Craig Carnelia News

 The 2023-24 Season will mark Creative Cauldron’s final season at its current home in Pearson Square, before moving to a new black box theater in the Broad and Washington project.  Learn more about the lineup here!

With performances starting on May 11, Ken Levine's GUILTY PLEASURES: AN UNAPOLOGETIC COMEDY premieres at The Black Box, located at 8 East Palisade Avenue between Van Brunt and Dean Streets in Englewood, NJ 07631.

BIRDLAND JAZZ CLUB will present the New York solo concert debut of Brittney Johnson – who made history as the first Black actress to play “Glinda” in Broadway’s Wicked – on Monday, May 1 at 7:00 PM.

BIRDLAND JAZZ CLUB will present two-time Tony Award nominee and two-time Drama Desk winner Gavin Lee – making his Birdland debut with his solo show “Steppin’ Out with Fred Astaire” – on Monday, May 29 at 7:00 PM.

The diva returns to New York with a new show full of Music and Laughs.

Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater are open this April with a full slate of nightly performances! See who is performing and learn how to purchase tickets!

The Johnny Mercer Foundation will celebrate Patrick Lundquist as the FIRST EVER recipient of ASCAP Foundation Alan and Marilyn Bergman Lyric Award. The Award-winning lyric, The Way Back Home was written at the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project at Northwestern under the mentorship of master teachers Andrew Lippa, Craig Carnelia, and the late Lari White. 

BIRDLAND THEATER will present an evening with Broadway veteran Sean McDermott – star of Falsettos, Starlight Express, Grease, and the original cast of Miss Saigon – on Monday, April 17 at 8:30 PM.

BIRDLAND JAZZ CLUB will present award-winning vocalist Karen Akers, who returns to the venue with the special evening “About Time,” on Monday, April 24 at 7:00 PM.

Broadway favorite Josh Lamon (The Prom, Groundhog Day, Finding Neverland, Elf, Hair) is sharing his advice for the audition room! How do you make yourself standout? How do you get casting directors to remember you? Read on!

Today's subject is one of those performers that proves you can reinvent yourself to great success. Many of us locally came to know Jessica Vosk when she blew into the Kennedy Center with the national tour of Wicked in the role of Elphaba. After touring with the show she took Broadway by storm in that same role. What is interesting about Jessica's professional performing carer is that it really didn't start until age 30 as she had been working on Wall Street up until then. Lucky for us, she made that career move.

The work of Nicky Phillips will be featured in Women Of The Wings Volume 5, March 4th at 9:30pm at 54 Below. Nicky Phillips is an award-winning composer and lyricist. She is currently a member of the BMI-Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop where she was awarded the Jean Banks Award for outstanding achievement in Musical Theatre.

This coming Thursday, December 22nd starting at 7:30PM, The Ben Shanblatt Trio and NJ-based comedian Walter Deptuch will start off the evening before Broadway's Danielle Ferland (the original 'Little Red' in Into The Woods) and comedian Mark Riccadonna (who just headlined at The Borgata) take the stage. Acclaimed percussionist Billy Martin will also make a special appearance, with other guest performers also expected. Doors open at 7pm and tickets are $30 (general admission).

Tickets are now on sale for two special fundraising events, in support of The Black Box's 2023 Season of new and under produced works from world class writers and artists-in-residence.

A group of theatrical singer-songwriters are partnering with FRIGID New York to present the second installment of Don't Call Us Emerging: A Songwriters Concert (Monday, December 12th, 8pm at The Kraine Theatre); an evening of original material performed by the writers themselves.

The Black Box has announced its next main stage show, an under-produced masterwork: Edward Albee's The Play About The Baby. The show opens on November 10 at The Black Box, 49 East Palisade Avenue in Englewood, NJ with tickets on sale now.

On Saturday, November 5, 2022 at 7:30PM, Medeski Martin & Wood's Billy Martin -- a long-time Bergen County resident -- will perform another solo set utilizing percussion instruments, found objects, voice, flutes, bird calls, and more at The Black Box Performing Arts Center, 49 East Palisade Ave between Grand Ave and Dean Street. 

On Monday, September 12, singer/actress Karen Akers returned to Birdland with “Water Under The Bridge,” which was musical directed by Alex Rybeck, with Tom Hubbard on bass. Check out photos here!

The Black Box, NJ's prime incubator for new and under-produced works by world-class artists, will kick off the 2022-23 Season with acclaimed playwright/filmmaker Neil LaBute's adaptation of Georg Buchner’s Woyzeck, 'in rep' with Cherry Hill by Matt Okin this October.

BIRDLAND JAZZ CLUB will present a special musical evening with three great musical talents Victoria Shaw, Jim Brickman, and Peter Cincotti, in “Three Friends, One Piano” on Monday, October 10 at 7:00 PM.