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.

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."
Read more

"New York ghosts consider the meaning of life and art in the jazz-fueled '(A)LOFT MODULATION' at A.R.T./NY Theatres"
Read more

"…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."
Read more

2/5 Stars "'Obsessive Behavior and All That Jazz': A bluesy atmosphere and musical performances enhance an awfully talky new drama"
Read more

"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."
Read more

Trailer

Creative team