An Evening with Laura Benanti at Umbrella Arts!

/0 Comments/in , , /by

MARCH 10 & 11 at 7:30PM

“Broadway wunderkind Laura Benanti isn’t just a smashing vocalist; the woman is a comic genius…See her in any way you can!”

– Kevin Taft, EDGE Media

The “glamorously witty” (Associated Press) Tony® Award-winner and five-time Tony® Award nominee joins The Umbrella in an intimate concert performance — two nights only!

Want to know more about the Broadway star? Check out the links below!

  • See Laura’s recent interview on Good Morning America about her role on the new hit Amy Schumer series, Life and Beth, the challenges of motherhood, and how her relationship with her daughter has inspired her.
  • Get a sneak peek of Laura singing in this music video for, “Wives and Lovers”, off her solo album. The proceeds from this music video go to the wonderful organization Birth Queen, educating, supporting, and empowering Black women, parents and birthing people, enriching the Black birth experience and saving lives!

LEARN ABOUT LAURA:

Hailed by The New York Times for her “effortless” vocals, and by the New York Post for her ability to “whip up laughs out of thin air,” Laura Benanti is a highly celebrated stage and screen actress.

Ms. Benanti has an impressive television roster including Hulu’s Life & Beth, created by and starring Amy Schumer, the hit series Younger, HBO Max’s Gossip Girl reboot, and the upcoming second season of HBO Max’s The Gilded Age. Other television credits include guest starring roles on Cinema Toast, created by Jeff Baena and produced by the Duplass Brothers, ZIWE featuring comedian Ziwe Fumudoh, both for Showtime, as well as Inside Amy Schumer on Paramount+ (among many others. Benanti has also made widely acclaimed appearances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Melania Trump.

In film, Benanti starred in Netflix’s Worth opposite Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci and Amy Ryan, Here Today opposite Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish, and was featured in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tick,Tick…Boom!

In the theater, Ms. Benanti took Broadway by storm at the age of 18 as Maria in The Sound of Music and has subsequently starred in ten more Broadway shows (musicals, straight plays, comedies and dramas) including Into the Woods, Nine (opposite Antonio Banderas), Gypsy (for which she won a Tony Award), She Loves Me, My Fair Lady, and Steve Martin’s Meteor Shower opposite Amy Schumer and Keegan Michael Key.

Additionally, Benanti co-authored a comedic board book for mothers entitled M is for MAMA (and also Merlot): A Modern Mom’s ABCs, co-written with Metropolitan Opera Star Kate Mangiamelli, and created and executive produced the HBO Max special Homeschool Musical: Class of 2020 based on her viral social media movement: #sunshinesongs. Benanti released a self-titled audio album for Sony Music Masterworks and tours the world performing solo concerts alongside highly celebrated musicians and orchestras.

Ms. Benanti is currently filming the Sony Pictures comedy No Hard Feelings opposite Jennifer Lawrence and Matthew Broderick, as well as The Shade based on the award-winning short of the same name.

“You can’t pin Laura Benanti down. Her shape-shifting sense of humor is immediately enchanting, but it turns out to be her secret weapon. She can feel like a goofy sister and then you blink and she’s breaking your heart. She’s dry and deadpan and then she’s full-throat laughing at something sad that happened to her. It’s disarming in the best way and the key to unlocking her talent. Her many facets keep the ground shifting and keep us from putting her in a box. It’s what makes her a great actor. By constantly surprising, she makes it seem like she can do anything.”

– Exeunt NYC, Review of Laura Benanti at Feinstein’s/54 Below

 

Concord Middle School Students Find New Skills and Personal Growth in Xanadu

/0 Comments/in , /by

Concord Students Find New Skills and Personal Growth in Xanadu

by Kimber Lynn Z. Drake, Correspondent

When Hannah Vincent agreed to take the helm for the returning Concord Middle School theater program, she knew there would be challenges.  It had been three years since the middle school’s last musical production, and the kids who are now her oldest cast members were still in elementary school back then.

“With that long of a hiatus, we didn’t know how the students were going to handle this kind of a project,” says Vincent, director of Xanadu, Jr and an educator at Concord Middle School.  She was not discouraged, however, because she knew that in addition to being fun for the children, this would be very important work.

Experts both in the arts and in education tell us that delving into areas beyond the standard core subjects at school helps our personal growth in many ways.  Michelle Barnes, Director of the Relevé Ballet Workshop of Wellesley, MA asserts that theater in schools gives us a low-risk environment in which to learn something about who we are.

“Art is all around us, not just in museums,” states Barnes.  “It’s in video games, movies and the logo on your coffee cup.  Whether we eventually become an engineer, an opera singer or a firefighter, we all need to have a chance to explore what we can do artistically at an early age.  Can I draw?  Can I act?  You can’t know unless you try.”

Theater also helps kids to grow in ways that they couldn’t during the pandemic.  Justin Cameron, Principal of Concord Middle School, sees daily the effect that the recent years of social isolation have had on students.  “The middle school years are an incredibly important time for development of social skills,” says Cameron.  “During those months of remote learning, these kids missed out on the practice of those skills that the school environment normally provides every day.  This project gives kids a chance to work closely as a team on a complex task that happens to be really fun:  putting on a show.  In this non-competitive environment, they celebrate each other’s successes and find ways as a team to adapt to their shortcomings.  This is a big boost for their social development.”

Over two months later, Vincent is witnessing firsthand the results of this artistic exploration and teambuilding as the cast and crew put the finishing touches on their production of Xanadu, Jr.  “These kids have really impressed me,” she says.  “They have dug in and taken an active role in the whole process.  They are helping each other remember cues and review dance steps.  Some are sewing their own costumes.  This show has given them the chance to get off their phones and participate in something that requires focus, energy and dedication.”

Barnes agrees, “When you’re in a show, the feeling of team pride is extraordinary.  You come together and work hard as a group to give the gift of entertainment to hundreds of people each night.  And by the time you are done, you’re more than a team.  You’re a family.”

Xanadu, Jr runs March 3rd – 5th, 2023 at the Sanborn building of Concord Middle School.  Friday and Saturday @ 7pm, Sunday @ 2pm. Tickets are $10 and are available starting February 24th at ticketstage.com .

Photo caption:

Concord Middle School students in rehearsal for Xanadu, Jr.  Photo by Kimber Lynn Z. Drake.