Celia Berk Will Reprise A DREAM AND A SONG at the Laurie Beechman Theatre

Following a sold-out debut at Urban Stages’ Winter Rhythms in December, Award-winning vocalist Celia Berk will reprise A DREAM AND A SONG: The Musical Stories of Elizabeth Sullivan in a Mother’s Day performance at The Laurie Beechman Theatre on May 12, 2024 at 2PM. Berk will be joined by Special Guest Elizabeth Sullivan, guitarist Sean Driscoll, violinist Seoyeon Im and pianist/music director Jon Weber. Jeff Harnar directs. 

Shaped by a life on the Oklahoma prairie — and deeply informed by her spirituality — Elizabeth Sullivan writes about family, love and loss, and the creative impulse. Her music has been performed in iconic venues including Carnegie’s Weill and Zankel Recital Halls, the National Arts Club and The Algonquin Hotel’s Oak Room. The 93-year-old matriarch of the Sullivan family – which includes singers KT, Stacy, Heather and Tim Sullivan – recently published her memoirs, “STAGES: From Lightening Creek to Carnegie Hall.”

“When Elizabeth told me she’d like to hear her music in my ‘cello range,’ I was very happy to oblige. She sent me her Songbook and writings. I sent her demos. Really, that’s as far as either of us expected it to go,” says Berk. “However, the more I read and heard, the deeper I dove. On the surface, we are so different – Christian/Jewish; elegant woman of the prairie/New Yorker; child of the Great Depression/Boomer. But we both understand what it means to declare something to yourself and others about what you need to be doing, how much it matters to you to do it well, and never allowing yourself to believe it’s too late. I asked her if she would trust to me do an evening of my interpretations of her material. It was so warmly received that we all knew it deserved a second outing. Mother’s Day was the obvious choice.”

Berk released her third album, Now That I Have Everything, in September 2022. It was included on the 2023 Grammy Awards Preliminary Ballot, named one of the Top 10 Vocalist Recordings of 2022 by The Broadway Radio Show, and was nominated for the BroadwayWorld and LaMott Friedman Awards. Berk’s second album, Manhattan Serenade, received the 2017 LaMott Friedman Award from the Manhattan Association of Cabarets. You Can’t Rush Spring and Berk’s solo cabaret debut earned her a 2015 Bistro Award: Vocalist, 2015 MAC Award: New York Debut/Female, 2015 BroadwayWorld Award for Best New York Cabaret Debut, and The 2015 Margaret Whiting Award. The recording appeared on a number of Best of 2014 lists. In 2023, Berk released her first Holiday EP: ​Holiday Spirit: 3 Songs of Joy, Wonder and Hope. The compilation includes three songs Berk recorded during the pandemic: “Holiday Bells Medley,” “Still, Still, Still,” and “A Simple Prayer.” All of Berk’s music is available on Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, and streaming platforms worldwide.

The Laurie Beechman Theatre is downstairs at the West Bank Café* at 407 West 42nd Street, Manhattan. Tickets are $45.62 including fees, and there is a $25 minimum per person in food and beverage.

*The Laurie Beechman Theatre is downstairs at West Bank, and is fully accessible by elevator. Call ahead to: 212.695.6909.

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