Sessions - 2009 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 20

A lively autumn season at Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre includes comedy, cabaret, drama and drag.

This June, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) announced at its annual meeting today that its 2017-18 season, dramatically relocated after Hurricane Harvey, closed on a strong financial footing despite nearly $15 million of losses due to the storm and related costs. Lower sales income than in previous seasons was significantly offset by a Harvey recovery fundraising campaign that has raised more than $9.5 million to date. HGO presented its entire 63rd season in the HGO Resilience Theater, a temporary venue the company built in Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center after its home in the Wortham Theater Center was seriously damaged by flooding. The company will return to the Wortham in the fall with a gala benefit concert featuring Placido Domingo and Ana Maria Martinez on September 26.

BRIC presents Alchemy, its major summer 2018 exhibition, featuring the work of seven artists reconceiving non-conventional materials in a reflection on the ancient concept of alchemy-the transformation of matter (June 28 - August 12). Employing diverse media, these artists create visually layered statements about the body, gender, race, and the environment. Their work, which includes large-scale installations and work commissioned by BRIC, also manifests the potential for the spiritual to be drawn out from the quotidian world around us.

The Flaming Lips announce their first official “hits” collection on Warner Bros. Records to be released on June 1. Greatest Hits Vol. 1 will compile eleven WBR-era singles and album tracks on a single black vinyl pressing. This is the first time The Lips have presented singles from Transmissions From The Satellite Heart (1993), Clouds Taste Metallic (1995), The Soft Bulletin (1999), Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002), At War With The Mystics (2006), Embryonic (2009) and their current album Oczy Mlody (2017) on a single disc. The Deluxe digital and Deluxe 3-CD Editionof Greatest Hits Vol.1 significantly expands the concept of their “hits” and gathers some of their best-loved album tracks from the aforementioned albums plus deep cuts from their WBR album debut, Hit To Death In The Future Head (1992), along with music from, Zaireeka (1997), The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends (2012) and The Terror (2013). The Deluxe Edition will also compile a generous hatful of International single B-sides, studio outtakes and several previously unreleased tracks to present an essential view into the extraordinary body of work from one of the most influential and enduring rock bands of all-time.

Blue Note Hawaii, the state's premier venue for the world's most celebrated artists, announces one show only with music legend Don McLean December 27, 2018. Tickets are on sale now at www.bluenotehawaii.com.

Ballet Hispanico, the nation's premier Latino dance organization, is accepting video auditions through June 1, 2018 for this year's ChoreoLaB.

Blue Note Hawaii, the state's premier venue for the world's most celebrated artists, announces one show only with music legend Don McLean December 27, 2018. Tickets are on sale now at www.bluenotehawaii.com. 

The Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists (CAATA), dedicated to advancing the field of Asian American theater, announces Chicago as the host city for the Sixth National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival (ConFest), to be held August 13 - 18. ConFest Early Bird passes start at $350 and are available at CAATA.net.

Grab your sunscreen and head down south for the Chillin' on the Lucie music festival in Port St. Lucie, Fla., Oct. 3 - 7. Headlining will be country icon, Wynonna, with her band The Big Noise, and hit-maker Joe Nichols, with two more to be announced. RaeLynn, Thompson Square, Craig Campbell, Restless Heart, Love and Theft, Trent Tomlinson, Scooter Brown Band and Southern Halo are also scheduled to perform at the festival, with more acts to be announced. Tickets can be purchased here.

American Composers Orchestra continues its commitment to the creation and development of new orchestral music with the 27thAnnual Underwood New Music Readings on June 21-22, 2018 at NYU's Loewe Theater (35 West 4th Street).

The York Theatre Company in association with Documentary Arts presents the world premiere of the new musical Lonesome Blues, based on the true story of legendary bluesman Blind Lemon Jefferson, created by Alan Govenar (Texas in Paris) and Akin Babatunde (Blind Lemon Blues), directed by Katherine Owens (How Is It That We Live or Shakey Jake + Alice), performed by Akin Babatunde with David Weiss on guitar.

The Flaming Lips announce their first official 'hits' collection on Warner Bros. Records to be released on June 1. Greatest Hits Vol. 1 will compile eleven WBR-era singles and album tracks on a single black vinyl pressing. This is the first time The Lips have presented singles from Transmissions From The Satellite Heart (1993), Clouds Taste Metallic (1995), The Soft Bulletin (1999), Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002), At War With The Mystics (2006), Embryonic (2009) and their current album Oczy Mlody (2017) on a single disc.

Kairos Italy Theater, New York's preeminent Italian Theater Company, and KIT Italia present the 6th Edition of In Scena! Italian Theater Festival NY, which will feature a record 12 shows, brought over from Italy to NYC, including a Special Opening Night Event, We are Not Alone starring Dario D'Ambrosi. The 15-day, 5-borough Festival, founded by KIT Artistic Director Laura Caparrotti and KIT Italia Artistic Director Donatella Codonesu, will close with the 5th annual Mario Fratti Awards, created especially for In Scena! to honor excellence in Italian playwriting. This year's winners are Chiara Boscaro & Marco Di Stefano for The City Rises (La citta' che sale).

The Flaming Lips announce their first official “hits” collection on Warner Bros. Records to be released on June 1. Greatest Hits Vol. 1 will compile eleven WBR-era singles and album tracks on a single black vinyl pressing. This is the first time The Lips have presented singles from Transmissions From The Satellite Heart (1993), Clouds Taste Metallic (1995), The Soft Bulletin (1999), Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002), At War With The Mystics (2006),Embryonic (2009) and their current album Oczy Mlody (2017) on a single disc. The Deluxe digital and Deluxe 3-CD Edition ofGreatest Hits Vol.1 significantly expands the concept of their “hits” and gathers some of their best-loved album tracks from the aforementioned albums plus deep cuts from their WBR album debut, Hit To Death In The Future Head (1992), along with music from, Zaireeka (1997), The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends (2012) and The Terror (2013). The Deluxe Edition will also compile a generous hatful of International single B-sides, studio outtakes and several previously unreleased tracks to present an essential view into the extraordinary body of work from one of the most influential and enduring rock bands of all-time.

Songwriter and vocalist Kat Edmonson's Old Fashioned Gal is out now on Spinnerette Records. Listen HERE. Her tour supporting the full length continues through the summer with major tour stops throughout the U.S.; see below for a list of dates.

Cinema Cinema, the full-throttle, experimentally-inclined rock duo from Brooklyn, has been keeping very busy since the release of their Martin Bisi (Swans, Dresden Dolls, Sonic Youth, etc.) produced fourth full length album MAN BITES DOG one year ago.

Critically acclaimed LA-based indie rock outfit Family of the Year has released “Let Her Go,” the latest track from the band's highly-anticipated new album Goodbye Sunshine, Hello Nighttime, out May 18 on Reprise Records. With stunning acoustic melodies, the new song follows recent single, “Hold Me Down,”offering an initial taste of the band's most hypnotic and heartfelt body of work to date. They most recently performed an intimate, stripped-back rendition of “Let Her Go” for Flood Magazine, who praises that the band “packed ten years of American prepubescence into just three minutes.” Goodbye Sunshine, Hello Nighttime is now available for pre-order now!

The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) concludes its intimate "Jazz Club" performances this season with jazz composer and trumpeter Terence Blanchard featuring The E-Collective on May 1 and 2 at 8:00pm.

Kairos Italy Theater, New York's preeminent Italian Theater Company, and KIT Italia present the 6th Edition of In Scena! Italian Theater Festival NY, which will feature a record 12 shows, brought over from Italy to NYC, including a Special Opening Night Event, We are Not Alone starring Dario D'Ambrosi. The 15-day, 5-borough Festival, founded by KIT Artistic Director Laura Caparrotti and KIT Italia Artistic Director Donatella Codonesu, will close with the 5th annual Mario Fratti Awards, created especially for In Scena! to honor excellence in Italian playwriting. This year's winners are Chiara Boscaro & Marco Di Stefano for The City Rises (La citta' che sale).

'I'm supposed to be dead!' Canvey Island's Dr Feelgood guitar legend Wilko Johnson was diagnosed in late 2012 with terminal pancreatic cancer. However, despite the doctors' worst predictions, he continued to perform with a new lust for life and even made the most successful album of his career 'Going Back Home' with the legendary Roger Daltrey.

Richmond County Orchestra (RCO) is celebrating Motown music with a Side-By-Side production with Curtis High School band members on Sunday, April 22 at 3 p.m. at the Music Hall at Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden.

Cuba's rich musical traditions explode onstage as three next-generation Cuban jazz artists converge for the first time on the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts Stage (The Soraya) on Saturday, April 21 for one performance only. Grammy-nominated, Afro-Latin percussionist-singer Pedrito Martinez brings his earth-shaking drumming, vocalist Dayme Arocena lets loose her powerful voice that breaks free like a cry from Havana, and Grammy-nominated, composer and producer Roberto Fonseca demonstrates why The New York Times called him "a charismatic spark plug of a pianist."

Join USITT, costume designer William Ivey Long, and author Bobbi Owen Thursday, April 19, at The Drama Book Shop in New York City, for a signing and discussion of The Designs of William Ivey Long by Bobbi Owen, the 12th and final book in USITT's series documenting the work of America's best theatrical designers.