Theater News

Alan Menken, Lisa Kron, and More Set for Encores! Off-Center Lobby Project

The series of free conversations will celebrate this summer’s lineup of shows.

Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff

| Off-Broadway |

June 20, 2016

Alan Menken will take part in the 2016 Encores! Off-Center Lobby Project series.
Alan Menken will take part in the 2016 Encores! Off-Center Lobby Project series.
(© Tristan Fuge)

New York City Center's Encores! Off-Center has announced this year's lineup for the Lobby Project series of free pre-show events.

The full list is as follows:

July 6 at 6:30pm — Liz Swados: Rarely Heard, Radically Loved
Liz Swados’ work reaches far beyond Runaways, and the world deserves to hear more of it. Kris Kukul, her
longtime collaborator and music director, curates an evening of rarely heard Swados works featuring
songwriter, actress, and Swados student Shaina Taub and additional performers from Swados’ cohort.

July 7 at 6:30pm — Manifest Pussy
An increasing portion of today's homeless youth are members of the LGBTQ community. Actress, writer,
and trans activist Shakina Nayfack explores her own transition in excerpts from her one-woman
show.

July 8 at 7pm — Where Do People Go When They Run Away?
The Ali Forney Center and New Alternatives Center for LGBT Youth provide much needed support for youth
who find themselves without homes. Encores! Off-Center artistic director Jeanine Tesori sits down with Bill Torres (Ali Forney Center) and Kate Barnhart (New Alternatives Center) for a conversation about the role of
these important organizations in today's urban environment.

July 9 at 1pm — Chicks With Picks
In honor of Swados’ strength as a musician and performer, singer-songwriters Grace McLean and Crystal
Monee Hall present an immersive concert of their own work and lead participants in a group piece.

July 9 at 7pm — The Way She Worked
Runaways director Sam Pinkleton and choreographer Ani Taj both studied with Liz Swados at NYU Tisch. In
this workshop, they will share her teaching philosophy and technique, leading audience participants in an
exercise and discussing their experiences working with her.

July 27 at 6:30pm — Menken Mixtape
In honor of the revival of Kurt Vonnegut’s God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, producers, house/electronic
musicians, spoken word artists, and music-makers of all styles are challenged to remix a work from
composer Alan Menken’s songbook — to sample it, adapt it, and make it their own. Winners will present
their pieces before the opening-night performance of God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater for Alan Menken
himself and receive an honorarium of $200.

July 28 at 6:30pm — The One Before
Many writers had extraordinary, seldom-heard shows hit the stage before their breakthrough work. Jen
Tepper, director of programming at Feinstein's/54 Below, curates this evening of songs from influential shows like In
Trousers
and Lucky Stiff that shaped the careers of Broadway legends.

July 29 at 7pm — Greed
TheatreMAMA curates this immersive event on the themes of greed, money, giving, and philanthropy.

July 30 at 1pm — Love and Legacy
Both Runaways and Kurt Vonnegut’s God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater were created by artists who left us far
too soon. Roz Lichter (the wife of Liz Swados) and Julie Larson (the sister of composer Jonathan Larson)
discuss their role in maintaining the integrity of the art left behind by those they love.

July 30 at 7pm — Give and Take
Tony Award winner Lisa Kron will explore the economic inequality of who gives, who takes, and who’s left
in the middle in the final Lobby Project event of the season.

For more information on this year's Encores! Off-Center season, click here.

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