Paulo Szot News

On October 12, 2012, The New York Pops orchestra - famous for presenting popular programs with a symphony orchestra of the highest quality - will launch its 30th season; a Carnegie Hall series celebrating the stylistic diversity of some of popular music's greatest icons. Music Director Steven Reineke - described by The New York Times as a "polished, welcoming host" who is "young and vigorous, with a playful attitude that has been a pops orchestral tradition since the heyday of Arthur Fiedler" - will lead the orchestra in an exciting season replete with Broadway favorites by beloved duo Rodgers and Hammerstein, an evening of symphonic music starring the musicians of The New York Pops, the ever popular annual holiday concerts, with special guests Pink Martini in the New York premiere of their new orchestral holiday program, songbook classics by Academy Award-winning songwriter Sammy Cahn and a birthday celebration for lyricist and composer Steven Schwartz.

In its ninth star-studded year at Birdland, Jim Caruso will bring his celebrated Cast Party back to the big stage at Town Hall for a second year. The Best of Jim Caruso's Cast Party will take place on Thursday, February 23 at 8PM and will be presented by the one and only Scott Siegel. Tickets are $25, $50, and $75 and are available by calling 800-982-2787 or visiting TicketMaster.com. A portion of the proceeds will benefit The Actors Fund.

If you're looking for a quick roundup of this week's events, look no further: here are some of the best articles the week had to offer!

Manhattan Theatre Club will present its annual Winter Benefit, an evening of cocktails and dinner followed by a special one-night-only cabaret-style show featuring some of the biggest stars of musical theatre on Monday, January 30, 2012 at The Plaza (58th Street & Fifth Avenue).

Continúa el ciclo 2011-2012 de transmisiones vía satélite desde el MET de Nueva York a México. Entre algunas de las óperas que se presentaran están La Isla Encantada, El Ocaso de los Dioses, La Traviata, Manon.

The Collegiate Chorale is set to present Tippett's A Child of Our Time and Bruckner's Te Deum on Friday, February 3, 2012 at 7pm at Carnegie Hall, 881 Seventh Avenue, NYC.

The Carlyle Hotel's legendary Café Carlyle just kicked off a concert series last night, January 10, featuring Tony winner Paulo Szot. Szot will ring in the New Year with an all new program in a three-week return engagement through January 28 with Billy Stritch, Musical Director.

The Carlyle Hotel (Erich Steinbock, Managing Director) has announced the 2012 Winter season of performers at the legendary Cafe Carlyle - the "favorite of all New York nightspots," says Liz Smith - another New York legend.

One normally doesn't expect to see an operatic baritone put on an intimate jazz cabaret showcase, yet in Paulo Szot's Orange County debut, the audacious notion proves to be a surprisingly pleasant affair. Performing as part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts' Cabaret series, the Tony Award-winning Broadway star of the much-lauded 2008 Lincoln Center revival of SOUTH PACIFIC will be serenading audiences nightly through this Sunday, December 18.

Lincoln Center's American Songbook Week Two runs January 18-21, 2012 at The Allen Room, at Frederick P. Rose Hall, located at Broadway at 60th Street.

The Carlyle Hotel (Erich Steinbock, Managing Director) has announced the 2012 Winter season of performers at the legendary Cafe Carlyle - the "favorite of all New York nightspots," says Liz Smith - another New York legend.

Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook returns to the elegant Allen Room in January for its fourteenth season celebrating the diversity of American popular song. For 16 nights the series will explore the best of the golden age of musical standards through to today's most dynamic songwriting. Week One of the 2012 season will start off with a relatively new composer on the scene, multiple Tony-winning Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights) who will be bringing his new rap composition about American historical figure Alexander Hamilton called The Hamilton Mixtape. Next up is the just-nominated-for-a-Grammy Award duo Chris Thile and Michael Daves, who play a dazzling, modern form of bluegrass that nonetheless references legendary bluegrass artists from the past. From the rock canon will be J.D. Souther, performing songs he wrote for Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles as well as newer compositions. To close out Week One, composer William Finn (Falsettos, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), along with guest vocalists, will be performing a song cycle inspired by the poetry of William Blake.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts gift certificates are available now for purchase online at SCFTA.org.

It's always such a wonderful treat to witness a living legend speak candidly and honestly about their experiences, looking back fondly at a multi-decade career that few could even dare replicate. Orange County residents now have such an opportunity with none other than two-time Tony Award winning diva extraordinaire CHITA RIVERA, in a charming one-woman cabaret show titled 'Chita Rivera: My Broadway,' now playing at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts' Samueli Theater in Costa Mesa through Sunday, November 13. Still spry, spunky, and jazz-kickin' at 78 years old, this pioneering Broadway superstar presents a bawdy, yet no-frills cabaret show that is not only chock-full of her memorable hits but is also peppered with lots of dishy details of her life in the theater.

After debuting on Broadway in an all-time classic, the musical star has done three world premieres.

Sometimes even in disappointment, comes something wonderful, which was certainly the case with the magnificent impromptu showcase that occurred at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa on Saturday, October 29. A mixed blessing if there ever was one, the evening's original agenda--a one-on-one candid conversation between ASCAP's Director of Musical Theatre Michael Kerker and legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim--instead morphed into an enchanting 100-minute expanded tribute concert featuring two veteran Broadway powerhouses in their own right: Tony Award winners Christine Ebersole and Brian Stokes-Mitchell. This ad-hoc concert quickly assembled that afternoon ended up being such a magical night, filled with gorgeous, soul-stirring performances, lots of hearty laughs, and even the occasional tear-jerker.

The month of December is filled with holiday cheer and entertainment as Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents three spirited seasonal programs: the holiday season kicks off with the Johnny Mathis Christmas Show (December 4), the classic musical Irving Berlin's White Christmas (December 13 - January 1) and celebrated opera baritone Paulo Szot in his Center debut (December 15 - 18).

Superb from beginning to end, 4-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald's one-night-only solo concert at the lush Renee & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall on October 15--her only Southern California stop before her return to Broadway in the revival of PORGY & BESS--was a musical testament as to why she's earned her place as a genuine Broadway superstar. Possessing that magical combination of impressive acting skills, perfect control, and a blessed voice, her cabaret concert far surpassed this reviewer's already excited expectations.