Christine Reisner To Celebrate Composer Albert Hague At Chelsea Table + Stage

Join Christine Reisner for Christmas with Uncle Albert: The Life and Songs of Albert Hague; Thursday, December 19 at 7:00 p.m.; Chelsea Table + Stage.

Alongside Reisner, the evening will feature Raissa Katona Bennett (Phantom of the Opera), Shana Farr (Yeoman of the Guard, City Center), and Craig Rubano (Les Miséerables); with musical direction by Jon Weber (Lincoln Center's Cabaret Convention); directed by Michael Kirk Lane. (The show was originally conceived with musical director Tex Arnold and directed by Eric Michael Gillett; Metropolitan Room, 2009.)

Come celebrate the holidays and the music of Christine's uncle, composer Albert Hague. Each Christmas the world enjoys his famous compositions in the Dr. Seuss classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. This evening tells the story of a German immigrant who escaped the Nazis to become a Tony Award-winning composer of Redhead and Plain & Fancy, as well as a star of both the film and television show FAME.

About the Artists:

Christine Reisner

is a recipient of this year's DancersOver40 Legacy Award. Debut: major venues in France with The Company d'Anne Beranger. Toured internationally with the Nikolais Dance Theatre (4 years), and later collaborated with the iconic Beverly Blossom; 2002-08 guest artist with Henning Rübsam's Sensedance. NYC musical theatre favorites: The Pepsi Cola Industrial Show, Equity Library Theatre's Can-Can and Promises-Promises, assistant to Tony Tanner on his workshop production of Two Over Easy. She returned to France as a teacher, jazz singer and featured cabaret artist; then came home and earned a B.A. in Media Studies magna-cum-laude from Fordham University, while working at Essence magazine. She has appeared at the Metropolitan Room, the Laurie Beechman Theatre; three Luigi tributes, and taught at the Luigi Jazz Center and other NYC and NJ studios. She has recorded three albums and is a student of jazz (violin and vocal) at the Kaufman Music School. She also sings with the Chorale at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Raissa Katona Bennett

starred on Broadway as Christine Daae in Phantom of the Opera, and in Chess in Concert. First National Tours: Cats, Parade, and A Child's Christmas in Wales (National Theatre of the Deaf). Off- Broadway: Mother Hawkins in Devil & the Deep (by Air Supply's Graham Russell) and Mother/Vanna in Water From the Moon. Regional credits include: Helen in Fun Home, Truvy in Steel Magnolias, and Mrs. Potts in Beauty & the Beast. On television, Raissa has appeared in Law & Order SVU and Unsolved Mysteries. A MAC & BISTRO Award winner, she has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Town Hall, 54 Below, the Algonquin, Feinstein's, the Metropolitan Room, Iridium and the Laurie Beechman Theatre. Her two CD's, recorded on the LML Music Label, are available at Amazon & iTunes. www.raissakatonabennett.com

Shana Farr

a classically trained vocalist, has performed at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and in concert at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. She has appeared at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater, Amarnick-Goldstein Concert Hall, Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, The Missouri Theatre, Feinsteins at the Regency, 54 Below, and Birdland Jazz club, as well as London's Crazy Coqs, The Pheasantry, and in 2022, Westminster Abbey! An accomplished actor, lead roles in NYC plays , operettas, and musical theatre productions include The Music Man, Oklahoma!, The Merry Widow, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Pirates of Penzance. Blithe Spirit, Sweet Bird of Youth, Love Letters, The Yeomen of the Guard, and The Student Prince, in such venues as New York City Center, McCarter Theater, and the York Theatre Company. www.ShanaFarr.com

Craig Rubano

made a heralded return to the stage this year with Take the Moment at The Laurie Beechman Theatre (Beth Ertz, musical director; Jeff Harnar, director). For his singing performance, Craig has won a Back Stage Bistro, Palm Springs Desert Star, and four MAC awards. Theater: LES MISERABLES (Marius, Broadway), The Scarlet Pimpernel, I and II (Broadway original casts); Animal Crackers (Goodspeed). Recordings: Finishing the Act: Act One Finales from Broadway, Change Partners, The Night They Invented Champagne: Operetta and Its Musical Legacy. Craig is a graduate of Yale College (A.B.), Columbia University (M.A.), and Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div., Th.M., Ph.D.).

Jon Weber

Jazz pianist Jon Weber has recorded and toured all over the world, winning numerous honors. Gary Burton, Roy Hargrove, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Avishai Cohen have all recorded Jon's music, and his critically acclaimed release, SIMPLE COMPLEX, rose to #1. After frequently serving as guest host for Marian McPartland's NPR radio broadcast, Jon became its host: since named "Piano Jazz with Jon Weber." In 2022, Jon produced the PS Classics tribute CD to Sondheim by Jeff Harnar, "I Know Things Now", and also served as musical director of Peggy Lee's Centennial Concert at Carnegie Hall. For four years he's been the musical director of the O'Neill Theatre and since 2022 has conducted all three nights at the Cabaret Convention at Lincoln Center. Other credits include the 2022 London Jazz Fest and the 2023 Cayman Arts Festival.

To post a comment, you must register and login.