Vy Higginsen News

The Mama Foundation for the Arts proudly announces that two new musicals will open Off-Broadway this fall in Harlem: WE ARE!, an original musical about and starring the acclaimed Gospel for Teens Choir (first seen in an Emmy Award-Winning '60 Minutes' story), and ALIVE!, an original musical featuring a full company of performers who are age 55 and over. Both WE ARE! and ALIVE!, conceived, written and directed by Vy Higginsen and Ken Wydro, will join MAMA, I WANT TO SING: THE NEXT GENERATION and SING HARLEM SING in Repertory at The Dempsey Theater in Harlem (127 W. 127 St.). Performances for ALIVE! begin on Saturday, October 5th; performances for WE ARE! begin Saturday, October 12th. MAMA . . . will join the two new musicals in rep beginning Saturday, October 19th, and SING, HARLEM, SING will be performed on Saturday, November 16th. Tickets to all four musicals presented by The Mama Foundation at The Dempsey are $35 and are available by calling the Mama Foundation for the Arts at 212-280-1045, or online at SmartTix.com.

The Voice Foundation, the world's leading organization dedicated to the care and training of the human voice, will host its 42nd Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice as well as its Voices of Summer Gala in Philadelphia from Wednesday, May 29 - Sunday, June 2, 2013. The Voice Foundation's symposium annually brings together top vocal health professionals for a unique, interdisciplinary opportunity to share the latest advances in scientific and medical voice research.

The Voice Foundation, the world's leading organization dedicated to the care and training of the human voice, will host its 42nd Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice as well as its Voices of Summer Gala in Philadelphia from Wednesday, May 29 - Sunday, June 2, 2013. The Voice Foundation's symposium annually brings together top vocal health professionals for a unique, interdisciplinary opportunity to share the latest advances in scientific and medical voice research.

Vy Higginsen's Gospel for Teens will present two special end-of-semester concerts for this acclaimed musical education program, offering instruction in forms of Gospel, Jazz and R&B music to local young people between the ages of 13 and 19 at no cost, providing desperately needed support to musically gifted children and replacing arts programs taken out of many inner city schools.

Mama, I Want To Sing, the classic 1983 gospel musical created by Vy Higginsen, will celebrate its 30th anniversary tonight, March 23, 2013 with a very special performance of Mama, I Want To Sing: The Next Generation at The Dempsey Theater, located in Harlem at 127 West 127th Street, between Lenox and 7th Avenues.

Following tonight's February 22nd 8pm performance of SECRETS, the Untold Story of Sigmund Freud & Carl Jung, an original play written & directed by Ken Wydro, two noted psychoanalysts will take part in a panel discussion about the careers & philosophies of Freud & Jung. SECRETS dramatizes the intense personal & professional relationship between Sigmund Freud & Carl Gustav Jung in the early years of psychoanalysis, 1907 - 1913 & is based on the 1000 letters shared by both men.

Following the February 22nd 8pm performance of SECRETS, the Untold Story of Sigmund Freud & Carl Jung, an original play written & directed by Ken Wydro, two noted psychoanalysts will take part in a panel discussion about the careers & philosophies of Freud & Jung. SECRETS dramatizes the intense personal & professional relationship between Sigmund Freud & Carl Gustav Jung in the early years of psychoanalysis, 1907 - 1913 & is based on the 1000 letters shared by both men.

SECRETS, The Untold Story of Sigmund Freud & Carl Jung, an original play written and directed by Ken Wydro, is being presented at TBG Theatre, February 11-March 10.

Mama, I Want To Sing, the classic 1983 gospel musical created by Vy Higginsen, will celebrate its 30th anniversary on Saturday, March 23, 2013 with a very special performance of Mama, I Want To Sing: The Next Generation at The Dempsey Theater, located in Harlem at 127 West 127th Street, between Lenox and 7th Avenues. This Gala event, taking place exactly 30 years to the day from when the original production opened in Harlem to great acclaim, benefits Gospel for Teens, a program of the Mama Foundation for the Arts' School for Gospel, Jazz, and R&B Arts.

VY HIGGINSEN'S GOSPEL FOR TEENS: A HARLEM HOLIDAY BENEFIT CONCERT will take place at The Dempsey Theater, located at 127 West 127th Street (between Lenox and 7th Aves) tonight, December 7th at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 and are available by calling the Mama Foundation for the Arts at 212-280-1045. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Mama Foundation and the Gospel for Teens program.

VY HIGGINSEN'S GOSPEL FOR TEENS: A HARLEM HOLIDAY BENEFIT CONCERT will take place at The Dempsey Theater, located at 127 West 127th Street (between Lenox and 7th Aves) on Friday, December 7th at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 and are available by calling the Mama Foundation for the Arts at 212-280-1045. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Mama Foundation and the Gospel for Teens program.

Vy Higginsen's Gospel for Teens Choir has released their debut single, 'Yes We Can,' now available for download on iTunes. A video can be watched at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zn2oICBSN8&feature=youtu.be. The choir's debut album will soon be released on the new Harlem Records label.

Vy Higginsen's Mama Foundation for the Arts presents two musical matinees, Mama I Want To Sing: The Next Generation and Sing, Harlem, Sing!, every Saturday afternoon (performances resume today, October 6th, 2012) at The Dempsey Theater, located at 127 West 127th Street, between Lenox and 7th Avenues. Tickets for both musicals are priced from $20 - $35, and are available via SmartTix.com (212-868-4444) or by calling the Mama Foundation for the Arts at 212-280-1045.

HAA under the theme 'Harlem at the Crossroads: Sustaining Our Arts and Cultural Resources,'the seven-day series of free events kicked off on October 1 with presentations to actor and activist Danny Glover, legendary theatrical producer Vy Higginsen and pioneering arts producer and consultant Mikki Shepard at Aaron Davis Hall (The City College of New York).

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, the new performance venue located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street, will welcome the following events.

Vy Higginsen's Mama Foundation for the Arts presents two musical matinees, Mama I Want To Sing: The Next Generation and Sing, Harlem, Sing!, every Saturday afternoon (performances resume on Saturday, October 6th, 2012) at The Dempsey Theater, located at 127 West 127th Street, between Lenox and 7th Avenues. Tickets for both musicals are priced from $20 - $35, and are available via SmartTix.com (212-868-4444) or by calling the Mama Foundation for the Arts at 212-280-1045.

Just yesterday, 54 Below held a special press preview for its upcoming engagements, which included Tony Award nominee Chad Kimball (Memphis, The Civil War, Into the Woods), 2010 Bistro Award-winner Hilary Kole (Our Sinatra, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Rainbow Room), from "Sondheim Unplugged" Sarah Rice ('Johanna' in the original 1979 production of Sweeney Todd, The Fantasticks, A Little Night Music, Candide), compay members from Sing, Harlem, Sing! (created by Vy Higginsen and directed by Ken Wydro,). BroadwayWorld was there for the sneak peek and we bring you photos from the event below!

54 BELOW introduces two musical weekend brunches to make the weekend a little more enjoyable - Jazz Brunch on select Sundays and Sing, Harlem, Sing! Gospel Brunch on select Sundays.

Award-winning chef and author Marcus Samuelsson will present Vy Higginsen's Gospel for Teens Choir, who will provide the musical entertainment for "A Gospel Gathering at Ginny's" beginning Sunday, July 15th, 2012 at Ginny's Supper Club, the sister venue to Samuelsson's Red Rooster Harlem, located at 310 Lenox Avenue (between 125th and 126th Streets). The Gospel for Teens Choir will perform three sets of rousing gospel tunes during the venue's new Sunday buffet brunch served between 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Seats are $35 per person (half off for children under 12). Reservations and walk-ins are accepted by calling 212.421.3821.

Live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Sunday, July 1st, BET AWARDS 12 kicked off with a bang when G.O.O.D. Music artists Kanye West, 2 Chainz, Big Sean, and Pusha T exploded onto the stage for a medley of their hits 'Mercy' and 'Cold'