Out & About NYC Magazine was founded to offer the arts and lifestyle enthusiast a fresh new look at New York City. We will showcase the established and the emerging, the traditional and the trendy. And we will do it with élan, and panache with a dash of fun.

Shall We Dance Friday: Sophisticated Ladies- Hinton Battle, Phyllis Hyman, Greg Burge and Paula Kelly

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Sophisticated Ladies starring Gregory Hines, Hinton Battle, Phyllis Hyman, Greg Burge and Paula Kelly is a musical revue based on the music of Duke Ellington. The musical opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on March 1, 1981 and closed on January 2, 1983 after 767 performances and fifteen previews.  Continue reading

5/7/15 O&A Throwback Thursday: Donna Summer- Love To Love You Baby and MacArthur Park

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Donna Summer, a five-time Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter gained prominence during the disco era of the late 1970s. Summer has reportedly sold over 140 million records, making her one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time. She hols the distinction as the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach No. 1 on the United States Billboard album chart and four number-one singles in the United States within a 12-month period.

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Love to Love You Baby is a song by American singer and songwriter Donna Summer released in 1975. It became one of the first ever disco hits to also be released in an extended form. The final recording lasted over sixteen minutes, and contained the sexiest “simulated” orgasms ever found on vinyl. According to the BBC, the song contained 23 “orgasms”. In an interview in 1976, Summer responded to a number of questions that she claimed she’d been asked about the process of recording the song: “Everyone’s asking, ‘Were you alone in the studio?’ Yes, I was alone in the studio. ‘Did you touch yourself?’ Yes, well, actually I had my hand on my knee. ‘Did you fantasize on anything?’ Yes, on my handsome boyfriend Peter.

Love To Love You Baby-Soul Train (1976)

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MacArthur Park is a song which Jimmy Webb originally wrote and composed as part of an intended cantata. Webb initially brought the entire cantata to The Association, but the group rejected it. Among the best-known covers are Donna Summer’s disco arrangement from 1978. In the autumn of 1978 Donna Summer released a multi-million selling vinyl single disco version of MacArthur Park. This reached number one on the American pop music sales charts for three weeks during 1978, and it was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Summer was also nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Female at the American Music Awards.

MacArthur Park- Live (1978)

5/6/15 O&A Dance: Chen Dance Center Presents newsteps

By Walter Rutledge

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Chen Dance Center presents its spring emerging choreographers series newsteps, May 7 through 9, 7:30 pm at the Chen Dance Center, 70 Mulberry Sreet, 2nd floor (corner Mulberry & Bayard in Chinatown). Founded in 1994 the bi-annual showcase, (held in the spring and fall) provides young dance makers the opportunity to present original works at different stages of development. The five choreographers were selected for the spring concerts are: Jonathan Breton, Hannah Cohen,  Bree Nasby, Janice Rosario, and Ashley Carter & Vanessa Martinez de Banos. Continue reading

5/6/15 O&A Wildin Out Wednesday: Men On Film- In Living Color

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Men on… (colloquially known as “Men on Film”) is the umbrella title for a series of comedy sketches that appeared in episodes of the Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color. The sketch featured two gay cultural critics, Blaine Edwards (Damon Wayans) and Antoine Merriweather (David Alan Grier), commenting on aspects of popular culture, including movies, art and television.  Continue reading

5/5/15 O&A Dance: Jamel Gaines’ Creative Outlet Dance Theatre of Brooklyn Celebrates 20th Anniversary with Retrospective and World Premiere

By Walter Rutledge

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Jamel Gaines’ Creative Outlet will celebrate 20 years of artistic excellence in a retrospective of the Company’s most acclaimed work on Friday, May 15, 7:30pm, Saturday, May 16, 7:30pm, and Sunday, May 17, 3pm at Kumble Theater at LIU Brooklyn, One University Plaza, Brooklyn. Continue reading

5/4/15 O&A With WaleStylez Song Of The Day Mariah Carey – Angels Cry ft. Ne-Yo

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Angels Cry by Mariah Carey from her twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009). The remix version featuring  Ne-Yo released as a single by Island Records on February 23, 2010. Continue reading

5/3/15 O&A Hollywood Monday: Johnny Casanova the Unstoppable Sex Machine

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Johnny Casanova the Unstoppable Sex Machine is a short animation created in 2000. The lead character is Johnny Worms AKA Casanova, who just wants to be a hit with the girls. Despite loads of interest, the series never became a TV series. Simon Pegg played the voice of Johnny, written and directed by Jamie Rix and animation directed by Andy Wyatt. Continue reading

5/4/15 O&A Dance: Un Mémoire Maya Plisetskaya (1925- 2015)

 By Walter Rutledge

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Maya Plisetskaya one of the most acclaimed ballerinas of the 20th Century has died of a heart attack in Germany at the age of 89. Known as both a superlative technical and dramatic performer, Plisetskaya was a mainstay in Russian ballet for more than five decades. Mikhail Chvydkoi, a former Russian culture minister, described Plisetskaya as a dancer who “was anchored in the Russian tradition but always tried to explore new horizons”. Continue reading