During a joint performance Saturday May 15 at the Center for the Performing Arts, Great American Songbook Foundation Founder Michael Feinstein surprised his longtime friend Melissa Manchester with an induction into the Songbook Hall of Fame.
Manchester is perhaps best known for her Billboard Top 10 singles “Midnight Blue,” the Grammy-nominated “Don’t Cry Out Loud” and “You Should Hear How She Talks About You,” which won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Her original songs have been recorded by artists including Barbra Streisand, Roberta Flack, Dusty Springfield, Alison Krauss and Kenny Loggins, with whom she co-wrote his hit “Whenever I Call You ‘Friend.’” Saturday’s Center Presents performance at the Palladium concert hall was the first public appearance in over a year for both Feinstein and Manchester.
Manchester and two other artists, not yet announced, will be formally inducted during Songbook Hall of Fame events in September. More information is available at TheSongbook.org/Hall-of-Fame
The Avenel Performing Arts Center (APAC), a new multi-disciplinary performing arts center located in Woodbridge, New Jersey, presents My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy May 20th through May 23rd, 2021.
A native of Brooklyn, Steve Solomon grew up in the multi-ethnic neighborhood of Sheepshead Bay. This was the perfect training ground for a dialectician and comedian. Steve learned at an early age how to use his gift for imitating accents to his advantage. He also realized that he was a prolific writer of jokes and stories; real jokes. The three-time award winning “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m In Therapy” has met with rave reviews to sold out crowds throughout the country and overseas and became one of the longest running one-man comedy shows in history.
Broadway Records announced the release of the 2021 studio concept recording of STONE CROSSED, the new musical by Philip David Stern. The recording features performances by Krystina Alabado (Green Day’s American Idiot), Alex Boniello (Dear Evan Hansen), Gabi Campo (The Prom), Antonio Cipriano (Jagged Little Pill), Will Connolly (Once), Telly Leung (Allegiance), Elle McLemore (Heathers: The Musical), Celia Rose Gooding (Jagged Little Pill), Jon Rua (Hamilton) and Samantha Williams (Dear Evan Hansen). The album will be available on Friday, May 21st wherever digital music is sold and on BroadwayRecords.com.
Curated by none other than Birdland’s Jim Caruso, the Bucks County Playhouse has begun its Spotlight Concert Series with Natalie Douglas and will feature an amazing lineup of Broadway and Cabaret talent including: Karen Mason-May 20 & 21; Constantine Maroulis-May 22 & 23; Sally Mayes-May 27 & 28; Eddie Bruce-May 29 & 30; Melissa Errico-June 3 & 4; Andrew Polec-June 5 & 6; Christy Altomare-June 10 & 11 and Billy Stritch-June 12 & 13. More info/tix: www.bcptheater.org
7th release in the series, Keeping Live Theatre Alive!, conceived by Dan Lauria and featuring original works created by actors who champion theater. NJ Rep and four partner theaters Berkshire Playwrights Lab, Durango Playfest, Laguna Playhouse, and Seven Angels Theatre are the recipients of this treasure-trove of heartfelt stories from Lisa Arrindell, R. Bruce Connelly, Danica McKellar, Saul Rubinek, Sam McMurray and Henry Winkler. www.njrep.org
