How are things IN THE FOOTPRINT?

Things are moving along in the construction site at this point. HERE is a video from the Nets Daily website showing the steelworkers putting up the structure, and even more has gone up since then. 

HERE is Norman Oder's commentary on the latest construction alert that details how the plans are changing as the construction progresses.

And as things are going up down at Atlantic and Flatbush, Freddy's bar (the setting of a few scenes in IN THE FOOTPRINT) reopened last week at 627 Fifth Ave. between 17th and 18th streets in Park Slope. HERE is what Norman Oder has to say about it, and HERE are some photos from opening!

IN THE FOOTPRINT: How was Boston?

Last weekend, In the Footprint was up in Boston at ArtsEmerson for six performances. Of course, the big question on everyone's mind was about how such a seemingly geographically-specific show would play in a different city where people might not even know what Atlantic Yards is. Here are some thoughts from some of the great reviews we got while the show was up there:

Time Out Boston (who called the show "a powerful, multifaceted portrait"): "You may ask yourself: “Self, what does a play about a real estate dispute in Brooklyn have to do with me, here, in Boston?” It has a lot to do with you, actually. We’ve had our fair share of skirmishes over neighborhood ownership; just look at the turf war between Allston and Harvard University, or the aborted move of the Patriots’ stadium to South Boston."

The Hub Review (who said, "I can't think of a more accurate portrayal of the Way We Live Now"): "You may shrug at the topic - what do the travails of Brooklyn have to do with Boston?  But rest assured, the Civilians limn through this particular prism a devastating vision of millennial politics and, you know, how things get done.  For what soon came clear about the Atlantic Yards project was that - as one disgruntled homeowner points out - no elected body or official had ever voted on it ever. "

WBUR (who felt that "the issues come alive in a way I certainly didn’t get from reading about it in the New York Times" - what would Norman Oder say to that?): "The unlikely subject matter is the urban development project in Brooklyn to bring the New Jersey Nets there, among other things. But the Civilians make the issue of eminent domain, something that Bostonians are certainly familiar with, compelling with a variety of strong theatrics from musical numbers to modernistic re-creations of who said what."

The Phoenix (who called the show a "surprisingly sprightly epitaph for a neighborhood"): Some New York–centric details may not resonate with Boston audiences, but issues of urban renewal (of which we've botched a few) are as hoary — and as pertinent — as Jane Jacobs's 1961 tome The Death and Life of Great American Cities. 

So it looks like the show was really well received by people who have probably never seen the footprint or heard the name Bruce Ratner before! 
 

IN THE FOOTPRINT in the New York Times! Theater and Journalism?

First of all, here is a recap of The Civilians and In the Footprint in the New York Times over the past few weeks:

Review by Charles Isherwood
Photo slide-show
Arts Beat: "Theater Talkback: Giving Thanks in a Thankless Season" by Charles Isherwood
"When News Events Are Retold on Stage" by Jason Zinoman


The last article was put online yesterday and in print today. It's about the role of journalism in theater. Take a look at the article. What do you think? Where is the line between presenting reality and shaping a drama? To what degree are theater artists responsible for facts? In the Footprint addresses in the script issues about the difficulty of arriving at one truth with so many people saying different things for various reasons. Weigh in! What do you think? 


Here are Norman Oder's thoughts about the issues - take a look! The headline is "A theater critic lectures The Civilians on journalism regarding "In the Footprint." He has a point. Maybe the Times should follow it, too."

Atlantic Yards News - IN THE FOOTPRINT

If you aren't coming to In the Footprint on Wednesday, check out the Atlantic Yards Traffic Forum, presented by our friends at the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Association. According to the PHNDA's website, it's: a forum on traffic and transit issues raised by Atlantic Yards construction and the planned opening of the Barclays Center in 2012.

* What impacts are already being felt?
* What is coming from the arena and future construction?
* What does the recent court decision mean to the community?
* What can we do now?

Join Council Member Letitia James, Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries, and the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council at their Atlantic Yards traffic forum at PS9 in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

WHEN: Wednesday, December 8, 2010
7:30- 9:00PM
WHERE: PS9, 80 Underhill Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11238

In other news, Norman Oder reports that the ESDC has granted a seven-year extension to build up the arena block, which is Phase 1 of the overall construction project under the EB-5 Program. Get the details at the Atlantic Yards Report HERE. The EB-5 Program allows Forest City Ratner to accept investments in exchange for greencards. Take a look at the EB-5 Memorandum that shows that this is actually legal HERE.