Photo: Kim Guerriero (KimmyG Photography)

In 2002, a group of celebrated professional musicians – veterans of the New York music scene – came together to form Beginnings.

While Beginnings was designed as a tribute to the 70s/80s classic band Chiacago, the musicians are certainly not mimics. These formidable players infuse the classic – and highly memorable tunes of Chacgo with their own spoecial style, adding musical commentary and 21st Century touches allowing them to stabnd nbext to the biogrtaphical showings along Broadway like Jerrsey Boys, Mama Mia, American idiot, and so many more. Now, Town Hall will contribute to the Broadway skyline by hosting a special one-night-only concert featuring the phenomenal band, Beginnings, and their tribute to the legendary 70/80s band, Chicago; and That Motown Band – celebrating the 60s record label that fostered powerful, definite and historic music.

Preemo Productions in association with Town Hall hosts a concert honoring the American rock band, Chicago, and the timeless music of Motown

Across our five arts sites, we will cover this once-in-a-lifetime event.

We’ll start with Adam Seely, on Alto, Tenor & Soprano saxophones, and on-the-spot. 

Adam, tell us about yourself as an artist. What’s happening with you? 

As a saxophone player and arranger, I have always gravitated towards music that has horn sections at their core.  I love arranging for horns, and the power it can and energy they can bring to a song.  My favorite bands have always been ones with that horn section signature sound like Tower of Power, Earth Wind & Fire and of course, Chicago.  As a musician, I love taking a nice sax solo on something and expressing myself that way, but my true love is playing in a horn section.  Just being a part of a voiced-out arrangement and playing as one with other horn players, it still thrills me to this day, and Chicago is a perfect example on what that lends to their hits and songwriting.

My other musical endeavors are really based around lending my horn parts to original artists’ material and giving something to a song they might not have thought about much.  I love the collaboration in that.  Sometimes it’s deciding where NOT to have horns, and then they come in for the best effect.

Cool. So, fees-up! Share with us a little something about the bands or the show that we WON’T see in the press release.

This band, “Beginnings” is a true labor of love on and off stage.  We are constantly revisiting the show to give that live Chicago experience, but also give our energy and enthusiasm to it.  Crafting the set list is always top of mind.  We try to fit in over 3 decades of hits into a 90-minute show, so we’re immensely proud of the medleys we’ve arranged to give as many choruses to hits so people feel like they’ve heard their favorite song.

Labor of Love? OK, you sort answered this question already. You are keeping great musical works alive and sharing them with new generations. How does that feel? Do you have a greater sense of responsibility because of it?

I’d like to think of it that way for sure.  Cover bands and tribute bands are simply spreading the word – the word is great music.  Plays are revived on Broadway all the time, and re-interpreted and produced differently, but there’s a solid base of art that is being honored and re told to new generations.  If there’s a 20-year-old singer / songwriter out there who hears us play “Saturday in the Park” live, and goes and checks out Chicago’s catalog, that’s a win / win for everyone.  Inspiration can come from talented musicians playing and celebrating music they haven’t written but feel passionate about playing and dissecting and making it relevant for today’s audiences.

You brought up new singers hearing Chiacgo for the first time though you all. How does the music of Chicago and Motown resonate today? Feel free to be blunt. 

As I’ve said, Chicago has over 3 decades of hits.  Big hits.  There’s a reason these guys have been so successful.  Songwriting.   Just amazing songs that meld classical music and rock and unforgettable hooks.  We’re so fortunate to play with “That Motown Band” who just comes out and kills it with every Motown hit.  They’re timeless melodies, and not disposable.  They’re modern classics.  I think those in the audience that are older live out their childhood with nostalgia in each bar of all of Chicago’s tunes as well as Motown.  That’s the feedback we get consistently at our meet and greets.  “I saw Chicago in 1971 and when you did that tune, it brought me back to that place when I first heard the song.  Music can do that like no other art form.  I love when people say we’re as much fun as Chicago to watch and listen to, and that feeling translates to today.  The material isn’t dated and we’re honoring it because the songs have no expiration date in my opinion.

OK, you’re gonna be on BROADWAY! How does THAT feel?

Yeah, playing on Broadway.  It doesn’t get any better than that!  The heart of New York City and all the amazing acts that have graced the Town Hall stage, it’s truly an honor and a blessing.  I will enjoy every second of being on that stage.

What’s next?  

Key West, a return to Las Vegas, bigger venues, and more…as the chorus goes of the song we named the band after, “It’s Only the Beginning”…!

Look for articles on Beginnings members:

Mason Swearingen

Adam Seely

Dan Hendrix 

Chris Milillo

… and producer, Ed Levine

New York’s premier improv troupe, THE IMPROVISATIONAL REPERTORY THEATRE ENSEMBLE boasts being well-trained actors as well as hilarity-makers. But is that important … I guess so … and so do they. We grabbed them in-between their second show this season, The DIABOLICAL DR. FIEND, currently running at The Producers Club. (visit http://www.irteinfo.com for info and tickets).

So … guys … quick thinking and natural talent are surely on an improvisational actor’s grocery list. How about theatrical training. How has established acting methods helped in Improv?  

From Artistic Director, Nannette Deasy:

Theatre training is very important for anyone who steps on a stage. Improvisational acting is acting. You may not have a script, but it is still theatre. Talent and natural comic ability are wonderful – but you had better develop the skills to be heard, seen, and connect with your fellow actors and yourself. Otherwise, you can quickly get lost. A “traditional” acting method and scene study class will help any improvisational actor to develop better focus and listening skills. It will also provide him or her better access to one’s own emotional well to create characters grounded in some truth, no matter how broad or ridiculous they may be – not always an easy task when in the very artificial reality of being on a lit stage facing an audience of strangers. 

From Curt Dixon

The first thing that comes to mind is physicality and portraying emotions. Learning how your character moves and how they express themselves is important so that your performance is believable. You have to learn how to show the audience that you are that person. And you also have to be able to pay attention and react to the world that you are in. Being in character and in the moment at all times is paramount to making any scene work.  

From Heather Johnson

Hmm, hard question since I do not have theatrical training, unless you count high school. The method I like to follow is the “does this make ME laugh” method, I wonder if someone has coined that. Because before I even care about an audience, I selfishly just want to make myself laugh and tug on the line of comfort/appropriateness levels. It is kind of like when you’re walking down the street and you think of something and laugh hysterically to yourself and don’t care that you look like an idiot because you’re having a grand time. I’m pretty sure that’s most people in comedy though. 

Wow, this was actually a very awkward question for me to answer. Yep, I’m going to stop now. 

From Cheryl Pickett

Taking things moment to moment and listening to your scene partner.  

From Connie Perry

Scene study work comes to my mind. Even though you are not working with written material, you develop the skills to pay attention and listen to your scene partner as you learn to be in the moment. That can translate well into improvisational scene work.

From Izzy Church

I’ve studied numerous acting methods and they all contribute to the work I do as an improviser. Meisner technique teaches acting students to listen and respond, while paying careful attention that they are working moment to moment and living truthfully under imaginary circumstances. The same rules apply when you’re improvising. You have to be in the moment, and respond to whatever your fellow improviser(s) are offering. Method Acting teaches sense memory, where you recall on the sensory impressions stored in your subconscious and apply them to the space or the scene, which is also useful for improvisation. These techniques, any many other methods are useful tools when you’re improvising. Most importantly, remember to have fun! Your body and brain are very intuitive and if you tense up, you’re sending a signal to your body and brain that what you’re doing is difficult or stressful. I suggest warming up first. I believe all acting schools teach the importance of movement work. We also warm up as improvisers and work to ground ourselves before we begin to play.

DOWNTOWN URBAN ARTS FESTIVAL

“The Vast Mystery of Who You Are: Part One”

Reviewed by Robert Viagas

The central character of Kim Yaged’s sharp new drama, The Vast Mystery of Who You Are: Part One, indulges in sex parties, she says, just to satisfy her primal urges. But it becomes apparent that something else is prowling inside her that is more complicated, though just as fierce.

Yaged, the prolific and provocative author of the award winning Hypocrites & Strippers, Mates and Never Said, tears open her characters through language. Named “You” (Marissa Carpio), her central character is relentlessly articulate, though it gradually becomes apparent that her mastery of contemporary buzzwords and politically correct catchphrases actually serves as a kind of armor. They shield her, but also separate her from people she professes to care for.

And she is not alone in her loneliness. Her intergender would-be lover “Dritte” (Bridget Ori) actually refuses to be touched. And this is the first play in memory that lists a separate Intimacy Director (Claire Warden).

As the play’s title suggests, sometimes the most “woke” among us are actually asleep to what’s going on inside their own heads and hearts.

As “You,” Carpio seemed a little tentative on opening night, but the confusion and frustration from her would-be male partner “First” (Gareth E. Lawson), her female buddy “Two” (Gulshan Mia), and) was palpable.

Director Rebecca Cunningham staged the show on a nearly empty stage, with three alternating playing areas designed by Omayra Garriga Casiano and lit by Karim Rivera Rosado.

When You is finally ready to seriously question her own presumptions, she finds her coldness has driven the others away. She makes a breakthrough in the final line of the 55-minute play, leaving the audience eager to learn what Part Two has in store.

The Vast Mystery of Who You Are: Part One was presented on April 13 as part of the Downtown Urban Arts Festival.

Steve Silver, a playwright and actor whose star was rising at an amazing rate, passed away suddenly on March 16, 2018. His final work, WAITING FOR THE DON opens tonight, April 4, at the American Theatre of Actors.

Stage and film director, Laurie Rae Waugh will be helming this final work.  An artist who was ‘there” and wrote about it. Ms. Waugh directed much of the gritty play- and screen-writer’s canon.

“I enjoyed not only the wonderful working relationship we had but more importantly, the friendship we developed over the past 8 years” said the prolific director, celebrated for her subtle depth-of-the-character style of direction.

Ms. Waugh earned accolades for her and Mr. Silver. She received the 2016 Jean Dalrymple Award for Best Director for Silver’s play(s), Mirrors; the same honor the previous year for A Spanish Harlem Story. She also won in 2010 for Jerry J. Pollock’s Code Name Daniel. 

“Steve was not just a friend but became my theater brother,” Ms. Waugh said in an interview.

She and Silver had a long and joyous working relationship on Silver’s plays, Born in the USA and Waiting for THE DON, The Tiger of Greenwich Village, and The Prince of Hell’s Kitchen.

Ms. Waugh was part of Steve Silver’s magnum opus, The Watchtower, which began as a one-act; was rewritten as a full-length; and finally became a major motion picture winning numerous honors across the country.  DON was in negotiation to become another film after its run at the landmark American Theatre of Actors in NYC.

“Thank you Steve for giving me the distinct honor and pleasure to have brought your plays to life.  I would also like to thank James Jennings, my cast, family and friends for their support.”

Steve Silver remembered by the industry.

“We’ve lost a voice that gave us many enjoyable times in the theater.”
Stephanie Schwartz

“He was a quiet man with a loud message!
He was a reserved man, who had a talent for telling stories.
He will be missed; I will miss the plays that he would have written.”
Francesca Devito

“Steve wrote the truth and he gave it to the people.
That alone put him above so many.”
Jay Michaels 

“Steve wrote raw, gritty and compelling dramas about
life in New York City.
He will be sorely missed.”
Laurie Rae Waugh

This year marks the Season Sweet 16 for the powerful Downtown Urban Arts Festival. The five-week art & culture showcase supplying audiences with live stage works, independent film, cutting-edge music and envelope-pushing poetry, will take up residence in some of lower Manhattan’s most thrilling and celebrated spaces. Running from April 7 through May 12, artists with their finger on the pulse of what the city is thinking will present their works at Theatre 80 St. Marks, Tribeca Film Center, New York Live Arts, Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, and Nuyorican Poets Café.

ArtsIndependent will be doing a series of interviews with some of the stage artists prior to showtime. At THEATRE 80 ST. MARKS, 80 ST MARKS PLACE, NEW YORK CITY, a powerful, literate, and engrossing piece goes up by an author who is the same.

The articulate J.E. Robinson shared some brilliance with us recently …

FRIDAY, APRIL 20 @ 8:00 PM

THE STRONG MAN BY J.E. Robinson
Decades ago, at the head of his gang, Pearl Crabtree was strong enough to kill any man. Is he now strong enough to kill one of his own?

Also featured: CORPORATESTHENICS BY Baindu Dafina Kalokoh

Tell us about yourself as an artist.

My aesthetics believes strongly that, in order for the work to live for the audience, it must live for the artist. Without this predicate, the work fails to become art. In every medium in which I have worked (fiction, poetry, essays, plays, history, even within the classroom), I strive to see my audiences sit wide-mouthed, and to hear them say “it’s not just like I met these people; it is like I was actually there!” Perhaps this impact leads them to consider my work “historical,” or even “autobiographical.” Whatever. My audiences, however, do see dimensions beyond the moments I present. Their visions vindicate my trust in them in telling these stories. The gone are not gone if we remember them, if only as parts of a fiction.

Where did you get the idea—the inspiration—for the play?

Perhaps I could explain THE STRONG MAN as being set in my ancestral home in South Carolina, from which my great-grandfather moved around the turn of the twentieth century, or I could explain that the governor of South Carolina who incited and failed to arrest the Honea race riot in the early 1900s shares his birthday with me, but those would elude the true inspiration of a play about how men die.

At fifty-two, I find myself approaching the end of my life. How shall I be remembered? How will I die? Each of us asks those questions. In THE STRONG MAN, Victor has started answering them, and he has resolved not to die cheaply, with the life of yet another person on his head. Perhaps a person arriving at that conclusion serves as the real inspiration for this play. Perhaps I sought to see it represented as religious allegory. That sounds good! “Perhaps so.”

Are you an historian or a history buff—I ask as the play has element of events of decades ago.

That is an odd question. In it, might you reference my profession or my material?

What are your hopes for this play…and goals in general?

For THE STRONG MAN, I should hope an appreciative audience would see it well. I should hope that it inspires thought for someone. I should hope someone seeks to redeem themselves. After all, ever since the time of Aeschylus, drama has been a most redemptive art.

Any ideas for a full length play?

Currently circulating is a longer play, set in Ashante country, in Ghana, between the 1500s and the twenty-first century. In it, Mother Ashante sends storms across the ocean to regain her stolen children, and she rejoices when her children return. It is called MOTHER ASHANTE GATHERS THE WAR CLOUDS FOR HER CHILDREN. I would wish it be seen somewhere beyond my flash drive.

What’s next?

My current project is a screenplay set in the 1930s, featuring a trouser-chasing director forced into a relationship with a starlet to save his job at the studio. Its title remains in flux. Who knows? Perhaps it would interest Kevin Spacey…

This year marks the Season Sweet 16 for the powerful Downtown Urban Arts Festival. The five-week art & culture showcase supplying audiences with live stage works, independent film, cutting-edge music and envelope-pushing poetry, will take up residence in some of lower Manhattan’s most thrilling and celebrated spaces. Running from April 7 through May 12, artists with their finger on the pulse of what the city is thinking will present their works at Theatre 80 St. Marks, Tribeca Film Center, New York Live Arts, Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, and Nuyorican Poets Café.

ArtsIndependent will be doing a series of interviews with some of the stage artists prior to showtime. At THEATRE 80 ST. MARKS, 80 ST MARKS PLACE, NEW YORK CITY, a one-man show featuring actor, writer, renaissance man, Daniel Damiano, will premiere entitled AMERICAN TRANQUILITY. We took a few moments of his precious time to hear about Daniel, his play, and the art of storytelling.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18 @ 8:00 PM

AMERICAN TRANQUILITY BY Daniel Damiano
A southern retiree, an Iranian subway station poet and percussionist, a talk-radio show host and a Brooklyn existentialist reflect on the human divide in 21st century America.

Also featured that night: SUBLET BY Alisa Zhulina

Tell us about yourself as an artist.

I’m an Actor, Playwright and Poet based in Brooklyn, NY. As an Actor, I’ve played a wide array of lead and character roles and have always relished the opportunity of doing different things in different styles and playing a variety of roles, and working with nice, creative people. As a Playwright, the same holds true, pretty much. Stylistically, I do not marry myself to a specific genre or style, but really savor the opportunity of telling stories about different types of people in different parts of the world that I have a personal connection to, somehow.

Where did you get the idea – the inspiration – for the play?

I wrote AMERICAN TRANQUILITY over the course of a couple of months in the late Winter/Spring of 2017.  It was born out of a combination of my desperation to get back on the stage and not wanting to wait for someone to hire me combined with the post-election climate that fed into some of the themes in the piece, along with other themes that I thought meshed well in terms of how they relate to modern America.

The one-person show is gaining GREAT notoriety. What do you consider yourself … an actor or a playwright first?

Very much both. Admittedly, I’ve often kept both very separate in that I love writing plays for other actors – not for myself. However, I’ve fused the two together when I wanted to create a performance opportunity for myself, as I did with my first solo show, THE HYENAS GOT IT DOWN, and my new one, AMERICAN TRANQUILITY. But I love being an Actor (and need to be doing it much more) as I love being a Playwright.

What are your hopes for this play … and goals in general?

For AMERICAN TRANQUILITY, having my druthers, I would love to perform this for a few weeks at a single venue.  I think it’ll be timely for a while, and would just love to have the opportunity to share this with more people.  I’ve done this a few times already, but just for 1 or 2 night stints. But the thrill of doing this show and having the audience with me in this particular piece is deeply thrilling, so I hope there can be some interest generated by it so that it can have other lives. As far as myself, the goal is always for the opportunities to come a little more easily, both in terms of finding homes for my plays and working as an actor. Anyone who does one, the other or both will tell you that that’s often the biggest challenge because it’s the one thing you can’t control – UNLESS you create your own opportunities, which I’ve done. But it’s certainly nice to have more people know of your work and who will give you opportunities as well, and so making my work known is always something I have to keep at because it simply helps your career.

Any ideas for a full length play? Or at least one with more characters

Most of what I have written has been multi-character plays, of which I’ve written a lot, and I’ve had plays done throughout many parts of the U.S., as well as London, England and Sydney & Melbourne, Australia. And I always look forward to what the next one will be, what will inspire it, how do I connect with it, etc.

What’s next?

My play HARMONY PARK will receive it’s World Premier with Detroit Repertory Theatre in late March and will be running through May 20th.   I’m also continuing to work on my first (and probably only) novel, called BUBONIC PEG.  There are some other up-in-the air projects that may or may not come to be, so we’ll just see what happens.