OFF-BROADWAY IN THE BOROS: POP-UPS
Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment debuts
”OFF BROADWAY IN THE BOROS: POP-UPS”
Performances in outdoor, public spaces in all five boroughs help support artists and call attention to the importance of small theaters
The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) and small theater groups collaborated on an innovative series of five outdoor pop-up performances, one in each borough, from Friday, October 23 through Monday, October 26. This series builds on MOME’s “Broadway in the Boros,” a series of free, outdoor performances by Broadway casts that takes place during the summer months.
The "Off Broadway in the Boros: Pop-Ups" series was a way to call attention to the important contribution small theaters make to New York City’s cultural fabric, while also providing support for artists and organizations struggling during the pandemic. In 2019, MOME conducted the first-ever Small Theatre Industry Cultural and Economic Impact Study and found that pre-COVID, NYC’s small theatres contributed $1.3B in economic output, 8,400-plus full-time jobs and $512M in wages a year.
These events gave artists and theatres the opportunity to bring their work right into the communities they are a part of. Each pop-up performance took place at a public plaza in in each of the five boroughs.
THE PERFORMANCES:
Pregones/PRTT at Roberto Clemente Plaza, East 149th street & 3rd Avenue, The Bronx
La MaMa at Astor Place South & 4th Avenue, Manhattan
The Chocolate Factory Theatre at Lowery Plaza, 40th Street & Queens Blvd., Sunnyside, Queens
The Bushwick Starr at Myrtle/Wyckoff Plaza, Wyckoff Avenue & Gates Avenue, Ridgewood, Brooklyn
A Collaboration: Kaleidoscope Entertainment and Staten Island Illuminart Productions at St. George Ferry Terminal Plaza, Staten Island
Whitney White and Dan Rosato's performance of songs from Whitney's upcoming show, DEFINITION, was the Starr's first live performance since we had to shut down in March, and it felt like coming home again, said Noel Allain, Artistic Director of the Bushwick Starr. “We feel very grateful to the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment for this opportunity to do what we do best, and for giving Whitney and Dan the opportunity to perform their music for the Ridgewood community. There's nothing more valuable for an artist than getting to share their work with a live audience and it's a special opportunity to get to do it out in public. We hope it's the first of many opportunities to bring the performing arts back to NYC through outdoor performances while our doors are closed.”
Whitney White is an Obie-Award and Lilly-Award-winning director, actor, and musician from Brooklyn. Her musical discipline is rooted in indie-soul and rock. She is passionate about black stories, reconstructing classics, stories for and about women, genre-defying multimedia work and film. She is the current recipient of the Susan Stroman Directing award, an Artistic Associate at the Roundabout, and a part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Whitney and guitarist Dan Rosato performed selections from DEFINITION, a musical and theatrical experience piece which takes a surrealist look at an African American woman's inner awakenings. DEFINITION was in the Sundance Theatre Lab 2016 ANT Fest and will be part of The Bushwick Starr's 2020-2021 season.
