Arts & Entertainment

Weekend Music at Sands Point Preserve

Enjoy a cabaret on Saturday; a winter coral concert on Sunday.

Music lovers can enjoy live music this weekend without leaving town. There's a night of cabaret on Saturday at 7 p.m., and a winter choral concert on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Both take place at the .

Cabaret Night

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On Saturday, the Winter Living Room at Hempstead House will be transformed into an intimate supper club. The entertainment? Four top performing artists singing Broadway classics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, George and Ira Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, and Stephen Sondheim, as well as contemporary compositions by the evening’s Music Director, Steven Lutvak, from his award-winning “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” that will have its world premiere next fall.    

“Old songs, new songs, familiar songs, lesser known songs – we’ll cover the map in a great evening with four performers who truly care about and admire each other,” Lutvak said, in a statement.

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The concert features John Cudia, who starred in both “Phantom of the Opera” and “Les Misèrables” on Broadway; Catherine Walker, who played the title role in “Mary Poppins” on Broadway and appeared in the Broadway revival of “Ragtime;” and Judy Blazer, who starred in Broadway and Off-Broadway roles in Neil Simon’s “45 Seconds from Broadway,” “Titanic,” and “Me & My Girl” and the New York City Opera’s productions of “Sweeny Todd” and “Candide.”  Blazer also appears in “Tomashefsky” – a new, original musical about the creators of Yiddish Theater in turn-of-the-century New York City that will be broadcast on PBS’s Great Performances series.

Lutvak, who wrote the title track to the hit film “Mad Hot Ballroom,” is a self-professed “songwriter of the old school.”   He was awarded the Johnny Mercer Emerging Songwriter Award along with grants from the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation and the New American Works program of the National Endowment for the Arts. He is also a performer in his own right – at locations ranging from Carnegie Hall to Joe’s Pub, The Russian Tea Room, and the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel – as well as a vocal coach.  

About Saturday's cast, he stated, “these performers are among New York’s best singers – wait ‘till you hear them!  Each is a Broadway veteran with a beautiful voice and wonderful performing personae.”

A light supper will be served at 7:00 pm; the show begins at 7:45 pm; and dessert will be served following the concert. Seating is very limited.  A single ticket is $100; two tickets are $190; and four tickets are $360 – and can be purchased in person at the preserve’s gatehouse or by calling (516) 571.7901. Download the invitation and reply card.  

Fifty percent of the ticket price is a tax-deductible contribution to the ; these contributions will support the Friends’ mission to protect and preserve the 216-acre waterfront grounds and historic mansions and to provide educational programs for families and schools in the new Phil Dejana Learning Center and outdoor classroom.

Winter Choral Concert

The annual winter choral concert celebrates holiday and spiritual music, presented by four choral groups: , , , and the newly formed Makelah – The Jewish Community Choir.  The choirs will harmonize with piano accompaniment in the acoustical setting of the Hempstead House for a truly moving musical experience.

The music program spans religions and centuries – and includes works ranging from Handel’s “Sing Unto God” and Beethoven’s “Joyful, Joyful” to Justin Wilde and Doug Konecky’s “Light the Candles of Freedom” and “Peace by Piece” by Cantor Robbie Solomon, among many others.  The choruses are lead by Choir Masters Cantor Claire Franco and Penelope Power (Community Synagogue), Mark van Schenkhof (St. Stephens), Edmund Needham (UMCPW), and Cantor Baruch Blum ().  The concert begins at 2:30 pm, and a suggested donation to the preserve of $10 per car can be made at the gatehouse.  

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