{"id":41650,"date":"2023-09-07T09:35:14","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T13:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=41650"},"modified":"2023-09-07T09:35:15","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T13:35:15","slug":"on-stage-sharon-katz-is-much-more-than-just-a-musician","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=41650","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: Sharon\u00a0Katz is much more than just a musician"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

Sharon Katz<\/p><\/div>\n

On September 10, the City Winery (990 Filbert Street, Philadelphia, citywinery.com\/philadelphia<\/a>) will host one of the most important artists of our time \u2013 musician, philanthropist, musicologist, and humanitarian activist Sharon\u00a0Katz.\u00a0She will be performing with her musical group The Peace Train.<\/p>\n

The Peace Train band features\u00a0Katz\u00a0on guitar and vocals, Suzette Ortiz on keys and vocals, Wendy Quick on vocals; Richard Hill on bass; Mark Beecher on drums and Jan Jeffries on percussion.<\/p>\n

The last time Katz and her band played City Winery in 2021, the group featured Monnette Sudler on bass. Unfortunately, Sudler, a jazz guitarist from Philadelphia, passed away in August 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cMonnette was a guitarist usually, but she is playing bass with us,\u201d said Katz, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon. \u201cWe were friends for almost 20 years and now she is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katz is native of Durban, South Africa who lived in Philly in the 1980s \u2013 a time during which she earned a degree from Temple University. In recent years, she was living in Tijuana, Mexico and now lives across the border in San Diego.<\/p>\n

\u201cI view Philadelphia as my U.S.A. hometown,\u201d said Katz. \u201cI had many good years here and still have a lot of friends in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

This weekend, Katz will be celebrating the release of her new album, \u201cFor You,\u201d at City Winery.
\n\u201cI started recording \u2018For You\u2019 in South Africa in November 2022 with a rhythm section from Durban,\u201d said Katz. \u201cI also recorded with two choirs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also recorded some tracks in Philadelphia at the studios at Drexel University in May and some in Tijuana.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mixed the album with Glenn Barratt at Morningstar Studios in suburban Philadelphia (East Norriton). He\u2019s a wonderful engineer. We worked 12 hours a day for five days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katz\u00a0had been living in Tijuana during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lived on a hilltop near Tijuana,\u201d said\u00a0Katz. \u201cIt\u2019s a few miles from the U.S. border. I could look down at Tijuana and see the soccer stadium where the Xolos (Tijuana\u2019s Liga MX football team Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente) play their games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katz\u00a0has lived an interesting and influential life.<\/p>\n

She was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. As a young teenager during the terrible apartheid era, she used to sneak out to the \u201cBlacks Only\u201d townships by hiding under blankets in the back seat of her friend\u2019s car. There, she met with the now-famous actors in Athol Fugard\u2019s group, including John Kani of \u201cBlack Panther\u201d fame, and began her lifelong mission of using music to help break down the country\u2019s artificially imposed racial barriers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very happy to be back in Philadelphia because I have a relationship with the city that goes back to 1981,\u201d said\u00a0Katz. \u201cI studied music therapy at Temple University.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is much more to\u00a0Katz\u2019 CV than just music ventures.<\/p>\n

After getting professional training and a master\u2019s degree in music therapy in the states,\u00a0Katz\u00a0returned home to South Africa and used her skills as a guitarist, singer, band leader, composer, producer, and music therapist. As soon as Nelson Mandela was released from his 27 years of imprisonment by the Apartheid government, she went to work trying to help her country heal from the wounds of Apartheid.<\/p>\n

Together with her Zulu singing partner, Nonhlanhla Wanda, they formed South Africa\u2019s first, 500-voice multiracial and multicultural youth choir in 1992, traveling out to all the still-separated communities to rehearse and start building trust across the Apartheid-imposed barriers.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Katz, in addition to Sudler, another of her long-time friends and musical partners crossed over recently.<\/p>\n

On a web post, Katz wrote, \u201cIt is with the deepest sadness that we mourn the passing of our beloved friend, singing partner, musical collaborator and sister activist Nonhlanhla Wanda following an all-too-brief battle with cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe met Nhla when we returned home to South Africa in 1992. Our vision for the country and our voices singing in harmony were the perfect match for what our divided country needed. Together, we conceived of the 500-voice multiracial and multicultural children’s choir which debuted in South Africa at the Durban City Hall in May 1993.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we took the choir and Mandela’s message on a performance tour across the country aboard The Peace Train. It helped people in all corners of South Africa to see that it was possible, joyful, and only right to have a peaceful transition to a fully participatory democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor 30 years we worked, sang, composed and carried those positive messages throughout South Africa, the USA, Mexico and Cuba. Rise in Power and Rest in Peace, Nonhlanhla!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNhla and I were together for 31 years until she passed away,\u201d said Katz. \u201cThe fifth song on my new album \u2013 \u2018Sister of the Soil (Siswami)\u2019 \u2013 is dedicated to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

The efforts by Wanda and Katz in 1992 had a profound effect.<\/p>\n

As the election date came closer and the ethnic battles intensified, they hired a train,\u00a0The Peace Train, and toured the country with their band and choir. Living together in mixed-race compartments and performing together at each stop along their route,\u00a0they became a moving billboard for Mandela\u2019s message of peaceful coexistence and the transition to a nonracial democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was about bringing communities \u2013 black, white, brown \u2013 together,\u201d said\u00a0Katz. \u201cIt was a real train with 14 cars, a 12-pice band and 100 singers. There were 150 players, and we went all over South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Mandela\u2019s election, Sharon\u00a0Katz\u00a0& The Peace Train performed at all his special events and became the country\u2019s first musical ambassadors of the new democracy. \u00a0During their initial five-week tour in the USA, they showcased South African music and unity across the country including at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Harlem, Duke Ellington Center for the Performing Arts, Disney World, and many universities.<\/p>\n

Since the original ride of The Peace Train,\u00a0Katz\u00a0has continued to spread a message of peace, social justice, and reconciliation around the world through performances, seminars, workshops, residencies, and cultural collaborations.<\/p>\n

In 2015, \u201cWhen Voices Meet,\u201d a documentary film about\u00a0Katz\u2019s music and humanitarian work with The Peace Train project, was released.<\/p>\n

Katz\u00a0continues to perform worldwide as Sharon\u00a0Katz\u00a0& The Peace Train and has formed bands in South Africa, Ghana, USA, Cuba and Mexico. After a 2019 cultural collaboration with Promotora de las Bellas Artes and its Cuban artistic director,\u00a0Katz\u00a0established a base in Tijuana where she worked on an international collaboration that toured Mexico, Cuba, and South Africa.<\/p>\n

Sharon\u00a0Katz\u00a0& The Peace Train use proceeds from their appearances and music sales for their humanitarian work in under-developed areas of South Africa, the border region, \u00a0and around the world including music therapy with orphans and communities affected by HIV\/AIDS, poverty and violence; food security programs in impoverished areas; conflict resolution in violence-torn regions; schools and community arts programs; and in programs for asylum seekers, migrants, survivors of torture, and youth rescued from trafficking rings.<\/p>\n

As South Africa\u2019s \u201cCultural Ambassadors,\u201d Sharon\u00a0Katz\u00a0& The Peace Train took flight in 1995 to spread their music and message to the US. With sponsorship from the government and private sector in both South Africa and America,\u00a0Katz\u00a0responded to the U.S. invitations by taking her 45-member performing group on a five-week, eight-city US tour.<\/p>\n

After that,\u00a0Katz\u00a0and her crew began touring the world, treating presidents, kings and millions of fans on three continents to the unstoppable beat of their music. Back home in South Africa,\u00a0Katz\u00a0was using her music therapy techniques to help heal the nation from the wounds of apartheid. She\u2019s also been working in other trouble spots around the world, earning her a reputation for converting \u201cgang members into band members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several of\u00a0Katz\u2019s albums have featured on the Grammy ballot for Best World Music including\u00a0\u201cImbizo,\u201d \u201cSide-By-Side,\u201d and \u201cWe Can Be the Change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe Can Be the Change\u201d was recorded in Santiago, Cuba and produced and mixed by Malcolm Nhleko, who is the sound engineer for Ladysmith Black Mambazo. It\u2019s a beautiful album \u2013a fusion of South African music with Cuban rhythms.<\/p>\n

Her fusion work continues with \u201cFor You.\u201d It\u2019s an inspirational group of original songs showcasing Katz\u2019s signature blend of South African\u00a0mbaqanga\u00a0and Afro jazz with influences of soul, folk, rock and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI first was exposed to mbaqanga when I was very young,\u201d said Katz. \u201cI used to listen to it on transistor radio. Back then, I never thought I\u2019d actually be playing this music. I really love mbaqanga. It\u2019s probably my favorite.\u201d<\/p>\n

The years pass by, and the Peace Train keeps rolling along with Katz\u2019 veteran crew of talented musicians.<\/p>\n

Ortiz, a passionate pianist, composer, choral conductor and educator, has been serving her communities with the gift of music from her humble beginnings in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, to her many recent successes as a Pennsauken, New Jersey native.<\/p>\n

Beecher has more than 30 years\u2019 experience at playing and teaching worldwide. He studied with Latin percussion masters Frankie Malabe and Jose Luis \u201cChanguito\u201d Quintana, African drumming master Oscar Sulley, Eastern Indian drumming master T.N. Bala, and Frank Zappa drummers, Chad Wackerman and Chester Thompson.<\/p>\n

Beecher has recorded more than 30 albums with a variety of artists, is a voting member of the GRAMMYs (Recording Academy) and has authored a number of published works.<\/p>\n

Jeffries calls herself a \u201cwoman of rhythm.\u201d She is the lead player of the Music Over Matter percussion group.<\/p>\n

Richard Hill Jr. us a bassist from Philadelphi who has his own ensemble, Peace On Earth. The ensemble\u00a0features a cross-section of players ranging from elder jazz veterans who actually witnessed John Coltrane in performance, to young highly skilled young players raised in the era of Hip-hop. The group includes bandleaders, educators, composers and informal historians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a great band,\u201d said\u00a0Katz. \u201cEveryone is a virtuoso.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Sharon Katz — https:\/\/youtu.be\/sszgkPxsDZw<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at City Winery on September 10 will start at 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Tickets are $18.<\/p>\n

Other upcoming shows at the City Winery are Theo Crocker on September 7, Daphnique Springs on September 8, Sonja Morgan on September 9, Gaye Su Akyol on September 12, Joe Mande on September 12, Kommuna Lux on September 13 and Lauren Calve on September 13.<\/p>\n

The Ninth Annual\u00a0Haverford\u00a0Music Festival (Eagle and Darby roads, Havertown,\u00a0https:\/\/haverfordmusicfestival.org<\/a>) was held in September 2019. Chronologically, this year\u2019s festival should have been the 13th annual staging of the event.<\/p>\n

Instead, the 2023 festival, which is scheduled for September 9, is the 11th Annual Haverford Music Festival. The COVID pandemic was the cause of the interruption.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Rachel Ana Dobken<\/p><\/div>\n

The pandemic also caused an interruption of the career of Rachel Ana Dobken, one of the featured acts at this weekend\u2019s festival. Her previous album came out in 2018 and her next is due early 2024.<\/p>\n

Dobken (bandleader, drums, guitar, vox, piano, producer) grew up in the Asbury Park\/Red Bank\/Rumson area of North Jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always been a huge music nerd,\u201d said Dobken, during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon from her home in Fairhaven, New Jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a child, my parents had a \u2018Best of Ed Sullivan\u2019 tape. I watched it and said \u2013 yep, that\u2019s what I want to do. My dad was a doctor but also a great musician. So, I\u2019ve always had this passion for music.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the Beatles when I was five. I grew up with Steely Dan, Paul Simon and The Band. From there, it was Weezer, Jack Johnson, Joe Satriani and Thin Lizzy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobken studied jazz at Bard College and describes herself as\u00a0\u201cMy Morning Jacket-meets-Lake Street Dive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Bard, I majored in photography and had a minor in jazz,\u201d said Dobken. \u201cI was listening to Thelonious Monk and Jeff Buckley. They have such an intention to their music and that\u2019s what I want to have in my music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobken described \u201cintention\u201d as, \u201cServing the art in the most poignant way\u2014having artistic vision. I think of The Band. Whatever they did artistically was them telling the truth \u2013 in playing, arrangement and production.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobken\u2019s debut album, \u201cWhen It Happens to You,\u201d dropped in October 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had an EP, \u2018Detach,\u2019 in 2016,\u201d said Dobken. \u201cMy first time recording was doing a demo in 2013 called \u2018The Church Street Demo.\u2019 The EP was a little more structured.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2018, I released three singles from \u2018When It Happens to You\u2019 \u2013 \u2018Understand,\u2019 \u2018Everybody Wants,\u2019 and \u2018Always.\u2019 The album was recorded at Cedar Sounds in Oceanport, New Jersey. It took five months. It\u2019s not been the same with the new album.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobken has a new album ready to go \u2013 \u201cAcceptance.\u201d The first single from the LP, \u201cCruel, Cruel, Cruel,\u201d is scheduled to be released on September 13.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kinda cut it all over the place,\u201d said Dobken. \u201cWe used a lot of studios and a lot of producers. I was working with Eric Romero\u00a0(The Front Bottoms) and Paul Ritchie (The Parlor Mob) in New Jersey and Christopher Thorn (Blind Melon) in Joshua Tree (California). I also did some guitars and vocals at my house.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe album is done. It\u2019s mixed and mastered. We used a mixing engineer from Brooklyn \u2013 Kyle Joseph. It wasn\u2019t hard making the varied tracks work together. It was unified.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes sense. A huge proponent was that we were doing it during COVID. In a way, it was just a continued comedy of errors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new album is much heavier than what I\u2019ve done before. I\u2019m very proud of it. I\u2019ll release two or three singles by the end of the year and then put the album in early spring 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Rachel Ana Dobken — https:\/\/youtu.be\/21sNtcyTHfw<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 11th Annual Haverford Music Festival will run from noon-9 p.m. on September 9 with Dana Fuchs as the headliner. Rachel Ana Dobken will perform at 3:30 p.m. on the Oakmont Field Stage.<\/p>\n

Admission is FREE, a $5 donation per person is encouraged.<\/p>\n

The 2023 Philadelphia Fringe Festival (https:\/\/phillyfringe.org<\/a>) opens tonight and runs through September 24 at a variety of locations in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

One of the highlights will be the world premiere of\u00a0\u201cJust Like Hollywood,\u201d the latest movement theater work by Melanie Stewart. The show will be presented by Blind Faith Theatre in partnership with Cannonball Festival, an independent production hub of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.<\/p>\n

Written by\u00a0John Clancy\u00a0and directed by\u00a0Stewart,\u00a0the show features\u00a0Kylie Westerbeck and Dane Eissler.<\/p>\n

Performances at the Maas Studio in the Maas Building (1320 North 5th\u00a0Street, Philadelphia) are on September 10 and 17 at 2 and 5 p.m. each day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI began working on it a few years ago with Kylie Westerbeck,\u201d said Stewart, during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. \u201cWe knew we wanted to make a show \u2013 a one-woman show prompted by Roe v. Wade. It would be one woman in a room.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point, we realized we needed a writer. I asked John Clancy, and he came along for the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clancy\u00a0is a contemporary American playwright, novelist and director. He was a co-founder and first Artistic Director of the New York International Fringe Festival and its producing organization The Present Company. His written work centers mainly on the American experience and is characterized by dark humor and farce. His best-known play is\u00a0\u201cFatboy: An American Grotesque,\u201d a modern re-working of Alfred Jarry\u2019s\u00a0\u201cUbu Roi.\u201d<\/p>\n

His monologue\u00a0\u201cThe Event\u201d\u00a0premiered in Edinburgh in 2009 and has gone on to tour Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and the United States and has been translated into Greek and German. Clancy\u2019s directing has earned six Fringe First Awards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and two Best of Fringe Awards at the Adelaide Fringe Festival. He was awarded a 2005 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Direction and a 1997 New York Magazine Award.<\/p>\n

\u201cMelanie and I \u2013 we\u2019ve collaborated for decades,\u201d said Clancy. \u201cThere was no text. They just showed me wat they were working on. It was great for me because I always love a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stewart said, \u201cJohn was out in Illinois. We\u2019d send videos to Illinois and back. We decided it would be a two-person show. Ultimately, at the end of the day, it\u2019s about power.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did a daytime presentation in Kansas City and we weren\u2019t entirely satisfied. We thought \u2013 this isn\u2019t working. We need another person. Initially, it was one-person but the door was open. We worked Dane Eissler into the piece and the whole piece took on its own life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The result of a decade-long collaboration with Obie award-winning playwright Clancy,\u00a0\u201cJust Like Hollywood\u201d\u00a0explores the degradation of a young woman in contemporary America.<\/p>\n

On a bare stage, using only props supplied by a demanding and impatient master of ceremonies (Eisler), the woman (Westerbeck) must discover the key to unlock the cage in which he keeps her.<\/p>\n

Forced to perform and dance to please her captor she forces the audience to question at what point will she rebel.\u00a0 A rigorous and playful study of status and the eternal male\/female dance and duel, this dark comedy examines the trap ensnaring so many women today, an invisible but all-encompassing prison she is raised in and taught to accept, if not embrace.<\/p>\n

According to Stewart, \u201c\u2018Just Like Hollywood\u2019\u00a0was written in the wake of and in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. I see this play as a way to encourage audience to protest the fallout of this decision which has led to the most destructive and cruel treatment of women in our recent history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stewart\u00a0creates darkly absurd movement-driven theatre focusing on the nuanced, weird, and vulnerable side of American culture.\u00a0She\u00a0was the Artistic Director of Melanie Stewart Dance Theatre from 1984-2014, producing more than 50 original works of dance and movement driven theater for the concert stage, in dance\/film\/video, and in education, both nationally and abroad.<\/p>\n

As a critically acclaimed choreographer and director, she has received numerous fellowships and grants from such funders as the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, The National Endowment for the Arts, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and both the NJ and PA Council for the Arts. She is the winner of the 2008 Leigh Gerdine Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts.<\/p>\n

It was at Rowan where Stewart and Westerbeck first encountered each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very excited to be working with Kylie Westerbeck,\u201d said Stewart, who is the Associate Dean of the College of Performing Arts and as a Professor of Theatre and Dance at Rowan University. \u201cShe was my student at Rowan. We decided we wanted to do something together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI generally start with a character. I wanted to create something more universal \u2013 something that would hit the audience in its gut.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a part about Hollywood \u2013 and how we as a society \u2013 groom women to be subservient, prettier, obedient, thinner. People realize that they turn their daughters into beauty queens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust Like Hollywood\u201d is billed as \u201ca rigorous and playful study of status and the eternal male\/female dance and duel created in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. It examines the trap ensnaring so many women today, an invisible but all-encompassing prison she is raised in and taught to accept, if not embrace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy work has a dark undertones,\u201d said Stewart. \u201cIt\u2019s comedic with a dark side. This show is very real for us \u2013 the religious right \u2013 powerful white religions trying to dictated what women can do with their bodies. This country is changing and it\u2019s going backwards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe show is 45 minutes long and is very physical. And the piece has audience interaction. Dane Eissler\u2019s character is a one-trick pony \u2013 white, religious right, powerful male.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clancy said, \u201cThe audience members probably won\u2019t be on the man\u2019s side but they will be complicit in what he\u2019s doing through inactivity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Westerbeck is a musician, actor, and photographer based in the Tri-State area. She is a graduate of Rowan University where she obtained a B.A. in Theatre Arts with a concentration in Acting and received the Ann B Ward Medallion for the Performing Arts for her work across several artistic mediums. In addition to Rowan University, Kylie also studied clown\/Le Jeu with Philippe Gaulier at his private school in \u00c9tampes, France.<\/p>\n

Westerbeck has appeared locally in \u201cOur Town\u201d\u00a0at People\u2019s Light & Theatre Company. He has also appeared at other arae theaters in\u00a0\u201cNocturne,\u201d \u201cThe Lydie Breeze Triology,\u201d \u201cCurse of the Starving Class\u00a0and\u00a0Company,\u201d and \u201cWitness for the Prosecution.\u201d She has released original two albums \u2013 \u201cBello\u201d (2018) and \u201cSummertime\u201d (2019).<\/p>\n

Eissler\u00a0is a theater director, designer, performer, and educator, as well as a visual artist. In Philly, he has worked with Azuka Theatre, B.R.A.T. Productions, and EgoPo Classic Theater, where he served as Artistic Producer. In Chicago, Eissler was the founding artistic director of the multidisciplinary pop-up theater collective, A Dead Whale Productions, and also worked with Rough House Theater, Whiskey Rebellion Theatre, Women of the Now, MTV- and SAG-nominated comedian Megan Stalter\u2019s Freakfest, and The Annoyance Theatre.<\/p>\n

Melanie Stewart\/Blind Faith Theatre\u00a0brings artistic collaborators together to devise original theatre that is socially relevant focused on creating intimate relationships with audiences.\u00a0The projects of the company integrate movement, text, and image to explore the ability of the body to carry meaning in original narratives that are often ironic and intensely human.\u00a0\u201cJust Like Hollywood\u201d\u00a0is the first production of Blind Faith Theatre.<\/p>\n

Performances at the Maas Studio in the Maas Building (1320 North 5th\u00a0Street, Philadelphia) are on September 10 and 17 at 2 and 5 p.m. each day. Tickets at $25 and $50 are available at\u00a0https:\/\/phillyfringe.org\/events\/just-like-hollywood\/<\/a>.\u00a0 Pay what you can admission on a sliding scale ($5-$20) is also accepted.<\/p>\n

Jamey\u2019s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, 215-477-9985,\u00a0www.jameyshouseofmusic.com<\/a>) continues its tradition of presenting top quality blues music this weekend.<\/p>\n

Area music fans know that Jamey\u2019s House of Music is a primo spot to hear folk, jazz and blues music every Thursday through Sunday.<\/p>\n

The \u201cThursday Night Jazz Jam\u201d and the \u201cSunday Blues Brunch & Jam\u201d are regular features on Jamey\u2019s calendar while Friday and Saturday night shows feature national and regional acts.<\/p>\n

Headline acts are featured on Fridays and Saturdays.<\/p>\n

On September 8, Jamey\u2019s will present the Pi Jacobs Band and Daryl Shaw.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles musician Pi Jacobs is amplifying the concert experience on \u201cLive From Memphis,\u201d an inventive new album that places eight original songs alongside the personal stories that shaped them.\u00a0Recorded with a full band, the project offers a sincere and sometimes funny look at her formative years, her family relationships, and even a few lessons she\u2019s learned along the way.<\/p>\n

Daryl Shawn blends the guitar chops of flamenco and classical with a modern songwriter\u2019s sensibility and the energy of rock.<\/p>\n

Originally hailing from Amish farm country in rural Pennsylvania, Shawn has logged many miles in search of musical inspiration and communal experience. With a background in classical guitar, flamenco, jazz and edgy rock, as well as an abiding interest in music from around the globe, Shawn incorporates an unusually broad range of influences into his playing.<\/p>\n

On September 9, Jamey\u2019s will host The Paul Waltz Band along with the Herring Brothers.<\/p>\n

The Paul Waltz Band has been around the Chester County area for more than 25 years.\u00a0Noted for their intricate detail to song writing, they have received merit as the top unsigned band in the Philadelphia by Music Magazine in 1990.<\/p>\n

The \u201cThursday Night Jazz Jam\u201d will feature Greg Farnese.<\/p>\n

Disney Theatrical Productions, along with the Kimmel Cultural Campus and The Shubert Organization, celebrates the eagerly awaited return engagement of Disney\u2019s \u201cThe Lion King\u201d for a four-week summer engagement at the Academy of Music on the Kimmel Cultural Campus.<\/p>\n

The musical, which features music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice, opened on August 16 and is running now through September 10 at the Academy of Music (Broad and Locust streets, Philadelphia, 215-731-3333,\u00a0www.kimmelculturalcampus.org<\/a>), as part of the Kimmel Center\u2019s \u201cBroadway Series.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lion King\u201d\u00a0is a\u00a0stage musical\u00a0with a book\u00a0by\u00a0Roger Allers\u00a0and\u00a0Irene Mecchi, with additional music and lyrics by\u00a0Lebo M,\u00a0Mark Mancina,\u00a0Jay Rifkin,\u00a0Julie Taymor, and\u00a0Hans Zimmer. It is based on the 1994\u00a0Walt Disney Animation Studios\u2019 film\u00a0of the same name. Directed by Taymor, the musical features actors in animal costumes as well as giant, hollow\u00a0puppets. The show is produced by\u00a0Disney Theatrical Productions.<\/p>\n

After 25 landmark years on Broadway, \u201cThe Lion King\u201d continues its ascent as one of the most popular stage musicals in the world.\u00a0Since its premiere on November 13, 1997, 27 global productions have been seen by more than 112 million people.\u00a0Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions (under the direction of Thomas Schumacher), \u201cThe Lion King\u201d has made theatrical history with six productions worldwide running 15 or more years, with four of those running 20 or more years.<\/p>\n

The show, which is set in the jungle somewhere in Africa, tells the story of the lion Simba from his days as a newborn cub through his adult years and is filled with sub-plots and unexpected twists. The hyenas \u2013 Shenzi, Banzai and Ed \u2013 provide a bit of comic relief.<\/p>\n

With \u201cThe Lion King\u201d, the animated feature came first and then the Broadway show. The stage production is very similar to the movie. The story and the characters are exactly the same and so is a lot of the dialogue.\u00a0\u00a0The stage version \u201cThe Lion King\u201d is known for its elaborate costumes — outfits that transform human actors into jungle animals. It also wins over audiences with its lively, exotic music.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lion King\u201d won six 1998 Tony Awards — Best Musical, Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Choreography and Best Direction of a Musical.\u00a0\u00a0It has also earned more than 70 major arts awards including the 1998 NY Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical and the 1999 Grammy for Best Musical Show Album.<\/p>\n

One of the key players in the touring show is\u00a0Gugwana Dlamini<\/a>, who performs the role of\u00a0Rafiki, a Sangoma.<\/p>\n

Philadelphians can look forward to seeing two local cast members appearing on Pride Rock — Nick LaMedica, who plays the role of Zazu, is a native of Newark, Delaware. Ensemble member Eric Bean, Jr. is a graduate of Philadelphia\u2019s University of the Arts.<\/p>\n

The production features Peter Hargrave as \u201cScar,\u201d Gerald Ramsey as \u201cMufasa,\u201d Nick Cordileone as \u201cTimon,\u201d Nick LaMedica as \u201cZazu,\u201d John E. Brady as \u201cPumbaa,\u201d Darian Sanders as \u201cSimba,\u201d Forest VanDyke as \u201cBanzai,\u201d Martina Sykes as \u201cShenzi\u201d and Robbie Swift as \u201cEd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khalifa White will play \u201cNala\u201d from August 16 \u2013 20 and Syndee Winters will play the role from August 22 \u2013 September 10.<\/p>\n

The role of \u201cYoung Simba\u201d is alternated between Jackson Hayes and Mason Lawson\u00a0and the role of \u201cYoung Nala\u201d is alternated between Jaxyn Damasco\u00a0and Aniya Simone.<\/p>\n

Video link for \u201cThe Lion King\u201d —\u00a0https:\/\/youtu.be\/awqwdi1xakU<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tickets for \u201cThe Lion King\u201d range in price from $29-$189.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times On September 10, the City Winery (990 Filbert Street, Philadelphia, citywinery.com\/philadelphia) will host one of the most important artists of our time \u2013 musician, philanthropist, musicologist, and humanitarian activist Sharon\u00a0Katz.\u00a0She will be performing with her musical group The Peace Train. The Peace Train band features\u00a0Katz\u00a0on guitar and vocals, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7529],"tags":[6518,14392,13014],"class_list":["post-41650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-featured","tag-rachel-ana-dobken","tag-sharon-katz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41651,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41650\/revisions\/41651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}