News: WINTER RHYTHMS at Urban Stages Releases Full Lineup

URBAN STAGES

Presents the 14th Annual Award-Winning Series

WINTER RHYTHMS 2022

December 07 - 18, 2022

Urban Stages, 259 West 30th Street

Cabaret, Musical Theatre, Jazz, Classical, Dance, and more

All to Benefit the Urban Stages Arts & Education Outreach Program

The Twelve-Day Celebration featuring 20 different shows

with more than 80 performing artists including:

Gretchen Reinhagen, Tym Moss, Meg Loughan, Steve Young, Gregory Toroian, Lina Koutrakos, David Buskin, Sophie Buskin, Beth Falcon and Ritt Henn, Klea Blackhurst, Stephen Bogardus, Karen Akers, David LaMarr, Jake Warren, Sue Matsuki, David Sabella, Sidney Myer, Deborah Stone, Sue Winter, Tom Toce and many and many more!

New York: Urban Stages (Frances Hill, Founding Artistic Director) Tom Toce, award-winning lyricist, and Sue Matsuki, award-winning singer) proudly announces the line-up for this year's award-winning series, WINTER RHYTHMS 2022, which will begin Wednesday, December 07, and will feature some of New York's best musical performances through Sunday, December 18, 2022 at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th St., East of 8th Ave.)

Tickets are $30 per show (except where noted) or $45 for two shows on the same day. To view the complete schedule or to purchase tickets, please visit: urbanstages.org or call: (866) 811-4111.

WINTER RHYTHMS 2022 marks the 14th year that Urban Stages welcomes noted musical artists to its stage during the holiday period. The mission of WINTER RHYTHMS is to bring the talents of well-known and up-and-coming singers, musicians, lyricists and composers to the attention of the New York theater community while performing at Urban Stages Theater. WINTER RHYTHMS won the Bistro Award for Outstanding Series and the Ruth Kurtzman Benefit Series MAC Award. Proceeds from WINTER RHYTHMS benefit Urban Stages' acclaimed Outreach Program, which brings over 200 free "arts in education" presentations to libraries and schools throughout the five boroughs.

This year's benefit series will present 20 shows, many of them created especially for WINTER RHYTHMS, produced by Urban Stages' Tom Toce and Sue Matsuki, with sound direction by David Lawson, light design by John Salutz, production management by Fiona Misiura, and special technical assistance by Madeleine Burrow.

Winter Rhythms will include an invited guests special evening with Sue Matsuki and the Gregory Toroian Trio, Monday, December 12th at 7 pm in a special show to support the outreach programs. With holiday and jazz music from the sublime to the ridiculous, Sue Matsuki and her hep, happy, jazzy trio will start your holiday season off in a show of traditional and not-so-traditional tunes that will put you in the holiday spirit!

Wednesday, December 7 2022

7 PM Gretchen Reinhagen in HOW MUSICAL THEATER RUINED MY LIFE
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Multi-Award-winning Singer, Actress, Comedienne Gretchen Reinhagen brings her brand-new Musical Theater-themed show to Urban Stages, with longtime friend and teaching partner David Gaines at the piano, for a special 1-night-in-NYC-only performance. Growing up in a musical theater world, Gretchen revisits some of her favorite shows, favorite roles and favorite songs, as well as exploring a 21st-century show tune or two. While the theater didn't really ruin her life, she was a fairly gullible kid who desperately wanted to believe that the sun would come out tomorrow, and you wouldn't be arrested for always hanging out on the street where she lived. She was also the kid who rooted for Oklahoma's Jud to get the girl and was convinced she was just a bagel on a plateful of onion rolls. This show is packed with the music that Broadways fans love, the songs that Gretchen's voice loves to sing, and, as always, Gretchen's special brand of "The Universe keeps trying to give me material" comedy. Directed by Barry Kleinbort.

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9 PM Tym Moss: (A)Live: Fun! Fabulous! Flamboyant!
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Multiply MAC and GLAM Award Nominee, Tym Moss takes us on a fun, intense, surprising, inspiring, and triumphant journey of the first half of his life's experience coming to New York City. He tells his story through familiar songs, but he gives new meaning to each of them with his unique "take" on each tune. This is a one-man cabaret show that you will never forget. You'll Laugh! You'll Cry! You'll Sing a Long! This show is funny one minute then can rip your heart out in the next. Musical Director: Tracy Stark. Michael Musto says: "It turned out to be one of the best cabaret shows in town!" The Huffington Post says: "I was completely swept away."

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Thursday, December 8 2022

7 PM MEG AND STEVE'S COMEDY PARTY
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Escape the stress of the holiday-industrial complex with an evening of music and comedy, hosted by the punctual and generally well-intentioned Meg Loughran (Broadway Comedy Club, Lincoln Center) and Steve Young (Letterman, Simpsons). Hilarious standup performances? Check. Funny original songs? Check. Third beat to fulfill the comedy formula? Check! Ugly sweaters welcome! (As in the garish holiday attire, but people who perspire unattractively are welcome, too.)

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Friday, December 9, 2022

7 PM Gregory Toroian'S GUYS N' GALS - PART I
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Musical director, arranger, and educator Gregory Toroian presents a two-part evening with some of the most extraordinary singers he works with. Part I will feature the voices of Cabaret Scenes' Frank Dain, Maria Corsaro ("You Taught My Heart to Sing"), Linda Kahn ("SAY YES!"), Claudia Stack, Lionel Shockness, and Eva Steinberg ("Not Your Mama's Peggy Lee"). Special Guest: Lina Koutrakos. This is an evening of jazz, musical theater, blues, holiday tunes, the American Songbook, and Cabaret music. Produced by: Matsuki Productions.

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9 PM Gregory Toroian'S GUYS N' GALS - PART II
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Musical director, arranger, and educator Gregory Toroian presents a two-part evening with some of the most extraordinary singers he works with. Part II will feature the voices of Fred Aiese ("Live from New York!"), Jacqueline Draper ("Spreadin' Rhythm Around"), David Milberg, Deanna Monaco, Kati Neiheisel ("Yesterday...Once More"), Deborah Stone ("Chiaroscuro"), and Geoffrey Stoner. Special Guest: Leslee Warren ("Me, Myself & Eye: Songs of a Nearsighted Girl"). This is an evening of jazz, musical theater, blues, holiday tunes, the American Songbook, and Cabaret music. Produced by: Matsuki Productions.

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Saturday, December 10, 2022

2 PM RETIRED THEATER KIDS PRESENTS: THE ROLES WE NEVER GOT TO PLAY
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This group of young, fun, 20-somethings gets to relive their since-crushed childhood theater dreams of all the songs we so desperately wanted to sing (and receive applause for). Come be merry and do your due diligence in clapping for those theater kids you know, love, and maybe can't stand sometimes. Produced by: Jamie Terrazzino and Madeleine Burrow. Cast to be announced.

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5 PM UP 'TIL NOW" A SONGWRITER'S RETROSPECTIVE
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Veteran songwriter David Buskin has been writing, recording, and performing his music professionally since 1970. He's made about fifteen albums, most as half of the duo Buskin & Batteau or in his notorious "geezer band" Modern Man. His songs and jingles have been recorded by many great artists including Judy Collins, Peter, Paul & Mary, Johnny Mathis, Astrud Gilberto, Tom Rush, Dixie Carter, Roberta Flack, Mel Tormé, Take 6, Phoebe Snow, Richie Havens, and Arlo Guthrie. He is a New York Nightlife Award, Bistro Award, and Clio Award winner. He was also a recipient of the ASCAP Jamie deRoy Award for excellence in songwriting. His daughter Sophie Buskin saw her first solo CD, SWEET CREATURE, instantly establish her as a force to be reckoned with in the singer/songwriter world; it went to #1 on the Folk DJ charts and remained there for three weeks. While at school, she performed as a member of the prestigious Berklee Gospel Choir. She has backed up Jewel, Little Anthony, Alana Davis, Marci Geller, and Paul Shaffer, among others. Father and daughter blend thrillingly, as frequently seems to happen when there is shared DNA, and their writing styles - his out of folkie roots, hers more grounded in alternative bands - combine in a compelling and nuanced multi-generational hybrid.

"David Buskin delighted a packed house with his irresistible amalgam of melodic, sensual pop, folkie grit and killer wit." -- The Washington Post

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8 PM BETH AND RITT'S HOLIDAY SURVIVAL KIT! (7th Annual)
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Award-winning songwriters Beth Falcone and Ritt Henn return to Urban Stages for their 7th Annual Beth & Ritt's Holiday Survival Kit, serving up a bevy of original and originally arranged holiday songs from around the globe to see you safely through the season. Beth's "catchy melodies and smart lyrics" (Variety) and Ritt's "funkier Cole Porter" songs (LA Weekly) soar with her "fiery piano playing" (Chicago Sun Times) and his "cool cat" bass (Time Out NY). Joined by Met Opera and Broadway performer Roosevelt André Credit, Django jazz guitarist Lisa Liu, award-winning actress/singer Christine de Frece, and Bibi the Elf!

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Sunday, December 11 2022

3 PM OTHER LIVES: THE STORY SONGS OF Michael Colby
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A mélange of melody and tour de force performances, featuring lyrics by Michael Colby (CHARLOTTE SWEET, THE ALGONQUIN KID) and many of the best veteran and up-and-coming performers seen on New York stages. Cast: Janet Aldrich, Bethe Austin, Ari Axelrod, Lauren Baker, Klea Blackhurst, Stephen Bogardus, Le Donna Burns, Talia Cutulle, David Edwards, Heeya Kim, Dan Hoy, Luke Naphat, Sarah Rice, Jane Seaman, Megan Styrna, Marianne Tatum, Maureen Taylor, Deborah Jean Templin, Deborah Tranelli, Joshua Turchin, Stuart Zagnit. Composers: Andrea Colby, Ned Paul Ginsburg, Larry Hochman, Paul Katz, Gerald Jay Markoe, Peter Millrose, Alex Rybeck, Steven Silverstein, Joseph Thalken, Herman Yaboloff. Musical director: Michael Lavine. Directed by Sara Louise Lazarus.

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7 PM Sara Louise Lazarus presents: Circle Sings The Holidays
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Featuring the graduating Musical Theatre Class of Circle in the Square Theatre School Direction and Musical Staging: Sara Louise Lazarus Musical Direction: Joseph Baker.

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Tuesday, December 13 2022

7 PM OTHER LIVES: THE STORY SONGS OF Michael Colby
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See Sunday, December 11 at 3 pm for description.

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Wednesday, December 14 2022

7 PM AMANDA SCALICI in A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY: CELEBRATING Doris Day
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Drawn to Ms. Day's bubbly nature and crystal-clear vocals, Amanda Scalici grew up listening to Ms. Day's many albums. Amanda's voice has been described as a "lilting soprano" with "incredible tambour". She has perfectly blended her own unique style to tribute Ms. Day's iconic energy into every song. While she does not impersonate Ms. Day, audiences will be thrilled to hear their favorite hits performed with a refreshing energy. Featuring her dad: Robert Scalici (Musial Director/Guitar) with Skip Ward (Bass) and Vince Caiafa (Drums). This father-daughter team is not to be missed.

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Thursday, December 15 2022

7 PM THE ART OF COLLABORATION: THE NEW YORK SONGWRITERS ALLIANCE
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The New York Songwriters Alliance was founded by Tom Toce in 2016. The Alliance is a group of professional songwriters who meet twice a month to share songs, success stories, industry opportunities, and creative energy. This show, hosted by Tom Toce, focuses on intra-group collaborations. At the last MAC Awards, seven of the ten nominated songs were written or co-written by writers affiliated with the Alliance. In this show, a group of current regular attendees will showcase their songs. We will present new songs by Michael Colby, Matt Corriel, John Forster, Ned Ginsburg, Harriet Goldberg, Sonya Hayden, Ritt Henn, Kevin Kelso, Eva Margolies, Hillary Rollins, Paul Rolnick, Steve Sieck, Ethan Tarasov, Tom Toce, Carla Ulbrich and Steve Young. Their songs will be showcased by some of the best vocal talents in NY cabaret including Karen Akers, Ann Kittredge, David LaMarr, and Michael Wingate.

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Friday, December 16 2022

7 PM Jake Warren's Dance Company presents CHAOS THEORY & OTHER MIRACLES
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9:30 PM GLITTER AND BE GAY!
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With a multi-award-winning, FABULOUS cast, this show will be the most fun you can have on a Friday night in New York City! Hosted by Amanda Reckonwith (aka David Sabella "Chicago" and MAC Award Winner). Featuring: Bistro and MAC Award Winner David Maiocco, Tym Moss, Jon Owen, and Alexander Scelso, with special guest, the one and only...Sidney Myer. Musical Director: David Maiocco. This show will feature poignant, standards, holiday, American Songbook, Cabaret, and spoken word. Produced by: Matsuki Productions.

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Saturday, December 17 2022

3 PM Randie Levine-Miller'S DIVA SHOWSTOPPERS: THE TOMATOES GOT TALENT WINNERS!
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Join host Randi Levine-Miller for an afternoon featuring 8 of the "Tomatoes Got Talent" winners and a few runners-up from the past 8 years of this competition. This contest is for ladies over the age of 40 who are all working in other fields but who all have a dream to perform. This show will feature Susan Vardy, Teresa Fischer, Kathleen Waters, Sheree Sano, Robin Lyon Gardiner, Leslee Warren, Aleta St. James plus runners-up: Alice Levine and Robin Gerson Wong with a few other surprises in store! Musical Director: Paul Chamlin.

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7 PM MAY I INTRODUCE...
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Join host and co-producer of "Winter Rhythms" Sue Matsuki as she presents four incredibly talented singers each performing a four-song set. Sue and Gregory Toroian, tonight's Musical Director, co-host a monthly Jazz Brunch Open Mic where they meet all these wonderful performers who they then love to feature. Today's show introduces Cabaret Singers: Ira Lee Collings("The Gay Geezer"), Caitlin McBride, Eva Steinberg ("Not Your Mama's Peggy Lee"), and Leslee Warren ("Me, Myself & I: Songs of a Nearsighted Girl" and this year's Tomato's Got Talent Contest!). Musical Director: Gregory Toroian. Produced by: Matsuki Productions.

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9 PM TAKE ME BACK - JOAN, JONI, DYLAN, AND OTHERS
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Join Deb Stone as she revisits her years as a folk guitarist/singer here in New York! A native New Yorker, Deborah has been a dancer, actor, and singer on the East and West Coasts was in a Broadway musical, and was a showgirl in New York City and Dallas. Deborah entered the world of Cabaret in 2016 and has performed in New York City at The Beach Café, Pangea, The Metropolitan Room, The Triad, Don't Tell Mama, and The Laurie Beechman Theater, and in Kansas City at The American Jazz Museum's Blue Room. Her website is Deborah-Stone.com, on which may be found her EPK, press, video clips, and links to her recently released singles. YouTube Clip Here

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Sunday, December 18 2022

3 PM Susan Winter SINGS THE SIXTIES!
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The 1960s was a decade teeming with glorious triumphs and life-altering upheavals: Vietnam, the optimism of a youthful President, miniskirts, the birth of the women's movement, political assassinations, student unrest, and Black Power. It was also a particularly fertile period for popular song; a time when, as a young girl, award-winning vocalist Susan Winter listened to the likes of Motown, Tony Bennett, Eydie Gorme, Tom Jones, Petula Clark, and the Beatles all at the same time. In her delightful new show, "Susan Winter Sings the Sixties", Ms. Winter musically revisits the many unforgettable innovations of the day: Girl Groups, Bacharach and David, Sergio Mendes and Brazil '66, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Roger Miller, and Tom Lehrer. She also gets to tangle with "Hair" and blame it on the Bossa Nova. Directed by Barry Kleinbort, with musical direction provided by Christopher Denny, Ms. Winter offers an evening of irresistible rhythms and musical richness, punctuated with personal observations about one of this country's most turbulent and musically diverse decades.

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7 PM SONGS OF HOPE V - Tom Toce Presents: Ann and others with Music Director Jon Delfin
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For the fifth time, Tom Toce will produce a program of hopeful songs. We need them now more than ever. This closing program will feature Ann Kittredge and some of the best cabaret singers in New York, including Lucille Carr-Kaffashan, Ekemini Ekpo, Susan Horowitz, David LaMarr, Hannah Reimann, Michael Wingate, and others each performing a hopeful song. If this concert doesn't provide uplift, nothing will! Jon Delfin will once again be the musical director.

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URBAN STAGES (Producer) is an award-winning, not-for-profit, Off-Broadway Theatre Company founded in 1984 by current Artistic Director Frances Hill. The play Eleanor and Alice, Conversations between two Remarkable Roosevelts by Ellen Abrams just closed with excellent reviews. For over 30 years, Urban Stages has produced dozens of world, American and NYC premieres including Pulitzer Prize Finalist Bulrusher (2007) by Eisa Davis. We have been honored with awards, nominations, and recognition from the Drama Desk, Obie Awards, Audelco, Outer Critics Circle, and much more. For instance, our world premiere of the musical Langston In Harlem by Walter Marks (music and book) and Kent Gash (book and direction) garnered a Drama Desk Nomination, a Joe A. Calloway award, and 4 Audelco awards including Best Musical Production of 2010. More recently, Trezana Beverly's Mabel Madness (2016) was nominated for an Audelco Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, Unseemly by Oren Safdie (2015) was a NY Times Critics Pick, Jim Broch Character Man (2014) was nominated for a Drama Desk and an Outer Critics Circle award for Best Solo Performance and Honky (2013) by Greg Kalleres saw a regional run at San Diego Rep and was televised nationally on PBS in late 2015. After production, most plays move on to larger venues. Men On the Verge of a Hispanic Breakdown by Guillermo Reyes and Minor Demons by Bruce Graham both moved to commercial theatres. Chili Queen, a play by newscaster Jim Lehrer, transferred to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (1989). My Occasion of Sin (2012) by Monica Bauer won critical acclaim when it moved to Detroit Rep. Bill Bowers has toured the United States and the world with his two Urban Stages premieres blending mime and theatre - Beyond Words (2012) and Under a Montana Moon (2002)! Some Urban Stages premieres have even been developed into film and television projects such as Scar by Murray Mednick, Conversations with The Goddesses by Agapi Stassinopoulos, and Cotton Mary by Alexandra Viets. In addition to plays and musicals, annually we hold a music festival - Winter Rhythms - that features famous and up-and-coming Cabaret, musicians, lyricists, and other music artists. In 2016, Winter Rhythms was honored with the Bistro Award for Outstanding Series, and in 2015, it received the Ruth Kurtzman Benefit Series MAC Award from the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs. Urban Stages is currently in rehearsals for the World Premiere of acclaimed playwright Zhu Yi's A Deal, running from November 15 through December 10th.

Tom Toce (Producer, Winter Rhythms) is a veteran theater and cabaret songwriter. He won the MAC Award for Comedy Song for "Shalom, Santa" in 2014. He made his cabaret debut as a performer in Songwriter in the House, which delighted audiences at the Metropolitan Room in late 2015 and early 2016, and earned Tom a MAC Award nomination in the New York Debut - Male category. In 2015, he conceived the Harvard-Yale Cantata at Feinstein's/54 Below. This now annual event just celebrated its fifth year, with Tom producing and hosting each one. Other recent shows include Mr. Victor's Cabaret for Hipsters: Songs of the 1990s (director and producer) at the Laurie Beechman Theater, MAC Award-Winning Songs at Urban Stages (director, host, and producer) and Living Standards (director and producer), starring Marissa Mulder, at the Metropolitan Room. Hopelessly in Love: The Lyrics of Tom Toce was one of the most successful shows at the Metropolitan Room in 2012 and 2013. The HIL recording was also nominated for a 2014 MAC Award. Tom has written a number of shows for children, and his cabaret songs have been sung and/or recorded by Jane Monheit, Andrea Marcovicci, Tovah Feldshuh, Maude Maggart, KT Sullivan, and many others. Tom is a two-time Jeopardy! champion (his encyclopedic knowledge of the Great American Songbook helped) and a member of the Jeopardy Hall of Fame, for high score in a single game. More at www.tomtocemusic.com

Sue Matsuki, (Co-Producer Winter Rhythms) Is an award-winning singer and songwriter, producer, host, educator, columnist and the co-author of So You Want to Sing Cabaret. She is a Bistro Award winner for Outstanding Collaboration with her Musical Director, Gregory Toroian; she is the very first recipient of the Julie Wilson Award given by the Mabel Mercer Foundation; and she is a multi-award-winning MAC Award winner (Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs) for Jazz Vocalist, Jazz Duo, and Songwriter. Matsuki is a 35-year Cabaret/Jazz singing veteran who has played every NYC Cabaret room including Feinstein's at the Regency, Feinstein's 54 Below, Town Hall, The Algonquin, Jan Wallman's, 88's, Don't Tell Mama, and several of the major Jazz Clubs including the legendary Village Gate, Birdland, The Iridium and Sweet Rhythm, Feinstein's at Vitello's in LA and The Dickens Parlour Theatre in Delaware. She's even played Carnegie Hall and appeared in five seasons as a Diva Double at the Metropolitan Opera. As an educator, she has taught Cabaret and performance business classes at Mac-to-School, Cabaret Hotspot! Cabaret U, The Ridgefield Theater Barn, UCONN's Osher's Lifelong Learning Institute, the Vancouver School of Performing Arts, and at Fordham University. For more information please visit: www.SueMatsuki.com

Frances Hill (Founding Artistic Director) began her theatrical career in California as an actress. Since 1983, Ms. Hill has overseen more than 600 staged readings/workshops and 90 productions of new works for the stage. She has directed over 30 workshops and productions. Her favorite directing credits include Gino DiIorio's Apostasy, Roma Greth's Our Summer Days, Jim Lehrer's Chili Queen, (directed at Urban Stages and Kennedy Center), John Picardi's Seven Rabbits on a Pole and The Sweepers (directed at Urban Stages and Capital Rep); Comfort Women by Chugmi Kim (Urban Stages 2004), 27 Rue De Fleurs and My Occasion of Sin. She directed the Urban Stages World Premiere of Mabel Madness (2016), written by and starring Trezana Beverley. Two of her plays have been produced, Our Bench and Life Lines. Under the guidance of Ms. Hill, Playwrights' Preview Productions/Urban Stages have moved two plays into commercial Off-Broadway successes. Minor Demons opened the new Century Center Theater and Men on the Verge of His-Panic Breakdown won an Outer Critic's Circle Award while playing to capacity audiences at the 47th Street Theater. Urban Stages' African American Poets as Playwrights won eight Audelco Nominations and Coyote on a Fence received two Drama Desk nominations and a Pilgrim's Project Award. Eisa Davis's Bulrusher was one of three nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. 2010 production of Langston in Harlem won several drama desk nominations, a John Calloway award, and several Audelco nominations including a win for best music production of the year (2010), along with several other awards.

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