Jane Monheit News

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its August 2013 schedule, featuring: Pablo Ziegler's 'Tango Conexion,' Billy Hart Quartet, Trio 3, Joey DeFrancesco with the City Rhythm Orchestra, Charlie Parker Birthday Celebration, Luiz Simas Quartet, Tamm E. Hunt, Steve Kazee, Pedro Giraudo Expansions Big Band, Julie Halston, Roni Ben-Hur 'Wes Montgomery Tribute,' Tex Allen Sextet, Martin Piecuch Trio 'Jazzical Fusion,' Tim Hagans Quartet, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, Jay Leonhart Duo, and MANY MORE!

For the third year, five talented Long Island music students will receive a unique opportunity to study and perform this summer at Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts. The program was developed by Usdan Center in 2011 and supported with a charitable grant from Bethpage Federal Credit Union. The Usdan Center/Bethpage Scholars in the Arts program gives accomplished students who otherwise couldn't attend Usdan, the opportunity to study at the country's largest not-for-profit summer arts day camp. The students were chosen for their fine musicianship and for their achievements as outstanding representatives of their communities.

The Major League Baseball All-Star break (the game is on Tuesday night) has always been considered the midpoint of the season and as a lifelong fan I've always enjoyed reading those analyses from writers that assess the best performances of the first half. Since July is also the middle of the calendar year, I thought it might be fun to present a cabaret equivalent of a baseball midseason report. So . . . (drum roll) . . . presenting the Best (and My Favorite) 20 New York Cabaret Shows and Performances of (the first half) of 2013.

Eric Millegan will perform tonight, July 13th at 8pm at the Wildish Theater, 630 Main St, Springfield, Oregon. Featuring world renowned musicians Tracy Stark, David Sillman, and Matt Wigton; guest starring local Eugene actress Peg Major and Oregon born TV/Film actor Josh Daugherty with a special cameo by Bill Furtick.

Robert Nederlander, Jr., a third generation member of the Nederlander theater dynasty, and Richard Eisenberg, a prominent Long Island attorney and arts philanthropist, have joined the Board of Trustees of Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the renowned Long Island not-for-profit summer arts day camp. Usdan Center (www.usdan.com), now in its 46th season, has introduced the arts to more than 60,000 children ages 6 to 18, and counts among its alumni Natalie Portman, Jane Monheit, Mariah Carey, Olivia Thirlby, Seth Rudetsky, Jackie Hoffman, Lisa Gay Hamiltonand members of major music and dance ensembles.

The event should have been titled '520 Mondays.' On Monday, July 1, Birdland celebrated the tenth anniversary of 'Jim Caruso's Cast Party,' the unique and very extreme weekly open mic. Gianni Valenti, the owner of the historic music room, honored host Caruso with a Seth Walters portrait on the wall, usually reserved for jazz icons. (Caruso quipped, 'Somewhere, Charlie Parker is very uncomfortable.')

Eric Millegan will perform on Saturday, July 13th at 8pm at the Wildish Theater, 630 Main St, Springfield, Oregon. Featuring world renowned musicians Tracy Stark, David Sillman, and Matt Wigton; guest starring local Eugene actress Peg Major and Oregon born TV/Film actor Josh Daugherty with a special cameo by Bill Furtick.

A new collaboration will take place this summer between Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, and the new Youth Summer Programs of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Students from Usdan's Senior Division Creative Writing Major will travel to BAM on July 23 and 26 to work with students in BAM's Style and Substance creative writing workshop.

Bay Area Cabaret, devoted to presenting audiences with top performers who expand the definition of cabaret, enters its 10th season this fall with a gala series at the Fairmont San Francisco's historic Venetian Room. To celebrate this significant milestone, Bay Area Cabaret presents a star-studded lineup of performers making their Bay Area Cabaret debuts, as well as the return of a few favorites from the past decade. Opening the season Saturday, September 21, 2013 with a bang is Broadway's Megan Hilty, known to millions as the powerhouse 'Bombshell' on NBC's television program Smash. The season continues October 20, 2013 with Tony nominee Norm Lewis (The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess) and November 10, 2013 with 'America's romantic piano sensation,' multi-platinum selling recording artist Jim Brickman, joined by special guest Broadway heartthrob David Burnham.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the nationally renowned summer arts day camp, will feature several acclaimed artists teaching master classes and guest-teaching at classes for the 2013 season.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the nationally renowned summer arts day camp, will feature several acclaimed artists teaching master classes and guest-teaching at classes for the 2013 season.

Renowned musical theatre composer and lyricist Scott Alan hosts a reading of HOME, written by Christy Hall and himself, today June 27, 2013 under the direction of Stafford Arima. 'For the first time in ten years of doing readings and workshops of HOME,' Alan writes, 'I am presenting the story I always set out to tell.'

CM Performing Arts Center welcomes home for one night only, Jane Monheit. The Grammy-nominated vocalist returns to her roots after releasing her ninth studio album The Heart Of The Matter.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the nationally renowned not-for-profit day camp, whose alumni include such artists as Natalie Portman, Mariah Carey, Jane Monheit and members of major music and dance ensembles, announces its 2013 Festival Concerts. These are private educational performances staged in Usdan's on-site, 1,000-seat McKinley Ampitheater, giving students unique exposure to the arts.

On Saturday, August 3 at 8:00 p.m., jazz artist Jane Monheit returns home for one night only to perform at CM Performing Arts Center.

Bay Area Cabaret concluded its 2012-2013 season by honoring the memory and legendary career of composer Marvin Hamlisch on June 2, 2013. Selections from his work (A Chorus Line, The Way We Were, They're Playing Our Song) were performed by special guests, including Broadway stars Lisa Vroman (The Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd) and Karen Mason (Mamma Mia!, Sunset Boulevard), Grammy Award winner Billy Stritch, 2012 Bay Area Teen Idol winner Bobby Conte Thornton, Academy Award-winning songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and more. Scroll down for photos from the celebration!

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts (www.usdan.com), Long Island's premier arts camp, will present the 10th Anniversary edition of its unique and fun one-day arts camp experience for adults, Usdan University. The program takes place on Friday July 12, from 9 AM to 3 PM. on Usdan's 200-acre woodland campus at 185 Colonial Springs Road in Wheatley Heights (Huntington), New York 11798.