Little Island Announces Second Summer Season Featuring Joshua Henry, Tonya Pinkins, Judy Kuhn & More

Little Island, New York City's new public park in Hudson River Park by W. 13th Street, announced today the 2022 line-up of ticketed events in The Amph, just days ahead of their one-year anniversary. Since opening May 21, 2021 Little Island has welcomed over 1.8 million visitors and last year's inaugural summer season featured performances from 1,260 artists. This second summer will feature a new show The Big Mix conceived and directed by Tony Award nominee Tina Landau, the Second Annual Music and Dance Festival co-curated by Torya Beard, Drama Desk nominee Ayodele Casel, and Tony Award winner Michael McElroy, a weekend of musical performances by the Grammy Award winner Arturo O'Farrill and The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, an innovative new show by the internationally celebrated Machine de Cirque, and the Second Annual Storytelling Festival curated by PigPen Theatre Co.

"We are excited to expand upon what we offered last year, both with the range of disciplines we will present and with the increased number of performances during our Festivals," said Julia Kraus, Producer. "We will host 260 free performances, feature more than 175 NYC-based artists, and host more than 40 ticketed events in The Amph, allowing us to offer a depth and breadth of talent that amplifies and celebrates the joy and diversity of our city."

This season's line-up in The Amph will kick off with The Big Mix, a three-week, three-holiday, one-of-a kind performance party from Thursday, June 16 through Sunday, July 3. Conceived and directed by Little Island Artist-in-Residence and Tony Award nominee Tina Landau, (SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical, Tracy Letts' Superior Donuts, Old Hats) The Big Mix is a three-week, three-holiday, one-of-a kind performance party. Each week will offer a unique show centering around and celebrating one of three summer holidays - Juneteenth, LGBTQIA+ Pride, and Independence Day. With a different guest host for each of the three shows, the Juneteenth celebration will be hosted by Tony and Grammy nominee Joshua Henry (Waitress, Carousel, The Scottsboro Boys), the LGBTQIA+ Pride show hosting duties will be split between Peppermint ("RuPaul's Drag Race," Head Over Heels, co-founder of Black Queer Town Hall) and Qween Jean (Costume Designer for Wedding Band, On Sugarland, founder of Black Trans Liberation), and the Independence Day show will be hosted by Tony Award winner Faith Prince (Guys and Dolls, Annie, A Catered Affair). All three weeks will feature our triple-threat ensemble of Marla Louissaint (The Visitor, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Beautiful The Carole King Musical), Zach McNally (West Side Story, The Plot Against America and Hightown), Ianne Fields Stewart ("Dash and Lily", "The Bold Type", "Pose"), and Allan K. Washington ("High Fidelity", Once on This Island, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical), plus a house band led by Musical Director Kimberly Grigsby (Flying Over Sunset, To Kill a Mockingbird, Head Over Heels).

Artists who will perform in The Big Mix include Tonya Pinkins, Judy Kuhn, Ty Defoe, Jaime Lozano & Florencia Cuenca, plus newly commissioned work from Brinae Ali & Tamar-kali, Chanese Elifé, Ronvé O'Daniel, Jacinth Greywoode, and special acts including circus artists Ben Franklin & Joshua Dean, FogoAzul NYC Brazilian American Style Samba Reggae Band, parkour artists Reap Genius & Falco, fire artist Sage Sovereign, dance performances from Step It Up/HANAC Secret Society Dance Company, and choral performances from Vy Higginsen's Sing Harlem Choir and Gospel for Teens. Additional artists will be announced at a later date.

From Wednesday, July 20 through Sunday, July 31, Our Second Annual Music and Dance Festival will return to Little Island. Last year's Festival was curated by Drama Desk nominee and Little Island Artist-in-Residence Ayodele Casel (Funny Girl, Waitress, Chasing Magic, Diary of a Tap Dancer) and her long-time collaborator Torya Beard (Funny Girl, Chasing Magic; Executive Director, A BroaderWay) and this season Tony Award Winner Michael McElroy (Sunday In The Park With George, Rent, Big River), a fellow Little Island Artist-in-Residence, has joined the curation team. Each day will feature multiple free performances throughout the park and be anchored by nightly ticketed performances in The Amph featuring performances and choreography by Maurice Chestnut, Brinda Guha, Laraine Goodman, Isaac Harlan, Luke Hickey, Kevin Iega Jeff, Capathia Jenkins, Joel A. Martin, Michael McElroy, Earl Moseley, Barkha Patel, Max Pollak, Phylicia Rashad, Matthew Whitaker, Lillias White, and more.

This year Island Music Weekend returns for an extended stay to become Island Music Week. Co-curated by the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, the week beginning Wednesday, August 17 will feature music from island nations and coastal communities from around the world. The week-long event will culminate with Little Island and the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance co-presenting the Grammy Award Winner Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra: The Cuban Khaleeji Project on Friday, August 19 through Sunday, August 21 for three performances that will transport you to faraway coasts with sounds and rhythms from artists of Afro Latin and Middle Eastern seafaring traditions.

On Friday, August 26 through Sunday, August 28 the Quebec City-based troupe Machine de Cirque, which offers an innovative spin on contemporary circus, brings their unique blend of dizzying feats, powerful storytelling and irresistible humor to Little Island. Robot Infidèle is a brand-new work that promises to dazzle the mind, touch the heart, and move the spirit.

Finally, the season will conclude with Our Second Annual Storytelling Festival curated once again by Artists-in-Residence PigPen Theatre Co. This year's festival will run Wednesday, September 7 through Sunday, September 18 and expand the boundaries of narrative, animating and activating every stage and space of our park with tales of all types and stories for all ages. The majority of festival programming is free with admission to the park and tickets are only required for events in The Amph which include performances by Broadway for Racial Justice, The Lobbyists, Michael Thurber, The Moth, and PigPen Theatre Co.

Little Island will once again host free weekly performances in The Glade and The Play Ground, Wednesdays through Sundays. Each night's entertainment will revolve around a theme - Wednesdays will feature performances from singer-songwriters; Thursdays will feature comedians or spoken word and slam poetry performances; Fridays will feature trivia, drag bingo, cabaret, piano sing-alongs and more; Saturday's performances will be centered around popular music and the American songbook; and Sunday's will be geared towards kids and family programming. The 2022 season will also feature numerous pop-up performances throughout the week.

For a full schedule of Free and Ticketed Events visit http://littleisland.org/attend-an-event.

Health and Safety Protocols

In accordance with New York State and CDC guidelines, Little Island is an outdoor park and does not have any masking or vaccination requirements. You are welcome to wear a mask if that makes you feel more comfortable. If you have received a positive Covid-19 diagnosis in the last 5 days or if you are feeling any symptoms of Covid-19, please stay home.

Ticketing

While the majority of programming can be experienced for free, the events hosted in The Amph will be ticketed. Our mission is for our ticketed events to be as accessible as possible, so 30% of tickets are distributed for free to Little Island's non-profit partners including the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development, NYC DOE Office of Arts and Special Projects, Greenwich House, Hudson Guild, PS 33 Chelsea Prep, The Door, and Westbeth Artist Residents Council; 30% of tickets are sold at $25 through the Theatre Development Fund or through Little Island's website for anyone under 25 or over 65; and 30% of tickets are sold through Little Island's website at $45 for regular price. All tickets are general admission and your show ticket also serves as your timed entry reservation.

There will be two performances of The Big Mix on Saturday, June 25 at 6:30 pm and 10:00 pm. There will be no performance on Sunday, June 26.

Little Island will once again partner with Body Language Productions to offer American Sign Language interpretation for the following performances: The Big Mix on Saturday, June 18 at 8:00 pm and Saturday, June 25 at 6:30 pm; Soul to Soul: Black Women in Music on Thursday, July 28 at 8:00 pm; and PigPen & Friends on Thursday, September 15 at 8:00 pm. For more information please visit https://littleisland.org/accessibility/.

All tickets will be electronic/mobile-only and are available for purchase now by visiting www.littleisland.org or tomorrow, Friday, June 20 by visiting tdf.org. There will be no tickets available to purchase on-site. Your ticket also serves as your timed entry reservation to the park.

About Little Island

Little Island is a new public park, primarily funded by the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation with support from the City of New York, in Hudson River Park. The park features a lush, seasonal, landscape with rolling hills, walking paths and open lawns, and dazzling views of New York City. Little Island is one of the latest additions to the four-mile-long Hudson River Park, which runs from Chambers Street to W. 59th Street.

Little Island has a 687-seat amphitheater, an intimate stage and lawn for 200 visitors, and an open plaza, all designed to host a range of programming for all ages, from theater, dance, and music to food and beverage experiences to educational programs and community events. Little Island provides New Yorkers, and its visitors, with a unique urban oasis-a place for experiences that ignite imagination, foster spontaneity and play, and support camaraderie and connection. littleisland.org