Tierney Sutton Band, Daniel Beaty and More Slated for Brooklyn Center's 2017-18 Season at the Kumble

By: Jun. 12, 2017
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Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College has announced a series of seven performances at the Kumble Theater at LIU Brooklyn as part of its 2017-18 season.

Brooklyn Center will announce additional performances in the fall in conjunction with the opening of the new Leonard and Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College.

"We are thrilled to continue our commitment to presenting world-class artists to the diverse communities of Brooklyn," said Jon Yanofsky, the Director of Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts. "Since our home base of Whitman Theatre will be closed for twelve months for much-needed structural repairs, the upcoming season will be presented in two alternative spaces, allowing us the opportunity to share more intimate arts experiences with our audience."

The season opens on October 21, 2017 with the Tierney Sutton Band, presenting their 2017 GRAMMY Award-nominated project The Sting Variations. Praised by The New York Times as "a pure jazz spirit," Ms. Sutton and her trio give fresh jazz interpretations to the repertoire of rock icon, Sting. Other jazz performances in the Kumble season include NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron (February 24, 2018), stepping away from his trio to present an evening of solo piano, and Brooklyn's own Alicia Olatuja (March 10, 2018), who first received national recognition for her soaring solo with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir at President Obama's second inauguration.

Actor/writer/poet/community activist Daniel Beaty will revive his one-man-show Emergency during Black History Month (February 17-18, 2018), in which he portrays more than 40 characters. Having premiered in 2006 at The Public Theater (where it was titled Emergence-SEE!), this solo tour-de-force explores our shared humanity and what it means to be free. The prestigious Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company returns for the fifth annual Lunar New Year Celebration, and Step Afrika! brings their "percussive spectacle" (The New York Times) back to Brooklyn Center. Finally, the GRAMMY Award-nominated musicians of Los Pleneros de la 21 present a musical celebration of Afro-Puerto Rican holiday traditions with their family-friendly Christmas in El Barrio.


Brooklyn Center's 2017-18 Season at the Kumble Theater at LIU Brooklyn:

Tierney Sutton Band: The Sting Variations

Saturday, October 21, 2017 at 8pm, $35

Kumble Theater at LIU Brooklyn

Known for her original and edgy interpretations of the classic jazz songbook, eight-time GRAMMY nominee Tierney Sutton has received seven consecutive nominations for "Best Jazz Vocal Album" - a nomination for every project she has released in the last decade. Having headlined at The Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and Jazz at Lincoln Center, she and her trio bring their 2017 GRAMMY-nominated project, The Sting Variations, to Brooklyn with fresh interpretations of the repertoire of rock icon, Sting.

Los Pleneros de la 21: Christmas in El Barrio

Sunday, December 10, 2017 at 3pm, $25

Kumble Theater at LIU Brooklyn

From the mountain tops of Puerto Rico to the street corners of New York City, the Puerto Rican holiday season is about reaffirming cultural identity and rejoicing in the strength of family and community ties. Music is at the center of the festivities, with friends gathering in groups called parrandas, going from home to home singing traditional aguinaldos into the wee hours of the morning. Experience the holiday season Borinquen-style, as the GRAMMY Award-nominated musicians of Los Pleneros de la 21 present a musical celebration of Afro-Puerto Rican Christmas traditions.

Fifth Annual Lunar New Year Celebration

Sunday, February 11, 2018 at 3pm, $25

Kumble Theater at LIU Brooklyn

Celebrate the oncoming arrival of spring with an all-new festival of Chinese music and dance commemorating the Year of the Dog, faithful guardian and loyal friend to mankind. This family-friendly event includes graceful dancers, a colorful Chinese marketplace, red lions and golden dragons frolicking to the lilting sounds of traditional instruments, and more. Enjoy the elegant splendor and rich culture of one of Brooklyn's most vibrant communities with this award-winning performance by the prestigious Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.

Daniel Beaty: Emergency

Saturday, February 17, 2018 at 8pm and Sun, Feb 18, 2018 at 3pm; $30

Kumble Theater at LIU Brooklyn

When a slave ship emerges out of the Hudson River in present-day New York Harbor, the city and the nation are sent into near-hysteria as they try to understand this bizarre and unexplainable phenomenon. Award-winning actor/writer/poet/community activist Daniel Beaty portrays more than 40 characters in this solo theatrical tour-de-force as he explores our shared humanity and what it means to be free. Through the characters' various testimonies on identity and personal freedom, Emergency weaves an intricately woven, witty, and moving commentary on modern African American life."We can overcome if we change the way we see, see ourselves, see our past, see our possibility."- Daniel Beaty from Emergency

Kenny Barron (solo piano)

Saturday, February 24, 2018 at 8pm, $35

Kumble Theater at LIU Brooklyn

Praised by the Los Angeles Times as "one of the top jazz pianists in the world," NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron has an unmatched elegance, melodic sensibility, and rhythmic mastery. He has received eleven GRAMMY nods, most recently in 2017 for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, and is a six-time recipient of Best Pianist by the Jazz Journalists Association. Don't miss this intimate solo performance by a masterful artist who Jazz Weekly calls "the most lyrical piano player of our time."

Alicia Olatuja

Saturday, March 10, 2018 at 8pm, $30

Kumble Theater at LIU Brooklyn

Brooklyn's own Alicia Olatuja first received national recognition for her soaring solo with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir at President Obama's second inauguration, and has since established herself as one of this generation's most versatile and elegant jazz artists. Her sublime voice has graced the stage of major venues across the country with a combination velvety tone and vibrant confidence. Drawing from a wide range of musical influences-from classical and gospel, to jazz and R&B-she returns home to Brooklyn with her scintillating jazz stylings.

Step Afrika!

Saturday, April 28, 2018 at 3pm & 8pm, $35

Kumble Theater at LIU Brooklyn

With its origins in African American fraternities and sororities, stepping is known for its intricate, synchronized patterns of stomps, kicks, claps, and call-and-response. As the world's first professional company dedicated to this art form, the dancers of Step Afrika! use their bodies as instruments, integrating stepping with African traditional dance and other dance forms to create a high-energy, sharply choreographed, and incredibly entertaining performance.


Multibuy discounts (three or more shows) save 15% off individual ticket prices. Multibuyers enjoy flexible ticket exchanges and discounted parking for purchased performances at Brooklyn College. A 50% discount for children ages 12 and under is offered for select performances. Discounts are also available for seniors, students, Brooklyn College faculty/staff/alumni, active/retired military personnel, and groups. $10 student rush tickets available day-of-show.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts' Kumble Theater is located at LIU Brooklyn, 1 University Plaza, Brooklyn. Online orders: BrooklynCenter.org; Box Office: 718-951-4500, Tuesday-Saturday, 1pm-6pm; Groups of 15 or more: 718-951-4600 x3331.

Founded in 1954, Brooklyn Center for the PerformingArts at Brooklyn College presents outstanding performing arts and arts education programs, reflective of Brooklyn's diverse communities, at affordable prices. Each season, Brooklyn Center welcomes over 65,000 people to the 2,400 seat Whitman Theatre, including up to 45,000 schoolchildren from over 300 schools who attend their SchoolTime series, one of the largest arts-in-education programs in the borough.



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