DATELINE NEW YORK:A whirlwind of events opens the new season (10/06/02)

DATELINE NEW YORK:A whirlwind of events opens the new season

by Helen Smindak

September ushered in a burst of stirring events featuring Ukrainian performers and artists - a whirlwind that may be the prelude to a most exciting cultural season for Ukrainians in the Big City.

Versatile character actor John Spencer walked off with top honors at the Emmy Awards for best supporting actor in a drama series. Character actor George Dzundza opened in the Robert De Niro film "City by the Sea" and in the new CBS series "Hack." Olympic skating champion Victor Petrenko and the award-winning acrobatic team of Vladimir Besedin and Oleksiy Polishchuk showed their mettle at a Madison Square Garden fund-raiser featuring some of the world's top skaters. World-renowned acrobatic champion Tatyana Petruk was the central figure in breath-taking aerial acrobatic work at Macy's 100th birthday outdoor extravaganza at Herald Square.

On the club scene in downtown Manhattan, jazz pianist John Stetch, celebrating the release of his first official solo CD, gave a concert at the Jazz Gallery and an interview on WNYC-FM radio before starting out on a North American tour. The underground gypsy punk rock band Gogol Bordello, led by Eugene Hutz, launched its first North American tour with two outings at the Knitting Factory.

Valued Met artist Paul Plishka took part with Placido Domingo, Olga Borodina and Renée Fleming in the Metropolitan Opera's gala opening night performance.

Actress/singer Olga Talyn of "Phantom of the Opera" fame, now auditioning for a new Broadway role, participated in recent Ukrainian functions, while actress/model Oksana Babiy has chalked up two more episodes in HBO's highly popular series "The Sopranos."

In the realm of literature, Ukrainian authors and Ukrainian subjects are getting great play with Adrian Slywotzky's "The Art of Profitability" and Chuck Palahniuk's "Lullaby," and at least two books with Ukrainian subjects , Jonathan Safran Foer's "Everything is Illuminated" and Claire Messud's "The Hunters."

With such a great harvest of events to survey, this bounty will be brought to readers in two separate "Dateline New York" columns.

Spencer wins award

On his third nomination, an emotional John Spencer proudly accepted the statuette for best supporting actor in a drama series during the 54th annual Emmy Awards, held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on September 22 and telecast live by NBC.

Mr. Spencer, who plays the White House chief of staff on "The West Wing" (Wednesday 9 p.m. ET/PT) and is usually seen as a somber, very thoughtful adviser to President Bartlet (Martin Sheen), had a wide smile as he paid tribute to the show's writers and declared that "the prize for me is doing the thing I love." He came up on stage again with the entire "West Wing" cast as former New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani presented the best drama award (its third consecutive Emmy) to the show's creator, Aaron Sorkin.

A veteran of television, film and stage, Mr. Spencer (profiled in the August 18 "Dateline New York"), is perhaps best known to TV audiences as the tough and funny attorney Tommy Mullaney on the hit series "L.A. Law" (1990-1994). When he's not working on "The West Wing," the actor shuttles between New York and a new million-dollar house in one of L.A.'s prominent canyons.

Dzundza - cop and priest

Former New York resident George Dzundza has played a variety of characters in films and television during his long career, from Robert DeNiro's hometown buddy in the 1978 film "The Deerhunter" to the owner of a German-themed restaurant in NBC's 1998 comedy "Jesse." Mr. Dzundza can draw upon his Ukrainian ancestry to play Russians and East Europeans, but his upbringing on New York's Lower East Side also lends authority to his portrayals of working-class urbanites. He's probably well remembered as Detective Sergeant Max Greevey in the initial season of NBC's acclaimed "Law & Order."

In the newly released Warner Brothers film "City by the Sea," a gripping story playing at theatres in New York and across the country, he is the partner of dedicated homicide detective Vincent LaMarca (Robert De Niro), who discovers that the chief suspect in his current murder investigation is his own son.

On CBS Friday nights, Mr. Dzundza is seen in the new CBS drama series "Hack," starring David Morse as Mike Olshansky (Friday 9 p.m. ET/PT), where he portrays Father Tom "Grizz" Grzelak, Mike's drinking buddy and forthright friend. The drama revolves around Olshansky, who left the police force in disgrace and now drives a taxi, seeking redemption by fighting for and righting the wrongs of others.

While Mr. Dzundza's roles in both the movie and the TV series are small, the actor gives fine performances, as he has always done in the past, regardless of his role. His film credits include "The Butcher's Wife," "Basic Instinct," "Crimson Tide," "Dangerous Minds," "Impulse" and "White Hunter, Black Heart." He has played lead roles in numerous television films, including "The Babymaker," "What She Didn't Know," "The Ryan White Story" and "Cross of Fire," and he's had guest-starring roles in the TV series "Touched by an Angel" and "Third Watch."

Mr. Dzundza, who lives in Tarzania, Calif., with his wife, daughter and two sons, got his first big break in 1973 in the national touring company of "That Championship Season" after spending six years working as a bartender, waiter and elevator operator in New York while studying under renowned drama instructor Stella Adler. Later, he got the role of understudy to Jack Weston in "The Ritz" and was bumped up to the lead when Weston left. His role as Mr. De Niro's buddy in "The Deerhunter" opened the doors to Hollywood.

Skaters strut their stuff

Victor Petrenko, who has won European, World and Olympic championships since 1988 and took all three in a clean sweep in 1992, is a professional figure skater hailed for his versatility as a performer. Appearing at Madison Square Garden on September 20 with a roster of world champions in the "Stars, Stripes and Skates" show, the Odesa-born skater displayed his great artistry and superior technical skills as he went gliding airily across the ice to the song "Flight" by Brian Lane Green.

Besides Mr. Petrenko and Olympic skating stars Nancy Kerrigan, Timothy Goebel, Surya Bonaly, Philippe Candeloro and a host of other famous skaters, the gala event included two Kyiv natives - 6'2" Vladimir Besedin and 5'7" Oleksiy Polishchuk - who perform amazing acrobatic feats on ice as a team. Together since 1988, Messrs. Besedin and Polishchuk thrilled the Madison Square Garden audience with their dangerous stunts.

The fund-raising event, with Gov. George Pataki in the vast audience, was organized by the "Coalition of 9/11 Families," with all proceeds earmarked for scholarships for children affected by acts of terror of September 11, 2001.

Stetch jazzes it up

Canadian-born jazz pianist John Stetch, who lived in the Big Apple for several years and now makes his home just north of New York City, has recorded a solo-piano CD titled "Ukrainianism." As the name suggests, it features Ukrainian music - folk songs jazzed up in Stetch's unique style. The pianist gave a concert of works from the new CD at the Jazz Gallery in Greenwich Village on September 27.

To celebrate the new CD, released by Justin Time and described by a reviewer as "a meditative, folkish-jazz project," Mr. Stetch is making a zigzag tour of Canadian and American cities that started with the New York concert and takes him to Montreal and Peekskill, N.Y., then on to the Canadian West (Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina and Winnipeg), back east to Halifax, and west again to Yellowknife and Edmonton (his home town), where he will perform with the Ukrainian Male Chorus. His U.S. itinerary begins in Washington, on November 12 at Blues Alley for an appearance with a trio, continues with concerts in New York (Ukrainian Institute of America, November 15) and Montclair, N.J., and winds up at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on January 10.

In a live appearance on the WNYC-FM show "Sound Check" on September 20, Mr. Stetch played two compositions from "Ukrainianism" - Ukrainian folk melodies with a jazzed-up sound that sounded quite delightful to this listener - chatted with host John Schaefer about the new CD (his seventh album) and joked about his birth name, Ivan Stechishin. Mr. Schaefer rounded out the show very nicely with recordings of Ukrainian folk songs by Met Opera bass/baritone Paul Plishka and a recording of Virko Baley's piano work based on the Ukrainian "kolomyika" dance.

One of three finalists in the 1993 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Composers' Competition, Mr. Stetch went on to win first place in the Prix de Jazz du Maurier at the 1998 Montreal Jazz Festival. Hailed by The Toronto Star as "a rising star in this crowded firmament" and by Jazz Times as "an abundantly gifted artist who bears watching," Mr. Stetch reveals an immaculate, lyrical style ranging from free-form improvisation to adventurous interpretations of standards.

Looking ahead

Though details about other performers and new books must be held over to the next "Dateline New York" column, some upcoming events bear mentioning now. American Ballet Theatre, for instance, will hold its fall season at City Center from October 15 to 27, with principal dancers Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Belotserkovsky set to perform at the opening-night gala (the pas de deux and coda from the Grand Pas Classique) and throughout the two-week season. Vladimir Malakhov, however, is not appearing in this fall outing.

The Metropolitan Opera has scheduled Paul Plishka and Vasily Gerello for appearances in Puccini's "La Boheme" from February 18 to May 2, with Mr. Plishka in dual roles as Benoit/Alcindoro and Mr. Gerello as Marcello. Contralto Elena Zaremba, identified by a British newspaper as Ukrainian when she performed at Covent Garden, will sing the role of Anna in "Les Troyens" in February and March. Kirov Opera singers Victor Lutsiuk, Mikhail Kit and Mr. Gerello (there may be other Ukrainians in the roster, as well) will appear in Kirov productions at the Met in July 2003, singing in "Macbeth," "Eugene Onegin"and "Semyon Kotko,"an opera originally set in Ukraine but reportedly changed to another locale by Kirov.

Maria Guleghina, who has made frequent appearances at the Met, is not among its stars this season. But she will perform in New York in January with the Collegiate Chorale, co-starring with tenor Salvatore Licitra in a concert performance of "La Forza del Destino."

It's surprising and sad to report that the New York City Opera, gifted in past years by the voices of Mary Lesawyer and George Bohachevsky, and more recently by Oksana Krovytska, Michael Didyk and Anna Shafajinskaia, has no Ukrainian singers in its roster this season.

The Ukrainian Institute of America, which is holding its official season opener this very evening and has scheduled an exhibit of art by Andrij Babytsch for October 11 to December 1 and the season's first Music at the Institute concert for October 12, has designated 2003 as the Year of the Renaissance of Kyiv. The program will open this December with the man of the year banquet at the Plaza Hotel and a monthlong photo exhibit portraying the transformation of Kyiv into one of the most beautiful and exciting cities in Eastern Europe.

The Ukrainian Museum, anticipating the completion of new quarters on East Sixth Street next year, has begun to make plans and preparations for its inaugural exhibit in the new building in 2004. In the meantime, workshops in embroidery, bead-stringing, Christmas bread-baking and Christmas tree ornaments are in session as usual, and museum officials are finalizing plans for the annual Malanka celebration at New York's famous Tavern on the Green on January 25.

Helen Smindak's e-mail address is [email protected].

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