Mikaela Bennett News

Following sold out performances and rave reviews for Lyrics & Lyricists season opener The Bobby Darin Story, the series continues with Lenny's Lyricists, 92Y's nod to the centennial of Leonard Bernstein, including never-before-heard stories about this extensively documented composer.

Mikaela Bennett with NYFOS; photo by Karli Cadel On February 27 at 8:00 p.m., New York Festival of Song and Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center present a new program devised by Steven Blier, entitled, simply, PROTEST. A cast of young, diverse and brilliant singers that includes Mikaela Bennett who just wowed the world in Michael Gordon's opera Acquanetta at the Protoype Festival performs songs by a panorama of composers, from Marc Blitzstein and Joni Mitchell to Randy Newman and Mohammed Fairouz. (View the complete program below.)

'Memories of Things Past'--'A la recherche du temps perdu' in Proust-speak--and very much in the past it was, for me at least, going in to ACQUANETTA, the piece that opened this year's iteration of the PROTOTYPE. Its name and purported subject--horror films--conjured up childhood memories for me. Musically and dramatically, however, ACQUANETTA--by Michael Gordon, composer (of 'Bang on a Can' fame), Deborah Artman, librettist (ditto)--was very much in the present and in a class of its own, seen January 10 at the Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center.

With less than a week until the opening of New York's PROTOTYPE 2018, I was Skype-ing with the producers--no, not Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick--but Jecca Barry (of Beth Morrison Projects, BMP) and Kim Whitener (of HERE), who seem pretty calm. (Actually, they're two of four producers, the others being the eponymous Beth Morrison and Kristin Martin of HERE.) What's to be nervous about? After all they only have 8 new-opera/new-theatre productions (plus other events) opening between January 9th and 20th, including a couple of world premieres.

Tony nominee Norm Lewis returns to Feinstein's/54 Below with his third holiday show from December 18 - 23. All shows are at 9:30pm. Each evening will feature special guest stars from Broadway and beyond.

Tony nominee Norm Lewis returns to Feinstein's/54 Below with his third holiday show from December 18 23. All shows are at 9:30pm. Each evening will feature special guest stars from Broadway and beyond.

The Philadelphia Orchestra, in partnership with The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and local community-based cultural organization Taller Puertorrique o working as part of Unidos PA'PR, has announced a fundraising initiative during next week's performances of West Side Story in Concert led by Yannick N zet-S guin in Verizon Hall (October 12-15, 2017) to assist with hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico. In light of the devastating impact of Hurricane Maria and the closely linked subject matter of the performance, collections will be accepted in the lobby of The Kimmel Center to be distributed through Unidos PA'PR a coalition of community organizations formed to raise funds for recovery efforts in Puerto Rico. The performances also will serve as a powerful reminder of the ongoing relevancy of Bernstein's work and the continued need for unity, embracing Puerto Rico as a U.S. territory, and awareness of economic conditions in the area.

Leonard Bernstein was arguably one of the most versatile musicians the world has ever known. If you are a lover of classical music, you know that his recordings and compositions were the stuff legend is made of; and if you are a musical theatre geek, you know that Bernstein wrote some of the most innovative and genre-merging theatrical scores that still have not been topped to this day.

Some of Broadway's brightest stars will come together tonight, September 22, at 8 p.m. for Bernstein on Broadway, a one-night-only performance celebrating the indelible and lasting impact Leonard Bernstein's work had on American culture through the Broadway stage.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts launches the year-long international centennial celebration of Leonard Bernstein with the opening weekend of Leonard Bernstein at 100.

Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Mikaela Bennett on August 18, 2017 at 11:30pm.

Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Mikaela Bennett on August 18, 2017 at 11:30pm.

American Composers Orchestra (ACO) announces its complete 2017-2018 season, Dreamscapes, under the leadership of Artistic Director Derek Bermel, Music Director George Manahan, and President Edward Yim, featuring ten world, U.S., and New York premieres by a diverse set of composers. ACO continues its concerts at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall (December 8, 2017 and April 6, 2018) while expanding its presence in New York to include performances at Jazz at Lincoln Center (November 7, 2017) and as part of the 2018 PROTOTYPE Festival (January 12-14, 2018). ACO continues to take its commitment to fostering new work beyond the stage in its annual Underwood New Music Readings (June 21 and 22, 2018) for emerging composers, now in its 27th year, and through EarShot, the National Orchestra Composition Discovery Network, which brings the Readings experience to orchestras across the country.

This August, Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. Scroll down for details!

Michael Arden (Tony-nominated for Spring Awakening and the upcoming Once on This Island) will direct a private reading of Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk's newest musical, REPUBLIC today, July 28th at 1pm.

Kaufman Music Center will host a diverse 2017-18 season at Merkin Concert Hall, highlighting Broadway musicals with celebrations of the fruitful partnership between STEPHEN SONDHEIM and HAROLD PRINCE, the musicals of LEONARD BERNSTEIN and JERRY HERMAN, and performances by Tony winner KAREN ZIEMBA and KATE BALDWIN.

Michael Arden (Tony-nominated for Spring Awakening and the upcoming Once on This Island) will direct a private reading of Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk's newest musical, REPUBLIC on Friday, July 28th at 1pm.

In the late-night hours of June, 14, 1994, when hockey's New York Rangers won their first Stanley Cup championship in 54 years, there were fans visiting the gravesites of loved ones, armed with six-packs of beer and radios, to share with long-gone fans a moment they thought they might never live to see.

Closing out this season at Encores! is The Golden Apple- the John Latouche and Jerome Moross' cult classic. The Golden Apple stars Mikaela Bennett (Penelope), Jeff Blumenkrantz (Menelaus/Scylla), Ashley Brown (Mrs. Juniper/Madame Calypso), Carrie Compere (Lovey Mars/The Siren), Barton Cowperthwaite (Paris), Jason Kravits (Hector Charybdis), Alli Mauzey(Miss Minerva Oliver/The Scientist), Lindsay Mendez (Helen), N'Kenge (Mother Hare/Circe), and Ryan Silverman (Ulysses).