The City has announced their schedule for the Celebrate Providence! Neighborhood Performing Arts Series. July features Lippitt Park. This program brings music, dance and theatre into neighborhood parks throughout the city. All events are free and open to the public. More information about all of the events may be found at: www.providenceri.com/ArtCultureTourism/.
The Celebrate Providence! Neighborhood Performing Arts Series will present entertainment in Lippitt Park every Thursday in July at 6:30pm. The series will begin on July 5 with The Gnomes, performing an energetic blend of Celtic and World Music. The Gnomes are made up of Cathy Clasper Torch, Phil Edmonds, Ron Schmitt, Otis Read and Peter Breen. On July 12 the AS220 Broad Street Studio Rhode Show will perform an original 40-minute Hip-Hop influenced body of work, with pieces capturing the ideas, talents, and perspectives of the young people living in the city of Providence.
On July 19 the Providence Black Repertory Company will present the Youngblood Brass Band, professional artists performing in New Orleans backline and Parade traditions. The Youngblood Brass Band is focused on creating consistently progressive, acoustic, groundbreaking music, employing whatever sonic means necessary to do so.
On July 26, the Mt. Hope Learning Center will present Old School, New School, a performance of music, historical narration and spoken word pieces involving neighborhood residents and professional performers. The performances will include producer Sylvia Ann Soares, blues guitarist/vocalist Agus Winangun, pianist Paul Bisch, and youth performers.
Additionally, on August 26 from 11am to 3pm, the Jewish Community Center of Rhode Island will host “Lower East Side Comes to Providence East Side” in Lippitt Park, where it will offer activities and entertainment for all ages. There will be dancing, music, food, and local merchants at this community event.
In other parks around the city…
Opera Providence will be dazzling audiences for a fourth year with Opera on the Hill at Federal Hill’s DePasquale Plaza at 5pm on July 8, 15, 22, and 29. An extensive collection of operatic highlights will fill the plaza with a festive mood. Opera on the Hill is a favorite of the West Side community, and this summer’s shows promise more excitement for everyone interested in the beauty and vibrancy of opera.
The West Broadway Neighborhood Association (WBNA) will present a series of performances at Dexter Training Grounds Park. All performances will begin at 6:30pm. On July 11, ECAS Theatre will present Feeling Lunatic by Marlene Luna, a local playwright originally from the Dominican Republic. Taking its audiences on a poignant and entertaining path through self-discovery, the play captures the humor, drama, and anxiety that comes with being young and bicultural in America. On July 18, Grammy-winning recording artist Bill Harley, known for combining song and story to paint a vibrant, humorous, and meaningful portrait of American life, will perform a concert of his original work. On July 25, the students of New Urban Arts, working with artists Andrew Oesch and Richard Edouard-Denor, will create a magical theatrical performance of spoken word and shadow puppetry on a large-scale screen. An outdoor art installation, participatory arts workshop, and live music will set the tone for a welcoming, energetic atmosphere as audience members gather for the summer spectacle. Finally, on August 1, Providence Police Officer and singer-songwriter Mary Day and her band will perform her original songs as well as top cover tunes.
Providence City Arts for Youth will hold a Neighborhood Concert on July 17 at 6:30pm at the Met School at 325 Public St., with a parade of costumed musicians and animated performance puppets. Key artists include local legends Big Nazo and the What Cheer? Marching Brigade.
Farm Fresh Rhode Island will host a musical performance by the What Cheer? Brigade in Dexter Training Grounds Park on July 19 at 6pm and a second musical performance at Dexter Training Grounds Park on August 23 at 5pm featuring Carlos De Leon, performing music with influences from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Brazil.
On July 28 on the Knight Memorial Library lawn from 2pm – 8pm, Greater Elmwood Neighborhood Services will team up with West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation and Elmwood Collaboration as well as two experienced local artists, Sidney Tillett and Shane Flox for a community festival that will be composed of three parts: art displays and interactive workshops, live local music, and a community talent show. The entertainment will feature performances from local bands including Trinity Rhodes Production, Super Chief Trio and Kristi Martel, as well as traditional Asian and Latin dance groups, African drummers, Native American storytellers, and spoken-word artists and poets.
On Thursdays in August, entertainment will be presented at parks in the Olneyville neighborhood. All performances will begin at 6:30pm. On August 2 at Donigian Park, the AS220 Broad Street Studio Rhode Show will perform an original Hip-Hop influenced body of work (see July 12 listing for more details). On August 9 at Donigian Park and August 16 and 23 at Merino Park, the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council will present an outdoor film series with a brief pre-show entertainment set and a movie.
On August 7, 14 and 21, Celebrate Providence! will be at One Recreation Way (11 West Drive) with performances at 6:30pm. On August 7 the West End Community Center youth will present a musical revue entitled Musica de los Ninos (Music of the Children). The musical will trace back to Afro-Latin music and explore its rich cultural influence on American culture. The Gnomes will perform on August 14 (see July 5 listing for more details). Lydia Perez & Yoruba 2 will perform a multi-faceted combination of music, drama and dance of Puerto Rican traditions on August 21.
On August 8, 15 and 22, the Neighborhood Performing Arts Series will be at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center. All performances will begin at 6:30pm. The West End Community Center will present Musica de los Ninos (Music of the Children) on August 8 (see August 7 for more details). On August 15, Lydia Perez & Yoruba 2 will perform music, drama and dance from Puerto Rico. The Gnomes will perform on August 22 (see July 5 for more details).
The West End Community Center will present Musica de los Ninos (Music of the Children) on August 24 at 1pm at the West End Community Center (see August 7 for more details).
The Whompers, Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School’s highly energetic folk trio featuring Chris Turner, Rachel Maloney and Steve Jobe, will perform four concerts of traditional American folk music at recreation centers in Providence this summer. The concerts will take place July 20 at 5pm at the Neutaconkanut Recreation Center, July 21 at 12pm at the Selim-Rodgers Recreation Center, July 31 at 5pm at the Joslin Recreation Center, and August 14 at 5pm at the Zuccolo Recreation Center. The Mt. Hope Learning Center will also present Old School, New School, at the Vincent Brown Recreation Center on August 7 at 5pm.
The “Celebrate Providence!” neighborhood programming series is presented and sponsored by the City of Providence, David N. Cicilline, Mayor, Department of Art, Culture & Tourism, Department of Public Parks, in cooperation with Department of Recreation.
For more information visit www.providenceri.com/ArtCultureTourism.
