(A)loft Modulation NYC Reviews and Tickets

70%

(49 Ratings)

Positive

61%

Mixed

31%

Negative

Members say

Ambitious, Confusing, Thought-provoking, Great staging, Slow

About the Show

Inspired by true events at 821 6th Ave between 1957 – 1965, this world premiere play with jazz traces the turbulent, roiling obsessions of artists and loiterers in their pursuit of purpose.

From the show:

A gritty, dilapidated five-floor walk-up in Manhattan’s seedy flower district is an after-hours haunt of musicians, artists, junkies and prostitutes. The fuse of American culture burns below the surface. It’s the last explosive heyday of jazz and the inhabitants of the building jam night after night, while a compulsive photographer documents everything with round-the-clock reel-to-reel recordings and photographs.

Inspired by true events at 821 6th Ave between 1957 – 1965, (A)loft Modulation traces the turbulent, roiling obsessions of artists and loiterers in their pursuit of purpose, while social chaos seeks to overthrow American culture. It’s angst vs. contentment, selfishness vs. benevolence, artist vs. layman – a struggle that plays out through the fractured lens of unlabeled reel-to-reel tapes which are stumbled upon 60-years after they were recorded.

Show-Score Member Reviews (49)

Intelligent, Great staging, Ambitious

See it if You want to see a play staged as jazz. There’s so much going on! Not for the casual theatergoer. Highly recommended.

Don't see it if You can’t handle a 2-hr play, complex staging, black and white photos, and jazz. Read more

Intense, Intelligent, Ambitious, Absorbing

See it if you are interested in NYC history and/or jazz history. are patient and can allow an intelligent sweeping recreation to unfold. cool jazz too

Don't see it if you are not interested in the above -- and you need a polished, trimmed, theatrical endeavor. perhaps it could have been tightened.

Masterful, Great writing, Great staging, Great acting, Ambitious

See it if you like jazz music, inventive set design, and an absorbing story with lots of little twists.

Don't see it if you don't enjoy jazz music, you need to have a linear plot, you don't like stories about junkies, vagrants, and prostitutes.

Complex format, Edgy, Resonant, Intense, Ambitious

See it if for the unusual simultaneous 3 part plot structure, marvelous live jazz & fascinating story of fame, obsession and failure.

Don't see it if you dislike complex experimental performance in which the sounds overlap sometimes causing important words to be lost.

Thought-provoking, Intense, Resonant, Intelligent, Great staging

See it if you love jazz from the 60s & verisimilitude, a kind of real akin to Anna Deveare Smith's work crossed w/the Wooster Group, composition-wow!

Don't see it if you want straight forward narrative, female agency, plot or entertainment - this is brilliant art about questions of art and life to ponder.

Jazz music, Epic, Relevant, Thought-provoking, Ambitious

See it if You enjoy Jazz and historic documentation, great performances and excellent staging. It reflects obsessions and the resulting affects.

Don't see it if you can't sit for too long, its long and absorbing, but there is an intermission.

Great staging, Slow, Relevant, Thought-provoking, Ambitious

See it if If you want to be challenged by a jazz & photography inspired piece that makes us examine the institutionalized we live in.

Don't see it if You don't like Jazz and need a tidy, tight narrative as this piece rambles a bit and is somewhat long.

Confusing, Great staging, Ambitious

See it if if you want a well staged ecological kind of take on an interesting spot in music/photography history with some interesting moments.

Don't see it if Mind a play that can be confusing and too long. don't like jazz, as quiet a bit of it is played. Read more

Critic Reviews (5)

"A Jazzy Fusion of Fact and Fiction in '(A)loft Modulation': Jaymes Jorsling's new play makes its world premiere, presented by the American Vicarious."
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"New York ghosts consider the meaning of life and art in the jazz-fueled '(A)LOFT MODULATION' at A.R.T./NY Theatres"
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"…underneath the tumult -- the jazz riffs, verbal smackdowns, steamy sex, drug taking, blaring radios, scrolling images of contact sheets, and much more -- it's hard to detect much of a dramatic beat. Or maybe there's too much of one: '(A)loft Modulation' teems with so many plot lines that they crowd each other out."
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2/5 Stars "'Obsessive Behavior and All That Jazz': A bluesy atmosphere and musical performances enhance an awfully talky new drama"
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"The wonder is that, under…McElroen's sharp direction, the actors invest their artificial lines with a sense of truth. Otherwise, the only thing to trust in this bleary exercise, as my jazz aficionado plus-one assured me, is the superior quality of the original jazz (by Gerald Clayton) we hear."
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Trailer

Creative team