Charles Turner Will Perform a Concert at Bridge Street Theatre This Month

Wrapping up a recent Artists' Residency at the Catwalk Institute with pianist/composer Sean Mason and playwright Marcus Scott, Brooklyn-based vocalist and composer Charles Turner will present a one-night only "tasting" from the project they've all been creating together. This will be the very first airing of selections/songs from "Melanin or The In-Crowd", an exciting new musical theatre piece in its nascent stages, to be performed live at Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre on Saturday evening July 31 at 8:00pm.

Over the course of a weekend, a cadre of young, upscale, globetrotting professionals gather for one last hurrah in and around NYC's lounge scene. Celebrating the newfound success of one of their own who has received a lucrative job offer overseas, the coterie spends an unforgettable weekend, touring various nightclubs in an endless cavalcade of booze, hookups and cheap thrills.

Inspired by the classic golden age MGM Hollywood musicals, but filtered through a modern lens, this splashy new musical encompasses a variety of musical styles such as blues, jazz, swing, big band, jazz fusion, progressive soul, psychedelic soul, cinematic soul, Sophisti-pop, quiet storm, urban, doo-wop, hip-hop soul, neo-soul, alternative R&B, funk, dancehall, reggae, highlife and afro pop. "Melanin or The In-Crowd" is a postmodern coming of age rom-com that explores themes including millennials and the youth of America, materialism, consumerism, capitalism and commodification, classism, colorism, selfishness, respectability politics, depersonalization and dating in the digital age, sexism, sexual freedom, and modern love, all through the prism of black bourgeois culture.

The multi-faceted Turner has performed at such venues as Dizzy's Club Coca Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, Smoke Jazz club and the historic Minton's Playhouse in Harlem. International performances include PizzaExpress in London, Sunset/Sunside in Paris, Sala Clamores in Madrid, and other venues abroad from Seoul, South Korea to Wellington, New Zealand. This new collaboration with pianist/composer Sean Mason and playwright Marcus Scott extends Turner's range even further and promises to be an event to remember.

Tickets to "Melanin or The In-Crowd", performed live on Bridge Street Theatre's "Priscilla" Mainstage, are only $12 (+ handling fee) in advance and $15 at the door, and are available at https://charles-turner.brownpapertickets.com. Seating is extremely limited and advance reservations are highly recommended. The theatre has recently installed an air purification system in its auditorium, but, due to the recent upsurge in infection rates due to the Delta Variant, and for the safety of all artists and audience members, patrons will be required to remain masked for the duration of their time inside the theatre building. For more information on safety precautions and requirements, visit https://bridgest.org/covid-safety-rules-at-bst.

And for more on the upcoming concert of songs/selections from "Melanin", visit https://bridgest.org/charles-turner. Don't miss this opportunity to be among the very first to experience this boundary-breaking new work of musical theatre!

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