Port(al)

A musical and civic exploration of the world through the lens of port cities – where human life and the oceans that connect and sustain us meet. First stop: the Brooklyn Navy Yard in spring 2025.

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Co-Created by Brooklyn Youth Chorus Artistic Director Dianne Berkun Menaker, composer Paola Prestini, librettist Jad Abumbrad, as well as multidisciplinary collaborator and director Jessica Grindstaff

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The combined artistic prowess of this team includes the founder of the Brooklyn based incubator, National Sawdust, the founder of RadioLab, and the director of epic installations who collages puppetry, movement, multi-media storytelling and design.

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The outcome will be a performance installation at the Agger Fish building, and a contribution to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Museum of found and new artifacts that uncover its history and its present impact through the lens of young people.

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Music by Paola Prestini, with additional music by Jad Abumrad

Libretto by Jad Abumrad and Jessica Grindstaff

Directed by Jessica Grindstaff

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Co-Created by Dianne Berkun Menaker, Paola Prestini, Jad Abumbrad, and Jessica Grindstaff

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PROJECT INTRODUCTION

‍Port(al) is a new choral theater project that explores the world through the lens of port cities – where human life and the oceans that connect and sustain us meet. The first iteration of this work, premiering in spring 2025 in Brooklyn, is an evening-length site-specific production that explores the rich history of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It spans the Lenape People and the natural world that they inhabited, the early prison ships that floated in the bay that left over 11,000 victims in their wake, and the first transmission of the human voice over radio in the form of an enduring love song. It follows wartime evolutions, as women and African Americans entered the industrial workplace, and queer Americans found space for free expression after the war. Finally the work arrives at today and tomorrow - the everyday fears, hopes and dreams of a teen living in a port city at this present moment, amidst a changing climate and an uncertain future. This centuries old story is made more poignant as it is told through the voices of teens and young adults. The young artists of Brooklyn Youth Chorus are deeply integrated into the language, movement, and ethos of the work