Broadway Presents: Stars in the Alley

Photo By: Shanice Lewis

Music could be heard down the street as Broadway fans cheered and sang as they gathered in the Shubert Alley early Tuesday, May 21st for the annual "Stars in the Alley"event. Fans watched performers from over 20 Broadway shows put on a free concert with the help of a 12-piece orchestra.

Crowds filled Shubert Alley for the annual "Stars in the Alley" event. Photo By: Shanice Lewis

    The concert sponsored by United Airlines and hosted by Norm Lewis, Broadway's New Phantom from The Phantom of the Opera was in light of the upcoming Tony Awards on June 8. The concert featured performances from some of Broadway's most notorious musicals such as, The Lion King, Wicked, Kinky Boots, Newsies, Rock of Ages and so many more. Many of the performances came from 2014 Tony nominated actors and actresses. Musical theater fans enjoyed the free performance and also got a preview at some of the new plays coming to Broadway this fall.

For information on tickets and show dates for any Broadway shows visit : http://www.broadway.com/

MTA Holds Auditons for the 27th Annual Music Under New York Program.

Photo By: Shanice Lewis

   Singers, drummers, and guitarists anxiously waited on line to audition as The Metropolitan Transportation Association held its 27th annual Music Under New York program on Tuesday, May 13th. 
  Auditions were held at Grand Central Terminal where 60 soloists and groups were expected to perform in front of a panel of 35 judges.
     The Music Under New York program (MUNY) gives musicians the chance to perform in MTA subways on a scheduled basis. The auditions were being held to find new talent to be apart of the program and add to the already thousands of performances that take place in MTA subways everyday.
     MUNY provides New Yorkers and visitors with live performances as they travel while, also giving musicians a chance to express their art.
     The auditions featured artists from all over the world covering a variety of genres from jazz, rock opera, bluegrass to Chinese orchestral music. The musicians gave a five minute performance and were judged on the quality, variety and appropriateness of their music for the mass transit environment. However, of the 60 acts only 20 performers will be added to the MUNY program.
     Noah Jackson is a professional bass player who was apart of the audition as an invitation from a friend.
     Jackson, 25, originally from Detroit moved to New York four years ago to attend grad school at Manhattan School of Music. He's deep in the jazz scene and has played all around New York City, internationally as well and, was excited to be apart of MUNY'S event to help out his friend.
     Although, Jackson believes an event like this has it's benefits he said, "doing something like this to get famous is not the way to go."
     Jackson has been working at his profession for years and is a strong advocate of persistance and hard work. "Be true to yourself and be great; good isn't good enough, it takes work said Jackson as he shared his advice to young upcoming musicians.

Musicians wait in line to be called to perform at MUNY. Photo By: Shanice Lewis

     Stephanie Apperio came to Tuesday's event as not only a music fan but, a strong appreciator of musicians and the work that they do. She checks out subway musicians all the time and was actually invited by Eric Paulin's the Meetles Band (who play under the MUNY program) to play percussion.
  Apperio always wanted to play in a band , she even played piano as a child but, recalls dance as her "first love" and later got into theater. She came to the event because, she wanted to experience the audition process and called it a "great experience for everybody."
  "Any kind of playing and being in front of an audience is good for their development", Apperio said of the musicians in the auditions.
    The winners of the MUNY auditions will be announced by MTA in the upcoming weeks and will then be allowed to perform in the subway as long as the abide by the New York City Transit's rules.

Jackson on the right, waiting in line for his friend. Photo By: Shanice Lewis

    

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Students, seniors and members of the Jamaica community gathered at the Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center at York College for a theater production of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Photo By: Shanice Lewis

   On Tuesday May 6th, shortly after noon York College's theatre department put on whimsical play about the fight for true love. The play depicts Theseus, the Duke of Athens who is preparing for marriage but, is sought by Egeus who needs the Duke's help. Egeus is trying to convince his daughter, Hermia, to take Demetrius as her husband but, she is already in love with Lysander. Lysander and Demetrius are both in  love with Hermia but, Demetrius once loved Helena, who is still in love with him. The Duke tells Hermia that she must obey her father's wishes or be put to death. She and Lysander decide to run away from Athens and elope but, Demetuis is informed of this and decides to follow them into the woods.
  In the woods filled with mystery, magic and fairies Oberon, King of the fairies and his wife Queen Titania have a disagreement and, Oberon sends his servant to find a herb that will make people fall in love with the first creature they see. While in the woods King Oberon overhears Helena pleading for Demetrius' love and, instructs his servant to sprinkle the herb in Demetrius' eyes so that he may love Helena back. However, the servant accidentally sprinkles the herb in Lysander's eyes and Lysander awakens to Helena with whom he immediately falls in love with.

In the end the servant realizes his mistake and is forced to correct it by the King. Each person is now with their intended love as they all marry off and live happily in love.

  The play directed by York College assistant professor of Performing & Fine Arts, Tom Marion, featured several York students as well as members of The Gloria Eve Dance Company in Hempstead. It was my first time attending a York play and I really enjoyed it. There was great music, dance and comedy that the rest of the audience enjoyed as well.

Clifford Shouter ,who attends Theodora Jackson Adult Center in Jamaica said, they told him about the production going on at the school. He said it was his first time attending and he didn't know what kind of show it was but, he "wanted to experience it." 

"It was very nice, I really enjoyed it and yes, I will come back" said Shouter.

The cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream receive a standing ovation. Photo By: Shanice Lewis

Timothy Bowden

Photo By: Shanice Lewis

My blog is dedicated to performers and artists many of who want to start off careers in the music industry. They're performing in subways and on sidewalks to hopefully grab the attention of some music executive or earn enough money to start an album but, I wanted to take a look at someone who formerly performed in train stations and see where they've gone. I'm often curious myself as to what these subway performers do when they don't reach stardom or they don't get to where they want. I was able to catch up with one artist who was extremely grateful that he took that chance in performing in the subway.
 Timothy Bowden is a Queens rapper who has his first performance at 34th St. Penn Station to thank for such a huge growth in his music career. Bowden first started performing in subways back in 2011 and from the positive feedback he was able to release several mix-tapes his first being Time Is Money (TIM) released on popular rap site DatPiff. From that first performance Bowden has done so many performances on channels like BCAT and for companies such as Time Warner. He has even landed himself a manager and labeled himself as an independent artist. Growing up in church and playing the drums, music has always been a part of him but, he eventually wants to venture out and try his hand at other interests.

S: When was the first time you started performing in the subway?

                        TB: That was when I was molding myself to learn the streets because, that’s what artists have to do to be one with the fans and that was back in 2011.

S: And how was that first experience?

           TB:  Nervous. Nervous and at the same time you don’t know the reaction of a fan because, the song that I was doing was called “Throw Ya Hands and Take 2 Steps” and I was actually worried about someone really doing the dance. You know it’s busy people are going to work or just lolly-gagging so, it was kind of a mixed feeling. It’s amazing how I did get a lot of people’s attention.

S: Why’d you choose the train station as a place to start performing?

TB: The train station is good place to perform any type of song because, you have a different audience. You have all types of cultures coming through. You get a lot of good reactions and some bad like, “I didn’t like that song because, it had a lot of cursing or I really like the message." You get all types of responses.

S: So, at what age did you start performing in general? When did you realize that I  want to be a rapper, this is what I want to do?

           TB: To be honest with you, I first performed when I was eleven but, I didn’t really look at it as performing, I was just in front of people rapping. [laughs] But, to seriously say when I was really performing I would say I was about 23/24 and I had a chance to do a café karaoke contest which you had to pay for because, it was a prized winner. I came in second place; I remember that like it was yesterday.

S: Who are your influences, who inspired you to start in music?

           TB: My first influence to this day is my grandmother Vernell Bowden ‘cause she started her own corporation, her own studio company and she helped start SWV which is a girl group that is still well known today. When I go to her house she has plaques all over and, it inspires me and lets me know that there’s better tomorrows and you might not see your blessings now but, down the road you will. Also, my father plays the piano and my uncles are DJ’s but, my grandmother really supports me by buying my music and giving me feedback on it.

S: What’s the most interesting thing that has happened to you while performing?

           TB: I met 50 Cent and I got to talk to him. I have a song called “Queens” after hearing it he really gave me some encouraging words. You know, he’s a busy man and for him just to take the time out to talk to me a little bit made me feel really good.

S: Would you say that your confidence has boosted since that first time you performed in the subway?

           TB: Definitely, it’s been an inspiration from going to subway performances to literally being paid to perform. It’s allowed me to do so many things and go so many places. Those people that you see performing their talents in the train station it’s a blessing because, it takes a lot of heart, time and it takes patience.  You’re going to have a lot of haters – I don’t really want to call them haters, just people that don’t see your vision.

S: Has there ever been a time where you wanted to just quit and give up?

           TB: I think when I didn’t see the money that I put out come back in, that was the only time.

S: Where do you want to go with your talents?

           TB: Well, I just dropped another album and I’m waiting on feedback from that but, probably by 2018 I’ll be done with music. I really want to get into film because I've enjoyed doing my own videos so, I’m building a reputation to let people know that I’ve done music before.

S: So even if you haven’t gotten where you wanted to be as a musician you’re still going to quit in 2018?

           TB: I’ve truly gotten where I needed to be but, as far as being signed to a major label, I really didn’t want that, I wanted to be independent. It’s the best way because, you get more done that way. I know that I put in enough time to say that I’ve done music. I don't want to say I'm giving up I'm just moving on to new things. Music never stops though, artists just take breaks.

Check out Timothy's Soundcloud: TimgotBars

Jowzay

Meet Jowzay, a singer-songwriter from Africa who has made his way to New York City in hopes of becoming a famous musician. I met him at the Fulton St subway station performing his rendition of Drake's "Hold On We're Going Home." Jowzay's guitar and singing skills allows him to perform wherever there's an audience. He can be found in New York City subways, open mic nights and private events.

Check out his Youtube page where you can find more of his covers to artist like Amy Winehouse, Bruno Mars and Daft Punk!

Blog It!

I found a few blogs that have a similar idea to mine they're not exactly what i want my blog to be like but, I was able to get a feel of the direction I want my blog to be like.

• The first is a Tumblr blog which I really love. I have a Tumblr account myself, I think they are they greatest thing ever. This blog provides pictures and videos of street performers from New York to New Zealand and all the way up north to Canada. I love the diversity about it. I'm only centering my blog around NYC but, when I'm able to travel I would love to add performers from other cities and countries as well.
• Concrete Beat was another blog I came across, it's pretty outdated but, my favorite thing about it was the little biography it gave with each artist. That's something I definitely want to do with my blog. After all the whole point of the blog is to let people know what talent is out there. I think its important to give these performers some recognition.
• This last blog was pretty different from the others, it offered tips from veteran street performers on how to up your performance skills and really capture audiences. This may be something I may want to incorporate in my blog too. I think it would be cool to get a tip from each performer and construct a list of my own for upcoming street performers.