Urban Stages' WINTER RHYTHMS Welcomes Marvin Gayatgay To Their Stage

On December 18th at 8 PM Marvin Gayatgay will make his cabaret debut as part of Urban Stages' Winter Rhythms series. Tickets can be purchased at Urbanstages.org.

Mr Gayatgay has performed throughout the world with world-renowned Philippines Madrigal Singers where he was the bass soloist. He has soloed with them in North and South America, Europe and Asia and in 2007 the group achieved a rare second victory at the 2007 European Grand Prix for Choral Singing in Arezzo, Italy.

Currently, he is a vocalist and instructor with both The St. Paul Inspirit Ensemble in Manhattan and as choirmaster of The Voice of Friendship Singers

With his strong bass, Mr Gayatgay will sing a collection of standards, Broadway tunes and some Philippine language favorites.

The show is directed by Vincent Scott and conceived by Craig Horsley with John DiPinto accompanying Mr Gayatgay on the piano. Mr Horsley saw a Youtube video of Mr Gayatgay singing Impossible Dream at an award ceremony and searched him out to create this show for him. "I saw the video of Marvin singing and knew he deserved to be in a venue that allows him to shine; I immediately contacted Urban Stages for a spot in their Winter Rhythm series. I enjoyed working with him and Mr Scott to develop his song selections."

Vincent Scott (Director) most recently directed the world premiere of Lori Brown Mirabal's Charmed Life from Soul Singing to Opera Star at Urban Stages. Previously he directed the premieres of What Happen to The Dollar and Good Corporate Citizen both by Sam Garber, and Accentuate the Positive (The Johnny Mercer Story) by Calvin Ramsey. He has assistant directed Death Of A Driver by Will Snider (directed by Kim T. Sharp) and Bars and Measures by Idris Goodman (directed by Kristian Seemel). Based in New York he has directed in Los Angeles, Chicago, London and Dublin.

John DiPinto is a musician, singer, songwriter, actor, musical director and arranger. He has worked extensively in the NY theatre and cabaret scenes. In 2011 he was musical director for I'm Getting My Act Together And Taking it On The Road as part of the York Theatre's' MUFTI series. He was also musical director and arranger for NYMF 2010's production of Trav'lin', a new musical featuring the songs of composer J.C. Johnson. He has conducted on Broadway (Footloose) and Off-Broadway (Langston In Harlem, Altar Boyz). He and his singing partner Mary Foster Conklin have performed their shows Maybe It's Because Of Love and Down For Double at various cabaret venues, to rave reviews.

With current Director of Musical Theatre Tom Toce at the helm, along with his co-producer for Winter Rhythms, Sue Matsuki, Urban Stages is a home for musical artists. Every December since 2008 (excepting Dec. 2020), the annual festival has seen over 100 artists take the stage. From stars to newcomers, Winter Rhythms focuses on an eclectic line-up, from tribute shows to jazz jams to new musicals to any genre you can imagine. Better still, all proceeds go directly to spreading free and affordable art, theater and education throughout NYC via Urban Stages Outreach Program (learn more here).

Winter Rhythms' growth has been astounding. The festival has received the 2015 Ruth Kurtzman Benefit Series Award, the 2016 Bistro Award for Best Benefit Series, a Time Out Critic's Pick, a feature in Cabaret Scenes and other recognitions of excellence.

Produced by Urban Stages' Director of Musical Theater Tom Toce and co-produced by Sue Matsuki, this year's Winter Rhythms will celebrate the return of live theater via eighteen shows (as of this writing) highlighting the works of many popular Winter Rhythms' artists. Tickets for shows are on sale at urbanstages.org

The production team for Winter Rhythms 2021 will be led by Kim T Sharp, with lighting design by Madeleine Burrow and sound design by Jaime Terrazzino. Graphic design is by Roman Petrov.

WINTER RHYTHMS won the Bistro Award for Outstanding Series and the Ruth Kurtzman Benefit Series MAC Award. Proceeds from WINTER RHYTHMS benefit Urban Stages' acclaimed Outreach Program, which brings over 200 free "arts in education" presentations to libraries and schools throughout the five boroughs.