“Blue Monday” Press Release
Download the Blue Monday Press Release.
OSO Blue Monday Press Release
On Site Opera & Harlem Opera Theater present Gershwin’s Blue Monday at Harlem’s historic Cotton Club Tuesday, June 18 & Wednesday, June 19, 2013, 7pm | Cocktails & Dancing, 8pm | wThe Cotton Club | 656 W 125th St | New York, NY Tickets: $20 (cocktails not included) at
http://onsitebluemonday.eventbrite.com
for more information: www.osopera.org
Conducted by Gregory Hopkins
Directed by Eric Einhorn
Choreographed by George Faison
Featuring: Alyson Cambridge, Chase Taylor, Lawrence Craig, Clayton Mathews and Alvin Crawford with the Harlem Chamber Players and the Cotton Club All Stars
NEW YORK, NY— On Site Opera and Harlem Opera Theater invite you to take a trip back to the roaring ‘20s as they present Gershwin’s Blue Monday at the historic Cotton Club (656 W 125th St.) Performances are Tuesday, June 18 and Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at 7pm with an hour of cocktails and dancing before the curtain at 8pm. The production marks a dynamic collaboration between On Site Opera and Harlem Opera Theater. The artistic directors of both companies (Eric Einhorn, On Site Opera and Gregory Hopkins, Harlem Opera Theater) will be at the helm of Blue Monday, bringing their unique visions to this unforgettable event. Joining Einhorn and Hopkins on the production team are Tony Award-winning choreographer George Faison, costume designer Candida K. Nichols, members of the Harlem Chamber Players and the Cotton Club All Stars.
Thirteen years before George Gershwin wrote his landmark opera, Porgy and Bess, he wrote a one-act opera that fused Italian opera with a truly American style. The result was Blue Monday. This 30-minute jazz opera gem is set in a 1920’s Harlem jazz club where a lover’s spat turns murderous to the music of Gershwin that audiences adore.
With Blue Monday at The Cotton Club, On Site Opera continues its mission of presenting site-specific opera outside the walls of a traditional opera house. When audiences step into The Cotton Club, they will be transported back in time to the musical height of the Harlem Renaissance. The Cotton Club All Stars (lead by Alvin Pazant) will play popular jazz and swing standards, and audience members can join the cast on the dance floor to celebrate Harlem’s heyday. String players from the Harlem Chamber Players will then join the band to perform Gershwin’s lush score. The talented African-American cast stars soprano Alyson Cambridge as Vi, an object of many men’s affections. Cambridge recently debuted the role of Julie in Show Boat at Chicago Lyric Opera, where critics noted that her “sensual, smoky readings were revelatory” (Opera News). Young American tenor Chase Taylor, a recent Metropolitan Opera National Council regional finalist, plays Joe, Vi’s gambling boyfriend. Baritone Lawrence Craig, reprises the role of Tom, the club headliner, which he recorded in 1998 with Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops. Versatile bass Alvin Crawford (last seen on Broadway in The Lion King) and bass-baritone Clayton Mathews round out the cast as club employees Sam and Mike, respectively.
