Following the April 14 Renaissance Gala, marking the reopening of the Manhattan cabaret venue The Laurie Beechman Theatre, Tony nominee Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer will be the first official act to play the newly renovated space.
Kritzer! Live at The Beechman鈥攖he first booking of what is being billed as 鈥淭he Beechman Renaissance鈥�鈥�will be presented April 18 at 7 PM and April 19 at 8 PM. Adam Cole will be the musical director.
Attendees can expect a mix of backstage stories, high belting, and mayhem.
Kritzer, a 2024 Tony nominee for her performance as Lady of the Lake in the revival of Monty Python鈥檚 Spamalot, said in a statement, 鈥淲e are living in a world where every day we think, 鈥榃hat the f*ck is happening?鈥� No one knows, so let鈥檚 have a fun night of stories, belting, laughter, and some surprises I haven鈥檛 brought out in 20 years! Let鈥檚 make life beautiful again at The Beechman!鈥�
READ: After 2 Decades in Showbiz, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer Is a Tony Nominee
鈥淲hen thinking about the perfect artist to reopen this iconic room, Leslie Kritzer was the first name that came to mind,鈥� added producers Tom and Michael D鈥橝ngora, who are also the new owners of the West Bank Caf茅 and the Beechman. 鈥淪he embodies everything we want the future of this space to be鈥攆earless, hilarious, bawdy, campy, sexy, and completely unpredictable. We can鈥檛 wait for audiences to see the stunning transformation by The Rockwell Group and for Kritzer to usher in this thrilling new chapter of The Beechman.鈥�
A graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Kritzer has also appeared on Broadway in Beetlejuice (Drama Desk nomination), Something Rotten!, Elf, Sondheim on Sondheim, Legally Blonde (Clarence Derwent Award), A Catered Affair (Drama Desk nomination), and Hairspray, while her Off-Broadway credits include The Robber Bridegroom (Lucille Lortel Award, Drama League, and Astaire Award nominations), Gigantic (Lucille Lortel nomination), ROOMS: A Rock Romance (Outer Critics Circle nomination), The Memory Show, Nobody Loves You, and The Great American Trailer Park Musical (Drama Desk nomination). She is also a Special Achievement MAC Award winner for her solo show Leslie Kritzer Is Patti LuPone at Les Mouches.
Since
its opening in 1983, The Laurie Beechman Theatre, previously known as
the Downstairs Theatre Bar, has welcomed Joan Rivers, The Who, Andr茅 De Shields, Tony Shalhoub, Aaron Sorkin, Jinkx Monsoon,
and more. In the theatre鈥檚 first 14 years, more than 1,500 one-act
plays were performed at the theatre, named for the late star of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. When the venue was scheduled to
close in August 2024 after financial difficulties following the COVID-19
pandemic, the D'Angoras, Tim Guinee, and Joe Iconis joined forces to raise nearly $1 million to save the caf茅 and theatre.
Tickets start at $85, with a $25 food and beverage minimum. Reservations can be made at .
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