Bandits Staying Put: Bandits On The Run to participate in multiple Chautauqua Institution events starting Sunday
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CHAUTAUQUA -- Bandits On The Run, an indie-folk-pop-americana outfit consisting of three lead singers, a guitar, a cello, a suitcase drum, an accordion, and various toy instruments, out of Brooklyn, New York will be spending time at Chautauqua Institution this upcoming week.
The group will be holding multiple events throughout the week, not only performing their music but working with Chautauqua theater performers for a musical they are working on as well.
The group is made up of Sydney Shepard, Adrian Blake Enscoe and Regina Strayhorn.
"We're kind of a band plus," Enscoe said. "We all went to school for theater but we started a band and started out busking on the subway. We tried to enliven the subway and make it feel like a different kind of space, like a place of possibility and magic. As we've gone on we've incorporated a lot of theatrical elements into our live concert set and eventually we've gone on to start doing musicals."
Part of their reason for being at Chautauqua Institution is to work on developing their musical version of Shakespeare's "As You Like It", which the band has been developing with director Peter Andersen.
Shepard noted that the band's genre is a flexible one, with a lot of different influences and vibes. The band is made of three people who all write, so no song sounds the same.
The band's events at Chautauqua begin on Sunday. On both Sunday, August 9 at 3 p.m. in the Chautauqua Amphitheater and Wednesday, August 12 at 10 p.m. at Chautauqua's New Roe Green Theater Center they will be performing music from their recent album, "Rough Magic", as well as other material from their decade as a band. Then, from Thursday, Aug. 13, to Saturday, Aug. 15, at 2 p.m. each day they will be workshopping "As You Like It" at Chautauqua Institution, which was also the basis for last year's EP, "The Shakespeare Tapes". This is just one of several musicals that the trio is working on, along with a musical adaptation of "What’s Eating Gilbert Grape" and "Yukon Ho", an original work telling the tale of Black prospectors during the Yukon Gold Rush.
The band also performed at Chautauqua last year, and Enscoe noted that they were "blown away" by the facilities and reception they received from staff and public.
"It's a pretty interesting and beautiful place," Enscoe said. "Chautauqua offered -- I think we played some songs from 'As You Like It' -- and Chautauqua offered us a place to work on it this summer so of course we jumped at the chance, because why wouldn't you want to spend a week on Lake Chautauqua and work on some music and Shakespeare?"
Shepard encouraged people to keep a look at their calendars for what event they want to go to, with some of the days seeing the band play some of their traditional music and others will be the workshop of "As You Like It" with music by the band, but being workshopped and performed with the help of members of Chautauqua's Acting Company.
"I'm really looking forward to meeting all of those amazing actors and working with them, and hearing them speak this text of this version of 'As You Like It' and hearing them sing our songs," Shepard said. "I'd say familiarize yourself with the calendar, because one day you'll get Shakespeare and one day you'll get Bandits."
Enscoe added that people should come out to all of their events this week because they are "good, fun, and like to put on a good show." Shepard said if someone has never seen them before they will most likely not be what people are expecting, but in a good way.
"If you have seen us before, we always bring something new to the table," Shepard said. "I think, you know, it's the summer, go see some live music and put yourself out there and try something new. I think people from all ages and walks of life will find something to like about our shows."
Having been a band for over a decade, the band feels like a family and they like to invite audiences into their community. Shepard said anyone who comes to the shows should be nice to each other and keep an open heart. The band, besides music and theater, also likes to make pies and encourages anyone to bring along pie recipes, or actual pies if so desired, to them they will be willing to try them out.
"We're very much looking forward to coming to Chautauqua and trying out some new material, especially with the Shakespeare show," Shepard said. "We're going to try some things we've never tried before and with completely new actors that we've never met. We're very excited about trying some new artistic experiences while we're out there."