Mitch Traphagen’s photos from AWoW’s Showcase at Sid Gold’s, March 29, 2016.
MITCH TRAPHAGEN'S PHOTOS from AWoW's SHOWCASE AT SID GOLD'S
"TALENTED PERFORMERS, FRIENDLY PEOPLE and TIME TO MINGLE…FANTASTIC" AWoW's SHOWCASE at THE CELL THEATRE
“As a first time visitor … I really enjoyed everything about the evening. Talented performers, friendly people, time to mingle … fantastic. I will be back for certain.” Clyde Berger
Sybil Scoby, portraying Donna Summer, took us all down memory lane, reminding us of how great it was to watch and listen to Donna’s disco. For many, Sybil’s renditions of Donna’s songs reignited memories of an era gone by. A feel good musical experience to begin the evening.
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Violinist Annette Homann returned to her classical roots with a performance of the 1st movement of Serge Prokofiev’s Violin Sonata, crafting a performance of technical skill and passion. Switching gears, Annette held the audience rapt with virtuosic fiddling during her second piece, Caprice No. 2 by Mark O’Connor.
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Noel Lawlor followed with a superb rendition of the “Muse Of Fire” speech from Shakespeare’s Henry V. In this scence, Shakespeare asks his audience for their willing suspension of disbelief, to come along with him on an epic journey on land and sea using only their imaginations as he depicts vast battle scenes over a period of time during the 100 year war between England and France, with just a few actors on a bare stage. Spellbinding performance from Noel.
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Melissa Ritz brought “glitz” to Artists Without Walls Showcase. Melissa impressed with a skillful assortment of singing, tap dancing and character work from her award-winning one-woman show, Journey of a Bombshell: The Ina Ray Hutton Story. Melissa’s show makes its west coast debut in March in Las Vegas, where audiences are sure to be charmed by her talents.
Award-winning actress and comedian Nancy Redman was described as brilliant, hilarious, and hysterically funny in the her preview of her sci-fi comedy, The Doctor Is Not In , exploring the hypocrisy of Hippocrates. She demonstrated perfect comedic timing in her performance, which is directed by Austin Pendleton. Nancy can be seen in a benefit performance of the play at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, Abingdon Theatre Company, 312 W. 36th Street, NYC on Sunday, March 15, 2015 at 7pm. Ticktes are $20. Use Code DOC315 for a $15 ticket
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Amy Virginia Buchanan’s lilting tunes tricked us–seeming simple and sweet–but then tugged on our coldest, furthest heart strings. She has a gentle, chatty voice that floats above a steel ukulele, and weaves stories about whales and birds and boats and other such things. She sings about loneliness and love, clearly knowing the pain of it, but also remaining optimistic and hopeful. Her joy on stage is palpable, and by the end we were all pleased to have the chance to sing along.
Niamh Hyland brought her rock band Lily Sparks to Monday’s Showcase and although they kept it acoustic, the band absolutely rocked the crowd with their original tunes. Niamh’s voice revealed surprising new dimensions to those familiar only with her traditional and acapella singing talents. Their passionate final song, “Ressurection,” gave the audience at taste of what’s to come in their full electric show at Arlene’s Grocery on Friday, March 6th, 7pm. Not to be missed!
The next Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at The Cell will be on March 24, 6:45pm. For more information on Artists Without Walls write to info@artistswithoutwalls.com
Photos by Vera Hoar.
VERA HOAR'S PHOTOS from ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS' SHOWCASE at THE CELL THEATRE: FEB 16, 2014
Vera Hoar’s photos from Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at The Cell, February 16, 2015. The names of the photographed appear below the photos:
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Amy Buchanan
David Sharp and Noel Lawlor
Melissa Ritz
Sam Adelman
Ashley Bell
Sybil Scoby
“Lily Sparks” including Kg Noble, Mick Fumento, Niamh Hyland and Margaret LaBombard
Nancy Redman
Annette Homann
ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS' SHOWCASE at THE CELL: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16TH, 6:45.
The weather may be cold and dreary but inside The Cell Theatre, tomorrow night, Monday 2/16, 6:45, there’ll be great cheer and warmth, not to mention a wonderful array of talent as Artists Without Walls presents it’s February Showcase. Here’s the lineup:
Amy Virginia Buchanan is a musician, actor, writer, and producer, hailing from the midwest and living in Brooklyn. She recently released her first album, “I’ll Sing You Songs When You Aren’t Around,” and is presently writing an EP loosely titled “You/Me/Us.”
Violinist Annette Homann, who recently performed her CD release program in NYC, will be playing a piece by Russian composer Serge Prokofiev and a dazzling fiddling piece by Mark O’Connor, which she played at her CD show.
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You may have seen Noel Lawlor perform a scene from “Shakespeare” a number of months ago. Good news: Noel will be returning to The Cell performing the Prologue from Henry V, in which Shakespeare asks his audience for their willing suspension of disbelief, to come along with him on an epic journey on land and sea, using only their imaginations as he depicts vast battle scenes during the 100 years war between England and France with just a few actors on a bare stage.
Actor/dancer/singer/writer Melissa Ritz will perform an excerpt from her award-winning one-woman show Journey of a Bombshell: The Ina Ray Hutton Story. Based on true events, 1930’s famed Big-Band leader Ina Ray Hutton found success and heartache on the stages of Broadway and beyond, with a secret she couldn’t afford to reveal at that time.
Award-winning actress and comedian Nancy Redman stars in THE DOCTOR IS NOT IN, her sci-fi comedy exploring the hypocrisy of Hippocrates, directed by Austin Pendleton at Abingdon Theatre Company Dorothy Strelsin Theatre 312 West 36th Street, 1st Floor NYC Sunday, March 15, 2015 at 7pm For her recent “The Doctor Is Not In,” performed twice in the United Solo Theatre Festival 2014 at Theatre Row, Redman has been honored with the Best Comedian Award.
And there’ll be a fair share of rock and pop including former world-touring back-up-singer and native New Yorker Sybil Scoby, who’ll pay tribute to Donna Summer, the woman who inspired her to sing, and Lily Sparks, a local rock band consisting of AWoW cofounder Niamh Hyland, Kg Noble and Margaret LaBombard. Here’s how one critic described Lily Sparks: “If Heart and Joan Jett had a baby and sent it to boarding school with Florence and the Machine you’d get a hard rocking band with killer vocals called Lily Sparks!”
The bar will be open at 6:45, so you can come and “chill out” or, as the case may be, “warm up” and chat with new and old friends before the event. We have an amazing line up from Shakespeare to “stand up,” from a disco icon to a “Bombshell,” from classical violin to Irish fiddling mixed with the virtuosic techniques in the style of Paganini and Tartini, and some “folk” and “rock.” This is going to be great. Hope to see you there
The Cell Theatre is located at 338 W23rd St.
AWoW MEMBERS in the NEWS
Artists Without Walls’ members in this week’s edition of the Irish Echo.
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Artists Without Walls YouTube Channel
Artists Without Walls is pleased to announce the premiere of its Youtube Channel. You can get to our Youtube site by clicking here. You’ll find three videos that we’ve posted; we’ll be adding a few more this weekend. After each Showcase and upcoming events we will be adding new videos of our artists.
Here’s a sample. Hope you enjoy it.
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MORE AWARDS for POET CONNIE ROBERTS
It’s been a good few weeks for Irish poet and Artists Without Walls’ member Connie Roberts: She was declared the winner of the 2014 Boyle Arts Festival Poetry Competition, Roscommon, and she received—for the second year in a row—the Highly Commended Award in the iYeats International Poetry Competition, Sligo. The Boyle Arts Festival Poetry Competition awards ceremony was held in King House, a magnificently restored Georgian Mansion located in Boyle, County Roscommon on July 27th. Connie’s winning poem “Seeing”—a three-part sequence about sight and blindness, set on both sides of the Atlantic—will be posted to the Boyle Arts Festival website soon.
The winners of the iYeats International Poetry competition was announced on July 31st at a ceremony at the Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo during the 55th Yeats International Summer School. Connie read her poem “Oasis”—an homage to her foster-mother Eileen—via video link. (You can see and hear Connie at the end of this article.) The two judges, Peter Sirr and Catherine Phil McCarthy, remarked on Connie’s poem: “Oasis”, we thought, managed to communicate convincingly a striking life-force and feeling. The voice had vividness and humour and the sharpness of pain and sense of abandonment beneath the language.”
As it happens, fellow AWoW member Noel Lawlor is in Sligo at the moment, attending the Yeats Summer School. He attended the awards ceremony and celebratory luncheon on Connie’s behalf. Noel’s Wexford wit was in full swing in his follow-up e-mail to Connie: “I had a great time being you for a day—star treatment, paparazzi, free lunch. [I even] got a ticket for a sold out show at the Hawks Well Theatre last night also. So your influence is far and wide.”
“Team effort and collaboration—that’s what AWoW’s all about!” said Connie.
NICE PHOTOS AND WRITE UP IN THIS WEEK'S IRISH ECHO
VERA HOAR'S PHOTOS from ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS' "COLLABORATION NIGHT" at THE CELL THEATER
Photos from Artists Without Walls’ “Collaboration “Night.”
All photos were taken by Vera Hoar.
The names appear above the photos.
Marni Rice
The audience including Brendan Connellan and John Moran.
Annette Homann
Michele Cetera and Noel Lawlor
Cynthia Neale
Joseph Goodrich
Deni Bonet
Tzila Levy, Niamh Hyland, Kathleen Frazier
The O’Connell Clan
SAMPLE an ARTIST WITHOUT WALLS' SHOWCASE: NOEL LAWLOR
Many reading this have attended an Artist Without Walls’ Showcase but a number, for a variety of reasons, haven’t. So what can you expect at a Showcase? Well, just about anything. We have professionals and amateurs, dancers and spoken word artists, jazz, cajun and Persian folk musicians, poets, novelists and playwrights and collaborations that cannot be categorized. And somehow, it all works.
Noel Lawlor had attended many Showcases but had never presented. Finally, to the delight of the most wonderful audience an artist could ask for, Noel stepped forward and presented the opening prologue of Shakespeare’s Henry 5th. Noel gave a beautifully paced and compelling performance from the play, which focuses on events during the Hundred Years’ War.
Join us at the next Showcase at The Cell Theatre, 338 West 38th St., Tuesday, August 27th, 7pm. Everyone is welcome. For more on presenting at an Artists Without Walls contact info@artistswithoutwalls.com
