PAVED PARADISE REDUX: THE ART OF JONI MITCHELL Runs 6/18-27 At Abroms Arts

The World Premiere of PAVED PARADISE REDUX: THE ART OF Joni Mitchell by two-time Obie Award winner John Kelly plays June 18 -27 at Abrons Arts Center inside Henry Street Settlement (466 Grand Street at Pitt --accessible from the F train to East Broadway or Delancey, D/B trains to Grand Street and J/M trains to Essex Street).

In PAVED PARADISE REDUX: THE ART OF Joni Mitchell, John Kelly's performance is a musical and visual homage to the great Canadian singer/songwriter. His countertenor uncannily evokes Mitchell's own smoky soprano as he sings songs from the various stages of her career in their original key. He also plays dulcimer and replicates Mitchell's guitar style by way of her signature open tunings. Kelly is accompanied on keyboard by musical director Zecca Esquibel, as well as additional musicians. The evening also features an original video component featuring Kevin Joseph (Broadway's Threepenny Opera, a.k.a. Flotilla DeBarge) as journalist Tavis Smiley in a recreation of his PBS interview with Mitchell.

John Kelly is an author, choreographer, director, performance and visual artist. He has received numerous awards including two Bessies, two Obies, the American Choreographer Award, a CalArts Alpert Award, and fellowships from The Guggenheim Foundation and The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Last year he was a Rome Prize Fellow in Visual Art at The American Academy in Rome. In a career that spans over two decades Kelly's works have been staged at venues including BAM, Lincoln Center, PS 1, The Warhol Museum, London's Tate Modern, PS 122, The Kitchen, Dance Theater Workshop and Carnegie Hall. In 2004, he appeared as the opening act for Natalie Merchant's Ophelia touR. Kelly was also an original cast member of James Joyce's The Dead on Broadway and won an Eliot Norton Award for Best Actor in the American Repertory Theater production of Dido, Queen of Carthage. In 2010, he will be an artist-in-residence at The Park Avenue Armory and at The Civitella Ranieri Foundation. He recently staged a workshop of The Escape Artist as part of Music Theatre Group's Here/See Series, which includes original songs written in collaboration with singer/songwriter Carol Lipnik. He is also developing a project with writer/director Moises Kaufman. For more information visit www.johnkellyperformance.org.

An exhibition of Kelly's self-portraits will be on display at Alexander Gray Associates in Chelsea through June 26. Kelly will also sing The Joni Mitchell Songbook in "Songs for a Shiny Hot Night" at Castle Clinton in Battery Park on August 6th as part of the annual River to River Festival.

 

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