NYS Music 202​0

Author: Marilyn Feerick

  • Broadway Buskers Concert Series Returns Virtually

    The Times Square Alliance’s annual Broadway Buskers concert series will pick up again virtually this year starting on July 21 and stream every Tuesday at 7pm until October 27. 

    broadway buskers

    Since its start in 2018, Broadway Buskers has brought Broadway actors and composers’ original work to NYC by hosting live performances in Times Square times so that audience members and Broadway workers could watch before heading to a show. While in-person concerts are out, theatre fans can still watch these weekly concerts to experience the talent the Broadway community has to offer. 

    Tons of familiar faces will be featured over the coming weeks: Rachel Potter (The Addams Family, Evita, Wicked) and Heath Saunders (The Great Comet, Alice By Heart, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert) on July 21, Melissa Li & Kit Yan (Interstate, MISS STEP, Cancelled) and Ben Wexler (Washington Square, 2019 Jonathan Larson Grant Winner) on July 28, Lauren Elder (Mary and Max, Hair, Side Show) and James Harkness (Ain’t Too Proud, Beautiful, Chicago) on August 4, Joey Contreras (Love Me, Love Me Not, Break from the Line, Joyride) and Tamika Lawrence (Caroline, or Change, If/Then, Come From Away) on August 11, and additional performers to be announced. The concerts will be streamed every Tuesday at 7PM until October 27. 

    Ben Cameron returns as the curator and host, and for the second year, the Musical Theatre Factory (MTF) co-curates with queer, trans, and BIPOC artists from the MTF community. While the concerts are free, viewers are encouraged to donate to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund and the Broadway Advocacy Coalition. 

    Watch the Broadway Buskers concerts on Tuesdays at 7PM from July 21-October 27 at TSQ.org/BroadwayBuskers or on Facebook.

    Broadway Buskers

    Tune in on August 4th at 7pm ET for Lauren Elder (Mary and Max, Hair, Side Show) James Harkness (Ain’t Too Proud, Beautiful, Chicago) and Nathan Salstone (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child OBC)

    and on August 11th at 7pm ET for Joey Contreras (Love Me, Love Me Not, Break from the Line, Joyride), and Tamika Lawrence (Caroline, or Change, If/Then, Come From Away).

    The August 18th performance will feature a Next to Normal  mini-reunion with performances from both Alice Ripley and J. Robert Spencer.

    Looking ahead to September, Adam Pascal, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist‘s Alice Lee, and more, will take the virtual stage in September.

    Broadway Buskers continues Tuesday evenings at 7pm ET through October 27 at Additional performers will be announced at a later date.

  • Weird Al doesn’t throw away his shot with “Hamilton Polka”

    Just one day after the musical’s release on Disney+, Weird Al Yankovic uploaded a comedic mashup video to go along with his 2018 “Hamilton Polka.”

    weird al hamilton

    Parody artist Weird Al is famous for his mashup polkas of famous songs. His first polka, “Polkas on 45,” was released in 1984. Weird Al has continued to make polkas throughout the decades using each generation’s music. His most recent is “NOW That’s What I Call Polka!,” which was released in 2014 and features songs by Miley Cyrus, One Direction, Daft Punk, and more.

    The single was released in 2018 as a part of the Hamildrop series, where different artists made remixes of Hamilton content throughout the year. Miranda has been a fan of Yankovic since he was a kid, and hearing the song was a dream come true for him. He and Weird Al have been good friends for some time, and Yankovic describes Hamilton as “maybe the greatest piece of art [he’s] ever seen,” so he pulled out all the stops to make sure that the “Hamilton Polka” was perfect. 

    The “Hamilton Polka” is Weird Al’s third polka to use songs by only one artist. “The Hot Rocks Polka” features songs only by The Rolling Stones, and his “Bohemian Polka” mashes up Queen’s famous “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The “Hamilton Polka”  still made history as being the first time Yankovic used multiple songs by one artist but from just one album. 

    He features some of the most popular songs from the show, including: “Alexander Hamilton,” “Wait For It,” “The Schulyer Sisters,” “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down),” “You’ll Be Back,” “The Room Where It Happens,” “Right Hand Man,” “Guns and Ships,” “Washington On Your Side,” “Non Stop,” “History Has its Eyes On You,” and “My Shot.”

    Even with the songs’ uniformity, Weird Al manages to stay true to his style and add silliness to the single. The comically edited lip syncs of the video feature the 2016 cast of Hamilton performing Weird Al’s vocals. The actors’ dancing and blocking for each song is shown, finishing with the cast’s final bow.

  • Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony to Be Televised

    Because of the threat of the COVID-19, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is replacing its 35th annual Induction Ceremony with an HBO special honoring the inductees. The special will air on November 7, 2020 at 8PM EST on HBO and HBO Max.

    rock hall of fame
    Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

    This year, the 35th Induction Ceremony was supposed to take place on May 2 in Cleveland and make history by being the first Induction broadcast live. To ensure the safety of their fans and inductees, however, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will instead create a special program to give the Inductees their earned respect. The show will tell “the stories of their incredible contributions to music and impact on a generation of artists that followed them,” says Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation Chairman John Sykes. It will include archived content, acceptance speeches, interviews, and more. Next year, the 36th Induction Ceremony will be moved to the fall and return to Cleveland. After that, the Ceremony will take place every other year in Cleveland. 

    Even though they can’t have a proper Ceremony, the Rock & Roll Hall of fame is still giving fans ways to honor the Inductees. Their museum is back open and safely following all recommended guidelines from Ohio Governor DeWine, the CDC, public health officials, and infectious disease experts. Advance tickets must be purchased online and the museum requires temperature checks, masks, social distancing, limited capacity, and other safety precautions to ensure the health of their visitors. Early hours are available for at-risk guests, some essential workers, and Rock Hall members. The museum will open a 2020 Inductee Exhibit on August 14. If you can’t make it in person, you can still listen to the Inductees’ curated playlists on Spotify. 

    The exclusive Induction Ceremony will air on HBO and HBO Max on Saturday, November 7 at 8.

  • Hudson Valley Philharmonic to Stream Virtual Concert

    On Saturday, July 18, Bardavon Presents will stream the first Hudson Valley Philharmonic Virtual Concert Hall for free. The performance is curated by HVP Maestro Randall Craig Fleischer and will showcase favorite pieces performed by the talented HVP musicians. 

    hudson valley philharmonic

    As Bardavon is not sure when audiences will be able to gather together once again due to the Coronavirus pandemic, they are streaming virtual performances on YouTube for fans to enjoy from home. The HVP Virtual Concert Hall #1 will stream on July 18 at 8PM and will feature the following pieces along with commentary from Fleischer:

    Reinhold Glière, 8 Pieces, Op.39, Scherzo, Performed by Madeline Fayette, Cello, and Abi Fayette, Violin

    Reinhold Glière, 8 Pieces, Op.39, Berceuse, Performed by Madeline Fayette, Cello, and Abi Fayette, Violin

    Gioachino Rossini, The Barber of Seville Overture, arr. for two flutes, Performed by Marcia Gates, Flute, and Jill Sokol, Flute

    J.S. Bach, French Suite No. 2, Allemande, Performed by Elizabeth Handman, Viola

    J.S. Bach, French Suite No. 2, Courande, Performed by Elizabeth Handman, Viola

    Jay Ungar, Ashokan Farewell, Performed by Frances Duffy, Harp

    Bela Bartok, Romanian Folk Dances, Allegro Moderato, Performed by Rachel Handman, Violin

    Donna Doyle, “Cave of the Heart”, Performed by Gregory K. Williams, Viola

    Gioachino Rossini, William Tell Overture, English Horn solo, Performed by Joel Evans, English Horn

    Hatikva (trad.), Performed by Harvey Feldman, Bassoon

    Subscribe to Bardavon Presents on YouTube so you don’t miss this or their upcoming shows planned for July through November. Bardavon is still selling tickets online for future events and updates their ticket holders on the status of the scheduled events.

  • PBS Airs Broadway Shows to Keep Theatre Alive

    As a part of their Broadway at Home series, PBS will be bringing theatre to people at home by broadcasting She Loves Me, Present Laughter, In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams, Much Ado About Nothing, and The King and I on a weekly basis starting July 24 and ending August 21. 

    broadway PBS
    Photo by Joan Marcus.

    Since the Broadway shutdown was extended to 2021, many are still finding ways to keep theatre alive. Following the Disney Plus release of Hamilton, on Fridays this summer, PBS will broadcast some past Broadway favorites. She Loves Me will kick the series off on July 24 at 9PM ET. The musical features Tony award winner Laura Benanti and Tony nominee Zachary Levi. This 2016 revival of the 1963 show was the first ever Broadway show to be livestreamed. The next week, Noel Coward’s Present Laughter will air July 31 at 9PM ET. This comedy follows a self-obsessed actor as he deals with women who want him, crazed playwrights, twists, and his impending mid-life crisis. 

    On August 7 at 9, PBS will broadcast In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams. The film documents the stories of composer and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of In the Heights as they prepare for their opening night in 2008. It is about the difficulty of going out and achieving dreams when all odds are stacked against you. Although writing a show about a mainly Hispanic neighborhood in NYC may have been risky, it certainly paid off. In the Heights took home 4 Tonys, including Best Musical and Best Score of a Musical.  Its film adaptation will be released summer 2021.

    For the first time, PBS will show a Shakespeare in the Park show–Much Ado About Nothing from 2019. Danielle Brooks and Grantham Coleman star in this Shakespeare comedy directed by Tony winner Kenny Leon and choreographed by Tony nominee Camille A. Brown. Much Ado About Nothing will air on August 14 at 9. 

    Danielle Brooks and Grantham Coleman. Photo by Joan Marcus.

    PBS wraps the series up on August 21 at 9 with Rogers and Hammerstein’s The King and I. The 2015 revival of this 1951 classic won the Tony for Best Musical Revival. This production was recorded during its 2018 run and stars Tony award winners Ruthie Ann Miles and Kelli O’Hara, who won for this performance as Mrs. Anna in The King and I in 2015. 

    The shows will also be available for streaming on all station-branded PBS platforms, and all PBS station members will be able to watch the shows on Passport. Check your local PBS station for more information. 

  • Summer Camp Music Festival Postponed to 2021

    After the recent spike in Coronavirus cases, the Summer Camp Music Festival has decided to postpone their 20th anniversary concert to Memorial Day weekend 2021. 

    For the past 19 years, the Summer Camp Music Festival in Illinois has been held on Memorial Day weekend to kick off summer with a bang. Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, this year’s festival was postponed. Although organizers and staff hoped that it could take place later this summer, the festival has been pushed back to Memorial Day weekend 2021 as Illinois will not be in Phase 5 of the reopening process this August and therefore cannot safely hold the concert. Ian Goldbreg, founder of the Summer Camp music festival, states that the staff holds “the health and safety of you, our fans, and our dedicated staff as our number one concern.”

    Despite this setback, plans for next year’s festival are already in the works. While some artists are “still working out details,” the majority of this summer’s lineup has confirmed that they will perform at the 20th anniversary festival in 2021. Additionally, all tickets for this year’s festival will roll over and be good for 2021. If you cannot make it next year, refunds will be available starting on July 13 and ending on July 30, 2020. 

    summer camp fest

    Although it has been a very difficult decision, Goldberg comments: “I felt I was acting in the best interest of the many people who dedicate their lives to this event every year, knowing all along I would never put those lives in jeopardy if the situation did not prove to allow for a safe event.” The festival is great for all music fans, with crowd favorites moe. and Umphrey’s McGee headlining. The 2020 lineup was supposed to include other artists like Ween, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Billy Strings, Rezz, STS9, Tipper, and more. 

    Fans of the festival wait for it to come back “even bigger and better” on May 28-30, 2021. Until then, check out NYSMusic’s coverage of the festival’s recent years: 2019, 2018, and 2017.

  • Roan Yellowthorn Covers Chris Cornell’s “Can’t Change Me”

    Indie pop rock duo Roan Yellowthorn have released a cover of Chris Cornell’s “Can’t Change Me” to benefit the Chris and Vicky Cornell foundation. 

    Roan Yellowthorn Chris Cornell
    Photo courtesy of roanyellowthorn.com

    This single is the second in the Blue Élan’s ‘We Are The Highway’ project series, which features Chris Cornell covers to benefit children across the globe who struggle with issues like homelessness, neglect, abuse, and poverty. The project seeks to uphold Chris Cornell’s legacy and show that music can create positive change. Blue Élan stresses that now it is more important than ever to help children in need, and co-founder of Blue Élan and friend of Cornell Kirk Pasich states that “We cannot think of a better musical way to do that than sharing the music of Chris Cornell, in his memory, and to help children.”

    Roan Yellowthorn is made up of Shawn Strack and Jackie McLean, daughter of Don McLean. Jackie McLean comments on covering “Cant Change Me,” saying: “When I hear [Cornell’s] words, I am struck by his depth of feeling. I am struck by the intensity of his emotion. I am struck by the strength of his presence.” 

    Much like Chris Cornell, Jackie McLean is an artist who is also known for putting deep feeling in her music. Their latest album Indigo “is an extremely sincere album” and was written as a way for McLean to process her feelings. All of Roan Yellowthorn’s music comes from the heart. 

    Roan Yellowthorn

    There are more songs to come in Blue Élan’s We Are The Highway project. The songs inspire people in difficult situations to survive and persevere despite their struggles, embodying the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation’s mission to help children who cannot help themselves. You can follow the official “We Are The Highway” playlist here.

  • Ben Folds Sums Up this Year with Single “2020”

    In response to the first six months of this “rollercoaster year,” Ben Folds has written a new single “2020.”

    The song expresses Folds’ take on 2020. “We seem to be currently reliving and cramming a number of historically tumultuous years into one,” he says. “For a moment it was all about the 1918 pandemic. Then we began seeing hints of the Great Depression before flipping the calendar forward to the Civil Rights protests of the 1960’s. Running beneath this is the feeling that we’re in the Cold War, while seeing elements that brought us to the Civil War rearing their head, making us wonder if we’ve learned a damn thing at all.”

    At the start of this year, Folds was on an orchestral tour of Australia. However, it was cancelled due to the pandemic, and is set to continue in 2021 along with his US tour. Since quarantine, Folds has been working on his next album, the sequel to his 2019 New York Times best selling memoir A Dream About Lightning Bugs, and other new creative projects.

    Folds notes that the current sense of accelerated time is not only “personally disorienting,” but “also artistically disorienting.” The single is about that, how so much seems to happen each day that topics can be “out of date or even inappropriate by noon.” “2020” touches on the fact that this year seems like several past years crammed into one.

    Despite today’s stress, Folds optimistically hopes for a better 2021 to come. “2020” is available for streaming now.

  • The Next Great American Novelist Release New Single “Drag”

    The Next Great American Novelist, an indie rock band from Brooklyn, released the new single “Drag” from their upcoming album Careless Moon. 

    “Drag” was written before the countless changes of the past few months. The song explores the pre-pandemic ‘normal,’ but doesn’t paint it as being perfect. It looks into the monotony of life.

    “I love New York City, though, some days it feels like a dysfunctional landscape of ill-routine. Living here, you realize you’re functionally necessary but of small significance or importance within the larger enterprise. I’m immersed in a series of habits: standing in line, getting on a train, heading to work, buying coffee, buying booze… Are these choices I want to make or am I just keeping the machine going?” 

    Sean Cahill, Songwriter.

    This will be the band’s second album after I’ll See You in the Art You Love, released three years ago. The Next Great American Novelist, or NGAN for short, wanted their music to be something that could be enjoyed best live, by all sorts of people. Art You Love delves into depression with an emo-folk sound. Careless Moon includes songs that will “make sense live.” Atwood Magazine, who debuted the album’s first song “Blackberry,” notes that that the band’s new songs have “a heavy alternative sound that simply wasn’t present in NGAN’s previous repertoire — and yet, this growth feels natural and exciting.” 

    The upcoming album comes from a place of joy rather than sadness and is marked by their new sound. Despite the band’s evolution, fans will still be able to recognize NGAN in Careless Moon from their three-part harmonies and meaningful, storytelling lyrics. It explores the relationship between romance and indifference. The two can coexist at the same time within one symbol.

    Watch The Music Video for “Drag” Below:

    Cahill has gone through ups and downs with his relationship with music. Yet he realized that it is his calling. “For a while I felt guilty about playing music, playing shows, as if it was a shameful or self-serving pursuit,” he tells Atwood. “After some reflection, I’m realizing that music is the best way I can spend my time, as it brings more light into the darkness and opens up an avenue for sharing joy.” Cahill eventually met Helm and Cummings through a “chance encounter,” and the three then formed NGAN through a shared music taste and interest in becoming creative collaborators. 

    Atwood reports that Careless Moon is “bigger, edgier, and more alternative; an unabashed outpouring of raw dynamism. The Next Great American Novelist are ready to be your Next Favorite American Band.” “Drag,” along with “Kubler,” “Baby Duck Song,” and “Blackberry,” are available for streaming now.

  • Capital Repertory Theatre Will Hold Virtual New Play Festival

    Capital Repertory Theatre is making the 9th annual Next Act! New Play Summit produced virtually and available for anyone to view. 

    The new play contest is produced by the Capital Repertory Theatre and features new works written by artists in the Capital Region and around the country. TheREP is the only professional theatre in the Capital Region, and has been creating, “meaningful theatre with an authentic connection to the community” since 1981. The theatre donates more than 83% of their profits back to their local community and tries to ensure that all young people are able to experience live theatre before they graduate high school. 

    TheREP also hosts an annual weekend-long summit to produce new plays. The New Play Summit “seeks to highlight new works that use theatre to address injustices, inequities, and cultural collisions, providing a voice for the unheard and unrepresented.” The Summit has drawn more than 4,000 audience members to date, but will take place online this year due to COVID-19.

    The Summit will be held from July 13-16, and will kick off on July 13 at 7PM with the New Voices: Young Playwright Contest with readings from the winning six short plays written by young people ages 13-18 in the Capital Region. The top plays selected are: An Artist’s Hand (Grace Bombard), Just a Normal Friday (Jeremiah Choudhury), Almost a Fairytale (Megan Dellenbaugh), The Deadly Dinner Party (Clare Reilly & Regan Roberts), Our New Colossus (Maya TerryStein), and A Series of Unfortunate Ideas (Jasmine VanDyke & Jonathan Jordan). The plays include the poetic, the hilarious, the profane, and the poignant. 

    Pictured: AEA Actor, Joshua Redfield and local actress Emily Curro

    On Tuesday, July 14 at 7PM, SLAM!, the winner of the NextGen contest, will be read. NextGen is a collaboration between theREP and SUNY Albany’s Fresh Acts festival, which puts on new plays written by students. SLAM!, a comedy written by junior Billy Feerick, was chosen among the plays written and submitted to UAlbany’s Fresh Acts. The play is about students in a college poetry club vying for the coveted title of “Best Poet.” SLAM! was written entirely in iambic pentameter verse with rhyming and hip hop rhythms. 

    The play chosen to headline this year’s festival is A Distinct Society, written by director and playwright Kareem Fahmy. It was selected from more than 350 across the country and is inspired by the true stories of Iranian families reunited at the Haskell Free Library & Opera House at the border between Quebec and Vermont. Fahmy was raised in Canada by his Egyptian parents, but now lives in NYC.

    The play is directed by theREP’s Megan Sandberg-Zakian, who directed Lobby Hero and The Royale during past seasons. Sandberg-Zakian and Fahmy are the founders of Maia Directors, a group which supports artists from the MENASA (Middle East, North Africa, South Asia) region. Fahmy is also a founder and chair of the Middle Eastern American Writers Lab at The Lark. The reading of A Distinct Society will be at 7PM on Wednesday, July 15. 

    Photo by Albany Business Review

    The Summit will end on July 16 at 7PM with The First 15: You Be the Judge!, a reading of the first 15 pages of 4 plays submitted to Next Act. After 15 pages, the audience will be asked whether or not they would like to read the rest of the script. The show will be interactive and include a discussion. 

    Although all events will be available for free, theREP is accepting donations to help fund their new work development. The donations will allow theREP to continue to develop scripts and produce world premieres of new works every year. You can donate by going to www.capitalrep.org or by texting NEXTACT to 41444.

    You can watch the performances from July 13-16 on theREP’s Facebook page, the Proctors Collaborative Youtube channel, or the Open Stage Media’s .