#Steven McCorry

[m3t4ln3rd]

Lakeshore debut "Erased" music video

Lakeshore have released a music video for their new track “Erased”. The single is the group’s first music featuring new vocalist Steven McCorry, who has replaced Shawn Adams. “Erased” is also the first helping off their upcoming EP, Secret Weapons. Additional details surrounding the EP are still pending, but you can purchase “Erased” now via your preferred digital vendor here.

[larryland]

by Macey Levin

There was woman, born to a Jewish father and Catholic mother in Warsaw, Poland, in 1898.  In Petrograd Russia, she married a wealthy Polish lawyer who was arrested in the midst of the Russian Revolution in 1917.  After he was freed they journeyed with their infant daughter to Paris where she became a celebrated artist who led a hedonistic life style typical of the French artistic community in the 1920’s.  Her controversial yet popular work was identified only by her last name.  She is the central character in the world premiere musical Lempicka at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

This production has the same driving music and narrative as the larger-than-life style of Evita, Les Miserables and others of the 1970’s and 80’s.   Lempicka’s life story is as dramatic as Eva Peron’s and as dark as Jean Valjean’s and, perhaps, more touching.

After Tamara de Lempicka (Eden Espinosa) extricates her husband, Tadeusz Lempicki (Andrew Samonsky,) from prison, their life in Paris is hard.  Since he does not want a menial job, which he believes is below him, she works as a waitress.  She finds herself becoming fascinated by painting and takes lessons until she develops a form that complements her personality. Her interpretation of art deco utilizes bold, clashing colors in dynamic, highly stylized portraits and nudes. She paints a series using her daughter Kizette (Alexandra Templer) for her model.  As her fame increases and she becomes more involved in the unconventional side of the art world, she has numerous affairs with both men and women, some of whom are subjects of her work.  In particular, Lempicka has a lengthy affair with a street prostitute, Rafaela, played by Carmen Cusack.  Divorced by Tadeusz, she marries, her lover, Baron Kuffner (Nathaniel Stampley.) In 1939, with the growing power of the Nazis they emigrate to America.  Her life covers the 20th century and historical moments become an integral part of the plot.  The show is not totally factual, while it follows the outline of her life.

Ms. Espinosa is the core of the production and she makes it pulsate.  Her energy drives the show and her voice is strong.  In addition to her vocal responsibilities, her acting is nuanced and intelligent.  Her growth from a young bride to a tough, self-protective woman who revels in international fame is convincing.  Cusack’s Rafaela is hard, fearing to let her guard down as she falls in love with Lempicka.  Hers is also a layered performance and her voice is a match for Espinosa‘s, especially in a touching duet –  “Stillness.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The rest of the cast fulfill their roles with well-rounded characterizations, though the book by Carson Kreitzer doesn’t fill in their backgrounds as specifically as she does with Espinosa and Cusack.  Worth noting are Samonsky as Lempicka. Nathaniel Stampley (The Baron) Rachel Tucker (The Baroness) who sings a heartfelt “The End of Time,” Natalie Joy Johnson who has a rousing number as lesbian bistro owner Suzy Solidor, and Steven Rattazzi as a self-proclaimed art expert who reviles classic art.

Director Rachel Chavkin’s (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812) staging and the choreography by Raja Feather Kelly are virtually inseparable with one form flowing into the other.  There is a great deal of movement lending energy to the various scenes.  The cast sets props, furniture, and rovers (spotlights on rollers) within dance numbers and dialogue scenes.  The choreography is very stylized, certainly not what is seen in a conventional musical.  Matt Gould’s music is redolent of the blockbuster musicals of the 70’s and 80’s and there is a lot of it.  Kreitzer’s book is over-stuffed and her lyrics are occasionally repetitive.

In designing the set Riccardo Hernandez opens up the entire stage, including the wings, to create a larger world for Lempicka’s journey.  The set is minimalist with no permanent structures; everything is moved on–and offstage by cast members.  The immense number of Monica Levi Blanco’s costumes are evocative of the various eras depicted… many, especially the women’s clothes, are colorful.

Bradley King’s lighting highlights the dramatic qualities of the myriad scenes.  The strip lights in back of the upstage cyclorama change the emotional tones in a flash.  The rovers, which are moved freely around the stage, focus attention on the actors.

This is probably a show that people will love or spend their time nit-picking and there is a lot to pick at considering it runs for three hours.  It needs a lot of cutting cutting cutting.  Despite this, Lempicka is an exciting theatrical experience.

Lempicka; Book and Lyrics by Carson Kreitzer; Music by Matt Gould; Directed by Rachel Chavkin; Choreographer: Raja Feather Kelly; Music director: Charity Wicks; Music Supervisor and Vocal Arranger: Remy Kurs; Cast:  Eden Espinosa (Tamara de Lempicka) Andrew Samonsky (Tadeusz Lempicki) Carmen Cusack (Rafaela) Nathaniel Stampley (The Baron) Rachel Tucker (The Baroness) Steven Rattazzi )Marinetti) Natalie Joy Johnson (Suzy Solidor) Alexandra Templer (Kizette) Ensemble: Justin Gregory Lopez, Azudi Onyejekwe, Michael McCorry Rose, Tim Creavin, Grace Porter, Sav Souza, Kay Trinidad; Scenic Design: Riccardo Hernandez; Costume Design: Montana Levi Blanco; Lighting Design: Bradley King; Sound Design: Nevin Steinberg; Hair and Wig Design: Leah Loukas; Production Stage manager: Cody Renard Richard; Running time: 3 hours, one intermission;Williamstown Theatre Festival Main Stage; Opening: 8/20/2018; Closing: 8/1/2018

REVIEW: “Lempicka” at the Williamstown Theatre Festival by Macey Levin There was woman, born to a Jewish father and Catholic mother in Warsaw, Poland, in 1898. 

[blackpaperco-blog]

RELEASE 003 – “SHIVA ABSOLUTE” • STEVEN McCORRY

RECLASSIFIED – 1/31/17

[rathermakemistakesproject-blog]

Merch: http://riserecords.merchnow.com/catalogs/Exotype iTunes: http://smarturl.it/exotype

Check out Exotype, they´re sick!

[larryland]

Williamstown, MA (July 23, 2018) – Williamstown Theatre Festival (Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director) announces the second Main Stage production of the 2018 season, the world premiere musical Lempicka, which opened Saturday, July 21st and runs through Wednesday, August 1st.

Featuring Tony nominee Carmen Cusack and Eden Espinosa, this world premiere musical is directed by Tony nominee Rachel Chavkin, with book and lyrics by Carson Kreitzer and music by Matt Gould. Fleeing the Russian revolution and leaving behind a world of opulence and wealth, aristocrat Tamara de Lempicka (Espinosa) and her beloved husband Tadeusz (Andrew Samonsky) are forced to make a new life.  In the rising tide of fascism, Tamara takes to painting to survive, and when she meets the free-spirited Rafaela (Cusack), a prostitute on the fringes of Parisian society, she’s torn between the life she cherishes with her husband and the passion, ambition, and possibility awoken in her by her new muse.  Inspired by the life of the artist who transformed herself from penniless refugee to star of the art world when the world itself teetered on chaos, Lempicka looks at the beauty and danger of one painter pursuing it all.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The cast also includes Tim Creavin, Natalie Joy Johnson, Justin Gregory Lopez, Azudi Onyejekwe, Grace Porter, Steven Rattazzi, Michael McCorry Rose, Sav Souza, Nathaniel Stampley, Alexandra Templer, Kay Trinidad and Rachel Tucker. Lempicka is choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly.  The design team includes Riccardo Hernandez (Scenic Design), Montana Levi Blanco (Costume Design), Bradley King (Lighting Design), and Nevin Steinberg (Sound Design).  The music team includes Remy Kurs (Music Supervisor), Charity Wicks (Music Director), and Cian McCarthy (Orchestrations).

Post-show Talkbacks are scheduled for Tuesday, July 24 and Tuesday, July 31.

Lempicka was developed by Williamstown Theatre Festival, under the artistic direction of Mandy Greenfield, and is a recipient of a 2018 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.  The production is sponsored by James & Virginia Giddens, Andrew Martin-Weber, and one anonymous donor. Williamstown Theatre Festival’s 2018 Season Partners include Herbert A. Allen, James & Virginia Giddens, Jessica & Matt Harris, Andrew Martin-Weber, and two anonymous donors. The 2018 Festival season is supported by grants from The Shubert Foundation, the Tiger Baron Foundation, the Edgerton Foundation, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Lempicka is presented by special arrangement with Seaview Productions, Marathon Live Entertainment, and Jenny Niederhoffer Productions.

TICKETS AND SCHEDULE                                                                                

Tickets may be purchased online, by phone, or in person at the Box Office located at the ‘62 Center for Theatre and Dance at 1000 Main St (Route 2), Williamstown, MA 01267, 413.458.3253, wtfestival.org.

WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL                                                                    

For over six decades, Williamstown Theatre Festival, recipient of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre and the Commonwealth Award for Achievement, has brought emerging and professional theatre artists together to create a thrilling summer festival of premiere work alongside fresh, new productions of the western canon, and offers a rich array of accompanying cultural events including COMMUNITY WORKS, Late-Night Cabarets, along with readings and workshops of new plays. Under Artistic Director Mandy Greenfield, the Festival launched a New Play and Musical Commissioning Program through which theatre artists including Jocelyn Bioh, Nathan Alan Davis, Halley Feiffer, Justin Levine, Matthew Lopez, Marsha Norman, Jiehae Park, Zoe Sarnak and Benjamin Scheuer, and many others, are creating new work year-round. The Festival runs unmatched training programs for new generations of theatre talent, and artists and productions shaped at the Festival fill theatres in New York, London, and around the country each season. Williamstown Theatre Festival’s productions of The Bridges of Madison County, The Elephant Man, Fool for Love, Living on Love, and The Visit enjoyed critically acclaimed runs on Broadway, with The Elephant Man and The Visit receiving Tony Award nominations for Best Revival of a Play and Best Revival of a Musical, respectively. In addition, the Festival’s world premiere productions of Cost of Living (winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama) and Actually played acclaimed Off-Broadway runs at Manhattan Theatre Club, and Paradise Blue had an extended run at Signature Theatre in New York.

New Musical “Lempicka” Opens at Williamstown Theatre Festival Williamstown, MA (July 23, 2018) – Williamstown Theatre Festival (Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director) announces the second Main Stage production of the 2018 season, the world premiere musical