Toshi Reagon News

Australian cabaret performer Kim David Smith salutes the perennial pop goddess, Kylie Minogue with an intimately fabulous cabaret-fantasia, celebrating Kylie's catalogue of gargantuan hits and glittering deep cuts, from 1987's 'Locomotion," all the way through to 2018's "Golden." Labeled the "male Marlene Dietrich" by the New York Times, Smith deconstructs three decades of Minogue dance anthems with music direction by the multi-MAC Award winning Tracy Stark, and with costumes by Miodrag Guberinic (Katy Perry, Madonna, Nicki Minaj)

ISLE of KLEZBOS, the swinging all-women's klezmer sextet, will celebrate their 20th Anniversary with a special concert Isle of Klezbos: Isle of Manhattan! at Joe's Pub on Today, October 25 at 7:00 PM featuring returning guest artist Natalia Zukerman. The band and spellbinding singer-songwriter - whose father, the classical violinist Pinchas Zukerman, is the son of a Polish-born klezmer player - first melded musical minds earlier this year, exploring poignant Yiddish roots and hidden gems from vintage soundtracks, personal histories, vivid resistance narratives, and soulful sounds of liberation. Spreading joy coast to coast this anniversary year, ISLE of KLEZBOS  latest repertoire also features original klezmer bugalu (boogaloo), lesser-known bawdy traditionals, and luscious retakes on irresistible Eastern European swing and tango. Natalia brings vibrant stories and tunes from her powerful multi-media performance, "The Women Who Rode Away," including lush arrangements with backing Klezbos bandmates. The studio project is scheduled for release later this year. Tickets are available at JoesPub.com HERE.

On Stage At Kingsborough, a leading performing arts presenter, is pleased to present its 2018-2019 season featuring world class artists from around the globe.On Stage At Kingsborough brings top notch performing arts to Southern Brooklyn, with an eclectic roster of artists spanning multiple genres including cabaret, dance, music, and family programming. The full season runs through May 17, 2019.

MAX VERNON will continue his first ever residency at Joe's Pub. The special musical guests will include Alice Ripley, Justin Vivian Bond, Ethan Slater, Robin de Jesus, Stephen Trask and Nathan Lee Graham.

Throughout the season, New York City teens will come together to write, produce, and perform original music with their peers and learn from leading artists through Future Music Project, a vibrant, growing creative community based out of Carnegie Hall's Resnick Education Wing. 2018 - 2019 programming will highlight Carnegie Hall's Migrations: The Making of America festival, with young people reflecting on the impact of migration on their past, present, and future and creating new works responding to those themes. Select songs written by teens will be showcased on Sunday, May 19, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. as part of Soul Mechanisms, a special concert in Zankel Hall led by celebrated performer Toshi Reagon.

On Stage At Kingsborough, a leading performing arts presenter, is pleased to present its 2018-2019 season featuring world class artists from around the globe.On Stage At Kingsborough brings top notch performing arts to Southern Brooklyn, with an eclectic roster of artists spanning multiple genres including cabaret, dance, music, and family programming. The full season runs through May 17, 2019.

MAX VERNON will launch his first ever residency at Joe's Pub at The Public this fall. MAX VERNON: Existential Life Crisis Lullaby will be performed Today nights, September 25, October 23 and November 27, all at 7:00 PM.

California Shakespeare Theater announced today the return of its record-breaking hit play black odyssey for a special limited engagement, September 25 through October 7, 2018 at the Bruns Amphitheater. Marcus Gardley's music-filled journey through African-American folklore garnered box office records, critical acclaim, sold-out houses, and standing ovations during its initial August 2017 run.

WURD Radio (96.1FM / 900AM / WURDRadio.com / WURDApp), the only African American owned and operated talk radio station in Pennsylvania, and one of a few in the country, will host its highly-anticipated 15th Year Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, October 6th at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts at 300 S. Broad Street in Philadelphia, PA.

Joe's Pub at The Public presents the North American premiere of Murray Hill: About To Break, a new comedy and theatrical event, running September 20-22 and 27-29. About To Break is written and performed by Hill and directed and developed with Tony Award-winning lyricist, writer, and director Scott Wittman. Renowned as a comic host around the world, this new show is a departure, putting Hill center stage in the first major dedicated solo show of his long, storied career. Musical direction is by Paul Leschen with original music by Hill with Wittman, Marc Shaiman, Kyle Forrester, Eric Kornfeld, Jesse Elder, and Leschen.

Joe's Pub at The Public presents the North American premiere of Murray Hill: About To Break, a new comedy and theatrical event, running September 20-22 and 27-29. About To Break is written and performed by Hill and directed and developed with Tony Award-winning lyricist, writer, and director Scott Wittman. Renowned as a comic host around the world, this new show is a departure, putting Hill center stage in the first major dedicated solo show of his long, storied career. Musical direction is by Paul Leschen with original music by Hill with Wittman, Marc Shaiman, Kyle Forrester, Eric Kornfeld, Jesse Elder, and Leschen.

ISLE of KLEZBOS, the swinging all-women's klezmer sextet, will celebrate their 20th Anniversary with a special concert Isle of Klezbos: Isle of Manhattan! at Joe's Pub on Thursday, October 25 at 7:00 PM featuring returning guest artist Natalia Zukerman. The band and spellbinding singer-songwriter - whose father, the classical violinist Pinchas Zukerman, is the son of a Polish-born klezmer player - first melded musical minds earlier this year, exploring poignant Yiddish roots and hidden gems from vintage soundtracks, personal histories, vivid resistance narratives, and soulful sounds of liberation. Spreading joy coast to coast this anniversary year, ISLE of KLEZBOS  latest repertoire also features original klezmer bugalu (boogaloo), lesser-known bawdy traditionals, and luscious retakes on irresistible Eastern European swing and tango. Natalia brings vibrant stories and tunes from her powerful multi-media performance, "The Women Who Rode Away," including lush arrangements with backing Klezbos bandmates. The studio project is scheduled for release later this year. Tickets are available at JoesPub.com HERE.

MAX VERNON - the songwriter described by The New Yorker as 'equal parts Bohemia and Broadway' - will launch his first ever residency at Joe's Pub at The Public this fall, Existential Life Crisis Lullaby, on Tuesday, September 25 at 7:00 PM with special musical guests Tonya Pinkins, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Annie Golden, MJ Rodriguez, Gizel Jimenez, Chrissi Poland, Veronica Swift, Morgan Meadows, and Avery Leigh Draut. The September evening will be directed by Ellie Heyman.

DIRECT CURRENT, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts's two-week celebration of contemporary culture, returns for a second season. Training its focus on new works, interdisciplinary creations in which artistic worlds collide, and creative responses to topical concerns, the 2019 spring immersion showcases some of the most provocative, original, and pioneering voices in the arts today. DIRECT CURRENT takes place on March 25-April 7 at the Kennedy Center and beyond, extending throughout the District of Columbia through collaborations with a number of alternative venues, to expand the growing audience for contemporary culture in the nation's capital.

California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes) announced further details today for the Shakespearean centerpiece to the 2018 Epic Season, The War of the Roses. The War of the Roses is a monumental evening of theater spanning four history plays-the Henry VI trilogy and Richard III. Presented as an action-packed evening, The War of the Roses will deliver a fast-paced, far-ranging, vividly theatrical depiction of two powerful families-the Lancasters and the Yorks-and their decades-long fight for the English throne. Political unrest and power grabs collide with weak leadership and civil strife as the country fights against the threat of tyranny.

A mix of emerging and established artists fills the fall roster at multi-disciplinary performance venue JACK, with acknowledged masters Toshi Reagon and trumpeter Peter Evans sharing a season with up-and-comers, including playwright Stacey Rose, solo performer Kareem M. Lucas, playwright Robert Quillen Camp and Bessie-nominated dancer Shamar Wayne Watt, among others. Special highlights are the return of the acclaimed Gracie Gardner play, ATHENA, Korean choreographer In Kyung Lee with Vogel, a poetic piece focused on the female gaze, Black Revolutionary Theater Workshop with the premiere of Sheyenne Javonne Brown's Summoned, in which Orpheus and Eurydice meet the Black Lives Matter movement, and irreverent dancer/choreographer Greg Zuccolo with his "danced play," Busy White People, Goodnight.

This September, Joe's Pub at The Public kicks off its 20th Anniversary year, celebrating two decades of presenting the best in live music and performance nightly with a commitment to diversity, production values, community, and artistic freedom. The fall season is comprised of Joe's Pub debuts like Max Vernon and The Tiger Lillies; familiar faces like Justin Vivian Bond, John Kelly, and Shaina Taub; and two New York Voices commissions: Refrigerated Dreams, a collaboration from Nona Hendryx and Carrie Mae Weems, and Murray Hill's About To Break, directed by Scott Wittman. There will also be a change in leadership at Joe's Pub - Alex Knowlton will become Director of Joe's Pub, as Shanta Thake will inaugurate a new role at The Public Theater as Senior Director of Artistic Programs.

Carnegie Hall's 2018-2019 season is upon us, and we are looking forward to a variety of exceptional programming and exciting new projects. Listed below are jazz, pop, and world music highlights in the coming months.

KEVIN SMITH KIRKWOOD - currently appearing on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots - will bring CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE! back to JOE'S PUB at The Public for a four performance limited-engagement residency beginning this weekend after a series of smash, sold-out shows.

Marking its 40th anniversary as one of New York's most vital cultural institutions,Symphony Space is proud to announce a new season of bold programming, presented in a uniquely warm and welcoming environment. From September through June, Symphony Space offers an exciting lineup of events that connect art, ideas, and the city's rich mosaic of communities.