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Monday, February 4, 2013

On Being a New Yorker

While there were no projections of multiplying Beyonces or major reunions of Destiny's Child members, there were much more intimate fireworks over at Joe's Pub in the second installment of Once Upon a Time in NYC, an evening of brand new songs from musical theatre composers about New York City. The timing of this show uncannily comes around my fifth anniversary since moving to this city, and it was wonderful to get a musical perspective of New York from such a wide range of New Yorkers, whether they have since moved, have lived here their whole lives, or are just starting their journeys. Organized by Jennifer Ashley Tepper and Caleb Hoyer, this concert was clearly a labor of love, and it was such a lovely opportunity for writers to be able to celebrate and eulogize their experiences in song. We should all be so lucky to be able to distill something so special in such a perfect, compact way.

Below are some highlights, though all the songs are well worth a listen to and can be found here.

George Salazar with Michael Gioia, Will Roland, Yaniv Zarif singing Sam Salmond's "Walk Wrong":

Krysta Rodriguez singing Amanda Green's "A New York City Prayer":

Benjamin Howes singing Joseph Church's "Walking Shoes":

Jessica Phillips singing Amanda Yesnowitz and Doug Katsaros' "The Thing About Dylan":

Elanna White singing David Are's "All Over 28th Street":

And perhaps my favorite of the night (thought it's hard to choose): Jeff Blumenkrantz singing his own "Aunt Betty":

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