Willie (William Beaufort) is using Kickstarter to fund the production of the album. The album is made up of old and new original compositions with all NYC based musicians. Please consider contributing.

Otto’s Shrunken Head
Saturday, July 2nd, 7:30 PM
538 East 14th Street, New York, NY
(212) 228-2240

Willie and the Wolves combine steamy Latin grooves, red hot R&B, jumpin’ jivin’ swing and (yes) a side order of waving-riding surf rock into a entertaining mix sure to delight (dazzle, even)

Update:

Below are two videos from the show and the lineup.

Vocals: Anne De Acetis
Guitar: Willie Wolf
Sax: Caras Paton
Trumpet: Fred Ginsberg
Bass: Tony Ventura
Drums: Keith Dorgan
Percussion: Alexander Rea

Shot by: Nicole Miller
Camera: Canon 5D MkII, build in microphone, 24-105mm

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQOWF3m2jQc

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0j-5UgQ_1k

Read the NYT Article on The Zipper's Closing

Above The Belt, an aerial showcase that I’ve helped Britt Nhi Sarah produce got it’s start in The Belt Theatre.  The Belt was a small cabaret space next to the Zipper Theatre and both were part of the venue known to most as The Zipper Factory.  Opened in 2001 it was home to such productions as “The Sensuous Woman” by Margaret Cho, “Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris,” “Jesus Is Magic” by Sarah Silverman, “Betty Rules” and Alan Cumming’s adaptation of Jean Genet’s “Elle.” The website is still live.  An eerie reminder of a great place.

Above The Belt started in the Belt space and moved next door when the Belt was turned over into the Tavern.  The grid and stage area remained and we staged what would become ourlast show to a packed house on December 18, 2009.  Suddenly, on January 14th 2009, the theatre abruptly closed.  No one saw it coming.  Not the managers, staff and least of all any of the acts including us. (Read the NYT article here)

Nine months later I was walking by coincidently enough with Britt Nhi.  We had just come from a nearby space where we were shopping the show and I noticed workers coming out pushing large demolition dumpsters.  I walked up and asked if the space was open.  They said yes and we walked in.  Below are photos of what we saw.  The entire space gutted.  Stripped clean down to the bone.  What was once one of the most unique theatre space I had ever seen in this country was now all but a memory.  I only wish I had as many photos of the place when it was alive.  I wish I knew where all of the well curated artifacts that littered the place are now.  And where did all the car seats go?  Warning, these photos may be shocking to some.

(p.s. If you have photos of theatre space, especially the lounge/bar area, please email them to me)

The Zipper Factory (2001- January 14, 2009)

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Katie Petterle debuts with a brand new show! Singing the greatest pop rock songs from the last 50 years, Katie and her accompanist, Greg Schlotthauer, sing favorites from the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Bob Marley, Carol King and more!

Kate Petterle grew up performing in theatres all over the Sacramento area. She attended The Boston Conservatory on a merit scholarship and moved to New York after graduating in 2001. She has been heard on TV singing the theme

song for the Saturday morning cartoon “Fighting Foodons” and on promotional ads for FOX’s Saturday morning cartoon lineup. Kate has also lent her voice to a number of characters on “Pokemon”. She is most proud of singing with The Boston Pops conducted by Keith Lockhart and recording music in Paris with popular jazz pianist Franc Monbaylet. Recently she was lucky enough to perform on California’s Central Coast with the Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts. Favorite roles included Marta in “Company”, Hattie in “Kiss Me Kate” and various characters in “Urinetown”

Metropolitan Room
34 West 22nd St Betw. 5th & 6th Ave.
New York, NY 10010
(212) 206-0440

20.00 Cover + 2 Beverage Minimum

Please become my fan at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alexander-Rea/260478881464

View Program

Book and lyrics by Daniel John Kelley

Music by Nick Moore

Music Director & Accompanist: Matt Vinson

Director: Peter James Cook

From the book and lyrics writer’s website:

So…the reading of PLAGUED happened Monday night, and boy howdy, was I proud. The show is in great shape- there’s still work to be done, but it’s a giant leap from where we were back in July. We had a great turn out, and the cast gave it all they had, and now we proceed onwards.

Suzanne Fiore

June 16th, 2008 Live Album Available at CD Baby

The cover is $20 with a two drink minimum.

With Ray Fellman on piano and Matt Scharfglass on bass.

The Metropolitan Room is located at 34 West 22nd Street (Google Map).

The recording from our June 16th show, Live At The Metropolitan Room, will be on sale at all of these shows and is also available now at CD Baby.

Suzanne Fiore, she is simply divine and we all knew we were lucky to witness her performances. This girl is a STAR, truly.

- Broadway.com

Fiore’s talent and confidence are impressive. She’s comfortable in front of an audience and makes eye contact easily and with true interest. Vocally, she possesses equal parts k.d. lang and Eden Espinosa though her sound is distinctively her own. For a minute there, I felt like I was watching a young Nancy LaMott which is the ultimate complement I can ever give anyone. ”

- David Hurst, Cabaret Scenes

Photo of band members Ray Fellman, Matt Scharfglass and Alexander Rea with guest signers Brandon Cutrell and Dawn Derow.

This lineup has been working together for almost two years. Our last performance together was at The Metropolitan Room on November 22nd, 2008. It was a fundraiser for Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. Two guest signers performed with us. Brandon Cutrell and Dawn Derow.

Suzanne Fiore

June 16th, 2008 Live Album Available at CD Baby

With Ray Fellman on piano and Matt Scharfglass on bass.

Call for reservations at 212-206-0440. The cover is $20 with a two drink minimum.

The Metropolitan Room is located at 34 West 22nd Street (Google Map).

The recording from our June 16th show, Live At The Metropolitan Room, will be on sale at all of these shows and is also available now at CD Baby.

Suzanne Fiore, she is simply divine and we all knew we were lucky to witness her performances. This girl is a STAR, truly.

- Broadway.com

Fiore’s talent and confidence are impressive. She’s comfortable in front of an audience and makes eye contact easily and with true interest. Vocally, she possesses equal parts k.d. lang and Eden Espinosa though her sound is distinctively her own. For a minute there, I felt like I was watching a young Nancy LaMott which is the ultimate complement I can ever give anyone. ”

- David Hurst, Cabaret Scenes

Photo of band members Ray Fellman, Matt Scharfglass and Alexander Rea with guest signers Brandon Cutrell and Dawn Derow.

This lineup has been working together for almost two years.  Our last performance together was at The Metropolitan Room on November 22nd, 2008.  It was a fundraiser for Alzheimer’s Awareness Month.  Two guest signers performed with us.  Brandon Cutrell and Dawn Derow.

This is my second time recording with AJ. AJ used a drum track last year for a tour with GOP. Both tracks include djembe, dumbek, tambourine, shakers and various other sounds. Both recordings took place at Context Studios.

Boleadoras are performers using essentially a ball on the end of string. A weapon actually. Below is from Wikipedia.

Bolas (from Spanish bola, “ball”, also known as boleadoras) are a throwing weapon similar to the surujin made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, designed to capture animals by entangling their legs. They are most famously used by the South American gauchos, but have been found in excavations of pre-Hispanic settlements, especially in Patagonia, where indigenous peoples used them to catch guanaco and ñandu.

Photos and video from the session.  (The white spots on the floor are from the bolas.)

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httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XGevobViPk

Here is more video found on YouTube of Boleadoras.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0l77pex5dE

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After two sold out shows in Los Angeles, RATED RSO: The Music and Lyrics of Ryan Scott Oliver will receive its New York premiere tonight!

Presently portraying the sexy schoolteachers, provocative rent-boys, and obsessive homicidal teenagers of Oliver’s works will be Broadway talents Alex Brightman (Wicked, Glory Days), Morgan Karr (Spring Awakening), Natalie Weiss (Wicked), Jay Johnson (Hair, A Chorus Line), and Lindsay Mendez (Grease, Everyday Rapture), with Geoff Kidwell, Mat Burrow, Lyle Mackston, Katie Gassert, Cait Doyle, Grace Wall, and introducing Jennifer DeRosa.

Travis Greisler directs the evening, which will include several of Oliver’s better-known tunes, including “Lost Boy,” “Out of My Mind,” “When Lily Came,” “Never” and “Mrs. Sharp.”  Showtime is at 11:30pm and at the time of this posting, the show is sold-out.

Become a fan of the show on Facebook

Ryan Scott Oliver is a 2009 Jonathan Larson Grant recipient and wrote the music and lyrics for Mrs. Sharp (2008 Richard Rodgers Award Winner, formerly Alive at Ten), Darling (Pace New Musicals 2009), the song cycle Out of My Head, music for Angus Oblong’s The Debbies and music and co-lyrics for the hit YouTube TV show The Battery’s Down.  His work has been presented in showcases including the Disney/ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, Goodspeed Musicals, William Finn & Barrington Stages, The York Theatre, Monday Nights New Voices, the Festival of New American Musicals in Los Angeles, and most recently The Ryan Scott Oliver Project conceived by Philly Music Theatre Works.  He is a Dramatists Guild Fellow, and the recipient of numerous awards including the first-ever ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Award for Excellence in Lyric Writing.  Currently he is working on an untitled show for TheatreworksUSA which will open off-Broadway in 2010.  B.A. Music Composition, UCLA; M.F.A. Musical Theatre Writing, NYU-Tisch, a proud member of A.S.C.A.P.

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Above The Belt, the monthly aerial show that I am producing with Britt Nhi Sarah is back. After losing our monthly residency when the late great Zipper closed we’ve taken the show on the road.

Next up, March 26th at the Bleecker Street Theatre!  45 Bleekcer St., NYC. Map

Showtime is 8:00pm.  Ticket’s are $25 and can be purchased at the door or online at Telecharge.

Above the Belt is an aerial showcase that has been dazzling New York audiences for the past three years. It is committed to the city’s reputation as the most innovative stage on earth and every show is new and fresh with a constantly evolving line-up of the most essential aerial artists.

Learn more about Above The Belt at our website.