Irving Burton

Center for Modern Dance Education Founder Shirley Ubell Has Passed Away
by A.A. Cristi - May 13, 2021

Shirley Ubell, modern dancer, dance therapist, and founder and longtime artistic director of the nonprofit Center for Modern Dance Education (CMDE), in Hackensack, New Jersey, died on April 11 in Lafayette, Calif., at the age of 93.

Eduardo Machado's ROSARIO AND THE GYPSIES Runs Now thru 3/8 at Theater for the New City
by BWW News Desk - Feb 18, 2015

The distinguished Cuban-American playwright Eduardo Machado has created a touchstone piece by taking a one-act play with music, written in 1982, and turning it into a full-length, two-act musical. His 'Rosario and the Gypsies,' with songs by composer Rick Vartorella and lyrics by Mr. Machado and Mr. Vartorella, was a short, wild rock 'n roll play with music about the backstage romances and melodramas of a hippie performance troupe in southern California who were devoted to the art of change. Its songs were a combination of street pop and 60's-70's rock. It was produced in NYC by Ensemble Studio Theater in 1982 and it got Machado recognized as a writer to be reckoned with. Machado and Vartorella have now revised the piece and completed its story, adding a second act, in which we learn the future for its characters. Theater for the New City will present this revised and expanded version of 'Rosario and the Gypsies' from tonight, February 18 to March 8, directed by Machado.