The New Concerts at Tudor City Greens

On Wednesday, September 24th, my husband and I braved through the UN crowds and Police barricades to to go the latest installment of the New Concerts at Tudor City Greens. It's a lovely public park spot on the East side, within walking distance from Grand Central Station and the UN plaza itself (it's called Tudor City Place). Raissa Katona Bennett hosted the evening of top-caliber Broadway and Cabaret singers, under the music direction and piano stylings of David Caldwell. It was sponsored by Cibo, on 41st street @ 2nd avenue, where we had after show drinks and appetizers. VocalEase lended them the sound equipment, which helped since there was a large crowd and some wind to contend with. It was produced in association with MAC, the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs.

The singers were: Raissa Katona Bennett (who sang from Phantom of the Opera), Hector Coris (sang from his upcoming comedy revue What's The Point?), Richard Cramer (who sweetly sang a song about the flowers, wearing a bee outfit), Jenna Esposito (singing from her CD "13 Men...And Me!", Eric Michael Gillett (proving himself yet again to be a powerful crooner), Rosemary Loar (reprising her role as Grisabella by singing "Memory"), Maria Moncada (spiced things up with "Perfidia" in both languages), Catherine Overfelt (blues-ed it up and provided co-host energies), & Darren Williams (wowed us with both comedic and heartfelt pieces). We had a treat at the end when Raissa and Rosemary sang a duet of "I Will Never Leave You" from Side Show. I'm chagrined I didn't write down or remember all the great songs sung, but I always feel it a bit rude to be scribbling things down during a performance...

In any case, I plan on being there for the upcoming event on October 22nd. And look forward to future posts about some of the singers in the above lists and their upcoming shows as well.