Fresh Hamm: Seeing Eye Screenings—Avant-Garde in 1943

Photo documenting a "seeing eye" screening for the blind, at BAM in 1943.

BAM is known for artistic experimentation, in particular since the Next Wave Festival began in 1983.

But did you know that 80 years before that, it hosted such events as this "seeing eye" screening of the Warner Bros.' musical film, The Desert Song, for residents of the Industrial Home for the Blind in 1943? As the film screened, a narrator described the unfolding events over a loudspeaker system. And prior to the start of the film, audience members received braille programs.

This is one of thousands of photos and artifacts which document BAM's history both onstage and as a cornerstone of daily life in Brooklyn.

The back of the photo with a description of the event.

Fresh Hamm: A Prima Donna and Schnapps

When the BAM building at 176-194 Montague Street was destroyed by fire in 1903, many programs and playbills dating from our incorporation in 1861 to 1901 were lost. In an effort to rebuild some of the history that was lost we at the BAM Hamm Archives have been using the Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online to research those years. (A big thank you to the Brooklyn Public Library for working with us!) The Brooklyn Daily Eagle has given us some fun finds.

For example, did you know Brooklyn had a Prima Donna?

Brooklyn bred soprano Susan Strong delighted audiences across New York and around the world, prompting the Brooklyn Daily Eagle to praise her as "Brooklyn's Prima Donna." Shortly after returning from a period of intense study and critical acclaim in Europe, Strong starred in Faust here in November 1896.

Fresh Hamm: BAM’s Dirty Little Red Secret (The Socialists Are Running Amuck!)

by Louie Fleck

A curious artifact appeared on eBay, and BAM Hamm Archives was lucky enough to win the auction. It is a letter on Brooklyn Forum/Academy of Music stationery to the Honorable Bainbridge Colby requesting his participation in a symposium.

Colby was a special assistant to the United States Attorney General in an anti-trust action in 1917, and represented the US at the Inter-Allied Conference at Paris the same year. Wilson appointed him Secretary of State from March 23, 1920 and Colby served until March 4, 1921. He supported the ddddddddddd dddddddd and the League of Nations and established a precedent for NOT recognizing newly Communist Russia, which remained in place until 1933.

Fresh Hamm: Glenn Branca and Thurston Moore at BAM, 1983

While digging through the archives recently, we stumbled upon an exciting document: a photo of Glenn Branca’s ensemble performing his Symphony No. 3 (Gloria) at BAM in January 1983. In the late 70s and early 80s, Branca, one of the spearheads of the noisy (and often confrontational) No Wave scene, was developing his signature sound, characterized by the assaultive force of overdriven electric guitars. His ensembles played in all the hippest downtown venues of the day: the Mudd Club, the Kitchen, the Performing Garage, and Danceteria, among others.

In ‘83 it seems that Branca brought all his friends out to Brooklyn. In the photo Branca is conducting (we imagine him flailing about in his trademarked convulsions), and you can clearly spot a young Thurston Moore seated at a keyboard. While it’s hard to identify the others precisely, we do know that the ensemble also included such No Wave steadies as Michael Gira of Swans, Barbara Ess of Y Pants, Margaret DeWys of the Theoretical Girls, and Moore’s Sonic Youth band-mate Lee Ranaldo.

Photo: Tom Caravaglia

Fresh Hamm: The Prada Pina

Harvey Lichtenstein presents Pina Baush with her limited edition Prada purse

In 1994, Pina Bausch brought Two Cigarettes in the Dark to BAM. At the time of this production, it was common for the opening night party to function as a gala/fund raising event. Miuccia Prada, subject of a Metropolitan Museum exhibition, had just opened her first New York store and expressed admiration for Pina Bausch and her work. Ms. Prada offered to get involved and she wanted to do something special in addition to sponsorship. She designed a limited edition purse that BAM could use for fundraising, but she didn’t stop there… she created the décor for the party, menu and even designed the beautiful official party invitations. The opening was completely sold out and by all reports the party was a big success. Pina was formally presented with a purse, which she accepted with her typical humility.

Invite to the "Two Cigarettes in the Dark" Opening Night Reception

The Prada Pina purse is made out of black parachute nylon with nickel hardware. It features a chain link handle and a kiss lock closure. Inside is an imprinted piece of leather that says, “BAM Pina Bausch November 1994.” Lynn Stirrup, Director of Special Events for BAM at the time, remembers the limited edition run being around 100. The purses were sold by BAM in 1994 in the lobby and also by direct mail invitation, for around $500 each. They were also sold at the Prada store. The BAM Hamm Archives recently acquired a single purse through eBay!

If you know any more specifics about this item, or have any BAM related memorabilia to share, please contact the BAM Hamm Archives.

—Louie Fleck, BAM archivist

Fresh Hamm: Orson Welles at BAM, 1934

The young Welles

1934 was quite a year. While the Great Depression was in full swing, the first Soap Box Derby took place in Dayton, OH; George Oppen published his first book of poetry, Discrete Series, and then quit writing for the next 25 years; John Dillinger made his last bank robberies before being shot by police outside of the Biograph Theater in Chicago; Ralph Nader, Jane Goodall, Pat Boone, Giorgio Armani, and Joan Didion were born; Adolf Hitler became Germany’s Führer; and FDR signed into existence the centerpiece of the New Deal, the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

But that’s not all. Here in our little corner of New York, Orson Welles appeared as Octavius Moulton-Barrett in The Barretts of Wimpole Street, a period piece about the courtship between British Romantic poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett. The 19-year-old Welles had been in New York for a couple of years, and was already making a name for himself. Just under two years later, he would direct the piece that catapulted him to fame: the so-called “Voodoo Macbeth” at the Lafayette Theater in Harlem, created under the New Deal’s Federal Theatre Project.

Surprisingly, we at the BAM Hamm Archives weren’t aware of this Welles-BAM connection. In a happy accident we stumbled across the vintage program for The Barretts of Wimpole Street—on eBay, of all places! We snatched up the program and it is now a proud part of our collection. We add yet another amazing arti/fact to the ever-unfolding history of the Brooklyn Academy of Music.