Little Island announces 4 months of free summer shows and events

Little Island, the 2.4-acre public park that rises out of the Hudson River near West 14th Street, has announced its fourth year of free and low-cost summer programming.

This is the first year where the organizers have focused on commissioning entirely new works for the main stage, a 700-seat amphitheater, where tickets will cost $25.

“Everything that you’ll see in the amphitheater is something that no one has ever seen before,” said Zack Winokur, Little Island’s producing artistic director.

There will be nine world premieres throughout the season, which opens on June 1 with “How Long Blues,” a full-length work by legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp, in collaboration with Grammy-award winning composer, instrumentalist and producer T Bone Burnett.

The season is bookended in September with three weeks of performances of a new version of “The Marriage of Figaro,” where every leading role is performed by countertenor opera diva Anthony Roth Costanzo.

“It’s both funny but also quite profound,” Winokur said of the production. “That show is about the voice and the voiceless, so I hope it will be something utterly different from the way we’ve ever seen 'Figaro.'”

Shows in Little Island’s smaller performance area, called “the Glade,” are free and feature lawn and bench seating for 200 people.

The lineup for the free performances is not yet finalized, but each week will be curated by a different artist, including jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, singer-songwriter Gio Escobar and others.

Additional performances include a show about the life and music of Harlem Renaissance man Paul Robeson, a new dance by choreographer Pam Tanowitz and an adaptation of Henry Hoke’s novel "Open Throat," about a queer mountain lion in Los Angeles.

Winokur said that in the four years since opening Little Island’s summer series, the organizers have learned how to better operate the space during their packed programming schedule. “It’s a privilege to be committing to all new work with a very low access level, in order to get as many people experiencing nature and art in this place that really is not like any other,” he said.

The schedule of performances is available here.