INFORMATION FOR
They say a man’s “soul” is his spiritual essence. Life’s twists and turns can lift that soul high into the sky or send it crashing to the ground below. Unfortunately, 2023 started with the latter for Will Downing, following the unexpected and soul-crushing loss of daughter Aron Siobhan Downing in January. As a father, he was devastated…heartbroken. As an artist, he sought solace and comfort through his craft…facing the hurt head-on and exploring multiple themes of love to begin the healing. Persevering through the pain Downing is poised to finish the year with his soul rising…literally! The Prince of Sophisticated Soul is ready to share his 7- song masterclass in triumph over tragedy, Soul Rising!
Celebrating an insane 35 years in the “bizness” and 27 Albums to his credit Will Downing will not be stopped! Flexing on his international appeal, the lead single "What Part of My Love" shot to the top of the UK Soul Chart Top 30 and parked there. Those who no longer listen to new releases as the collective work it was intended to be, should make an exception in this case. Although not a "concept" album, the pieces of Soul Rising fit together beautifully as a single statement and should be enjoyed as such. We all know the about the smoothness, but there's a brand-new kind of...dare I say..."Funkiness", that I think is here to stay!
Make no mistake...Will Downing didn't forget the "smooth" that made the Man the Myth the Legend! Nor did he abandon his world-famous knack for what he affectionately calls "interpretations" of classic hits.
There will be no Sittin’ In session prior to this concert
Tickets: Gold Circle $75Orchestra/Front Loge $65Rear Loge $55
The science of energy is as fun as it gets!
Jeff Boyer shows kids that energy is what makes our world work, through carefully laid out activities illustrating the laws and forces which govern the world around us. Jeff takes audiences on an exciting energy filled ride they’ll always remember. He brings kids right up on stage for interactive demonstrations that entertain and amaze!
The show is 45 minutes with no intermission. Curriculum guides are available upon request and meet Next Generation Science Standards, K-6.
General Admission: $12 (including fees)
Composer and drummer Dan Pugach brings his big band to Shea for the very first time this summer, featuring music from his 2025 GRAMMY® Award-winning album Bianca Reimagined: Music for Paws and Persistence, featuring Nicole Zuratis. This adds to his growing list of awards as a composer, which include ASCAP Foundation Jazz Composer Award, and the BMI Charlie Parker Composition Prize. He also played drums on the 2024 GRAMMY® Award-winning album How Love Begins. Pugach, who was born in Isreal and has spent time in Rio de Janeiro and Boston before moving to our area, also leads a nonet, which along with his big band, performs in well-established NYC venues and at international festivals and performing arts centers.
General Admission: $20 (includes $3 ticket fee)Series Subscription: $75 Summer Jazz Pass (Includes all 5 Summer Jazz concerts for one low price and total savings of $25. Jazz Pass must be purchased before the first show on Monday, July 21, 2025.)
Born and raised in Havana, pianist, composer and Guggenheim Fellow Manuel Valera is a well-established NYC musician. He has collaborated as a pianist and composer with artists such as Arturo Sandoval, Paquito D’Rivera, Brian Lynch, Dafnis Prieto, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Jeff “Tain” Watts, John Benitez, Samuel Torres, Yosvany Terry, and classical violin virtuoso Joshua Bell. Valera has released 18 albums as a bandleader including with New Cuban Express, a trio, the New Cuban Express Big Band, and playing solo piano works. Along with the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2019, he has been awarded three Chamber Music America New Jazz Works grants, two Dranoff International Piano Foundation commissions, and the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award. He has performed in more than 30 countries at some of the world’s most prominent international venues and festivals.
Named “Best Jazz Group” at the 2019 New York City Reader’s Jazz Awards, Sounds of A&R (S.O.A.R.) is the creation of the husband-and-wife duo, vocalist April May Webb and trumpeter Randall Haywood. Both are rising artists: Webb won the 2024 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, while Haywood was recognized as the "Male Rising Star" at the Hot House and Jazzmobile NYC Reader's Jazz Awards. They have represented the United States as Cultural Ambassadors and have received a grant from Chamber Music America. Their third studio album, Questions Left Unanswered, reached #12 on the National Jazz Week charts and was featured in Jazz Week’s Top 50 Jazz Albums of the Year.
One of today’s best-known tenor saxophonists, Dayna Stephens is an in-demand bandleader and sideman, lauded for his lyrical style and rhythmic explorations as both a player and composer. Raised in the Bay Area and educated at Berklee College of Music and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, he was the first-place recipient of the 2019 DownBeat Critics Poll in the Rising Star–Tenor Saxophone category. Over the past fifteen years, the prolific Stephens has released thirteen albums under his name, including his latest release Hopium and his 2024 album Closer Than We Think. He has toured and recorded with many renowned artists such as Kenny Barron, Julian Lage, Gerald Clayton, Linda Oh, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Al Foster. Stephens teaches at the Manhattan School of Music and William Paterson University.
Wycliffe Gordon is one of today’s most outstanding trombonists. A composer and arranger as well, he has been in the limelight since 1988 when he joined the Wynton Marsalis Septet and subsequently the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Currently, Gordon tours the world as a soloist and with his own group; in 2018 he represented the US on State Department tour to Sri Lanka where he premiered a piece written for Sri Lanka’s 70th anniversary. He has 21 CDs as a leader, has been named the Jazz Journalist’s Association’s Trombonist of the Year 13 times and Downbeat’s Critic’s Poll six times. Recipient of numerous awards and honors, Gordon has an extensive catalog of original compositions, and his arrangement of the theme music of NPR’s “All Things Considered” is heard daily around the globe. He is also a committed music educator, serving as Director of Jazz Studies at Augusta University.
Micky Dolenz is an actor, singer, director, producer, writer, radio DJ, inventor, and all-around performer extraordinaire, and stands tall as a paragon of taste and accomplishment in the rough-and-tumble world of show business and entertainment. Micky is best known as a vocalist and drummer of the 1960’s pop legends The Monkees. The Monkees not only achieved great success as a TV show, but also as recording artists; selling in excess of 65 million units, and achieving worldwide success. Their first four albums – THE MONKEES (1966); MORE OF THE MONKEES (1967); HEADQUARTERS (1967); and PISCES, AQUARIUS, CAPRICORN AND JONES, LTD. (1967) all reached the number-one position on the charts and launched three number-one singles: “Last Train to Clarksville,” “I'm a Believer” (both with lead vocals by Micky), and “Daydream Believer.”
The group's first five albums also went platinum. Micky has also released several critically acclaimed solo albums: KING FOR A DAY; REMEMBER; and A LITTLE BIT BROADWAY; A LITTLE BIT ROCK AND ROLL. The Monkees also re-grouped for a 50th anniversary album in 2016 entitled GOOD TIMES on Rhino. Micky toured in 2019 as part of the It Was Fifty Years Ago Today; a celebration of The Beatles WHITE ALBUM with Christopher Cross; Todd Rundgren; and Joey Molland of Badfinger. In March of 2019, he released the award-winning DOLENZ SINGS NESMITH on England’s 7a Records.Micky has also toured extensively on his own and earlier this year fronted Micky Dolenz Celebrates The Monkess which was a sell-out at every stop. He also recently performed at the annual James Burton event, this time in England, which also featured Ron Wood; Brian May and Van Morrison.On November 3, Micky releases the EP Dolenz Sings R.E.M. (7a Records) featuring 4 songs from R.E.M. Later that year, he releases the book I’m Told I Had A Good Times: The Micky Dolenz Archives-VOLUME 1.
In November of 2024, Micky released his first live album in seven years: MICKY DOLENZ: LIVE AT THE TROIUBADOUR. The album was recorded at the famed L.A. club in April and debuted Dolenz’s current stage show, MICKY DOLENZ: SONGS AND STORIES.
Tickets: Gold Circle $75Rear Orchestra $67Front Loge $57Rear Loge | Accessible $45
Discounts:Senior citizens and William Paterson employees and students are eligible for 10% discount. Groups of ten or more can get 15% off
The Shea Center for Performing Arts is celebrating its 60th birthday by bringing back the Dead! We welcome the premier Grateful Dead tribute, Dead On Live, to join us in the celebration by recreating the historic show, song for song, that was performed by the Grateful Dead here at the Shea Center 55 years ago on October 11th, 1970!
Dead On Live is nationally known for their unique approach to the Dead tribute scene by recreating entire albums, iconic shows, as well as specific eras of the Dead’s stylistically diverse musical career, absolutely note-for-note! Phil’s rootless syncopations, Bob’s “Weir’d” chords, the heart and soul of Pigpen, and the magical touch and tone of Jerry, all recreated with true dedication and reverence for the artists that created it
Relive the magic and the history of the one show performed by the Dead, here at the Shea Center in 1970, with Dead On Live!
Tickets:
Gold Circle $45Rear Orchestra $39Front Loge $35Rear Loge/Accessible $29
10% off for senior citizens and WP employees and students. 15% off for groups of ten or more.
Bat Out Of Hell is the 1977 debut album written and composed by Jim Steinman and performed by Michael Lee Aday A.K.A. Meat Loaf. It is one of the best-selling albums of all time, selling 43 million copies worldwide and 14 times platinum.
Considering himself an actor before a singer, Meat Loaf was pictured in the 1975 cult classic film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and is featured on several songs in the film, such as “Hot Patootie” and “Time Warp”. At any given Meet Loaf tribute show, expect these smash hits to be performed flawlessly.
Aside from evoking the heartfelt nostalgia of the 1977 Bat Out of Hell album as well as various other Meat Loaf Hits, Meet Loaf also tributes the genius of Jim Steinman, known for his superior songwriting and outstanding composition. Steinman hits performed in this spectacular concert, include but are not limited to, “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” by Celine Dion, “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler, “Dead Ringer for Love” featuring Cher, and “Making Love Out of Nothing At All” by Air Supply.
The “Meet Loaf” tribute show epitomizes the Meat Loaf experience in a look-a-like and sound-a-like event, that leaves audiences awestruck. A world-class show that delivers the powerful wide-ranging male and female operatic lead vocals, along with the epic theatrical elements that Meat Loaf fans have come to love, in an unforgettable evening of smash hits. If you love the music of Meat Loaf, get revved up, because Meet Loaf really ignites!
For crying out loud, and in the words of the Meat Loaf legend himself, “Keep Rockin’!”
Gold Circle $40Orchestra/Front Loge $37Rear Loge/Accessible $35
