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What to Watch in The New Year: February 26

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Nathan Lane

Bayard, A Streaming Musical Concert Presentation Richard Allen and Taran Gray’s Bayard streams as a concert version for free on YouTube. The musical tells the story of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin and his creation of the March on Washington. He was a silenced voice in history for being openly gay. The production was presented by Temecula Valley Theater.

Gatsby A Musical It’s the Roaring Twenties! The 1920s, that is. A concert staging of Gatsby A Musical will be filmed at London’s Cadogan Hall and be made available for streaming February 26–28.

Adapted by director Linnie Reedman and with a score by Joe Evans, the musical is inspired by the F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age tome, The Great Gatsby. Set seven years after the events of the novel, Daisy Buchanan revisits Jay Gatsby’s mansion after leaving that world behind, set on confronting her past by reliving the dream she shared with Gatsby.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice By Southwark Playhouse The Sorcerer’s Apprentice will now be streamed due to the pandemic and continued lockdown. The pay-per-view stream will be available February 26–March 14.

The New York Pops Up Festival a thousand in-person performances throughout the state from now through June. Most events associated with NY PopsUp will be unannounced (and unticketed) and will be designed so that New Yorkers happen upon them in their everyday lives. (Since we can’t have large gatherings right now, we want to bring a lot of small things to the public where they are) NY PopsUp is a surprise that you happen upon, rather than an event or concert you are alerted to via a notification or a schedule.

2:30pm and 9:30pm: Romeo & Juliet, Starring Sam Tutty and Emily RedpathWilliam Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, co-starring Dear Evan Hansen Olivier winner Sam Tutty and Emily Redpath, is directed by Nick Evans.

A portion of the proceeds will go to Acting for Others. Times are listed in ET. Performances begin at 2:30 PM or 7:30 PM GMT.

The cast also features two-time Olivier winner Derek Jacobi as the Narrator, Brandon Bassir as Mercutio, Daniel Bowerbank as Benvolio, Jonny Labey as Paris, Sylvester Akinrolabu as Tybalt, Helen Anker as Capulet, Marc Ozall as Montague, Lucy Tregear as Nurse, Vinta Morgan as Friar, Jessica Murrain as Prince, Timmy Driscoll as Sam, Tats Nyazika as Gregory, Iskandar Eton as Abe, and Ollie Tennant as Balthasar.

The filmed production also features editing by Metcalfe, production design by Jamie Osborne for Preevue, costume design by Natasha Bowles, original music by Sam Dinley, sound design by Olly Steel, lighting design by Elliot Smith, visual effects by Preevue, production management by Gary Beestone, and casting by Jim Arnold. Gwenan Bain serves as assistant director.

Romeo & Juliet is produced by Metcalfe Gordon Productions.

5pm: Virtual Halston: Julie’s Extremely Special Guest will be Broadway/Television/Film star Nathan Lane.

Annette O'Toole
Annette O’Toole

7pm: The Typists By Play-PerView Stage and screen actors (and real life spouses) Annette O’Toole (A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur) and Michael McKean (The Little Foxes) will star in a reading of the 1963 Off-Broadway play by Murray Schisgal, The Typists.

The one-act chronicles the developing romance between new co-workers—a married man and his unmarried supervisor.

The reading premieres 7 PM ET February 26, and follows with a live talk back with O’Toole and McKean, and the production’s director, Austin Pendleton. Proceeds will benefit Williamstown Theatre Festival.

7pm: Black History Trilogy III: André De Shields is Frederick Douglass: Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory In honor of Black History Month, Flushing Town Hall presents its Black History Trilogy, a three-part series of outstanding Broadway performers showcasing the music and speeches of influential African American artists, scholars, and leaders.

Tony, Grammy, and Emmy winner star André De Shields (Hadestown) concludes the Trilogy with a performance of an excerpt from his self-crafted solo work Frederick Douglass: Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory. The one-man show explores the life and achievements of the great emancipator Frederick Douglass.

7pm: Delejos (from afar) This performance is written and directed explicitly for Zoom. The show transforms a Zoom room into an immersive theatre experience, re-imagining it’s familiar presentation tools through live set changes, lighting cues, “camera angles”, a musical score, at-home VR “headsets”, and a sprinkling of magical realism.

Delejos takes you into Julie Piñero’s pre-pandemic pursuit of a question that became central to today’s COVID world: Do we lose something simply because we’re far from it?

When Julie’s partner Jose Zambrano unexpectedly died in 2019, she decided to take a journey through his work-in-progress design for a VR video game he called “Delejos.” It’s a game about overcoming physical separation, inspired by his own experience of forced immigration from Venezuela.

By his design, players journey to connect to something they love from afar. So, equipped with his larger-than-life legacy and the tools Julie mines from her own latinidad, she ventures through his game in search of connection with him. What she finds, however, is his larger path to hope in the face of chaos.

Writer-performer Piñero is a comedian and producer best known for her work on Audible’s Mind Power Mixtape and Come Out, Come Out, HuffPost’s Crash the Party, and Thrillist’s Food/Groups. Producer Caitlin Stone has worked for video teams at HuffPost, Bravo Digital, and Bon Appétit.

7pm: BFRJ Revival By Broadway for Racial Justice Deon’te Goodman, Arnold Harper and Mariah Lyttle. This concert was underwritten by The Miranda Foundation

7:30pm: Verdi’s La Traviata Few operatic figures are as beloved as Violetta, the dignified, selfless, and sickly heroine of Verdi’s classic tragedy. An elegant courtesan with a heart of gold, she chooses true love over the amusements and riches of her glamorous Parisian life, then sacrifices everything for the sake of a young woman she’s never even met. All of this—the glitter of her earlier wealth, the heat of her passion with the ardent young Alfredo, the pain of their separation, and her tragic end—lands with devastating weight thanks to Verdi, whose score stands as one of music’s greatest depictions of love and loss.

Jerry Mitchell
Jerry Mitchell

8pm: Stars in the House Jerome Robbins’ Broadway Cast Reunion with Jason Alexander, Scott Frankel, Michael Kubala, Robert LaFosse, Paul Gemignani, Jerry Mitchell, Tom Robbins and Scott Wise.

8pm: Kim McClay Instagram Concert seen touring the country as Maggie in A Chorus Line prior to the shutdown, performs a live stream concert on Instarram in celebration of her upcoming EP My Sanity.  

Proceeds from February 26’s online performance will support both the EP’s final mastering and relief efforts in Texas via Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s relief fund; the money raised is being distributed between housing centers, food banks, eldercare centers, and other organizations throughout the state of Texas.

8pm: Memories: The Moments That Make Us Join Arts For Alz for an incredible nights of virtual artistic performance to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Association. 

In addition to performance pieces from the Arts for Alz team, the lineup includes:

Stephanie Klemons, Eric Mann, Alicia Albright, Sarah Parker, Penelope (PJ) Armstead-Williams, Caleb Funk, Taylor DeNapoli, MiMi Scardulla, Richard Cerato, Kalyn West, Arianne Meneses, Jillian L. Spinale, Marissa Alma Nick, Jena VanElslander, Johari Taitt, Phil Colgan, Kaitlyn Frank, Jenna Mitchell, Beth Liebowitz, Avery-Jai Andrews, Marc Kimelman, Jenn Rose, and Sara Brians.

8pm: Radio Bemba; a night of one-act plays by Latinx playwright By The Tank. Featuring plays by  Chase Doggett, Irisdelia Garcia, Makasha Copeland, and Isaiah Stavchansky.

Directors include Morgan Rielly, Irisdelia Garcia, Jeremy Pesigan, and Michael Herwitz.

Actors include Makasha Copeland, Chase Doggett, Sabine Jacques, Amber-Nicole Rodriguez, Jordan Reed, Sandra Seoane-Seri, Emily Tanch, Gabrielle Silva, Amara Leonard, Jarrett Jung, and Lilla Brody.

The Things Are Against Us Susan Soon He Stanton’s The Things Are Against Us will be the next production in MCC’s LiveLab one-act digital reading series. Ellie Heyman directs the cast, which includes Juan Castano, Emily Davis, Susannah Flood, Babak Tafti, and Danny Wolohan, in tthe play set in a mysterious house with a mind of its own. The production will stream on MCC’s YouTube Channel February 25 at 6:30 PM ET.

John Lithgow, Daniel Breaker, More Sing Adam Guettel’s Myths & Hymns (Episode 2) By MasterVoices The central project of MasterVoices’ 2020-2021 season will be a virtual rollout of award-winning composer Adam Guettel’s theatrical song cycle, Myths and Hymns, in an online staging conceived by Ted Sperling. 

SoHo Playhouse Presents Typical Soho Theatre and Nouveau Riche present the world premiere of Typical, the film version of the stage play, released exclusively on Soho Theatre On Demand February 24. 

Written by Ryan Calais Cameron and directed by Anastasia Osei-Kuffour, Typical uncovers the man and the humanity behind the tragic true-life events of Black British ex-serviceman Christopher Alder and the injustice that still remains twenty years since his story emerged. 

Bad Dates George Street Playhouse through March 14. Andrea Burns stars in Theresa Rebeck’s one-woman comedy about a single mom in search of cute shoes, the perfect dress, and a romantic table for two 

The Belle’s Stratagem Tootsie stars Lilli Cooper and Santino Fontana will reunite for Red Bull Theater’s upcoming benefit reading of Hannah Cowley’s The Belle’s Stratagem.

Directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch, the virtual reading will be presented February 22 at 7:30 PM ET. A recording of the live stream will be available through February 26 at 7 PM ET.

Joining Tony nominee Cooper and Tony winner Fontana will be Cecil Baldwin, Jasmine Batchelor, Mark Bedard, Neal Bledsoe, Peter Jay Fernandez, Tony Jenkins, Lauren Karaman, Aaron Krohn, Heather Alicia Simms, and Chauncy Thomas.

Julius Caesar, Starring Patrick Page By Shakespeare@ Tony nominee Patrick Page (Hadestown) stars in the title role with Jordan Barbour (The Inheritance) as Brutus and Keith Hamilton Cobb (American Moor) as Cassius. West End Harry Potter and the Cursed Child performers Jamie Ballard and James Howard co-star as Mark Antony and Metellus Cimber, respectively. 

The production is also be available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, and Stitcher.

Produced by Jersey City’s Shakespeare@, this audio production is the third installment of the season, produced and adapted by Artistic Director Sean Hagerty.

Hagerty has crafted the production into four weekly parts and partnered with the Emmy-winning team at Sonic Designs to capture the lost art and thrill of radio drama all without leaving the confines of quarantine.

Julius Caesar features original music composed by Joan Melton with sound design by the Emmy-winning team of Dan Gerhard and Ellen Fitton of Sonic Designs. Justin Goldner is the music producer and supervisor, and casting is by Robin Carus. Sydney Steele serves as the associate producer. 

Franz Kafka’s Letter to My Father M-34 through March 28
In 1919, the ailing writer wrote a letter to his father full of intense mixed emotions.

Processing… Theatre East announces another world premiere, Processing…, a play centered around four NYC high school seniors whose lives have been upended by the lockdown and sudden death of a beloved computer science teacher. Until the 27.

Written by 2020 high school graduate, Petra Brusiloff, the story explores the lost and uncertain futures of students coming of age in during a pandemic. 

The cast features Lizzy Jarret, Marshall Louise, Jasmine McLeish and Feisola Soetan under the direction of Theatre East Artistic Director Judson Jones with production broadcast design and engineering by Romo Hallahan. Costume design is by Sherry Martinez, with lighting design by Zach Murphy, and scenic design by Steven Brenman.

Smithtown The Studios of Key West $20 through Feb 27
In this play by Drew Larimore starring Michael Urie, Ann Harada, Colby Lewis and Constance Shulman, a single text message overturns life in a small Midwestern university town, a riff on the effects of social media.

Borders By The Tank in association with The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Community Center, will present a live stream production of Tel-Aviv playwright Nimrod Danishman’s two-hander Borders.

The play chronicles the virtual relationship of two men (played by Eli M. Schoenfeld and Adrian Rafit) who wish to meet, but are prevented from doing so—one is in Israel, and the other in Lebanon.

Produced by Dirty Laundry Theatre, Borders will live stream on CyberTank February 11–27, then will be available on demand. 

7pm: Franz Kafka’s Letter to My Father M-34 through March 28
In 1919, the ailing writer wrote a letter to his father full of intense mixed emotions.

Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer E. Faye Butler stars in the rolling world premiere of Cheryl L. West’s Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer.

The solo show, presented through March 3, is produced by Asolo Rep in association with Goodman Theatre and Seattle Rep.

The Henry Godinez-helmed drama tells the impassioned story of the American Civil Rights activist and hero.

Sin Eaters by Anna Moench South Philadelphia-based theater company Theatre Exile presents the debut of Anna Moench’s Sin Eaters.

Directed by Theatre Exile Resident Artist Matt Pfeiffer, and featuring Philadelphia-based actors Bi Jean Ngo and David M Raine.

Toeing the lines between satire and harsh reality, Sin Eaters is an examination of the human experience and the extremity of what the social media industry puts people through in order for the rest of us to have a positive and sustained online life.

The Outsiders Laguna PLayhouse through February 28 $20
Christopher Sergel’s 1990 stage adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s coming-of-age novel (which Francis Ford Coppola famously adapted into a starry 1983 movie.) It follows the “Greasers,”  narrator Ponyboy Curtis and his friends,  as they navigate teenage angst and class warfare in Tulsa, Oklahoma.https://www.youtube.com/embed/k2BExpxYaXY

Far Away Quantum Theater through March 7 $10 to $50 Caryl Churchill’s surreal portrait of a descent into a hyper-partisan future 

Expirer Wilma Theater Dive into a cyberspace underworld through this interactive website. Demons, both classical and contemporary, lurk among the virtual artifacts, waiting to be purged. Part of this Philadelphia theater’s weekly Hothouse Shorts.

The Night Watcher By Primary Stages59E59 An encore presentation of The Night Watcher by Obie Award winner and Tony Award nominee Charlayne Woodard (In Real Life).

The Manic Monologues Current Slave Play Tony nominee Ato Blankson-Wood, Rent Tony winner Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Accidentally Brave playwright Maddie Corman, and more stage favorites will explore mental health this winter in a new digital production from the McCarter Theatre Center.

The Manic Monologues debuts February 18 with 21 true-life monologues that users can explore at their own pace and through an interactive element virtually respond to.

Christa McAuliffe’s Eyes Were Blue Center Theater Group
through April 4. $10 Kemp Powers’ play tells the story of twins, one who dreamt of space, the other who became a successful attorney, who have lived starkly different lives, because one has dark skin and the other passes as white. The action plays out in 1980s New York and a Minnesota courthouse in 2006.

PIAF… Her Story… Her Songs By Broadway’s Best Shows French singer and recording artist Raquel Bitton stars in the exploration of the life of the late chanteuse Edith Piaf. Part documentary, part stage performance, Bitton becomes Piaf while singing, but then steps back and tells her story—in English—between the mostly French songs.

Snapshots, A Musical Scrapbook by Stephen Schwartz $20 through February 28.

This is an original musical which incorporates over two dozen of Stephen Schwartz’s songs, including numbers from WickedPippinGodspellThe Baker’s WifeRagsWorkingChildren of Eden, and Enchanted.

This musical is a touching and authentic look into how we fall in love and the poignant power of trusting our hearts and memories.​ ACT of CT’s Artistic Director, Daniel C. Levine and Music Supervisor, Bryan Perri, in collaboration with Stephen Schwartz have captured this remarkable and heartwarming musical for ACT.

Simply Sondheim Signature Theater of Arlington. Available through March 26. Thirty Sondheim songs performed by a 16-piece orchestra and a dozen singers, including Norm Lewis, Emily Skinner, Solea Pfeiffer and Conrad Ricamora

Playing on Air: Napoleon in Exile By Playing on Air by Daniel Reitz (New Dramatists), a moving, unexpectedly funny portrait of a family on the brink.

Everyday life is a battlefield for single mother Evelyn and her adult son Corey, who has ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder). But underneath their sparring over Minecraft and job applications, a game-changing crisis is bubbling.

Directed by Golden Globe winner Marsha Mason, Napoleon in Exile stars Emmy nominee Jane Kaczmarek and Will Dagger as mother and son. After the performance, the artists join host Claudia Catania to discuss writing for actors and bringing theater chops to the world of sitcom TV.

Today Is My Birthday By Theater Mu A comedy about loneliness in the age of connection written by Susan Soon He Stanton and directed by Lily Tung Crystal. 

Emily, a 29-year-old would-be writer, retreats home to O’ahu after Manhattan finally gets the best of her. But trading one island for another doesn’t help. When she stumbles into a gig as an actor on a shock-jock radio dating show, she falls for her fake love interest and finds herself strangely determined to turn that fantasy into reality. Told through a playful combination of phone calls, voicemails, and live radio spots, Stanton’s quirky show illustrates life with a thousand friends on Facebook, but no one to talk to on a Saturday night.

Hi, Are You Single? By Woolly MammothIAMA Ryan has a higher sex drive than you. He also has cerebral palsy. You can often find him on Grindr or at your local inaccessible gay bar. From encounters with drag queens to platonic lap dances, Ryan will guide you through the gay dating scene with his provocative take on intimacy, rejection, and judgment. His one request? Please bring an attractive male friend with you.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and IAMA present Ryan J. Haddad’s search to find love (or at least a hookup) in his celebrated autobiographical solo show.

The performance is available to stream throughout the month of February. 

Clay Wilma Theater The Philadelphia theater continues its weekly Hothouse Shorts in February, with these intertwining audio tales of one everyday object.

The Haunting of Alice Bowles A new theatrical production streaming online from Original Theatre Company (Apollo 13: The Dark Side of The Moon) debuts.

The Haunting of Alice Bowles by Philip Franks, based on M.R. James’ short story The Experiment, stars Janie Dee, Max Bowden, Stephen Boxer, Jack Archer, Alexandra Guelff, Robert Mountford, Poppy Roe, and Tim Treloar.

In 1918, the recently widowed Alice Bowles is left destitute as she seeks to solve a mystery left by her late husband Francis. Moving to 2020, YouTube urban explorers Matt and Caitlin uncover a mysterious grave in an abandoned churchyard. What starts as harmless entertainment turns darker when their discovery begins to unwrap a mystery which has lain dormant for over a century.

The digital production is co-directed by Philip Franks and Alastair Whatley, designed by Adrian Linford, and edited by Tristan Shepherd, with sound design and original music composed by Max Pappenheim.

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

Broadway

Events For December

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Cabaret, Talks and Concerts For December

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Tis the season to be entertained. Here are picks:

92 Street Y: 1395 Lexington Ave. 12/2 – 4: Lyrics & Lyricists In the Key of Life: The Genius of Stevie Wonder. Led by Broadway’s Darius de Haas; 12/5: Recanati-Kaplan Talks Death, Let Me Do My Show: Rachel Bloom in Conversation and 12/14: Sharon Stone and Jerry Saltz Talk About Art.

Birdland Jazz: 315 West 44 St. Every Monday at 5:30 Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks and 9:30pm Jim Caruso’s Cast Party; Every Tuesday at 8:30pm The Lineup with Susie Mosher; Every Saturday at 7pm Eric Comstock with Sean Smith (Bass) & special guest Barbara Fasano (Voice); 12/11: Karen Mason for her annual Christmas show “Christmas! Christmas! Christmas!”; 12/12 – 16 Stacy Kent; 12/18: James Barbour returns to Birdland with his annual Holiday Concert: 12/21 – 25: “A Swinging Birdland Christmas” starring Birdland regulars Klea Blackhurst, Jim Caruso and Billy Stritch and 12/28 – 31: Marilyn Maye.

Sutton Foster

Cafe Carlyle: 35 E 76th St. 12/1 – 9: Sutton Foster; 12/12 – 16: Gavin DeGraw and 12/19 – 31: Michael Feinstein.

Michael W Smith and Amy Grant

Carnegie Hall: 881 7th Ave at 57th St. 12/5: Christmas with Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith; 12/6: Dee Dee Bridgewater with Sean Jones and the NYO Jazz All-Star Big Band; 12/13: Michael Feinstein and Jean-Yves Thibaudet and 12/22 – 23: The New York Pops The Best Christmas of All with Norm Lewis

Steven Reineke by Michael Tammaro, Norm Lewis by Peter Hurley

Chelsea Table + Stage: Hilton Fashion District Hotel, 152 W 26th St. 12/8: Mariann Meringolo and 12/9: A Christmas Special Robert Bannon.

Don’t Tell Mama: 343 W. 46 St.

Dizzys Club Coca Cola: Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street.

The DJango: 2 Avenue of the Americas. 12/28: Lee Taylor

Christine Ebersole with Billy Stritch
7:00pm

54 Below: 254 West 54 St. 12/3: The Cast of Sweeney Todd, feat. Gaten Matarazzo, Maria Bilbao, & more! 12/4: Brandon Victor Dixon: Soul of Broadway; 12/5: We Love the Winter Weather: Songs of the Season with KT Sullivan, Stacy Sullivan, Jeff Harnar, & Todd Murray; 12/5 and 29: Christine Pedi: Snow Bizness; 12/8 – 10: The 13th Annual Joe Iconis Christmas Extravaganza, feat. Annie Golden & more!; 12/12 – 17: Christine Ebersole with Billy Stritch: I’ll Be Home For Christmas ; 12/19 – 20: Lisa Howard’s Holiday Special!; 12/21 – 23: A Very Countess Christmas with Luann de Lesseps; 12/24, 26 – 30: Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway: Yuletide Revelry! and 12/31: New Year’s Eve with Aaron Tveit!

The Green Room 42: 570 10th Ave. 12/2: Sally Mayes; 12/11: Mamie Paris; 12/13: Danny Bacher and Dawn Derow.

José Feliciano

Sony Hall: 235 W. 46th St. 12/22: José Feliciano

Theatre at the West Bank Café: 407 West 42 St. 9/28: Alison Angrim

The Triad: 158 W. 72 St. 12/2 and 5: White Christmas at the Triad: A Celebration of Irving Berlin;


The Town Hall:
 123 West 43rd Street. 12/18: The 43rd John Lennon Annual Tribute starring Graham Nash, who will receive the 2023 John Lennon Real Love Award and play some of his favorite John Lennon and Beatles classics. Nash will be joined by a stellar line-up including Rosanne Cash, Judy Collins, Marc Cohn and Bettye LaVette; 12/5: A Very Darren Crissmas Meet & Greet Experience and 12/22: Rufus and Martha Wainwright’s Nöel Nights.
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Alec Wilder Tribute 

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Devotees of the Great American Songbook have another reason to love living in New York.  Yes, cabaret shows of the music of Porter, Rodgers et al abound here of course, but once a year there is a loving tribute to a lesser-known composer.  Some of us may have even passed him on West 44th Street as he was leaving his home in the Algonquin Hotel.  This dapper gentleman was Alec Wilder, a musician who wrote classical pieces as well as songs.  He wrote words and music, and sometimes let the likes of Marshall Barer, Fran Landesman and even Johnny Mercer supply lyrics.  There are a few of these titans who can have one foot in Tin Pan Alley and the other in Carnegie Hall.  George Gershwin comes to mind immediately; Cole Porter dabbled but reverted to what he could do best.  Wilder also wrote American Popular Song/The Great Innovators 1900-1950, a volume respected by those who love the music of that era.  

The Friends of Alec Wilder presented their 38th Annual Concert for an audience of seriously devoted fans of Wilder on November 11th at 54 Below. 

Mark Walter, FOAW Board Member and son of noted pianist and friend of Wilder’s Cy Walter, introduced Honorary Host Steve Ross, who along with the ever-amiable Eric Comstock interspersed the music with anecdotes about Wilder which rounded out the portrait of the gentleman being painted so effectively by the rest of the cast.    

Barbara Fasano, Eric Comstock

The afternoon began with one of Wilder’s chamber works, presented lovingly by The Wilderness Trio. Eric Comstock followed, summing up Wilder by saying that his music never went out of vogue because it was never in vogue. Wilder is like that secret ingredient that once having tasted it, one yearns for it thereafter. Eric sang four songs, infusing I’ll Wait with his ineffable sass and charm before being joined by his wife, the spunky and gorgeous Barbara Fasano, who made each lyric come to life in ways Wilder would have appreciated. Sean Smith provided bass support, and the trio which has been a mainstay at Birdland illuminated Wilder’s deep emotional grasp of the human condition.   

Jason Henderson photo credit Van Craig

The Wildebeest Wind Quintet followed with the Alice in Wonderland Suite, which showed Wilder at his classically playful best.  Jason Henderson carried some of that lightheartedness into his segment, with two songs that benefited from his natural charm and enthusiasm. Steve Ross made the heart ache a bit with his rendition of the plaintive Did You Ever Cross Over to Sneden’s? before closing the program by encouraging everyone to join him in singing I’ll Be Around, perhaps the best known of Wilder’s songs. 

If your interest in Alec Wilder has been piqued, visit alecwildermusicandlife.com. 

 

 

 

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Ken Fallin’s Broadway: Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara With The NY Pops

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One Night Only: An Evening with Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara with the NY Pops is happening Friday 8pm, at Carnegie Hall. This unique program by NY Pops conductor Steven Reineke, pays homage to earlier icons of stage and screen who teamed up for memorable concerts.

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T2C Talks To Paul Iacono, Unfiltered

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Actor and writer Paul Iacono, best known for the films Fame, G.B.F., and MTV’s “The Hard Times Of RJ Berger,” returns to The Green Room 42 in “Paul Iacono, Unfiltered,” His bawdy evening of excess and exposé happens tonight Friday, November 17 at 9:30 PM. T2C had a chance to talk to this 3 decade seasoned performer.

Paul Iacono, is best known for his portrayal of the title character on MTV’s “The Hard Times of RJ Berger.” Paul was first featured on “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” at age eight, after she discovered his unique talents for impersonating Frank Sinatra and Ethel Merman Favorite stage credits include Mercury Fur (The New Group), Bridget Everett’s Rock Bottom (Joe’s Pub), Noël Coward’s Sail Away with Elaine Stritch (Carnegie Hall), John Guare’s Landscape of the Body with Lili Taylor and Sherie Rene Scott (Signature Theater), and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs with Donna Lynne Champlin and Michele Pawk (Transport Group). Favorite film credits include MGM’s remake of Fame, Drew Barrymore’s Animal, Darren Stein’s G.B.F., Extracurricular Activities, and Dating My Mother with Kathy Najimy. Iacono’s play Prince/Elizabeth premiered at The Teatro LATEA Theater co-starring Sofia Black D’Elia and Peter Vack, and The Last Great Dame (loosely inspired by his relationship with Elaine Stritch) at Jane Friedman’s HOWL! Happening Gallery. His cabaret “Where’s the Fucking Kid?” premiered at 54 Below, with “Psychedelic Hedonism” following at Joe’s Pub (New York Magazine “Critic’s Pick”), and “Psychedelic Playhouse” at The Green Room 42.

Join Paul for a surreal vaudevillian celebration through the highs, lows, and misadventures from his past five years out of the spotlight. Directed by Eric Gilliland and written by Iacono, Paul weaves insanely personal and wildly hilarious moments from Hollywood to 42nd Street and beyond, accompanied onstage by music director Drew Wutke, with music consulting and arrangements by Peter Saxe.

Paul Iacono, Unfiltered on Friday, November 17 at 9:30 PM at The Green Room 42 (570 Tenth Avenue at 42nd Street, on the 4th Floor of Yotel).

Video by Magda Katz

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