Guild Hall in East Hampton has announced the artists and events for its landmark 90th season. Since opening in 1931, Guild Hall has had a remarkable legacy as The Hamptons epicenter of art, design, theater, music, film, food, and literature.
The season will begin in May and will feature notables like Salman Rushdie, John Slattery, Susan Lucci, Joy Behar, Susan Stroman, Mercedes Ruehl, F. Murray Abraham, Michael Cerveris, Joanna Gleason, Bill Irwin, Cherry Jones, Cornelius Eady, Julian Schnabel, and Laurie Anderson, plus exhibitions with new works from acclaimed American artists Alexis Rockman and Robert Longo.
The first main season event will be a virtual poetry performance, “Reawakenings,” premiering online May 23 with Rushdie, Lucci, Abraham, Cerveris, Gleason, Irwin, Jones, Eady, plus Tony-nominees Karen Akers, Tony Roberts, and Michael Stuhlbarg, as well as Austin Pendleton, Chris Sarandon, Barbara Feldon, and Lynnette R. Freeman. Directed by Paul Hecht, it will feature the cast each performing a favorite poem uniquely and visually paired with a piece of art from Guild Hall’s permanent collection.
A public work, “Full of Noises: a Village Soundwalk” has been commissioned in honor of the 90th anniversary, linking the gifts of founder Mary Woodhouse to East Hampton, composed and narrated by sound artist Viv Corringham.
In June, Guild Hall will begin its outdoor Play in the Garden theater series with live performances for a limited audience in the lawn. The series will showcase works of Edward Albee, Kurt Vonnegut, Wendy Wasserstein, and Tom Wolfe — Albee was Artistic Director of Guild Hall’s theater in the ’70s, Vonnegut, Wasserstein, and Wolfe were also involved with Guild Hall during their careers and all four are members of Guild Hall’s Academy of the Arts.
Five-time Tony-winner and Academy of the Arts member Susan Stroman will direct three unique live theater events including “Crisis in Queens” by Academy member Joy Behar, “Temptation and Other Tales: An Evening of One-Acts,” written and directed by Lyle Kessler, starring Richard Kind, Raye and Sawyer Spielberg, and Margaret Ladd.
Guild Hall will host an outdoor film screening series featuring films inspired by or directly connected to the artists and exhibitions on view, including “Life of Pi,” “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” and “Johnny Mnemonic.”
The museum also welcomes the return of the popular Stirring the Pot culinary series with Florence Fabricant, the 75th annual Clothesline Art Sale, a star-studded Summer Gala, and a 90th Birthday Celebration.
Events for kids and families will include KidFEST events, Burn the Stage: Teen Open Mic Night, and the impactful Gather series, in collaboration with Ma’s House & BIPOC Artist Studio, featuring conversations led by black and Indigenous change-makers.
With over 40 new paintings and works on paper, “Alexis Rockman: Shipwrecks” (June 12-July 26), curated by Guild Hall’s executive director Andrea Grover, will look at the world’s waterways as a network by which all of world history has traveled.
“Robert Longo: A House Divided” (Aug 7-Oct 17) is a special two-part exhibition featuring images that represent both how America was once perceived –– as a country at the peak of its power and influence –– and images that echo its current state of chaos and conflict.
The 90th season exhibition, “90 Years: Selections from the Permanent Collection,” opens October 30, curated by museum director and chief curator Christina Mossaides Strassfield.
This fall at the Academy of the Arts Dinner at Cipriani Midtown, Guild Hall will include a special 90th anniversary-inspired revue.
To view a full schedule, visit www.guildhall.org.