For me when you mention “14 grand pianos” it immediately conjurs up pictures of a scene in “Anchors Away”, shot at the Hollywood Bowl. It’s the one where Jose Iturbi conducts dozens of pianists in an intensely spirited rendition (Is there any other kind?) of the Hungarian Rhapsody. Last night’s performance at the Nuamberg Bandshell had a much metropolitan air to it, aided no doubt by the program of Ellington tunes as well as the pictures of Bobby Short that decorated the bandstand.
It was the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts that hosted the unprecedented event featuring the Duke Ellington Big Band and the 14 grand pianos on the Great Mall. Mercedes Ellington, granddaughter of the Duke and the shows producer, performed brilliantly as the show’s MC. The event also paid personal tribute to Bobby Short, the famous pianist who, 14 years ago on the same date, unveiled the Duke Ellington Statue at Fifth Avenue and 110th Street.
Central Park presents an outdoor cinema series every summer. Most of these films usually feature a New York theme and they are a great way to enjoy a summer evening in the park. This year’s lineup features some interesting choices – this year’s theme is “Be Cool” featuring five films with actors or actresses who epitomize “cool.” Hmmm. I guess the definition of cool is relative. While the remake of Ocean’s 11 is certainly an entertaining film, I’m not sure exactly sure what it has to do with New York City. Same for Goldfinger, although there is no denying the Sean Connery cool factor – besides I’ll vote for it just to hear Shirley Bassey belt out the title song on a warm summer night.
2009 Central Park Film Festival Schedule
Tuesday, August 18: Shaft John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) is the ultimate in suave detectives. A cool private eye, Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter. (1971)
Wednesday, August 19: Ocean’s 11 Hollywood’s A list stars come together to pull off the most daring heist Las Vegas has ever known…11 men, 3 casinos, 150 million dollars, 1 chance to pull it off. (2001)
"Enchanted" in Central Park
Thursday, August 20: Sex & The City Get Carried away! A New York writer (Sarah Jessica Parker) on sex and love is finally getting married to her Mr. Big. But her three best girlfriends must console her when one of them inadvertently leads Mr. Big to jilt her. (2008)
Friday, August 21: Twilight When you can live forever what do you live for? A teenage girl risks everything when she falls in love with a vampire. (2008)
Saturday, August 22: Viewer’s Choice! – Visit www.7online.com to vote between July 15 and August 15, 2009.
Men in Black Will Smith & Tommy Lee Jones are protecting the earth from the scum of the universe. (1997)
Goldfinger Investigating a gold magnate’s gold smuggling, James Bond uncovers a plot to contaminate the Fort Knox gold reserve. (1965)
Desperately Seeking Susan A bored suburban housewife, seeking adventure to her life, accidentally gets hit on the head, wakes up with amnesia, and is mistaken for a free-spirited New York City drifter named Susan (Madonna). (1985)
All screenings are FREE and start at 8:00 pm. Gates open at 6:00 pm. To find Rumsey Playfield, enter the Park at Fifth Avenue and 69th Street. Rain or shine.
Rumsey Playfield
East 72nd Street off Fifth Avenue
On Wednesday, July 1 at 6:30 p.m., The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts will host a spectacular and unprecedented event in Central Park featuring their Duke Ellington Big Band and 14 grand pianos on the Mall.
The series of events marking the 110th Anniversary of Duke Ellington continues: On Wednesday, July 1 at 6:30 p.m., The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts will host a spectacular and unprecedented event in Central Park featuring their Duke Ellington Big Band and 14 grand pianos on the Great Mall. Mercedes Ellington, granddaughter of the Duke and the show’s producer, will pay personal tribute to Bobby Short, the famous pianist-who, 14 years ago on the same date, unveiled the Duke Ellington Statue at Fifth Avenue and 110th Street.
The event will be a Free public evening concert at the Central Park Bandshell featuring the 16-piece orchestra in the Bandshell, and 14 grand pianos, courtesy of Beethoven Pianos, arranged in front of the Bandshell on the Great Mall. According to Edward Kennedy (”Duke”) Ellington II, grandson of the famous composer, “Nothing like this has ever been done in Central Park before—it will be a phenomenal spectacle!”
The symbolism of 14 grand pianos at the event recognizes July 1 as the 14th anniversary since the unveiling of the Duke Ellington statue near the northeastern corner of Central Park. Bobby Short worked for almost 20 years at making that monument a reality. He personally raised some $1.5million for the project and did all the political and social maneuvering to have an amphitheater created and the statue erected in the middle of the important Fifth Avenue intersection at 110th Street. The Duke Ellington Memorial is the considered to be the greatest physical expression in the world of the love a single musician can have for his favorite composer. It was the first monument in New York City dedicated to a person of color and the first memorial to The Duke in the United States.
Commenting on Short’s achievement, Mike Abbott, retired vice-president of MCA/Universal, a seasoned music industry veteran and life-long Harlem resident, says: “If any New Yorker deserved to have a monument in the middle of a Fifth Avenue intersection, it was Duke Ellington; and if any New Yorker could pull it off, it was Bobby Short. And he did.”
Duke Ellington was the world’s most prolific composer during the twentieth century. This is true both in terms of the number of compositions and the variety of forms. That remarkable achievement is further underscored by more than fifty years of sustained performance as an artist and entertainer. He is considered by many, worldwide, to be America’s greatest composer, bandleader and recording artist. The Central Park concert on July 1 will feature 18 of the more than 3,000 Ellington compositions—the ones regularly played by Bobby Short.
The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit organization formed by Mercedes Ellington—the eldest of only four surviving descendants of Duke Ellington. The Center is coordinating the 110th Anniversary of Duke Ellington under the theme “110 Years Duke!” and is collaborating with the People of Grenada on this particular event.
“If music be the food of love, play on” commands the lovelorn Count Orsino as “Twelfth Night” opens – and it is indeed music that sustained a wonderfully joyous performance throughout a rare, clear night at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park this week.And the music provided by Brooklyn based indie-folk band Hem is only one of the many delights of this delightful production of perhaps the most beloved of Shakespeare’s comedies.
Although, given the recent weather the performance was miraculous just for the fact that it was completed.I originally was slated to attend Sunday’s performance.It was actually a lovely evening until about 7:45 when the heavens, as they say, opened and the rain came pouring down.The resultant one hour wait until the performance was called wasn’t much fun, but I quickly found out that it was much less fun for the profoundly disgruntled theater fans that had spent the entire day waiting for tickets.
Anyway – Daniel Sullivan, the Tony-winning director of Proof, has directed an ensemble of stage, screen and musical theatre veterans in Shakespeare’s comedy of mistaken identity and mismatched lovers that opened Wednesday evening and runs through July 12th.Starring Anne Hathaway, Audra McDonald, Julie White and Raul Esparza the production follows the example of many Delacorte performances past which combine big name stars from various venues and Broadway veterans, with decidedly uneven results.This effort is very happily the exception as the cast fits seamlessly together and manages to create what I think is one of the most remarkably complete productions to take place in the park that I’ve ever seen.
From her first moment on the perfectly designed stage it is obvious that Ms. Hathaway is the equal to anyone else on stage and having a great time proving it.Playing her gender bending role with the perfect combination of winsome femininity and boyish gallantry the actress is the perfect foil for the increasingly giddy attentions of Lady Olivia, played to lusty perfection by Audra McDonald.Raúl Esparza plays Count Orsino with wit and grace and, along with the ladies, gets to show off his impressive vocal abilities on several occasions throughout the evening.
The evening also features comic turns from Tony-winning actress Julie White as Maria, two-time Tony nominee David Pittu as the fool Feste, Hamish Linklater as Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Jay O. Sanders as Sir Toby Belch, Michael Cumpsty as Malvolio, as well as Herb Foster as Valentine, Kevin Kelly as Sea Captain, as Curio and Jon Patrick Walker as Fabian.
Shakespeare in the Park most recently stagedTwelfth Nightin 2002, starring Jimmy Smits, Julia Stiles, Kathryn Meisle and Zach Braff. Additional stagings have featured Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer (1989); Kim Greist, F. Murray Abraham and Peter MacNicol (1986); and Barbara Barrie and Ralph Waite (1969).
Performances of Shakespeare in the Park are Tuesday-Sunday at 8 PM. Tickets are free and are available on the day of the performance (two per person) at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park beginning at 1 PM, or by entering the Public’s online ticketing lottery atPublicTheater.
The closest entrances to the Delacorte are located at 81st Street and Central Park West or 70th Street and Fifth Avenue.
The 24th season of SummerStage got off to a rousing start Friday night with the performance of Josh Ritter and the New York Pops. It was a perfect June evening in Central Park and it was apparent from the moment he bounded on stage that Josh was thrilled to be there.
Josh Ritter at SummerStage
His boyish enthusiasm infused the evening with an ebbullient energy as he played old favorites (”Kathleen”, “Other Side”) as well as selections from his newest album – “Historical Conquests”. He was brilliantly backed by the New York Pops Orchestra, which added just the right amount of musical stylings to take the evening to another level.
Mr. Ritter was also joined on stage twice – once by Grammy winning violinist Hillary Hahn and once more by Glen Hansard of ”The Frames”. It was an amazing evening of music, with the SummerStage venue managed to perfection by the New York Parks Foundation. It is difficult enough to find a worthwhile free performance in New York City, it is truly stunning to find one where they actually seem happy to see you.
Shakespeare In The Park kicks of this week at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The first offering will be “Twelfth Night”, one of the Bard’s most beloved comedies.
This year’s production will feature Charles Borland, Andrew Crowe, Michael Cumpsty, Steve Curtis, Clifton Duncan, Raúl Esparza, Herb Foster, Leslie Harrison, Anne Hathaway, Slate Holmgren, Kevin Kelly, David Kenner, Christopher Layer, Robin LeMon, Hamish Linklater, Dorien Makhloghi, Audra McDonald, David Pittu, Ray Rizzo, Jay O. Sanders, Julie Sharbutt, Stark Sands, Baylen Thomas, Zach Villa, Jon Patrick Walker, Julie White
Performances will run Tues. – Sunday from JUNE 10th – JULY 12th at 8:00 pm
Added perf: July 6
No perf: July 4
Limited ticket distribution: June 16, July 9
No distribution/Stand-by line only: June 25
Academy Award Nominee Anne Hathaway makes her Public Theater debut playing Viola, one of the canon’s most charming heroines. This beguiling comedy follows the romantic adventures of Viola and her identical twin Sebastian, both shipwrecked in the enchanted dukedom of Illyria. At the helm of this time-honored story of cross-dressing and mistaken identity, all in the name of love, is Tony Award winning Director Daniel Sullivan.
While the majority of free tickets for Shakespeare in the Park are distributed via the free line at the Delacorte Theater, a limited number of tickets will be available the day of each performance online. Specific locations for senior and handicapped accessible seats are not available through the virtual ticket line.
The schedule for this year’s concerts in Central Park has been announced – there will be two concerts in July on the 14th and 17th. Both will be followed by the annual fireworks display above the Great Lawn.
The 14th will feature Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, Jupiter - Mozart finished his Symphony No. 40 in late July, 1788; a mere 16 days later, he had completed the present Symphony No. 41—an amazing achievement by any measure. The second piece featured will be Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 - Beethoven’s most instantly appealing symphony was first performed in Vienna in 1813, at a benefit concert for Austrian soldiers who had been wounded in the Napoleonic wars. The driving energy and sheer exuberance of Beethoven’s Seventh sweeps everyone along before it—from the suspenseful opening to the whirlwind ending, where every part of you will feel like dancing.
July 17th will feature selections by Copland as well as selected arias from Mozart with baritone Nathan Gunn. The concert will finish with Symphony 1 by Mahler.
Both performances will be conducted by Alan Gilbert, Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, beginning in the 2009-10 season, the only native New Yorker to hold the post.
Performances begin at 8 p.m., so if you want seating close to the bandshell, plan to arrive at least 2 hours early — if you’re less particular, and depending on the size of your group, you can arrive up until the show begins.
Things to Bring:
* Food and drink (alcoholic beverages are not permitted in Central Park)
* Candles (it gets dark as the night goes on and it can be difficult to see your companions)
* Jacket or Sweater (after the sun sets, the temperature can drop and you’ll be happy to have it)
* Insect repellent to keep the bugs at bay away (citronella candles can also do double duty)
* Blankets to sit on (a plastic garbage bag makes a great liner between your blanket/beach towel
The Philharmonic Concerts end with a brilliant fireworks display and this year’s promises to be one of the most spectacular ever.
The 24th Anniversary edition of the annual SummerStage Festival in Central Park promises to be one of the best ever. Here’s a few things to remember that will help you enjoy your time at the concerts.
1) Video cameras are not allowed, so please leave them at home
2) Glass bottles and alcohol are a no-no too
3) Leave your folding chairs at home (we do have bleacher seating and a blanket’s nice too)
4) Shows are rain or shine (you may want to have a poncho handy in case of passing summer showers)
5) Gates open one hour prior to show time and many of our shows fill to capacity so it’s a good idea to come early, especially for our highly visible, popular shows
6) Pack a lunch or purchase food, drinks, beer or wine from our concession stands
7) Central Park SummerStage is located at Rumsey Playfield and is easily accessed by entering the park at 69th Street and 5th Avenue or 72nd Street and Central Park West
8 ) There is priority seating for our wheelchair and disabled patrons
9) There’s a hotline for up to date info on performances: 212-360-2777
TV on the Radio
Dirty Projectors
Friday, June 05, 2009
From 5:30 PM to 10:00 PM
A benefit concert to support the full season of free programs at Central Park SummerStage.
Indigo Girls
Matt Nathanson
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
From 4:30 PM to 10:00 PM
A benefit concert to support the full season of free programs at Central Park SummerStage.
Laura Lynn MacDonald’s new adaptation of Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt” is planned for Aug. 6-30 in Central Park, at Summit Rock near 83rd Street and Central Park West. The production will be staged by the Gorilla Repertory Theater.
Summit Rock is the highest elevation in the park, although it spends most of the year hidden from view by the surrounding stand of oak trees. Because of this it is generally unknown to the vast majority of park goers strolling around the Great Lawn a few hundred yards east. The place itself has an interesting history that extends back to before Central Park was built. It is known to have had a spiritual significance to the Manhatta Indians that lived nearby and was also an important gathering place for the inhabitants of Seneca Village, an established village a few hundred feet to the east and north. This was a community that was displaced by the construction of the park in the 1850’s. This should prove to be an interesting place to stage Ibsen’s drama, which features many fantastic scenes derived from traditional Scandinavian fairytales.
This should also prove to be a very entertaining alternative for those who can’t spend the afternoon queuing up for Shakespeare in the Park. I personally can’t wait to see the Central Park version of the Troll King.
The Times of London has reported that Woodstock’s original organizer, Michael Lang, is trying to put together an anniversary concert on Aug. 15 marking the 40th anniversary of the legendary Woodstock music festival. Central Park is one of many outdoor spaces around New York City are under consideration. (Although reports that the Diary has been proposed as the bummer tent have not been confirmed.) Talks have opened with The Who, Santana, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Dave Matthews Band and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to perform.
Even if no reunion concert materializes, the anniversary will be marked in other ways. Director Ang Lee plans to release a new film called “Taking Woodstock,” about the person who helped facilitate the use of Max Yasgur’s farm after the original site of the event was blocked. A four-hour director’s cut of the concert film “Woodstock” will be released, along with a six-CD box set of Woodstock performances.
While we agree that the idea of a Woodstock type of weekend get together might be a bit out of the question for Central Park, it might be a fun idea to commemorate the anniverary in the park with a much smaller version of the event. It could even feature an audience participation segment where we all help Pete Townsend try to smash his guitar to pieces.
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