“Pixified Fancies” of “Finian’s Rainbow” Make for Charming Feel-Good Encore
Kate Baldwin & Cheyenne Jackson - photo by Joan Marucs
SOURCE: www.QonStage.com
By Bruce-Michael Gelbert
This month, some of these pages have been devoted to St. Patrick’s Day events and some, to Black History Month events. Composer Burton Lane, lyricist and book coauthor E.Y. “Yip” Harburg, and coauthor Fred Saidy’s feel-good musical “Finian’s Rainbow” (1947), set in Rainbow Valley in the mythical state of Missitucky and revived on City Center’s Encores! series, for performances from March 26 to 29, could be a mixture of both. Read more
V-Day Reigns in Bergen County
photo by production artwork - Vagina Monologues
SOURCE: www.QonStage.com
by Sherri Rase
“Vagina-sounds almost like an infection, doesn’t it?” Thus starts one of the most groundbreaking and controversial plays written in the late 20th century. Eve Ensler’s masterwork “The Vagina Monologues” has been setting people on their ears, getting them up on their feet, and rocking them back several steps for more than 10 years now and, while much has changed, a great deal has not. Read more
Life Upon and Behind the Stage
photo by livelyartsproductions.com - South Pathetic
SOURCE: www.QonStage.com
by Susan Freedner
A staged reading of “South Pathetic: A One Man Comedy,” written and performed by Jim David, drew an extremely enthusiastic, nearly full audience to the Tank at 354 West 45th Street on March 25. This tale, as told by this very talented comic/actor, is guaranteed to appeal to anyone who enjoys theater, but especially to those who have any community theater experience themselves. Read more
Chorus Delights with Its Spring “Big Gay Sing”-Along
NYCGMC members - photo by Aron Norman
SOURCE: www.QonStage.com
By Bruce-Michael Gelbert
On March 27, at the New York University Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus (NYCGMC), under Artistic Director Dr. Charles Beale, treated us to a delightful evening of singing and sing-alongs, billed as “The Big Gay Sing,” directed by Jeff Lettiere, and what a delightful concert it was! Assisting were pianist Chip Prince, bass player Jason DiMatteo, guitarist Courtney Sappington, percussionists Sue Hadjopoulos and Dan Gross and, on synthesizer, Jim West, with Tom McGillis interpreting Read more
Imperial Court Raises $275,000+ at 1000 Gowns Gala
Imperial Court of New York Coronation Walk - photo by Bruce-Michael Gelbert
Source: www.NewYorkQnews.com
By Bruce-Michael Gelbert
On March 24, the Imperial Court of New York announced that it had raised more than $275,000 for LIFEbeat: the Music Industry Fights AIDS and MCCNY Homeless Youth Services (Sylvia’s Place), the beneficiaries of its gala ball, Night of a Thousand Gowns, which more than 700 attended, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel on March 21. Read more
Gripped by “Ring” Fever, the Met Goes for the “Gold”
James Morris & Yvonne Naef - photo by Beatriz Schiller
SOURCE: www.QonStage.com
By Bruce-Michael Gelbert
For the remaining month-and-a-half or so of the Metropolitan Opera season, a large part of the company’s attention will be devoted to Richard Wagner’s epic “Der Ring des Nibelungen,” bidding final farewell to director Otto Schenk, set and projection designer Günther Schneider-Siemssen, costumer Rolf Langenfass, and lighting designer Gil Wechsler’s handsome, more-naturalistic-than-not production, first unveiled on September 22, 1986. There will be three complete cycles of the tetralogy and additional performances of the first two operas, “Das Rheingold” and “Die Walküre.” “Rheingold” opened on March 25 and that hearing, an auspicious beginning for the endeavor, is considered here. Read more
US Senator Schumer from NY Now Supports Same-Sex Marriage Equality
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer - photo from www.schumer.senate.gov
SOURCE: www.NewYorkQnews.com
By Bruce-Michael Gelbert
Democratic Senator Charles E. Schumer, who has represented New York State in the United States Senate since 1998, expressed his support for marriage equality for same-sex couples and his opposition to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) at a meeting with LGBT elected officials and leaders of Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) and other organizations at the Gramercy Tavern, at 42 East 20th Street in Manhattan, on March 22, ESPA announced the following day.
Schumer issued a statement, on March 24, which reads, “I have thought long and hard about it. I have always believed that one of the great traits in America is we seek equality and should always strive to achieve it. We may not have been ready in 1996 when the issue first arose in Congress but I believe we are now,” according to Associated Press. Read more
Norman at its Helm, Honor! Spiritedly Salutes Past African-American Singers
Jessye Norman - photo by Christian Steiner
SOURCE: www.QonStage.com
By Bruce-Michael Gelbert
“Honor! A Celebration of the African-American Cultural Legacy,” the Carnegie Hall series with soprano Jessye Norman as curator, came to a spirited conclusion on March 23 with “Honor: the Voice,” in which a fine sextet of singers and quartet of pianists paid tribute to past African-American artists, who paved the way for them. Hailed by Norman, who entered to a standing ovation, as the “newest of the bearers of this grand torch,” whom she urged, paraphrasing Langston Hughes, to “Hold fast to your dreams,” the evening’s performers were sopranos Harolyn Blackwell, Nicole Cabell and Angela M. Brown, baritone Gregg Baker, bass-baritone Eric Owens, bass Kevin Maynor and, at the keyboard, William Hicks, Eric Olsen, Joseph Smith and Howard Watkins. Read more
We Can Hear the “Belles”
Left to right Christina Shipp, Ashton Heyl, Kelly Strandemo, Kristi McCarson, Laura Faith, Rebecca Lovett - photo by Mark Dunn
SOURCE: www.QonStage.com
by Susan Freedner
Heiress Productions presents “Belles,” with the tag line, “a play in two acts and forty-five phone calls,” by Mark Dunn, which leads me to begin my review by using the words eavesdropped or wire-tapped. The very attentive audience listened and looked in on the various permutations of conversations and relationships between and among six accomplished actors playing sisters separated by distance and common ground. The differences between the sisters and in their lives are a focus of the first act, as we are introduced to each woman and the unseen men, women, and/or children in their lives, with a generous degree of levity. I was immediately engaged with each woman as she entered and answered a phone on the very cleverly designed set, by Jonathan W. Collins, which allowed for the observation of two characters on stage, although they remained geographically separated. Read more
A Visit to the Marquis and a Thousand Crowns
Emperor Rob Hunter deWoofs & Empress Charlene Chivoe - photo by Bruce-Michael Gelbert
SOURCE: www.NewYorkQnews.com
by Sherri Rase
Imperial Court of New York (ICNY) Royalty was out in full force at Night of a Thousand Gowns (NOATG) on March 21 at the Marriott Marquis in the heart of New York’s Time Square. And what a time it was! It could have been named Night of a Thousand Crowns, as visiting dignitaries from the Imperial Court System (ICS) abounded in glittering abundance. The ball is the jewel in the crowns of achievement Empress Charlene Chivoe and Emperor Rob de Woofs have built over the past year, and the passing of the torch to the new Monarchs for 2009-the once and future Empress Anne Tique and Emperor Tony Monteleone!
Last night was my very first experience at this gay-la event and it is something Read more
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