Mercer Times

Last year, Paula Abreu of McCarter Theatre Center managed to book Patti Smith for the mainstage season by offering a unique opportunity. Through McCarter's Arts & Ideas initiative, Smith engaged with Princeton University students in a public conversation facilitated by a Princeton professor and a graduate student before her concert.

"Patti told me herself on the phone that she was humbled by the opportunity to talk with students," said Abreu, McCarter's director of presented programming. "I was completely dumbfounded."

The same arrangement will bring Icelandic-Chinese recording artist Laufey to McCarter on Sept. 27 for a conversation with Assistant Professor of Music Anna Yu Wang.

"Laufey's current Goddess world tour has sold out major venues from Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney to New York and Los Angeles," said Debbie Bisno, McCarter’s director of University and artistic partnerships. "Like Patti Smith, Laufey doesn't 'need' McCarter. But when we told her it was a Princeton undergraduate student's idea to have her be in conversation onstage in a theater full of Princeton students, she said yes."

Last season’s lineup included Alan Cumming and “Wicked” writer Winnie Holzman. The Laufey event is organized in partnership with several Princeton groups including Princeton Encore and the Department of East Asian Studies.

Arts & Ideas curates programming that links students and professors with artists on stage at McCarter Theatre and across campus venues. The initiative is co-sponsored by Princeton's Humanities Council.

"Arts & Ideas has lit the flame for artists to consider coming to McCarter," Bisno said. "The normal conversation we have with the artists and their reps shifts when we describe the opportunity to connect with campus."

Upcoming events include composer Zoe Sarnak speaking at Stacy Wolf's class at Lewis Center for the Arts on Sept. 24, Natalia Lafourcade discussing "Finding Your Flow" on Oct. 7, and satirist Andy Borowitz conversing with Eliza Griswold on Oct. 26.

Laufey will also perform songs during her conversation with Yu Wang, who looks forward to hearing about Laufey's approach to musical sound and cultural difference.

Bisno noted that Arts & Ideas has had an impact beyond arts disciplines: "Students in economics, engineering, biology and sociology tell me they didn't think of themselves as creative or artistic before attending [an Arts & Ideas event]."

More than 50 programs have been held across campus involving artist/scholar panels, public conversations, workshops, mentorships, internships for students, and more.

Past events included workshops led by Jorge Drexler and Dion Flynn as well as lectures by Broadway producer Wendy Orshan.

Learn more about Arts & Ideas on McCarter's website.