Open Call: Cindy Tran
Tickets
The film will be on view through August 1 on Level 2 of The Shed and can be viewed during any visit to the Open Call exhibition. Visit the exhibition page to reserve free tickets.
Tickets are free. No Covid testing or vaccination is required, but you must wear a mask and practice social distancing.
Accessibility
The Shed’s spaces are all wheelchair accessible. This event takes place in The McCourt.
Assistive listening is available on your smartphone over The Shed’s free Wi-Fi network via the free Listen Everywhere app. Devices will be available for you to borrow at the ticketing desk if you do not want to use your own smartphone.
Download the Listen Everywhere app before you arrive.
The film will include open captions.
This event will include ASL interpretation with Deaf interpreters coordinated and supported by a hearing interpreter (provided by by Roxanna Aguilo and Brandon Kazen-Maddox). To request live audio description, please email info@theshed.org or call (646) 455-3494 at least 10 days prior to the performance date.
To learn more about what to expect during your visit and the performance, please read these descriptions.
If you have any questions or other requests, please email info@theshed.org or call (646) 455-3494.
About this commission
Cindy Tran’s film Sonnet Crown for NYC celebrates small business owners of establishments—such as a barbershop, a pharmacy, and an immigration service—throughout the five boroughs. After interviewing these New Yorkers, Tran wrote sonnets that they recited to the camera, capturing their feelings and thoughts about the pandemic that has taken a disproportionate toll on many of their lives and livelihoods. Tran drew inspiration for this film from artistic Yelp reviews she began writing in the form of poems in Minneapolis in 2012, a practice she continued when she moved to New York City in 2015. When one of her poem-reviews responding to a racist review of a Vietnamese restaurant she frequented was chosen as a Review of the Day, she felt inspired to shift her focus from consumer judgments to sincere reflections about the ways our values and beliefs shape our daily lives. The poems that compose the film’s sonnet redoublé, or series of 15 interlaced sonnets, challenge readers to see the people who are often overlooked in the city’s communities—those who feel they have no choice but to keep working in the pandemic to sustain themselves and those that they care for, despite the threat to their own health.
A screening on June 5 will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by poetry editor Nkosi Nkululeko with Tran, the film’s director Xiao Han, and business owners Kit Keys, Yant Studio, Queens; Hind Almashhadani, Almashhadani Services, Staten Island; Ramona Ferreyra, Ojala Threads, the Bronx; and Hank Kwon, Bulletproof Comics, Brooklyn.
The film is on view through August 1 on Level 2 of The Shed.
In order of appearance in the film (all links open in a new window):
Selam Getachew
Haile Bistro
182 Avenue B
East Village, ManhattanSam Salameh
Teba Pharmacy
7618 5th Avenue
Bay Ridge, BrooklynRamona Ferreyra
Ojala Threads
Mitchel Houses, New York City Housing Authority
Mott Haven, BronxKit Keys
Yant Studio
71-51 Austin Street, 2nd Floor
Forest Hills, QueensHind Almashhadani
Almashhadani Services
421-419 Jersey Street
St. George, Staten IslandDaniel Bernatowicz
Living Well NYC
194 Nassau Avenue
Greenpoint, BrooklynYvonne Oquendo
Noommy Petshop & Grooming
387 East 138th Street
Mott Haven, BronxMindra Sahadeo
Mindra’s Harmonium
South Ozone Park, QueensGeorge Tsentzelis
Marine Florists
1995 Flatbush Avenue
Flatlands, BrooklynKarho Leung
12 Pell
12C Pell Street
Chinatown, ManhattanBeatrice Ajaero
IBARI
26-16 23rd Avenue
Astoria, QueensHank Kwon
Bulletproof Comics
2178 Nostrand Avenue
Flatbush, BrooklynDr. Agnes Nadrag
Agnes A.M. Nadrag, DDS
139-12 84th Drive
Briarwood, QueensGerald Huteau
Miss Madeleine Bakery
400 East 82nd Street
Upper East Side, Manhattan
Creative team
Credits and Acknowledgments
Itohan Edoloyi, Lighting Design Coordinator
DJ Potts, Audio Design Coordinator
Erica Schnitzer, Stage Coordinator
Stefan Carrillo, Head Carpenter - McCourt
Stuart Burgess, Head Electrician - McCourt
Jim Van Bergen, Head Audio - McCourt
Adam Farquharson, Production Video
Maytté Martinez, Lighting Programmer
Seth Huling, Assistant Audio
What to Expect
Thank you for planning a visit to The Shed. We’re looking forward to welcoming you for Open Call. Currently, the entrance to our building is through The McCourt door on the east side of our building adjacent to the Hudson Yards Public Square. The McCourt is a large performance space created when The Shed’s shell, or movable roof, rolls out to cover the plaza on the east side of the building. You can access this entrance from 11th Avenue and Hudson Boulevard, just one block north of 30th Street, or from the 34 St–Hudson Yards subway station between 10th and 11th Avenues.
As you arrive at The Shed, you will enter The McCourt through a wide, unobstructed entrance at the southeast corner of the building. It is close to the area where the High Line meets Hudson Yards at 30th Street. Most performances will take place in The McCourt. You will pass through this space to enter the rest of the building and access the Level 2 Gallery and The Tisch Skylights for the exhibition and other performances.
The shell of The McCourt is covered in a shiny, pillowy material, and its floor is level with the ground of the plaza. The Shed’s building, including The McCourt, is wheelchair accessible. You will scan your own ticket on your smartphone, with help if needed from a friendly visitor experience staff member standing nearby wearing a black t-shirt and ID badge on a purple lanyard.
Once you’re inside The McCourt you’re protected from the sun and weather but the space still feels open. The McCourt has 110-foot-high ceilings and feels airy with large wall panels lifted so the space remains open to the outdoors. You can feel the breeze and hear the activity on the plaza and on the streets in the distance, and light from the plaza and the Shops at Hudson Yards filters into the space after sunset.
The flooring in The McCourt is made of hard paving stones. They are in two shades of gray, and the lighter stones stretch across the east and west sides of The McCourt to form a large artwork by Lawrence Weiner that reads “In front of itself” in large letters. (This phrase is also the title of the work.) The letters on the east side of the space are partly covered by the Open Call stage so you can only partially read the phrase.
Seating in The McCourt is general admission, so you can choose from any available spot. The seats have armrests and thick cushions, and some are folding chairs that flip up as you stand up from them. If you would like help in finding a seat, a staff member at the entrance can guide you.
For any additional access needs or requests, please email info@theshed.org or call (646) 455-3494.
Details
- Running time (June 5 screening and panel discussion): 60 minutes
Thank you to our partners
Additional support for Open Call is provided by Jody and John Arnhold | Arnhold Foundation.
The creation of new work at The Shed is generously supported by the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Commissioning Fund and the Shed Commissioners. Major support for live productions at The Shed is provided by the Charina Endowment Fund.