Anika Larsen & Freddie Will Perform In Key West At A Celebration Of Independence

Broadway star Tony Award nominee & Drama Desk Winner Anika Larsen teams up with her husband, jazz trumpet player Freddie Maxwell, for "A Celebration of Independence: Songs of the Immigrants Who Made America Sing" at The Studios of Key West on Thursday, July 1st at 7:30PM.

Larsen and Maxwell are Distinguished Artists in Residence at The Studios, one of the premiere multidisciplinary arts & culture organizations in South Florida and the Florida Keys. They were invited by opera librettist & theater writer Stephen Kitsakos, Studios Artistic Associate & Executive Producer of the weekly livestream series Between Two Palms, to perform on The Studios new outdoor rooftop garden, Hugh's View, which offers unparalleled views of Key West, the Gulf of Mexico & the Atlantic Ocean. The rooftop garden features a covered outdoor stage, two portable bars and can accommodate up to 75 audience members. For more information call The Studios of Key West at 845-296-0458.

Best known for her role as Cynthia Weil in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Anika also performed on Broadway in Avenue Q, Xanadu, All Shook Up, and Rent. She is set to star in the new musical Almost Famous, based on the film by Cameron Crowe with music by Tom Kitt and book & lyrics by Crowe. The show opened to sold out crowds and excellent reviews at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego. Its Broadway opening was postponed due to the shutdown of live performances on Broadway. Larsen creates the stage role of Elaine Miller who was portrayed in the 2000 film by Frances McDormand.

Jazz trumpeter Freddie Maxwell has toured with luminaries such as Frank Sinatra and Alicia Keys, Lionel Hampton, Jimmy Dorsey, and the Glen Miller Orchestra performing in major cities throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and the US. His impressive versatility has brought him to fans of nearly all music genres.

The concert is an outgrowth of the popular outdoor "porch concerts" the Larsen-Maxwell family performed at their home in Rockland County, New York for their neighbors and friends during the pandemic. The variety of songs include Broadway, jazz, classical, pop and Latin tunes.

According to Kitsakos, "How fitting that Anika & Freddie will be inaugurating this space as the first performers to concertize on our outdoor stage. In celebrating the spirit of immigrants they offer a tribute to Key West which attracted immigrants from Cuba, the Bahamas, Italians, Irish & Eastern European Jews in the 19th C. who came to the island to work in the salvaging, sponging and cigar manufacturing industry, an important part of the combined heritage of the island's history."

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