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‘Music at the Odyssey’ announces 2022 summer series
curated by music director and bass player John Snow
Celebrations of Joni Mitchell, Stephen Sondheim, Nina Simone
plus three evenings of musical cabaret with Tony Abatemarco
LOS ANGELES (REVISED August 3, 2022) — Bass player John Snow returns to curate, music direct and emcee Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s live Music at the Odyssey series this summer with celebrations honoring Joni Mitchell, Stephen Sondheim and Nina Simone, plus three performances of the original cabaret event Wide Eyed in Wonder—Escapades and Serenades along Love’s Trail of Longing starring Snow and multiple award-winning actor Tony Abatemarco.
The series kicks off on Saturday, June 25 with Music at the Odyssey Celebrates Joni Mitchell. Featured artists include vocalists Susannah B (aka Susannah Blinkoff), Abby Litman, Moira Mack and Ren Martinez as well as sax player Ben Flocks of Sammy Miller and the Congregation. Backing them up are musical director Snow on bass, Nate Lichtenberger on drums, and Nathan Heldman on piano and keys.
Audience members on Saturday, July 9; Saturday, July 16; and Saturday, July 30 will be treated to a new evening of cabaret created by and starring actor Tony Abatemarco and musician John Snow. Songs from the American songbook—including classics by George and Ira Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Les Paul and Mary Ford, as well as favorites by Joni Mitchell, Elvis Costello and Lennon/McCartney—are sung by Abatemarco to arrangements by Snow, who accompanies on piano and bass. Musical numbers are interspersed with patter between the two and stories from Abatemarco’s colorful life.
On Saturday, August 13 it’s Music at the Odyssey Celebrates Stephen Sondheim. Vocalists India Carney,Tyler Joseph Ellis, Bella Hicks and Taubert Nadalini are joined by special guests Kathryn Gallagher, recipient of a Grammy award (for “Best Musical Theater Album”) and a Tony nomination (for “Best Featured Actress in a Musical”) for her portrayal of Bella Fox in Broadway’s Jagged Little Pill, and Michael Thomas Grant of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist on NBC. The house band includes Snow on bass, Jake Noveck on guitar, Nathan Heldman on piano and keys; and Ana Barreiro on drums
Finally, sax player Flocks returns on Saturday, August 27 to join vocalists Clayton, India Carney and Segun Oluwadele for Music at the Odyssey Celebrates Nina Simone. Backing them up are Snow on bass, Kevin van den Elzen on drums, and Michael Orenstein on piano and keys.
Musical director John Snow has performed at the Hollywood Bowl, Umbria Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Virgil, Blue Whale and many other venues across the U.S, Canada, and Europe. He has recorded and performed with artists including Patrice Rushen, Kathryn Gallagher, Bill Irwin, Peter Erskine, Teodrose Avery, Moira Mack, Sammy Miller, Alphonso Hornes’s Gotham Kings, The Rad Trads and other artists across different artistic spectrums. He is the founder, producer and musical director of the show series “John Snow’s Coast to Coast.” Snow is also an actor who has been seen on stage in Jersey Boys, Moonchildren, Bob and Les, and Great Awakening, as well as in feature films including Hamlet, So Shot and Speakeasy.
Tony Abatemarco is an Ovation and LA Weekly award-winning actor, director and playwright who served as co-artistic director of the Skylight Theatre Company for 12 years. He returns to the Odyssey where he appeared in Powerlines and Something’s Rockin’ in Denmark and directed four short plays for The Great American Playwrights Show and Bertolt Brecht’s Puntilla and His Man Matti. Musical theater and opera credits include An Evening of Gershwin and Porter at New England Rep; a musical A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the John Anson Ford Theatre; Wonderful Town for Reprise, the Orange County Performing Arts Center and L.A. Opera; The Abduction from the Seraglio at the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival; The Soldier’s Tale at Long Beach Opera; Peter and the Starcatcher at South Coast Rep; and Wazo Wazo at The Night House and Sea Below Middle Sea at CTG’s Taper, Too, both by Mimi Seton. He has been seen on L.A. stages including the Mark Taper Forum, Geffen Playhouse, South Coast Rep and International City Theatre, as well as regionally at Pittsburgh Public, Santa Fe Stages, Williamstown, Arena and the Folger and, in New York, at Rattlestick, The Public and Cherry Lane theaters. On screen, he appears in the limited series The Shrink Next Door on Apple TV+ and has been seen in dozens of TV shows and movies including How To Get Away With Murder, Beverly Hills Ninja 2, Town and Country, Sleeping with the Enemy, HBO’s Sacrifice, The L Word, E.R. and Frasier, to name a few. He directed Lucifer’s Child, starring Julie Harris, on Broadway, and Catwalk Confidential in London’s West End. As a playwright, his critically acclaimed plays Beautified and Forever House premiered at the Skylight Theatre, and his volume of collected plays “ACTION/ITEMS, The Collected Plays of Tony Abatemarco” is available at amazon.com.
Tickets to Music at the Odyssey performances are $30. The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd, between Santa Monica and Olympic Blvds. in West Los Angeles. Parking is $5 in the on-site parking lot.
To purchase tickets, and for more information including up-to-date Covid-19 protocols on the day of each performance, call (310) 477-2055 x2, or visit OdysseyTheatre.com.
Details for Calendar Listings
‘Music at the Odyssey Summer Series’
WHAT:
Bass player John Snow returns to curate, music direct and emcee Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s live Music at the Odyssey series this summer with celebrations honoring Joni Mitchell, Stephen Sondheim and Nina Simone, plus three performances of the original cabaret event Wide Eyed in Wonder—Escapades and Serenades along Love’s Trail of Longing starring Snow and multiple award-winning actor Tony Abatemarco.
Saturday, June 25 at 8.p.m.: Music at the Odyssey Celebrates Joni Mitchell
• Featured artists: vocalists Susannah B (aka Susannah Blinkoff), Abby Litman, Moira Mack and Ren Martinez, and sax player Ben Flocks.
• House band: musical director John Snow on bass, Nate Lichtenberger on drums, and Nathan Heldman on piano and keys.
Saturday, July 9 at 8.p.m.: Wide Eyed in Wonder—Escapades and Serenades along Love’s Trail of Longing
A new evening of cabaret created by and starring multiple award-winning actor Tony Abatemarco and musician John Snow. Songs from the American songbook—including classics by George and Ira Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Les Paul and Mary Ford, as well as favorites by Joni Mitchell, Elvis Costello and Lennon/McCartney—are sung by Abatemarco to arrangements by Snow, who accompanies on piano and bass. Musical numbers are interspersed with patter between the two and stories from Abatemarco’s colorful life.
Saturday, July 16 at 8.p.m.: Wide Eyed in Wonder—Escapades and Serenades along Love’s Trail of Longing
Saturday, July 30 at 8.p.m.:Wide Eyed in Wonder—Escapades and Serenades along Love’s Trail of Longing
Saturday, Aug. 13 at 8.p.m.: Music at the Odyssey Celebrates Stephen Sondheim and other Musical Theater and Film Classics
• Featured artists: vocalists India Carney,Tyler Joseph Ellis, Bella Hicks and Taubert Nadalini
• Special guests: Kathryn Gallagher and Michael Thomas Grant
• House band: musical director John Snow on bass; Jake Noveck on guitar; Nathan Heldman on piano and keys; and Ana Barreiro on drums
Saturday, Aug. 27 at 8.p.m.: Music at the Odyssey Celebrates Nina Simone
• Featured artists: vocalists Clayton, India Carney and Segun Oluwadele and sax player Ben Flocks.
• House band: musical director John Snow on bass; Kevin van den Elzen on drums; and Michael Orenstein on piano and keys.
WHERE:
Odyssey Theatre
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90025
PARKING:
• $5 in the on-site parking lot
• Street parking available
TICKETS:
• All shows: $30
• Discounts available for students and seniors. Call theater for details.
HOW:
(310) 477-2055 ext. 2 or www.OdysseyTheatre.com
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