Research Catalog

Title

Poppa piece [videorecording] : rehearsals. [Jan. 7-Feb. 8, 1991].

Publication

1991.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Robbins, Jerome
• Rifkin, Ron
• Alexander, Jace
• Wieselman, Douglas.
• Harnick, Sheldon.
• Weidman, John, 1946-
• Lincoln Center Theater (New York, N.Y.)

Description

2 videocassettes (VHS, NTSC) (117 min.) : sd., col.; 1/2 in.

Summary

This tape contains excerpts from the rehearsals of Poppa piece. Jerome Robbins appears in some segments and in others his voice is heard. The performers are in rehearsal clothes, with some props. There is piano and drum accompaniment. The following scenes are rehearsed, with many repetitions and variants: the young man dancing with his father's dead body; an ensemble dance depicting Biblical stories witnessed by the boy and his grandfather (the parting of the Red Sea, Adam and Eve, Samson and Delilah, Cain and Abel, Moses and the ten commandments, David and Goliath); a monologue ("When I was six we went to Europe to visit my grandfather..."); the Bar Mitvah sequence (the boy and his tutor studying the Torah, with interruptions from a crowd of disruptive students, and from cyclists who mock them through the window; the boy being dressed by elders, and the Bar Mitzvah itself, ending with the boy being comforted by his mother); a scene with the boy and his father reading a newspaper; the bicycle ballet.

Series Statement

Jerome Robbins Collection

Subjects

• Theater rehearsals
• Jews > Drama
• Video
• Drama
• Dance
• Autobiographical works
• Dance rehearsals

Genre/Form

• Dance.
• Drama.
• Video.
• Autobiographical works.
• Dance rehearsals.

Note

• Time/date code on frame.

Access (note)

• Permission required.

Credits (note)

• Music: Douglas Wieselman. Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick. Dialogue: John Wiedman.

Event (note)

• Videotaped in studio rehearsal, in rehearsal clothes, at Lincoln Center Theater, in New York City, between Jan. 7 and Feb. 8, 1991.

Funding (note)

• Preservation made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biography (note)

• Poppa piece is an autobiographical work created by Jerome Robbins, with music, dance and dialogue. It features two actors (a boy and a young man) portraying the central character; other characters include his father, his grandfather, and his mother. There is also a large cast of dancers. Poppa piece was rehearsed in workshops during 1991 at the Lincoln Center Theater but was never produced.

Call Number

*MGZIA 4-6086 JRC

OCLC

NYPT03-F30

Title

Poppa piece [videorecording] : rehearsals. [Jan. 7-Feb. 8, 1991].

Imprint

1991.

Country of Producing Entity

U.S.

Series

Jerome Robbins Collection

Restricted Access

Permission required.

Credits

Music: Douglas Wieselman. Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick. Dialogue: John Wiedman.

Performer

Performers include Ron Rifkin, Jace Alexander. Other performers unidentified.

Event

Videotaped in studio rehearsal, in rehearsal clothes, at Lincoln Center Theater, in New York City, between Jan. 7 and Feb. 8, 1991.

Funding

Preservation made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biography

Poppa piece is an autobiographical work created by Jerome Robbins, with music, dance and dialogue. It features two actors (a boy and a young man) portraying the central character; other characters include his father, his grandfather, and his mother. There is also a large cast of dancers. Poppa piece was rehearsed in workshops during 1991 at the Lincoln Center Theater but was never produced.

Added Author

Robbins, Jerome, choreographer.

Robbins, Jerome, director.

Robbins, Jerome, creator.

Rifkin, Ron, actor.

Alexander, Jace, actor.

Wieselman, Douglas. Composer

Harnick, Sheldon. Lyricist

Weidman, John, 1946- Author of dialog

Lincoln Center Theater (New York, N.Y.)

Research Call Number

*MGZIA 4-6086 JRC