Guild Hall: A Hot Summer

An Oedipus myth retold with a touch of a 1960s television show? People "camping out" till the box office opens for tickets to hot summer concerts? A gallery exhibit that dances? Short films, French films, musicals, internationally significant art shows, acclaimed authors, and major American artists!

Consider this the calm before the season-long cultural storm at East Hampton's Guild Hall. While the Absolut Vodka-Seagram's Tonic concerts will bring a wide range of artists such as Willie Nelson, George Carlin, Hot Tuna, George Shearing, and Joe Williams to Guild Hall's intimate John Drew Theater, its galleries will be host to three major exhibits this summer.

The first, an important show focusing on women and Abstract Expressionism, opened last week. It features seven prominent female artists - Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, Betty Parsons, Perle Fine, Dorothy Dehner, and Ethel Schwabacher - who were assigned only minor roles in the movement they had participated in from the start.

Three Installations

The show, said the museum's interim curator, Donna Stein, "is a redressing of the period." Five of the seven had close connections to the East End and the others are said to have been occasional visitors.

The next exhibit in line, in late June, is a show of three installations by two major artists - Alice Aycock and Ilya Kabakov - both of whom have houses on the East End, Ms. Aycock in Noyac and Mr. Kabakov in Mattituck.

Mr. Kabakov, who comes from the former Soviet Union, is one of the most widely exhibited Russian artists today. He was the subject of a panel discussion at the museum last year and his installations, which are included in this year's Whitney Biennial, have received much attention.

"Waltzing Matilda"

Mr. Kabakov creates installations that reflect the transitions of the Soviet Union in the past decade, and to some his work symbolizes the displacement of generations who grew up under Soviet rule.

The pieces featured in this show are from two major series - "Holidays" and "Incident in the Corridor on the Way to the Communal Kitchen." They will be created specifically for Guild Hall.

Ms. Aycock's piece, "Waltzing Matilda," is a "dancing" work inspired by the Australian folk song of the same name. When the piece moves it traces the outline of contra dances from the 19th century. Ms. Aycock will give a talk at Guild Hall on July 13.

The third exhibit of the season will feature the work of Childe Hassam, an early 20th-century American Impressionist painter and etcher who was one of East Hampton's most celebrated artists. The show, "East Hampton Summers," will focus on the paintings he did while on the East End. It will open on Aug. 9.

Visitors to the gallery will recognize much of his subject matter, for, despite the changes in East Hampton's landscape, much of what he depicted has been preserved. The exhibit catalogue will compare Hassam's East Hampton to today's.

A fourth show, "The Moran Family Legacy: The 12 Apostles of Art," will open in the fall. It will feature paintings by 14 members of Thomas Moran's family and documentary photographs. Moran lived in East Hampton for some 50 years and though he is the best known of the family, many of his relatives were also highly prolific artists.

Art Talks

Landscape designers might want to save Aug. 10 for a panel discussion on contemporary landscape architecture that will accompany the Hassam exhibit. Panelists will include Frances Levine, George Hargreaves, Patricia Cobb, Mary Miss, and Peter Wirtz.

Also included in the art talks this summer will be an interview of Larry Rivers by Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, a talk by Eric Fischl, and a discussion of the gardens at LongHouse in East Hampton by Jack Lenor Larsen.

Three new series will liven up the Guild Hall schedule this summer - a play-reading series held at the Art Barge last summer, a revival of the Hot Topics discussions, and "92nd Street Y Goes to the Beach."

Three New Series

The play-reading series, presented by the New York theater group Birnam Wood, was a sell-out at the Art Barge last summer and has decamped to the John Drew for a little more elbow room this year. The new plays are sometimes works in progress, sometimes completed products scheduled to open Off Broadway in the coming year.

Among the playwrights who will present their works are David Magee, Catherine Gillet, Kelly Gwin, Ron McLarty, and Christopher Durang. Mr. Durang, who wrote "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All to You," will read one of his newest plays for the first time on June 27 in the John Drew.

"92nd Street Y Goes to the Beach" will come to the John Drew in July and feature performances by Dick Hyman with Derek Smith July 7 and with Ruth Laredo on July 14. Carol Woods and the Barry Levitt Trio with the Manhattan Rhythm Kings will bring the show "Who Could Ask for Anything More?" on July 28. And, on Aug. 11, Joy Behar will interview the controversial feminist author Camille Paglia.

Literary Heavyweights

Guild Hall's Hot Topics series in July should spark some heat. On July 13, panelists will ask the question "East Hampton: Are We Building It Up or Tearing It Down?" The issues in subsequent weeks will be the influence of American media and culture and the performance of the Clinton Administration.

Impressed yet?

As it has in years past, Guild Hall will also host a number of famous poets and writers. Dava Sobel, the author of "Longitude," will read, as will Edward Klein, editor in chief of The New York Times Magazine for many years, and Mary Karr, who wrote the acclaimed memoir "Liars Club."

Peter Matthiessen, who wrote "At Play in the Fields of the Lord" and "The Spirit of Crazy Horse," among many works, will appear at the museum. The poets John Ashbery and Kenneth Koch will give a rare joint reading in July, and E.L. Doctorow will read from his new book. That's just a sampling of the literary talent that will grace Guild Hall's writers series.

Film Series

August will bring the American Musical Theater's tribute to Peter Stone. A writer for Broadway, television, and films, Mr. Stone has won Oscar, Emmy, and Tony Awards. His "Titanic" is now playing on Broadway.

Also in August, the Oedipal comedy "Tempting Fate" comes to the John Drew. In this play, when characters ask their Magic Eight Ball for guidance, the answer "You're going to kill your father and marry your mother" is what they get. Debbie Troche and Ted Baus created and will perform in "Tempting Fate."

For those with a passion for film, there will be at least two opportunities to indulge. A French film series with the theme "Before there were American films there were French ones," will take over the screen beginning July 10 with "Les Miserables," loosely based on the book by Victor Hugo.

Summer Shorts, a series of short films presented by the Long Island Film Festival, will be launched on Aug. 13.

Guild Hall will offer its traditional Clothesline Art Show, classes in the performing and visual arts for children and adults, and special programs for children.

And a Labor Day rock-and-roll concert by Leslie Gore will close out the summer season - although the Guild Hall beat will go on in September.