Tudor City Greens Concert Series Resumes 8/5 With BLAME IT ON THE SUMMER NIGHT

The Tudor City Greens FREE outdoor concert series resumes on Wednesday, August 5th at 6:00PM. (Rain date: Thursday, August 6th @ 6PM). This event - themed "Blame It On the Summer Night" - will feature performers from Broadway and the New York City cabaret scene. The concert will be hosted by Tudor City resident, Broadway and cabaret performer Raissa Katona Bennett (Phantom of the Opera, Chess). Raissa's guests this month are Bistro Award winner Deb Berman, David Colbert (Nightlife, MAC Award winner), vocalists Tanya Holt and Angela Shultz, and MAC Award winners Eric Michael Gillett (Broadway's Kiss Me Kate, The Frogs), Jason Wynn, and Sue Matsuki. Also featured will be Australian Variety Performer of the Year, Darren Williams. Special guest Sarah Rice (original "Johanna" in Sweeney Todd) will also perform. Accompanists are David Caldwell, Sean Harkness, Brett Kristofferson and Bill Zeffiro. (The cast/musicians subject to change.)

The event will take place in the South Park of Tudor City Greens Park - enter at Tudor City Place between East 41st and 42nd Streets, between 1st and 2nd avenues.

There is one more outdoor concert planned for September 9th (at 6PM). Rain date: September 10th). Concerts will resume Spring 2010.

Fred French called it a "city within a city," the Tudor City apartment complex he built in the late 20's between 40th and 43d Streets on a bluff just west of First Avenue. As a centerpiece he created two small parks, a sparkling pair of green patches in crowded midtown. In the late 1970s, when Harry Helmsley owned the complex, he was determined to construct two high rise buildings on the land where the North and South parks are. However, the residents of Tudor City were equally as determined that he would not! One long holiday weekend Sunday, bulldozers suddenly appeared and began hauling down the then wooden fencing. John McCain, (of The Manor), ran out into the street with a bullhorn shouting; "Come out. Come out. Residents of Tudor City, come out and save our parks!" Sure enough, as the story goes, little old ladies rushed out and threw themselves in front of the bulldozers, stopping all activity. This gave the Tudor City Association time to organize legal measures which effectively stopped any further movement on Helmsley's part and saved the parks. Now, the parks have been renovated by Tudor City Greens, the non-profit tenants' group that owns and maintains the gardens that are open to the public. www.TudorCityGreens.org.

The Concerts at Tudor City Greens Series was organized by Raissa Katona Bennett in 2008 to present the art and vitality of cabaret to an untapped audience while also promoting the concerts to increase donations for the Tudor City Greens parks. A great by-product of the concerts is the added visibility of local business that choose to sponsor post-show gatherings. These partnerships will only strengthen the impact of the TCG concerts.

The concerts are being produced in association with the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) - an organization dedicated to the support and promotion of the art of live entertainment in NYC (www.MACNYC.com).

Sponsored in part by 925 Lounge. Special thanks to: Phil Bond and the Laurie Beechman Theatre for donating rehearsal space. Feinstein's at the Regency for donating printing services.

Photo Credit: Genevieve Rafter Keddy

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