concert, Fire at Keaton’s Bar and Grill.

Artistic Director Susan Feldman expressed her enthusiasm at welcoming Reed back for the world premiere of Berlin: [quote from Susan].
“I have been wanting to produce Berlin ever since a cousin of mine first handed it to me on a cassette about ten years ago! And, last year, I was very fortunate to meet up the adventurous director of the Sydney Festival, Fergus Linehan, who shared the passion. It’s been gratifying to engage Lou and some of his closest collaborators – Bob Ezrin, Julian Schnabel, Hal Willner – in what’s sure to be a labor of love and an important part of rock history. Berlin is a sad song about people on the edge, that, at its highest moments, achieves a shimmering elegance.”
Berlinepitomizes the sensibility strengths of Arts at St. Ann’s, which is perhaps best known for its signature multi-artist concerts and ground breaking music and theater collaborations. Among the many highly acclaimed productions at St. Ann’s Warehouse are Charlie Kaufman and the Coen Brothers’ Theater of the New Ear, The Royal Court Theater’s 4:48 Psychosis, The Wooster Group’s The Emperor Jones by Eugene O’Neill, To You, the Birdie and House/Lights,and Mabou Mines Dollhouse, which continues to tour the world. St. Ann’s Warehouse has featured special New York concerts by David Bowie, Beth Gibbons, Joe Strummer, Antony and the Johnsons, Aimee Mann, The Tiger Lillies and Music from the Mississippi Hill Country, featuring Othar Turner and Lucinda Williams.
Berlinis funded in part by The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation and The New York State Music Fund.


Ticketing Information

Tickets to all shows in the St. Ann’s Warehouse First Look season can be purchased through the St. Ann’s Warehouse Box Office, by phone at 718.254.8779, or in person Tuesday—Saturday from 1:00 to 7:00 P.M. Tickets to all St. Ann’s Warehouse performances are also available online at Ticketweb.com. For programming and time-sensitive discount information, please call the Box Office or check the website at www.stannswarehouse.org. St. Ann’s Warehouse Box Office is located at 38 Water Street between Main and Dock Streets in DUMBO, Brooklyn. A service charge will be applied to all credit card purchases. Tickets are subject to availability; all tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable; and artists are subject to change.


About Arts at St. Ann’s and St. Ann’s Warehouse

Arts at St. Ann’s has commissioned, produced and presented an eclectic range of innovative theater and multi-artist concerts for over 25 years. Since 2001, the organization has helped vitalize the emerging Brooklyn neighborhood, DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), where St. Ann’s Warehouse at 38 Water has become one of New York City’s most important and compelling live performance venues.

St. Ann’s Warehouse was awarded a Ross Wetzsteon Award, in 2004, for “inviting artists to treat their cavernous DUMBO space as both an inspiring laboratory and a sleek venue where its super-informed audience charges the atmosphere with hip vitality.”

For more information, please contact Blake Zidell, Brian Shimkovitz or Carla Sacks at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000, blake (at) sacksco.com, brian.shimkovitz (at) sacksco.com or carla (at) sacksco.com.



close window