Parsons Dance Announces Programming For 2018 Gala Honoring Award-Winning Composer Stephen Schwartz

Parsons Dance - under the Artistic Direction of David Parsons - is excited to announce that its annual gala will take place on Tuesday, May 15, 2018, as part of the company's recently announced two-week return engagement to New York City's Joyce Theater. This year's gala, honoring legendary Broadway composer and multiple award-winner Stephen Schwartz, will feature two pieces specially created for the evening, in addition to the previously announced Joyce Theater programing.

The evening will include the debut of Stranger to the Rain, a piece created by Mr. Parsons to honor Stephen Schwartz, featuring live musical accompaniment by Mr. Schwartz on piano and Broadway veteran Shoshana Bean, best known for her acclaimed turn as Elphaba in Mr. Schwartz's hit musical Wicked on Broadway. In addition, the gala program will include the debut of Reflections, a world premiere solo created and performed by company member Abby Silva Gavezzoli, who will retire after 15-years with the company following the Joyce engagement.

"My deep admiration for Stephen Schwartz began almost fifteen years ago when we collaborated on a musical celebrating Hans Christen Andersen at Copenhagen's Gladsaxe Theater," says Mr. Parsons. "I then witnessed his incredible imagination and knowledge of music and lyricism. Throughout the years, I have continued to be inspired by how much he knows, how hard he works, and how nice he is."

Parsons Dance will present the previously announced company premiere of Ma Maison by Trey McIntyre, the company's signature solo and long-standing audience favorite Caught, and the debut of Mr. Parsons Microburst, created in collaboration with tabla player Avirodh Sharma.

Tickets for the May 15 Gala, starting at $750, can be purchased online at www.parsonsdance.org/gala.

Stephen Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics for the current Broadway hit Wicked and has also contributed music and/or lyrics to Godspell, Pippin, The Magic Show, The Baker's Wife, Working (which he also adapted and directed), Rags, and Children of Eden. He collaborated with Leonard Bernstein on the English texts for Bernstein's MASS and wrote the title song for the play and movie Butterflies Are Free. For children, he has written songs for two musicals, Captain Louie and My Son Pinocchio. He has also worked in film, collaborating with Alan Menken on the songs for Disney's Enchanted as well as the animated features Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and writing the songs for the DreamWorks animated feature The Prince of Egypt. His first opera, Seance on A Wet Afternoon, was produced at Opera Santa Barbara and New York City Opera. A book about his career, "Defying Gravity," has been released by Applause Books. Mr. Schwartz has been inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has been given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Awards include three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards, and a tiny handful of tennis trophies. http://www.stephenschwartz.com.

David Parsons (Artistic Director/Co-Founder )has enjoyed a remarkable career as a director, choreographer, performer, master teacher and producer. Mr. Parsons was born in Chicago and raised in Kansas City. In the early years of his career he performed with The Paul Taylor Dance Company, New York City Ballet, Berlin Opera, and The White Oak Dance Project. Mr. Parsons has created more than 75 works for Parsons Dance. Commissions include American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to name a few. His work has been performed by Paris Opera Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Joffrey Ballet, and Ballet de Rio De Janeiro among many others. Parsons has worked on such diverse projects as Julie Taymor's film Fool's Fire, AIDA at Opera de Verona, Maria de Buenos Aires for Gotham Chamber Opera and Remember Me, a collaboration with East Village Opera Company. Mr. Parsons holds an honorary doctorate and was the first recipient of the Howard Gilman Fellowship to complete his MFA. The New York Times has called Mr. Parsons "one of the great movers of modern dance."

Shoshana Bean has three independent solo releases that have all topped the iTunes R&B and Blues charts in the US and UK, with her fourth and most recent project, Spectrum, debuting at #1 on the Billboard Jazz charts. Shoshana has sold out solo concerts around the globe, lent her voice to countless films and television shows, amassed millions of views on YouTube, toured with Postmodern Jukebox, performed alongsideDavid Foster, Ariana Grande, Brian McKnight and sang back up for Michael Jackson for his 30th anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden. She arranged vocals for Jennifer Lopez's "American Idol" performance of "I Luh Ya Papi," and her music has been featured in television shows on NBC, MTV, Oxygen, Bravo and Showtime. Bean made her Broadway debut in the original cast of Hairspray and starred as the very first replacement for Elphaba, the green-skinned witch, in Wicked. Most recently, she appeared as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl and as Cee-Cee Bloom in the new musical adaptation of Beaches, for which she earned a Jeff Award Nomination for best lead actress in a musical.

Trey McIntyre is a choreographer, filmmaker, writer, and photographer. Born in Wichita, Kansas, he spent 13 years as choreographic associate to Houston Ballet, a position that was created especially for him. He has also created works for American Ballet Theatre, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, New York City Ballet, Queensland Ballet, and Stuttgart Ballet to name a few. In 2005, he founded his own dance company, Trey McIntyre Project. He continues to choreograph worldwide and is working on two books of photography, a Patreon site (patreon.com/treymcintyre), and a documentary entitled Gravity Hero. McIntyre has received numerous awards and is a United States Artists Fellow.

Avirodh Sharma, one of the nation's leading tabla players, was born in Trinidad and trained in tabla playing by his parents Dr. Ravideen and Bharati Ramsamooj, founders of New York City's East Indian Music Academy. A multifaceted artist, Sharma is also a composer and producer of films, fashion shows, radio, documentaries, and television commercials. He has been featured on TV Asia, STARZ NETWORK, NPR Radio, and NY Daily News and has worked with such artists as Riverdance's Patrick Mangan, David Murry, Karsh Kale, and Sterling Campbell. Sharma's performances have captivated audiences in Italy, Switzerland, Nepal, India, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and the United States.

Abby Silva Gavezzoli (Dancer) grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she trained under the guidance of Rhonda Edmunsdon, Charleen Locascio, and Gayle Tabary. Abby joined Parsons Dance in 2002 after receiving her BFA in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College. In her 15 (and counting) years with the company, Abby has traveled the world performing and teaching. She has assisted Mr. Parsons on several projects including Verdi's Aida in the historical Arena di Verona in Italy, and has staged several of his works, including an entire evening of repertory on Teatro Municipale di Brazil. After the birth of her first son, Marcello, Abby shifted her focus from touring, and dances for the Metroplitan Opera in NYC. This current season she will perform in "Rigoletto" and "Don Giovanni". Abby has been on the cover of Dancer Magazine and was hailed as one of Dance Magazine's "Ones to Watch."

Parsons Dance is an internationally renowned contemporary dance company under the artistic direction of director/choreographer David Parsons. Parsons Dance is committed to building new audiences for contemporary dance by creating American works of extraordinary artistry that are both engaging and uplifting to audiences throughout the world. Parsons Dance tours nationally and internationally, including an annual season in its home community of New York City. Parsons Dance includes eight full-time dancers and maintains a repertory of more than 75 works choreographed by David Parsons. Since 1985, Parsons Dance has toured more than 447 cities, 35 countries, five continents and millions of audience members. Many more have seen Parsons Dance on PBS, Bravo, A&E Network and the Discovery Channel.

The Joyce Theater Foundation ("The Joyce," Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a nonprofit organization, has proudly served the dance community for over three decades. Under the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired and The Joyce renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Opening as The Joyce Theater in 1982, it was named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. Ownership was secured by The Joyce in 2015. The theater is one of the only theaters built by dancers for dance and has provided an intimate and elegant home for over 400 U.S.-based and international companies. The Joyce has also presented dance at Lincoln Center since 2012, and launched Joyce Unleashed in 2014 to feature emerging and experimental artists. To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (K-12th grade) benefit from its school program, and family and adult audiences get closer to dance with access to artists. The Joyce's annual season of about 48 weeks of dance now includes over 340 performances for audiences in excess of 150,000

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos