Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts Announces its 2015-16 Season

Tickets now on sale for Michael Feinstein, the Vienna Boys Choir,

Clifford the Big Red Dog™ -- Live!, Moscow Festival Ballet, Darlene Love, and more!

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College announces its 2015-16 Season of music, dance, theater, and family programming, reflecting the multicultural diversity of Brooklyn. Hailing from Austria, Russia, China, Canada, and across the United States, the awards-winning artists include both Brooklyn Center premieres and returning favorites. Tickets can be purchased at BrooklynCenter.org or by calling the box office at 718-951-4500 (Tue-Sat, 1pm-6pm).

"Brooklyn Center is excited to continue to represent and reflect the vibrant diversity of Brooklyn through our upcoming 2015-16 season of live performances," says Jon Yanofsky, the Director of Brooklyn Center. "From the Gershwins and the Beatles to classical ballet and step dancing, the 61st season at Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts will celebrate the best of classic and contemporary arts and culture with world class artists in music, dance, theater, and family programming.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts' 2015-16 Season includes:

• Michael Feinstein: The Gershwins and Me
• Black Violin
• Art of Time Ensemble - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
• The Vienna Boys Choir - Christmas In Vienna
• Dance Theatre in Westchester's The Colonial Nutcracker
• Step Afrika!
• Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company's Lunar New Year Celebration - Year of the Monkey
• Moscow Festival Ballet's Romeo and Juliet /Carmen Suite
• The Golden Dragon Acrobats
• The Robert Glasper Trio
• Darlene Love
• Rhythm Revue: A Latin Soul Celebration featuring Joe Bataan and DJ Felix Hernandez
• Regina Carter's Southern Comfort
• Clifford the Big Red Dog™ - LIVE!
• Ninth Annual National Grid Earth Day Celebration
• Straighten Up & Fly Right: The Nat King Cole Tribute
• Alexander, Who's Not Not Not Not Not Not Going to Move

Michael Feinstein: The Gershwins and Me

2015-16 Season Opener

Saturday, October 24, 2015 at 7:30pm

Tickets: $36-$65
Emmy- and Grammy-nominated entertainer Michael Feinstein brings his impeccable piano skills and unparalleled interpretations to some of the greatest selections in the entire American Songbook, peppered with personal anecdotes from his autobiographical book The Gershwins and Me, which reflects upon his six-year collaboration with the great Ira Gershwin.

Black Violin

Saturday, November 14, 2015 at 2pm

Tickets: $18
Back by popular demand, virtuoso violinists Kev Marcus and Wil B return to Brooklyn with their electrifying mash-up of hip-hop, classical, and pop tunes. With appearances ranging from the Apollo Theater and the Billboard Music Awards to three NFL Super Bowls and President Obama's official Inaugural Ball, this dynamic duo never fails to take audiences by storm with their unique spin on music for strings.

Art of Time Ensemble

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Saturday, November 21, 2015 at 8pm

Tickets: $30

With hits including "When I'm Sixty-Four," "With a Little Help From My Friends," and the title song, The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has been designated "the most important rock and roll album ever made" by Rolling Stone magazine. Toronto's Art of Time Ensemble brings this iconic collection to life in a fusion of high art and pop culture that reveals the universal and timeless qualities that lie at the heart of all great music.

The Vienna Boys Choir - Christmas in Vienna

Saturday, December 12, 2015 at 8pm

Tickets: $36-$45

This illustrious group of young musicians has been delighting music lovers across the globe for six centuries with their purity of tone, distinctive charm, and crowd-pleasing repertoire. Christmas in Vienna showcases these gifted musicians in an extraordinary program featuring Austrian folk songs, classical masterpieces, popular songs and, of course, holiday favorites.

The Colonial Nutcracker

Sunday, December 13, 2015 at 2pm

Tickets: $18

An annual holiday favorite, Dance Theatre in Westchester performs its family-friendly, full-length version of Tchaikovsky's ballet set in wintry colonial Yorktown, complete with a red-coated mouse army, an enchanted nutcracker prince, and simultaneous narration to help young audience members enjoy this timeless classic.

Step Afrika!

Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 2pm

Tickets: $20

Experience Step Afrika!, the world's first professional company dedicated to stepping, a unique art form born at African American fraternities and based in rich African traditions. Incorporating intricate rhythmic patterns of kicks, stomps, claps, and chants, the dancers use their bodies as instruments, creating an enthralling, high-energy performance that has been praised by The Village Voice as "a jubilation of rhythm and spirit that harks back to the essence of dancing."

Third Annual
Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
Lunar New Year Celebration - Year of the Monkey

Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 3pm

Tickets: $25/$12.50 (children 12 and under)

Brooklyn Center is thrilled to partner once again with the prestigious Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company in an all-new celebration of Chinese arts and culture commemorating the Year of the Monkey, a year characterized by cleverness, curiosity, and playful mischief. Thrilling choreography, traditional music, and dazzling acrobats showcase the rich traditions of one of Brooklyn's most vibrant communities at this festive, family-friendly event.

Moscow Festival Ballet

Romeo and Juliet / Carmen Suite

Saturday, March 5, 2016 at 8pm

Tickets: $36-$45
The power of love and the finality of death collide as two of the greatest tragic masterpieces of all time are reinvented in this double-bill of one-act ballets. The program begins with a new restaging of Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, set to the music of Tchaikovsky and choreographed by legendary Bolshoi principal dancer Elena Radchenko. This is followed by Alberto Alonso's fiery Carmen Suite, inspired by Bizet's sensuous and spirited opera.
Golden Dragon Acrobats

Sunday, March 13, 2016 at 3pm

Tickets: $25/$12.50 (children 12 and under)

Recognized internationally as today's premier Chinese acrobatic touring company, The Golden Dragons combine award-winning acrobatics, spectacular costumes, and ancient and contemporary music and theatrical techniques to present an unforgettable show of breathtaking skill and beauty, representing the best of a time honored tradition that began more than twenty five centuries ago.

The Robert Glasper Trio

Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 8pm

Tickets: $35

More than ten years after making his debut at the legendary Blue Note, 2015 Grammy-winning pianist Robert Glasper graces the Whitman stage with an intimate concert combining original jazz compositions and selections from his June 2015 album Covered, which draws from some of Glasper's favorite songs by artists including Joni Mitchell, John Legend, and Radiohead.

Darlene Love

Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 8pm

Tickets: $40

Pop icon Darlene Love has been captivating audiences worldwide for decades with her warmth, grace, and electrifying performances.  She has sung with legends including Marvin Gaye, Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin, lit up the Broadway stage in such musicals as Grease and Hairspray, and was featured in the 2014 Academy Award-winning documentary 20 Feet From Stardom. From her No. 1 hit, "He's A Rebel," to her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she continues to blaze a trail of success, proving why Rolling Stone magazine calls her "one of the greatest singers of all time."

Rhythm Revue: A Latin Soul Celebration
Featuring Joe Bataan and DJ Felix Hernandez
Saturday, April 9, 2016 at 8pm

Tickets: $25

Renowned DJ/producer Felix Hernandez, creator and host of the widely popular Rhythm Revue radio show and dance parties, teams up with the "King of Latin Soul," Joe Bataan, for an evening of live music and DJ'ing that celebrates the musical genre known as Latin Soul and Boogaloo. Originating in Spanish Harlem in the 1960s, this fusion of mambo and Latin jazz with African American R&B, soul, and doo-wop resulted in a highly danceable and distinctively urban form of music that reflects the amazing multicultural fabric of New York City.

Regina Carter's Southern Comfort

Saturday, April 16, 2016 at 8pm
Tickets: $35
Violin virtuoso and MacArthur fellow Regina Carter is considered the foremost jazz violinist of her generation, putting her indelible stamp on collaborations with artists as diverse as Wynton Marsalis, Mary J. Blige, and Dolly Parton. Her latest recording, titled Southern Comfort, pays a tender tribute to her paternal grandfather, an Alabama coal miner, as it draws from Appalachian fiddle tunes, church hymns, and the joyous Southern folk music that infused her childhood.

Clifford the Big Red Dog™ - LIVE!

Sunday, April 17, 2016 at 2pm
Tickets: $18
Embark on a new adventure with loveable Clifford, the big red dog with the heart of gold. Based on the classic children's books by Norman Bridwell, this brand new musical celebrates the timeless values of sharing, respect, and cooperation.

Ninth Annual National Grid Earth Day Celebration

Sunday, April 17, 2016 at 3pm
Tickets: FREE event, no tickets issued

Children and adults alike will enjoy live music, arts and crafts, and street performers at this free community festival, where interactive family activities highlight the need to create a more sustainable future and care for the earth.

Straighten Up & Fly Right: The Nat King Cole Tribute
Featuring Ramsey Lewis and John Pizzarelli

Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 3pm
Tickets: $40
As a singer, Nat King Cole was called "the best friend a song ever had," but he was essentially a jazz performer at heart. Three-time Grammy Award-winning pianist Ramsey Lewis and singer/guitarist John Pizzarelli join forces in this tribute to the titan of fifties vocal pop, performing favorites including "Route 66," "Mona Lisa," "Unforgettable," and more.

Alexander, Who's Not Not Not Not Not Not Going to Move
Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 2pm
Tickets: $12
The rest of Alexander's family is moving a thousand miles away, but there's NO way Alexander is going to leave his best friend, his favorite babysitter, or all the places and people he's known all his life. Never. Not ever. No way! Based on Judith Vorst's best-selling Alexander... series, this new family musical teaches us home isn't a house or a place on a map-it's wherever you are when you're with the people who love you.

Multibuy discounts (four or more shows) save 15% off individual ticket prices (not applicable for The Snow Maiden or Alexander, Who's Not... Going to Move). Multibuyers enjoy flexible ticket exchanges and discounted parking for purchased performances. 50% discount for children ages 12 and under for select performances. Discounts also available for seniors, students, Brooklyn College faculty/staff/alumni, and groups. $10 student rush tickets available day-of-show.

For more details, please visit: BrooklynCenter.org

NEW YORK THEATRE BALLET announces PILATES CLASSES

Beginning Tuesday, July 7, 2015

New York Theatre Ballet (NYTB) is pleased to announce its new Pilates classes, beginning Tuesday, July 7, 2015 at NYTB's home studio, located at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery, 131 East 10th Street, 2nd Floor, New York City. Classes will be offered on both Tuesday evenings, from 7-8pm, and Thursday mornings, from 8:15-9:15am. Cost will be $15/class walk in, $60 per 5-class card.

Taught by Amanda Treiber, principal dancer with NYTB, this gentle Pilates class is designed to build strength, coordination, and flexibility while gaining the understanding of the muscles used and the technique of the exercises. Combining the ideas of basic ballet and STOTT Pilates allows for many modifications that are used throughout the class to accommodate the most beginner level to the most advanced. This class is especially good for all types of physically active people who are looking to balance out the body in a gentle constructive way.

New York Theatre Ballet presents Carnival of the Animals - June 6-7

Photos by Richard Termine

Photos by Richard Termine

Photos by Richard Termine

Photos by Richard Termine

New York Theatre Ballet (NYTB) presents Carnival of the Animals from June 6-7, 2015 as part of the Company's Once Upon A Ballet series for children at Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, NYC.  

"In a magical forest, Queen Diana and her shaggy lion rule a charming assortment of animals who live more or less peaceably until a pair of lost children wander in, and then the fun begins!"

Choreography by: Beth Storey Taylor.

The performance will feature live music, with four hands on one piano.

• Performances: Saturday and Sunday at 11am, 1pm and 3:30pm.  
• Tickets: $35 for children, $40 for adults.
• Single tickets: Available through ticketmaster.com, and
• Subscriptions: Can be purchased by submitting an order form to admin@nytb.org. 

For more information, please visit:

http://www.nytb.org/calendar-and-tickets/view/Carnival-of-the-Animals.

NEW YORK THEATRE BALLET to perform Legends & Visionaries 2015 at Danspace Project

New York Theatre Ballet will perform Legends & Visionaries 2015 from June 18-20, 2015 at Danspace Project, 131 E. 10th Street, NYC.

Performances: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8:00pm.

Tickets are $20 ($15 for Danspace members), and are available online at www.danspaceproject.org or by calling OvationTix/TheaterMania at 866.811.4111.

New York Theatre Ballet will perform Richard Alston's Such Longing, Frederick Ashton's Capriol Suite, the World Premiere of Gemma Bond's Cat's Cradle, a new, as-yet-untitled work by David Parker, and Antony Tudor's Dark Elegies.

• Richard Alston's Such Longing is danced to the music of Chopin, not pretty waltzes or the great virtuoso fireworks but achingly beautiful meditations from his Nocturnes and Etudes. Filled with longing for Chopin's Polish homeland, this lush and lyrical music floods through tender duets and introspective solos for two couples. Frederick Ashton's Capriol Suite will be performed by the full company.
• "Capriol Suite, Ashton's earliest ballet, was choreographed in 1930 for Rambert's students, before she had a company. The music, by Peter Warlock, is based on themes from the 16th Century treatise Orchesographie, by Thoint Arbeau. As well as the music, the book contains descriptions of such dances as the Pavane and the Galliard. Ashton did not follow these, but made some use of the illustrations and other pictorial sources. The ballet is an imaginative recreation of old dances rather than an authentic reconstruction. Originally danced by four couples, the ballet was danced by the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet in 1948. It is the version that is the basis of a later revival staged by Elisabeth Schooling and Sally Gilmour, former members of the Ballet Rambert," said David Vaughan.
• Elena Zahlmann will perform a solo by David Parker and Dark Elegies will feature Rie Ogura, Elena Zahlmann, Carmella Lauer, Choong Hoon Lee and Stephen Campanella.

"New York Theatre Ballet's move downtown is both a symbol of rebirth and renewal," said Diana Byer, artistic director of New York Theatre Ballet. "With three different programs in three different venues, Legends & Visionaries 2015 is a revolutionary season."

New York Theatre Ballet will celebrate their first season in their new home, and honor longtime friends Richard Alston and Valda Setterfield at a Garden Party on opening night, Thursday, June 18, 2015 at 6pm at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery, 131 E. 10th Street, New York City. The evening concludes with a performance at 8pm of NYTB's Legends & Visionaries 2015 at Danspace Project, 131 E. 10th Street, NYC. Tickets are $200 ($100 for children), and include both the party and the performance. Please contact admin@nytb.org to purchase.

These performances are part of DANCE:Access, a self-production series administered by Danspace Project that serves independent choreographers and dance companies.

New York Theatre Ballet to perform CINDERELLA at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

From June 24-28, 2015

New York Theatre Ballet will perform Donald Mahler's Cinderella at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in the Doris Duke Theatre from June 24-28, 2015.  Jacob's Pillow, a National Historic Landmark, National Medal of Arts recipient, and home to America's longest-running dance festival, is located at 358 George Carter Road, Becket, MA.

Performances: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8:15pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 2:15pm.

Tickets Information: Tickets are $35 and $25, with $10 Youth tickets also available for every performance. Tickets are on sale now online at jacobspillow.org and via phone at 413.243.0745.

A perennial favorite of NYTB audiences across America, Cinderella is one-hour in length with choreography by Donald Mahler, costumes by Sylvia Taalson Nolan, set design by Gillian Bradshaw-Smith. New York Theatre Ballet last performed at the Inside/Out Stage at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in July 2008.

"Gillian Bradshaw-Smith's ingenious scenery included a clock that came alive and danced, and furniture that moved magically about.  And Sylvia Taalsohn Nolan, the imaginative costume designer, created a gasp-producing moment when Cinderella's attire changed miraculously from rags to the riches of a ball gown." -The New York Times

During the week of their engagement, company members of NYTB will also teach a free, all-ages, all-levels ballet class to the Pillow public on Sunday, June 28. Limited space, call 413.243.9919 to register.

For more information, visit www.jacobspillow.org.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts Announces its 2015-16 Season

Tickets now on sale for Michael Feinstein, the Vienna Boys Choir, Clifford the Big Red Dog™ -- Live!, Moscow Festival Ballet, and more!

***

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College announces its 2015-16 Season of music, dance, theater, and family programming, reflecting the multicultural diversity of Brooklyn.Hailing from Austria, Russia, China, Canada, and across the United States, the awards-winning artists include both Brooklyn Center premieres and returning favorites.Tickets go on sale exclusively to Brooklyn Center Members on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at 1pm, with general sales beginning on Thursday, May 14. Tickets can be purchased at BrooklynCenter.org or by calling the box office at 718-951-4500 (Tue-Sat, 1pm-6pm).

"Brooklyn Center is excited to continue to represent and reflect the vibrant diversity of Brooklyn through our upcoming 2015-16 season of live performances," says Jon Yanofsky, the Director of Brooklyn Center. "From the Gershwins and the Beatles to classical ballet and step dancing, the 61st season at Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts will celebrate the best of classic and contemporary arts and culture with world class artists in music, dance, theater, and family programming.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts' 2015-16 Season includes:

• Michael Feinstein: The Gershwins and Me
• Black Violin
• Art of Time Ensemble - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
• The Vienna Boys Choir - Christmas In Vienna
• Dance Theatre in Westchester's The Colonial Nutcracker
• Step Afrika!
• Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company's Lunar New Year Celebration - Year of the Monkey
• Moscow Festival Ballet's Romeo and Juliet /Carmen Suite
• The Golden Dragon Acrobats
• Robert Glasper Trio
• Regina Carter's Southern Comfort
• Clifford the Big Red Dog™ - LIVE!
• Ninth Annual National Grid Earth Day Celebration
• Straighten Up & Fly Right: The Nat King Cole Tribute
• Alexander, Who's Not Not Not Not Not Not Going to Move

Michael Feinstein: The Gershwins and Me

2015-16 Season Opener

Saturday, October 24, 2015 at 7:30pm

Tickets: $36-$65

Emmy- and Grammy-nominated entertainer Michael Feinstein brings his impeccable piano skills and unparalleled interpretations to some of the greatest selections in the entire American Songbook, peppered with personal anecdotes from his autobiographical book The Gershwins and Me, which reflects upon his six-year collaboration with the great Ira Gershwin. 

Black Violin

Saturday, November 14, 2015 at 2pm

Tickets: $18
Back by popular demand, virtuoso violinists Kev Marcus and Wil B return to Brooklyn with their electrifying mash-up of hip-hop, classical, and pop tunes. With appearances ranging from the Apollo Theater and the Billboard Music Awards to three NFL Super Bowls and President Obama's official Inaugural Ball, this dynamic duo never fails to take audiences by storm with their unique spin on music for strings.

Art of Time Ensemble

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Saturday, November 21, 2015 at 8pm

Tickets: $30

With hits including "When I'm Sixty-Four," "With a Little Help From My Friends," and the title song, The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has been designated "the most important rock and roll album ever made" by Rolling Stone magazine. Toronto's Art of Time Ensemble brings this iconic collection to life in a fusion of high art and pop culture that reveals the universal and timeless qualities that lie at the heart of all great music.

The Vienna Boys Choir - Christmas in Vienna

Saturday, December 12, 2015 at 8pm

Tickets: $36-$45

This illustrious group of young musicians has been delighting music lovers across the globe for six centuries with their purity of tone, distinctive charm, and crowd-pleasing repertoire. Christmas in Vienna showcases these gifted musicians in an extraordinary program featuring Austrian folk songs, classical masterpieces, popular songs and, of course, holiday favorites. 

The Colonial Nutcracker

Sunday, December 13, 2015 at 2pm

Tickets: $18

An annual holiday favorite, Dance Theatre in Westchester performs its family-friendly, full-length version of Tchaikovsky's ballet set in wintry colonial Yorktown, complete with a red-coated mouse army, an enchanted nutcracker prince, and simultaneous narration to help young audience members enjoy this timeless classic. 

Step Afrika!

Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 2pm

Tickets: $20

Experience Step Afrika!, the world's first professional company dedicated to stepping, a unique art form born at African American fraternities and based in rich African traditions. Incorporating intricate rhythmic patterns of kicks, stomps, claps, and chants, the dancers use their bodies as instruments, creating an enthralling, high-energy performance that has been praised by The Village Voice as "a jubilation of rhythm and spirit that harks back to the essence of dancing."

Third Annual
 Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
 Lunar New Year Celebration - Year of the Monkey

Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 3pm

Tickets: $25/$12.50 (children 12 and under)

Brooklyn Center is thrilled to partner once again with the prestigious Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company in an all-new celebration of Chinese arts and culture commemorating the Year of the Monkey, a year characterized by cleverness, curiosity, and playful mischief. Thrilling choreography, traditional music, and dazzling acrobats showcase the rich traditions of one of Brooklyn's most vibrant communities at this festive, family-friendly event.

Moscow Festival Ballet

Romeo and Juliet / Carmen Suite

Saturday, March 5, 2016 at 8pm

Tickets: $36-$45
 The power of love and the finality of death collide as two of the greatest tragic masterpieces of all time are reinvented in this double-bill of one-act ballets. The program begins with a new restaging of Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, set to the music of Tchaikovsky and choreographed by legendary Bolshoi principal dancer Elena Radchenko. This is followed by Alberto Alonso's fiery Carmen Suite, inspired by Bizet's sensuous and spirited opera.
 
Golden Dragon Acrobats

Sunday, March 13, 2016 at 3pm

Tickets: $25/$12.50 (children 12 and under)

Recognized internationally as today's premier Chinese acrobatic touring company, The Golden Dragons combine award-winning acrobatics, spectacular costumes, and ancient and contemporary music and theatrical techniques to present an unforgettable show of breathtaking skill and beauty, representing the best of a time honored tradition that began more than twenty five centuries ago.

The Robert Glasper Trio

Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 8pm

Tickets: $35

More than ten years after making his debut at the legendary Blue Note, 2015 Grammy-winning pianist Robert Glasper graces the Whitman stage with an intimate concert combining original jazz compositions and selections from his June 2015 album Covered, which draws from some of Glasper's favorite songs by artists including Joni Mitchell, John Legend, and Radiohead.

Regina Carter's Southern Comfort

Saturday, April 16, 2016 at 8pm
Tickets: $35
Violin virtuoso and MacArthur fellow Regina Carter is considered the foremost jazz violinist of her generation, putting her indelible stamp on collaborations with artists as diverse as Wynton Marsalis, Mary J. Blige, and Dolly Parton. Her latest recording, titled Southern Comfort, pays a tender tribute to her paternal grandfather, an Alabama coal miner, as it draws from Appalachian fiddle tunes, church hymns, and the joyous Southern folk music that infused her childhood.

Clifford the Big Red Dog™ - LIVE!

Sunday, April 17, 2016 at 2pm
Tickets: $18
Embark on a new adventure with loveable Clifford, the big red dog with the heart of gold. Based on the classic children's books by Norman Bridwell, this brand new musical celebrates the timeless values of sharing, respect, and cooperation.

Ninth Annual National Grid Earth Day Celebration

Sunday, April 17, 2016 at 3pm
Tickets: FREE event, no tickets issued

Children and adults alike will enjoy live music, arts and crafts, and street performers at this free community festival, where interactive family activities highlight the need to create a more sustainable future and care for the earth.

Straighten Up & Fly Right: The Nat King Cole Tribute
Featuring Ramsey Lewis and John Pizzarelli

Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 3pm
Tickets: $40
As a singer, Nat King Cole was called "the best friend a song ever had," but he was essentially a jazz performer at heart. Three-time Grammy Award-winning pianist Ramsey Lewis and singer/guitarist John Pizzarelli join forces in this tribute to the titan of fifties vocal pop, performing favorites including "Route 66," "Mona Lisa," "Unforgettable," and more.

Alexander, Who's Not Not Not Not Not Not Going to Move
Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 2pm
Tickets: $12
The rest of Alexander's family is moving a thousand miles away, but there's NO way Alexander is going to leave his best friend, his favorite babysitter, or all the places and people he's known all his life. Never. Not ever. No way! Based on Judith Vorst's best-selling Alexander... series, this new family musical teaches us home isn't a house or a place on a map-it's wherever you are when you're with the people who love you.

Multibuy discounts (four or more shows) save 15% off individual ticket prices (not applicable for Alexander, Who's Not... Going to Move). Multibuyers enjoy flexible ticket exchanges and discounted parking for purchased performances. 50% discount for children ages 12 and under for select performances. Discounts also available for seniors, students, Brooklyn College faculty/staff/alumni, and groups. $10 student rush tickets available day-of-show. 

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts

Whitman Theatre at Brooklyn College

2 train to Brooklyn College/Flatbush Avenue

Online orders: BrooklynCenter.org

Box Office: 718-951-4500, Tuesday-Saturday, 1pm-6pm

Groups of 15 or more: 718-951-4600 x3331

About Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts

Founded in 1954, Brooklyn Center for the PerformingArts at Brooklyn College presents outstanding performing arts and arts education programs, reflective of Brooklyn's diverse communities, at affordable prices. Each season, Brooklyn Center welcomes over 65,000 people to the 2,400 seat Whitman Theatre, including up to 45,000 schoolchildren from over 300 schools who attend their SchoolTime series, one of the largest arts-in-education programs in the borough.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts' programs are supported, in part, by public funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Brooklyn Center's 2015-16 Season is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Major support for the 2015-16 season is provided by: Brooklyn College, Con Edison, TD Bank, National Grid, Macy's, Shanachie Entertainment Corp, the Herman Goldman Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, the Jazz Touring Network, the Alice Lawrence Foundation, the Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, the Henry and Lucy Moses Fund, Inc., and the TD Charitable Foundation. Additional support provided by CNG Publications, The Brooklyn Eagle, and WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM. The Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott New York Brooklyn is the official hotel of Brooklyn Center's 2015-16 Season. Backstage catering is graciously provided by Applebee's.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts gratefully acknowledges generous support from New York State Assembly members Rhoda Jacobs, Alan Maisel, Félix Ortiz, Annette Robinson, and Helene Weinstein, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Tom Finkelpearl.

The School of American Ballet announces the Workshop Performance Benefit 2015

At the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Lincoln Center on Tuesday, June 2, 2015

The School of American Ballet announces the Workshop Performance Benefit 2015 on Tuesday, June 2, 2015. The evening begins with cocktails at 5:30pm in Juilliard's Morse Hall, followed by the performance at 7pm in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Lincoln Center. A seated dinner at 9pm at the Mandarin Oriental will conclude the evening. 

The Workshop Performance Benefit 2015 is The School of American Ballet's most anticipated event of the year. The annual Workshop Performances are SAB's only public performances and a rare opportunity to get a sneak preview of the ballet world's up and coming young stars. A Benefit Dinner follows the Tuesday evening performance at Lincoln Center, and attracts more than 550 arts patrons, corporate VIPs and New York's social elite. 

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The School of American Ballet’s 2014 Workshop Performance Benefit Photos by Erin Baiano

This year's event is headed by Chairmen Michele Barakett, Linda Daines, Hillary Lane Hochberg, Nell Kleinschmidt, and Max R. Shulman; and Young Patron Chairman Stephanie Linka.

This year's benefit will celebrate the legendary Rudolf Nureyev and commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Scholarship. At the peak of his career, Mr. Nureyev spent many hours in the classroom, polishing his technique alongside SAB's students in Stanley Williams's acclaimed advanced men's class. In 1995, the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation generously presented the School with funding for an annual scholarship to support promising students in honor of Mr. Nureyev's affinity for SAB and Mr. Williams's teaching.

In 1964, Alexandra Danilova, George Balanchine's former classmate at the Imperial Ballet and a leading ballerina of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo joined SAB's faculty. In 1965, Madame Danilova established SAB's annual year-end Workshop Performances, giving the School's advanced students an opportunity to participate in professionally staged, publicly performed productions of classic ballet works. Since its inception, the Workshop Performances have seen hundreds of SAB's advanced students make their public debut as they prepare to leave SAB and go on to dance on the world's top stages. The New York Times coined Workshop a "spot-them-before-they-are-stars showcase". Scores of notable SAB alumni have performed at Workshop, including Merrill Ashley, Peter Boal, Maria Kowroski, Lourdes Lopez, Sara Mearns, Benjamin Millepied, Ethan Stiefel, and Wendy Whelan.

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Young Patron Chairmen Brynn Putnam and Erica Sheftman

The post-performance dinner has evolved through the years, from an intimate gathering hosted by SAB co-founder Lincoln Kirstein at his Gramercy Park townhouse into a festive fundraiser held in the SAB studios. The continued success of the Workshop Performance Benefit has led to the use of another wonderful New York venue.The post-performance dinner will take place in the magnificentballroom at the Mandarin Oriental with the City's iconic skyline as a backdrop.

The 2015 Workshop Performances program will include 19th & 20th Century Masters (Petipa, Bournonville, Balanchine & Robbins); Harlequinade ("Ballabile des Enfants"), Choreography by George Balanchine, Music by Riccardo Drigo; William Tell (pas de deux), Choreography by August Bournonville, Music by Gioachino Rossini; The Sleeping Beauty (pas de deux), Choreography by Peter Martins (after Marius Petipa), Music by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky; Valse-Fantaisie, Choreography by George Balanchine, Music by Mikhail Glinka; Stars and Stripes (3rd Regiment "Thunder and Gladiator"), Choreography by George Balanchine, Music by John Philip Sousa, arranged by Hershy Kay; and Fanfare, Choreography by Jerome Robbins, Music by Benjamin Britten.

The Peter Jay Sharp Theater is located at 155 W. 65th Street (between Amsterdam and Broadway). The Mandarin Oriental is located at 80 Columbus Circle at 60th Street, NYC.

For more information,

• Please contact the special events office at SAB at (212) 769-6610.
• Tickets and tables are available for online purchase at ww.sab.org/workshopbenefit.
• Tickets for the Saturday, May 30 performances at sab.org/workshop.

LABA and Yehuda Hyman/Mystical Feet Company presents the World Premiere of THE MAR VISTA

The World Premiere of THE MAR VISTA, a dance/theater work written and choreographed by Yehuda Hyman in collaboration with the Mystical Feet Company (Ron Kagan, Dwight Kelly, Amanda Schussel and Hyman), will be presented at The Theater at the 14th Street Y, 344 E. 14th Street, from June 11 - 13, 2015 at 8pm and June 14, 2015 at 3pm and 7pm, as part of NYTF's KulturfestNYC. Tickets are $18 in advance or $22.50 at the door. Tickets are available at 646-395-4310 or www.labajournal.com/2014/12/mar-vista/. 

THE MAR VISTA is a fractured memoir about an American Jewish family. Taking place over a span of almost 100 years, THE MAR VISTA weaves together dance, gesture, spoken word, improvisation and ritual to tell a comical/tragical fragmented narrative about Hyman's parents.

"Mar Vista" is Spanish for "view of the sea." It is also the name of the Los Angeles neighborhood where Hyman grew up, a working class area on the Westside that had a high population of World War II and Korean War veterans and their families, many of whom bought their homes with the help of GI loans. The neighborhood's name held within it a promise of views of the Pacific Ocean for all.  Unfortunately, the Hyman's small house was at the bottom of a big hill, which blocked his family's view. In this lyrical and quirky new work, Hyman attempts to climb that hill and witness the sea below. 

THE MAR VISTA is performed in three parts:

• Part 1:  Hamsa, is a solo performed by Hyman, which deals with curses, Passover, the 10 plagues and the story of his father.
• Part 2:  Leaning Into Moisture, a duet for Hyman and Amanda Schussel about his mother and her forbidden wartime romance in Istanbul.
• Part 3:  Cincinnati, takes place in Cincinnati, 1951 on the night that Hyman's father proposed to his mother - in a hurry.

The MAR VISTA was incubated at LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture at the 14th Street Y.

"LABA was the breeding ground for the birth of THE MAR VISTA," explained Artistic Director Ronit Muszkatblit. "That year the theme of 'Mother' resonated with Yehuda and inspired him to develop this exciting dance theater work."

Creative Credits

Artistic Director/Choreographer: Yehuda Hyman

Performers: Yehuda Hyman, Ron Kagan, Dwight Kelly, Amanda Schussel

Costume Designer: Amy Page

Lighting Designer: Kryssy Wright

Sound Designer: Dominick Boyle

Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana's Spring 2015 NYC Season at BAM Fisher - May 19 - 24, 2015

Flamenco is celebrated on-stage at BAM Fisher for the first time as FLAMENCO VIVO CARLOTA SANTANA presents ANGELES/ALMAS, the company's Spring 2015 NYC season, May 19-24 at Brooklyn Academy of Music's BAM Fisher Building, 321 Ashland Place, Brooklyn, New York. 

Founded in 1983, FLAMENCO VIVO CARLOTA SANTANA is one of this country's longest-established flamenco companies, dedicated to promoting flamenco as a living, evolving art form. During its week-long BAM Fisher season, the company will present two programs featuring the world premieres of three works by contemporary Spanish dance artists, accompanied by live music.

The first world premiere is Angeles (Program A) choreographed by Ángel Muñoz. The New York Times praised Muñoz' previous Flamenco Vivo commission, A Solas (2012), as "impressive for its compositional finesse" (while describing Muñoz himself as "singing with his feet").  Angeles portrays angels in myth, music and motion; building off of an earlier solo piece selected for the Festival de Jerez and London Flamenco Festival, the new work features Muñoz with a cast of nine more dancers and musicians.

The second premiere work, by Enrique Vicent and Antonio López is Martinete-Seguiriya (both programs), named after the flamenco form and rhythm featured in the piece.  Seguiriya is one of the oldest flamenco forms where the serious, almost tragic sound of the music gives the dancer a chance to express sorrowful feelings, while the martineterhythm said to derive from the workers in the forge, from the word martillo,meaning hammer.  Vicent and López were commissioned as part of a new collaboration between Flamenco Vivo and Madrid's El Certamen de Coreografía de Danza Española y Flamenco, one of Spain's most prestigious dance competitions. 

The third premiere is Ausencia (Program B): Guadalupe Torres, a two-time winner of the Madrid Certamen, reveals the soul of flamenco in a new solo work created for her US debut performances. The engagement also features other company repertory including A Solas (2012 - both programs) a work by Ángel Muñoz showcasing the soleá por bulerías style; Mujeres (2009 - Program B only), choreographed by company associate artistic director Antonio Hidalgo, which offers a modern take on the traditional elements used by women in flamenco (the castanets, fans, shawls and dresses with bata de cola trains); and De Milonga (2003 - both programs), also by Hidalgo, which celebrates Latin American influences on flamenco.

Flamenco Vivo's BAM Fisher season features a cast of accomplished dancers and musicans from Spain and the US, including company dancers Antonio Hidalgo, Charo Espino, Isaac Tovar, Eliza Llewellyn and Alice Blumenfeld; guitarists Gaspar Rodriguez and Pedro Medina, singers Pedro Obregón and Felix de Lola, flutist Diego Villegas and percussionist Jose Moreno; and guest artists Ángel Muñoz and Guadalupe Torres.

Performances are May 19-24, 2015, (Tuesday-Saturday, 7:30pm; matinees Saturday-Sunday 2pm) at BAM Fisher, 321 Ashland Place, Brooklyn, New York.  Tickets range from $20 - $59 and can be purchased at www.flamenco-vivo.org. Tickets for the company's First Night Fiesta on May 19, including premium seating and a post-performance reception with the artists, are $100-$250; for more information, call 212.736.4499 or visit www.flamenco-vivo.org. Flamenco Vivo will also offer a post-performance artist talk following the Thursday, May 21 show.  Performance schedule:

• Program A: Angeles, Martinete-Seguiriya, A Solas, De Milonga

Tuesday-Thursday, May 19-21 at 7:30pm 

• Program B: Ausencia, Martinete-Seguiriya, Mujeres, A Solas, De Milonga.

Friday-Saturday, May 22-23 at 7:30pm; Saturday-Sunday May 23-24 at 2:00pm 

Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana's Spring 2015 season at BAM Fisher is made possible, in part, through support from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Rockefeller Brother Fund, the Harkness Foundation for Dance and the Consulate General of Spain. ANGELES/ALMAS is presented by Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana. BAM house and ticketing policies may not apply. All programs and casting subject to change. 

SEASON REPERTORY

Angeles - World Premiere

Choreography by Ángel Muñoz
Original Score by Gaspar Rodriguez

Dancers: Ángel Muñoz, Antonio Hidalgo, Charo Espino, and Isaac Tovar

Angeles builds off of a solo piece developed by Ángel Muñoz, in which he reflects choreographically on the contradictory meanings of his first name: angel of light, dark angel, guardian angel, fallen angel, avenging angel. For the new production, Muñoz will use all these symbols as points of departure for a series of solos, duets and ensemble movements, accompanied by 6 live musicians.

Angeles was made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and Spain Culture New York - Consulate General of Spain: member of the network SPAIN arts & culture. 

Ausencia - World Premiere

Choreography by Guadalupe Torres

Dancer and choreographer Guadalupe Torres, a two-time winner of Madrid's prestigious Certamen de Coreografía competition, reveals the soul of flamenco in a new solo work developed especially for her first-ever appearance in New York. 

Martinete-Seguiriya - World Premiere

Choreography by Enrique Vicent and Antonio López

Dancers: Antonio Hidalgo, Isaac Tovar, Eliza Llewellyn, and Alice Blumenfeld

The martineterhythm is said to derive from the workers in the forges and from the word martillo, meaning hammer. Seguiriya is one of the oldest flamenco forms, where the serious, almost tragic sound of the music, gives the dancer a chance to express sorrowful feelings. The heaviness of the music allows a chance to work with complex rhythmic patterns.

This choreography was made possible by a partnership between Flamenco Vivo and the Certamen de Coreografía de Danza Española y Flamenco of Madrid and supported by Spain Culture New York - Consulate General of Spain: member of the network SPAIN arts & culture.

Mujeres (2009)

Choreography by Antonio Hidalgo

Dancers: The Company

Mujeres demonstrates flamenco traditions within a contemporary context. The work highlights the traditional elements used by women in flamenco dance - the castanets, fans and shawls and how the bata de cola (dress with a train) is used in both traditional and contemporary flamenco. This traditional costume was once only used as stately attire, but the modern female dancer uses this costume in new ways: as a partner, as defense/offense against the male dancer, and as a "toy" to play with and express humor and lightness.

Mujeres was made possible by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts

A Solas (2012)

Choreography by Ángel Muñoz

Dancers: The Company

Originally choreographed for five women, A Solas was first performed during the Flamenco in the Boros tour in New York City in 2012. In early 2013, the men's parts were added to this soulful piece, exemplary of the soleá por bulerías style.

A Solas was made possible by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts

De Milonga (2003)

Choreography by Antonio Hidalgo

Dancers: Antonio Hidalgo or Isaac Tovar and Alice Blumenfeld

This work is an excerpt from Bailes de Ida y Vuelta and celebrates the Latin American influences in the flamenco art form.

OPERA SARATOGA Announces its 2015 Summer Festival Season

Opera Saratoga announces its 2015 Summer Festival season, which will run from July 2 - July 26, 2015 at multiple venues throughout Saratoga Springs, New York.

The 2014/2015 season is the first programmatic year under the artistic and general direction of Lawrence Edelson and marks an expansion for the company in several ways: the first World Premiere presented by the company in nearly 30 years, three operas instead of two, and a longer festival season including performances at multiple venues in the region.

"I am honored to have the opportunity to lead Opera Saratoga into its next chapter, and thrilled that my first season will provide opportunities for audiences to see three operas that show the breadth and depth of what is happening in opera today, with some of the foremost artists of our generation," said Lawrence Edelson. "The season includes three operas that couldn't be more different. La Cenerentola (Cinderella) is a bubbling comedy by Rossini that features virtuoso singing to impress the most passionate opera lovers, and is also an ideal introduction to opera for family audiences. Our presentation of Dido and Aeneas will be our first site-specific production, presented in partnership with the National Museum of Dance. Operas that prominently feature dance will be a part of our programming every season moving forward, and this particular production not only builds upon the region's connection to dance, but also takes advantage of the stunning natural beauty of Spa State Park, where we are located.  The world-premiere of The Long Walk marks a reaffirmed commitment to the inclusion of contemporary American opera as a regular part of our programming. The Company has produced 33 works by American composers in its history, 5 of which have been world premieres, but The Long Walk, by two of the most exciting writers in American opera today - composer Jeremy Howard Beck, and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann - will actually be the first world-premiere for the company in 27 years! 

This year, we are initiating new partnerships with a wide variety of cultural organizations throughout the region, enabling us to offer exciting new performance programs that compliment the season's operas, which provide even more ways for audiences to connect with the company and our wonderful artists. By expanding the festival, and moving it into July, we are providing more opportunities not only for local audiences to enjoy our programs, but opportunities for audiences from around the country to enjoy the cultural riches that Saratoga Springs has to offer. With a train station in the heart of the city, and Albany airport less than 30 minutes away, we look forward to welcoming opera lovers from around the country to enjoy not only Opera Saratoga, but all of the restaurants, shops, cultural attractions, historic sites, and natural beauty that Saratoga Springs has to offer." 

In tandem with the expansion of the season, the Young Artist Program - the second oldest program of its kind in the country - is being expanded to provide greater professional development opportunities for emerging professionals. The program will consist of three tiers for singers, as well as opportunities for pianists, conductors and directors, under the direction of Laurie Rogers. Opera Saratoga has selected 28 gifted artists from over 1,000 applicants from across the country, who will be in residence in Saratoga Springs this summer. A complete list of Young Artists may be found at http://www.operasaratoga.org/2015-young-artists/

OPERA SARATOGA'S 2015 SUMMER FESTIVAL PROGRAMMING

LA CENERENTOLA (Cinderella)

Music by GioachinoRossini, Libretto by Jacopo Ferretti, Based on the Fairy Tale by Charles Perrault

Directed by Lawrence Edelson, Conducted by Gary Thor Wedow

Featuring Sandra Piques Eddy, Andrew Owens, John Brancy, David Kravitz, and Ryan Kuster

Performances: Thursday, July 2, 2015 at 7:30pm; Saturday, July 11, Tuesday, July 14, and Saturday, July 18, 2015 at 2pm; Sunday, July 26, 2015 at 7:30pm

Opera Saratoga opens the 2015 Summer Season with Rossini's beloved version of Cinderella. Based on Perrault's timeless fairytale, La Cenerentola features plenty of magical enchantment; the ridiculous, over-the-top situations and toe-tapping melodies that you expect from the master of comic Italian opera; and heartfelt emotion to bring together this story of forgiveness and true love.  The ultimate rags to riches tale; it's a Cinderella story...but not quite as you may know it! Opera Saratoga is proud to present the company debuts of five extraordinary singers in La Cenerentola: Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Sandra Piques Eddy sings the virtuoso title role along side tenor Andrew Owens as Prince Ramiro, baritone John Brancy as his valet Dandini, David Kravitz as her wicked step-father Don Magnifico, and Ryan Kuster as the mysterious philosopher Alidoro. Gary Thor Wedow also makes his company debut conducting this new production by Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson.

DIDO AND AENEAS

Music by Henry Purcell, Libretto by Nahum Tate

Directed and Choreographed by Karole Armitage, Conducted by Nicole Paiement

Featuring Jennifer Johnson Cano and ArmitageGone! Dance Company

Presented in Partnership with the National Museum of Dance

All tickets include admission to the wonderful exhibits at The National Museum of Dance, beginning at 7pm. Seating is general admission, with seating beginning at 7:45pm for the performance beginning at 8:15pm.

Performances:  Monday, July 6, 2015; Sunday, July 12, 2015; Sunday, July 19, 2015; Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Opera Saratoga is thrilled to present the first Baroque opera in the company's history in a truly unique production under the stars! One of the earliest English operas, Dido and Aeneas is one of Purcell's foremost theatrical works. This heartbreaking opera recounts the love of Dido, Queen of Carthage, for the Trojan hero, Aeneas, and her despair when he abandons her. The combination of exquisite vocal music and extensive use of dance has inspired many interpretations of the great score. Opera Saratoga has invited world-renown choreographer and director Karole Armitage to create a very special site-specific production for Saratoga Springs that embraces the natural beauty and history of The National Museum of Dance located in Spa State Park. The production will feature Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano in her company debut Jennifer Johnson Cano as Dido, along with the exquisite dancers of the ArmitageGone! Dance Company in what is sure to be one of the most talked about productions of the summer for dance and music lovers alike.

WORLD PREMIERE

THE LONG WALK

Composed by Jeremy Howard Beck, Libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann

Based on The Long Walk, A Story of War and the Life that Follows, by Brian Castner

Directed by David Schweizer, Conducted by Steven Osgood

Featuring Daniel Belcher, Heather Johnson, Caroline Worra, David Blalock, Javier Abreu, Justin Hopkins, and Donita Volkwijn

Commissioned by American Lyric Theater

Performances:  Friday, July 10, 2015 at 7:30pm; Monday, July 13 and Friday, July 17, 2015 at 2pm; and Saturday, July 25, 2015 at 7:30pm

The Long Walk is based on Brian Castner's critically acclaimed book of the same name. The opera is a deeply personal exploration of a soldier's return from Iraq where he served as an officer in an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit and his battle with what he calls "the Crazy" as he tries to reintegrate into his family life upon returning from the war. Opera Saratoga is honored to present the world premiere of The Long Walk in partnership with American Lyric Theater. Internationally renowned theater and opera director David Schweizer makes his Opera Saratoga debut, with celebrated American conductor Steven Osgood on the podium. Grammy Award winning baritone Daniel Belcher returns to Opera Saratoga to create the role of Brian, alongside mezzo-soprano Heather Johnson, who makes her company debut as his wife Jessie. The cast also includes the company debuts of sopranos Caroline Worra and Donita Volkwijn, tenors David Blalock and Javier Abreu, and bass baritone Justin Hopkins.

In addition to the three operas being presented, an extensive series of concerts and community events will take place throughout the month of June and July. These include:

Season Preview Concert

Wednesday, June 17 at 1:30PM, Free

The Sembrich Museum in Bolton Landing

This concert will feature arias and scenes from the three operas in Opera Saratoga's 2015 Summer Season, performed by members of the company's Young Artist Program. 

Stars of Tomorrow!

Saturday, June 6 at 8 PM, Free
Dee Sarno Theater, Saratoga Arts Center
320 Broadway, Saratoga Springs

Opera Saratoga's Young Artist Program is the second oldest mentorship program for emerging professional singers in the country, also providing opportunities for gifted young conductors, pianists and directors. This season, we received over 1,000 applications for 24 spaces - making the selection process more competitive than getting into Harvard! The singers that we have selected represent some of the most gifted young artists in the country. Join us for this very special program where you will have a chance to get to know the incredible young artists who will be a part of our community this summer. We promise, one day you'll be able to say, "I heard them before they were stars!"

A Master Class with Joan Dornemann

Sunday, June 14 at 2 PM, $20 in advance ($15 for subscribers) or $25 at the door.
Helen Filene Ladd Concert Hall
Arthur Zankel Music Center, Skidmore College
815 North Broadway, Saratoga Springs

Joan Dornemann, Metropolitan Opera Assistant Conductor, is one of the most highly respected opera coaches in the world today. She has worked with such singers as Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Sherrill Milnes, Kiri Te Kanawa, Montserrat Caballe, Deborah Voigt, Renée Fleming, and Leo Nucci. She has been associated with the Gran Liceo in Barcelona, the Spoleto Festival, New York City Opera, Opera National de Paris and the Kirov Opera. She received an Emmy Award for her contribution to the highly acclaimed first Live From the Met telecast of La Bohème and is the founder of the International Vocal Arts Institute. Joan will lead a special master class on the art of singing Rossini, featuring members of Opera Saratoga's Young Artist Program. This is a very special opportunity to see one of the world's leading authorities on bel canto mentor our emerging professional artists, leading up to the season opening of La Cenerentola. 

Mr. Tambourine Man at Caffè Lena with soprano Caroline Worra

Friday June 19 and Saturday 20 at 8PM, $20 in advance ($15 for subscribers) or $25 at the door.
Caffè Lena
47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs

Opera Saratoga makes a special appearance at the historic Caffè Lena to celebrate the poetry and lyrics of Bob Dylan in a concert featuring soprano Caroline Worra. Caroline has been hailed by Opera News as "one of the finest singing actresses around," and has sung over 75 different operatic roles including more than 20 World, American, and Regional Premieres.  At the center of this special concert is the Saratoga premiere of John Corigliano's Mr. Tambourine Man, a beautiful, haunting and powerful setting of some of Dylan's most famous song lyrics by the Academy Award winning composer of The Red Violin. 

If it aint Baroque...

Sunday, June 21 at 2 PM, Free
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald A. Riggi Theater
The National Museum of Dance
99 South Broadway, Saratoga Springs

In honor of Opera Saratoga's first production of a Baroque opera, members of the Young Artist Program will perform a program of arias and ensembles from a wide variety of Baroque operas, including works by Handel, Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Lully Rameau, and Purcell, including a special preview from our production of Dido and Aeneas.

Songs of Longing and Desire with mezzo soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano

Friday, June 26 at 8 PM, $20 in advance ($15 for subscribers) or $25 at the door
Picotte Recital Hall at the Massry Center for the Arts, Albany

Jennifer Johnson Cano is one of the country's most exciting young mezzo sopranos. The New York Times extolled that "emotion suffused every moment of her eloquent, impassioned New York debut recital." Opera Saratoga is delighted to not only present Jennifer's role debut as Dido this season, but to also offer our audiences the opportunity to hear her in recital with Christopher Cano, who is not only her husband, but an extraordinary pianist with whom Jennifer collaborates often. Jennifer and Christopher have put together a special selection of songs of longing and desire, including works by Brahms, Dove, Barber, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. 

Of Arms and the Man I Sing

The New York State Military Museum, where Opera Saratoga will present two programs during the 2015 Summer Festival.

Sunday, July 12 at 2PM, Free
The New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center
61 Lake Avenue, Saratoga Springs

Opera Saratoga's world premiere production of The Long Walk builds upon a rich and important history of operas that explore the dynamics of war, and the emotional journeys our soldiers take in their efforts to protect our freedom. Join us for a special concert featuring members of the company's Young Artist Program, featuring excerpts from operas from Monteverdi's Il ritorno di Ulysses in Patria, to the 2012 Pulitzer Prize award winning American masterpiece Silent Night by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell. 

A World War I Tribute with baritone John Brancy

Thursday, July 16 at 8 PM, $20 in advance ($15 for subscribers) or $25 at the door
The New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center
61 Lake Avenue, Saratoga Springs

Baritone John Brancy is a fast-rising star making his debut with Opera Saratoga this summer. This season, John is also making important recital debuts at The Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, so we couldn't resist the opportunity to present him in recital and share a very special program with our community. John has put together a journey into the music of WWI - revealing the thoughts, emotions and psyche of the great composers during that tremulous time. The program will include a performance of George Butterworth's (who died in combat during the Battle of the Somme in 1916) famously beautiful settings of poetry from A.E. Housman's A Shropshire Lad, as well as songs by Gerald Finzi, Claude Debussy, Carl Orff, and Charles Ives. 

2016 Season Preview

Thursday, July 23 at 2 PM, Free
Spa Little Theater

Are you curious what the Summer of 2016 will bring to Opera Saratoga? Join us for a season preview, featuring music from all three operas to be presented in 2016, sung by members of the Young Artist Program. 

Subscriptions are currently on sale, providing a savings of up to 15% off single ticket prices, including special visitor subscription packages for out of town guests. Single tickets are also now on sale. Ticket information is available at www.operasaratoga.org.  

Special packages are available for out-of-town visitors that will provide an opportunity to see multiple operas over a few days while enjoying the many other things that the city has to offer, including the summer residency of New York City Ballet at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), and the opening of the Track Season, which coincides with the final weekend of the festival.

For more information, visit www.operasaratoga.org.

Happy Birthday August Wilson!

Jujamcyn Theaters & Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company Announce Judges For 7TH Annual National August Wilson Monologue Competition At August Wilson Theatre Monday, May 4, 2015 

August Wilson

The late August Wilson was started his prolific career late. I remember this detail because he and I share the same birthday, April 27th. These facts of trivia, to some, is a motivator for me.

Tony award winning director Kenny Leon, grew up in Tallahassee, Flordia which is where my mothers' tribe is located, Miccosukee Indians, an off-shoot of the Seminole tribe.

When I asked him, during the 2014 Tony Awards was he also a member if the indigenous tribe, he smiled and said no: "I'm black but I know the area well."

Trivia aside, the Jujamcyn Theaters (Jordan Roth, President) and True Colors Theatre Company (Kenny Leon, Co-Founding Artistic Director) have announced the judges for the 7th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition on Monday, May 4th at 7:00 p.m. at the August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street). 

Good news for those on a budget. This event is free and it's open to the public. Featuring high school students from New York, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles,  Pittsburgh, Portland and Seattle three talented actors perform monologues by the late, legendary American playwright. 

The competition is fierce. This year, the 2015 Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition will include Crystal Dickinson (actress), Brandon J. Dirden (actor), David Gallo (scenic designer), Stephen McKinley Henderson (actor), and Pauletta Washington (actress). The evening will also include a special performance by musician Guy Davis. 

All storytellers worry about the legacy that they leave. Perhaps not when they are creating the work but at some point, the issue of "immortality" is addressed.

The Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition, started in 2007, aims to expose a new generation of creative minds to the life’s work and artistic legacy of this seminal American playwright. 

Mentoring is key to strong foundations and growth and to that end, the program participants—in cities across the country—encounter Wilson’s ten-play cycle and receive coaching from teaching artists as they prepare their monologues for local, city-wide and national competitions. 

It's not all work and no play, this year the competition will afford students from these cities around the country the opportunity to attend the new Broadway musical Something Rotten!, work closely with two of Wilson’s closest collaborators: director Kenny Leon and dramaturg Todd Kreidler, and explore popular Manhattan attractions before making their Broadway stage debuts. 

Finally, the two finalists from each regional city will compete, and the top contestants will be chosen to perform on the August Wilson Stage on Monday evening, May 4th. 

Money makes the world go around and the top three contestants from the national competition receive monetary awards. The first place winner will receive a $1500 cash prize, the runner-up a $1000 cash prize and the honorable mention a $500 cash prize. Each of the winners will also become eligible for college scholarship opportunities and all finalists receive the gift of TCG’s Century Cycle collection.

The Monologue Competition is also featured in “The Start of Dreams”, a documentary directed by The Horne Brothers. Featuring A-list actors like Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson and Phylicia Rashad, “The Start of Dreams” is packed with Hollywood’s elite weighing in on this important art form and what it means to the United States.

The documentary has been screened at 9 festivals across the country including the Atlanta Film Festival, the Pan-African Film Festival in Los Angeles, and the UrbanWorld Festival in New York. A trailer for the film is available at the link listed below.

The national August Wilson Monologue Competition is presented by Delta Air Lines with additional funding support from Publix Supermarket Charities, Massey Charitable Trust, Bank of America, The Imlay Foundation, and Macy's.

For more information, visit www.AugustWilsonMonologue.com

“THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY WAY” WILL PREMIERE OFF-BROADWAY THIS SPRING

It's Spring and it's time to wake up and to smell, all of the roses.

Some say, it might be "The Twentieth-Century Way," which is Tom Jacobson’s acclaimed two-person play about homosexual entrapment in Los Angeles at the turn of the 20th century, will premiere Off-Broadway this spring.

Directed by The Theatre @ Boston Court’s Michael Michetti, and starring Will Bradley and Robert Mammana, the play will begin previews May 28, 2015, with opening night set for June 3, 2015 at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre (224 Waverly Place, NYC). 

The limited engagement will run through July 19, 2015. 

Based on a little-known incident in LA history, this theatrical thrill ride explores the collision of reality and fantasy as two actors juggle various roles to entrap homosexuals for "social vagrancy" in the public restrooms of 1914 Long Beach. But are they actually entrapping each other? Who they are and what they need is a mystery that deepens with every twist and turn. 

The Twentieth-Century Way earned Mr. Jacobson a PEN Center USA Award for Drama, and was a sensation at the 2010 NY International Fringe Festival, winning Overall Excellence in Production of a Play.

This co-production continues the association between two companies – The Theatre @ Boston Court (Los Angeles) and Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre (New York). 

Tickets for The Twentieth-Century Way range from $10 - $50 and can be purchased by visitingwww.rattlestick.org. 

Highlights from the 2014 Lilly Awards

The performance schedule is as follows: Thursdays at 8:00 p.m., Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., Sundays at 3:00 p.m., Mondays at 8:00 p.m.

The Woman's Voice In Theater is celebrated with the 6TH ANNUAL LILLY AWARDS CEREMONYSET FOR MONDAY, JUNE 1st

AT PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS

TO CELEBRATE AND HONOR WOMEN OF DISTINCTION IN THE AMERICAN THEATER

"I am woman, hear me roar" and on Monday, June 1st, the 6th Annual Lilly Awards Ceremony (beginning at 5 p.m.) at Playwrights Horizons (416 West 42nd Street) will give that mike to host, writer and performer, Lisa Kron. 

Miss Kron will "roar" because the Lilly Awards will honor the extraordinary contributions made to the American Theater by women, as well as announce the $25,000 Stacey Mindich Prize, which funds a new work by a female playwright, and the Leah Ryan Prize, which awards an annual cash prize to an emerging woman playwright and produces a reading of the winning play in New York City. 

Over 100 theater professionals were asked for their nominations for the 2016 honorees. The presenters and winners will be announced shortly.

Following the ceremony, guests and honorees will attend a cocktail reception at the West Bank Cafe (407 West 42nd Street).

The Lilly Awards were started in the Spring of 2010 as a way to honor the work of women in the American Theater. The founders of The Lillys are Julia Jordan, Marsha Norman and Theresa Rebeck. The awards are named for Lillian Hellman, a pioneering American playwright who famously said “You need to write like the devil and act like one too when necessary.” 

Previous winners who have won the Lilly Award include Mary Rogers, Dominique Morisseau, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Jeanine Tesori, Liesl Tommy, Kelli O’Hara, Pam MacKinnon, Leigh Silverman, Anne Kauffman, Sarah Ruhl, Kristin Chenoweth, Annie Baker, Susan Stroman, Lynn Ahrens, Tina Fallon, Amy Herzog, Nina Arianda, Diane Paulus, Katori Hall, Tina Howe, Estella Parsons, Lynne Meadow, Ntozake Shange, Jessica Hecht and  Lois Smith.

Check out the  Lilly Awards—www.thelillyawards.org.

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BAM SLAMS WITH POETRY -- BROOKLYN DOES IT BEST!

Flip out the metro-card, it's time to roll out to Brooklyn. If you are luck to live in Brooklyn, take a bow and still use that Metro-card because it's time to hear the truth which is being spoken at BAM.

Poetry 2015: Speaking Truth at BAM, is a hugely popular poetry showcase. The evening is filled with dynamic interdisciplinary performances by spoken word artists, rappers, and musicians. 

That includes nationally recognized performers, along with two selected students from the BAM Brooklyn Reads residency program will explore the theme of Speaking Truth, directed by Baba Israel. 

This year’s showcase is full of talent, including the poets muMs, Kelly Zen- Yie Tsai, the 2014 Nuyorican Poets Cafe Slam Team, and Najee Omar, with music performances by Yako440, and Brooklyn’s own DJ Reborn.

 The winners from BAM Education’s poetry residency, Brooklyn Reads, and have been selected through an online voting process to perform in this annual main stage show.

They have been chosen out of 500 high school participants to present their work alongside the professional artists in Poetry 2015: Keisie Barzola,(12th grade,) West Brooklyn Community High School, and Kirkland DeBrosse (12th grade,) Cultural Academy for the Arts & Science

Poetry 2015: Speaking Truth

BAM Fisher (Fishman Space, 321 Ashland Pl)

Apr 2 at 7:30pm

EVERYTHING ABOUT BILLIE IS BEAUTIFUL - To Celebrate the 100th Birthday of Billie Holiday

If you know the blues then you know the sound of the immortal Billie Holiday. She would have been a cool 100 years-young and to celebrate her enduring work, the Apollo is kicking off Billie Week starting with a very special ceremony where the songstress will be inducted into the Apollo Walk of Fame where she will get “her star" under the Apollo marquee on Monday, April 6th. 

The musical ceremony will include Two-Time Grammy Winner Cassandra Wilson. The event is presented in collaboration with Absolutely Live Entertainment and will include performances by violinist Kersten Stevens and Harlem School of the Arts Choir; photo ops with Apollo president and CEO Jonelle Procope, two time Grammy winner and jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson, son of Jazz great and Billie Holiday’s friend and collaborator Lester Young  Dr. Lester W. Young, Jr. , managing partner of The Bicycle Music Company and representative of the Estate of Billie Holiday Steven Salm, and Legacy Recordings president Adam Block.

The power of music prevails and this ceremony will also celebrate the release of Cassandra Wilson’s upcoming Legacy Recordings release, Coming Forth By Day (April 7th) and include a special concert, on April 10th — Cassandra Wilson: A Celebration of Billie Holiday.  This will be the first time headlining the Apollo.

 The Apollo Theater is located at 253 West 125th Street.

NO 'Honeymoon' for Honeymoon in Vegas. Closing April 5th

Honeymoon in Vegas - Show photos

Honeymoon in Vegas - Show photos

Honeymoon in Vegas - Show photos

Honeymoon in Vegas - Show photos

Honeymoon in Vegas - Show photos

Honeymoon in Vegas - Show photos

Broadway isn't easy. The songs and slogans about the city hasn't changed and in fact, it's much more truthful today, in 2015, than when Frank Sinatra wrote— "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere. It's up to you, New York, New York,"

The critically-acclaimed new musical, Honeymoon in Vegas, will play its final performance at Broadway’s Nederlander Theater (208 West 41st Street) on Sunday, April 5, 2015, the show’s producers announced today. Lauded as “a real-live, old-fashioned, deeply satisfying Broadway musical in a way few shows are anymore,” by Ben Brantley of the New York Times, Honeymoon in Vegas is directed by Gary Griffin, features a book by Andrew Bergman, and a score by three-time Tony Award-winner Jason Robert Brown.

Those who have purchased tickets to a performance after April 5, 2015 through Ticketmaster will automatically receive credit to their accounts for their refunded tickets. All others should contact their initial point of purchase to inquire about receiving a refund for their tickets.

Honeymoon in Vegas began performances on Tuesday, November 18, 2014, and officially opened on Thursday, January 15, 2015 to rave reviews. Prior to Broadway, Honeymoon in Vegas completed a successful engagement at the Papermill Playhouse in Milburn, NJ October 6 – 27, 2013.

The cast of Honeymoon in Vegas includes Tony Award nominee Rob McClure, Brynn O'Malley, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Tony Danza, David Josefsberg, Nancy Opel, Matthew Saldivar, Matt Allen, Tracee Beazer, Grady McLeod Bowman, Barry Busby, Leslie Donna Flesner, Gaelen Gilliland, Albert Guerzon, Sean Allan Krill, Raymond J. Lee, George Merrick, Jessica Naimy, Zachary Prince, Catherine Ricafort, Jonalyn Saxer, Brendon Stimson, Erica Sweany, Cary Tedder, and Katie Webber.

The creative team for Honeymoon in Vegas also features three-time Tony Award nominee Anna Louizos (scenic design); Emmy Award-winner Brian C. Hemesath (costume design); Tony Award-winner Howell Binkley (lighting design); Tony Award-winner Scott Lehrer & Drama Desk Award-winner Drew Levy (sound design); Tony and Grammy Award-winner Don Sebesky, Larry Blank, Jason Robert Brown, Charlie Rosen (orchestrations); Tom Murray (music director); and Charles G. LaPointe (hair and wig design).

Honeymoon in Vegas is produced on Broadway by Dena Hammerstein, Roy Gabay, Rich Entertainment Group, Dan Farah, Metro Card, King’s Leaves, Dan Frishwasser, Leslie Greif / Thom Beers, Susan Dietz & Lenny Beer, Howard Hoffman / Anna Czekaj, Important Musicals, Sharon Karmazin, L.G. Scott, and Martin Markinson.

Honeymoon in Vegas, based on the 1992 Castle Rock Entertainment Motion Picture, tells the story of Jack Singer (McClure), a regular guy with an extreme fear of marriage, who finally gets up the nerve to ask his girlfriend Betsy (O’Malley) to marry him. But when they head to Las Vegas to get hitched, smooth talking gambler Tommy Korman (Danza) - looking for a second chance at love - falls head over heels for Betsy and Jack must go to extreme heights to win back the love of his life.

AN EVENING WITH AUTHORS WITH FOOD AND DRINK

Our team loves sharing information that's free, free, free and we suspect that the brass at Theatre for a New Audience feels the same way. That's why they created the 2015 Open Books series, featuring John Lahr, Andrea Most, and Alisa Solomon and the three free evenings of lively, engaging conversation with the authors of some of American theatre's most acclaimed new books at Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place.  

Mark your calendars because Alisa Solomon, author of Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof, will speak Monday, March 23, at 7:00pm; John Lahr, long-time drama critic for The New Yorker, will discuss his biography Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh Monday, April 6, at 7:00pm; and Andrea Most, author of Theatrical Liberalism: Jews and Popular Entertainment in America, will take the podium Monday, May 4, at 7:00pm. 

Books. Real books will be available for purchase (and to be signed), and each evening will include a conversation with moderator Jonathan Kalb (two-time winner of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism), an audience Q&A, and a meet-and-greet with the author.

Complimentary food and drink will be served.  

Reservations are encouraged, and can be made at:  www.tfana.org/openbooks. 

Here is a preview of what's good: 

Monday, March 23, 7:00pm

Alisa Solomon

Wonder of Wonders traces how and why the story of Tevye the milkman­the creation of the great Yiddish writer Sholem-Aleichem­was reborn as blockbuster entertainment and a cultural touchstone. Award-winning critic Alisa Solomon follows Tevye from his humble appearance on the New York Yiddish stage, through his adoption by leftist dramatists as a symbol of oppression, to his Broadway debut in one of the last Golden Age musicals, a major Hollywood picture, and far beyond. The book takes readers into the rehearsal room where Fiddler was hammered into shape, onto the stage where it was rapturously received, and out into the world where its powerful legacy continues.

"As rich and dense as a chocolate babka­so crammed with tasty layers that you have to pace yourself....As brilliant a piece of reporting as I've read this year."

The New York Times Book Review 

"An intellectually serious, playful, and insightful account of popular art's power to shape memory and transmute history into universal myth, Wonder of Wonders is a soul-stirring joy to read....The richest, deepest, most far-ranging, and delightfully surprising book about a single work of theatrical art I've ever encountered."

Tony Kushner (Angels in America)

A theater critic and general reporter for the Village Voice from 1983 to 2004, Alisa Solomon has also contributed to The New York Times, The Nation, Tablet, The Forward, Howlround.com,  killingthebuddha.com, American Theater, TDR – The Drama Review, and other publications.  Her first book, Re-Dressing the Canon: Essays on Theater and Gender, won the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism.

Monday, April 6, 7:00pm

John Lahr 

Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh follows John Lahr's other ground-breaking theatre biographies to give intimate access to the mind of one of the greatest American playwrights.  This brilliantly written, deeply researched biography sheds a light on Williams's warring family, his lobotomized sister, his guilt, his plays, his turbulent homosexual life, his misreported death, even the shenanigans of his estate.  An unforgettable portrait, Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh is as much a biography of the man who created A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as it is a trenchant exploration of Williams's plays and the tortured process of bringing them to stage and screen.

"This is by far the best book ever written about America's greatest playwright. John Lahr, the longtime drama critic for The New Yorker, knows his way around Broadway better than anyone. He is a witty and elegant stylist, a scrupulous researcher, a passionate yet canny advocate… He brings us as close to Williams as we are ever likely to get."

J.D. McClatchy, Wall Street Journal

"Could this be the best theater book I've ever read? It just might be. Tennessee Williams had two great pieces of luck:  Elia Kazan to direct his work and now John Lahr to make thrilling sense of his life."

John Guare (Six Degrees of Separation)

National Book Award finalist John Lahr is the author or editor of 11 books on theater, 6 volumes of collected theater criticism, and several novels and play adaptations.  He was the senior drama critic of The New Yorker for over two decades, and has twice won the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism. His biography of the murdered playwright Joe Orton, Prick Up Your Ears, was adapted for film, and he is the first critic ever to win a Tony Award (coauthor, Elaine Stritch at Liberty).

Monday, May 4, at 7:00pm

Andrea Most

In Theatrical Liberalism, Andrea Most illustrates how American Jews used the theatre and other media to navigate their encounters with modern culture, politics, religion, and identity, negotiating a position for themselves within and alongside Protestant American liberalism by re-imagining key aspects of traditional Judaism as theatrical.  Discussing works as diverse as the Hebrew Bible, The Jazz Singer, and Death of a Salesman, Most situates American popular culture in the multiple religious traditions that informed the world-views of its practitioners. With extensive scholarship and compelling evidence, Ms. Most shows how the Jewish world-view that permeates American culture has reached far beyond the Jews who created it.

"This book will transform how many plays, performances, and texts are read, discussed, taught, and performed...Theatrical Liberalism is an important, original book that gets right to the heart of why Jews have been so disproportionately involved in popular performance."

Theatre Journal 

"Makes new sense of aspects of popular culture we have all grown up with and thought we knew only too well…. [Theatrical Liberalism] will help us see better how Jews and their Jewishness did not merely 'enter' American popular culture, but did so much to invent it." 

Jonathan Boyarin, Leonard and Tobee Kaplan Distinguished Professor of Modern Jewish Thought, University of North Carolina 

Andrea Most is a Professor of American Literature and Jewish Studies in the Department of English at the University of Toronto. Her first book Making Americans: Jews and the Broadway Musical won the 2005 Kurt Weill Prize for distinguished scholarship on music theatre.  Her second book, Theatrical Liberalism: Jews and Popular Entertainment in America was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Culture.

In case you didn't know Theatre for a New Audience was founded in 1979 by Jeffrey Horowitz, and Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA) is a modern classic theatre. It produces Shakespeare alongside other major authors from the world repertoire, such as Harley Granville Barker, Edward Bond, Adrienne Kennedy and Wallace Shawn. It has played off- and on Broadway and toured nationally and internationally. The Theatre's productions have been honored with Tony, Obie, Drama Desk, Drama League, Callaway, Lortel and Audelco awards and nominations and reach an audience diverse in age, economics and cultural backgrounds. TFANA created and runs the largest in-depth program in the New York City Public Schools to introduce students to Shakespeare, and has served more than 127,000 students since the program began in 1984. 

Theatre for a New Audience's Humanities programs are supported in part by a permanent endowment established at the Theatre by a Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence, with leading matching gifts provided by Robert H. Arnow, Perry and Marty Granoff, John J. Kerr and Nora Wren Kerr, and Theodore C. Rogers. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these programs do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support for the Theatre's Humanities, Education, and Outreach programs also comes from The Elayne P. Bernstein Education Fund.

The Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place in Brooklyn, is easily accessible by public transit:

Get the Metrocards ready it's super easy access.

Subway: Take the 2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, N, Q, or R trains to Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center; the C to Lafayette Avenue; or the G to Fulton Street. Check the MTA website for service changes.

Bus: The B25, B26, B38, B41, B45, B52, B63, and B67 buses all stop within a few blocks of the Polonsky Shakespeare Center.

LIRR: The Long Island Rail Road stops at Atlantic Terminal, two blocks away from the Polonsky Shakespeare Center.

“IT’S ONLY A PLAY” BEGINNING MARCH 31, 2015

T.R. KNIGHT JOINS ALL-STAR CAST OF
BROADWAY’S 
“IT’S ONLY A PLAY”
BEGINNING MARCH 31, 2015

Comedy is coming. Comedy is coming. Twitter to some that you care about because “It’s Only A Play” - beginning March 31st.

Producers Tom Kirdahy, Roy Furman, and Ken Davenport are the force behind the show which will now star T.R. Knight, Emmy Award® nominated actor. He’s joining the Broadway’s smash hit comedy in the role of ‘Frank Finger’ on March 31, 2015, on the same day that 2-time Tony Award® winner Nathan Lane returns to the cast in the role of ‘James Wicker’, which was previously announced.

Both funny men will continue with the production through its scheduled closing date of June 7, 2015.

T.R. Knight was recently seen on Broadway opposite Sir Patrick Stewart in A Life in the Theatre.  He is perhaps best known for his role as George O’Malley for four seasons on the hit ABC drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” for which he received an Emmy Award® nomination for ‘Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series’ and won the Screen Actors Guild Award® for ‘Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series’ as a member of the cast. 

Additionally, Knight starred as Leo Frank in the musical Parade at CTG/Mark Taper Forum, directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford; the film 42, a Jackie Robinson bio-pic, starring Harrison Ford and directed by Brian Helgeland; and the television comedy "Charlie Lawrence" for CBS opposite Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf, as the office gopher Ryan Lemming.  Knight was born and raised in Minneapolis.

4-time Tony Award® winner Terrence McNally’s hit comedy It’s Only A Play currently stars Oscar® winner F. Murray Abraham, 2-time Tony® winner Matthew Broderick, Tony® and Emmy® winner Stockard Channing, 2-time Tony® winner Katie Finneran, “30 Rock” alum and SAG® winner Maulik Pancholy, Emmy® and Tony® winner Martin Short, and Micah Stock in his Broadway debut.  3-time Tony® Award winner Jack O’Brien directs. 

In It's Only A Play, it’s opening night of Peter Austin's (Broderick) new play as he anxiously awaits to see if his show is a hit. With his career on the line, he shares his big First Night with his best friend, a television star (Short), his fledgling producer (Finneran), his erratic leading lady (Channing), his wunderkind director (Pancholy), an infamous drama critic (Abraham), and a fresh-off-the-bus coat check attendant (Stock) on his first night in Manhattan. It’s alternately raucous, ridiculous and tender — and proves that sometimes the biggest laughs happen offstage.

It’s Only A Play opened on Broadway on October 9, 2014, and has twice extended its run due to popular demand. It is currently scheduled through Sunday, June 7, 2015.  In December 2014, it was announced that It’s Only a Play recouped its entire $3.9 million capitalization.  It currently plays at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 West 45th Street).  Tickets are now on sale for all performances.

The design team for It’s Only A Play includes scenic design by Tony® winner Scott Pask, costume design by Academy Award® and Tony® winner Ann Roth, lighting design by Philip Rosenberg, and sound design by Fitz Patton. 

www.ItsOnlyAPlay.com

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It's a myNewYorkeye—what's in it for you—tip and it's worth $39 bucks!

39 STEPS

It's only "39" steps to a winning TONY AWARD® HIT COMEDY 

“ 3 9 S T E P S ”OPENS AT THE UNION SQUARE THEATRE

Note that all seats, for the first 39 performances are only $39 and that's very little to pay for big laughter! 

Two-time Tony Award® winning hilarious hit comedy 39 Steps will officially open on Monday, April 13th. The production, featuring the entire original creative team, will begin an open-ended run at the Union Square Theatre (100 East 17th Street) on April Fools’ Day, Wednesday, April 1st.

To celebrate 39 Steps’ return to New York, all tickets to the first 39 performances will be priced at only $39. These specially priced tickets must be purchased by March 31st by going to:

http://www.ticketmaster.com/promo/pso5uc

or calling 877-250-2929 and using special offer code: 39439. 

As previously announced, the cast of 39 Steps will feature original Broadway cast member Arnie Burton as Clown #2, as well as Billy Carter as Clown #1, Broadway vet Robert Petkoff as the dashing hero Richard Hannay, and Brittany Vicars as Pamela/Annabella/Margaret in her New York City stage debut.

Adapted by Tony® nominated author Patrick Barlow from an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon, and based on the book by John Buchan and the classic 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film, 39 Steps features Tony® nominated direction by Maria Aitken, Tony® winning lighting design by Kevin Adams, Tony® winning sound design by Mic Pool, and Tony® nominated scenic and costume design by Peter McKintosh.

39 Steps is a comedic spoof of the classic 1935 film, with only 4 “insanely talented” actors portraying more than 150 characters, sometimes changing roles in the blink of an eye. The brilliantly madcap story follows our dashing hero Richard Hannay (Robert Petkoff) as he races to solve the mystery of The 39 Steps, all the while trying to clear his name. The show’s uproarious fast-paced 100 minutes promises to leave you gasping for breath… in a good way! It’s fun for everyone from 9 to 99.

39 Steps came to Broadway in January 2008 and ran over three years, playing a record-breaking 1,135 performance – the longest running play in 7 years. It received six 2008 Tony nominations, including Patrick Barlow for Best Play, winning two for Sound Design and Lighting Design, and three Drama Desk Nominations, winning two including Unique Theatrical Experience.

The production will play the following performance schedule:

• Mondays at 7:00 PM, Wednesdays at 2:00PM and 8:00 PM, Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 PM, Saturdays at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM, and Sundays at 3:00 PM.

• Tickets for the show are now on sale via www.39StepsNY.com, through Ticketmaster online and by phone at 1-877-250-2929, and also, starting March 25, in person at the Union Square Theatre box office, which opens at 1PM daily except Tuesdays and remains open until 30 minutes after show time. Tickets are priced at $39-89. Premium seats are $105. $20 tickets for students, veterans, armed forces, NYPD and FDNY are available in person at the box office with ID the day of the show.

For more information, visit www.39StepsNY.com

BROADWAY FINDS NEW MUSICAL VOICES

People ask, "where is the new talent" for Broadway especially shaped around musicals.

Revivals are always a big kick but that's not doing much for the new crop of talented but undiscovered lyricists and composers whose dream is to add their artistic contribution to theater. 

Well, the right group was listening and that group is the American Theatre Wing and today, they announced the recipients of the 2015 Jonathan Larson® Grants are writing team Tim Rosser (composer) & Charlie Sohne (composer) receiving $10,000, Sam Willmott (composer/lyricist) receiving $10,000 and a week-long residency at the Running Deer Musical Theatre Lab, and Max Vernon (composer/lyricist) receiving $10,000. This year’s recipients were selected by an expert panel consisting of Amanda Green (Hands on a Hardbody), Steven Lutvak (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder), and Ted Chapin (President and Executive Director of Rodgers & Hammerstein). The prestigious grants totalling $30,000 will be presented on Monday, March 23, 2015 at a private event at the WNYC Greene Space. The event will feature special performances of the recipients’ work.

“The Jonathan Larson Grants give us the opportunity each year to support exciting new theater makers and invest in the changing landscape of the American musical, one writer at a time.” said Heather Hitchens, President of the American Theatre Wing.

Additionally, Sam Willmott and Max Vernon will be featured in an evening of performance at Adelphi University, as part of their Larson Legacy Concert Series. The Concert Series, to be held in Fall 2015 and Winter/Spring 2016 at the Adelphi University Performing Arts Center in Garden City, NY, will help nurture and support the next generation of creative artists by one of the same organizations that supported and nurtured Jonathan Larson as an artist – thereby carrying on his creative and ground-breaking legacy.

The grants, given annually to honor emerging composers, lyricists and book writers, help to continue Tony Award®-winning composer Jonathan Larson’s dream of infusing musical theatre with a contemporary, joyful, urban vitality. Dedicated to celebrating excellence and supporting theatre, the American Theatre Wing awards the Larson Grants to artists to recognize and showcase their work with no strings attached - except to put it to the best use possible to help further the artists' creative endeavours.

Past recipients of the Larson Grants include Benj Pasek & Justin Paul (A Christmas Story), Dave Malloy (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812), Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal), Chad Beguelin & Matthew Sklar (The Wedding Singer), John Bucchino (A Catered Affair), Laurence O’Keefe (Bat Boy: The Musical), Michael Korie (Grey Gardens), Amanda Green (Hands on a Hardbody), Sara Cooper & Zach Redler (The Memory Show), and Shaina Taub (The Daughters). 

Tim Rosser and Charlie Sohne are 2014-15 Dramatist Guild Fellows. Together, they have written: The Boy Who Danced on Air (2013 NAMT Festival of New Works and Writers Residency Grant, 2013 Rodgers Award Finalist, 2013 ART/NY and NYTB Workshop), The Profit of Creation (2011 Yale Institute for Musical Theater, developed through ASCAP’s 2010 Johnny Mercer Songwriters Program) and the short musical Political Speeches (The Culture Project’s IMPACT Series). Their work has been seen in a sold-out 54 Below Show, at Birdland, Cutting Edge Composers at Joe’s Pub, A Little New Music at Rockwell in L.A, Contemporary Classics at Seattle Rep, The Holiday Concert at the Lincoln Center Library and others. They were members of the Advanced Class of the BMI Workshop. Separately, Charlie Sohne has developed work at New York Stage and Film, the O’Neill National Music Theater Conference, The Lark and the Cherry Lane Theater – and has had his work sung in concert at Second Stage (DCMTW’s “The Concert”) and through BMI’s Smoker and Showcase. His song “I’m Just Glad You’re Here” (music by David Gaines) was named one of the Top 25 Songs in the Directory of Contemporary Musical Theater Writers. Tim Rosser has music directed the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS benefit Broadway Backwards at the Palace and Al Hirschfeld Theaters and was the Associate Music Director of I am Harvey Milk at Avery Fischer Hall.  He has played keyboards for Rocky, The Addams Family on Broadway, Carrie at the Lucille Lortel, and he's played rehearsals for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder on Broadway, and City Center's Encores series.

Sam Willmott is a NYC-based composer/lyricist, whose projects include Bhangin' It (with Rehana Lew Mirza and Mike Lew); Yo, Vikings! (with Marcus Stevens, published by Samuel French); the mini-musical Scarlet Takes a Tumble; and Standardized Testing - The Musical!!!! (published by Playscripts, Inc.), among others. He is the recipient of the 2013 ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Award for Lyrics, the 2012 Fred Ebb Award, the 2012 John Wallowitch Award, and the 2009 Kennedy Center ACTF Musical Theater Award, and has been a writer-in-residence at Goodspeed Musicals (2014, 2013) and the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center (2013).  Sam is also a proud contributor for English Egg, a Korea-based children's language program.  For more information, check outsamwillmott.com. 

Max Vernon is a composer/lyricist, playwright, and performer. Described by the New Yorker as "equal parts bohemia and Broadway," his work has been performed and developed at Ars Nova, Theatreworks USA, Naked Angels, New Dramatists, Two River Theater (NJ), Dixon Place, Woodshed Collective, Ma-Yi, LaMaMa, and Pride Films and Plays (Chicago), among others. This past year he was a Dramatist Guild Theatre Fellow, an artist in residence at Rhinebeck Writer's Retreat, a JFund award recipient, and also finished his first commission for Disney Creative Entertainment. He is currently a member of Ars Nova's Uncharted, as well as the Civilians R&D Group. He has performed over a hundred concerts in New York City, including sold out shows at Joe's Pub (Frisk Me: The Songs of Max Vernon) and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Civilians' Let Me Ascertain You). His musicals include The View UpStairs (NYU, Pride Films and Plays) and WIRED (Ars Nova) Developing: Co-Op (Ars Nova, Naked Angels Radio); Aesop's Fables (Theatreworks USA); WAM! Entertainment (Ars Nova/Ma-Yi); Show & Tell (Jerome Foundation, Civilians R&D Group) MFA: NYU-Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. www.maxvernon.com

The American Theatre Wing (William Ivey Long, Chairman, Board of Trustees; Heather Hitchens, President) is dedicated to advancing artistic excellence and nurturing theatre’s next generation: on the stage, behind the scenes, and in the audience. For nearly a century, the Wing has pursued this mission with programs that span the nation to invest in the growth and evolution of American Theatre. Traditionally, the Wing has encouraged members of the theatre community to share their off-stage time and talent directly with the theatre audience at large--whether it was singing for the troops in the Stage Door Canteen of the 1940's, or sharing their stories on a podcast today.  As the founders of The Tony Awards®, the American Theatre Wing has developed the foremost national platform for the recognition of theatrical achievement on Broadway. Yet the Wing's reach extends beyond Broadway and beyond New York. The Wing develops the next generation of theatre professionals through the SpringboardNYC and Theatre Intern Network programs, incubates innovative theatre across the country through the National Theatre Company Grants, fosters the song of American theatre through the Jonathan Larson Grants, honors the best in New York theatrical design with the Henry Hewes Design Award, and illuminates the creative process through the “Working in the Theatre” program and media archive. The American Theatre Wing has also entered into a long-term partnership with The Village Voice to co-present The OBIE Awards, Off Broadway’s Highest Honor, beginning this year, which will mark the Award’s 60th Anniversary in May 2015.  Visitors toamericantheatrewing.org can get inspired and gain insight into the artistic process through the Wing’s extensive media collection, and learn more about its programming for students, aspiring and working professionals, and audiences.

Follow the Wing on:

Facebook.com/TheAmericanTheatreWing 

Twitter.com/TheWing.

Luis Dreams and Bam-like Magic-he lights up a stage

Luis Salgado is a role model to many. He is a role model for me. This story teller dreamed it, a long time ago as a little boy, visiting from Puerto Rico and strolling the lights of Broadway. 

Can you imagine how big the city looked through his eyes? 

So - it’s an awesome task to share that Luis Salgado, who won Best Director for the world premiere production of "Zuccotti Park The Musical," at the Venus/Adonis Festival, will direct a brand-new, Spanish-language production of David Mamet's explosive contemporary classic "Speed-the-Plow."

Luis Salgado’s vision of a brand-new translation, will premiere on August 13th, 2015, for a limited run at the historic 18th Century Corralón de San José in Old San Juan. 

A replica of the Corral de Comedias de Almagro (the oldest theater still standing in Spain, built in 1628), the Corralón is one of the oldest performance-spaces still operating as a theater in the western hemisphere.

"I am thrilled about the most recent nomination for best director, and am very focused on the task of re-creating one of David Mamet's most enduring and talked-about works, in one of the most unique performance-spaces in the Americas", said Salgado (In The Heights, Rocky, Women on the Verge), who also recently took part in the developmental lab for the new Gloria Estefan musical On Your Feet. 

"I am not only excited about going back to Puerto Rico as a Director after 13 years since the last show I produced and directed there... I'm inspired about the open-air setting that we will have, combined with the intimacy and stunning features of the centuries-old structure. Add to that the brilliance of Mamet's script, and the fascinating way in which it comes across in Spanish, with a multicultural cast, and we are-in for a Speed-the-Plow unlike we have not seen it before, A LO BORICUA".

The production will play four performances only, August 13-16, 8:30pm, at Corralón de San José, 109 San José Street, Old San Juan.  The cast will feature Éric-Dominique Pérez, Javier E. Gómez and Emmanuelle Bordas. The performances will be free to the public as part of Corralón de San José's Theater Access and Cultural Collaborations Initiative. Rehearsals will begin in New York City on July 7, 2015.

The Spanish-language San Juan production of Speed-the-Plow is produced by High Pitch, Inc. and Dead Jíbaros Productions, in partnership with Amigos del Corralón (Josean Ortiz, Artistic Director), Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, Salgado Productions and Tony L. D'Anzica.

Mr. Salgado’s other credits include winning Best Director Award at the Thespis Festival for "Song of Solomon."  Other directing credits include "Amigo Duende, The Musical" (music and lyrics by Joshua Henry, book by Henry, Salgado and Heather Hogan), "Aniversario Sin-Cuenta" and "Candela Fuerza y Pasión" (both in Lima, Peru), and "Zuccotti Park" (music by Vatrena King, book and lyrics by Catherine Hurd), which played its last performance at the Venus/Adonis Festival on March 4th.