NY Gay Men’s Chorus Presents 'Big Gay Sing 2' Featuring Petula Clark, 3/25 & 3/26

The New York City Gay Men's Chorus' Big GAY Sing 2 takes last year's sellout sing along and turns up the dial. This show has it all - including the chance to sing a solo with the Chorus in our Big Gay Idol competition. With music from Lady Gaga, Glee and Beyonce to classics by George Michael, Cher and Broadway, plus dance and drag, BGS2 leaves no gay stone unturned. On March 25 and 26, the NYCGMC is going to fill Skirball with glitter, glamour, and gorgeous men.

The evening's sexy host Scott Nevins, the award-winning TV personality from truTV's hit show "The Smoking Gun Presents," will lead audiences through this gay cabaret with his signature humor, celebrity impressions, and washboard abs. In addition to numerous big gay sing-a-longs, the night will feature one of Britain's most beloved singers of all time, Petula Clark, singing her hit "Downtown."

A new addition this year is the Big Gay Idol competition. Aspiring performers are encouraged to submit their performance at http://www.nycgmc.org/BGS/BigGayIdol.aspx. Competitors will be chosen in advance from submissions uploaded to the NYCGMC Web site. Semifinalists will compete in act one to win the opportunity to sing a full a solo with the Chorus in act two. Complete details are available on the Chorus website.

"This show will be all gay, but not all camp," said Charlie Beale, Artistic Director. "Don't get me wrong, there'll be PLENTY of camp, but we're focusing on the fabulousity of everyone in performance, our guest stars, the artists whose music we're singing, the Chorus, the audience and our Idol wannabes!. Whether you're gaga for Gaga, Glee's biggest fan, a Cher queen or a show queen, this show has got something for everyone!"

The New York City Gay Men's Chorus' 2009-2010 Season is made possible with the generous support of, American Airlines, Alcoa, The Manhattan Monster, Office of State Senator Tom Duane, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, United Way of New York City, HHC Marketing, Mark Nelson Events, and Next Magazine.

LISTINGS INFORMATION: The New York City Gay Men's Chorus presents The Big Gay Sing 2 plays Thursday, March 25th and Friday, March 26th, 2010, The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, NYU (566 LaGuardia Place, at Washington Square South). Via Subway: take the N/R/W to 8th Street, the A/C/E/B/D/F to West 4th. Tickets are $38 - $59 and available in person at the Skirball Center Box Office or by phone at 212-352- 3101 or online at www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu. For more information, call 212-344-1777.

THE NEW YORK CITY GAY MEN'S CHORUS is an auditioned, 200-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 30 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), Schola Cantorosa (Hamburg) and other choruses from around the world. As the membership continues to grow and diversif y, 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.

PETULA CLARK (Guest Star) Petula Clark is an English singer, actress, and composer who sold more than 68 million records throughout her career and appeared in more than 30 British and American films. Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II. During the 1960s she became known internationally for her popular upbeat hits, including "Downtown," "I Know a Place," "My Love," "Colour My World," "A Sign of the Times," and "Don't Sleep in the Subway." She has continued to perform in the West End, on Broadway, and in concert tours around the world.

SCOTT NEVINS (Host) Award winning Host, TV/Radio Personality, Comedian and Celebrity Interviewer Scott Nevins can currently be seen every Thursday night on TruTV's hit show "The Smoking Gun Presents" and hosting the red carpet at A-list Hollywood events for TV Land. Scott has hosted hundreds of live events, and has collected a roster of celebrity interviews to rival a seasoned veteran twice his age, working with some of the industries best including the legendary Liza Minnelli, Susan Lucci, Lynn Redgrave, Laura Linney, Rosie O'Donnell, Tammy Faye Messner-Bakker, and countless other Film, TV, Theater, and Recording stars.
Scott has appeared on National Television on NBC's "First Look NY", the Style Network's "Relationship Rehab", San Francisco's KRON 4 Morning News, QTV, Logo, Fuse TV, , and on MNN Television as host of "Out At The Center". He filmed "Up Close & Personal with Kimberley Locke" and now Hosts the red carpet for TV Land including the 2009 TV Land Awards, AFI's Salute to Michael Douglas and The Joan River's Roast, as well as their live celebrity online video chat with Emmy Winner Bebe Neuwirth, and an interview with the all-star cast of the Broadway Musical "Young Frankenstein" which included Emmy Winner Megan Mullaly. Scott received high praise for several stints as the fill-in host of "The John McMullen Show" on Sirius Satellite Radio where he did his weekly Friday night segment "The Crapshoot - with Scott Nevins". He has headlined several of his own shows at the legendary comedy club Carolines on Broadway, and as an actor, appeared as a special guest star in the long running Off-Broadway hit Tony N Tina's Wedding, repeating his performance for an extended run in the Las Vegas Production, and was then seen in a featured role in The War of the Roses.

Scott won critical and audience raves, as well as a 2007 MAC Award Nomination for his debut solo comedy show "Celebutant: Don't You Know Who I Think I Am?" and is currently performing his latest show "RECE$IONI$TA: Cheaper Than A Tank Of Gas!" including Sold-Out engagements in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Baltimore, San Francisco, Toronto and Montreal !

Scott is also the Producer of the weekly Monday Night theater-fest "Scott Nevins' Curtain Call" at Splash bar's "Musical Mondays" in NYC, as well as its sister show "The Star Spot" at "Musical Mondays" at LA's Eleven Nightclub (which he co-Produces with Ryan O'Connor) featuring performances from a new Broadway guest star every Monday night! He has proudly donated his talents to over 100 benefits, hosting shows for such wonderful organizations as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids, The Point Foundation, PFLAG, The Matthew Sheppard Foundation, God's Love We Deliver and many more. Scott was awarded a 2005 Out There Award for his work, was nominated for a 2004 HX Award, 2004 Glammy Award, 2007 MAC Award, was chosen by New York Magazine in their ‘Best of New York 2004' issue and most recently appeared as the Cover Model/Story for the March 2010 issue of INSTINCT Magazine. Scott will be performing a special One-Night-Only performance of his critically acclaimed Solo Comedy show in NYC on Thursday, April 1st at 7pm at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. Stop by www.ScottNevins.com for more info!

THE SKIRBALL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, New York University, is the premier venue for the presentation of cultural and performing arts events at NYU and lower Manhattan. Located at 566 LaGuardia Place (at Washington Square South), it provides a large-scale, professional performance space for university productions and events and live professional performances from around the world. The 860-seat theater opened in October 2003 and hosts the only major universitybased professional multi-arts presenting program in Manhattan. As a result, one natural and continuing mission of the Skirball Center is to build young audiences for live performance through a broad range of compelling performance events at affordable ticket prices. For more information and acurrent schedule of events, visit www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu.