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, September 8, 2024

Sunday Scoop Week of 9/8/24 What's Happening This Week and More

A) Beginning Performances 

1)The Beacon

2) Blood of the Lamb

3) Death Becomes Her

4) The Diamond as Big as the Ritz

5) Medea Re-Versed

6) Observant

7) Our Class

8) Redeemed 

9) Vile Isle

10) Wake Up

11) The Witness Room

12) Yellow Face

D) What's Happening This Week and More

13) Broadway Advocacy Coalition Presents A Night of Artivism
9/16

14) Broadway Bound 7: Musicals That Never Came to Broadway
at 54 Below 9/10

15) Broadway Workshop Enrolling Jr. Musical Theater Class Now
starting 9/29

16) The Cathedral Church of John the Saint John the Divine
Fall and Winter Programs

17) Epic Players 2024/2025 Season

18) Garment District Free Educational Walking Tours
September, 2024

19) Kaatsbaan Cultural Park 2024 Festival
Starts 9/13

20) The Orchestra Now 10th Anniversary Season

21) Philadelphia Marketplace Open Air Market at Dilworth
9/6 - 10/5

22) Teatro Grattacielo Presents World Premiere of Beyond the Horizon
9/16

23) Vangeline Theater/New York Butoh Presents 9/11 Performance
in Times Square 9/11

24) Works & Process Presents Opera Philadelphia & Lyric Opera of Chicago:
The Listeners by Missy Mazzoli 9/15

A) Beginning Performances 

1)The Beacon

A tragic accident, a dead husband; accusations resurfaced by a true crime podcast. Everyone will have a different interpretation. When you look at it, what do you see?

 

Beiv, a renowned artist, has left her suburban Dublin home for a secluded cottage on a rugged island off the coast of West Cork, Ireland. Here, there is no escaping the rumors of her shadowy past, and Beiv lets everyone see right in. Her relative peace is disrupted when her estranged son, Colm, returns home with his new wife, searching for answers about his father’s mysterious death. Prying into the past comes with a cost, however, and returning to the island will leave some people searching for a light – and others avoiding its glare.


Irish Rep’s Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage (132 West 22nd St.)

9/11 - 11/3

Opening Night 9/22


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


2) Blood of the Lamb

Blood of the Lamb tells the story of a pregnant woman, Nessa (Meredith Garretson), who finds herself detained in a Texas airport with an unexpected adversary: a court-appointed attorney, Val (Johanna Day), assigned to represent her baby. This electrifying thriller features two women with opposing beliefs, forced to navigate the bureaucratic chaos of post-Roe America. It is an urgent new play about choices: the choices that are taken from us and the choices we can still make.

59E59 Theatres (59 E. 59 St.)
9/14 - 10/20
Opening Night 9/23

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.59e59.org/shows/show-detail/blood-of-the-lamb.

Courtesy of Polk and Co. PR

3) Death Becomes Her

Madeline Ashton is the most beautiful actress (just ask her) ever to grace the stage and screen. Helen Sharp is the long-suffering author (just ask her) who lives in her shadow. They have always been the best of frenemies… until Madeline steals Helen’s fiancé away. As Helen plots revenge and Madeline clings to her rapidly fading star, their world is suddenly turned upside down by Viola Van Horn, a mysterious woman with a secret that’s to die for.


After one sip of Viola’s magical potion, Madeline and Helen begin a new era of life (and death) with their youth and beauty restored…and a grudge to last eternity.


Lunt-Fontanne Theatre Box Office (205 West 46th St)

Beginning performances 9/10

Opening Night 11/21


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


Courtesy of Seth Bisen-Hersh

4) The Diamond as Big as the Ritz


Based on the early 1920s F. Scott Fitzgerald comic novella of the same name, The Diamond as Big as the Ritzis told through the eyes of young couple seeking to immigrate to the U.S. as they imagine Fitzgerald’s characters appearing before them on stage. The story resonates today with its themes about protecting riches, comporting with upper class and perverting the American dream to reach impossible goals.


American Theatre of Actors (314 W. 54th St.)

9/13 - 9/29


For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.rcstaab.com/ritzmusical


5) Medea Re-Versed


An ice-cold, high-octane adaptation of Euripides’ play written in battle rap verse, this brand-new hip-hop version of Medea sheds contemporary light on the classic tragedy of family, power, and revenge – as stunning today as it was two thousand years ago. Quintero’s version of the story reignites the sacred rage of our ancestors and illuminates in the most human terms the extraordinary lengths that some people will travel to even the scales of justice.


Sheen Center (18 Bleeker St.) 

9/12 - 10/13

Opening Night 9/23


For more information or to purchase tickets, visit bedlam.org/w-o/project-four-yjynj-8nw62


Courtesy of Andrea Alton PR
6) Observant

In OBSERVANT, three generations of women confront their relationships to their Jewish identities—and to each other. Comedy and tragedy entwine, like a braided challah, when a mass shooting in their community tests the bonds of faith and family. 

Post-show discussion lineup:


Monday, September 16 at 7pm - Cantor Rachel Goldman from Congregation Beth Yeshurun of Houston, TX, the largest Conservative synagogue in the country. 


Wednesday, September 18 at 2pm - Cantor Mo Glazman, Senior Cantor, Temple Emanu-El, the first Reform Jewish Congregation in New York City and the largest synagogue in the world. 


Thursday, September 19 at 7pm - Scott Richman, NY/NJ Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League.


Tuesday, September 24 at 7pm - Magda Teter, Professor and Shvidler Chair in Judaic Studies at Fordham University and President of the American Academy for Jewish Research.


The Chain Theatre (31 W. 36th St.) 

9/12 - 9/28


For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.tickettailor.com/events/sparktheatrefestival/1320824


7) Our Class

Our Class follows ten Polish classmates, five Jewish and five Catholic, growing up as playmates, friends, and neighbors, who then turn on one another with life and death consequences. The piece comes at a time when the world is facing an increase in antisemitism across the globe. Our Class was a featured production of the 2024 Under the Radar Festival,and has received multiple award nominations:

Classic Stage Company’s Lynn F. Angelson Theater (136 E. 13th St.)
9/12 - 12/22

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

8) Redeemed 

Redeemed spins a story over the course of two fictional prison visitations between Claire Yiang, a woman whose brother was murdered nine years ago, and Trevor Barlow, the murderer. Having sent Claire a letter begging for a visit, Trevor tries to prove he’s now a changed man thanks to the help of her brother’s ghost. Claire must decide if Trevor is capable of redemption, or just attempting to impress the parole board.

59E59 (59 E. 59 Theatres)
9/15 - 10/5
Opening Night 9/21

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit 59e59.org/shows/show-detail/redeemed

9) Ville Isle

In seven days the world will end by Flood—at least according to drag queen Lizzie Fine, who receives a frightening prophecy of Old Testament proportions. Meanwhile, a gaggle of gay "chosen family" considers unchoosing each other. Nathan the Demon Twink seeks transcendence through Kabbalah (and Adderall), Christopher bravely transitions (into a DJ), and Gnocchi the Cat WILL be Bat Mitzvah'd, God willing. Vile Isle is a precocious and party-fueled dark comedy about how we fail and forgive one another and what faith is worth when our limits are existentially tested.

The Tank’s 98 Seat Theater (312 West 36th St.)
9/13 - 10/6

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

10) Wake Up

Tackling his own experiences with sexuality, Mormonism, drug use and abuse, with a marriage and a 30-year acting career often left hanging in the balance, Spencer Aste's Wake Up tears apart the current trend of "living your best life" and exposes the harsh truths and difficult realities that come with "owning the life you've lived." Riveting, humorous, and earnest, Wake Up is a play about choices and consequences - and occasionally, choices that were never choices at all. When your life pulls you under, what will it take for you to wake up?


This touching, funny and bracingly honest new solo show places the spotlight on a gay, mormon-raised stage actor who begins using and selling crystal meth at the same time he’s preparing for the role of Richard III.


West End Theatre/2 (286 W. 83rd St.)
9/10 - 9/22

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit bedlam.org/w-o/project-two-llrgk-64m6j

11) The Witness Room

This life and death drama detonates within the confines of a witness room in Manhattan Criminal Court as four hardened New York City police officers, led by a calculating district attorney, battle each other over charges of corruption, racism, morality, loyalties, and the blue wall of silence.

AMT Theater (354 West 45th St.)
9/16 - 10/6
Opening 9/21

For more information or to purchase tickets,, visit thewitnessroomnyc.ludus.com

12) Yellow Face

Inspired by real events, the playwright’s fictionalized doppelgänger protests yellowface casting in Miss Saigon, only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play. This Obie Award-winning and Pulitzer finalist play is a laugh-out-loud farce about the complexities of race. 

Todd Haimes Theatre (227 West 42nd St.)
9/13 - 11/24
Opening Night 10/1

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

D) What's Happening This Week and More

13) BROADWAY ADVOCACY COALITION PRESENTS

A Night of Artivism at the Playhouse Theater at Abrons Theater

 

Showcasing music-centered artivism in support of the Justice Beyond Punishment Campaign


The Tony Award winning non-profit Broadway Advocacy Coalition (BAC) will present “A Night of Artivism” on Monday, September 16, 2024 at the Playhouse Theater at Abrons Theater (466 Grand Street).

This year’s event will showcase two main pieces of artivism, created by playwrights and Artivism Fellows Wildin Pierrevil and Ari Afsar. The pieces, titled “Community Safety Song Cycle” and “I Wrote You, Did You Get It,” will feature Tiffany Mann (Jelly’s Last Jam, Hercules), Dam Domenech (Rock of Ages), Andrea Prestinario (Jeanette, Fun Home), Adam Hyndman (Tony Award-winning producer), John Clay III (Jelly’s Last Jam, New York New York), Ari Grooves (TINA – The Tina Turner Musical, Little Shop of Horrors), T. Oliver Reid (Hadestown), Arnold Harper II (Waitress, The Muny), Shaunice Alexander (Ben Platt: Live at the Palace) and will be directed by Kirya Traber and Brandon Michael Nase (Watchnight, PAC NYC). Music Direction will be led by Sujin Kim-Ramsey (CATS: The Jellicle Ball, KPOP) and Brandon Michael Nase.

For more information about BAC’s Artivism Fellowship, you can visit https://www.bwayadvocacycoalition.org/artivismfellowship.

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14) BROADWAY BOUND 7:

  The Musicals That Never Came To Broadway

 

Tuesday, September 10th, 2024 at 7pm

54 Below (254 West 54th Street, NYC)


After six previously acclaimed sold-out concerts, 54 Below will be presenting the seventh edition of Broadway Bound: The Musicals That Never Came To Broadway on Tuesday, September 10th, at 7:00pm at 54 Below.


Scheduled to appear in the concert are LaDonna Burns (White Girl in Danger), Mary Callanan (Bandstand), Doug Cohen (No Way To Treat a Lady), Joe Iconis (Be More Chill), Aaron Jackson (Dicks: The Musical), Amy Jo Jackson (Kinky Boots), Bianca Marroquin (Chicago), Karen Mason (Sunset Boulevard), Lisa Dawn Miller (For Once In My Life: The Songs of Ron Miller), Christiane Noll (Ragtime), Christine Pedi (Sirius XM), Eve Plumb (TV’s The Brady Bunch), Steve Ross (Crown Prince of New York Cabaret), Amy Spanger (Tick Tick Boom), and Jim Walton (Merrily We Roll Along).


Broadway Bound: The Musicals That Never Came To Broadway celebrates musicals that were slated to appear in New York City but never arrived. Whether it was due to lack of funding, temperamental creatives, or just being a victim of time, these musicals will be dusted off and their songs brought to their first Manhattan audience.


The works of such artists as Stephen Sondheim, John Kander, Fred Ebb, Barbara Fried, Cy Coleman, Jerome Kern and more, will be featured.

 

The seventh edition of Broadway Bound: The Musicals That Never Came To Broadway will feature songs from such lost musicals as Miss MoffettSaturday Night, Golden Gate, Cherry, 13 Days to Broadway, Home Again, Home Again and many more.

    

Tickets, starting at $35, are still available. In addition to the ticket price, there is a food and beverage minimum of $25.00 Broadway Bound: The Musicals That Never Came To Broadway Part 7 tickets can be purchased at 54below.com. Tickets on the day of performance after 4:00 are only available by calling (646) 476-3551


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15) Broadway Workshop’s JR Musical Theater Performance Class allows students ages 9-12 to take the next step in building acting, singing and dance technique

JUNIOR MUSICAL THEATER PERFORMANCE

7-Week Ongoing Class

Dates: SUNDAYS Sept. 29 - Nov. 10

Times: 11am - 12:30pm

Ages: 9-12

Location: Ripley Grier Studios - 520 Eighth Avenue - 16th Floor

Final Showcase: Sunday, Nov. 10 at 12PM

Tuition: $695


Junior Musical Theater Performance class focuses on how to better approach material, sharpen audition & performance skills, understand direction and adjustments, make strong choices, relax, and most of all, have confidence on stage and off.

Students will be working on a musical production number, short solo vocal selections, as well as scene study and other disciplines of theater! This class will be taught by a Broadway performer as well as a professional musical director!

For more information or to register, visit broadwayworkshop.com/program/jrmt24

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16) The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine Brings the Joys of Music,Art and Culture 

Through Special Fall and Winter Programs


From September to December 2024, all are welcome to experience a wide variety of programming inside the world’s largest Gothic Cathedral, from the Blessing of the Animals, Halloween Extravaganza, Crafts Fair, seasonal holiday concerts, immersive art exhibitions, and so much more.


The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine will wrap up the year on a high note with its rich and diverse arts and culture programming available throughout the upcoming fall and winter months. Featuring a dynamic mix of popular annual events, expanded programs, and new partnerships with cultural institutions, there is sure to be something that visitors of all interests and ages can enjoy.

 

Below are highlights of special events and programming from September to December 2024. Tickets (unless otherwise indicated) will go on sale Tuesday, September 3, 2024 via the Cathedral website www.stjohndivine.org.

 

·         Janet Cardiff’s The Forty Part Motet Exhibition (Thursday, September 12 to Tuesday, December 31) – This extraordinary installation, on loan from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, presents a reworking of Thomas Talllis’ ambitious 16th-century choral composition Spem in Alium. Forty separately recorded voices are played back through forty individual speakers, which will be strategically placed in an oval in the Cathedral’s North Transept. Listeners will be able to control how they experience the composition by moving throughout the open space. The exhibition is included with admission to the Cathedral.

 

·         St. Francis Day, The Blessing of the Animals and Fair (Sunday, October 6) – All pets and people are welcome to this beloved annual tradition honoring St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of the environment and ecology. The event will begin with a worship service at 10:30 am, featuring the Procession of the Animals, music by Artist in Residence Paul Winter, and dance by Forces of Nature. The afternoon fair and pet blessings will be held rain or shine, beginning immediately after the service, on the Cathedral grounds. Passes are not required for this event.

 

·         Death of Classical The Light After Performances in the Crypt (Friday, October 11, Saturday, October 12 and Wednesday, October 16) – In a new collaboration with Death of Classical and Trinity Church, the Cathedral will present three evenings of mesmerizing music in the Crypt, performed by chamber groups from Trinity’s acclaimed new music ensemble NOVUS. Each night will feature different musical themes with two performances at 7 pm and 8:30 pm, starting with a pre-show reception in the spectacular main space of the Cathedral, followed by a walk through the stone quarry before descending to the Crypt. Tickets are $85.

 

·         Halloween Extravaganza, Featuring The Phantom of the Opera (Friday, October 25 and Saturday, October 26) – The Cathedral will once again host its popular Halloween Extravaganza, now expanded to two nights for double the thrills and chills. Starting at 7 pm, join the costumed audience and get into the spooky spirit with a screening of the classic black and white horror film The Phantom of the Opera (1925) starring Lon Chaney, with live organ accompaniment by Tim Brumfield. The performance will be followed by a procession of ghouls and goblins from the Mettawee River Theater Company. Tickets are $40. 

 

·         Secret Byrd Featuring The Gesualdo Six with Abendmusik (Saturday, November 9) – In a first-time partnership with Music Before 1800 (MB1800), the longest running early music concert series in NYC, the Cathedral will present two performances of Secret Byrd, an immersive staged Catholic mass featuring Composer William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices, produced by Concert Theatre Works and created and directed by Bill Barclay. Early music phenoms The Gesualdo Six make their MB1800 debut from Britain in this landmark part-concert, part-theatre performance that continues to tour the world. Guaranteed seating is limited, though audiences are encouraged to move around the space and experience the performance on foot. Tickets start at $65.

 

·         Notre-Dame de Paris: The Augmented Exhibition (Tuesday, November 12, 2024 to January 24, 2025) – On view for the first time in New York City, Notre-Dame de Paris: The Augmented Exhibition is an augmented reality immersion into the 850-year history of the renowned Paris Cathedral and its ongoing restoration. Globally sponsored by L’Oréal Groupe, the innovative installation is designed and produced by Histovery, in collaboration with the Public Institution ‘Rebuilding Notre-Dame de Paris’. The exhibition is also timed to coincide with the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris on December 8, 2024. Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors, and $18 for students, and also include Self-Guided Admission to the Cathedral.

 

·         26th Annual Crafts at the Cathedral (Friday, December 6 to Sunday, December 8) – Just in time for the holiday shopping season, the fine juried crafts show returns to the Cathedral’s magnificent interior with over 75 artisans offering handcrafted, one-of-a-kind items in ceramic, glass, wood, fabric, and jewelry. Tickets range from $10-18, and proceeds benefit the Cathedral’s work and its programs. Light refreshments will be available via an onsite café. Looking ahead, craft enthusiasts can mark their calendars for New York City’s only Flower & Garden Show coming to the Cathedral the first weekend of May 2025.  More details to be announced in the fall.

 

·         Cathedral Christmas Concert & the Return of the Great Organ (Saturday, December 14) – Join the Cathedral Choirs and Orchestra for the annual Christmas Concert and sing along to jolly holiday classics. Now at an earlier, family-friendly time, the concert will begin at 4 pm with tickets starting at $55. The concert will also feature the much-anticipated return of the Great Organ (Aeolian-Skinner Op. 150A) after five years. Widely considered to be the masterpiece of American pipe organ building, the Great Organ will continue its comeback tour at the Cathedral with a series of free recitals starting in February 2025.

 

·         El Niño: Nativity Reconsidered (Thursday, December 19) – As part of the Cathedral’s traditional holiday programming, the American Modern Opera Company will once again perform El Niño: Nativity Reconsidered with music by John Adams, musical arrangements by Christian Reif, libretto compilation by Peter Sellars, and concept by AMOC* member Julia Bullockwhich is an eclectic retelling of the Nativity story celebrating Latin American poets and the voices of women. The reimagined piece will return for a one-night-only engagement on December 19 at 7:30 pm. Tickets start at $5.

 

·         40th Anniversary of the New Year’s Eve Concert for Peace (Tuesday, December 31) – Ring in the new year with the Cathedral’s New Year’s Eve Concert for Peace, celebrating 40 years of hope and optimism through music. This year’s concert will feature a special performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony by the Cathedral Choirs and Orchestra, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the composition’s premiere. The event begins at 7 pm and tickets start at $45.

 

For more information and a calendar of events, visit 

www.stjohndivine.org 

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Courtesy of Michelle Tabnick PR

17) EPIC Players Theatre

announces the

2024/2025 EPIC Season


EPIC Players Theatre, New York's Premiere Neurodiverse Theater Company, announces their 2024/2025 EPIC Season featuring mainstage shows A Christmas Carol in the fall and Seussical the Musical in the spring. The company returns to Joe’s Pub for their season, and will include a 90’s themed show in the fall and an evening of company members starring as their dream roles, alongside Broadway veterans, in the spring. Plus original performances and an expansive roster of educational offerings taught by industry professionals including Stage Combat, Songwriting, and Musical Theatre Dance. For more information, visit https://www.epicplayersnyc.org/.


2024/2025 EPIC Season

Mainstage:

Fall Show: A Christmas Carol

December 10-15, 2024 at Theatre Row, Theatre 5


Spring Show: Seussical the Musical!

May 9-19, 2025, ART/NY Mezzanine Theatre


Cabarets:

Fall Cabaret: Step Into the 90s!

October 26, 2024 at 6pm and 8:30pm, Joe's Pub


Spring Cabaret: Dream Roles!

April 2, 2024 at 6pm and 8:30pm, Joe's Pub


EPIC Underground and Originals:

EPIC Underground: Passions and Appetites

February 24, 2024 at 6pm and 8:30pm, Joe's Pub


EPIC Originals:

EPIC will begin accepting full-length original play submissions in fall 2024 for consideration for a summer workshop and potential fall 2025 mainstage full production. Stay tuned for details!


For more information, visit https://www.epicplayersnyc.org.


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18) Garment District Free  Educational History 
NYC Walking Tours 
September 2024

Tuesday, Sept 10th and
Wednesday, Sept 25th.
Meet at 10:30 at the yellow button; see below att.

Email  mikesnyctours@yahoo.com to reserve a space.

These tours are also available on a custom basis for groups and individuals, on dates of your choice. (For a Fee). Please inquire for details.

For more information, visit http://www.mikesnyctours.com

XXX

Courtesy of Michelle Tabnick PR

19) Kaatsbaan Cultural Park

2024 Annual Festival

September 13–15, September 19–21

September 28–29, and October 5–6


Kaatsbaan Cultural Park presents the 2024 Annual Festival in Tivoli, NY, from September 13 to October 6, 2024. The festival showcases various artistic styles and genres, from visual art to contemporary dance, in indoor and outdoor settings. September 13–15 focuses on film, literary, and visual art with an author reading and conversation with Francine Prose, an art walk with curator Hilary Greene and artists, and a screening of MERCE / MISHA / MORE, a film celebrating decades of friendship, mutual admiration, and collaboration between Mikhail Baryshnikov and Merce Cunningham. September 19–21, the festival celebrates music outdoors with a free Community Sing hosted by Gaia Music Collective and a performance of History of Life—Act 1, an in-development production by ensemble Contemporaneous inspired by Homer’s Odyssey. The third weekend, September 28–29, highlights Kaatsbaan’s dual role as an incubator and presenter with performances of original productions created at Kaatsbaan: dance works by Limón Dance Company, Boca Tuya, and Music from the Sole. The festival’s final weekend, October 5–6, features the Kaatsbaan debut of multi-award-winning British choreographer and director Sir Wayne McGregor and his work Autobiography (v100 and v101) on our outdoor Mountain Stage.

Tickets for the festival are on sale now at https://ci.ovationtix.com/36035.

Additional information can be found at www.kaatsbaan.org.


2024 Kaatsbaan Annual Festival Schedule of Events

Week 1: Film, Literary, and Visual Art

MERCE / MISHA / MORE

Date: September 13, 2024 at 7 pm

Tickets: $25

Venue: Black Box Theater


Kaatsbaan launches the Annual Festival with a film celebrating decades of friendship, mutual admiration, and collaboration between Mikhail Baryshnikov and Merce Cunningham. MERCE / MISHA / MORE includes new reminiscences by Mikhail Baryshnikov, rarely seen rehearsal footage from 1967 and 1994, the duet from Cunningham’s Landrover, featuring Jacquelin Harris and Chalvar Monteiro, and Daniel Madoff’s film Event at REDCAT, performed in 2010 by Mikhail Baryshnikov with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and produced by Nancy Dalva. The film is provided courtesy of Baryshnikov Arts.


Reading + Conversation with Author Francine Prose

Dates: September 14, 2024 at 7 pm

Tickets: $15

Venue: Black Box Theater

Author of 18 works of fiction such as Bigfoot DreamsHousehold SaintsHunters and GatherersPrimitive PeopleGuided Tours of Hell, and the National Book Award finalist Blue Angel, Francine Prose discusses her latest work, 1974: A Personal History. In this new memoir, she details her relationship with activist Anthony Russo, one of the men who leaked the Pentagon Papers, as well as the transformative period in American history. Prose is joined in conversation by novelist and Guggenheim Fellow Samantha Hunt.


Art Walk

Date: September 15, 2024 at 2 pm

Tickets: Free, reservations encouraged

Venue: Gallery and Grounds

Curator Hilary Greene and artists from the 2024 Visual Arts Exhibition lead visitors on a guided tour of the indoor and outdoor exhibition. Learn about the works’ inspiration, creation, and placement around our pastoral property. Kaatsbaan’s annual exhibition showcases the artworks of contemporary Hudson Valley artists and features sculptures, paintings, and installations that activate the gallery and grounds of Kaatsbaan. Exhibition artists include Emil Alzamora, Sequoyah Aono, Arthur Gibbons, Kenichi Hiratsuka, Ashley Lyon, Mollie McKinley, Ian McMahon, and John Sanders. The event will take place rain or shine. Comfortable clothing and outdoor footwear are recommended. Reservations are encouraged.


Week 2: Music

Listening to Records with Joe Hagan

Date: September 19, 2024 at 7 pm

Black Box Theater

Tickets: $15

Vanity Fair special correspondent Joe Hagan brings a jazz kissa-inspired listening event to Kaatsbaan. In the spirit of Japanese listening cafés (kissa means café), Hagan invites listeners to enjoy selections from an eclectic vinyl collection through a pair of Klipsch La Scala speakers and a high-end vacuum tube amplifier, providing commentary and encouraging conversation between cuts. It will be a night of rare records and relaxed listening in high fidelity.


Joe Hagan is the author of Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine, which Dwight Garner of The New York Times called a “supple, confident, dispassionately reported and deeply well-written biography.” He has profiled some of the most significant figures and subjects of our time, including Stephen Colbert, Hillary Clinton, Beto O’Rourke, Bill Maher, Liz Cheney, and Henry Kissinger. In 2010, he discovered the diaries of singer Nina Simone and wrote about them for The Believer magazine.


Community Sing with Gaia Music Collective

Date: September 20, 2024 at 7 pm

Venue: Outdoor Meadow Stage

Tickets: Free, reservations encouraged

Known as TikTok’s favorite community choir creators, Gaia Music Collective is coming to Kaatsbaan and all are invited to participate in this free community event. No previous music experience is necessary. Together, we will sing the song canon made popular by Hudson Valley legend Pete Seeger as Gaia Music Collective leads audience members in a singalong accompanied by a live band. Support for this event is provided by M&T Charitable Foundation. Reservations are encouraged.


From History of Life — Act I

Contemporaneous

Date: September 21, 2024 at 5 pm

Venue: Mountain Stage

Tickets: $40–$50

New Music ensemble Contemporaneous brings an early look at Act 1 of their upcoming work, History of Life, by composer and Co-Artistic Director, Dylan Mattingly, and librettist Thomas Bartscherer. The piece invites the audience to experience music and storytelling in the Homeric oral tradition that created the Odyssey as though it had been passed down continuously from parents to children for the last 2700 years, picking up stories and sounds with each generation. Singer Iarla Ó Lionáird is accompanied by a ragtag band of twelve musicians who play hurdy-gurdies, harp, toy piano, harmonium, strings, and percussion. History of Life draws on the original rhythms and language of ancient Greek, the mesmerizing power of Ireland’s sean-nós singing, and both real and entirely imaginary folk musical traditions, creating a sound that is altogether new.


Contemporaneous is an ensemble of 25 musicians whose mission is to bring to life the most transformative music by living composers through performances, commissions, recordings, and educational programs. Described as “exact and detailed, but also lively and openly dancing” (The New York Times) and “leading new music towards its better self” (I Care If You Listen), Contemporaneous particularly champions the creation of large-scale works and “dream projects,” which composers might not otherwise have opportunities to realize due to scale.


Week 3: New Works - Dance

New Works Bill: Limón Dance Company, Boca Tuya, and Music From The Sole

Date: September 28, 2024 at 7 pm and September 29, 2024 at 2 pm

Venue: Black Box Theater

Tickets: $25

A mixed bill of dance performances built during residencies at Kaatsbaan, which highlights Kaatsbaan’s dual role as incubator and presenter. Works include a preview performance of a new creation by Bessie Awardee Kayla Farrish that examines two thematically aligned works by José Limón. Redes (Nets) (1951) is a representation of collective work and unity, and El Grito (The Scream) (1952) is an awakening of consciousness. Farrish, who has roots as an African American woman from the south, connects the work to the displacement of colored bodies and a continuous seeking for identity and community—themes Limón explored over 70 years ago.


Boca Tuya performs Like Those Playground Kids at Midnight, a shapeshifting duet developed at Kaatsbaan in 2023. Boca Tuya is led by queer Puertorriqueño choreographer and director Omar Román De Jesús. He describes this piece as “a beacon of defiance, encouraging everyone to embrace their uniqueness and challenge the boundaries that confine them.” The rhythmic complexity and daring physicality invite us to explore the mysterious landscapes of desire, identity, and aspiration. Omar was the inaugural Baryshnikov Arts Fellow at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, a 2023 Dance Magazine Harkness Promise Awardee, and a 2022 Princess Grace Award Winner in Choreography.


The program also features a performance by Music From The Sole, including material from a new work-in-development that explores the profound link between tap dance, Afro-Brazilian, and house music. The work is being created by 10 dancers and musicians in an intertwined process, demonstrating the movement and music of tap. Company dancers perform with their trademark embrace of tap’s Afro-diasporic roots and connection to various forms of music, such as jazz, funk, soul, house, samba, and hip-hop. Support for Music From The Sole provided by Works & Process at the Guggenheim.


Week 4: Ballet

Autobiography (v100 and v101)

Company Wayne McGregor

Date: October 5, 2024 at 5 pm and October 6, 2024 at 2 pm

Venue: Mountain Stage

Tickets: $40–$50

Throughout his career, Sir Wayne McGregor has created choreography that explores the relationship between the human body and technology. Autobiography merges genetic code, AI, and choreography to create a unique dance that reinvents itself for every performance. Layering choreographic imprints over personal memoir and in dialogue with a specially designed algorithm based on McGregor’s DNA data, Autobiography upends the traditional nature of dance-making as artificial intelligence and instinct converge in creative authorship. Autobiography is performed by a cast of 10 dancers and is set to an original score by Jlin.


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Courtesy of Pascal Nadon Communications

20) THE ORCHESTRA NOW ANNOUNCES 10TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON FEATURING CONCERTS AT CARNEGIE HALL, THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, THE FISHER CENTER AT BARD, AND THREE FREE PERFORMANCES IN NEW YORK CITY

SEPTEMBER 14, 2024 – MAY 18, 2025

Rarely Heard Works by Carlos Chávez, Gabriel Fauré, Albéric Magnard,

Manuel Ponce, and Bedřich Smetana

 

Three Special Events at the Fisher Center at Bard, Including

a Screening of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial with Live Performance of the Score;

A Celebration of Sondheim & Friends Featuring Mezzo-Soprano Stephanie Blythe,

and a Collaboration with American Ballet Theatre Studio Company

 

Soloists Include Soprano Jana McIntyre, Mezzo-Soprano Stephanie Blythe,

Baritone William Sharp, Cellist Raman Ramakrishnan, and Clarinetist Miles Wazni

The Orchestra Now (TŌN), the visionary orchestra and master’s degree program founded by Bard College president, conductor, educator, and music historian Leon Botstein, launches its 10th anniversary season on September 14, 2024, through May 18, 2025. Hailed for presenting innovative combinations of both well-known and less-familiar repertoire, TŌN offers 14 programs and a total of 24 concerts, including two at Carnegie Hall, three at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, three free concerts in Manhattan at Peter Norton Symphony Space and the Talent Unlimited High School, and 16 at the Orchestra’s home at Bard College’s Fisher Center, including three special events.

 

The Orchestra welcomes 18 new members this season, for a total of 70 musicians from 14 countries around the globe.


Highlights of the 2024-25 season

Leon Botstein conducts two concerts at Carnegie Hall, including a Charles Ives sesquicentennial program and a concert of orchestral transcriptions of works by Beethoven, Chopin, and Smetana. The popular Sight & Sound series at The Metropolitan Museum of Art returns with three programs investigating the links between fine arts and music through a focus on Wagner’s Parsifal and Sienese painters during the Italian Renaissance; on Schumann’s music, the artist Caspar David Friedrich, and the reflection of nature in music and art at the rise of the German Romantic movement; and on the parallel ascending careers of Gabriel Fauré and John Singer Sargent in Paris. The Fisher Center series at Bard College offers 16 performances of eight different programs. Of special note are three special events at Bard: a screening of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial with a live performance of the film score by TŌN; A Celebration of Sondheim & Friends featuring Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and vocalists from Bard Conservatory’s Graduate Vocal Arts Program; and a collaboration with the students of American Ballet Theatre Studio Company. There are also three free concerts in Manhattan led by TŌN resident conductor Zachary Schwartzman and assistant conductor Andrés Rivas at Peter Norton Symphony Space and the Talent Unlimited High School.

 

Broadcasts and Recordings

This year marks the 8th season of TŌN’s popular broadcast series on WMHT-FM, the classical music radio station of New York’s Capital Region, and the 7th season on WWFMthe Classical Network station serving New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, both featuring programs from the Orchestra’s Fisher Center series. TŌN’s performances are also heard regularly on American Public Media’s Performance Today, a program on which the Orchestra has appeared more than 100 times. TŌN’s latest albumThe Lost Generation, was just released on AVIE Records in May 2024, and the album Exodus—featuring Josef Tal’s Exodus, Walter Kaufman’s Indian Symphony, and Marcel Rubin’s Symphony No. 4, Dies Irae—will be released on September 20, 2024. An upcoming album with acclaimed violinist Gil Shaham will be released in Spring 2025 on Canary Classics, and the Orchestra will be recording February’s Carnegie Hall program for a 2025 release.

 

For detailed information about the 2024-25 season, visit ton.bard.edu.


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21) THE PHILADELPHIA MARKETPLACE RETURNS TO DILWORTH PARK IN SEPTEMBER FROM THE MAKERS OF CHRISTMAS VILLAGE IN PHILADELPHIA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CENTER CITY DISTRICT

* DISCOVER THE ULTIMATE ARTISAN SHOWCASE AND SUPPORT LOCAL ARTISANS, MAKERS AND SMALL BUSINESSES *

The Philadelphia Marketplace will once again return to Dilworth Park every Friday and Saturday, from Friday, September 6, 2024 through Saturday, October 5, 2024. In partnership with the Center City District, the Philadelphia Marketplace is a weekly, outdoor pop-up market that showcases a wide range of local merchants, craftsmen, designers and small businesses from Philadelphia and the greater tri-state area. Nestled amid Dilworth Park, this weekend event invites visitors to immerse themselves in a vibrant setting with up to 20 vendors. Each weekend offers a unique opportunity to explore a diverse array of distinctive arts and crafts with everything from handmade stuffed pals, modern artwork, candles and soaps, fragrances, clothing, coffee, handmade jewelry, body butters, exfoliants, hand sanitizers, lifestyle essentials, home goods, watches and more. Vendors will rotate throughout the month, with some being there every weekend, and others making a special appearance on select weekends.

This outdoor pop-up market is organized by the organizers of Christmas Village in Philadelphia and the CCD and it is completely free to attend. It is a great way to support small and local businesses and a revolving list of Philly entrepreneurs as they bring handmade artwork, home goods, skincare and more to the heart of Philadelphia at one of the busiest times of year.

For the fall 2024 season, here is a sampling of confirmed vendors, with more to be added and announced:

* Appleville Treats - Plant-based Dog Treats
* Bees & Wax Soap & Candle Company - all natural soaps, candles and bath products
* Ellaful - pressed flower art and decor
* Fanta Toure - African Art Crafts & Baskets
* Hopes Caramels - Caramel Candies
* Fanta Toure - African Art Crafts & Baskets
* Esenlik - Art, Photography, Crafts
* Everlands Everything - Lavender products, sprays, flowers and more
* Hopes Caramels - Caramel Candies
* Joiful bee - hair accessories and tools for curly hair
* Kurious Stitches - Crochet Products
* Lily Lough Jewelry - Design Jewelry & accessories
* Skyseed Energy - Gemstone Jewelry
* Swan Delectables - Pastries and Yummy Treats
* T&B Luxe - Beauty & Skincare Products
* More vendors to be announced each week! 

Vendors may change without notice. Programs are weather permitting and subject to change.

For parking, attendees of the Made in Philadelphia Markets receive an exclusive parking discount for the Love Park Self-Park Garage of $17 Mon-Fri, and $19 Sat-Sun (Up to 16 hours) when registering on iParkit app. Parking is conveniently located across right next to Dilworth Park and equipped with an elevator one-minute walk away. If you want the best parking prices for Center City, download the iParkit app today. Sign up for our express parking account using the parker program code “MADEINPHILA” to receive the Made in Philadelphia exclusive patron discount. Additionally, all new iParkit app users will receive a 20% off the first five parking stays.

Shoppers can also use the map below to purchase your parking reservation in advance. The prices reflected in the map below are discounted for customers attending this year’s Made in Philadelphia Events at Dilworth Park.

Make sure to also look for information coming soon for the Made in Philadelphia Fall Market Weekend from October 18 through October 20, 2024, coming in October, and of course, the Made in Philadelphia Holiday Market on November 15, 2024, coming back in November for Christmas time.

While visiting Dilworth Park during Philadelphia Marketplace, make sure to visit the park's interactive fountain, lush lawn and tree grove seating areas, which features a café. The fountain, open in the warmer months, transforms into an ice skating rink each winter. Both are favorite activities for kids and adults alike. Spring through fall the park is bustling with people enjoying the many activities happening all week long. Festivals, live musical and arts and culture performances, and happy hour specials bring an audience to the park all hours of the day and night. Plus, you can stay connected with free WiFi at Dilworth Park. And all of this activity is taking place above a major transit hub.

For additional information, visit www dot madeinphila dot com, follow @philaholidays on Instagram, and like Philadelphia Marketplace on Facebook.

2024 EVENT DATES:
September 6 – October 5, 2024 (Fri + Sat each week)
Friday: 12:00pm - 6:00pm
Saturday: 12:00pm - 6:00pm

LOCATION
Dilworth Park at the West Side of City Hall Philadelphia
1 S 15th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA

SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES:
Facebook:
@madeinphila

Instagram:
@philaholidays

WEBSITE:
www dot madeinphila dot com

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Courtesy of Michelle Tabnick PR

22) Teatro Grattacielo

Presents the World Premiere of

Beyond the Horizon

September 15, 2024

LA MAMA Shares


Teatro Grattacielo announces the world premiere of Beyond the Horizon, based on Nobel laureate Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-winning play. The premiere will take place on September 15, 2024 at 4pm at LA MAMA Shares, 66 E. 4th Street, New York NY, 10003. Tickets are $55 are on sale now and available for purchase at https://grattacielo.org/season/beyond-the-horizon-world-premiere.


For the first time in its history, Teatro Grattacielo will present an American neo-romantic masterpiece written by composer Nicolas Flagello, with libretto by Nicolas Flagello and Walter Simmons: the World Premiere of Beyond The Horizon. Exploring the themes of hope, disillusionment, missed life opportunities and the pursuit of dreams through the story of two brothers in conflict over love and destiny, this production promises an experimental and immersive experience. The cast showcases John Robert Green, John Bellemer, Sara Kennedy, Daniel Klein, Melina Jaharis, Seven Kirby, Carla Lopez Speziale, Henry Hyunsoon Kim, Kathleen Echols, Rick Agster, Hana Yiu, and the Teatro Grattacielo orchestra, conducted by Christian Capocaccia. The production is Directed by Ian Silverman with set design by Taylor Friel, lighting design by Dimitris Koutas, and costume design by Stefanos Koroneos. The opera will be sung in English.


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Courtesy of Michelle Tabnick PR

23) Vangeline Theater/New York Butoh Institute

presents

911 Performance in Time Square, NYC

Wednesday, September 11, 2024 at 7:30pm


Join Vangeline Theater/New York Butoh Institute on Wednesday, Sept 11, 2024 from 7:30-8:00 pm for their tradition of honoring the victims of 911 with a Butoh procession and performance in Times Square, NYC. This annual Butoh 911 offering has taken place in New York, directed by Vangeline, since 2003. The event is free to attend, bring a flower for our circle. https://www.vangeline.com/calendar-of-upcoming-events/2024/9/11/911-performance-in-time-square-in-nyc


Artists interesting in performing at the event may join the workshop on September 7 and 8 and learn simple choreography directed by award-winning director Vangeline: https://www.vangeline.com


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Michelle Tabnick PR

24) Works & Process Presents

Opera Philadelphia and Lyric Opera of Chicago: The Listeners by Missy Mazzoli

Sunday, September 15, 2024 at 7pm

Peter B. Lewis Theater, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum


Works & Process presents Opera Philadelphia and Lyric Opera of Chicago: The Listeners by Missy Mazzoli on Sunday, September 15, 2024 at 7pm at the Guggenheim’s Peter B. Lewis Theater, 1071 Fifth Avenue, NY. Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased at https://www.worksandprocess.org/calendar/works-and-process-at-the-guggenheim-operaphil-lyricopera-thelisteners.


Composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek follow their hit 2016 opera Breaking the Waves with a thriller about social rejection, suburban loneliness, and the seductive power of cults and charismatic leaders in our increasingly polarized times. Co-commissioned and co-produced with Opera Philadelphia, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Norwegian National Opera, The Listeners examines the lengths to which we, as Americans, are willing to go to find a sense of place and purpose, and the way in which confident, charming leaders can exploit these needs to their own ends. Prior to the American premiere at Opera Philadelphia in September 2024 and performances with Lyric Opera of Chicago in March 2025, members of the creative team will discuss their creative process, and excerpts will be performed.


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


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