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January 16, 2011
Musical puts the spotlight on community
The Boston Globe
By Christopher Wallenberg
Bostonians know all about polarizing development projects designed to reshape swaths of the city. From the razing of the West End decades ago to Harvard University’s plans in Allston or efforts to reinvent the South Boston waterfront, Hub residents have heard the arguments about urban renewal, affordable housing, building height restrictions, and eminent domain, about greed versus civic good.
IN THE FOOTPRINT: The Battle Over Atlantic Yards Presented by ArtsEmerson at the Paramount Black Box, Jan. 19-23. Tickets: $39. 617-824-8000, www.artsemerson.org
The Civilians, a scrappy Brooklyn-based theater company, tackles some of these thorny issues from a New York perspective with its new musical, “In the Footprint: The Battle Over Atlantic Yards,’’ at Boston’s Paramount Black Box Wednesday through Jan. 23, presented by ArtsEmerson.
The show centers on conflicts surrounding the largest land development project in Brooklyn since the days of the controversial urban planner Robert Moses. The 22-acre proposed mini-city has already displaced hundreds of residents and small businesses.
Standing alongside the gaping black void of the Atlantic Yards footprint on a recent evening, Civilians artistic director Steve Cosson, who co-wrote and directed the show, says its themes should resonate with urban dwellers everywhere. They speak, he says, “to a larger phenomenon of what’s going on in our country about the collusion of government and corporate power.’’
Posted by steve at January 16, 2011 10:54 AM