Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center to Present COCKTAIL HOUR: THE SHOW by Ballets with a Twist

Celebrate the holidays with a Twist! Cocktail Hour: The Show by New York City-based dance company, Ballets with a Twist, melds original choreography, music, and costume design in a series of sparkling vignettes. Watch as White Russian, Hot Toddy, and other spirits of the season spring off the menu and onto the stage in an evening of high-style merriment. You've never seen cocktails like these! Throughout the evening, beer, wine, and a special selection of cocktails and mocktails from the program will be available. What could be better than sipping on a cocktail while watching the performance!

Ballets with a Twist will be part of the inaugural Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center Holiday Extravaganza — a month-long celebration of the performing arts in West Chester, PA and will be appearing on the A. Roy Smith Mainstage, a fully accessible, comfortable, and intimate theater where every seat is excellent. Ticket prices are $35, $40 and $45. For tickets, visit https://secure.uptownwestchester.org/3620/3621, email info@uptownwestchester.org, call 610-356-2787, or stop by the box office at 226 N. High Street.

 

The Show

Created by artistic director and choreographer Marilyn Klaus, Cocktail Hour: The Show combines the glamour of Hollywood's Golden Age with a sleek, twenty-first-century sensibility. Elegance, electricity, and all-American energy combine in a menu of delightful, dancing drinks. You've never seen cocktails like these!

 

Program highlights include

• “Hot Toddy” — Are these cats on the level or on the lam? Mayhem reigns supreme in this red-hot rollick through the Roaring Twenties.

• “Manhattan” — After a big-city evening, a socialite steps out with her dearest companion. As they  stroll past each lamppost on Park Avenue, a jazz trumpet echoes the mood of the changing skyline. 

• “White Russian” — This festive trilogy tells the tale of a wintry royal wedding to the tones of a cinematic piano concerto.

 

The Company

Marilyn Klaus, whose choreography has been seen internationally, formed Ballets with a Twist in association with Grammy-nominated composer Stephen Gaboury and costume designer Catherine Zehr. Her company — lauded by The Huffington Post for “blasting the boundaries between high art and entertainment” — has appeared in a wide range of venues throughout the country, from Cleveland's Playhouse Square and New York City's Beacon Theatre to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Tribeca Film Festival.

 

Stephen Gaboury's compositions have been performed by celebrated musicians nationwide. As a pianist, he has collaborated and toured the world with pop/rock icon Cyndi Lauper for more than a decade, most recently joining her alongside the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra at its historic home venue. He has also accompanied such artists as Patti LaBelle, Norah Jones, and Sarah McLachlan, and has performed at internationally televised events such as the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony and the New Year's Eve Times Square Ball Drop. Gaboury's music has been heard in concert, on television, and in films (including Boyhood and American Beauty).

Catherine Zehr is the artistic force behind the company's costume design. Her creations evoke the origins and essence of each dance with dazzling colors and ornamentation. Zehr honed her skills while working at major American fashion houses, then by designing and manufacturing attire for her own label. She studied art and design at Washington University and New York City's Fashion Institute of Technology, where she and the company delivered the presentation “Designing Costumes for Ballets with a Twist” as part of The Museum at FIT's Fashion Culture series.

Craving more Twist culture? Visit balletswithatwist.com.

 

The Venue

Established in 2017, Uptown Knauer Performing Arts Center is a unique Chester County, PA destination for world-class performing arts in historic downtown West Chester. Built in 1916, and proudly holding five preservation and community impact awards, this former armory is now home to professional theatre, music, dance, comedy and film in a modernized, accessible, and acoustically ideal space. Performances are held in an intimate 327-seat Mainstage theatre and 85-seat Cabaret, with additional classrooms and performing space for theatre students. 

Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center is committed to enriching their communities through the transcendent power of the performing arts. For more information visit https://uptownwestchester.org/.

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