Ava Locknar News

This past Monday, Jim Caruso’s Cast Party – the weekly talent celebration that has been in residence every Monday for nineteen years – was a jam-packed holiday hullabaloo! Ohotographer Kevin Alvey was there to document all the excitement. Check out the photos here!

Each week, the club shines a spotlight on both up-and-coming and established performers, all taking a turn on the stage for an impromptu song with the Cast Party Symphony Orchestra, led by Billy Stritch, with Daniel Glass on drums and Steve Doyle on bass. Check out photos here!

Birdland presented three award-winning musicians in “Three Friends/One Piano.” Jim Brickman, Victoria Shaw and Peter Cincotti created an evening of “musical chairs” as they played their hits and told the stories behind them. See photos here!

Every Monday, showbiz superstars hit the stage alongside up-and-comers, serving up jaw-dropping music and general razzle-dazzle on the Birdland stage. Showman Jim Caruso guides the entire affair with razor-sharp humor. Musical director Billy Stritch holds court at the ivories, along with Steve Doyle on bass and Daniel Glass on drums. But the real fun starts when the audience participates in the onstage festivities. Broadway legends, jazzers, cabaret divas, starry-eyed tourists, and kids right off the bus storm the stage to entertain each other. If you have a voice, a dream, and some sheet music, your Cast Party moment awaits. See photos from the show!

“Jim Caruso’s Cast Party” is the weekly Open Mic Night/Variety Show that has been bringing Broadway glitz and urbane wit to Birdland in New York City every Monday night since 2003. Check out new photos!

This past Monday, the stars aligned and some concert, Broadway and club superstars showed up for an impromptu turn at the mic at Jim Caruso’s Cast Party! Check out photos here!

Over the past two months, Jim Caruso’s Cast Party has been packing Birdland with throngs of music and theater lovers eager to cheer the return of the show biz scene. Fans of Broadway, jazz, country, and the Great American Songbook have been delighted by the impromptu talent that has consistently shown up to entertain.

There were dazzling musical performances by Peter Cincotti, Victoria Shaw, Ruby Locknar, Azusa Sheshe Dance, Matt Baker, Ava Locknar, Artemesia LeFay, Nicole Zuraitis, Hailey Brinnel & Joe Plowman, Callie Holley, Quentin Harris & Bryce Edwards and Lowell Oakley, among many others. 

While Broadway remains shut down, BroadwayWorld is keeping up with your favorite stars and giving you a peek at what they have been up to! Check out yesterday's highlights from some of your favorites, including Beth Leavel, Laura Osnes, Aaron Tveit, and more!

The upcoming 'Pajama Cast Party' will take place on Monday, October 12 at 8pm, and feature Tony, Emmy and Grammy-winning songwriter Marc Shaiman, Broadway star Margo Seibert, pop singer/songwriter Jann Klose, 2-time Grammy-nominated singer Karina Nuvo, and up-and-coming theater actress/singer Ava Locknar.

Jim Caruso's Pajama Cast Party continues a record of great lineups with this week's show.

Join the party tonight (8pm) with special guests: Marc Shaiman, Margo Seibert, Jan Klose, Ava Locknar, and Karina Nuvo!

The online concert premiere of the new musical Sticks & Stones will feature a star-studded cast including Audra McDonald, Javier Muñoz and George Salazar when it premieres Friday, October 16, 2020, as part of National Bullying Prevention Month. The stream benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and Born This Way Foundation.

The Early Night Show with Joshua Turchin- Virtual Edition (Corona Cabaret) continues its increasingly popular run with the release of a new episode today. Season two, episode eleven (which is also available on the Broadway Podcast Network: http://bpn.fm/TENS) features special guests: Jennifer Blood (Broadway's Girl from the North Country, Matilda, Violet) and Ava Locknar.

Two Davidson County high school students - Lilla Galgoczy-Toler of Nashville School of the Arts and Trenton McCrary of John Overton High School - took home Outstanding Lead Actress and Actor honors at the 2019 Spotlight Awards on Saturday. The duo will travel to New York to compete nationally in The Jimmy Awards (www.JimmyAwards.com) on June 24.

Looking ahead, you'll find a number of new productions on tap for your entertainment pleasure, thanks to the efforts of theater companies all over Middle Tennessee. Here's our calendar for November 5, 2018, to help you plot your course through the end of the year...

Very few actors can boast the resume, replete with some of the most iconic roles in musical theater, of Hume-Fogg Academic High School's Ava Locknar. Now a senior in Daron Bruce's and Lisa Forbis' renowned musical theatre program at the school, Ava's been at home on Broadway - albeit Nashville's Broadway - for four years, although it doesn't take much of a stretch of the imagination to envision her on the Great White Way, taking on more musical theater challenges.

Looking into the future, you'll find a number of new productions on tap for your entertainment pleasure, thanks to the efforts of theater companies all over Middle Tennessee. Here's our calendar for October 29, 2018, to help you plot your course through the end of the year...

Over the past few weeks, Jim Caruso's Cast Party at Birdland has been the place for an enormous variety of musical talent, with Caruso hosting, Billy Stritch accompanying on the eighty-eights, and the Cast Party Symphony Orchestra (Steve Doyle on bass and Daniel Glass on drums).

Jim Caruso's Cast Party, 'Birdland's star-studded, 'extreme' open mic/variety show' continues to dazzle packed houses at Birdland (315 West 44 Street, NYC) every Monday night starting at 9:30pm.