AWoW Showcase at The Cell Theatre – Artists Without Walls

ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS' SHOWCASE at THE CELL: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16TH, 6:45.

The weather may be cold and dreary but inside The Cell Theatre, tomorrow night, Monday 2/16, 6:45, there’ll be great cheer and warmth, not to mention a wonderful array of talent as Artists Without Walls presents it’s February Showcase. Here’s the lineup:

Amy Virginia Buchanan is a musician, actor, writer, and producer, hailing from the midwest and living in Brooklyn. She recently released her first album, “I’ll Sing You Songs When You Aren’t Around,” and is presently writing an EP loosely titled “You/Me/Us.”

Violinist Annette Homann, who recently performed her CD release program in NYC, will be playing a piece by Russian composer Serge Prokofiev and a dazzling fiddling piece by Mark O’Connor, which she played at her CD show.

You may have seen Noel Lawlor perform a scene from “Shakespeare” a number of months ago. Good news: Noel will be returning to The Cell performing the Prologue from Henry V, in which Shakespeare asks his audience for their willing suspension of disbelief, to come along with him on an epic journey on land and sea, using only their imaginations as he depicts vast battle scenes during the 100 years war between England and France with just a few actors on a bare stage.

Actor/dancer/singer/writer Melissa Ritz will perform an excerpt from her award-winning one-woman show Journey of a Bombshell: The Ina Ray Hutton Story. Based on true events, 1930’s famed Big-Band leader Ina Ray Hutton found success and heartache on the stages of Broadway and beyond, with a secret she couldn’t afford to reveal at that time.

Award-winning actress and comedian Nancy Redman stars in THE DOCTOR IS NOT IN, her sci-fi comedy exploring the hypocrisy of Hippocrates, directed by Austin Pendleton at Abingdon Theatre Company Dorothy Strelsin Theatre 312 West 36th Street, 1st Floor NYC Sunday, March 15, 2015 at 7pm For her recent “The Doctor Is Not In,” performed twice in the United Solo Theatre Festival 2014 at Theatre Row, Redman has been honored with the Best Comedian Award.

And there’ll be a fair share of rock and pop including former world-touring back-up-singer and native New Yorker Sybil Scoby, who’ll pay tribute to Donna Summer, the woman who inspired her to sing, and Lily Sparks, a local rock band consisting of AWoW cofounder Niamh Hyland, Kg Noble and Margaret LaBombard. Here’s how one critic described Lily Sparks: “If Heart and Joan Jett had a baby and sent it to boarding school with Florence and the Machine you’d get a hard rocking band with killer vocals called Lily Sparks!”

The bar will be open at 6:45, so you can come and “chill out” or, as the case may be, “warm up” and chat with new and old friends before the event. We have an amazing line up from Shakespeare to “stand up,” from a disco icon to a “Bombshell,” from classical violin to Irish fiddling mixed with the virtuosic techniques in the style of Paganini and Tartini, and some “folk” and “rock.” This is going to be great. Hope to see you there

The Cell Theatre is located at 338 W23rd St.

UPCOMING ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS MEMBERS' EVENTS

The Cell Theatre invites you to a developmental reading of “Crackskull Row” by Honor Molloy with some of the best Irish actors this side of the Atlantic. It’s Dublin, 1999 and the Celtic Tiger’s roaring, but no one hears it on Crackskull Row – where Dolly and her darkclan are caught in ould sins and ancient lusts. Where ghosts return, nothing is forgotten – to hell with forgiveness.

Directed by Joe Hendel, this AEA-Approved Staged Reading features: Terry Donnelly, Jo Kinsella, John Charles McLaughlin and Aidan Redmond. Thursday – feb 5th – 4pm at The Cell Theatre, 338 W23rd St. NYC RSVP – thecelltheatre@gmail.com

Melissa Ritz’s award-winning one-woman show, Journey of a Bombshell: The Ina Ray Hutton Story, will run for one night only at the Triad Theater/Stage 72, on Sunday, Feb. 15th at 9pm. Located at 72nd & Broadway.

Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at The Cell Theatre, 338 W23rd St. Monday, February 16th, 6:45pm.

Erin Layton’s one-woman show “MAGDALEN will be presented by the Irish Studies Dept. of Hofstra University on Wednesday, February 25 at 7:30PM at The Spiegel Theatre on campus. Free Admission! Click here for directions to the Spiegel Theatre at Hofstra.

Amanda Thorpe will be back in New York with a rare performance of songs from her latest album, Bewitching Me: The Lyrics of Yip Harburg at Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3. March 2, 7:00pm Advanced tickets $8. Door $10.

“Leave it to a British artist to once again to remind us Yanks of a neglected American musical treasure through an album before and after its time: Amanda Thorpe’s Bewitching Me. … Ms. Thorpe’s artistry traverses folk, rock, jazz, cabaret, and every conceivable variation thereof.” — Huffington Post

Serena Jost returns to Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3, her favorite downtown venue, on March 12, 8:30pm. Come hear new songs, some favorites and hang out with Serena after the show. Special Guests.

Here’s what New York Music Daily said about Serena’s 2014 Rockwood Concert: “…a lush, sweeping, richly enveloping, tuneful show by the art-rock cellist/multi-instrumentalist singer (Serena) and her band.” Click here for tickets, which are $10.

Nancy Redman won Best Comedian Award United Solo 2014 for her one woman play “THE DOCTOR IS NOT IN” directed by Austin Pendleton. She will be performing “THE DOCTOR IS NOT IN” Sunday, March 15, 2015 at 7pm at Abingdon Theatre Company
Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, 312 W36th St. 6th Fl., NYC

Nancy recently performed “The Doctor Is Not In” at the United Solo Theatre Festival 2014 and received the award for “Best Comedian.”

Click here for tickets, which are $20.

Tara O’Grady is releasing her 4th album Irish Bayou, a tribute to New Orleans with original songs in a gumbo of genres, from zydeco and rockabilly, to folk, funk, swing, jazz and blues. Special guests joining her on stage will be AWOW member Sasha Papernik on piano and vocals, as well as Pete Kennedy of The Kennedy’s on guitar and ukulele, Justin Poindexter of The Amigos on lap steel and vocals, and Tara’s full swing band – bass, drums, trumpet, sax, clarinet, washboard and all!

Irish Bayou CD Launch Party
Thursday, March 26 @ 7pm, doors 6:15pm
Metropolitan Room
34 West 22nd
Click here for reservations

AWoW MEMBERS in the "NEWS"

Nice article about upcoming AWoW events in today’s Irish Echo. Come on out and see some great performers including Brona Crehan, Grainne Duddy, Annette Homann, Jim Hawkins and Terry McCarthy.

BRILLIANT LINEUP ON TAP for ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS' "SHOWCASE AT THE CELL" 8/26

Why attend an Artists Without Walls’ Showcase? Here’s what poet Connie Roberts said about a recent event. “It was a thrilling, life affirming night—life-affirming in the sense that an Artist Without Walls’ showcase highlights beautifully, often spectacularly, our shared humanity. In our fast-paced, rat-race lives, it is easy to feel disconnected from the world, from our fellow man/woman. But then you have a space like AWoW has created, where people bring their stories and share them—their hurts, betrayals and joys—in various mediums, with a bunch of other folks, who have their own stories. It’s as if by magic, the whole room experiences a sense of connectedness, real-time affirmation that we’re all part of a rich and complex tapestry.”

We have a great line up planned including Mark Donnelly who will perform the opening monologue from his new play No Dead End. Set in Los Angeles in the late 1980s, No Dead End explores the blurring of movie fantasies and reality through the friendship of a film librarian and an aging actor. Mark writes plays, poetry, short stories and nonfiction. Mark holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College and is an adjunct English professor at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights.

Honor Finnegan is a Kerrville New Folk Song Contest Winner, and an accomplished vocalist. She will be sharing a couple of her songs, and covering one by Christine Lavin. Aviv Roth will accompany her on guitar. She will be peddling CDs so bring your spare change.

Renata Hinrichs, a Cannes Film Festival and Obie award winning actress, will present a section of Random Acts, a solo piece she wrote about growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the late 60s. Her father, a young Lutheran minister, wants to change the world, and her mother just wants to be the perfect pastor’s wife. Renata is performing in the United Solo Festival on Theater Row, Sunday, Oct 12th at 2 pm.

Singer/songwriter Warren Malone loves to sing, write songs and play guitar. “I love traditional folk music as much as I love a great pop song. The first record I ever put on was a Hank Williams’ record when I was four years old. As a kid I loved Elvis.” Joining Warren on the piano for some old time rock ‘n’roll will be his son Gibson Malone. If you haven’t heard these two play together you’re in for a treat.

Nicholas Garr has appeared in film, TV and Broadway. “Lobsterman” is an excerpt from his solo play, Paper Tigers. Nick appeared at a Showcase earlier in the year and meshed his great physicality and comedic skills with piped in sounds as diverse as spraying mouthwash, bullets flying through the air and screams to create an intense piece of theater.

Martin Kleinman, a native New Yorker, who was born and raised in The Bronx, returned in 2010, after living in Manhattan, Jackson Heights and, for 25 years, in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Over the years, he has written a novel, screenplays and a recently published collection of New York-centric short fiction. Martin will read a short section from that collection, from the story called “Home Front.”

The Cell's Artistic Director, Kira Simring and Steven Simring — **The Cell’s Artistic Director, Kira Simring and Steven Simring**

Steve Simring is a forensic psychiatrist with more than a passing interest in theater. In his quest to understand his long deceased mother, he has attempted to channel her and explore her long and problematic marriage to his father. He’ll be doing just that on stage this Tuesday.

And maybe a short film and an additional song or two. So join us Tuesday, August 26, 7pm for a great night of entertainment and conviviality at The Cell Theatre, 338 W23rd St., NYC. See you there.

STELLAR LINEUP for AWoW'S SHOWCASE at THE CELL THEATRE, Tuesday 7/22 7pm

Why attend Tuesday’s Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at the Cell Theatre? Here’s what singer/songwriter Jenai Huff said about a recent Showcase: “What an extraordinary night. I feel blessed to have been a witness and a participant to the magic.” Jenai Huff

Here’s the cast of performers:

Russian born actress and model Alessia Sushko and screen and TV actor Sedly Bloomfeld will be performing the death scene from Othello. “I am thrilled to be performing at AWoW again,” Alessia said. “Being able to expand my craft and exercise my performance muscles with the beauty and the complexity of Shakespeare’s language is a gift.”

Jack Feldstein will be presenting his neon animation films, Manhatta (by Walt Whitman and The Atomic Adventures of Jack Kerouac. Originally from Sydney, Australia and now based in NYC, Jack Feldstein is an award-winning scriptwriter and neon animation filmmaker. His scripts “A House Like Any Other” and “Three Months with Pook” have won prizes in Australia and Britain. His neon animations have been screened and won awards worldwide from Lincoln Center in NYC to Rotterdam, The Netherlands. His philosophy is “search for an interesting life.”

Actress/playwright Maura Knowles will be presenting a scene from her new play Insult to Injury, which examines why we should never give up on angels or anyone with broken wings. The piece is inspired by actual events drawn from Maura’s life. Nathania Wibowo is her composer.

Vinnie Nauheimer, a long time advocate for children and a voice against abuse, will be reading two poems that deal with current events related to the abuse of children. The first poem concerns the three hundred abducted Nigerian girls and the second deals with the events recently disclosed about an unwed mother home in Tuam, Ireland. Though thousands of miles and years apart, the stories are very much connected through the apathy shown to the plight of these children.

Serena Jost is a Swiss-American singer/songwriter/cellist whose music invokes vivid emotional landscapes. Serena’s new album, A Bird Will Sing, was exquisitely produced by the legendary Anton Fier (Golden Palominos) and was named one of the Top 50 Albums of 2013 by New York Music Daily. Serena can be seen at some of NYC’s top venues including Brooklyn’s Barbès and Joe’s Pub, and tonight performs both songs from the album and new material.

Rounding out the lineup will be long time AWoW fav Honor Molloy, who will present a segment from Prisoner’s Cinema–the book for a new music-theatre work about three patients held in a long-term psychiatric facility who believe they are Christ and their psychiatrist; John Moran, whose scene from his play “A Cancelled Note,” a story of mystery and forgiving will be directed by Tess Howsam and stars Lorin Partalis and Larry Fleishman, and Steven Silver’s film “The Watchtower” a film about the Westies of Hell’s Kitchen. which stars Steve and AWoW member David Sharp.

Tuesday’s Showcase at The Cell Theatre, 338 W23rd St, NYC begins at 7pm. We hope to see you there. This is a free event.

CAT DWYER'S PHOTOS: ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS' SHOWCASE, 3/26/14

Cat Dwyer’s photos from the Artists Without Walls’s Showcase, 3/26/14. The names of the photographed appear above the photo.

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Billy Barrett

Jerry O’Sullivan

Jerry O’Sullivan and Connie Roberts

Tara O’Grady, Miguel Vias, Brendan Connellan and Alessia Sushko

Warren Malone

Maeve Higgins

Noah Hoffeld

Joe McElligott, Charles R. Hale and Niamh Hyland with students from Lehman College

Noah Hoffeld and Salina Sias

Kate McLeod

Bernadette Fee and Pat Coyne

Intermission

ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS at THE CELL 3/26: CHECK OUT THIS LINEUP!

Looking for a great NYC experience? Join Artists Without Walls for its monthly Showcase at The Cell, Wednesday, 3/26 at 7pm.

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Billy Barrett will begin the evening reading an excerpt called “Candygate” from his nearly completed memoir Highway Star. Billy likes to open shows with a flair or as he says, “I’m kind of thinking my image is moving towards a Morrison in the millenium vibe, Charles.” Expect a big musical intro.

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Connie Roberts, in collaboration with the uilleann piper/tin whistle player Jerry O’Sullivan and singer Niamh Hyland, will read a few of her poems on the tragic fate of two Irish emigrants—former inmates of Irish orphanages—in New York and London. Jerry O’Sullivan has been widely hailed as America’s premier uilleann piper. He is also widely recorded on the tin whistle, the low whistle, the Highland Pipes and the Scottish smallpipes. Niamh, an Artists Without Walls’ cofounder, will be performing the labor classic, “Joe Hill,” which Connie has reworked.

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Brendan Connellan and Alessia Sushko, who recently starred in Brendan’s DEATH, PLEASE! and Miguel Vias will be performing a staged reading of a short play written by Brendan called GASH. This will, no doubt, be a witty romp.

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Singer/Warren Malone will be making his first appearance at an AWoW Showcase on Wed. Here’s what one reviewer said about Warren: “He has created an absolutely amazing album. ‘And The Ants Ate The Bee’ never sounds the same twice/absolutelyspellbinding/each listen feels fresh and different/The album is like a audio kaleidoscope/And then there’s that voice…an entirely unique instrument that sounds like a slightly androgynous soul singer/this album deserves repeated spins.”

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We’re pleased to announce that Irish comedian Maeve Higgins will be joining us. Here are a few reviews of Maeve’s work. “Maeve Higgins is rarer than a blessing of unicorns … she is original and relatively calm, her observations are pithy, her wit delicate, her persona oddly alluring and deftly honest.” The Irish Times, 2010 “Throughout the whole hour, the room is filled with laughter at Maeve’s risqué and highly intelligent act.” The Irish Independent. Maeve will be telling a story about a school of malevolent dolphins she came across in Rotorua, New Zealand.

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Singer/songwriter Salina Sias, who performed at AWoW’s first Showcase last year, will be back previewing songs from her new album “New Day Coming,” which will have its official release day later in 2014. We’ve previewed a few of the songs and the listeners are in for a treat. Joining Salina will be cellist Noah Hoffeld.

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Kate McLeod will be reading a personal essay that taps into a few memories about her last summer at a camp she attended where, as she see it, she was a “misfit.” Kate wrote the piece because she believes that it is the smallest moments in life that carve the deepest gauges in our souls and create who we become. “It’s not the big events; it’s the passing comment, the little moments,” she said.

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Rounding out the evening’s lineup will be fiddler Bernadette Fee. Bernadette is a well-known New York fiddler, music teacher and Champion Irish Step Dancer. She is a veteran performer who is very active in the traditional music circles. She has performed at numerous festivals and enjoys bringing the love she has for the music to the stage. Bernadette will be joined by guitarist Pat Coyne.

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Charles R. Hale will emcee AWoW’s Showcase at The Cell Theater, which is located at 338 West 23rd Street in NYC. Hope to see you there.

ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS' FRIENDS and MEMBERS "ON THE TOWN"

Colin Broderick’s dark Irish comedy Father Who, opens on Wednesday, February 26 and runs through March 9 at Theatre 80 on St. Marks Place. Tickets can be purchased by calling OvationTix 866 811 4111.

Tara O’Grady and her Black Velvet Band will begin performing at LOCL Bar Thursday, February 27 in the new upper west side hotel NYLO at 2178 Broadway and 77th from 8:30-11:30pm.www.nylohotels.com

**Niamh Hyland, Sharp Radway, Koro Koroye**

Artists Without Walls Showcase will be at The Cell Theater, 338 West 23rd St., on Monday, March 3rd 7pm

Mary Lou Quinlan will be performing her solo work, The God Box, A Daughter’s Story, adapted from her New York bestselling book, at the Cherry Lane Theater on March 3rd at 7PM. Mary Lou will donate all ticket proceeds to Gilda’s Club NYC, the free cancer support center in the West Village. Come out to this story of mothers and daughters. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll want to call your mother. For tickets www.gildasclubnyc.org

GREAT LINE-UP for ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS SHOWCASE at THE CELL, JANUARY 28, 7PM

Artists Without Walls’ next Showcase at The Cell Theater will be on Tuesday, January 28th, 7pm. It’s sure to be a great evening of entertainment and conviviality, which will include presentations from actors Aedin Moloney, John Duddy, Nick Garr and Andy Baldeschwiler, musicians Yuri Juarez and Michael Brunnock, writer Mary Lannon, playwright Joe Davidson, and storyteller and seanchai Jim Hawkins.

And we’re very much looking forward to enjoying our evening’s guest host and emcee, voice-over artist and actor Caroline Winterson.

AMAZING PERFORMANCE: "AINT I A WOMAN" HONOR FINNEGAN at an AWoW SHOWCASE

Artists Without Walls’ member Honor Finnegan, a recent winner of the New Folk Song Songwriting Contest at the Kerrville Folk Festival, has been making a splash in the Northeastern regional folk scene with her original songs and ukulele playing. Combining elements of musical theatre, comedy, traditional folk, and poetry, Honor is “cooler than the other side of the pillow.”

Honor Finnegan was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago and learned to appreciate a variety of people and music living in a mostly African American neighborhood and sitting in the back seat of her single mother’s car listening to the radio for long periods of time. When Honor was eleven her dream of being an actress came true when she was cast in the first National Tour of “Annie”.

Honor is a regular attendee at the late, great Jack Hardy’s songwriter’s exchange, which has nurtured the talents of Suzanne Vega, and Shawn Colvin to name but a few. Honor recently performed this incredible version of Hardy’s “Aint I A Woman” at an AWoW Showcase at NYC’s Cell Theater.

For more information about Artist Without Walls contact info@artistswithout walls.com