City Parks Foundation Announces Largest Lineup Ever of Free Concerts, Dance, & Theater Citywide

City Parks Foundation Announces Largest Lineup Ever of Free Concerts, Dance, & Theater Citywide

NEW YORK, May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- City Parks Foundation is proud to announce the 2008 schedules for its free citywide performing arts festivals -- CityParks Concerts presented by Verizon, CityParks Theater presented by Time Warner, CityParks Dance, and the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival -- promising a summer of extraordinary outdoor entertainment in the city.

The significant growth of these free festivals, now with over 100 performances in July and August, includes expansion into historic East River Park, the original site of Joe Papp's free outdoor theater. The festivals also offer teen theater workshops and free dance classes citywide.

CityParks Dance

This year, CityParks Dance includes a special presentation of 25 performances, July 16-20, presented in partnership with The Joyce Theater, celebrating the 25th anniversary of The Joyce Theater, in nine parks citywide. Performances include Michael Schumacher and Alex Waterman in Dans le Jardin; Compagnie Beau Geste in Transports Exceptionnels, a dance duet with a mechanical digger; and Contigo, featuring Joao P. Pereira Dos Santos, an accomplished acrobat and master of the Chinese pole.

CityParks Dance also presents 20 additional dance companies including three also performing at Central Park SummerStage: Rennie Harris Puremovement, The Francesca Harper Project, and DanceBrazil.

CityParks Theater

CityParks Theater welcomes: Waterwell, presenting The Last Year in the Life of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Rock Opera; Teatro Stage Festival in collaboration with the Hostos Center for Arts and Culture, presenting Borinquen Vive En El Barrio, a bilingual play by Tere Martinez about a Puerto Rican family's experiences in East Harlem; and New Federal Theater presenting Amiri Baraka's The Toilet, exploring the emotional strife and volatile interactions of a gay youth and gang of teens.

CityParks Theater welcomes back the Classical Theatre of Harlem, presenting the musical Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death, authored by Melvin Van Peebles; and Hip Hop Theater Festival, performing Rock Paper Scissors, written by Ben Snyder. Festival note: Both Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death and The Toilet contain adult language and content intended for mature audiences.

CityParks Concerts

CityParks Concerts include Hip-Hop Hall of fame inductees Whodini, performing in their hometown of Brooklyn, as well as KRS-1, Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick, Naughty By Nature, Jungle Brothers, Bahamadia and Brand Nubians. For those who enjoy the sounds of smooth soul, CityParks Concerts includes The Chi-Lites and Delfonics. Salsa icon Willie Colon and salsa Latin fusion artist Michael Stuart are in the summer's line-up as well.

Charlie Parker Jazz Festival

The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, scheduled for Saturday, August 23 in Marcus Garvey Park and Sunday, August 24 in Tompkins Square Park, presents pianists Hank Jones, Randy Weston, and Robert Glasper, vocalists Vanessa Rubin and Gretchen Parlato, drummer Rashied Ali, trumpeter Jerry Gonzalez & Fort Apache, and a special performance by pianist Eric Lewis performing a commissioned original piece paying tribute to Charlie Parker.

Full details at www.CityParksFoundation.org.

Source: City Parks Foundation

CONTACT: Christina E. Daigneault for City Parks Foundation,
+1-917-207-4686

Web site:

http://www.cityparksfoundation.org/

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