THE NEW YORK CITY GAY MEN'S CHORUS launches its 29th season with a time-honored New York tradition: under the Artistic Direction of Charles Beale, NYCGMC presents The New York City Gay Men's Chorus Holiday Spectacular "Celebrate Me Home" at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday December 9th, 8:00PM. The special guest stars for the evening are the cast of [title of show], Jeff Bowen, Hunter Bell, Susan Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff.
NYCGMC's annual Holiday Spectacular is one of the most anticipated highlights of the holiday season in New York. This year, with "Celebrate Me Home," NYCGMC gathers with friends and family to share the holiday spirit, while continuing its steadfast efforts to celebrate the LGBT community through song. Hop a sleigh ride around the world as NYCGMC offers a program including carols from the Basque country, South Africa, Cuba and the Dominican Republic as well as traditional favorites like "Sleigh Ride," "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World." There will be laughter, tears and inspiring messages of hope. It's the most fabulous holiday party in town.
[title of show], a self-described musical about two nobodies named Hunter and Jeff who decide to write a completely original musical starring themselves and their attractive and talented ladyfriends, Susan and Heidi, was the hit of 2004 The New York Musical Theatre Festival. Shortly afterward, the show opened at off-Broadway's Vineyard Theatre before opening on Broadway earlier this season. The New York Times called [title of show] "delectable entertainment!" Entertainment Weekly describes the show as "sly, sassy, inspired" while the Daily News called it a "terrific, kick-ass time."
"At Carnegie Hall this December, you are going to see NYCGMC as you have never seen and heard it before," says Artistic Director Charles Beale. "There will be beautiful new carols from around the world and traditional favorites. With the incredible cast of [title of show], a red-nosed reindeer, some Supremes, the Andrews Misters and over 200 gay men of all shapes and sizes, you are promised the warmest of welcomes!"
The New York City Gay Men's Chorus Holiday Spectacular "Celebrate Me Home" will also pay tribute to the amazing work of PFLAG, the organization for parents, friends and families of Lesbians and Gays as well as the Ali Forney Center which helps provide homes for the up to 25% of LGBT teens who are turned away by their families and find themselves homeless on the streets of New York.
The New York City Gay Men's Chorus' 2008-2009 Season is made possible with the generous support of Norman Hanson. The New York City Gay Men's Chorus Holiday Spectacular "Celebrate Me Home" is additionally receiving support from Time Warner, American Airlines, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The Manhattan Monster, Darden Restaurants, Next Magazine, HX Magazine, The New York Blade, and Lips Restaurant.
THE NEW YORK CITY GAY MEN'S CHORUS is an auditioned, 250-voice male chorus serving the gay community and the greater community at large by the performance of classical and contemporary male choral music as proud and openly gay men. In addition to their regular concert series, NYCGMC also performs at a variety of local and tri-state area functions, benefits, and performances. For 29 years, NYCGMC audiences have filled auditoriums including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Halls to standing room only. Unanimously acclaimed by America's leading music critics, the Chorus has sung with some of the world's brightest stars, commissioned and premiered many major works, made celebrated television appearances, and sold recordings worldwide. NYCGMC continues to serve the community each day through its education and AIDS outreach programs. Youth Pride Chorus, a free program for LGBTQ young people and their allies between the ages of 14-21, is the first program of its kind to be sponsored by an adult mentor chorus. NYCGMC has appeared with guests artists including Academy Award winners Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey, Grammy Award winners Marilyn Horne and Cyndi Lauper, Tony Award-winning actors Carol Channing, Harvey Fierstein, Faith Prince and Kristin Chenoweth and Olympic Gold Medalist Greg Luganis, as well as joint performances with Stonewall Chorale, Lavender Light Gospel Choir, Boston Gay Men's Chorus, Gay Men's Chorus of Washington D.C., Noot an der Mann (Amsterdam), and Schola Cantorosa (Hamburg) and other choruses from around the world. As the membership continues to grow and diversify, the Chorus will continue to extend its message of love, compassion, and positive examples of gay lives for many years to come.
Charles Beale (Artistic Director) Prior to arriving in New York last season, Charles Beale was Music Director of the London Gay Men's Chorus from 2002-2007. Originally trained as an organist, he studied music at Cambridge and later jazz at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he won the Rose Morris Prize as a composer and jazz pianist. Charlie has a stylistically diverse and active freelance performing career. He recently directed members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in an improvised performance at one of London's major concert halls. His playing has also included national radio broadcasts as a classical pianist, a jazz organ concerto with the UK's National Youth Jazz Orchestra, West End theatre work, playing and arranging credits on albums and singles by pop and dance artists including Whitney Houston and Adeva, and regular jazz in and around London, with the likes of Bobby Wellins and the Frank Williams African Jazz Quintet. He was an active member of the Association of British Choral Directors, where he gave clinics on improvising and swing with choirs. He co-wrote a new Voiceworks book for OUP and has written a number of arrangements for Faber's acclaimed Choral Basics series. He is also an award-winning author. Charlie's most recent book 'Popular Voiceworks', a book of songs and vocal arrangements with workshops and backing CDs, was recently voted 'Best Pop Music Publication 2008' by the Music Industries Association of the UK. Charlie also has a burgeoning career as an educator and academic specializing in jazz. He taught jazz at the Royal College of Music in London, where he was Area leader for Aural training, Professor of Jazz Piano and director of the Royal College of Music Big Band. Since completing his Ph.D. in 2001, he has written a critically acclaimed book, Jazz Piano from Scratch, and a number of important academic articles, including the chapter on Jazz Education in the recent Oxford Companion to Jazz. He was Lead Jazz Consultant to the Associated Board for ten years, helping design new syllabi, train and moderate examiners and facilitate workshops and seminars for teachers, and was nominated for a Jazz Parliamentary Award in 2005 for services to jazz education. In the past four years, he has toured internationally, adjudicating, examining and doing ABRSM jazz workshops for teachers in the UK, the US, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore.
David Edelman (Executive Director) joined the NYCGMC in March of 2005 having most recently served as Executive Director of Contemporary American Theatre Company in Columbus, Ohio. He has also served as Associate Producer at Olympia Dukakis' Whole Theatre, Managing Director of the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey and Managing Director of the Delaware Theatre Company. David has long volunteered his time in many civic, political and community organizations. In the 1980's he served, two terms as President of the New Jersey Theatre Group, the statewide association of professional theatres and was a founding Board member of ArtPride, the state's arts advocacy organization. David served as President of the Board of the New Jersey Lesbian and Gay Coalition, was an early organizer with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and volunteered for GMHC in the early 1980's. David has served on numerous boards and committees including AIDS Delaware, Sister Cities of Wilmington, the Wilmington Arts Commission, Wilmington Riverfront Business Improvement District, Wilmington Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, the Brandywine Valley Cultural Tourism Planning Committee, the Ohio Department of Education's Arts Standards Advisory Committee, HRC-Columbus' Membership Committee and as founding President of the Delaware Liberty Fund, an LGBT political action committee. He is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, earned an MFA in Acting at Rutgers University, and completed the Strategic Perspectives in Non-Profit Management program at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.
Jeff Bowen (Guest Artist) won a 2006 Obie for [title of show] as well as a GLAAD Media nomination and, along with his cast mates, a Drama League nomination for Distinguished Performance by an Ensemble. He has written music and lyrics for the 2007 Easter Bonnet Competition for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the Actors Fund 125th Anniversary Gala, The Vineyard Theatre's 25th Anniversary Gala, The 53rd Annual Drama Desk Awards and Broadway Bares 18: Wonderland. He has composed music for several shows at P.S. 122 including Avant-Garde-A-Rama in Sparklevision, Hello, My Name Is Avant-Garde-A-Rama; Sparklefest 2000 at Dixon Place; The A-Train Plays; and the film Boat Mime. As an actor, he has performed works at manhattan theatre source, Ars Nova and the Vineyard. Other performances include The Who's Tommy, Of Thee I Sing, Shenandoah, On the Twentieth Century and the Actors Fund benefit of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Jeff is a proud member of the National Audubon Society and the American Birding Association.
Hunter Bell (Guest Artist) was awarded an Obie, earned a GLAAD Media nomination and, along with his cast mates, received a Drama League nomination all for [title of show]. Other writing credits include the books for Silence! The Musical and the 137th edition of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Bellobration!, as well as original material for BC/EFA's Easter Bonnet Competition, The Actors Fund 125th Gala, Vineyard Theatre's 25th Anniversary Gala, Broadway Bares 18: Wonderland and The 53rd Annual Drama Desk Awards. He has appeared on Broadway in How the Grinch Stole Christmas and at the St. Louis Rep, Great Lakes Theatre Festival, North Shore Music Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, the MUNY, P.S. 122, Dallas Shakespeare Festival, Cleveland Play House, Stages St. Louis, Goodspeed Opera House, ALLIANCE THEATRE, Carnegie Hall, York Theatre, Coconut Grove, Paper Mill and the Vineyard. Hunter is a proud graduate and distinguished alumnus of Webster University and a member of Actors' Equity and the Dramatists Guild. He thanks his incredible family for all their love and support.
Susan Blackwell (Guest Artist) made her Broadway debut earlier this season in [title of show]. Off-Broadway credits include [title of show], Speech and Debate, Anon, Working Title and Vilna's Got a Gole, as well as playing Peter Patrone in The Heidi Chronicles. Television appearances include 'The Sopranos', 'Third Watch', 'All My Children' and various 'Law & Orders'. Films include P.S.: I Love You, Margot at the Wedding, Bun Bun, Changing Lanes, and Night Int. Trailer for the feature film Ten Minutes Older. As co-creator of The New Wondertwins, she performed in such venues as Dixon Place, Caroline's Comedy Club and the HBO Workspace in LA. She has created and performed original material for many projects, including the [title of show] show, The 53rd Annual Drama Desk Awards, The Actors Fund 125th Anniversary Gala and the Avant Garde-A-Rama series at PS122.
Heidi Blickenstaff (Guest Artist) recently starred on Broadway in Title of Show (Heidi) after the musicals off-Broadway run at The Vinyard . Other Broadway credits include The Little Mermaid (OBC Carlotta, u/s Ursula), The Full Monty (Susan Hershey, u/s Vicki Nichols). Tours: The Full Monty (Vicki Nichols), Jekyll & Hyde, Steel Pier, The Who's Tommy (u/s Mrs. Walker) and Dreamgirls. Regional: Most recently, Heidi was honored with the Helen Hayes Award for her work as Ann Mitchell in Meet John Doe at Ford's Theatre. Also, The Girl in the Frame (Laney) at Goodspeed at Chester; Bat Boy: The Musical (MerEdith Parker) at Theatreworks in Palo Alto (Bay Area premiere); and Prairie (Caroline Ingalls), directed by Francesca Zambello at New York Stage and Film (world premiere). Film: The Rebound (2009) with Catherine Zeta-Jones. Heidi is also part of the voiceover cast for the PBS kids series, "Word World." She is a graduate of Duke University.
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
The New York City Gay Men's Chorus Holiday Spectacular "Celebrate Me Home" plays one night only, Tuesday, December 9th, 2008, at Carnegie Hall. Via Subway: take the N/R/W to 57th Street, the F to 57th Street or the 1/A/C/B/D to Columbus Circle. Tickets are $39 - $88 through Carnegiecharge, 212-247-7800,. For more information, call 212-344-1777.
