Bay Street Theatre is starting 2010 honoring and offering opportunities to artists of every ilk, from jazz musicians to singer-songwriters to creators of musical theater.
Complementing the already popular Thursday night Jam Sessions, Bay Street will add Singer-Songwriter Sundays beginning on January 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. and two new musical theater works-in-progress with performances on Saturday, January 23, and Saturday, February 27.
Over the last three years, Sag Harbor singer and songwriter Bryan Downey has sought out the most talented artists on the East End and recorded them at his Bulldog Recording Studio. These talents will be featured at Bay Street’s Singer-Songwriter Sundays, performing original songs in a unique format geared to music lovers young and old. The lineup will include 16-year-old Shanna Polly from Ross School, recording artist Robert Bruey, The Glazzies and veteran East End performer Jim Turner. Free and open to the public, the series will begin Sunday, January 17, from 5 to 7 p.m. and continue the first and third Sunday of every month through March.
Bay Street will also present two musical theater work-in-progress performances, replete with a chance for the public to pose questions of the creators. The workshops, sponsored in part by the Lucille Lortel Foundation, will allow writers, producers and actors to come together for a short period of time to develop theatrical pieces that may one day make it to the Broadway stage.
The first workshop, “Murder for Two,” is a classic whodunnit with more laughs and songs than bullets or blood. With music and book by Joe Kinosian and lyrics and book by Kellen Blair, the musical comedy features a list of suspects that reads like a who’s who of crazy, from a wife who seems more concerned about who stole the ice cream than who murdered her husband, to a 12-member boys choir that is nine boys short. Tickets for the Saturday, January 23, performance at 8 p.m. are $15, and a Q & A with the creators will follow.
A second workshop, “The Chalks,” also a musical work-in-progress, will be presented on Saturday, February 27, at 8 p.m. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m. and tickets will be sold at the door.
While the Bay Street box office is closed, tickets for all events can be purchased on the night of performances. For questions or more information, call 725-0818 or visit www.baystreet.org.
on Jan 19, 2010