Anchorage Symphony Presents Aretha: A Tribute

There may be a chill in the air, but the Anchorage Symphony is heating things up with a night of R-E-S-P-E-C-T and hot hits made famous by Aretha Franklin! On Saturday, October 29th, the ASO is joined by vocal powerhouses Capathia Jenkins and three-time Grammy award nominee Ryan Shaw for Aretha: A Tribute. Audience members are invited to sing along, and dance in their seats to the music made famous by the incomparable Queen of Soul. Hits including A Natural Woman, Think, Chain of Fools, Respect, Amazing Grace, and many others!

Multiple Grammy winner Aretha Franklin was a gifted singer and pianist. She started performing at a young age by touring with her father's traveling revival show. On a visit to New York City, she met with record executives and signed with Columbia Records. Over her decades-long career, Aretha released several popular singles, many of which are now considered classics. In 1987 she became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2008 she won her 18th Grammy Award, making her one of the most honored artists in Grammy history. Aretha Franklin is also the only artist to perform at THREE presidential inaugurations! (Carter, Clinton, and Obama).

Bringing this legend to life is the amazing voice of Capathia Jenkins. Anchorage audiences may remember her from previous ASO engagements that include performing the music of Ella Fitzgerald and a 2019 performance of this tribute to Aretha at the annual ASO fundraiser, Champagne Pops.

Capathia is a double threat with dueling passions, each with a firm grip: acting and music. Yet, she refuses to pick one because they both represent her soul. A Brooklyn-born and raised actress, she most recently starred as 'Medda' in the hit Disney production of Newsies' on Broadway. She made her Broadway debut in The Civil War, where she created the role of Harriet Jackson. She went on to star in the Off-Broadway 2000 revival of Godspell, where she wowed audiences with her stirring rendition of 'Turn Back, O Man'. You can still hear her powerful performance on the original cast recording.

She returned to Broadway in The Look of Love and was critically acclaimed for her performances of the Burt Bacharach & Hal David hits. Capathia then created the roles of 'The Washing Machine' in Caroline, Or Change. and 'Frieda May' in Martin Short:-Fame Becomes Me, where she sang 'Stop the Show' and brought the house down every night. In 2007 she returned to Off-Broadway and starred in (mis) Understanding Mammy-The Hattie McDaniel Story, for which she received a Drama Desk Award. She was also seen in Nora Ephron's Love, Loss, and What I Wore.

Her Television credits include 30 Rock, the Practice, Law & Order SVU, the Sopranos, and Law & Order. She can be seen in the 2012 film Musical Chairs, directed by Susan Seidelman, and can be heard on the soundtracks for Nine, Chicago, and Legally Blonde 2.

Who do you partner with a powerhouse like Capathia Jenkins? Three-time GRAMMY nominee Ryan Shaw! Ryan has shared the stage with top artists around the world, including Van Halen, Bonnie Raitt, John Legend, B.B. King, and Jill Scott. His music has been featured on FOX's So You Think You Can Dance and ABC's Dancing with The Stars, Grey's Anatomy, and Lincoln Heights, as well as the films My Blueberry Nights, Bride Wars, and Sex and the City.

Ryan is no stranger to the stage, starring as Judas in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's Olivier Award-winning London production of Jesus Christ Superstar, as the original Stevie Wonder in Motown: The Musical on Broadway, and on London's West End as the Soul of Michael Jackson in Thriller Live.

Ryan debuted at Radio City Music Hall in the Dream Concert benefit for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. His Carnegie Hall appearances include Elton John and Bernie Taupin Tribute, A Celebration of The African American Cultural Legacy, and Nat King Cole at 100 with the NY Pops. His concert schedule includes a performance of Nat King Cole at 100 with the National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Center and A Tribute to the Queen of Soul: Aretha Franklin with numerous orchestras throughout North America. Ryan's new album, Imagining Marvin, showcases Marvin Gaye's hits alongside Ryan's original songs.
Saturday, October 29th, is Anchorage's only chance to see this tribute to the iconic legend, Aretha Franklin. Tickets are in-person only; this concert will not be livestreamed.

Anchorage Symphony's Aretha: A Tribute, Saturday, October 29, 2022, (7:30pm) in the Atwood Concert Hall, Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. Infrared headphones for the hearing impaired are available concert night from the House Manager on the Orchestra Level. Tickets: Adult, $59.50-$35; Youth, $56.50-$32 (prices include all surcharges and fees). Military, student and group discounts available. To purchase tickets, go to www.centertix.com or call 263-ARTS (2787), toll free at 1-877-ARTS- TIX.

To post a comment, you must register and login.