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Playthings Theatre presents:

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Playfresh: MOTHER HAS ARRIVED

Honoring: Shequida Hall and Melissa D'Andrea

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Including Landau's song cycle "The Coin Toss" and more.

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Monday, September 25th
7:00PM

The Church of The Village
201 W13th St
New York, NY 10011

Drag Hosts: Hedie Haux & Ruby Roo!

Performances by: Jonathan Christopher, Kerry Conte, Matt Gordon, Bill Irwin, T.Rex, and more Broadway Stars waiting in the wings!

Works by: Ryan Amador, Jake Landau, Roger Q Mason, Billy Reece, Micah Young, and many more!

Ticket On Sale August 25th

Join George Abud & Katrina Lenk for a return engagement of their sold-out Birdland show “Swung”, featuring a sizzling selection of songs from the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Jordan, Marlene Dietrich, Kay Thompson, Umm Kulthum, and many more.

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Jake Landau music-directs a 5-piece band from the piano, featuring Dan Berkery on drums, Sam Sadigursky on reeds, Yuka Tadano on bass, and Harvey Valdes on guitar, this will be a dreamy, madcap soirée of talk and tunes.

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November 6th, 2023

Doors 5:30pm; Show 7:00pm

Following 2021's world premiere in Italy, Jake Landau and Andrea DelGiudice's one-act opera "Pietà" holds its American premiere.

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"Pietà" was written to pair with Puccini's Suor Angelica, focusing on Puccini's antagonist, "La Zia Principessa" and her early relationships with Angelica, Genovieffa, and Angelica's lost baby boy. The two one-act operas will be presented as intended, together.

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Music by Jake Landau

Libretto by Jake Landau and Andrea DelGiudice.

Pietà // Suor Angelica directed and conceived by Andrea DelGiudice.

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INTRODUCTION

Venice,the early 1700s. Winter.

Cast against the dark, sinful city, the Ospedale della Pietà glows with hope, humor, and music. The Pietà is an orphanage that takes girls off the street and trains them to sing and play instruments, forming one of Europe’s most elite orchestras. These figlie (“daughters”of the Pietà) only ever perform from behind an impenetrable lattice, hidden from their audiences for propriety’s sake. They are cared for within the walls, but they are kept under strict lock and key by the religious officials who run the institution.

The Pietà’s two wealthy Padroni (masters),Ugo and Editta, have a teenage “grandson” named Giorgio, though their relationship is not quite so simple. Giorgio is in love with a figlia named Genovieffa, but when he takes her home to meet his grandparents, those long-repressed family secrets rush to the surface. His “grandmother” Editta, Suor Angelica’s“La Zia Principessa”, sees a chance through Genovieffa to fight her way out of years of shame and denial over what she did to her young niece Angelica—and to Angelica’s own baby, Giorgio.

"I Found The Light", a work for high school chorus, orchestra, and band, was commissioned by the Staples High School Music Department in Westport, CT. Featuring a text by Emily Garber, the work will be premiered by the SHS Music Department at their annual Candlelight Concert in December.

"I Found The Light" is a secular piece designed for performance around the winter holidays, about 7-minutes long, following the journey of one walking home through winter snow.

Off-Brand Opera presents: a reading of PIETÀ, by Jake Landau and Andrea DelGiudice

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In 2020, the world premiere of Pietà was delayed due to Covid. In response, director Andrea DelGiudice and composer/librettist Jake Landau collaborated with filmmaker Jacob Maximillian Baron to debut the piece in an innovative documentary film format, winning highest laurels from The People's Film Festival, RAGFF New York City, and more. 2021 saw the work's live premiere in Italy at The Narnia Festival, and now, in 2023, the American premiere will be produced by Oklahoma City University's prestigious opera and musical theater program.

In preparation for this production, Andrea and Jake have joined forces with Off-Brand Opera to present the music of Pietà for the first time in NYC this September in a public industry reading that features world-class performers including Devony Smith, Claire Leyden, and Jordan Pitts.

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Pietà is an opera in one-act written to pair with Puccini's Suor Angelica.

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INTRODUCTION

Venice,the early 1700s. Winter.            

Cast against the dark, sinful city, the Ospedale della Pietà glows with hope, humor, and music. The Pietà is an orphanage that takes girls off the street and trains them to sing and play instruments, forming one of Europe’s most elite orchestras. These figlie (“daughters”of the Pietà) only ever perform from behind an impenetrable lattice, hidden from their audiences for propriety’s sake. They are cared for within the walls, but they are kept under strict lock and key by the religious officials who run the institution.

The Pietà’s two wealthy Padroni (masters),Ugo and Editta, have a teenage “grandson” named Giorgio, though their relationship is not quite so simple. Giorgio is in love with a figlia named Genovieffa, but when he takes her home to meet his grandparents, those long-repressed family secrets rush to the surface. His “grandmother” Editta, Suor Angelica’s “La Zia Principessa”, sees a chance through Genovieffa to fight her way out of years of shame and denial over what she did to her young niece Angelica—and to Angelica’s own baby, Giorgio.

Visual art by Scott Rubén LaMarca.

Writer and performer Nathaniel Jones brings his original play "Sing, River" to The Hope Theatre in London and The Pleasance Courtyard at Edinburgh Fringe.

The music of the show's title song, "Sing, River", is by Landau, the lyrics by Jones.

The Hope Theatre, London:

Website

Edinburgh Fringe:

Website

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That feeling, the one in my toes and my skin, the sunrise, the glow… what if that was never right in the first place?

‍Midsummer comes but once a year. As the seasons shift like clockwork and dawn waits on the horizon, there are secrets lurking on the riverbed. Darkness can cover a great many horrors, but now the river sings.

Weaving together an original folk score and tales from a romance best forgotten, Sing, River invites us into the hidden world of British mythology. Love Song Productions present a new queer solo show that explores the act of severing yourself from dark memories in order to survive… and the sometimes unwanted consequences that come with it.Are you ready to be swallowed into the depths of the Thames?

Content warnings: references to abuse and abusive relationships

As part of Landau's third summer at The Narnia Festival, his works will be heard at the following concerts:

9:30pm Wednesday, July 5th in Terni

9:30pm Saturday, July 8th in Narni ("Favole Sottosopra")

9:30pm Tuesday, July 11th in Amelia

Noon Saturday, July 15th in Narni ("Favole Incantate")

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Highlights from his operas "Pietà" and "& Aeterna" will be performed by The Narnia Festival Orchestra conducted by Andrea Alessandrini.

Conceived and musically adapted by Jake Landau, "Riders To The Sea, the musical" is an experimental new work transforming the eponymous opera by Ralph Vaughan Williams into a contemporary musical.

With dramaturgical adaptation and new dialogue by Phoebe Corde, the play by John Millington Synge on which the show is based transforms into something entirely unique.

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Off-Brand Opera's production of Riders to the Sea asks a simple question: What is the difference between opera and musical theater? This adaptation by Phoebe Corde and Jake Landau features for the first time a cast of musical theater performers, despite its performance history as an opera. Through reverent dramaturgical and musical transformation, Riders becomes a new musical with its most modern dramatic and musical moments newly illuminated in this profoundly experimental production.

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Music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, adapted by Jake Landau

Libretto by John Millington Synge, adapted by Phoebe Corde

Also featuring text by William Shakespeare, Robert Louis Stevenson, and more. Additional music comes from Vaughan Williams's diverse output of song cycles, symphonies, and choral work.

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Directed by George Abud

Music directed by Jake Landau

Produced by Off-Brand Opera

Featuring Clarum Sonum conducted by Rider Foster

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Cast:

Sydney Kamel as AILBHE

Sam Hoffman as BARTLEY

Camille Umoff as CATHLEEN

Christine Duncan as MAURYA

Michelle Pauker as NORA

Cecilia Carollo as SIOBHAN

Legendary saxophonist and composer John Harle leads Guildhall's Bauhaus Band in the premiere of Landau's song cycle for soloists, choir, and chamber orchestra. "The Broken Rope" is composed on poetry by Bertold Brecht translated into English by leading poets and Brecht scholars Tom Kuhn and David Constantine.

Legendary saxophonist and composer John Harle leads Guildhall's Bauhaus Band in the premiere of Landau's song cycle for soloists, choir, and chamber orchestra. "The Broken Rope" is composed on poetry by Bertold Brecht translated into English by leading poets and Brecht scholars Tom Kuhn and David Constantine.

Legendary saxophonist and composer John Harle leads Guildhall's Bauhaus Band in the premiere of Landau's song cycle for soloists, choir, and chamber orchestra. "The Broken Rope" is composed on poetry by Bertold Brecht translated into English by leading poets and Brecht scholars Tom Kuhn and David Constantine.

The York Theatre Company is excited to launch their GenYork Concert, featuring composers, librettists, and performers under the age of 35. The concert includes Landau's "The Coin Toss" and an excerpt from his and librettist Sara Gottlieb's musical Rosie.

The concert will take place at 7:30 at The Theatre at St. Jean's on Monday evening, April 17, 2023. Tickets here.

Off-Brand On-Target:

An Evening of Arrows and Arias

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Celebrate queerness in theater and archery with this unique event from Off-Brand Opera and Wild Captives at Industry City!

Try your hand at the archery range while Off-Brand Opera artists perform a concert of opera and theater excerpts, featuring Landau's "The Coin Toss" as well as excerpts from the musical Psyche, the opera Pieta, and more. Enjoy an open bar (suggested donation) and come dressed to party as the epic characters and creatures that fill both operatic and fantasy lore!

Off-Brand Opera and Wild Captives share the mission of promoting and celebrating equity and inclusion in their fields. All donations received will be used to further this mission in upcoming projects.

Devony Smith, mezzo, and Danny Zelibor, piano, present an exclusive recital of art song, opera, and musical theatre including "Mary's Song" by Jake Landau.

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Tuesday, March 14th

7-9pm

Sam Gravitte, last seen on Broadway as Fiyero in "Wicked", performs Landau's "The Coin Toss" at the legendary Orinda theater.

The "invaluable" series returns with baritone Dominik Belavy and pianist/curator Nathanial LaNasa performing two of Landau's works on New York Festival of Song's "NYFOS Next".

Stars of Broadway and the opera world lead the first 29-hour Equity reading of Psyche, an original musical with music by Landau and libretto & lyrics by Emily Garber. Directed by Eamon Foley and produced by Evan Bernardin Productions.

By invitation only. Reach out for more details or to request an invitation.

Mezzo Katie MacDonald and pianist Adam Turner perform and workshop Landau's song cycle "As He Is Mine" at the Oxford Lieder Festival.

Michelle Pauker and a band led by Landau premiere his original song "The Realities of You" at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Norwalk, CT.

The new one-act opera & Aeterna, with music by Jake Landau and libretto by Emily Garber, premieres at The Narnia Festival under the direction of Andrea DelGiudice and Yuri Napoli.

Dan Hoy and a band led by Landau premiere "Ballad of a God" and "Wandering" from the original musical Psyche as part of Hoy's 54 Below debut.

Broadway star Sam Gravitte, last seen as Fiyero in Wicked on Broadway, makes his debut at the legendary Birdland Jazz Club with "Songs That Raised Me". Featuring Solea Pfeiffer and music directed from the keyboard by composer Jake Landau, the show features the world premiere of an original song cycle with words and music by Landau called "The Coin Toss", as well as his work "Come All Ye Fair". The band features guitarist Ravi Campbell, bassist Kanoa Mendenhall, and drummer Zach Mullings.