Sunday, June 24, 2012

"The Ladies" and Its Musical Love Letter Return for Three More Performances

A problem with the facility at Bloomington's YWCA led to a few canceled performances of New Route's "The Ladies: A Musical Love Letter" this week. That was the bad news. The good news is that New Route and Artistic Director Don Shandrow have decided to extend the "Ladies" run, adding performances on July 13, 14 and 15 to make up for the lost shows.

"The Ladies: A Musical Love Letter" features vocalist Jennifer Rusk performing songs made famous by African-American female stars of the past, with Dave Shields at the piano and Miles Singleton on trumpet. When "The Ladies" was performed as a workshop last year, the songlist included works from Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald and Roberta Flack, as well as other musical talents from the annals of America's blues, jazz and pop history.

You may remember Rusk from her recent performance as Maybelle in Community Players' "Hairspray" or portraying Bloomington resident Eliza Esque in last year's Discovery Walk at Evergreen Cemetery. She sang "I Know Where I've Been" in the former and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" in the latter, turning in terrific performances in both.

"The Ladies" was conceived and directed by Phil Shaw. These additional performances are scheduled for July 13 and 14 at 7:30 pm and July 15 at 2:30 pm, and, yes, they will take place at the YWCA at 1201 North Hershey in Bloomington. There is a parking lot on the southeast side of the building where audiences members can park and come into the building.

For details on the new performances, see New Route's Facebook event page here.

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