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Little Island, the floating park<\/a> atop a collection of funnel-like columns in the Hudson River, will welcome a flurry of programming to its theaters with no walls this summer, the second season of programming funded<\/a> by Barry Diller and his family foundation.<\/p>\n Filling its three open-air performance spaces \u2014 the Amph, the Glade and the Playground \u2014 Little Island will present 110 live performances in its 18-week season. All for $25 or less.<\/p>\n At a moment when the performing arts industry is shrinking,\u201d said Zack Winokur<\/a>, Little Island\u2019s producing artistic director, \u201cparticularly when it comes to new work, we\u2019re doing more.\u201d<\/p>\n This season, Winokur added, he\u2019s \u201cthinking of the whole island as a canvas.\u201d<\/p>\n The premieres include a new song cycle written and performed by Whitney White<\/a>, \u201cThe Case of the Stranger\u201d(June 26), which uses Shakespeare as a lens to explore themes of immigration; and a new play by the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Suzan-Lori Park<\/a>s, \u201cThe Tune Up\u201d (July 30-Aug. 3).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The season opens with the world premiere of Dan Schlosberg\u2019s \u201cThe Counterfeit Opera: A Beggar\u2019s Opera for a Grifter\u2019s City\u201d (May 29-June 15), an adaptation of John Gay\u2019s comic<\/a> \u201cThe Beggar\u2019s Opera\u201d (1728).<\/p>\n The lineup will also feature a new full-length work by the choreographer Bobbi Jene Smith<\/a>, \u201cSeven Scenes\u201d (Aug. 22-28), with a score composed and performed live by Caroline Shaw<\/a> and Danni Lee of Ringdown; a new song cycle, \u201cThe Lights,\u201d by Matthew Aucoin<\/a>, set to poetry by Ben Lerner<\/a> (Aug. 2-3); a park takeover and live radio show from Radiolab (Aug. 6-7); and, on Aug. 10, a tribute night to the composer Arthur Russell, a marathon evening of free music and performance throughout the park, with performances by Laurie Anderson<\/a> and Martha Wainwright<\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n Created and performed by more than 300 artists, the season will spotlight a new generation of directors, including Shayok Misha Chowdhury,<\/a> who will direct the first New York production in more than 20 years of Lee Breuer\u2019s \u201cThe Gospel at Colonus,\u201d based on the Oedipus plays by Sophocles and told here in gospel (July 8-26); Eric Ting<\/a>, who will direct Charles Ludlam\u2019s play \u201cGalas,\u201d starring the opera singer Anthony Roth Costanzo<\/a> as a character based on the soprano Maria Callas (Sept. 6-28); and Rachel Chavkin<\/a>, who will direct \u201cEugene Onegin,\u201d a bluegrass adaptation of Tchaikovsky\u2019s opera (July 30-31).<\/p>\n \u201cPeople who, to me, represent a major part of my generation\u2019s most important and exciting theater makers across all disciplines are converging in one season in this place,\u201d Winokur said.<\/p>\n Other highlights include the Grammy-winner Meshell Ndegeocello\u2019s<\/a> \u201cNo More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin\u201d (June 21-25), a theatricalized adaptation of her album, which is a tribute to Baldwin\u2019s legacy during the centenary of his birth; and musical nights with the painter Amy Sherald<\/a> (June 20-21), who will host her favorite performers. (It will run alongside her exhibition at the Whitney<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In addition, party seekers and passers-by can pop into a dance party \u2014 there will be eight, in August and September \u2014 in the Playground or the Glade hosted by the art and music nightlife collective Papi Juice<\/a>. Live DJs and surprise performers will entertain as the sun sets into the water.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople go there to enjoy green space, as we very often can\u2019t in the city,\u201d Winokur said. \u201cAnd when performances are happening, the park is electric.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n