Category: Live Shows

The PIT 123 E 24th BTW Park & Lex (new location!)

Tickets here.

David Nagler (of Nova Social) will play his music to inspire improvised scenes. Nothing is planned; it’s all improvised. You will never see this show again.

Photo by Kevin J. Dotson (http://www.kevinjdotson.com/

Featuring an INTRODUCTION by MARIA SCHNEIDER  (The Onion, Pathetic Geek Stories, “A Book of Jean’s Own“) who will speak on the subject of Beauty Love AND/OR Truth.

This show’s IMPROVISERS include:

Megan Gray (Magnet, Second City)
Alan Fessenden (UCB, Magnet, The Project)
Terry Jinn (UCB, The Project)
Maddy Mako (UCB, Magnet, The Project)
Shannon Manning  (UCB, Magnet, PIT, IO Chicago, “Conan”)
John Murray (“30 Rock,” UCB, Magnet)
Louie Pearlman (Story Pirates, The Spidey Project, Magnet)
Kati Skelton (Story Pirates, Funkle Todd)

Future casts, special guest actors, and musicians might not be publicized so join the mailing list if you want the scoop.

HERE’S THE FACEBOOK EVENT!

More about David Nagler:
David Nagler is the co-founder of NY metropolitan area pop group Nova Social, which has been active in New York’s pop underground for over ten years. The group’s new full-length, For Any Inconvenience, along with their 2009 self-titled EP, mates their ambitious pop songwriting with electronic and dance music influences. For Any Inconvenience will be released in late-2011.

David plays guitar and piano in John Wesley Harding & The English UK, where his involvement in the “Cabinet of Wonders” variety shows have led to him sharing the stage with Rosanne Cash, Andrew Bird, A.C. Newman (of The New Pornographers), Andrew VanWyngarden (of MGMT) and more.

He served as musical director and co-producer on Chris Mills’ acclaimed orchestral pop release The Wall to Wall Sessions (Ernest Jenning Record Co.), which led to his inclusion in The L Magazine’s “Ultimate Brooklyn Supergroup,” and he provided choral arrangements for the Mekons’ Jon Langford’s Skull Orchard Revisited (Verse Chorus Press/Bloodshot Records), with members of the Burlington Welsh Male Chorus.

http://www.novasocial.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EK9LVMcvHo

Beauty Love Truth is produced and directed by Shannon Manning and Louie Pearlman of Sparkle Television. Contact SHANNON a*t SPARKLETELEVISION d*o*t c*o*m

The PIT 123 E 24th BTW Park & Lex (new location!)

Tickets here. 

A SPECIAL GUEST will play his music to inspire improvised scenes. Nothing is planned; it’s all improvised. You will never see this show again.

Featuring an INTRODUCTION by former history professor/public radio producer/playwright SPENCER DOWNING who will speak on the subject of Beauty Love AND/OR Truth.

This show’s IMPROVISERS include:

Birch Harms (UCB)
Matt Higgins (Centralia, Burn Manhattan, PIT)
Jodi Lennon (UCB, Annoyance, Second City, “Exit 57”)
Shannon Manning  (UCB, Magnet, PIT, IO Chicago, “Conan”)
Yang Miller (PIT)
Louie Pearlman (Story Pirates, The Spidey Project, Magnet)
Risa Sang-urai Harms (UCB)
Betsy Todd (UCB, Magnet, “Battle of the Bozos”)

Future casts, special guest actors, and musicians might not be publicized so join the mailing list if you want the scoop.

HERE’S THE FACEBOOK EVENT!

Beauty Love Truth is produced and directed by Shannon Manning and Louie Pearlman of Sparkle Television. Contact SHANNON a*t SPARKLETELEVISION d*o*t c*o*m

The PIT 123 E 24th BTW Park & Lex (new location!)

THE SPRING STANDARDS will play their music to inspire improvised scenes. Nothing is planned; it’s all improvised. You will never see this show again. Or this sunset!

FEATURING an INTRODUCTION by playwright/actor DARCY FOWLER who will speak on the subject of Beauty Love AND/OR Truth.

This show’s IMPROVISERS include:

Kevin Cragg (UCB, Magnet, PIT)
Elana Fishbein (Magnet, UCB, Story Pirates)
Matt Higgins (Centralia, Burn Manhattan, PIT)
Ed Illades (IO Chicago)
Bradford Jordan (Story Pirates, PIT)
Shannon Manning  (UCB, Magnet, PIT, IO Chicago, “Conan”)
Doug Moe (UCB’s MOTHER, “30 Rock,” “Conan”)
Louie Pearlman (Story Pirates, The Spidey Project, Magnet)

MORE ABOUT THE SPRING STANDARDS:
The following is a brief summation of the sounds and spirit of The Spring Standards. Born and bred in the Delaware Valley, this trio of songsters now call Brooklyn, New York their home, like much of their musical brethren. Comprised of a lass named Heather and two boys named James, the songs they Smith will Robb your heart, that much is Cleare. Brought up on the music of their elders, they drew… much of their inspiration from those times, learning the power of song from artists you all know, The Beatles, James Taylor, Crosby, Stills and the other one. Longtime friends and cohorts, by the time any of us had heard of them, they’d been working on their craft and crafting their works for many years under many names, with their passion for vocal harmony always in their foremost thoughts. It’s fast upon a first listen to feel the power of their pipes, the James boys being blessed with throats of velvet, and Heather with the wind of a foghorn. Sure, they’ve got more than enough facilities for plucking strings and tapping keys, but they never did have much luck finding a drummer. No matter. One can stomp a floor cannon, the other on the sock cymbals, and with their one free hand, they can wallop a snare drum with the best of ‘em. Problem solved, and we wouldn’t know the difference. Never fans of the well-trodden roads of sentimental claptrap, their lyrics ring true whenever falling on eager ears. They sing not of the easy-breezy romances so often seen in Hallmark cards and on the silver screen, but of life’s true loves, uncertain and trying. They sing of Life’s Great Joys, found, lost, found again and lost once more. The things we wanted and what we found instead. Things not turning out how we’d hoped, but turning out all the same. As Heather sings night after night, in different cities all far from home, “If it’s not hard to say, then it’s a lie.” Suffice to say, The Standards ain’t no lie. In their eyes, life’s not easy, but it sure can be beautiful when a few voices come together just right. Many folks have found such solace in the latest fruits of their labor, aptly titled, “Would Things Be Different.” Such a title could be either a question or an answer, when you think about it. I suppose that’ll be up to you. – Adam Sturtevant 

Beauty Love Truth is produced and directed by Shannon Manning and Louie Pearlman of Sparkle Television. Contact SHANNON a*t SPARKLETELEVISION d*o*t c*o*m

Sunday, August 14 at 6:15pm.

At Urban Stages 259 West 30th Street, betw. 7th and 8th Ave. (google maps)

Guest musician TATUM GREENBLATT on trumpet and perhaps crooning.

http://www.tatumgreenblatt.com/

Tatum will inspire improvised scenes by:

Alan Fessenden
Brian Fountain
Terry Jinn
Shannon Manning
Kevin Mullaney
Louie Pearlman
Mary Regan
Marian Rosin
Alexis Saarela
…more!

http://www.delclosemarathon.com
PS you have to get a $25 pass for the whole weekend. Which is totally worth it, unless you are only coming to see this show, so thought you should know!

MORE ABOUT TATUM:

Tatum Greenblatt has established himself as one of the most in-demand trumpet players on New York City’s music scene. Named by Wynton Marsalis as one of his favorite up-and-coming trumpet players, Greenblatt has performed with Marsalis, as well as with Joe Lovano, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, The Mingus Bands, Maria Schneider, India.Arie, George Gruntz, Donny McCaslin, David Berger, Christian McBride, Jimmy Cobb, Jeremy Pelt, Sara Gazarek, Reggie Workman, George Garzone and the Duke Ellington Orchestra, among many others. After earning his Master’s Degree from The Juilliard School, Tatum can now be heard performing all over the world with The Richard Bona Group, and frequently around New York City with The Mingus Big Band, Orrin Evans’ Captain Black Big Band, the Fat Cat Big Band, and Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra. In May 2011 at the request of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Greenblatt formed and led the Essentially Ellington All-Stars Band, performing to sold-out audiences at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. His upcoming album Imprints, his third as a leader, is slated for release in October 2011.

Beauty Love Truth is produced and directed by Shannon Manning and Louie Pearlman of Sparkle Television.
Contact SHANNON a*t SPARKLETELEVISION d*o*t c*o*m

Saturday, May 14, 2011 10PM Barrow Street Theatre
27 Barrow Street New York, NY (at 7th Avenue, South of Christopher Street)

Lobby bar opens at 9:45pm and drinks may be brought into the theatre. No minimum.

Buy Tickets!

(Use discount code: LVTR27  for $5 off.)

MUSICAL GUESTS: JOE MCGINTY, MICHAEL MCGINNIS & LEON DEWAN. They play music to inspire improvised scenes. The scenes might inspire them to play other music. Nothing is planned; it’s all improvised. You will never see this show again.

FEATURING an INTRODUCTION by a standup comic, raconteur, or expert on the subject of Beauty Love AND/OR Truth.
This show: DAVID REES (Get Your War On, Artisanal Pencil Sharpening)

This show’s IMPROVISERS include:

Kirk Damato (UCB, Cakey! The Cake From Outer Space, Picasso at the Lapin Agile-Tokyo)
Brigid Boyle (Taco Supreme, Magnet)
Brian Fountain (UCB, ImprovEverywhere, Freak Dance)
Shannon Manning (UCB, Magnet, PIT, IO, Conan)
Patrick McCartney (Elf, Second City, UCB)
Louie Pearlman (Story Pirates, The Spidey Project, Magnet)
Mary Regan (UCB, Magnet, PIT)

and more TBA or kept secret! Lineup subject to change.

“These evenings are a hoot! I play my songs, then talented improvisers create sketches inspired by the music. A must see!” Joe McGinty

Joe McGinty has recorded and/or performed with The Psychedelic Furs, The Ramones, Debbie Harry, Stew and The Negro Problem, Devendra Banhart, Nada Surf, Ronnie Spector, Daniel Johnston, Ryan Adams, Bright Eyes, Space Hog, and many others. Full discography here.

He has been the music director for AMFAR’s 25th Anniversary Gala (backing Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight), Comedy Central’s “Night of Too Many Stars”, The Tribeca Film Festival, The Director’s Guild Awards, ABC’s “My Kind Of Town” game show, MoveOn.org, and The David Lynch Foundation.

His original projects include McGinty and White, Baby Steps, Circuit Parade, Space Nutz.

He has contributed music to Bored To Death, Funny Or Die, Last Chance Harvey, The Big Gay Sketch Show, The Whitest Kids You Know, The Virginity Hit and The Daily Show.

He is the founder and music director of the Loser’s Lounge tribute series, playing consistently to sold-out rooms in New York City since 1993.

Every tuesday he hosts “Live Piano Karaoke” at the Manhattan Inn.

Michael McGinnis has an eclectic and unique voice on the saxophone, clarinet and flute and has worked with some of today’s most innovative and influential artists including Anthony Braxton’s Trillium E Orchestra, Steve Coleman’s Aquarius Ingress (Ravi Coltrane, Tony Malaby, Miguel Zenon and Chris Speed), the Lonnie Plaxico Group, Stew & Heidi (of Passing Strange/the Negro Problem), Fela! On Broadway (saxophone soloist), Art Lande, Yo La Tengo,the Ohad Talmor/Steve Swallow Sextet, Jackie Cain, Deidre Murray (Bard Summerscape), Ravi Coltrane, Alice Coltrane, Erik Deutsch Band, Kyoko Kitamura, Lisle Ellis, Martin Kersels (Whitney Biennial 2009), Harris Eisenstadt, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Alan Ferber Nonet, the four bags, Clem Snide and the Losers Lounge among others.

He recorded his debut CD “Tangents” with his group Between Green (which included Shane Endsley and Jacob Sacks) for Ravi Coltrane’s RKM Music label in 2000.   As a co-leader he has recorded 3 albums with the four bags, one with DDYGG and one with OK|OK.

His performances and compositions have been featured on WNYC, VH1, ABC, MTV, The Daily Show and HBO.   You can see him playing the flute in the Ang Lee film “Taking Woodstock” (2009).

Leon Dewan apprenticed to his inventor father since early childhood, helping him to construct homemade test equipment and numerous electromechanical, solid state and vacuum tube based radio frequency prototypes. He recorded his first electronic music in 1980 with a calculator and an electronic quiz game which broadcast signals to a clock radio tuned between stations. In 1989 he received a degree in physics at Yale University. He has played guitar and sung in New York based band The Happiest Guys In The World as well as The Philistines Jr, Shaumgummi, and Dangerspoon, and has made guest guitar and production appearances on several Guster recordings. He collaborated with sculptress Kathleen Griffin and for the Sculpture Center’s inaugural In Practice series created an installation involving large hollow spherical bodies made of hard candy with circuitry inside that caused the candy spheres to self-resonate at various points along their resonant spectrums. Governed by slow chaos, they harmonized in unpredictable ways, “singing” to each other in the vaulted cellar of The Sculpture Center in Queens. Leon has performed at Rich Forum, the Knitting Factory, and Pierogi2000 Gallery, among other venues.