NYC Free Summer Series

Pete C · May-19th-2003, 08:16 AM

Here's a NY Times preview of Summerstage & Celebrate Brooklyn. I'll post the full schedules when they become available, as well as Lincoln Center Out of Doors.

May 15, 2003
For Summer Listening in Two Parks
By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Two of New York's popular summer concert series have announced their seasons without resorting to a fare hike: they are still free. Mostly.

Central Park SummerStage's 18th season, presented by the City Parks Foundation, will have 30 free events from June 14 to Aug. 28. The 25th season of Celebrate Brooklyn!, given by Brooklyn Information and Culture in Prospect Park, will offer 23 free events from June 12 to Aug. 17.

Highlights at SummerStage include a preview of Martin Scorsese's latest film project, "The Blues," a concert for the 60th anniversary of Janis Joplin's birth and a 50th-anniversary tribute to The Paris Review with George Plimpton.

"The Blues," which opens SummerStage on June 14, is a compilation of seven interpretive films by Mr. Scorsese, Charles Burnett, Clint Eastwood, Wim Wenders, Richard Pearce, Marc Levin and Mike Figgis, to be shown on PBS in the fall. Excerpts totaling 100 minutes from all but Mr. Scorsese's and Mr. Eastwood's films will be shown.

Among the free concerts at SummerStage this season are Chaka Khan with her daughter Indira Khan, on July 5; the Senegalese band Orchestra Baobab, which re-formed after two decades and played SummerStage last year after two decades, on July 6; the British band Tindersticks and the new-music group Flux Quartet, on July 31; a tribute to Joplin with members of her two bands Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Kozmic Blues Band, on July 27; Sonny Rollins on Aug. 9; and the tongue-in-cheek rock-gospel group Polyphonic Spree with the Total Praise Gospel Choir of Brooklyn, which is not tongue-in-cheek, on Aug. 16. The last free concert of the season will be Bembeya Jazz from Guinea with Randy Weston's African Rhythms, on Aug. 17.

Other programs include the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble of India, the Kothegna Dance Company from Ivory Coast and the American Indian group Thunderbird Dancers. There will be a spoken-word program called "You Talkin' to Me?: New Yorkers on the Edge," presented with the literary group the Moth, and readings by Zadie Smith and Louis Edwards on July 24.

For the Paris Review tribute, on Aug. 5, Mr. Plimpton said that participants could include Paul Auster, Norman Mailer and Joanna Scott. At a news conference on Tuesday he said, "We hope to get them to read excerpts from what they wrote" for the magazine and its new anthology, "The Paris Review Book of Heartbreak, Madness, Sex, Love, Betrayal, Outsiders, Intoxication, War, Whimsy, Horrors, God, Death, Dinner, Baseball, Travels, the Art of Writing and Everything Else in the World Since 1953."

Celebrate Brooklyn! opens on June 12 with Joan Armatrading and includes Rosanne Cash; a Leonard Cohen tribute, organized by Hal Willner with Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Rufus and Martha Wainwright; the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis; the Brooklyn Philharmonic with Lillias White; a series of silent films with accompaniment by the Jazz Passengers and others; the annual African festival with Salif Keita and Oliver Mtukudzi; and a four-part Latin music series with India, Cafe Tacuba and Yerba Buena.

The festivals receive funds from corporate and institutional sponsors, but they also give several benefit concerts with tickets up to $50. SummerStage will have eight benefits, starting June 26 and 27 with Sonic Youth and Wilco, and including Elvis Costello, the White Stripes, Ani DiFranco, and the Indigo Girls. Celebrate Brooklyn! benefits have not been announced. For information: www.summerstage.org and www.brooklynx.org.

Pete C · May-19th-2003, 03:23 PM

CENTRAL PARK SUMMERSTAGE 2003
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

All artists, dates and times subject to change

Log on to SummerStage.org next week for full event descriptions or pick up the June 5th issue of Time Out New York for a full 2003 season program guide.

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OPENING WEEKEND June 14/15, 2003
YEAR OF THE BLUES
Celebrating 100 years of the Blues

Saturday, June 14, 2003 7:00PM
THE BLUES
CHRIS THOMAS KING
SummerStage presents a sneak preview and the New York debut of Martin Scorsese's "The Blues," featuring excerpts from interpretive films directed by Scorsese, Charles Burnett, Clint Eastwood, Mike Figgis, Marc Levin, Richard Pearce and Wim Wenders. The series, sponsored by Volkswagen of America, will air this fall on PBS.

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Sunday, June 15, 2003 7:00PM
JOHNNY WINTER – [Beaumont, Texas]
JAMES COTTON BAND – [Tunica, Mississippi]

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Saturday June 21, 2003 3:00PM
Global Family Day
KOTHEGNA DANCE COMPANY – [Cote d’Ivoire, Africa]
GALUMPHA – [Binghamton, NY]
THUNDERBIRD DANCERS – [Native American]

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Sunday, June 22, 2003 3:00 PM
DANIELA MERCURY – [Bahia, Brazil]
DJ Set: DJ Marlboro and funkCarioca – [Rio de Janiero, Brazil]

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Thursday and Friday, June 26 and 27, 2003 6:30 PM
Benefit Concert for SummerStage
WILCO – [Chicago, Il]
SONIC YOUTH – [NYC]
*TICKETS $30.00
June 26 is sold out

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Saturday, June 28, 2003 3:00 PM
Iceland Naturally
SINGAPORE SLING
APPARAT ORGAN QUARTET
TRABANT
MC: Steindor Anderson
Three of Rejkyavik's finest.

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Sunday, June 29, 2003 3:00 PM
Canada Day
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT
DANIEL LANOIS
THE DEARS
SARAH SLEAN
Our annual musical birthday party for our neighbors to the north.

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Wednesday, July 2, 2003 7:00 PM
Year Of The Blues
OUMOU SANGARE – [Mali, Africa]
RAMATA DIAKITE – [Mali, Africa]

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Saturday, July 5, 2003 3:00 PM
CHAKA KHAN – [USA]
INDIRA KHAN - [USA]
DJ Sets: Timmy Regisford and Friends – [NYC]
In Association with Club Shelter
Suggested Donation of $10

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Sunday, July 6, 2003 3:00 PM
ORCHESTRA BAOBAB – [Senegal, Africa]
SIERRA MAESTRA – [Havana, Cuba]

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Wednesday, July 9, 2003 8:30 PM
Dance
NRITYAGRAM DANCE ENSEMBLE – [India]
MOLISSA FENLEY & DANCERS – [Canada/USA]
One of the foremost proponents of Odissi style of classical Indian dance, India's Nrityagram will perform excerpts of SRI – In Search of the Goddess accompanied by live musicians. Fenley’s repertoire will include two trios, 331 inspired by Japanese tea ceremony and Delta, with a score by John Cage, and also Water Music inspired by the text and music of Joy Harjo.

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Thursday, July 10, 2003 7:00 PM
GOTAN PROJECT – [Paris, France]
AKUA DIXON’S QUARTETTE INDIGO – [NYC]

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Friday, July 11, 2003 6:30 PM
Benefit Concert for SummerStage
ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTORS – [United Kingdom]
*TICKETS $50.00

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Saturday, July 12, 2003 3:00 PM
De La Soul - [NYC]

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Sunday, July 13, 2003 3:00 PM
New Zealand Rocks
KING KAPISI
GREG JOHNSON
WAI
PINE
A kaleidoscopic tour of New Zealand through its music.

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Wednesday, July 16, 2003 7:00 PM
Benefit Concert for SummerStage
ANI DIFRANCO (Solo Performance) – [Buffalo, NY]
*TICKETS $32.50
Solo performance

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Thursday, July 17, 2003 7:30 PM
Word
THE MOTH presents “You Talkin’ to Me? New Yorkers on the Edge”
The art of storytelling with a flourish: one theme, six storytellers, ten minutes each (and one violin). Deborah Harry, Jessi Kline, Shelagh Ratner, Rudy Rush, and Colin Quinn. Hosted by Andy Borowitz

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Friday, July 18, 2003 8:30 PM
Dance
HEIDI LATSKY DANCE - [New York]
RISA JAROSLOW & DANCERS - [New York]
Latsky will perform excerpts from “Bound” and other repertory pieces. Jaroslow will perform “Strings Attached,” in collaboration with Obie award-winning composer Deidre Murray.

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Sunday, July 20, 2003 3:00 PM
VIVE LA WORLD featuring Natacha Atlas – [UK], Electro Bamako – [Mali/France], DuOud – [Tunisia, Algeria, France], So Kalmery – [Africa/France]

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Wednesday, July 23, 2003 6:30 PM
Benefit Concert for SummerStage
THE WHITE STRIPES – [Detroit, MI]
SOLD OUT

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Thursday, July 24, 2003 7:30 PM
Word
ZADIE SMITH – [UK]
LOUIS EDWARDS – [New Orleans, LA]
Brit sensation Smith continues to chart her own literary territory in The Autograph Man. Guggenheim Fellowship Edwards spins a tale of African-Americana in Oscar Wilde Discovers America.

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Friday, July 25, 2003 8:30 PM
NICHOLASLEICHTERDANCE – [NYC]
DOUG ELKINS DANCE – [NYC]
nicholasleichterdance will premiere a new segement of "Never End", with live music by Jonathan Mele. Elkins will perform "I Hear Mermaids Singing" and excerpts from "Narcoleptic Lovers"

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Saturday, July 26, 2003 3:00PM
AFRO CELTS – [Ireland/Africa/UK]
SUSHEELA RAHMAN – [India/UK]

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Sunday, July 27, 2003 5:00 PM
Year Of The Blues
A TRIBUTE TO JANIS! A 60 Year Celebration of the Birth of Janis Joplin
BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY, members of KOZMIC BLUES BAND
and very, very special guests
Suggested Donation of $10.00

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Thursday, July 31, 2003 7:00 PM
TINDERSTICKS and STRINGS – [United Kingdom]
FLUX quartet and special guest artist DAVID FIRST – [NYC]

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Friday, August 1, 2003 8:30 PM
REGGIE WILSON FIST & HEEL PERFORMANCE GROUP – [NYC]
RUBBER BAND DANCE GROUP – [Canada]
Wilson’s eclectic company of dancers, shouters and actors combines the movement of the blues and spiritual cultures of Africans with post-modern elements. Rubberbanddance group melds the raw dynamic of hip-hop with the understanding of neo-classicism.

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Saturday, August 2, 2003 3:00 PM
ELY GUERRA – [Mexico]
AVENTURA – [Dominican Republic]
DJ Set: Tony Touch [Puerto Rico]

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Sunday, August 3, 2003 7:00 PM
SPARKS – [Los Angeles]
JUNIOR SENIOR – [Denmark]

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Tuesday, August 5, 2003 7:30 PM
Word
PARIS REVIEW 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Appearances by an array of contributors to the renowned literary and poetry journal from the last fifty years. Hosted by George Plimpton.

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Saturday, August 9, 2003 7:00 PM
SONNY ROLLINS – [NYC]
Suggested Donation of $10.00

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Sunday, August 10, 2003 3:00 PM
JIMMY CLIFF – [Jamaica, WI]
MORGAN HERITAGE – [Jamaica, WI]
Suggested Donation of $10.00

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Thursday, August 14, 2003 6:30 PM
Benefit Concert for SummerStage produced by Clear Channel Entertainment
INDIGO GIRLS – [Atlanta, GA]

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Friday, August 15, 2003 7:30 PM
Word
YANN MARTEL – [Canada]
JULIA GLASS – [NYC]
Martel’s fantastical “Life of Pi” won the 2002 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. Glass’s debut novel, “Three Junes,” was the recipient of the 2002 National Book Award for Fiction.

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Saturday, August 16, 2003 3:00 PM
POLYPHONIC SPREE – [Austin, Texas]
TOTAL PRAISE GOSPEL CHOIR – [Brooklyn, NY]

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Sunday, August 17 3:00 PM
BEMBEYA JAZZ – [Guinea, Africa]
RANDY WESTON’S AFRICAN RHYTHMS – [Brooklyn, NY]

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Wednesday, August 20, 2003 6:30 PM
Benefit Concert for SummerStage produced by Clear Channel Entertainment
AIMEE MANN – [Los Angeles, CA]
BEN FOLDS – [NYC]
*TICKETS $40.00

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Thursday, August 28, 2003 6:00 PM
Benefit Concert for SummerStage produced by Made Events
PAUL VAN DYK – [Berlin, Germany]
*TICKETS: $30.00 in advance/$35 day of show

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*Benefit Concert Tickets
Tickets for Wilco/Sonic Youth, Elvis Costello & the Impostors, Indigo Girls and Aimee Mann/Ben Folds are available at all Ticketmaster locations (or visit www.ticketmaster.com) and at the Irving Plaza box office (cash only, no service charge). For more information about Irving Plaza box office sales call 212.777.1224.

Tickets for Ani DiFranco are available now at all Ticketmaster locations (or visit www.ticketmaster.com) and at the Beacon Theatre box office. For more information about box office sales call 212.496.7070.

Tickets for Paul van Dyk are available at www.ticketweb.com

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Pete C · May-19th-2003, 03:28 PM

2003 Celebrate Brooklyn! Performance Schedule

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All performers, dates and times subject to change

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Thursday, June 12, 2003
8:00pm
JOAN ARMATRADING
For 30 years she has been one of popular music’s most original and inspiring artists, and she kicks off our 25th Anniversary Season with a rare FREE performance.
More info
25TH BIRTHDAY PARTY GALA
5:30PM
Reserved concert seats plus cocktails, dinner & dancing
Tickets $250 and up. Call (718) 855-7882 x12

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Friday, June 13
7:30pm
SPANISH HARLEM ORCHESTRA
ALFREDO DE LA FE
Authentic NYC salsa doesn’t come any hotter than the Spanish Harlem Orchestra.
More info

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Saturday, June 14
7:30pm
BLACKALICIOUS
SEKOU SUNDIATA
Blackalicious, one of the most furiously articulate, soulful, and eclectic rap duos on the planet, brings its progressive West Coast flavor to the Big Apple.
More info

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Friday, June 20
7:30pm
ROSANNE CASH
Rosanne Cash has made a triumphant return with her first studio album in a decade. Performing live, she proudly lives up to one of the great names in American music.
More info

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Saturday, June 21
7:30pm
BENEFIT CONCERT:
ERYKAH BADU
$50 ADVANCE / $60 DAY OF SHOW
The iconoclastic R&B princess and two time Grammy Award winner graces the Bandshell with her voice of liquid fire in a concert to benefit Celebrate Brooklyn.
More info

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Sunday, June 22
6:00pm
THE SAW DOCTORS
PADRAIG STEVENS
Irish roots-rock champions The Saw Doctors make a triumphant return to Brooklyn for one of their legendary shows.
More info

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Friday, June 27
7:30pm
THE ABYSSINIANS
MARCIA DAVIS & OUTRO
Roots revolutionaries The Abyssinians changed the face of reggae with their dark melodies, honey-smooth harmonies, and transcendent Rastafarian spirituality.
More info

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Saturday, June 28
7:30pm
HAL WILLNER’S LEONARD COHEN PROJECT:
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT
KATE & ANNA MCGARRIGLE
MARTHA WAINWRIGHT
MARC RIBOT
AND MANY MORE...
A host of special guest performers — including some surprise additions that will have you rubbing your eyes in disbelief — fête Canadian poet/songwriter extraordinaire Leonard Cohen with interpretations of his music and writing in a once-in-a-lifetime concert.
More info

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Thursday, July 3
8:00pm
LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA
WITH WYNTON MARSALIS
Friends of Celebrate Brooklyn at the "Close Friend" level and above are invited to an exclusive pre-concert reception. Click here for information on how to become a Friend of Celebrate Brooklyn.
Wynton Marsalis leads the incomparable LCJO back to CB for an evening of world-class jazz from its vast repertoire.
More info

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Saturday, July 5
7:30pm
CUCO VALOY
NUEVA ERA
Grand master salsero/merenguero Cuco Valoy, known as El Brujo, (the Sorcerer), has endured as one of the Dominican Republic’s greatest singers
More info

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Friday, July 11
8:00pm
DANCE BRAZIL

Dance Brazil dedicates itself to introducing the delights of Afro-Brazilian movement to America.
More info

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Saturday, July 12
7:30pm
CHAVA ALBERSTEIN
EVE'S WOMEN
With a career spanning nearly 50 albums, Chava Alberstein is one of Israel’s most dynamic and important musicians and an international folk icon — world music’s answer to Joan Baez.
More info

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Thursday, July 17
7:30pm
FILM SERIES:
THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON — IN 3-D!!!
with THE JAZZ PASSENGERS
GUY KLUCEVESEK & PHILLIP JOHNSTON
Creature feature! Led by sax guru Roy Nathanson, The Jazz Passengers do a radio play-style take on the 1954 3-D camp classic Creature From the Black Lagoon, turning off the sound and doing the voices and music themselves as the film rolls.
More info

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Friday, July 18
7:30pm
STEPHEN MALKMUS & JICKS
SHANNON McNALLY

The mastermind behind Pavement, the 1990s’ most influential (and wickedly playful) indie rock outfit, Malkmus has continued his musical innovation with new band the Jicks.
More info

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Saturday, July 19
7:30pm
THE DEREK TRUCKS BAND
TONY TRISCHKA BAND
SCRAPOMATIC

Slide guitar wunderkind Derek Trucks churns out a blazing mix of blues, R&B, early rock & roll, and classic jazz with startling virtuosity.
More info

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Thursday, July 24
7:30pm
FILM SERIES: BLACK PIRATE with ALLOY ORCHESTRA
ETHEL

Death and revenge on the high seas! Come see the ever-exhilarating Alloy Orchestra perform its new original score to The Black Pirate.
More info

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Friday, July 25
8:00pm
BROOKLYN PHILHARMONIC
with LILLIAS WHITE
Friends of Celebrate Brooklyn at the "Close Friend" level and above are invited to an exclusive pre-concert reception. Click here for information on how to become a Friend of Celebrate Brooklyn.
The divine Lillias White, borough native and Broadway superstar lends her heavenly voice to the Brooklyn Philharmonic for a performance full of show-stopping selections from the American songbook.
More info

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Saturday, July 26
2:00 - 9:00
AFRICAN FESTIVAL:
SALIF KEITA
OLIVER MTUKUDZI AND THE BLACK SPIRITS
GOKH-BI SYSTEM
VUSI MAHLASELA
DOMINIC KANZA
KWAKU KWAAKYE OBENG
Enjoy a full day of music from all over Africa. From rap to Congolese Rumba to masterful drumming there's something to move everyone's body and spirit.
More info

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Friday, August 1
7:30pm
FILM SERIES: VERTIGO
THE FOUR BAGS
Hitchcock’s phobia classic Vertigo lights up our massive screen with a deadly game of deceit and intrigue played out on the rooftops of San Francisco.
More info

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Saturday, August 2
7:30pm
DONNIE
JODY WATLEY
With roots deep in gospel, the voice of an R&B angel, and royal blood running in his veins (he’s Marvin Gaye’s second cousin), superstar-in-the-making Donnie is the smoothest new addition to the reigning neo-soul pantheon. Pop diva Jody Watley is fabulous as ever.
More info

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Sunday, August 3
2:00 - 9:00pm
Budweiser Latin Music Series
INDIA
BORICUA FESTIVAL
India headlines our Boricua festival, a celebration of Puerto Rican culture for the whole family featuring food, crafts, and a some great local artists to keep you dancing into the evening.
More info

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Wednesday, August 6
7:30pm
KEELY GARFIELD
JAMEL GAINES
Choreographers-in-residence Garfield and Gaines hold an open rehearsal/lecture/workshop at the Prospect Park Picnic House to share their methods and Techniques used in creating new work for Celebrate Brooklyn.
More info

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Thursday, August 7
7:30pm
FILM SERIES: GUYS AND DOLLS
THE HOWARD FISHMAN QUARTET
Brando sings, Sinatra acts, and a Roaring ‘20s New York is awash in lowlife crooks and high stakes gamblers in Guys and Dolls, the wide-screen cinemascope musical to end all musicals.
More info

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Friday, August 8
8:00pm
SINISTER SLAPSTICK
CREATIVE OUTLET DANCE THEATER OF BROOKLYN
Rising star choreographers Jamel Gaines, founder of the Creative Outlet, and Keely Garfield, director of Sinister Slapstick, each present electrifying new works commissioned by Celebrate Brooklyn!
More info

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Saturday, August 9
7:00pm
Budweiser Latin Music Series
CAFÉ TACUBA
YERBA BUENA
SIDESTEPPER
Heating up traditional Latin music with a volcanic deluge of ska, rock, and hip hop, the unstoppable Café Tacuba has been Mexico’s most exciting and creative band for more than a decade.
More info

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Saturday & Sunday, August 16 & 17
BENEFIT CONCERTS
TO BE ANNOUNCED
Each summer we present stellar events that offer a rare opportunity to see amazing artists while providing support that helps to underwrite the cost of Celebrate Brooklyn’s free performances. Keep an eye out, as we will announce the artists and ticket locations for these and other dates soon.
More info

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