Download einstein on the beach wins 2013 olivier award

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EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH WINS 2013 OLIVIER AWARD; UNIVERSITY
MUSICAL SOCIETY (UMS) PLAYED CRITICAL ROLE AS COCOMMISSIONER OF THE PRODUCTION
ANN ARBOR, MI (May 10, 2013) — The University Musical Society (UMS) was a proud co-commissioner
of the 2012 production of contemporary art cornerstone Einstein on the Beach, An Opera in Four Acts
by Philip Glass and Robert Wilson — a production that was just named the 2013 Olivier Award winner
for “Best New Opera Production.”
This historic production was remounted in Ann Arbor’s Power Center for the Performing Arts with three
preview performances in January, 2012, allowing Ann Arbor audiences the first opportunity to see the
production before an extended world tour. UMS also played a pivotal role in the production’s success by
hosting 65 cast, crew, and creative-team members for an intense, three-week UMS residency on the
University of Michigan campus for technical rehearsals in preparation for the world-tour launch. The
Ann Arbor preview performances of Einstein on the Beach marked the launch of Pure Michigan
Renegade, a 10-week series presented by UMS that examined innovation and experimentation in the
performing arts.
The production’s 2012 Ann Arbor residency and preview performances were made possible by major
support from the Renegade Ventures Fund inspired by Maxine and Stuart Frankel; Michigan Economic
Development Corporation; the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; the Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation; The Power Foundation; The Dahlmann Campus Inn; National Endowment for the Arts;
University of Michigan Health System; U-M/UMS Partnership Program; Mary and Brian Campbell in
memory of Herbert Amster; and many individual donors. The three preview performances in Ann Arbor
were met with sold out audiences comprised of people from 39 states and 9 countries.
UMS Co-commissions Einstein on the Beach, winner of 2013 Olivier Award
UMS President Kenneth C. Fischer said upon receiving notification of the award: “UMS and the
University of Michigan certainly have a deep history of cultural incubation, but nothing typifies this
commitment like the scale, impact, and legacy of Einstein on the Beach. From the very onset, UMS felt
this remount was critical to the next generation of art-makers, community members, and business
leaders alike. A production this ahead of its time, this visionary, this thought-provoking, and this
renegade has the power to inspire us, transform our thinking, and create in-roads to new solutions. We
are extraordinarily proud to have been co-commissioners of Einstein on the Beach and congratulate
Pomegranate Arts and the entire artistic team on the 2013 Olivier Award for Best New Opera.”
Widely recognized as one of the greatest creative achievements of the 20th century, Einstein on the
Beach was first produced in Avignon, France in 1976, with subsequent performances in Europe and at
the Metropolitan Opera. This rarely performed and revolutionary work was an international
breakthrough for Robert Wilson and Philip Glass and radically and indelibly broadened what audiences
might expect from opera, theater, or performance art. Non-narrative in form, the work uses a series of
powerful recurrent images as its main storytelling device shown in juxtaposition with abstract dance
sequences created by Lucinda Childs. Prior to its 2012 remount, the production’s only two revivals had
been in 1984 and 1992.
Produced by Pomegranate Arts, Inc., the 2012 production of Einstein on the Beach, An Opera in Four
Acts was commissioned by the University Musical Society of the University of Michigan; BAM; the
Barbican, London; Cal Performances University of California, Berkeley; Luminato, Toronto Festival of Arts
and Creativity; De Nederlandse Opera/The Amsterdam Music Theatre; and Opéra et Orchestre National
de Montpellier Languedoc-Rousillon.
Of the award, Pomegranate Arts said: "It’s extraordinary. [We're] completely amazed that this
production that was created in 1976 – the same year the Oliviers started – has been honored this way. It
took such a long time. We’ve been working together for over 10 years to try to make this happen, so
that it should end like this is wonderful.”
UMS Co-commissions Einstein on the Beach, winner of 2013 Olivier Award
The Olivier Awards are British theatre’s most sought-after awards. They have been a mark of theatrical
greatness since they were inaugurated in 1976 as the Society of West End Theatre Awards. The society is
now known as Society of London Theatre (SOLT) and its glittering awards are now the Olivier Awards in
honour of a theatrical legend. The 2013 Olivier Awards took place on April 28, 2013 in the Royal Opera
House with Sheridan Smith and Hugh Bonneville overseeing proceedings.
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UMS Co-commissions Einstein on the Beach, winner of 2013 Olivier Award