ROCKY's Andy Karl, MOTOWN's Krystal Joy Brown & More Set for CUNY TV's 'Arts in the City' Today

The May edition of ARTS IN THE CITY celebrates the coming of summer and the latest cultural touchstones in the New York area. Hosted by Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson reporting from The New York Botanical Garden, the newest ARTS IN THE CITY debuts today, May 9 (2014) on CUNY TV* at 10am, 3pm and 8:30pm; is repeated Sunday 5/11 at noon; and returns Friday 5/23 at 10am, 3pm and 8:30pm and on Sunday 5/25 at noon on CUNY TV. Beginning May 9, the program may be viewed anytime on www.cuny.tv.

The stories this month: • Summer Arts Round-up with Mike Gilliam previews top events including artist Dan Graham's interactive installation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden; pop innovator Janelle Monáe kicking off the 36th season of Celebrate Brooklyn's season in Prospect Park on June 4th; MoMA PS1's Warm-Up music series in the museum's courtyard in Long Island City; Groundbreakers: Great American Gardens & The Women Who Designed Them at The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx; Make Music New York on the summer solstice, June 21st, with over 1,000 free concerts throughout the five boroughs; summer arts events at Bryant Park; The Public Theater's free Shakespeare in the Park; the River to River Festival; and interactive art at Socrates Sculpture Garden in Long Island City.

• Motown: The Truth is A Hit, an exhibition at the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, shows how Motown shaped - and was shaped by - the culture of its time; curator Christopher Moore provides context regarding Motown founder Berry Gordy and his remarkable family. Donna Hanover talks with Charl Brown ("Smokey Robinson") and Krystal Joy Brown ("Diana Ross") from Motown: The Musical about their characters' parts in music and civil rights history.

• The next generation of jazz artists is being nurtured at Jazz House Kids, helmed by Melissa Walker, President and Founder, and husband Christian McBride, Artistic Chair. Interviewed are kids from the orchestra, shown learning Dizzy Gillespie's intricate "Things to Come," as well as the Jazz House Big Band Director Julius Tolentino and the Band's mentor, saxophonist Ted Nash from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. The Jazz House Big Band will compete in the Essentially Ellington competition this May at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and ARTS IN THE CITY will report back on their performance in a future program.

• Actor and Broadway veteran Andy Karl, currently Tony-nominated for his starring role in the musical version of Rocky at the Winter Garden, talks about the joys and challenges of the part and the elaborate staging of the show's final boxing match. And Pat Collins previews the Summer Movie Blockbusters!

For ARTS IN THE CITY - Producer: Alex J. Diamond. Segment Producer: Sara Porath. Executives in Charge of Production: Susan Iger and Gail R. Yancosek. Executive Producer: Robert Isaacson.

*CUNY TV is broadcast over-the-air in the tri-state area on Ch. 25.3, and cablecast in the five boroughs of New York City on Ch. 75 (Time Warner and Optimum), Ch. 77 (RCN) and Ch. 30 (Verizon FiOS).

Pictured: Krystal Joy Brown of "Motown: The Musical" looks at Diana Ross' gown at The Schomburg's Motown - The Truth is A Hit exhibition; Jazz House Kids; actor Andy Karl of "Rocky" on Broadway; Janelle Monáe, at "Celebrate Brooklyn" in June (Photos courtesy Arts in the City/CUNY TV)