New York's 92nd Street Y's Music at Makor series will offer three "Broadway Rocks" concerts in November and December.
Alice Ripley, who will headline the upcoming Kennedy Center mounting of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Song & Dance, will kick off the series with a concert on Nov. 4 at 8 PM.
Ripley will offer an evening of original music as well as a discussion about how a performer can successfully navigate both the Broadway and pop-rock worlds. A Tony Award nominee for her role as Violet in Side Show, Ripley's other theatrical credits include the Kennedy Center production of Company and the Broadway casts of Sunset Boulevard, Les Misérables, The Who's Tommy and The Rocky Horror Show. Her numerous recordings include a CD of original music, "Everything's Fine," available on the Sh-K-Boom Records label.
On Nov. 18 David Yazbek, who composed the Tony-nominated score for The Full Monty, will perform his original music and will also take part in a discussion about the Broadway and pop-rock worlds. Yazbek will be joined by drummer Patrick Wilson, who plays for the rock band Weezer as well as The Cars' Ric Ocasek. In addition to his successful music career, Yazbek is also an Emmy Award winner for his work writing jokes for "The David Letterman Show" right out of college.
The "Broadway Rocks" series continues on Dec. 2 with an evening with former Rent star Daphne Rubin-Vega. The singer-actress received a Tony nomination for her performance as Mimi in the original cast of the Jonathan Larson musical and was last on The Great White Way in the revival of The Rocky Horror Show. She recently appeared in the Drama Dept.'s production of Free to Be You and Me. The Music at Makor (Hebrew for "source") series will be held at the 92nd Street Y's Steinhardt Building, which is located on the West Side of Manhattan at 35 West 67th Street (between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue). Concerts are priced at $25, and show time is 8 PM. Call (212) 212-601-1000; go to www.makor.org for more information.
—By Andrew Gans
