POWERFUL, TALENTED and FESTIVE: ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS' HOLIDAY SHOWCASE at THE CELL THEATRE, 12/22/15

“Oh, my gosh, what a night. The rafters rang.” Cara De Silva

 

James Phelan
James Phelan

The buzz was palpable as the audience filed into The Cell Theatre last Tuesday for Artists Without Walls’ Holiday Showcase at The Cell Theatre.  First time presenter Jim Phelan opened the night’s proceedings and was met with, silence…a high compliment, at least for writers reading their own work. And silence, lots of it, is what Jim Phelan received while reading his story, “Sketches of China.” Jim’s story was a tale well written and well told of a man dying of cancer, wafting in and out of a morphine fog, remembering a love affair when he lived in China half a century earlier. We hope the character, “Mr. J” lives and Mr. Phelan continues to tell his story. Well done, Jim. 

 

Too Many Lauras
Too Many Lauras

The Artists Without Walls’ Holiday Showcase was also the debut performance of the band Too Many Lauras featuring Peter Chance, guitar, vocals, Cecil Hooker, violin, Susan Hwang, accordion, vocals, Mike Muller, bass and Jagoda on percussion.  The first tune was the premier of “Living in Sin,” which Peter originally wrote as a woman’s response to a bad breakup. Susan’s backing vocals were psycho-samba! Second was “Rita,” the story of a woman who blames all of her life’s struggles on an ice skating accident she experienced as a child.  The band closed with “Burn Me Like a Cross,” the struggles of a young couple in love, against their town that disapproves. The addition of the newest members Susan and Pagoda, who was on an acoustic guitar body, tricked with percussion pieces, rounded out the original trio which appeared at Artists Without Walls’ June Showcase. Of course, Cecil’s beautiful violin and Michael’s bass were evident throughout.  The band will be recording an EP over the next few weeks.

Honor Molloy
Honor Molloy

 

Honor Molloy read from Betty Smith’s classic novel “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.”  Honor carried the audience back to Christmas Eve, 1912 when Francie and Neeley Nolan brought home the biggest tree in Williamsburg.  Honor, one of the finest readers on the New York literary scene, was brilliant. She perfectly captured the spirit of Smith’s scene, casting her voice in pitch-perfect Brooklynese, tossing our imaginations from one vivid scene to the next.

 

Mary Susan Sinclair-Kenning
Mary Susan Sinclair-Kenning

Diversity is a strength and Mary Susan Sinclair-Kuenning has an uncommon diversity of talents including dance, voice and athleticism, which is rarely seen. Additionally,  Mary Susan executes her art forms with a passion that was immediately evident to AWoW’s audience.  Her Oriental dance, accompanied by Mid-Eastern classical music  performed by the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, was both vibrant and artistic.  Her sensual performance, the pulsating music and shimmering costume made her dance a joy to watch. Mary Susan followed her dance with a short film of her work on the Cyr wheel, which  demonstrates her incredible strength and precision.  A wonderful, show-stopping performance. 

 

Allison Sylvia
Allison Sylvia


Allison Sylvia read poems from two chapbooks, “Marginalia” and “Scattered Ethos,” which she had been making and leaving in subway cars, parks, on benches, statues over the past two years. She sang a small poem from a journal she has been keeping lately and–collaborating with the talented Cecil Hooker (violin), Peter Chance (guitar) and Amy Yamashiro (cajon)–she danced the first dance of her one woman show, “Girl Rising” to the sounds of “Amazing Grace.” “As always, I’m grateful to have such a supportive as receptive audience as Artists Without Walls to workshop my work in progress,” Allison said.   As always, Allison performed with open hearted eloquence.

 

Cast of Thousands
Cast of Thousands

A number of great performers including Artists Without Walls’ Artistic Director Niamh Hyland, saxophonist Erik Lawrence, singer/songwriter Ed Romanoff, fiddlers Annette Homann and Deni Bonet with assisting vocals from Nicholas Garr, Mary Susan Sinclair-Kenning, Charles R. Hale and the entire audience, rounded out one of the most festive holiday endings in memory. Niamh Hyland closed out the evening with a beautiful and stirring rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Christmas.” 

 

It was a grand night!  The next AWoW Showcase at The Cell Theatre will be on January 25, 2016.

 

All photos by Vera Hoar. 

 

 

"BRINGING TOGETHER DIVERSE PERFORMERS": ANOTHER GREAT AWOW SHOWCASE COMING UP THIS TUESDAY

“In bringing together diverse performers…it makes for an event the likes of which you will rarely, if ever, experience. A melding of artists within the walls…it was a memorable night. Yes, it was that good.” Ron Vazzano

 

Ron Vazzano
Ron Vazzano

Yes, as Ron says, an AWoW Showcase is always “that good.” May’s Showcase is shaping up as more of the same.  And, Ron, a writer and poet, whose monthly on line “Muse-Letter,” a mix of essays, reviews, poems, quotes, wordplay, which has become quite popular among AWoW members and friends, will be one of the evening’s presenters. Ron’s essays have been posted on the Artists Without Walls’ website and he’s also read his poetry on a number of occasions at Showcases over the past year. In a former life, he spent some years as an actor appearing in theatrical productions in New York City as well as on the road. If past is prologue, Ron’s performance will be timely, witty and spot on. 

 

Hammerstep
Hammerstep

The dance group Hammerstep has had successful international performances, including at New York City’s Lincoln Center and The Palace Theatre on London’s West End, as well as an online viral video of their recent appearance on America’s Got Talent. We’re thrilled that Hammersmith’s founders, Garrett Coleman and Jason Oremus, will be performing for us on Tuesday. Traditionally trained in Irish Step dance as a child, Garrett has consistently found himself drawn to types of dance that are rhythmically innovative and that push the boundaries of athleticism through dance. Jason, originally from Sydney, Australia, Jason won 5 consecutive State and National Solo Irish dancing titles from 1999-2003. Both Garrett and Jason have toured with the world famous show, “Riverdance.”

 

 

Maritri Garrett
Maritri Garrett

Maritri Garrett recently performed at Rockwood Music Hall as part of AWoW’s “The Musical History of the Lower East Side.” Maritri played piano and sang a couple tunes from the American Songbook and then switched gears completely and accompanied Niamh Hyland on Blondie’s “Call Me.” A very gifted and multi-talented performer, Maritri also plays the cello and guitar. You can hear Maritri performing one of her original songs, “Rain” at the bottom of the page. 

 

 

Liv Mammone
Liv Mammone

Back for her second appearance at an AWoW Showcase will be poet Liv Mammone, a vivacious young voice that will be heard on the New York performance poetry circuit for years to come. Using her background as a novelist, she uses various characters, including Venus de Milo, a fictional gangster, and a certain part of her own anatomy, to provide insight into what she calls “all the million ways one must be moved; the changes we make on our migrations through the world.” Anyone who heard and saw Liv’s laugh out loud, brilliant reading of her poem “Vagina Resigning” won’t soon be forgetting that experience.

 

 

John Munnelly
John Munnelly

John Munnelly, who is an award winning ASCAP singer-songwriter with a social conscience, will be making his first appearance at an AWoW Showcase. Born in Ireland now of Brooklyn, John is known for his witty & humorous nature, sometimes performing under the stage name ‘LaughJohnLaugh.’  John is a prolific writer in many music genres from Pop to the Prophetic releasing his ‘Hello World’ album in 2013 (available on iTunes) He toured Ireland to promote the album release in 2013.  This will be John’s first appearance at an AWoW Showcase, which he says is, “Too good a show to miss – I’m playing three cracking songs. Hope to see you there.”

 

 

Dennis Demakos far right
Dennis Demakos far right

In the true spirit of multiculturalism, Dennis Demakos, who has been playing traditional Greek music and singing the tradtional folk music of dozens of countries from Europe, Asia, and the Middle and Near East for many years, Dennis will be making his first appearance at an AWoW Showcase. Dennis can be heard with two Bay Area California bands, The Disciples of Markos- disciplesofmarkos.com, and Balkalicious Fire Drive- bfdmusic.com. with whom he is pictured on the far right.

 

 

It promises to be a great night. Join us at The Cell Theatre, Tuesday, May 26. The bar opens at 6:45pm. See you there. 

 

 

 

VERA HOAR'S PHOTOS CAPTURE AWoW's APRIL SHOWCASE at THE CELL

Vera Hoar’s photos from Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at The Cell Theatre, April 28, 2015

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Terry McCarthy, Andy Sandel, Gerry Griffen and Tom Monaghan
Terry McCarthy, Andy Sandel, Gerry Griffen and Tom Monaghan
Shu Nakamura
Shu Nakamura
Connie Roberts
Connie Roberts
Toby Tobias
Toby Tobias
John Liam Shea and Jenny Evans
John Liam Shea and Jenny Evans
Vincent Cross
Vincent Cross
Richard Stillman and Flip Peters
Richard Stillman and Flip Peters
Terry McCarthy and Charles R. Hale
Terry McCarthy and Charles R. Hale
Shu Nakamura
Shu Nakamura

"LIFE AFFIRMING NIGHT"–COMMENTS AFTER AWoW'S SHOWCASE at the CELL THEATER

Normally we post photos from an Artists Without Walls’ Showcase, followed by a wrap up of the evening’s events. But following Tuesday night’s Showcase we received so many comments we thought we’d publish a few of them first.  Cat Dwyer’s photos and a written review will follow shortly.

 

———-

 

Connie Roberts
Connie Roberts

“It was a thrilling, life affirming night—life-affirming in the sense that an Artist Without Walls’ showcase highlights beautifully, often spectacularly, our shared humanity.  In our fast-paced, rat-race lives, it is easy to feel disconnected from the world, from our fellow man/woman.  But then you have a space like AWoW has created, where people bring their stories and share them—their hurts, betrayals and joys—in various mediums, with a bunch of other folks, who have their own stories, it’s as if by magic, the whole room experiences a sense of connectedness, real-time affirmation that we’re all part of a rich and complex tapestry.  

 

Just look at a sample of the marvelous stories told through word and song last night alone:  a middle-aged man who finds out that he’s not of Russian descent, but of Irish heritage; how witnessing the effects of genital mutilation in Africa shaped an American artist’s work; Native American assimilation; a family’s tradition of belting out an Irish ballad in a convoy of cars en route to their Granny’s house; the fraught mother-daughter relationship in a woman’s poems; and even though the other performances weren’t explicitly drawn from the artists’ own lives, there’s more than a sprinkling of themselves in their respective pieces.  And there’s more than a sprinkling of ourselves in all of the performances last night.  That’s what draws us from our suburban houses, our uptown apartments and our downtown offices on a Tuesday night.

 

As you said, Charles, all you need do is get up there and give it all you’ve got.  When you’re passionate about what you do, it shines through. 

 

Honor Finnegan (foreground) Vincent Nauheimer and Tom Myles (background)
Honor Finnegan (foreground) Vincent Nauheimer and Tom Myles (background)

Artists Without Walls has created such a unique space for artists of all stripes. I’m so happy and proud to be a part of this organization.  Each showcase I attend costs me $100 in babysitting fees–I can’t think of a better way to spend my money.” Connie Roberts

 

“If you were to put Ed Sullivan, Oscar Wilde and TEDTalks into a blender you’d get Artist Without Walls. The Showcase is a friendly environment for artists to share their work and start unique collaborations in a remarkably intimate setting.  One of the most receptive and fun shows I’ve been a part of…” Ed Romanoff

 

“Incredibly moving performances from beginning to end! Transforming life’s experiences into art is a “Saintly” calling and we had a taste of heaven last evening, thanks to all the performers.” Vincent Nauheimer

 

“Oh my God, Charles and Niamh, you must be bursting with what you’ve created. It’s growing because it’s calling people, really.  I feel such a community there, a home. David’s been working on his Tennessee William’s play for so long. What was needed, so desperately was what AWOW gave it, a loving ear to witness. That room, that audience of art friends, people that really understand and want to see you express it. Wonderful!” Mary Tierney

 

“Brilliant! Somehow egos are left at the door and you sit there absorbing these wonderful performances. And by the end of the evening you find yourself connected to your soul.” Ray Lindie

 

“What an extraordinary night. I feel blessed to have been a witness and a participant to the magic.” Jenai Huff

 

“I watched, listened, smiled, laughed, applauded, cheered, hummed, moved, cried, connected, and thought.  Vinnie and I kept elbowing each other with the remark, “This is amazing”.  Niamh and Charles deserve praise and encouragement to do more.” Tom Myles

 

“AWOW is a wonderful thing you’ve got going. So much talent in a packed room – you have to think about taking it on tour!”  Alan McMonagle

 

Sana Musasama
Sana Musasama

“Superb. People are proud to be part of AWoW and that includes me!” Billy Barrett

 

“The diversity of presenters was brilliant.” Jack Lamplough

 

“It was a delight and a privilege to be part of last night’s amazing lineup! Thank you, Niamh and Charles, for making The Magic happen!” Angela Alaimo O’Donnell

 

“Wow, what a night!  This is really turning into something.  I am on my way home on the LIRR and just ‘over the moon.’ Great job Niamh and Charles.” Jack O’Connell