March 10, 2016 - Stony Brook, NY - Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University will bring the U.S. Premiere of Compagnia Finzi Pasca’s La Verità to the Main Stage on Saturday, April 16 at 8:00 pm. The lush cirque performance is a theatrical homage to the life and work of the surrealistic artist Salvador Dali. The show moves to the Brooklyn Academy of Music after its premiere at Staller Center.
La Verità brings a cast of versatile acrobats who play instruments, sing, juggle, contort, clown, and even can-can. Themes explode into other themes with humor and cirque-inspired creativity.
For the first time since its creation in New York in 1944, a Salvador Dali painted backdrop will be featured on stage. The scrim was originally created for the ballet Tristan and Isolde for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and was offered to Finzi Pasca by a European art collector.
Writer and director Daniele Finzi Pasca is known for his creations Rain by Cirque Eloize and Corteo by Cirque du Soliel. He immersed audiences in the universe of Anton Chekhov in his production Donka- A Letter to Chekhov, which Staller Center audiences enjoyed in 2012. (Donka was first shown in Russia, opening the ceremonies commemorating Chekov’s 150th anniversary.) Finzi Pasca partners with the Montreal-born producer Julie Hamelin, an international figure in the development of performing arts.
Alan Inkles, director of the Staller Center said, “We are always looking for intriguing, diverse, and unique companies and programs. The fact that this exceptional theatrical company does such intellectually stimulating programs with a cirque twist makes their shows memorable long after the curtain comes down.”
Marc André Lemieux of Le Journal de Montréal notes, “La Verità delights through performances tinged with sheer beauty and offbeat humour. [It’s] like a daydream…the acts are mesmerizingly beautiful.”
The evening’s production at Staller Center is sponsored by Applied DNA Sciences – James A. Hayward.
Tickets are $42 at StallerCenter.com or available through the Staller Center Box Office at (631) 632-ARTS [2787]. The Box Office is also open for over-the-counter sales Monday to Saturday, 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm and one hour before performances.