Check out Laurahanifin.com for more pictures.
Earn Points at Summerstage Shows and Be Crowned Summer Music Junkie!!
14 Jul
Summerstage is excited to be partnering with SuperGlued on the Summer Music Junkie Contest. Concertgoers such as yourself can earn points for tweets, check ins, photos, videos and blog reviews at Summerstage shows. Weekly point leaders win great prizes including CMJ badges and tickets to amazing shows including Hot Chip at Summerstage, the XX, Morning Benders and Belle and Sebastian. The grand prize is one full year of free shows at Brooklyn Bowl!
You can earn Double Points at selected shows Summerstage shows so be sure to follow us on Twitter for contest updates.
Sign up for SuperGlued at http://superglued.com/smj and start earning points!
PRIDE RALLY this Saturday!
15 Jun
Bruce Vilanch- Host of the Pride Rally
On Saturday, Summerstage will participate in a part of New York City history by presenting Pride Rally on the Mainstage in Central Park! In its 42nd year, the first ever Pride Rally took place in Washington Square Park just one month after the Stonewall Riots in 1969. Since then, it has grown into an enormous celebration to kick off Pride Week! Come celebrate with an unbelievable line-up of performers! Me’Shell Ndegéocello has been a strong force in the music industry for twenty years as a fearsome bassist and prolific songwriter. Also performing is the Grammy-nominated Martha Wash, for her classic hit “It’s Raining Men.” The Gay Men’s Chorus, devoted to serving the LGBT choral movement, is a world-class chorus that has performed with legends such as Marilyn Horne, Roberta Peters, Liza Minnelli, Stephen Sondheim, Barbara Cook, Carol Channing, Jerry Herman, Eartha Kitt, Joel Grey. Not only a concert, the comedian Vickie Shaw is sure to have the crowd laughing with her highly personal material about being a recovering SoB (Southern Baptist) and out lesbian mother. Rounding out the seemingly endless list of talented performers is Billie Myers. With rave reviews from Rolling Stone and London Times and multiple tours with performers such as Bob Dylan and Savage Garden, Myers is sure to put on an incredible show. As if that list of performers isn’t enough, Pride Rally will also be hosted by writer and comic, Bruce Vilanch. Vilanch, famous not only for his comedic writing for the Academy Awards and Hollywood Squares, also has his own full-length documentary called Get Bruce! This is a party you don’t want to miss! Just remember- Saturday, June 19 @4pm at the Mainstage (Rumsey Playfield) in Central Park.
For more information about this FREE show, visit www.summerstage.org
The Flaming Lips at SummerStage – tix on sale this Friday!
16 Feb
- The Flaming Lips to perform Central Park SummerStage benefit on 7/26
SummerStage 2010 is going to be one for the record books for sure. While the FREE season of Central Park SummerStage won’t be announced until sometime in May, benefit concerts, which support the free programs at Central Park SummerStage are beginning to trickle out. We’re super excited to welcome The Flaming Lips from Oklahoma City, OK to the park on Monday, July 26. These iconic rockers have been cranking out some of the most wonderfully weird music out there and their live shows are the stuff of legends. I hope Coyne & Co. bring their giant man-sized bubble with them. Or maybe they’ll surprise us with something even more kooky. Long ago, the writer of this post was fortunate enough to dress up in a furry/sweaty/smelly unicorn costume at the Beacon Theatre and shake it on stage with the Lips. That experience still holds as one of the most memorable shows for me. Oh, and if you haven’t picked up their latest, Embryonic, put it on your list now. It’s a deliciously frenzied sonic masterpiece.
For more information on tickets visit www.summerstage.org
Tags: Benefit Concerts at SummerStage, Central Park, SummerStage, The Flaming Lips
City Parks Foundation Congratulates Teen Tennis Champs Sabrina Bragerton-Nasert & Caleb Williamson!
10 Feb
- Caleb Williams far left and Sabrina Bragerton-Nasert far right earned a FREE trip to compete in UK tennis tournament
Both Sabrina and Caleb are participants of City Parks Foundation’s (CPF) free, citywide CityParks Tennis presented by Chase youth sports program. In August, Sabrina and Caleb competed against more than 150 children from all over NYC in CPF’s annual Chase Aces Tournament at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, winning 1st Place in the Girls & Boys 14 and Under divisions respectively. As a result of their wins, these two dedicated teens earned an all-expenses-paid trip to compete in an international tennis tournament in the UK against peers from London, England, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Dublin, Ireland, and Madrid, Spain. The competition, called the Will To Win Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix took place on January 30 and 31. Both Sabrina and Caleb placed 3rd in the competition.
Congratulations Sabrina and Caleb! Thank you for representing the United States in the competition. We’re all very proud of you and wish you continued success in the sport of tennis.
The CPF Family!
To learn more about free sports programs in parks throughout NYC visit www.cityparksfoundation.org.
The Black Keys to perform Central Park SummerStage benefit concert
3 Feb
Tickets go on sale 2/5
City Parks Foundation welcomes The Black Keys to Central Park SummerStage. The Akron, Ohio-based duo will perform a benefit concert to help support the free programs of Central Park SummerStage, presented by Bowery Presents. Tickets are $35 and go on sale Friday, February 5.
The Black Keys broke out in 2002 with their debut release, The Big Come Up, winning over fans ever since with their energetic, high-volume live shows. The Chicago Tribune said, “Akron duo The Black Keys created a mighty ruckus at a sold-out Riviera Theatre…” and the Orange County Register lauded the “raw and relentless fury of their riveting set at House of Blues Anaheim,” going on to say that “…it felt like we had all been transported to a dive bar in some swampy corner of Mississippi. And it felt good. Damn good.” In 2008 the duo released their fifth studio album, Attack and Release, produced by Danger Mouse. With Danger Mouse, The Black Keys didn’t veer uncomfortably far from the elemental rock & roll territory they’d mined so effectively on previous albums like their 2006 Nonesuch debut, Magic Potion, or their Fat Possum discs, Rubber Factory (2004) and Thickfreakness (2003). In November 2009, the band released a collaborative album under the moniker BlakRoc featuring some of the biggest names in hip hop including Mos Def, Raekwon, Ludacris, and the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard, spearheaded by music producer Damon Dash. In late ’09 the band headed back into the studio to record their sixth studio album to be released later this year.
To purchase tickets visit www.bowerypresents.com.
SummerStage and Dubspot
5 Jan
As temperatures continue to plummet, long warm summer days seem but a distant memory. If you are in need of a ‘seasonal’ boost, then fear not. Here is a little reminder of what’s to come in the months ahead: sun, shorts and SummerStage!
Dubspot joined SummerStage back in August for the Boys Noize / Drop The Lime / Canyons show. Witnessing these talented DJ’s at work got plenty of fans feeling inspired. Lucky for us–and them, Dubspot set up camp on Rumsey Playfield to teach fans a few tricks behind the turntables, and caught it on camera.
Sample a taste of what’s to come next year and check out the video! See DJ Shiftee give out a few pointers to some eager beginners, highlights from the show and James Burke, Director of Arts & Cultural Programs, discuss the SummerStage mission.
Feeling better already? That’s the spirit. Stay warm, and we’ll see you for our 25th season!
Tags: SummerStage, Dubspot, Boys Noize, Drop The Lime, Canyons
The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre welcomes THREE
29 Dec
City Parks Foundation presents Three – an adventurous mash-up of the classic fairy tales “The Three Little Pigs,” “Three Billy Goats Gruff,” and “The Three Bears,” at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre in Central Park. In this story, the central character, the “Big Bad Wolf,” is given a mission by the “Three Blind Fairy God Mice” to travel into these stories to go from the big bad villain to the “Big Good Wolf.” In his first go-around at redemption the Big Bad Wolf fails miserably, however, with guidance from the Fairy God Mice and the audience, the Big Bad Wolf finally redeems himself and is granted permission to rejoin the beloved fables as the Big Good Wolf. Written by Jeff Borkin, an Emmy-award winning children’s TV writer, the production features original music and marionettes handcrafted by master puppet maker Addis Williams, directed by Bruce Cannon.
Show times for Three running January 12, 2010 – June 25, 2010 are Tuesdays through Fridays: 10:30am and 12:00pm, with an additional performance at 2:30pm each Wednesday; and Saturdays and Sundays at 1:00pm.
Reservations are required. Tickets are $5/children and $8/adults. $5 group rates are available for schools and nonprofit organizations. For reservations, group rates, and information on birthday parties, please call (212) 988-9093. Subject to change, please call ahead.
The Swedish Cottage is located in Central Park at 79th Street and the West Drive, just south of the Delacorte Theater. For more information, please visit www.CityParksFoundation.org.
Tags: Kids, manhattan, Marionette Theatre, Puppets
Chisa Hutchinson and Working Man’s Clothes Productions offer special CPF discounted tickets to She Like Girls
10 Dec
Hey Friends of CPF! Don’t forget to visit us at Chisa Hutchinson’s play She Like Girls tomorrow night at the Ohio Theater. Chisa and Working Man’s Clothes Productions are offering reduced price tickets (see below.) And congrats to Chisa on her first-ever New York Times review!
Working Man’s Clothes Productions proudly presents
SHE LIKE GIRLS
a love/hate story
by Chisa Hutchinson
at the Ohio Theater (66 Wooster Street, NYC)
5 Week Limited Engagement (December 3 – 29, 2009)
As a special thanks to City Parks Foundation and friends, Working Man’s Clothes Productions and Chisa Hutchinson are offering reduced price $15 tickets for performances beginning on December 4. To purchase tickets click here. Be sure to enter the discount code CPF.
Inspired by the brutal murder of a fifteen-year-old lesbian in Newark, New Jersey, SHE LIKE GIRLS tells the story of two inner-city girls who gradually fall in love with each other in a dangerously homophobic climate.
Be sure to stop by our City Parks Foundation table on December 11th and say hi to the CPF team. We’d love to meet you.
Tags: Chisa Hutchinson, Off Broadway, Theater
Helping to support City Parks Foundation is just a vote away!
24 Nov
Chase Bank has pledged to give away $5,000,000 to the non-profit organizations that get the most votes on Facebook. We are eligible to win between $25,000 and $1,000,000! Please take a moment to vote for us.
Your vote for CPF will support SummerStage and our 60 free concerts, dance, and theater shows in parks all over NYC, give 10,000 NYC kids free tennis, track and golf lessons in parks next summer, help 7,000 kids do better in school through our education programs, and support thousands of volunteers as they make our public parks better places for us all to enjoy.
PLEASE – if you have a Facebook page, get online, become a fan of Chase Community Giving, vote for CPF, and then encourage your friends, family and networks to do the same.
Voting ENDS Dec. 11th so we need to move fast! There will be $25k given to the top 100 charities in December, and further $100k grants awarded in February
