Published8 Aug 2023
Opera Philadelphia brings opera and accessible performance to Late Night Snacks
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MorePart of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival and Festival O23, Late Night Snacks brings exciting performances to the fall calendar including STRUT! A Harlem Renaissance Cabaret funded by PNC Arts Alive
The always exciting, always welcoming, and always glittery Late Night Snacks from the Bearded Ladies Cabaret is back this September to bring an array of cabaret, drag, and operatic talent to the Philadelphia Fringe Festival and Festival O23.
Join hosts including Jarbeaux, Cookie Diorio, and Eric Jaffe at The Closet, a custom-built cabaret at 201 South St., with special guests from Opera Philadelphia’s own Dicky Dutton and Samantha Rose Williams to legendary composer Jennifer Higdon. Performances are at 9:00 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, with extra late night 11:00 p.m. shows on Fridays and Saturdays, and “Family Snacks” at 3:30 p.m. on Sundays, from September 8 to October 1.
On September 9 and 10, catch the return of STRUT! A Harlem Renaissance Cabaret at Late Night Snacks. A collaboration between Opera Philadelphia, Art-Reach, and Music: Not Impossible, STRUT! reprises its sold-out June performance at World Café Live. The two shows will feature songs by Harlem Renaissance greats Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, and Billie Holiday, as well as unpublished compositions by Margaret Bonds and Florence Price newly arranged for voice and band.
Hosted by Cookie Diorio, performers include Sapphira Cristál, Nirvana Noire, Jaylene Clark Owens, and Al-Jabril Muhammad.
Audience members are invited to experience the performance with Vibrotextile™ wearable technology from Music: Not Impossible. Last used as part of Resonant Philly in May 2021, the wearable technology uses vibrations to physically convey music. The hour-long cabaret is a relaxed performance planned in consultation with Dr. Roger Ideishi that includes ASL interpretation from Hands Up Productions, Audio Description by Nicole Sardella, and is wheelchair accessible.
STRUT! A Harlem Renaissance Cabaret, is made possible through funding by PNC Arts Alive.
“The arts and cultural sector plays a vital role in our community. Now, as we approach a decade-and-a-half of support through PNC Arts Alive, the PNC team is excited to support the arts and cultural organizations, as well as visual and performing arts in the Delaware Valley,” said Joe Meterchick, PNC regional president for Philadelphia, Delaware and Southern New Jersey. “Arts and culture strengthen the local economy and have the power to bring people together. We look forward to gathering with our neighbors as we join together to be a part of art.”
Visit phillyfringe.org/events/late-night-snacks/ for a complete and up-to-date schedule for Late Night Snacks.
About PNC Arts Alive
PNC Arts Alive is a multi-year, multi-million dollar grant initiative of the PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. Now in its fourteenth program year, PNC Arts Alive challenges visual and performing arts organizations to put forth their best, most original thinking in expanding audience participation and engagement. In 2022, some 30 arts organizations from across the Greater Philadelphia, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware region were selected to receive PNC Arts Alive program support – including a number of first-time grantees together with several smaller, community-based arts and cultural organizations, all supported through the recently expanded PNC Arts Alive CONNECT initiative. For more information on PNC Arts Alive and the grant recipients visit pncartsalive.com
About The Bearded Ladies Cabaret
The Bearded Ladies Cabaret is a queer arts organization that sits on your lap and sings you a story. Whether it’s an opera, a home-made cabaret, a musical walking tour, or a show on a truck, we employ song, spectacle, storytelling, and heart to welcome audiences into moments of joy, healing, and subversion. Through sharing our original pieces and creating bespoke platforms for performance at home in Philadelphia, nationally, and abroad, we nurture artistic connection for a community of misfits, rabble-rousers, chanteuses and the people who love and need them. For more information, visit beardedladiescabaret.com.
About Music: Not Impossible
Music: Not Impossible (M:NI) is an applied Vibrotextile™ technology that translates sound onto the skin through vibration, allowing users to feel the nuances of a music-listening experience. The M:NI system is the world's first ever wireless, wearable, 24 voice polyphonic synthesizer and currently the most advanced haptic system in the world. The M:NI system creates an experience and opportunity for creative expression that constitutes a new art form for all - The Art of Haptics. Initially inspired by deaf music fans, M:NI's use during a concert produces a dramatic effect for all participants, regardless of their hearing, delivering a shared 'surround body' experience. For more information visit Music:Not Impossible.
About Opera Philadelphia
Opera Philadelphia, the only American finalist for both the 2016 International Opera Award for Best Opera Company and the 2020 International Opera Award for Best Festival, is “the very model of a modern opera company” (Washington Post). Committed to developing opera for the 21st century, the company is recognized as “a hotbed of operatic innovation” (New York Times). For more information, visit operaphila.org.