SONGS ON THE SAND to Celebrate Fire Island's Musical Legacy at FIT Fest

The inaugural Fire Island Theater Festival (FIT Fest), produced by nonprofit CHANGE Arts, will celebrate Fire Island's extraordinary musical legacy with Songs on the Sand, a one-night-only benefit concert on Friday, September 25 at the legendary Ice Palace in Cherry Grove. Hosted by Seth Rudetsky and Ben Rimalower, Songs on the Sand brings together generations of Fire Island artists for an evening celebrating the composers who have called the Island home and the performers who continue to make it sing. For tickets please visit the FIT Fest website HERE.

The concert will feature Jack Bartholet, Jamie Lynn Beatty, Marc delaCruz, Michelle Dowdy, Julie James, Bob (Rose) Levine, Seth Sikes, Jae W.B., and additional artists to be announced.

At the center of the evening is music by a new generation of Fire Island composers, including Billy Recce, Clarke Sondermann, and composing partners Matte O'Brien and Matt Vinson, placed in conversation with the enduring legacy of legendary Broadway composer and longtime Fire Island resident Jerry Herman.

For generations, Fire Island—particularly Cherry Grove and the Fire Island Pines—has been more than a summer destination for theater artists. It has been a place where queer composers, performers, writers, and other artists found one another, created work, performed for their community, and imagined what was possible.

Songs on the Sand celebrates that history not as something preserved in the past, but as a living tradition being carried forward by artists creating on Fire Island today.

Jerry Herman's music will provide a musical thread throughout the evening, connecting one of Fire Island's most celebrated composers with the contemporary voices following in that tradition.

The evening will also connect directly to Fire Island's living theatrical history through Rose (Bob) Levine, the 93-year-old Cherry Grove performer and Guinness World Record holder who knew Jerry Herman through the Island and will join the concert in celebration of his legacy.

“Fire Island has never just been where artists came to vacation,” said Matt Freeman, Executive Director of CHANGE Arts and Executive Producer of FIT Fest. “It has been a place where queer artists found one another, made work, shared it with their community, and built a cultural legacy. Songs on the Sand puts the artists writing and performing here today into conversation with the generations who came before them. That continuum is exactly what FIT Fest is about.”

About FIT Fest

Songs on the Sand is part of the inaugural Fire Island Theater Festival, September 23–27, 2026, a five-day celebration of queer storytelling across Cherry Grove and the Fire Island Pines. Through plays, readings, music, history, and site-specific experiences, FIT Fest explores the communities' past, present, and future while celebrating Fire Island's extraordinary role in queer cultural life. The Festival culminates September 26 and 27 with its Marathon Theater Weekend, a theatrical journey across Fire Island featuring Chris Weikel's Pride House at the historic Cherry Grove Community House and Theater and Gianfranco Lentini's Ocean Walk at Reflections in the Fire Island Pines, connected by historical and environmental experiences across the Island.

SONGS ON THE SAND

Friday, September 25, 2026
The Ice Palace • Cherry Grove, Fire Island

Hosted by:
Seth Rudetsky • Ben Rimalower

Featuring:
Jack Bartholet • Jamie Lynn Beatty • Michelle Dowdy • Julie James • Rose (Bob) Levine • Seth Sikes • Jae W.B. • and more

Featuring music by:
Billy Recce • Clarke Sondermann • Matte O'Brien & Matt Vinson • and Jerry Herman

About CHANGE Arts

CHANGE Arts connects classrooms and communities with intentionally curated arts experiences designed to deepen learning, empathy, access, and engagement. Through partnerships with artists, educators, and cultural organizations, CHANGE Arts works to connect the right story with the right audience at the right time.