Magic and optimism will be in the air this weekend at LTV Studios in Wainscott, with Joe Garsetti, an illusionist, bringing the magic, and Dan Welden, an artist and master printmaker, expressing the optimism.
Garsetti, who will perform on Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., specializes in close-up magic, stage performances, and "grand illusions." He has confounded audiences across the country, from the Seattle Aquarium to Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas to the 4-F Close-Up Magic Convention in Buffalo and the Smoke and Mirrors Theater in Glenside, Pa.
In 2012, with his wife, Diane, he purchased a dilapidated firehouse in Sparta, N.J., and after two years of renovations, transformed it into the Sparta Avenue Stage, a 66-seat theater that has since hosted magicians from Australia, France, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, and England.
Tickets are $55 in advance, $60 at the door, and $95 for reserved cafe table seating, which includes a drink. Students get in for $30.
LTV will host its membership launch party on Sunday from 3 to 7 p.m. The free event will feature art, live music, and cultural collaboration. Outdoor festivities will begin at 3:30 in the venue's garden with the unveiling of "Optimistic Sphere," a new sculpture by Welden. The work, recently donated to LTV, will join several on-site sculptures by the late Bill King.
" 'Optimistic Sphere' is symbolic of my optimism for the current state of the world and hope for this country to return to a feeling of love," said Welden.
Following the outdoors unveiling, Carl Welden, the artist's son, a voice actor and performance artist, will blend visual arts with an ambient presentation at 4.
The event will move in to Studio 3 at 5 for a performance by Axel Quincke, a pianist and composer from Argentina. Quincke combines classical repertoire with tango, improvisation, contemporary music, and multidisciplinary formats.
The studio's gallery and exhibition space will be open all afternoon for the debut of "Belt," a show of work by the painter, musician, and poet Haim Mizrahi, LTV's gallery curator.
Sunday's event marks the rollout of LTV's new backstage pass membership program. Registered members will earn numerous perks, says the studio, including guaranteed entry into the first LTV Membership Art Show, scheduled for June 2027.
