Upcoming Performances:
Sunday, July 18 @ 11 a.m.: Arm-of-the-Sea Theater in At The Turning of the Tide
& Free Pre-Show Movement & Music Workshop!
The Hudson Valley's acclaimed mask and puppet theatre performs with lusciously painted puppet figures, hauntingly beautiful mask characters, and live music in a large-scale, family theatre production that celebrates the life and times of the Hudson River Estuary, right in Kingsborough's backyard!
Before the performance, Arm-of-the-Sea's artists will lead children, ages 5 and up, in a lively workshop of dance moves and songs, culminating in The Parade of Fishes to kick off Arm-of-the-Sea's performance! Space is limited and reservations (for the workshop only) are required; call the box office at 718-368-5596 for more information.
Saturday, July 24 at 8:00 p.m.: The Danny Repole Swing Band
Audiences will be dancing in the aisles at the ever-popular Swing Under the Stars Concert, featuring such golden chestnuts as Moonlight Serenade, Tuxedo Junction, and Take The A Train.
Saturday, July 31, at 8:00 p.m.: Vagabond Opera
This highly accomplished - and seriously madcap - concert performance is equal parts New Opera, Vintage Americana, European Cabaret, and old world Yiddish theatre. The New York Press said Vagabond Opera is "Distinctly zany ... and doing some serious singing while they’re at it", while The Seattle Times said they have "Unbelievable musical chops and a huge and humorous stage presence." The Forward simply said "They cast a powerful spell." This critically-acclaimed, definition-defying, highly-theatrical band will burst onto the stage, complete with a belly dancing fire-eater!
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Paragon Ragtime Orchestra. In an abandoned warehouse in 1985 Rick Benjamin discovered the long-lost collection of orchestra scores of the Victor Talking Machine Company, and with it the inspiration for the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra (PRO). Mr. Benjamin gathered Juilliard colleagues to perform these turn-of-the-century treasures, and the PRO was born. The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra is the world's only year-round, professional ensemble specializing in the authentic recreation of the sounds of early musical theater, "silent" cinema, and vintage ballroom dancing, all played from its vast archive of original 1870s to 1920s orchestrations. Although best known for its concerts and recordings of historic theater and dance music, PRO is also the world's leading silent film music ensemble - accompanying 601 screenings since 1986, all using the original early1900s music "cue sheets" and scores from the Capitol Theatre Orchestra Collection. One critic refers to Paragon as "the Academy of St. Martin at the Cinema"! Benjamin is a noted scholar and one of the world's leading experts on late 19th and early 20th Century American music and musicians. His articles on subjects of interest to researchers and fans of the era appear in a variety of international publications.
Arm-of-the-Sea Theatre creates contemporary works of mask and puppet theatre. Their
large-scale productions combine visual storytelling with live music in a potent style of magical realism. They fuse the arts, natural sciences, history and current events into multi-layered performances accessible to audiences of many ages. Founded in 1982 by Marlena Marallo and Patrick Wadden, the company has become best known for shows that illuminate the links between human communities and the life-support processes of the planet. Their work has been featured at diverse venues including Lincoln Center's Out-of-Doors Festival, the Detroit Festival of the Arts, The Smithsonian Institute, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, the Lotus Festival of World Music, Madison Civic Center and the American Museum of Natural History. Arm-of-the-Sea is based in New York’s Hudson River Valley. In addition to the
artistic vision of Marallo and Wadden, the company is shaped by the talents of musicians Dean Jones and Thomas Workman, designer Jean Whelan and performers Carl Welden, Julie Novak, Trey Daniels and Dale Gibbons. Arm-of-the-Sea is available for touring ten months each year. The company also conducts residencies and hosts an annual performance event, the Esopus Creek Puppet Suite, in their hometown of Saugerties, NY.
The Danny Repole Swing Band. Bandleader Danny Repole's illustrious career includes performing in the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, the Guy Lombardo Orchestra, at Radio City Music Hall, and on original Broadway cast recordings such as The Sound of Music, Cabaret, and Chicago.
Vagabond Opera. European Cabaret! Vintage Americana! Balkan Belly Dance! Neo-Classical Opera! Old World Yiddish Theater! Welcome to the six-piece, Portland, Oregon-based Vagabond Opera. Vagabond Opera was created in 2002 by European-trained opera singer and composer Eric Stern. Then disillusioned with the classical opera world, Stern created a new context for opera: Performance on a more intimate scale incorporating not only opera but elements of Weimar Cabaret, Arabic and Balkan forms, and the original music that springs from the ensemble’s fertile creative work. Vagabond Opera is described by the Washington Post as “A band of ceaseless charisma, boundless energy, impeccable musicianship and more than a little touch of both the naughty and exotic.” The band’s lineup features trained operatic tenor and soprano vocals, accordion, tenor saxophone, two cellos, stand-up bass, and drums. Guest performers and dancers often appear with the ensemble. Vagabond Opera is at the vanguard of a growing popularity in the Neo-cabaret phenomenon, and through their theatrical performances, lyrics in 13 languages, and an eclectic repertoire, they liberate opera from its usual construct, expanding musical and theatrical biodiversity. Vagabond Opera has performed all over the USA and in Europe. They have been featured on NPR, in the Washington Post and Jazziz Magazine, and have shared stages and players with such acclaimed acts as Pink Martini, Devotchka, The Decembrists, Balkan Beat Box, Al Franken, and the Oregon Symphony. Vagabond opera has three full-length albums.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER:
Kingsborough Community College Founded in 1963, Kingsborough Community College, a college of the City University of New York (CUNY), has provided half a million students with liberal arts, applied science, and career education. Our 70-acre waterfront campus is on Manhattan Beach, at the extreme southern end of Brooklyn. The college's mission is to respond to the educational, cultural, and economic needs of our students and our community.
Kingsborough Performing Arts Center brings artistically and culturally diverse, multi-disciplinary performances from masters of the form to the varied communities within and surrounding the college. We strive to create an environment where the arts are an accessible and integral part of life, and the Arts Center is a community gathering place for interaction and inspiration. We offer performances in theatre, dance, literature, and music, as well as family shows. Our schooltime shows welcome classes from local public and private schools, a majority of which serve economically-disadvantaged or special needs populations.
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