Dance

Theatre News: Pop-Ups, Today Tix, AMAS, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Theater for the New City

Published

2 years ago

April 6, 2021

We knew there was going to be a pop-up but who? On Saturday afternoon, a Broadway theater opened up for under an hour. Savion Glover and Nathan Lane took to the stage of the the St. James Theatre. A medical tent and metal detectors, an app, ID, and proof of negative Covid test or vaccination are the new norm.

On April 3rd TodayTix launched their brand new TodayTix Original concert series, held live and in-person on the rooftop at Showfields (11 Bond Street). The original concert series kicked off with newly-minted Grammy Award-winner Lauren Patten, followed by Tony Award nominee Derek Klena.

Future performers will include On Your Feet! star Ana Villafañe on Friday, April 16, and The Lion King’s Bradley Gibson on Saturday, April 17; all performances begin at 6:30 PM. Tickets for each concert are $40 per person and are on sale now exclusively at TodayTix.com.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize is proud to present a virtual presentation to announce the 2021 winner of one of the most prestigious playwriting awards, and the oldest and largest prize awarded to women+ playwrights, on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 at 3pm EST / 8pm BST. Sign up to watch the presentation HERE, hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning Playwright and Susan Smith Blackburn Prize winner (1983) Marsha Norman.

The virtual presentation will feature the Ten Finalists, chosen from an international group of over 160 nominated plays, as they present their plays. They are:

Glace Chase (Aus/US) Triple X

Erika Dickerson-Despenza (US) cullud wattah

Miranda Rose Hall (US) A Play for the Living in the Time of Extinction

Dawn King (UK) The Trials

Kimber Lee (US) The Water Palace

Janice Okoh (UK) The Gift

Ife Olujobi (US) Jordans

Frances Poet (UK) Maggie May

Jiehae Park (US) The Aves

Beth Steel (UK) The House of Shades

The Winner, to be announced during the virtual presentation, will be awarded a cash prize of $25,000 USD, and will receive a signed print by renowned artist Willem de Kooning, created especially for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Each of the additional Finalists will receive an award of $5,000. At the discretion of the Judges, a play can also be honored with a Special Commendation of $10,000.

On Saturday, April 10 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM, Theater for the New City (TNC), 155 First Ave., will present a mixed music and performance lineup for the next-to-last installment of “Open ‘Tho Shut,” its afternoon of “walk-by theater” that is staged in its set shop and visible from East Tenth Street between First and Second Avenues. This will be the twenty-second weekly offering of this series.

The theater will resume indoor performances on April 22. So April 17 will be the finale for its “Open ‘Tho Shut” series, which has been mounted every Saturday since November 14, 2020. The program offers a succession of free, live performances in which acts are staged in the theater’s set shop for audiences of socially distanced passers-by, who watch through an open garage door on East Tenth Street. These live performances are also live streamed on TNC’s website (https://www.theaterforthenewcity.net) and Facebook page.

APRIL 10, 2021

* Mistress of Ceremonies: CRYSTAL FIELD (Artistic Director of Theater for the New City)

* COBU(all-female Japanese Taiko drumming and dance troupe of Yako Miyamoto, Ayaha Otsuka, Mayu Yamashita, Micro Fukuyama and Kana Matsui)

* Playwright BARBARA KAHN in short plays from her own body of work

* Composer/pianist PETER DIZOZZA

*Comedian LEI ZHOU

The lineup for the series finale April 17 (in formation as of this writing) includes COBU, The Michael-David Band featuring Michael David Gordon, Kenya Wilson in an excerpt from a play by Alicia Foxworth, and songs by Justin Rodriguez and Natasha Velez.

The series was launched November 14, 2020 as part of “More Ways than Broadway’s,” a city-wide collection of safe and socially distanced pop-up performances to demonstrate small theaters’ readiness and desperate desire to physically reopen and to counteract the perception, based on formal Broadway, that legitimate theaters can’t reopen safely. The performances were intended to demonstrate an Off-Off Broadway aesthetic that could allow smaller theaters to open safely at this time.

TNC pioneered walk-by theater in its 2020 Village Halloween Costume Ball October 31, when it reconfigured its set shop with lighting and sound to make it a venue for ten-minute plays. The effort was named “Chopshop Theater.” Ten live performances were offered for revelers who might pass by on East Tenth Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues). They watched through an open garage door and were separated from the performers by a waist-high, see-through traffic barricade. Standing spaces for audience members were delineated six feet apart with chalked pumpkins on the sidewalk. Onlookers were urged to move on between performances so that the crowd would not become too large, health-wise.

The shop was renamed “The Chopshop Theater” for this series. It is outfitted with an elaborate set by Mark Marcante and Litza Colon, full stage lighting by Alexander Bartenieff and a four-mic sound system.

TNC requires all “Open ‘Tho Shut” performers to be tested before their appearances. Temperatures are taken as they arrive to perform. Hand sanitizer is provided and microphones are sanitized between performances. Masks are provided to any audience members who arrive without their own. Emcees have a separate mic.

Previous editions of “Open ‘Tho Shut” are archived here: https://theaterforthenewcity.net/the-chopshop-theater/

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Suzanna Bowling

Suzanna, co-owns and publishes the newspaper Times Square Chronicles or T2C. At one point a working actress, she has performed in numerous productions in film, TV, cabaret, opera and theatre. She has performed at The New Orleans Jazz festival, The United Nations and Carnegie Hall. She has a screenplay and a TV show in the works, which she developed with her mentor and friend the late Arthur Herzog. She is a proud member of the Drama Desk and the Outer Critics Circle and was a nominator. Email: suzanna@t2conline.com

Dance

Rockefeller Center presents Ice Theatre of New York, Inc

Published

2 days ago

March 22, 2023

Suzanna Bowling

Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY) is proud to hit the ice at The Rink at Rockefeller Center on March 23, 2023 at 12:30pm with ITNY Ensemble members Liz Yoshiko Schmidt and Danil Berdnikov performing Lorna Brown’s Timelessness. For more information, visit icetheatre.org/calendar.html.

Timelessness

Choreography by Lorna Brown

Performed by Liz Yoshiko Schmidt and Danil Berdnikov

Music: Nocturne in D Flat Major “Un Rêve” by Brooklyn composer/pianist Eric Christian

Commissioned by ITNY for the upcoming Home Season and Gala in May 2023

A duet by ITNY ice artists Liz Yoshiko Schmidt and Danil Berdnikov, the piece explores “Timelessness.” This piece will preview at Bryant Park before its performance at ITNY’s Home Season and Gala.

“Every shape that my body can make… flowing from one movement to another, being able to see yourself in yourself in your mind’s eye… connected with every creature that has lived or died,” said Lorna Brown.

Danil Berdnikov hails from the city of Samara, Russia, from which he competed as part of the junior national team as well as across his vast native land through high school. He then moved to Moscow both to continue his education and to join Stage Entertainment Russia to begin performing as a skater. Performing for an audience allowed Danil to fall in love with skating in a new way and his career has blossomed over eight years with Willy Bietak Productions and Wheeler Productions in the United States, Stageworks Worldwide Production in the UK and Holiday on Ice Productions and Dynamic Shows Entertainment in the EU. ITNY welcomes Danil as an artist, grateful to his parents, coaches, choreographers, and the fellow skaters who have supported him along the way.

Elizabeth (Liz) Yoshiko Schmidt has been skating with ITNY since 2017. Luscious edges, artistic dynamic movement, and traditional ice dancing and fundamentals in figures inform her skating and professional career which began in 2013, at the age of 18, performing internationally in Germany, France, Austria, Egypt and across the United States. A Japanese/German American skater who hails from Chicago, IL, she recently moved from San Francisco, CA, to New York City. A U.S. Figure Skating double gold medalist in Freestyle and Moves in the Field, and a silver medalist in Ice Dancing, Liz received her BFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2018, and has exhibited her paintings and art work across the Bay Area. Liz took Jazz Fusion dance class at the Alonzo King Lines Dance Center in San Francisco from Lynn Brilhante for 7 years. Her former skating coaches are: Lorna Brown, Beata Handra, Paul Spruell, Phillip DiGuglielmo, Louis Vachon, Audra Shindo-Chan, and most importantly Larry Holliday (African American 6x US Adult Nationals Campionship champion, former Ebony on Ice performer and her first coach).

Lorna Brown, a British and World Professional Champion and World and Olympic coach, has been a principal performer in numerous ice shows across the globe, including John Curry’s Ice Dancing on Broadway and Theatre of Skating at the London Palladium. She has appeared in TV specials, touring galas, and commercials worldwide and has studied contemporary dance, working with some of the world’s leading choreographers. She has coached and choreographed for over 50 national champions including two world professional champions. Lorna most recently choreographed for Emanuel Sandhu, (three-time Canadian Champion), Kevin Van Der Perren (Belgium Champion, two-time European medalist and 2011 silver medalist in Bratislava and Skate America) and Jenna McCorkell (10-time British Champion). Lorna has given workshops on all aspects of figure skating at National and International seminars for both skaters and coaches. She has produced and directed her own international skating school in the UK called Skate of the Art with the world-famous Rafael Arutunian. She specializes in the latest physics and aerodynamics in skating techniques, focuses a great deal on expression and style in her choreography, and has written several articles for skating magazines on these subjects. Lorna moved to the USA several years ago, has been awarded the PSA Level 7 ranking and holds a Bachelor’s in sports science. “Timelessness” is Lorna’s second commission for ITNY.

Dance

Tiler Peck, Melissa Manchester, Melissa Errico, Lisa Fischer and More In Song, Dance, Spoken Word

Published

2 weeks ago

March 10, 2023

Suzanna Bowling

In honor of Women’s History Month, The Cooper Union is organizing a series of talks, exhibitions, and programs, culminating on Saturday, March 18 with a star-studded evening featuring headliners from across the worlds of dance, music, and theatre.

Song, Dance, Spoken Word is an exhilarating celebration that includes powerful performances by New York City Ballet principal dancer Tiler Peck; singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester; Tony Award-nominated Broadway actress Melissa Errico; Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Lisa Fischer; comedian and The Cooper Union alumna Alice Wetterlund; groundbreaking performance ensemble Urban Bush Women; and American tap dancer and choreographer Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, among many others.

Tickets are $15 and you could get them here.

Dance

Great Performances 50th Anniversary Concert Special With Sutton Foster, Chita Rivera and More

Published

3 weeks ago

March 1, 2023

Suzanna Bowling

Great Performances will continue its 50th anniversary season on PBS with Great Performances at 50: Celebrating Broadway’s Best, a celebration of Broadway in the past 50 years hosted by two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster performed from Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater.

The performance will be staged by Tony-winning director-choreographer Warren Carlyle, with Patrick Vaccariello (The Music Man) as music director and written b Tony Awards veteran Dave Boone.

The star-studded show will be taped live from Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater on March 23. The special will premier Friday, May 12 on PBS and include performances by André de Shields, Robyn Hurder, Jane Krakowski, Norm Lewis, Donna McKechnie, Betty Buckley, Jessie Mueller, Chita Rivera, Vanessa Williams and many more.

This special concert will be followed by the Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Richard III starring Danai Gurira on Friday, May 19th..