Ariana DeBose, Mykal Kilgore and more set for Lincoln Center's 2023 American Songbook Season

Lincoln Center has revealed details for its upcoming 2023 American Songbook series, subtitled "A Place You Belong." Two-time Tony winner George C. Wolfe has conceived the upcoming season, exploring the legacies of iconic underground NYC venues, including the Palladium Ballroom, Paradise Garage, Savoy Ballroom, and Café Society.

One of the planned performances is an original solo concert from Academy Award-winning West Side Story star Ariana DeBose. Set for April 8 at David Geffen Hall, DeBose has titled the evening Authenticity. She'll be joined by music director Benjamin Rauhala for a set list honoring her musical influences, including Dionne Warwick, Stephen Sondheim, Judy Garland, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ray Charles, and ABBA.

Broadway favorite Mykal Kilgore (Motown, Hair) will join Aminah Imani and the Matt Ray Trio April 6 at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Appel Room for Cabaret at the Café Society, a tribute to the racially integrated, '40s downtown spot. The venue gave a stage to such performers as Sarah Vaughan, Lena Horne, Zero Mostel, Josh White, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Billie Holiday. The tribute will be given three nights with different performers at each evening. The April 5 edition will feature Rizo and Ikechukwu Ufomadu, while an April 7 performance will star Raye Zaragoza and Jordan Carlos. Each of the three evenings will conclude with a special guest performing Holiday's "Strange Fruit."

For a full schedule, visit LincolnCenter.org.

https://www.playbill.com/article/ariana-debose-mykal-kilgore-more-join-lincoln-centers-2023-american-songbook-season

At least David Geffen Hall will be able to accommodate everyone who wants to hear Ariana.  For a popular Broadway star the Appel Room would sometimes practically sell out in presale.  

 

Twitter and social media is a cesspool though so I get it. 

Her account was newly deactivated, after going private, about an hour after she went viral.

So have most sensible people.

Well, the internet has spoken, and it looks like not only has Ariana gotten a pass, but she's more famous now than she was before, with the performance achieving "camp" status among the masses. Personally, I still label it "cringe comedy," but good for her. 

Curious if anyone was there on Saturday and what you thought of it.

I saw the London version last weekend and LOVED it!!! Ariana is just an amazing showwoman. She is SO talented, but it's really her ability to just grab an audience and pull them in that made it so special. 

And Taffy, you would have HATED it. She is completely embracing the BAFTA rap. It was the backbone of her opening mashup (including an audience participation section), featured on the merch, and was referenced several times throughout the night. 

The first act was great with some iconic classics from the likes Donna Summer and Tina Turner, a little Miscast-esque You'll Be Back, and generally tracked her career from So You Think You Can Dance to Broadway. 

As I said, the first act was great, but the second act was EUPHORIC from start to finish. It was EVERYTHING. She did a Broadway diva mashup that she said inspired her Tony opening plus a BRILLIANT mashup of Poor Unfortunate Souls and Ladies Who Lunch and an emotional mashup of Move On and Sara B's Manhattan.

All three of them were written by Lin-world's Kurt Crowley (who was in the audience) and she shared that the latter two came about as a response to being told she was Black enough to be an understudy, but not Black enough to be promoted to lead for a certain role (she didn't say which, but some simple Wikipedia sleuthing points to the role being Diana Ross in Motown). 

She also did her number, "Alyssa Green," from The Prom as well as Somewhere and then closed with Waterloo. 

It was incredible. 

Curiosu what people thought of the New York version and if anything was majorly different. In the pics and clips I saw from Ariana's Instagram, it looked like her hair and costumes were totally different and that there were only two dancers instead of four.