Hot summer nights at Kingsborough!

By Alex Rush

Here’s a good reason to go back to school this summer.

Kingsborough Community College is hosting free outdoor concerts at its campus band shell on four Saturday nights in July. The “Hot Summer Nights” live music series will feature seasoned musicians that will play Broadway show tunes one week, South American-style jazz the next.

“I’m a huge fan of Brazilian stuff but we cross-pollinate all kinds of South American rhythms,” said Tommy Igoe, director and drummer of the Birdland Big Band, which plays on July 23. “We’re committed to pushing the big band format into the 21st century.”

The Birdland Big Band isn’t the only swinging group showing off their improvisational prowess. On July 9, the Danny Repole Swing Band will take the stage, performing classic tunes like “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” which may make audience members feel as if they’re in a club on New York’s Swing Street in the 1940s.

In addition to the dance-worthy songs of swing and jazz bands, the series will also feature the Brooklyn Community Wind Ensemble and Concert Band on July 2 and the Chestnut Brass Band, which specializes in both American pop standards and Civil War era marches, on July 16. The ensemble will even play 19th century antique instruments like keyed bugles.

“We’ll be putting them on display so people can see them up close,” said band member Larry Zimmerman.

“Hot Summer Nights” at Kingsborough Community College [2001 Oriental Blvd. at Decatur Avenue in Manhattan Beach, (718) 368-5596], July 2, 9, 16 and 23 at 8 pm. Free. For info, visit www.kcckpac.org.

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Bring the kids to Kingsborough this Saturday

By Alex Rush

This is one show that’ll sweep you off your feet!

The London-based theater troupe Tall Stories brings a children’s book favorite to life this month with its production of “Room on the Broom,” coming to the Kingsborough Performing Arts Center on May 21.

The musical, based on the popular children’s book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, features multiple puppets and original songs as it chronicles the travels of a friendly witch and her band of animal friends.

Tall Stories most recently thrilled audiences this year with its adaptation of “The Gruffalo,” by the same author and illustrator who created “Room on the Broom,” and this new production promises to equally delight.

“Tall Stories is one of the most artful and imaginative family theater companies in the world,” said Kingsborough Performing Arts Center Executive Director Anna Becker. “Their last show was so great that even I listened to the CD afterward!”

“Room on the Broom” performed by the Tall Stories of London at the Kingsborough Performing Arts Center at Kingsborough Community College [2001 Oriental Blvd. at Decatur Avenue in Manhattan Beach, (718) 368-5596], May 21 at 2 pm. Tickets $12. For info, visit www.kcckpac.org.

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Flamenco straight from the motherland

By Alex Rush

This flamenco show’s got it all.

Noche Flamenca brings movement, music and even a lesson in the art of the expressive dance to Kingsborough Performing Arts Center on Friday when it performs its new piece, “ALBA.”

“We have a very tragic piece about loss, a comedic number, a piece about man’s virility and an alegrias – a duet – about the joy of love,” said Martin Santangelo, artistic director of Noche Flamenca, which is based in Spain — the birthplace of the dance form.

Santangelo founded the Madrid-based troupe with his dancer wife, Soledad Barrio, in 1993, and today it consists of three dancers, as well as two guitarists and two singers, the latter of which bring real depth to the performances. In “ALBA,” for instance, vocalists sing from a poem about the Abraham Lincoln Brigaders, who battled Fascism in Spain in the 1930s.

“Flamenco’s function is to express what the singer is singing,” Santangelo said. “We have three dynamite singers and when they open their mouths, they catapult the show.”

For flamenco fans who aren’t content to just watch others perform, Santangelo is hosting a free dance lesson an hour-and-a-half before the show.  But space is limited, so don’t waste any time reserving your spot!

Noche Flamenca at the Kingsborough Performing Arts Center at Kingsborough Community College [2001 Oriental Blvd. at Decatur Avenue in Manhattan Beach, (718) 368-5596], April 29 at 8 pm. Tickets $30. For info, visit www.kcckpac.org.

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Good, old-fashioned fun at Kingsborough

By Alex Rush

This is one theater troupe that can act its way out of a paper bag!

The Paper Bag Players, a kid-friendly musical theater ensemble, has delighted audiences around the globe with sets and costumes made out of cardboard boxes and brown wrapping paper. And this month, it brings its newest makeshift musical, “Whoop-De-Doo,” to the Kingsborough Performing Arts Center.

“Kids love the look of our set because it reminds them of when they end up playing with the box and wrapping paper after opening up presents,” said artistic director and performer Ted Brackett, who comes to the Manhattan Beach theater on March 27. “And parents love the show because it takes them back to their childhood.”

But “Whoop-De-Doo” is more than just an exercise in recycling. The show features 10 skits, which include puppetry, original songs backed by a live keyboardist and even an interactive game show.

“It’s a great way to keep the audience jumping around,” said Brackett. “There’s no fourth wall to separate the audience at our show.”

“Whoop-De-Doo” performed by the Paper Bag Players at the Kingsborough Performing Arts Center at Kingsborough Community College [2001 Oriental Blvd. at Decatur Avenue in Manhattan Beach, (718) 368-5596], March 27 at 2 pm. Tickets $12. For info, visit www.kcckpac.org.

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This show is on the Marx

By Alex Rush

It takes more than just a bushy mustache and glasses to impersonate Groucho Marx. That’s why performer Frank Ferrante employed something extra to perfect his Groucho imitation: advice from the comedian’s son.

The Marx Brothers-obsessed Ferrante began to develop material for “An Evening With Groucho,” coming to the Kingsborough Performing Arts Center on March 19, after meeting Arthur Marx. With his help, Ferrante was able to fully transform into the cigar-jiggling slapstick legend.

“Working with Groucho’s son was amazing and daunting at the same time because I’ve admired his father’s work since I was a child,” said Ferrante.

“An Evening With Groucho” focuses on the best of the comedians works from the 1920s and ’30s. So expect songs, monologues and hilarious one-liners from your favorite Marx Brothers movies, such as “Duck Soup” and “Animal Crackers.”

“There aren’t entertainers like Groucho anymore,” Ferrante said. “He blended stand-up, music and story-telling.”

Ferrante also adds a dose of improvisation to Groucho’s repertoire, interacting with the audience and even dressing a random kid up like Groucho.

But even when he cracks spur-of-the-moment jokes, Ferrante makes sure he maintains an authentically Groucho style of comedy. His mustache and eyebrows are even exactly like Groucho’s, made with grease paint.

“Groucho is just exhilarating to watch,” Ferrante said. “And like him, I’m not satisfied until the audience is worked up into a frenzy of laughter.”

“An Evening With Groucho” at the Kingsborough Performing Arts Center at Kingsborough Community College [2001 Oriental Blvd. at Decatur Avenue in Manhattan Beach, (718) 368-5596], March 19 at 8 pm. Tickets $25. For info, visit www.kcckpac.org.

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Ballet for beginners

By Alex Rush

Get ready for some Ballet 101.

When Kingsborough Community College hosts the St. Petersburg Classic Ballet Theatre on March 6, the company will perform excerpts from four diverse works set to George Gershwin compositions in a show tailor-made for people who are looking to learn more about ballet — at a bargain.

“The idea behind the show is to give people an opportunity to see first-class ballet in the more affordable surrounding of a college auditorium,” said producer Paul Aarnio. “It will be like eating at the Golden Corral: you get a little bit of everything.”

This inexpensive ballet buffet may not have a live orchestra or the special effects of a Lincoln Center performance, but its dancing is top-notch. The show, which will include the quintessential classic “Swan Lake” and the relatively modern “Remember When?” is directed by Russian ballet vet Marina Medvetskaya, the go-to leading lady for big-time productions of the 1990s.

“It’s still a show people can leave feeling great about,” Aarnio said.

St. Petersburg Classic Ballet Theatre at Kingsborough Community College [2001 Oriental Blvd. at Decatur Avenue in Manhattan Beach, (718) 368-5596], March 6 at 3 pm. Tickets $30. For info, visit www.kcckpac.org.

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Feel the love

By Alex Rush

They’re words that move hearts — and feet!

Buglisi Dance Theatre will hit the stage of the Kingsborough Performing Arts Center tomorrow with an exclusive (and free!) preview of its original ballet, “Letters of Love on Ripped Paper.” The work is based on historical figures’ mail to their sweethearts.

Creator Jacqulyn Buglisi hired actors to record excerpts of letters that date back to 750 AD.

There’s Napoleon Bonaparte’s heartfelt ode to his wife, Josephine; Abigail Adams’s notes to her husband, John Adams; and Queen Victoria’s passionate letters to Prince Albert. They’re all set to an original score by composer Daniel Brewbaker, with Buglisi choreographing various dances based on the emotive writing.

“I wanted it to come across like a play with a story,” Buglisi said. “The rhythm and pulse of the dances are inspired by the feelings behind the words.”

The company will take the show to the Joyce Theatre in West Brooklyn for a week-long run in February, but the Kingsborough production will feature a special act that won’t be part of that show: performers will dance to love letters written by audience members.

“We’ve already incorporated five audience submissions,” Buglisi said. “And we may improvise dances to additional letters that people bring to the Kingsborough show.”

So get writing!

“Letters of Love on Ripped Paper” at the Kingsborough Performing Arts Center [2001 Oriental Blvd. at Decatur Avenue in Manhattan Beach, (718) 368-5596], Jan. 18 at 8 pm. Free. For info, visit www.kcckpac.org.

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Sometimes you feel like a nut...

Besides mistletoe, egg nog and that sweater from grandma, there’s no greater holiday tradition than “The Nutcracker.” But no two “Nutcrackers” are alike, so we checked them all out to give you an insider’s guide:

The Classics

From Dec. 22-Jan. 2, the American Ballet Theatre brings “The Nutcracker” to the Brooklyn Academy of Music. A live orchestra will perform Tchaikovsky’s famous score, while more than 100 performers will bring the magical toy soldiers, sparkling fairies, mischievous mice, and, of course, young Clara and her wooden prince to life. 

In Bay Ridge, the Vicky Simegiatos Dance Company (right) borrows ballerina Jennifer Ringer, principal of the New York City Ballet, once again for a full-length production on Dec. 19. Ringer stars as the Sugar Plum Fairy, while the rest of the cast is rounded out by the young members of the company for a particularly sweet production.

Similarly, over at the Kingsborough Performing Arts Center, the Brighton Ballet Theater’s Russian American Kids Ballet revives the holiday classic on Dec. 12, with lavish costumes, splendid scenery, and a junior company of more than 50 young dancers in an abridged production. You can catch the Brighton Ballet Theater again at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, as the company performs all your favorite excerpts from “The Nutcracker”  on Dec. 19.

American Ballet Theatre at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Gilman Opera House [30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street in Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100], Dec. 22-Jan. 2. Tickets $20-$135. For info, visit bam.org; Vicky Simegiatos Dance Company, Dec. 19 at 7 pm and Dec. 20 at 2 pm at the Poly Prep Country Day School [Seventh Avenue at 92nd Street in Bay Ridge, (347) 517-4169]. Tickets, $25–$35. For info, visit www.vspac.com; Kingsborough Community College [2001 Oriental Blvd. at Decatur Avenue in Manhattan Beach, (718) 368-5596], Dec. 18 at 2 pm. Tickets $12. For info, visit www.kbcc.cuny.edu; Brighton Ballet Theater at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum [145 Brooklyn Ave. between St. Marks Avenue and Prospect Place in Crown Heights, (718) 735-4400], Dec. 19 at 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm. Admission $7.50. For info, visit www.brooklynkids.org.

Cracked

“The Nutcracker” wasn’t known for humor until Mark Morris’s “The Hard Nut,” an irreverent take now celebrating its 30th anniversary, Dec. 10-19. Morris’s troupe transplants the story from the decorous 1890s to the swinging 1970s, and live music will be provided by the MMDG Music Ensemble with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.

The Gowanus-based Company XIV, known for its sensuous, Baroque-inspired performances, gives “The Nutcracker” an erotic makeover with its “Nutcracker Rouge” (left), running Dec. 10-Jan. 9. In keeping with the company’s opulent flair, this retelling promises to be a hedonistic display of gorgeous and decadent winter entertainment, complete with burlesque that further strays off book as it blends pieces by Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi and Duke Ellington, with text inspired “The Nutcracker” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” That, at least, explains the “rouge.”

“The Colonial Nutcracker,” an annual, hour-long production at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 12, sets the action in wintry colonial Yorktown in Virginia, during the Revolutionary War. That makes for a red-coated mouse army and an enchanted nutcracker prince in, naturally, a powder wig.

“The Hard Nut” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House [30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street in Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100], Dec. 10, 11, and 15-18 at 7:30 pm, and Dec. 12 and 19 at 3 pm. Tickets $25-$70. For info, visit bam.org; “Nutcracker Rouge” at Company XIV (303 Bond St. at Union Street in Gowanus, no phone), Dec. 10-Jan. 9, Friday-Sunday at 8 pm. Tickets $25-$40. For info, visit www.companyxiv.com; “The Colonial Nutcracker” at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College [2900 Campus Rd. at Hillel Place in Flatbush, (718) 951-4600 X22], Dec. 12 at 2 pm. Tickets, $6. For info, visit www.brooklyncenteronline.org.

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Life is a cabaret

By Alex Rush

How many musical genres can one band incorporate into its sound?

Portland-based sextet Vagabond Opera, a self-proclaimed Bohemian cabaret ensemble, manages to play at least 10. The musically catholic group will bring its fusion of styles and wild theatrics to Kingsborough Community College on Saturday as part of the school’s free outdoor concert series, “Hot Summer Nights.”

“They cover such a broad range of music,” said Anna Becker, executive director of the school’s theater. “And one of the things that excited me so much about them is their stage presence — they’ll run through the aisles singing and even bring out a fire-eating belly dancer.”

Clad in fedoras and other threads fit for a show at the Moulin Rouge, Vagabond Opera draws influences from klezmer, jazz, classical, swing, European folk varieties and of course, opera. Their vocalists include tenors and sopranos who sing in 15 different languages. The band even wrote and performed a full-length opera, “Queen of Knives,” in their home city this past May.

The man behind the musical madness is multi-instrumentalist and operatic tenor Eric Stern. Stern wanted to combine opera with kooky, burlesque-style theatre that could be performed in venues that are much smaller than the typical opera hall. He couldn’t have assembled a more eclectic ensemble to fulfill his vision. Group members include a bassist trained in Armenian music, a jazz drummer, a saxophonist who did time as a circus performer, a folk-rock cellist and another cellist who once took part in a Cirque du Soleil production.

Now that’s what we call a variety show.

Vagabond Opera at Kingsborough Community College [2001 Oriental Blvd. between Decatur Avenue and Quentin Street in Manhattan Beach, (718) 368-5596], July 31 at 8 pm. Free. For info, visit www.kingsborough.edu/performingartscenter.

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