Peter Musante talks about the new Jane Jacobs-inspired festival for kids and adults alike
Creator and educator Peter Mustante has a long list of accomplishments, everything from performing with the Blue Man Group to collaborating with Andrew Schneider on pieces like YOUARENOWHERE to being a Resident Artist at Trusty Sidekick Theater.
Now he’s bringing a long-standing dream to life by curating and producing a a community-driven festival of immersive short works for all ages called UP CLOSE at the New Ohio Theater.
We spoke to Peter over email as the team prepares to open the kid-friendly fest.
No Proscenium (NP): Could you tell us a little about yourself and your background in the immersive arts?
Peter Musante (PM): I trained as an actor and musician in Los Angeles before joining the cast of Blue Man Group in NYC. The BMG community has its roots in public disturbances and other inspired mayhem, sometimes with large-scale execution, so I definitely cut my immersive teeth in blue greasepaint. Since then, I’ve made work that aims to find inspiration from, and bring new awareness to, a person’s relationship to their physical surroundings.
NP: What, in a nutshell, is this project about?
PM: The UP CLOSE festival transforms the New Ohio’s basement theatre into a living archive of stories from West Village history, and was designed using the community organizing principles of famed urbanist & activist, Jane Jacobs. It’s “an immersive festival about New York for New Yorkers of all ages.”
NP: How did the Up Close Festival come about? What inspired you to create this festival?
PM: We are partnering with the New Ohio for their Theatre for Young Minds holiday programming initiative. Once we discovered the rich history of the building — it’s located in a landmark building that once housed the National Archives Record Center — we ran with the idea of staging short form, immersive works that honor the neighborhood’s past.
Get Kathryn Yu’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
SubscribeSubscribe
NP: How is the audience incorporated into the works being shown at the festival?
PM: Audiences of all ages will be free to roam a secret archive of West Village history, managed by the event’s host, Ms. Pea (played by Summer Shapiro). For 15 minutes, it is an interactive play space where you can engage with characters and objects that will then be used in four short stories that bring the audience into the storytelling.
NP: How do you design an immersive festival that’s enjoyable for both kids and adults?
PM: In my work with Trusty Sidekick Theater Company, at venues like The Park Avenue Armory, we’ve found that by using a young person’s POV to develop ideas that reinvent space actually brings adult audiences into fully satisfying new types of experiences. Kids often have no preconceptions about what theatre should be, so we allow ourselves to be driven with that same sense of curiosity and agency.
NP: What’s surprised you so far during the process?
PM: Discovering all the untold stories of Greenwich Village history has been very eye-opening. It keeps us aware of the fact that when we ask, “what is the history of this place?”, we take on the responsibility of honoring indigenous communities and other marginalized voices whose histories are often excluded from collective memory.
NP: What do you hope participants take away from the experience?
PM: This festival will be successful if audiences leave feeling more of a connection to community, and a greater appreciation of the land they call home (for New Yorkers). We want to make Jane Jacobs feel proud.
The UP CLOSE Festival runs December 20 — 31. Tickets are $25 with a group discount for three or more.
No Proscenium is a labor of love made possible by our generous Patreon backers: join them today!
Brought to you in part by The Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts, who are seeking faculty candidates.
In addition to the No Proscenium web site, our podcast, and our newsletters, you can find NoPro on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, in our Facebook community Everything Immersive, and on our Slack forum.
Discussion