A wide ranger of performers will participate in “Songs for Our City” coronavirus response challenge online in June
Who: Alice Ripley, Ethan Slater, Rob Rokicki, Drew Gasparini, Molly and the Memphis Thunder, Starbird & the Phoenix, many more
What: Specially commissioned songs performed live online
Where: Times Square Alliance Facebook and YouTube
When: Tuesdays & Wednesdays through June 17, final concert June 21, free, 7:05
Why: Shortly after recovering from a serious bout with Covid-19, Broadway superstar Brian Stokes Mitchell started sticking his head out the window of his apartment at Ninety-Eighth and Broadway at 7:05, following the 7:00 clap honoring health-care and other essential workers, and singing “The Impossible Dream” from Man of La Mancha — he played Cervantes/Quixote in the 2002 Great White Way revival. He began doing it to strengthen his voice but eventually had to stop because he was creating too large a crowd that was not social distancing and not paying attention to vehicular traffic. The Times Square Alliance has combined the idea behind that popular tribute with its annual Broadway Buskers outdoor concert series to inaugurate “Songs for Our City,” a virtual songwriting challenge in which performers will sing original commissions responding to the coronavirus pandemic. The event will take place at 7:05 on the first three Tuesdays and Wednesdays in June, culminating in a grand finale on June 21 as part of the Make Music New York festival.
Both a competitive challenge in which winners will receive cash prizes (everyone is invited to vote online) and a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund, “Songs for Our City” features an impressive lineup of guest singer-songwriters, who will be focusing on the theme of community: Lauren Elder, Donnie Kehr, Anthony Norman, Rob Rokicki, and Starbird & the Phoenix on June 2, Leslie Becker, Max Sangerman, Heath Saunders, and Ethan Slater on June 3, Jaime Cepero, F. Michael Haynie, Alice Ripley, Will Van Dyke & Jeff Talbott, and Tim Young on June 9, Drew Gasparini, Molly and the Memphis Thunder, Will Taylor, and Joel Waggoner on June 10, John Arthur Greene, Marcus Paul James, Janet Krupin, and Alexander Sage Oyen on June 16, and John Krause, Jennifer Sánchez, Dru Serkes, and Mike Wartella on June 17. “As the entity responsible for taking care of and celebrating the Theater District, this is a symbolic and simple way for us to continue to showcase and support Broadway performers who create their own original work throughout June,” Times Square Alliance president Tim Tompkins said in a statement.