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Photo by Mary HitlandThe American Academy in Rome's "Cabaret" fundraiser was held in a former 1849 synagogue that now housesAngel Orensanz Foundation.

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Published: October 28. 2010

Ct,:CK TO ENLARGE FHOTO

NEW YORK— "Some say our empire is passing, as all empires

do," Laurie Anderson authoritatively rumbled onstage at theAmerican Academy in Rome's second annual "Cabaret"fundraiser. "Ah, America. Another day, another dollar, anotherday, in America." As the curator and honoree of the evening,which was held at a former Lower East Side synagogue now

occupied by the Angel Orensanz Foundation, Anderson was

speaking in the voice of her alter ego, Fenway Bergamot — a dourhistorian whose deep, melancholic tenor is achieved through her

signature "audio-drag" filter. Playing songs from her recent album,"Homeland," the steely downtown doyenne wielded a heavilysynthed violin, deftly weaving in improvised material based on hertime in Rome with the academy for a rapt audience.

The ten minutes of musically reverberant political commentary wasthe high point of the multimedia performance-art evening, directed

by Jay Scheib, that entertained an energetic crowd that muncheddeli sandwich halves from Katz's and sipped wine and Pernod.

Onstage the program revolved at a leisurely clip over the course of

the night, with a screening of artistic video shorts by past andpresent American Academy fellowship recipients (curated by artist

Laurie Simmons, who, like Anderson, is an Academy trustee), a

reading of a Virgil-inspired poem about Rome by Rosanna

Warren, and a dance from choreographer Molissa Fenley. amongothers. The contemporary classical composer Nico Muhly played

emphatic piano, and told the audience he was particularly elatedto perform for Anderson because she was one of the two icons he

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2/22/2011

Photo by Mary Hillard

Laurie Anderson headlined andourated the evening's performances.

Laurie Anderson Lights Up the Cabaret.

listened to growing up — her and NPR's Terry Gross.

Almost all of the performers, including Anderson, have beenfellows or residents at the American Academy in Rome for the

Arts, a program that Anderson calls "un-institutional" and

"collaborative." (Trie deadline for the 2011 fellowship applicationshas been extended to November 15, for those interested,) In

recent years, under the newly appointed Andrew Heiskell ArtsDirector, poet Karl Kirchwey. the Academy has worked to diversifyits engagement with the arts, striving in particular to strengthen its

ties to literature. For example, Nobel Prize winner Derek Walcotthas been named a resident at the Academy, and is writing a playand exploring the composition of his pieces with visual projections

and musical scores. "The Academy is very interested in thesetypes of art events that explore connection between the

disciplines," Kirchwey said.

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During the "Cabaret," some of these cross-disciplinaryperformances — though interesting in concept — fell flat. SingerLisa Bielawa presented a meandering cycle of songs based onRoland Barthes' "A Lover's Discourse," though in her hands the

writer's sentiments came off as stale and cliche, A big band led byDavid Sanford, who gained a new appreciation for opera duringhis time in Rome, delivered a plangently strident sound that did nofavors to either musical genre.

The venue, however, could not have been more beautiful or mood-appropriate. Ethereal greens andblues dappled the Gothic high-vaulted ceilings of the onetime place of worship. Candles twinkled inlofty chandeliers and a soft blue light filled the building's clerestory, creating an illusion of twilight within

the space. "It is blue-green, like an artist's world," Anderson cooed to ARTINFO. "It makes me feel like

I'm in Rome."

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