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":

A New York State of Mind

It's been an unusual week and a half, to say the least. Many parts of New York were devastated by Hurricane Sandy, and even areas that weren't hit very hard by the storm itself have still been at a standstill with power only coming to lower Manhattan over the weekend. There's still a lot to be done to get the city and its surrounding areas back to normal, but I feel like there's no better time to repost some videos from the recent concert Once Upon A Time In New York City, where up-and-coming composers shared original songs about this great city and the great people who make it what it is:

Gaby Alter singing his song "My First Year in New York":

Kate Rockwell singing Danny Abosch's "Real New Yorkers":

Katrina Rose Dideriksen, Molly Hager, Alyse Alan Louis and Lauren Marcus singing Michael R. Jackson's "New York Is the Worst":

Gaten Matarazzo and Grace Capeless singing Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich's "Why I Like New York":

Joe Iconis with Jason Williams, Eric William Morris and Molly Hager singing his song "52":

Watch more videos from the evening here.