Matt Ray News

Can we talk—about live opera in New York and elsewhere on the East Coast in the coming months?

Originally set to begin performances on January 7, 2022 as part of the PROTOTYPE Festival, The Hang will now begin performances on Thursday January 20, 2022 at HERE (145 Sixth Avenue, NY, NY 10013), and run through Sunday February 20, 2022.  

Today, the directors of the PROTOTYPE Festival, alongside partners St. Ann's Warehouse, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, and Abrons Arts Center, announced the difficult decision to postpone this year's tenth anniversary festival to January of 2023, due to the current surge in COVID cases and the resulting safety risks, as well as logistical challenges including artist and staff illnesses, travel complications, and more. The Festival was scheduled to run January 7-16, 2022.

Lucille Lortel Theatre has announced the first guests of 2022 for its “Live at The Lortel” podcast series. Now in its third season, “Live at The Lortel” is hosted by Eric Ostrow and co-hosts Joy DeMichelle and John-Andrew Morrison.

HERE will present The Hang, featuring book and lyrics by Taylor Mac, music by Matt Ray and direction by Niegel Smith. Co-presented with the PROTOTYPE Festival, The Hang will begin performances on Friday January 7, 2022 at HERE (145 Sixth Avenue, NY, NY 10013), and run through Sunday February 20, 2022.

Kaatsbaan Cultural Park continues its mission to be a home for artists across disciplines with their Annual Summer and Fall Festivals. From June 3 to 19, rising stars from American Ballet Theatre Studio Company and Live Arts Global, and the critical darling of the New York scene Taylor Mac will present both classic and new works.

In 2021, the show features new songs by Mac (and a new look by Machine Dazzle) and all the fan favorites from yesteryear, including Mac’s “Christmas with Grandma,” animated by Dana Lyn, and Machine Dazzle’s interior monologue of a Christmas Tree, “Surprise Destiny.”

Edmonson was recently cast as a principal actor in the off-off Broadway musical The Hang by Taylor Mac, with music by Matt Ray and directed by Niegel Smith, where she will be playing the role of Cebes/S'wonderful. Her new album features favorites like “Let It Snow,” “O Christmas Tree,” and “Jingle Bell Rock.” Listen to the new LP now!

Kat Edmonson will release her new album Holiday Swingin! A Kat Edmonson Christmas Vol. 1 on November 19. Edmonson reinterpreted classics for the jazz Christmas album, including “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Let It Snow” and “O Christmas Tree.” Edmonson will also be starring in Taylor Mac's upcoming musical 'The Hang'. Find out more about tickets now!

HERE has announced full casting for The Hang, featuring book and lyrics by Taylor Mac, music by Matt Ray and directed by Niegel Smith. Co-presented with PROTOTYPE: Opera | Theatre | Now, The Hang will begin performances on Friday January 7, 2022, on the HERE Mainstage (145 Sixth Avenue, NY, NY 10013) for a run through Sunday February 20, 2022.

Justin Vivian Bond brought vself new show STORMING THE GLAMPARTS to Joe's Pub inside the beautiful Public Theatre this week. I was lucky enough to catch Thursday night's performance and was dazzled by the brilliance of Bond's talent, brains, and beauty. V is a true one-of-a-kind entertainer. V is outrageous while being grounded in very traditional entertainment forms. V presents vself as a chanteuse with a good deal of diva energy. V arrangements by musical director, Matt Ray are all firmly rooted in the cabaret vernacular. But Justin Vivian Bond goes to a level beyond simply cabaret. V show is a good-natured exposé of everything that's important in 2021. And even though Bond claims to rate low on the empathy scale, v show is the perfect picture of inclusion, empathy, and love.

Joe's Pub will reopen this fall ushering in the best in live music and performance to New York City with tickets on sale today at 4pm ET - view full programming.

The Obie Award-winning HERE has announced programming for its upcoming 2021/22 Season.

Adam Klesh, Daniel Nardicio, Sam Benedict and Taylor Shubert bring youFire Island's hottest double bill: two singular talents in one night! Mx Justin Vivian Bond in: Your Auntie Glam's Midsummer Flutter By and the return of Edie with...Edie Unleashed! on Sunday August 8th doors 7, showtime 7:30pm

Silver Movie's debut album Youth Revue was recorded over a two week period during the winter of 2020 in a basement studio near the Hollywood Reservoir. 

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts today announced new artistic commissions, creative community, and civic collaborations, and more this coming June at Restart Stages—the new outdoor performing arts center constructed on the Lincoln Center campus.

Broadway might be dark, but that doesn't mean that theatre isn't happening everywhere! Below, check out where you can get your daily fix of Broadway this weekend, December 19-20, 2020.

Joe’s Pub has announced their free digital winter programming from December 8 - January 8, 2021, available on Joe’s Pub YouTube or otherwise noted. The virtual performances include Mai Khoi & Pete Drungles: In The Ruins, Roy Nathanson's 5pm Porch Concert: World on Fire, VICHITRA: In Order to Become, and more.

The Guthrie Theater today announced it has added the Pomegranate Arts production of Taylor Mac's Holiday Sauce … Pandemic! to its virtual holiday lineup.

On December 12, UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) and prestigious theaters and cultural institutions around the world present the Pomegranate Arts production Taylor Mac's Holiday Sauce…Pandemic!