I started this blog with one daughter, kept it up with the other, to spend time together doing something we enjoyed.
However, things change and people evolve. My daughters are older, busier, and not as interested in writing.
From now on this blog will be mostly mom with occasional contributions from my daughters and maybe even my husband.
Nothing else will change. We'll still focus on sharing fun places to go, fun things to do, and more, and we would  still love to hear your views too

Sunday, March 19, 2023

Sunday Scoop Week of 3/19/23 What's Happening This Week and More

A) Beginning Performances

In New Jersey

1) Off the Map

In New York

2) According to the Chorus

3) Best Friends

4) Fat Ham

5)Kander & Ebb's  New York, New York

6) The Thanksgiving Play

7) Vanities

8) Yes, I Can Say That!

B) What Else is Happening This Week and More

9) American Symphony Orchestra Presents
Strauss Opera "Daphne" at Carnegie Hall 3/23

10) BAMkids Presents U.S. Premiere of Vaiven Circo's Esenical 
3/25  & 3/26

11) Broadway Workshop Summer Stage 2023 Mean Girls Jr. 
Virtual Auditions Open Through 4/1

12) Catapult Opera Releases New Opera & Short Film 
"When All I Knew Changed" from Artist, Celisse

13) Centenary Stage Co. Hosts Thomas Edison Film Festival
3/21

14) Ellis Island/Statute of Liberty Begins Earlier Ferry Service &
Resumes NJ Ferry Service

15) Kaaatsbaan Cultural Park Community Classes
Beginning 3/27

16) Kander & Ebb's New York, New York cast serenades John Kander
on his 96th birthday

17) Kelsey Theatre at MCCC Presents High School Musical Jr. 
3/24 -3/26

18) KPOP Releases New Track from Original Cast Album

19) LaMama & Overland Industries Present Iceland: A Recreation Myth
3/24 - 4/2

20) Maestra Music Presents Third Annual Concert - Amplify 2023
3/27

21) MasterVoices Presents "O How Good" Jewish Sacred Music 
3/23

22)  Mythic, A New Musical Staged Reading

23) National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene Presents
American Premiere New Yiddish Theatrical Concert by Josh Waletsky 3/26

24) NJPAC Upcoming Shows & Events

25) New York Theatre Workshop Hosts Are We There Yet
Told Verbatim by Teen Ukrainian Refugees 3/25 & 3/26

26) No Hope Productions: The Year After: A Song Cycle Album Release
3/24

27) Out of the Box Theatrics Presents The End of All Flesh
3/27

28) Philly Theatre Week 3/23 - 4/2

29) Some Like It Hot Original Cast Recording
Release Date 

30) State Theatre New Jersey Upcoming Shows & Events

31) Sweeney Todd New Block of Tickets on Sale

32) Works & Process at the Guggenheim Presents Ballet West: Les Noces
3/26

A) Beginning Performances

In New Jersey


1) Off the Map

Off the Map follows the lives Denny and Claire who have retired to the wilds of Central America, where they quickly discover that things are not as they were expecting, neither in their relationship, nor in their new property, where a mysterious Mound is discovered by a pair of archaeologists who arrive on the scene, making a shattering discovery which will challenge all their beliefs about what is ever truly real and what is imagined.  

Centenary University campus (715 Grand Ave., Hackettstown, NJ.)
3/23 - 4/3

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit  centenarystageco.org 

In New York

2) According to the Chorus

In the basement quick change room of a Broadway theater in the mid-1980s, the chorus girls are at war with their dressers. Will the new dresser, with her own sad past and uncertain future, be able to navigate this minefield?

59E59’s Theater C (59 E 59th St.)
3/23 - 4/15
Opening night 3/28

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit 59E59.ORG

3) Best Friends

Sophie, Tirzah and Lelly met in their high school bathroom in the late 1960s. From that inauspicious beginning, a life-long friendship was born. Now, twenty years later, these best friends are brought together when Sophie and Tirzah have not spoken to one another for nearly two years, and Lelly tries to reconcile the two by bringing them to discuss “a matter of life and death.” The friends are seen in all phases of their lives and friendship, with flashbacks throughout the years starting from their youth until their forties. 

Told with humor, heart, and biting wit in scenes that go back and forth in time, BEST FRIENDS  is about three women who are forced to examine their friendship and discover themselves in the process. 

Rattlestick Theater (224 Waverly Place, New York, NY)
3/22 - 4/2 (see schedule below)

BEST FRIENDS plays the following schedule through SundayApril 2

 

Performances in English
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Friday - March 24, 7 p.m. 
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Saturday – March 25, 2 p.m.
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Saturday – March 25, 7 p.m. - English Opening
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Monday – March 27, 7 p.m.
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Friday – March 31, 7 p.m.
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Sunday – April 2, 2 p.m.

 

Performances in Hebrew
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Wednesday – March 22, 7 p.m.
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Thursday – March 23, 7 p.m. - Hebrew Opening
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Sunday – March 26, 2 p.m.
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Thursday – March 30, 7 p.m.
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Saturday – April 1, 7 p.m.


For more information or to purchase tickets, visit  ci.ovationtix.com/34100/production/1153688.


4) Fat Ham


Juicy is a queer, Southern college kid, already grappling with some serious questions of identity, when the ghost of his father shows up in their backyard, demanding that Juicy avenge his murder. But here’s the rub! Revenge doesn’t come easy to Juicy, a sensitive and self-aware young Black man in search of his own happiness and liberation. From an uproarious family cookout emerges a compelling examination of love and loss, pain and joy.


American Airlines Theatre (227 West 42nd St.)

3/21 - 6/25

Opening Night 4/12/23


For more information or to purchase tickets, visit FatHamBroadway.com



5) Kander & Ebb's New York, New York


St. James Theatre (246 West 44th St.)

Beginning performances 3/24

Opening night 4/26


For more information or to purchase tickets, visit 

www.NewYorkNewYorkBroadway.com


6) The Thanksgiving Play


When a troupe of really, really well-meaning theater artists attempt to put on a culturally sensitive Thanksgiving school pageant, things get messy. Hilarious and poignant, this delicious play skewers everything right, wrong, and woke in America.


Second Stage’s Hayes Theater (240 West 44th St.)

Beginning performances 3/25 

Opening night 4/20


For more information or to purchase tickets, visit  www.2ST.com.


7) Vanities


Vanities—The Musical is the heartfelt and humorous chronicle of the lives of Joanne, Kathy, and Mary—tracing them from their late teen years through adulthood. They grow and change, testing the limits of what they thought they knew about themselves, as well as the narrow views of women society has presented them.


Based on the hugely successful play of the same name by Jack Heifner (who also wrote the book for the musical), the action takes us through four decades in these women’s lives from 1963 to 1990—starting as vivacious small-town cheerleaders and best friends in high school, then sorority sisters in college, and, finally, women with separate and very different lives.


The Theatre at St. Jean’s (150 East 76th St., between Lexington & Third Ave.)

3/21 - 4/22

Opening night 3/30 


For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.yorktheatre.org. 


8) Yes, I Can Say That!


Judy Gold knows the value of a good joke – and the steep price of silencing comedians. Unnerved and infuriated, Judy shares her reverence for the intimacy of collective laughter and her passion for the vital work comedians do to bring us together, make us think, and speak truth to power.


59E59’s Theater A (59 E 59th St.)

Through 4/16

Opening night 3/21


After select performances, Judy will be joined by special guests to talk even further about free speech and the price of silencing comedians. Talkbacks are open to audience members at that day’s performance and admission is included with ticket purchase. The current talkback schedule is as follows:

  • Friday March 24: Sandra Bernhard (Actress and radio host, “American Horror Story NYC;” Sandyland)
  • Friday March 31: BD Wong (Director, Yes, I Can Say That!; Tony Award winner, M. Butterfly)
  • Friday April 14: Mary Trump (Author, Too Much and Never Enough; The Reckoning)


For more information or to purchase tickets, visit 59e59.org.



 B) What Else is Happening This Week and More



9) AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PERFORMS STRAUSS’ ONE-ACT OPERA DAPHNE
AT CARNEGIE HALL ON MARCH 23
Featured Soloists are Soprano Jana McIntyre, Mezzo-Soprano Ronnita Miller,
Tenors Kyle van Schoonhoven and Aaron Blake, and Bass Stefan Egerstrom

The American Symphony Orchestra (ASO) presents Richard Strauss’ rarely-heard one-act opera Daphne on March 23, 8 pm, as part of its Vanguard Series at Carnegie Hall. Music director Leon Botstein leads the Orchestra, the Bard Festival Chorale, and soloists in the work’s first New York City performance in more than 15 years.


The evening features soloists including soprano Jana McIntyre, described by Opera News as gifted with a “dancer’s grace, mercurial wit, and vibrant soprano tone”; Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Ronnita Miller, whose season comprises a Carnegie Hall appearance as soloist with the Oberlin Orchestra in Dett’s The Ordering of Moses; Met Opera tenors Kyle van Schoonhoven, recipient of a 2019 George London Award, and Aaron Blake, acclaimed for his role as the High Priest of Amon in The Met’s Grammy Award-winning album of Philip Glass’ Akhnaten; and bass Stefan Egerstrom, who makes his Met Opera debut this season as A Nobleman in Lohengrin.


Opera in one act by Richard Strauss with libretto by Joseph Gregor
Thursday, March 23 at 8 pm
Carnegie Hall (Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage)
American Symphony Orchestra
Leon Botstein, conductor
James Bagwellmusic director of the Bard Festival Chorale
 
Daphne: Jana McIntyre, soprano
Apollo: Kyle van Schoonhoven, tenor
Leukippos: Aaron Blake, tenor
Gaea: Ronnita Miller, mezzo-soprano
Peneios: Stefan Egerstrom, bass
Erste Magd: Marlen Nahhas, soprano
Zweite Magd: Ashley Dixon, mezzo-soprano

Richard StraussAn den Baum Daphne (choral epilogue to Daphne)
Richard StraussDaphne “Bucolic Tragedy in One Act,” Op. 82
 
The ASO spotlights Richard Strauss’ seldom heard pastoral opera Daphne at this performance. With its lush orchestral palette, endlessly shifting harmonic motion, and sumptuous melodies, combined with a diaphanous serenity typical of Strauss’ later style, Daphne reveals a composer arguably at the peak of his powers, confident in his abilities as both composer and dramatist. In an even rarer presentation, the program also offers the opera’s epilogue, an a cappella choral addition written in 1943, a poignant illustration of the affection Strauss had for Daphne.
 
Tickets: Priced at $25–$65, tickets are available at carnegiehall.org, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212.247.7800, or visiting the box office at 57th St. & 7th Ave. Ticket holders will need to comply with the venue’s health and safety requirements, which can be found here.

XXX


10) BAMkids presents the U.S. premiere of Vaivén Circo’s Esencial

 

Acclaimed Spanish cirque juggernaut brings storytelling and artistic athleticism to Brooklyn

 

A relaxed performance will take place on Sun, Mar 26 at 2pm for neurodiverse audience members


Esencial 
Vaivén Circo (Spain)
BAM Fisher (Fishman Space, 321 Ashland Pl)  
Sat, Mar 25 at 10:30a & 2pm 
Sun, Mar 26 at 10:30a & 2pm 
(Relaxed performance, Mar 26 at 2pm)  
Tickets: $18 
Ages 6+  

A spectacular combination of storytelling and circus skills will delight kids and families when acclaimed Spanish cirque company Vaivén Circo returns to BAM for the United States premiere of Esencial. BAMkids will present the new circus show on March 25 and 26, with a relaxed performance on Sunday, May 26 at 2pm. Watch in awe as a dazzling spectacle of acrobatics, balancing, and juggling flashes before your eyes during this BAMkids program. View the high flying trailer here.

This dazzling performance is based on the concept of transitions. Together five friends creatively dream up new structures and locations to play, risk, and adventure in. Esencial is a staging of Waldorf's Rainbow," a toy for children with arches and pillars, with a scenography of changing architecture and poetic tints. Audiences witness the changing and inventive architecture in the same way as a human being who always wants to evolve.  

Esencial runs March 25 and 26 at the BAM Fisher Fishman Space. All show tickets are general admission at $18 and are available at BAM.org/kids

  

XXX


11) Broadway Workshop Summer Stage '23

Mean Girls Jr.


SUMMER STAGE 2023
MEAN GIRLS JR. 
(open to students ages 12-17) 
Rehearsals: Monday, July 10 - Saturday, July 15
Performances: Saturday, July 15 at 5PM + Sunday, July 16 at 12PM

All rehearsals and performances take place at BARUCH PERFORMING ARTS CENTER - 55 Lexington Ave (entrance at 25th St.) New York, NY


AUDITIONS: All Auditions for Summer Stage '23 - MEAN GIRLS JR. are virtual.


Audition video submissions will be due by April 1, 2023. Students will be notified if they have been selected to be part of SUMMER STAGE by Tuesday April 4, 2023.


There is no fee to audition. This is a tuition based program, full and partial scholarships are available through Project Broadway.

XXX

12) CATAPULT OPERA


RELEASES NEW OPERA AND SHORT FILM


“WHEN ALL I KNEW CHANGED”


MARKING THE COMPANY’S


FIRST COMMISSIONED PIECE


FROM ACCLAIMED ARTIST


CELISSE


Catapult Opera announced today that they have commissioned a new work from multi-hyphenate performer, Celisse. Founded by Neal Goren, Catapult Opera is a new company working to launch the future of opera. One of their main initiatives is providing grants to singer-songwriters outside the classical realm to create short works at the intersection of their genre and opera. The mission of the company is to project a more dynamic future for opera by broadening the art form and its audience and launching innovative productions that celebrate the classically trained voice.


Celisse’s opera, entitled When All I Knew Changed, is the first piece to come out of the program and the first of many works that Catapult will be producing and distributing to the public for free on their website. When All I Knew Changed is now available at https://www.catapultopera.org/celisse.



XXX




13) CENTENARY UNIVERSITY TO HOST 2023


 THOMAS EDISON FILM FESTIVAL



Centenary University will be hosting a free screening for the 42nd Annual Thomas Edison Film Festival. This event will take place on Tuesday, March 21 at 6:30 pm in the Stinik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center located on the campus of Centenary University at 715 Grand Avenue, Hackettstown, NJ 07840. The Thomas Edison Film Festival is free to attend and open to the public. Seating is limited and on a first-come-first-served basis. This event is made possible through the generous support from the Warren County Cultural & Heritage Commission. For more information go to centenarystageco.org or call the Centenary Stage Company’s box office at (908) 979-0900.


This year the festival will include selected shorts including animation, experimental, documentary, narrative, and screen dance. More information about each of the short films being presented can be found online at CentenaryStageCo.org.


This Thomas Edison Film Festival will take place on Tuesday, March 21 at 6:30 pm in the Sitnik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center at 715 Grand Avenue, Hackettstown, NJ 07840. This event is free to attend, and seating is limited and on a first-come-first-served basis. For more information about this event, visit centenarystageco.org or call the Centenary Stage Company box office at (908) 979-0900.

This event is made possible through the generous support from the Warren County Cultural & Heritage Commission. To learn more about the Thomas Edison Film Festival and the Thomas A. Edison Media Arts Consortium visit www.TEFilmFest.org.


For more information visit centenarystageco.org or call the Centenary Stage Company box office at (908) 979 – 0900.  The Centenary Stage Company box office is open Monday through Friday from 1 – 5 PM and two hours prior to all performances.  The box office is located in the Lackland Performing Arts Center on the campus of Centenary University at 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown, NJ.  Centenary Stage Company can also be found across social media platforms; Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter and Instagram.  Like and follow to receive the latest in CSC news and special offers.


XXX





 

14) Ferry Service to Liberty and Ellis Islands begin earlier hours as Statue City Cruises

resumes service from New Jersey




A tourism comeback is underway, with visitors enjoying iconic museums, spectacular views

and the interior of Lady Liberty with the fully reopened Crown


Statue City Cruises, the only authorized ferry service to the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island, announced today the resumption of New Jersey service and extended operating hours beginning March 11.  

 

Beginning Saturday morning, March 11, Statue City Cruises will now have boats departing from Battery Park in lower Manhattan and Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ between 9:00 AM and 3:30 PM daily. The final return trips from the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island 5:00 pm and 5:15 pm.  

 

The expanded operating hours come as Statue City Cruises sees higher levels of ridership, especially with the October 2022 reopening of the Crown of the Statue of Liberty.


Among the variety of activities awaiting guests this spring and summer season include:

·         Visiting the Crown of Lady Liberty is open to the general public, but book early as Crown access sells out fast.

·         Enjoying acres of wide-open space on both Islands with panoramic views of New York Harbor.

·         Learning the history of the Statue of Liberty through the new Statue of Liberty Museum.

·         Tracing family histories at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration.

·         Exploring the unrestored buildings of Ellis Island’s Hospital Complex with an Ellis Island Hard Hat Tour, available seven days a week (added fee).

 

Tickets are priced at approximately $24.50/adult, $18/seniors, $12/child and free for children three years and under. Tickets include self-guided audio tours on Liberty and Ellis Island. Guests are strongly encouraged to purchase tickets in advance from the Statue City Cruises website. Tickets are also available at the Battery Park and Liberty State Park ticket offices.

 

For more information about Statue City Cruises and City Experiences, please visit https://www.cityexperiences.com/new-york/city-cruises/statue.



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15) Kaatsbaan Cultural Park

Announces

Community Classes

Beginning March 27, 2023


Kaatsbaan Cultural Park announces that their Community Classes will begin 

on March 27, 2023. Kaatsbaan offers Ballet, movement, family dance,

and contemporary movement classes. Advanced registration is encouraged, and

walk-ins are welcome. For more information, visit 


The Kaatsbaan Spring Community Class series offers a variety

of movement classes tailored to different age groups. For our youngest

dancers, there are creative classes that foster imagination, creativity, and self-

expression. Adults can choose from a range of options,

including beginner and intermediate ballet, contemporary dance, and yoga.

Kaatsbaan’s professional instructors are passionate about 

sharing their love of movement with all ages and skill levels, creating a supportive

and inclusive learning environment.



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16) CAST OF NEW YORK, NEW YORK

JOHN KANDER’S 16TH


ORIGINAL BROADWAY MUSICAL, SERENADES 

HIM FOR HIS 96TH BIRTHDAY!



John Kander celebrates his 96th birthday on Saturday, March 18, six days before NEW YORK, NEW YORK, his 16th original Broadway musical begins performances at the St. James Theatre., giving him the distinction of being the oldest composer to open a new musical on Broadway. To honor the legendary composer Susan Stroman, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Colton Ryan, Anna Uzele and the cast and creative team of NEW YORK, NEW YORK surprised John Kander with a Big-Apple-sized rendition of “Happy Birthday.” You can watch the video here.

 

See the NEW YORK, NEW YORK cast sing the musical’s score for the first time with the 19-piece orchestra here.


XXX







17) Kelsey Theater at MCCC

Upcoming Event


High School Musical Jr.



March 24 at 7pm

March 25 & 26 at 1pm & 4pm


We're all in this together in Disney Channel's smash hit musical phenomenon


featuring the students of East High. Troy, Gabriella and the students of East High


must deal with issues of love, friends and family while balancing their classes and


extra-curricular activities.  This show features a cast of young actors and has


been shortened to run 60 minutes. The show’s iconic upbeat musical numbers are


still here and are infectiously fun and engaging for both young and old alike.


For more information or to purchase tickets


visit https://kelsey.mccc.edu/tickets.shtml



XXX






18) OUT NOW:


“SUPER STAR” 


FROM


“KPOP”


ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST RECORDING


NEW TRACK FEATURES VOCALS BY KPOP ICON LUNA & COMPANY

 

LISTEN HERE


WATCH THE VIDEO

 

ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST RECORDING ARRIVES DIGITALLY


 MONDAY, MAY 8


& ON CD FRIDAY, MAY 12 – PREORDER & PRESAVE HERE

 



Sony Masterworks Broadway, along with producers Tim Forbes and Joey Parnes, shared new track “Super Star” from KPOP – Original Broadway Cast Recording – listen here. Featuring vocals from chart-topping Korean songstress and show lead Luna as well as the show’s talented cast of performers, “Superstar” is the second track to debut from the album, which arrives digitally on Monday, May 8 and on CD Friday, May 12. “Super Star” premieres today alongside an accompanying video featuring Luna – watch here.

 

Available for preorder and presave now, KPOP – Original Broadway Cast Recording was produced by Helen Park, Matt Stein, and Harvey Mason jr. (NCT 127, Red Velvet), and features music, lyrics, music production and arrangements by Park and music and lyrics by Max Vernon. The first-ever Broadway musical to celebrate Korean culture with Korean, Korean-American, and API representation on and off-stage, the album features a star-studded cast of performers from the world of K-pop, including chart-topping superstar and lead LunaBoHyung (from the K-pop group SPICA and half of the duo KEEMBO), Min (from the K-pop group Miss A), Kevin Woo (from the K-pop group U-KISS), and more.


XXX



19) La MaMa presents 
in association with Overtone Industries 
ICELAND
a re-Creation Myth
an interdisciplinary opera theater work by O-Lan Jones and Emmett Tinley
Executive Producer of the Iceland Project, Michael Harris

March 24 – April 2, 2023


Overtone Industries presents the World Premiere of ICELAND, a re-Creation Myth, an original multidisciplinary work of opera theater by O-Lan Jones and Emmett Tinley from March 24-April 2, 2023 at La MaMa, 66 E. 4th Street, 2nd floor, NYC. Tickets are $35 (students/seniors $30). For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://www.lamama.org/shows/iceland-2023.


A contemporary love story that plays with the ancient mythology of the country itself, ICELAND begins with a seemingly chance encounter between Vala, a disillusioned architect in search of answers, and Mundi, a dispirited wilderness guide mentally scarred by a climbing accident some years before. The heroine and hero embark on separate journeys across the physical and emotional terrain of a glacier, which catapults them into the realm of The Hiddenfolk and the Mythic Beasts. Through Vala and Mundi’s opposing trajectories and eventual union, ICELAND explores – using movement, music, and design – how longing, courage, and the transcendent power of love create a vibrant relationship between the intimacy of human life and the vast dynamic life of the earth.

The piece features an ensemble cast of 14 and an 11-piece chamber orchestra. Jones’ music scores the Hidden World, home to the Huldufólk or Hiddenfolk, beings who live in a parallel world to humans. Tinley’s songs – based in a singer-songwriter folk tradition – give voice to Vala and Mundi’s human desires. The two composers’ styles weave together to create a rich texture in which the Human and the Hidden coexist.

XXX

 

20) BRE JACKSON, GIZEL JIMENEZ, ABBY MUELLER,

BLAKE STADNIK, ALYSHA UMPHRESS, AND MORE 

TO CELEBRATE
MAESTRA MUSIC

IN THIRD ANNUAL CONCERT EVENT

AMPLIFY 2023

DIRECTED & HOSTED BY

TONY AWARD NOMINEE KATE BALDWIN

 

MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2023

IN-PERSON AT CHELSEA MUSIC HALL

LIVE BROADCAST WITH ALL TOGETHER NOW DIRECTED BY JESSICA RYAN


Maestra Music, the Obie Award winning not-for-profit organization founded by Georgia Stitt and supporting the women and nonbinary musicians in the musical theater industry, announces Amplify 2023, its third annual concert and community event on Monday, March 27, 2023 at 8 pm. Gathering a global audience, Amplify 2023 will take place both in-person at Chelsea Music Hall (407 W. 15th Street), and through a digital experience with All Together Now to raise money and highlight Maestra's programs providing support, visibility, and community for the women and nonbinary music makers in the theater industry. Tickets for both the in-person event and virtual show are on sale now at maestramusic.org/amplify-2023.

 

Featuring stories, conversations, and musical performances from an impressive array of Broadway stars, composers, music directors, and more, Amplify 2023 is written, directed, and hosted by Tony Award nominee and Maestra Advisory Board Member Kate Baldwin (Hello, Dolly!). The evening will include performances from Baldwin, Ellie Biron (Sacramento Music Circus’ The Secret Garden), Emily Borromeo (The Prom), Kennedy Caughell (Beautiful), Tyler Hardwick (Once on This Island), Bre Jackson (Six), Gizel Jimenez (Tick, Tick…Boom), Andy Kelso (Kinky Boots), Claire Kwon (Almost Famous), Abby Mueller (Six), Bryonha Marie Parham (Prince of Broadway), Nicholas Rodriguez (Company), Zoe Sarnak (Larson Award winner), Blake Stadnik (“This Is Us”), Katie Thompson (Renascence), and Alysha Umphress (On The Town) singing songs from trailblazing composers including Nancy Ford and Gretchen Cryer, Cyndi Lauper, Brenda Russell, Stephen Bray and Allee Willis, Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman, Julia Riew, Zoe Sarnak, and many more!


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21) MASTERVOICES PRESENTS O HOW GOOD
A CONCERT OF JEWISH SACRED MUSIC
BY BLOCH, WEILL AND A WORLD PREMIERE BY DANIEL REIN,
ON MARCH 23, AT CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE
Featuring Baritone Justin Austin, Tenor Daniel Mutlu, and Organist David Strickland

MasterVoices continues its eclectic 2022-23 season on March 23 at Central Synagogue with Ted Sperling leading O How Good, a performance of Jewish sacred music. The program includes two beloved works of traditional Jewish liturgy set by master composers – Ernest Bloch’s Sacred Service and Kurt Weill’s Kiddush – as well as the world premiere of And the Sun Goes Up, a new work by Israeli-American composer Daniel Rein, commissioned by MasterVoices.

Joining the MasterVoices chorus are “mellifluous baritone” (The Wall Street Journal) Justin Austin  ̶ a Drama Desk Award nominee for his performance in Ricky Ian Gordon and Lynn Nottage’s opera Intimate Apparel, and a soloist for the premiere of Daniel Rein’s “3 Songs by e. e. cummings” at the group’s “Our America” concert in 2018; tenor Daniel Mutlu, the Senior Cantor of Central Synagogue who is also a member of the choir at Trinity Church on Wall Street; and David Strickland, organist at Central Synagogue since 2002.

Thursday, March 23, 2023, 7:30 pm
Central Synagogue, 652 Lexington Avenue
MasterVoices
Ted Sperling, conductor
Justin Austin, baritone
Daniel Mutlu, tenor
David Strickland, organ
Daniel Rein, piano
 
Bloch: Sacred Service (Avodath Hakodesh)
Weill: Kiddush
Daniel Rein: And the Sun Goes Up (World Premiere)
 
In this concert, MasterVoices honors the life and dedicated service of Board member Lois Conway. Ernest Bloch’s Sacred Service (Avodath Hakodesh), with his opening words in Hebrew “Ma tovu” (Oh how good), is one of the 20th century’s great expressions of devotion which reaches beyond the confines of any one faith. Based on the Sabbath morning service version common in reform synagogues in the 1930s, it is written in a lush romantic style with melodies that hint at Hebraic chant but were actually inspired by Bloch’s cosmic vision. Written for mixed chorus and bass baritone in 1927 during Bloch’s tenure as director of San Francisco Conservatory of Music, it was originally performed for full symphony orchestra but an organ version was later published. Bloch wrote it for Cantor Reuben Rinder, who served the pulpit of the city’s prestigious classical reform synagogue Congregation Emanu-El. It was commissioned by Gerald F. Warburg, cellist and patron of the arts and the work is dedicated to him.

Kiddush, the Sabbath blessing over wine, is a rare liturgical gem from the pen of the great German-American composer, Kurt Weill, who blended jazz (the blues scale) with classical formalism in this composition for tenor, chorus and organ. First performed in May 1946, it was commissioned by Park Avenue Synagogue and dedicated to Weill’s father, who had been chief cantor in Dessau, Germany. The program features the world premiere of And the Sun Goes Up, a new work by Daniel Rein, whose previous MasterVoices commission “3 Songs by e. e. cummings” for choir and two soloists premiered at its “Our America” concert in 2018 at The Cooper Union. He is a native of Jerusalem, and a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Other recent projects by Rein include Her Violet Eye, a song cycle based on Edgar Allan Poe's poetry, which was released as an album, and Improvisations On Misirlou, a mini-concerto for piano based on a Greek folk song, which had its U.S. premiere at the Sewanee Music Festival in 2017.
 
Tickets, starting at $25, are on sale now, and may be purchased online at mastervoices.org. Ticket holders will need to comply with the venue’s health and safety requirements, which can be found here.


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22) SHO PRODUCTIONS 

PRESENTS A STAGED READING OF

MYTHIC

A NEW MUSICAL

On MARCH 23 & MARCH 24


SHO Productions announces a staged reading of MYTHIC: A New Musical, which will be held on Thursday, March 23 and Friday, March 24. MYTHIC features a book and lyrics by Marcus Stevens, music by Oran Eldor and direction by Donna Feore.

The relationship between a mother and her teenage daughter can be sheer hell - especially if that daughter is a Greek goddess with a taste for the Underworld. MYTHIC, a new pop/rock musical comedy, turns the story of Persephone on its side, where the gods are chart-topping rock stars, power-hungry politicians, and professional VIPs. In a world of Olympian celebrity, Persephone struggles between her mother’s expectations and a desire to find her own path. But her wish for independence comes back to bite her when she gets trapped in the dark realm with Greece’s eternal bad boy. The journey that follows is an offbeat, emotionally-charged tale for the ages.

The cast for the March 2023 reading of MYTHIC features Will Branner, Gizel Jimenez, Lindsay Joan, Manu Narayan, Mamie Parris, as well as Sherz Aletaha, Sarah Bishop, Rohit Gopal, Sarah Kay, Jamen Nanthakumar, Xavier Reyes, Emily Grace Tucker and Michael Wordly.

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23) National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene Announces the American Premiere

of New Yiddish Theatrical Concert by Josh Waletzky


pleytem tsuzamen

פּליטים צוזאַמען

(Refugees Together)

 

March 26, 2023 at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. at Edmond J. Safra Hall at the Museum of Jewish Heritage 

 

Two Performances Only 


 This March 26, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene and the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will bring together - for two performances only - some of the most renowned Yiddish musicians from across the globe for the American premiere of the new Yiddish theatrical concert pleytem tsuzamen (Refugees Together).


A star-studded cast of master singers from across the world - Ukraine, Latvia, Berlin, England, and the Americas - will perform a contemporary musical exploration of resistance, weaving a defiant garment of hope in a threatening and threatened world.


The performance, from creators Josh Waletzky, Jeyn Levison, and director Michael Barakiva, runs for two performances only. Purchase tickets 
here.

 

pleytem tsuzamen (Refugees Together) is a call for solidarity with those who are most threatened. Confronting our current reality, the songs present a dynamic fusion of traditional forms with the social, political, and personal challenges posed by the world today — and they embody the power of music to foster the courage we need to “link arms and take to the streets together against bloodshed and hatred.”

The cast includes Daniel Kahn (voice, accordion, guitar), Sveta Kundish (voice), Sasha Lurje (voice), Polina Shepherd (voice, piano), Josh Waletzky (voice), Merlin Shepherd (clarinet), Ilya Shneyveys (accordion, piano), Jake Shulman-Ment (violin), Beth Silver (cello), and Deborah Strauss (violin).

For more information, visit: https://mjhnyc.org

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24) NJPAC

Upcoming Shows & Events

NJPAC
Prudential Hall
Betty Wold Johnson Stage
One Center Street
Newark, New Jersey 07102
www.njpac.org


TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND TOUR 
TTB’s Epic New 4-Album Multi-Media Project,
“I Am The Moon” Out Now 
Thursday, March 23, 2022 at 8PM


Tedeschi Trucks Band, America’s premier rock-and-roll big band, touring in support of their new album, I Am The Moon, will perform live at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) on Thursday, March 23, 2022 at 8PM.

The Grammy-winning 12-piece powerhouse holds a well-deserved reputation as one of the best live acts touring today. Led by the husband/wife duo of guitarist Derek Trucks and singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi, “two of the best roots rock musicians of their generation” (NPR), TTB is known for its world-class musicianship and contemporary blend of a wide range of American musical influences that also define their extensive catalog.

JILL SCOTT?  TOUR 2023
Monday, March 27, 2023

What started as the 20th-anniversary tour of Jill Scott’s chart-topping, genre-defining album, Who Is Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol I in 2020 ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But good news prevails: in 2023, the tour will resume with a stop at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) on Monday, March 27 at 8:00 P.M.

Scott will play the iconic album front to back, with hits from her iconic debut album, such as “Gettin’ in the Way,” “A Long Walk” and other musical stories. 

For more information or to purchase tickets to these and other upcoming events at NJPAC, visit https://www.njpac.org/tickets-events.

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25) ARE WE THERE YET

 

THEATRE TOLD VERBATIM BY UKRANIAN TEEN REFUGEES

  

MARCH 25 & 26, 2023

 

AT NEW YORK THEATRE WORKSHOP’S

 

FOURTH STREET THEATRE

 

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT JCHB.ORG


 New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) (Artistic Director Patricia McGregor and Executive Director Jeremy Blocker) is proud to host the world premiere of Are We There Yet, theatre told verbatim by Ukrainian teen refugees. Presented by Teens Ukraine Theater (TUT), Are We There Yet is a documentary theatre piece centered on children’s experience in New York City during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Performances will be Saturday March 25 at 7:30pm, and Sunday March 26 at 1:00pm & 6:00pm, at New York Theatre Workshop’s Fourth Street Theatre (83 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10003).

ARE WE THERE YET is the culmination performance piece of the TUT program. TUT, which translates into “here,” is a theatrical laboratory for Marks JCH refugee teenagers from Ukraine who found their way to New York City during the last 12 months as a result of the full-scale Russian invasion. TUT has engaged Ukrainian teens ages 12-17 via workshops in an exploration of their personal stories through verbatim theatre technique and educational theater. 

ARE WE THERE YET is a multidisciplinary verbatim theatre production derived entirely from personal stories of ten teen immigrant/refugees from Ukraine, displaced and uprooted by war. Some of their families are still in Ukraine beneath the bombs. They feel the dissonance while stuck in a vacuum wanting to go back to the fateful day of February 23rd or to find themselves after the war has already ended so they can finally return home. Where is home and how can they shelter themselves from this horrific reality? When will the war end? What if? Are we there yet? These questions are just the tip of the iceberg as they relive their traumas, reflecting the experience of thousands of refugees and echoing the voices of those who are still in Ukraine. 

This production draws surrealistic and yet vivid images of life broken by the war. Millions of people have left their homes fleeing from bombs…leaving behind broken objects and homes, but their memories continue living, traveling along with them. The stories in the play echo through these teens’ personal prism – the impact of the invasion, and what happens in the aftermath.


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26) NO HOPE Productions
Announces
The Year After: A Song Cycle Album Release
March 24, 2023

NO HOPE Productions announces the album release of The Year After: A Song Cycle, available on all major streaming platforms beginning Friday, March 24, 2023. In advance of the album release, the second track in the song cycle, “Boundaries” performed by Krystina Alabado, was released on March 10 and is now available for streaming.

The Year After follows a contingent of New Yorkers as they confront the realities of seeking love, losing love and enduring relationships in a time of personal and political chaos. For more information and to listen to the album, visit nohopeproductions.com. The cast includes Brittneyann Accetta (The Office! A Musical Parody), Krystina Alabado (Mean Girls), Michael Lee Brown (Dear Evan Hansen), Max Crumm (Disaster!), Dayna Dantzler (Waitress), Deonte Goodman (Hamilton), Nathan Lee Graham, (Hadestown, National Tour), Jason Moody (Hair, National Tour) and singer/songwriter Shanna Sharp.

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27) Out of the Box Theatrics Kicks off
5th Annual Building the Box Series with

THE END OF ALL FLESH
by Tony Award winner Greg Kotis (Urinetown)
 March 27, 2023 

In 2023, Out of the Box Theatrics (2022 Drama Desk nominee for Baby) will present staged readings of four new works as part of their annual Building the Box Series. The Series will kick off with THE END OF ALL FLESH, a post-Apocalyptic bluegrass musical by Tony Award winner Greg Kotis (Urinetown). It will be presented March 27 at 1PM and 7PM at TheaterLab (357 W 36th St. 3rd floor, New York, NY 10018). Tickets are $19.50 at www.ootbtheatrics.com.

THE END OF ALL FLESH is a rollicking, post-apocalyptic fable unfolding on a remote mountain top sometime in America's distant future. Having made it through the End Times, Ma and Pa fight to keep themselves and their son, Boy, alive, by hunting, gathering, and maintaining a healthy distrust of strangers. But Boy’s near grown now, and his new friend Girl is putting some mighty funny ideas in his head about familial hierarchies and The Patriarchy. Expect plenty of picking (and some grim grinning) in a concert reading of a new dark comedy that explores environmental collapse, gender norms, generation gaps, survivalist practices, and the creative potential of a pandemic beard…in song!

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28) Philadelphia Theatre Week

Theatre Philadelphia announces the return of Philly Theatre Week featuring 100+ theatrical performances and events across the region between March 23 to April 2, 2023. The eleven day festival will celebrate artists, organizations, and audiences that have made Greater Philadelphia one of the most vibrant theatre regions in the nation. Audiences will have an opportunity to try something new from 50 events being offered from 41 different companies and artists.  There are over a 100 opportunities for audiences to experience. It includes productions, readings, exclusive pre-sales and special events in Philadelphia, Delaware, South Jersey, Bucks County and the Main Line and Western Suburbs. The annual festival is one of the largest signature festivals in Philadelphia and it expands by an extra day this year. Also new this year, all tickets are pay what you can - to encourage and welcome new audiences to discover theatre while encouraging returning patrons to make donations and invest in our theatre community. Each company has provided some information about how ticket sales support their work. Audiences are invited out early for a special free preview event in the Hamilton Garden at the Kimmel Cultural Campus on Monday, March 20th at 6:00pm. Tickets for the preview and all participating shows/events are on sale and available at www.phillytheatreweek.com.

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29) ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING 
FOR BROADWAY’S 
HIT MUSICAL COMEDY 
SOME LIKE IT HOT
AVAILABLE FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2023

Concord Theatricals Recordings SOME LIKE IT HOT (Original Broadway Cast Recording) will be released on March 24 on streaming and digital platforms worldwide, with physical release to follow. The album is produced by Scott M. Riesett and Marc Shaiman, co-produced by Charlie Rosen, Bryan Carter and Mary-Mitchell Campbell with music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman. Hunter ArnoldThe Shubert Organization and Neil Meron are managers of SLIH Cast Album Limited Liability Company.

SOME LIKE IT HOT (Original Broadway Cast Recording)

Album Track List

  1. What Are You Thirsty For?
  2. You Can't Have Me (If You Don't Have Him)
  3. Vamp!
  4. I'm California Bound
  5. A Darker Shade of Blue
  6. Take It Up a Step
  7. Zee Bap
  8. At the Old Majestic Nickel Matinee
  9. Poor Little Millionaire!
  10. Some Like It Hot
  11. Let's Be Bad
  12. Dance the World Away
  13. Fly, Mariposa, Fly
  14. You Coulda Knocked Me Over with a Feather
  15. He Lied When He Said Hello
  16. Ride Out the Storm
  17. Baby, Let's Get Good


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30) Upcoming Events
at
State Theatre New Jersey

State Theatre New Jersey
15 Livingston Ave.
New Brunswick, NJ

Tuesday March 21, 2023 7:30 PM
Daniel Hope 
Zurich Chamber Orchestra

Music Director and violinist, Daniel Hope leads the venerated 76-year-old music institution, Zurich Chamber Orchestra (ZCO) in an invigorating program this spring! A protégé of renowned violinist/conductor Yehudi Menuhin, Hope is the first instrumentalist to be named Music Director of the acclaimed ZCO. Conducting from the violin, Hope leads the orchestra in a program featuring Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending; "Waltz of Moment" from "Silent Music" by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov; as well as two timeless works for string orchestra—Elgar’s exhilarating Introduction and Allegro and Mendelssohn’s lively D minor violin concerto. The program ends with the crowd pleaser, Tchaikovksy's Serenade for String Orchestra.

Wednesday March 22, 2023 7:30 PM
Muse - Cirque Flip Fabrique

Set to an original score by beatmaker Millimetric and featuring live onstage vocals by singer Flavia Nascimento, this performance combines breathtaking artistry and athleticism. Whether wearing high heels or shoulder pads, the acrobats' playful, exciting, and stunning performance is sure to amaze.

Hailing from Québec City, Cirque FLIP Fabrique is an established troupe whose shared dream is to create cirque shows that are inspired by artistry, imagery, personality, and the human experience. 

Saturday March 25, 2023 8:00 PM
Patty Lupone
Don't Monkey With Broadway

Through indelible interpretations of classic Broadway show tunes by the likes of Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Jule Styne, Stephen Schwartz, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin, LuPone explores how her life-long love affair with Broadway began and the unpredictability of the Great White Way.

For more information about these or other upcoming events at State Theatre New Jersey or to purchase tickets, visit www.stnj.org/events-tickets

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31) NEW BLOCK OF TICKETS

ANNOUNCED FOR

 

SWEENEY TODD:
THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET


NOW ON SALE THROUGH 

JANUARY 14, 2024


OPENING MARCH 26, 2023

AT BROADWAY’S LUNT-FONTANNE THEATRE

 

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT TICKETMASTER.COM


A new block of tickets is now on sale for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, starring Tony and Grammy-nominated multi-platinum recording artist Josh Groban (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812) and Tony Award winner Annaleigh Ashford (Sunday in the Park with George).  Directed by Thomas Kail, and featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Hugh Wheeler, from an adaptation by Christopher BondSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street began previews on February 26 and will open on March 26, 2023, at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036). Tickets are now on sale through January 14, 2024 and are available at Ticketmaster.com.

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32) Works & Process at the Guggenheim
Presents
Ballet West: Les Noces by Bronislava Nijinska
March 26, 2023 at 3pm and 7:30pm

Works & Process at the Guggenheim presents Les Noces by Bronislava Nijinska, featuring performance highlights and moderated discussion about the forthcoming premiere of Les Noces at Ballet West. Tickets available now at www.worksandprocess.org.

Ballet West: Les Noces by Bronislava Nijinska
Sunday, March 26, 3pm and 7:30pm
Tickets $5-$45, Choose What You Pay

Celebrate the 100th anniversary of Les Noces, or The Wedding, with choreography by Bronislava Nijinska and scenic and costume design by Nathalie Goncharova. A rarely performed, Sergei Diaghilev-era gem, the groundbreaking work, created in 1923 by a woman choreographer and woman designer, is set to a breathtaking and complex Stravinsky score. Ahead of the April 14 opening night in Salt Lake City, Ballet West Artistic Director Adam Sklute and Nijinksa scholar Lynn Garafola participate in a discussion moderated by Linda Murray, Curator, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Company dancers perform highlights.

WORKS & PROCESS AT THE GUGGENHEIM
1071 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10128

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And that's the scoop. Tune in tomorrow for More Theater Monday.

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