Shaina Taub with Special Guests Nikki M. James and Jenn Colella to Perform at Bryant Park Picnic Performances

Bryant Park Picnic Performances presented by Bank of America season of free, live performances continues on Friday, August 11 with a performance from Obie-winning, Emmy-nominated artist-in-residence at Joe's Pub, Shaina Taub. Taub will be playing a selection of old favorites and new songs with several of her original compositions from her adaptations of As You Like It and Twelfth Night for The Public Theater. She will be joined by a full band featuring musicians Hiroyuki Matsuura, Debbie Tjong, and David Farrell Melton, as well as vocalists Princess Victome and Monica Tulia Ramirez with special guest appearances by two of the leads from Taub's recent smash hit musical Suffs: Tony-winner Nikki M. James and Drama Desk and Grammy Award-winner Jenn Colella.

This event is presented in collaboration with Joe's Pub, an independent, non-profit music venue dedicated to supporting performing artists at every stage of their careers.

Attendees to Bryant Park Picnic Performances may bring their own food or purchase from on-site food and beverage vendors near the Lawn. At all performances, attendees can discover new dishes and celebrate classics from the five boroughs with a rotating line-up of local artisanal vendors curated by Hester Street Fair. Stout NYC offers giant pretzels, gourmet popcorn and other light bites as well as a selection of beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages for purchase.

Additional performance information follows below. For the most current information please visit bryantpark.org/picnics. For a selection of high-resolution images, please visit this link. When used, please credit the appropriate photographer as listed in the image filename. 

Performance Details

Friday, August 11 at 7PM
Shaina Taub
with Special Guests Nikki M. James and Jenn Colella
Presented by Joe's Pub

Shaina Taub is an Obie Award-winning, Emmy Award-nominated songwriter and performer. She is an artist-in-residence at Joe's Pub and at The Public Theater, where she wrote and starred in Suffs, garnering Drama League, Drama Desk and Lortel Award nominations. Her three solo albums include Songs of the Great Hill, a debut release on Atlantic Records. She created and starred in critically acclaimed musical adaptations of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and As You Like It at Free Shakespeare in the Park, as part of their community-based program, Public Works. Those adaptations have now received hundreds of productions worldwide. She has written songs for Sesame Street, Julie’s Greenroom starring Julie Andrews on Netflix, Central Park on Apple TV and the opening number for the 2018 Tony Awards. Her songwriting collaborators include Sir Elton John, Sara Bareilles, Josh Groban and Rachel Bloom, and her songs have been performed by Audra McDonald, Sutton Foster and Ariana DeBose. She was in the original Off-Broadway casts of Hadestown and Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 and co-starred in Bill Irwin and David Shiner's Old Hats Off-Broadway, featuring her original songs. She is a winner of the Kleban Prize, the Fred Ebb Award, the Jonathan Larson Grant, and the NYCLU's Michael Friedman Freedom Award for her activism. She’s a member of the Resistance Revival Chorus, the Working Families Party’s Artist Council, and co-chairs the NYCLU’s Artist Ambassadors.

Joe's Pub, a program of The Public Theater, was named for Public Theater founder Joseph Papp. Since it opened in 1998, Joe’s Pub has played a vital role in The Public's mission of supporting artists at all stages of their careers with an intimate space to perform and develop new work. Joe's Pub presents the best in live music and performance nightly, continuing its commitment to diversity, production values, community, and artistic freedom. In addition to one-night-only concerts and multi-night engagements, Joe’s Pub is home to the annual Habibi Festival, which hosts artists representing contemporary and traditional music of the SWANA (Southwest Asia/North Africa) region, and The Vanguard Award & Residency, a yearlong curation series that celebrates the career, and community, of a prolific and influential artist—including Nona Hendryx, Judy Collins, Laurie Anderson, and Barbara Maier Gustern. With its intimate atmosphere and superior acoustics, Joe's Pub presents over 700 shows featuring artists from all over the world and hosts over 100,000 audience members annually. Beyond public performances, Joe’s Pub also leads artist development programs like New York Voices, a commissioning program that helps musicians develop new performance projects, and Joe’s Pub Working Group, an artist-led development and collaboration cohort. Current commissioned artists include Daniel J. Watts & Nick Blaemire, Liza Paul & Bahia Watson, Sunny Jain, Vuyo Sotashe & Chris Pattishall, and treya lam. Joe's Pub is supported in part by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support general operating expenses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

July

July 21 – Carnegie Hall Citywide: Magos Herrera Ft. The Knights
July 28 – Carnegie Hall Citywide: Champe-Soukous Collective

August

August 03 – Ailey Moves NYC: Ailey II and Ailey Extension
August 04 – Carnegie Hall Citywide: Ndlovu Youth Choir
August 11 – Joe's Pub: Shaina Taub
August 18 – New York City Opera: The Barber of Seville
August 19 – New York City Opera: Alessandro Lora in Concert
August 25 – Accordions Around the World: Diana Burco, Suistamon Sähkö, Ragini Ensemble
August 26 – Roulette Intermedium: Immanuel Wilkins, 75 Dollar Bill, Ka Baird

September

September 01 – The Classical Theatre of Harlem: Young, Gifted and Black, featuring Crystal Lucas-Perry, Edward W. Hardy, and more!
September 07 – American Symphony Orchestra: American Expressions
September 08 – New York City Opera: Romeo and Juliet
September 09 – Drom: Gaye Su Akyol (U.S. Debut)
September 14 – Harlem Stage: 40th Anniversary Celebration

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