Every day is opening night.

Press Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Lee Abrahamian / Briana Sanchez / Gerilyn Shur / Ellie Detweiler
rick@omdkc.com / lee.abrahamian@icloud.com / briana@omdkc.com / gerilyn@omdkc.com / ellie@omdkc.com
212 695 7400

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

AMBER GRAY
AND
AMBER IMAN
TO PERFORM IN
“THE OYSTER RADIO HOUR”
AS PART OF THE BLOCKBUSTER SUMMER SEASON AT
LITTLE ISLAND

THROUGHOUT THE RUN, THE ISLAND’S CENTRAL PLAZA
WILL TRANSFORM INTO ONE-OF-A-KIND
OYSTER MARKET
CURATED BY WORLD-FAMOUS MARKET DESIGNER ROBERT LaVALVA

PERFORMANCES AND MARKET RUN JULY 31-AUGUST 4

New York, NY (July 19, 2024) – Little Island announced today that Tony Award® nominees Amber Gray (Hadestown) and Amber Iman (Lempicka) will perform in The Oyster Radio Hour, which begins performances on Wednesday, July 31 and will run through Sunday, August 4 as part of Little Island’s blockbuster summer season.

The Oyster Radio Hour is a live, three-act family-friendly radio show combining science, story and song that celebrates the resilience of oysters and their crucial ecological roles. Beginning at 8PM each evening, the show blends hope and interconnectedness, spotlighting the humble oyster’s journey of revival, including special Broadway guests Amber Gray and Amber Iman.

During The Oyster Radio Hour’s run in the Amph through August 4, the Island’s central plaza, known as the Play Ground, will transform from 6:30-10PM daily into a one-of-a-kind Oyster Market, with food and beverages curated and overseen by New Amsterdam Market founder and world-famous market designer Robert LaValva.

Alongside live oyster shucking, the market will feature 10 local vendors selling their unique culinary creations, which pair perfectly with the live performance. The local vendors include Real Mothershuckers, Oyster Party, Lobster Place, Houseman, Dayboat Blue, Cervo’s, Té Company, La Newyorkina, Chomps Elysées, and Pamina Dolce Gelato. Danny Childs, author of Slow Drinks, will make summer bespoke cocktails during a bar takeover on Friday, August 3.

The Oyster Radio Hour is a collaboration between RR Sigel, who was the Associate Artistic Director of NY PopsUp in 2021; WNYC podcast producer Ana González, previously of Radiolab: For Kids; composer Angélica Negrón who has performed at Opera Philadelphia, the LA Philharmonic, NY Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and more; and Emmy® and Drama Desk Award®-nominated songwriter Mark Sonnenblick.

The Oyster Radio Hour is presented in partnership with Yo-Yo Ma‘s Our Common Nature, which explores how culture can reconnect us to the natural world.

The Oyster Radio Hour music team includes Jason Michael Webb (MJ) as Music Director and Arrangements, Negrón (water synth and accordion), Matt Evans (percussion), and Darian Donovan Thomas (electric violin and fiddle).

Keenan Tyler Oliphant (Hadestown) serves as director with Miller & Harlow as writers; Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew (Kimberly Akimbo) as lighting/video designer; Beth Lake (Camelot) as sound designer; Dr. Matthew Hare, Elliott Ma, Ayasha Guerin, Moody Harney, and Alan Michelson as audio interviewees; and Beatrice Perez-Arche as stage manager.

To download headshots, please click here.

Little Island’s first annual, four-month-long summer season of world premieres, which kicked off on June 1, features a total of nine newly commissioned pieces. Little Island’s new arts program moves towards the future with a commitment to a multi-year roster of original work, all commissioned by and developed at Little Island. Bookended by the premiere of choreographer Twyla Tharp’s newest work How Long Blues and a 90-minute remix of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in which outré opera diva Anthony Roth Costanzo sings every leading role, the season offers premieres of varying scales across all areas of performance – including music, dance, theater, opera, comedy, jazz, pop, and funk, all outdoors and directly sited on the Hudson River at 14^th Street in New York City. The Amph, the park’s 700-seat amphitheater, will house larger scale performances at a $25 ticket price, while The Glade, the park’s 200-seat venue, will be home to more intimate works, all of which will be completely free to the public.

KEY ART FOR SUMMER SEASON AVAILABLE HERE

IMAGE OF LITTLE ISLAND AVAILABLE HERE

Tickets to Little Island’s summer season of performances are available for purchase on littleislandtickets.com, TodayTix.com, or by downloading the TodayTix app.

“Oysters are gorgeously great!”

Ina Garten

“With oysters, the world of dining is, in fact, your oyster!”

Martha Stewart

CAST & CREATIVE BIOGRAPHIES

Matt Evans (Percussion) is a Brooklyn based composer, percussionist, and producer making electro-acoustic recordings and performances that consider interconnectedness, human/post-human embodiment, and lessons learned from non-human teachers. His compositions draw inspiration from millennial esoterica, natural phenomena, and science fiction, and have been described as “hyperreal and phantasmal” (Wire Magazine) and “a form of chill complexity” (New York Times). Matt has presented solo projects at the Guggenheim, The Kitchen, Roulette, and 2220 Art+Archives and has released records with Moon Glyph, Whatever’s Clever, and others. He performs regularly with choreographer Ayano Elson as well as ensembles Neti-Neti, Tigue, Bearthoven, and Fun Facts.

Ana González (Content Developer) is an audio producer and host who has worked with WNYC, The History Channel, and Rhode Island Public Radio. In a former life, she played jazz bass and thinks about everything in terms of rhythm, conversation, and harmony.

Amber Gray (Performer) has originated roles in numerous productions over the years including: Claudia in Here We Are, Sondheim’s final musical, at The Shed; Persephone in Hadestown at New York Theatre Workshop, Edmonton’s Citadel, London’s National, and on Broadway (Lortel, Drama League, Chita Rivera, and Tony Nominations.  Sterling, Outer Critics Circle, and Grammy Awards); Hélène in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 at Ars Nova, Kazino, and on Broadway (Theatre World Award); Laurey in Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma! at Bard SummerScape (that went on to win The Tony Best Revival on Broadway); and Zoe in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ An Octoroon at PS 122, Soho Rep, and TFANA (Obie).  Other theatre gems include Sam Gold’s Macbeth on Broadway (AEA’s St. Clair Bayfield Award) and Taylor Mac’s A 24 Decade History of Popular Music at NYLA/Under the Radar and BRIC’s Celebrate Brooklyn! (Pulitzer Prize Finalist).  Gray is a company member of The TEAM and has codeveloped and performed in their Mission Drift, Primer for a Failed Superpower, and the upcoming Reconstruction.  Check them out at theteamplays.org. Gray can always be found with radical performance community Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping who just wrapped up as the opening act for Neil Young’s Love Earth Tour.  Check them out at revbilly.com.  TV/Film: upcoming “Long Bright River,” Barry Jenkins’ “Underground Railroad,” Broadway cult favorites “Submissions Only” and “The Gilded Age,” Ben Stiller’s “Escape at Dannemora,” Alex Harvey’s Walden: Life in the Woods, Gabe Braden’s Where There’s Smoke, Mariama Diallo’s Master, Michael VQ’s Submission, and The Arens’ Heartworm. MFA: NYU.

Amber Iman (Performer) is a performer, filmmaker, activist, and one of the most sought-after theatre artists and vocalists working today. She was honored with a Tony Award and Drama League nomination this past season for her breakthrough role as Rafaela in Lempicka. A proud Howard University graduate, she debuted on Broadway as the High Priestess of Soul, Nina Simone, in Soul Doctor, earning a Clive Barnes Award nomination. Since, she has been seen in George C. Wolfe’s Shuffle Along and in the first National Tour of Hamilton.

Amber has performed Off Broadway and regionally earning Helen Hayes and IRENE Award nominations and winning the Ovation Award and the prestigious Emery Battis Award for Acting Excellence from Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC. Favorite recent credits include: Nadira in Goddess (Berkeley Rep) and Pam Brown in Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical (A.C.T.). On TV, Amber has been seen on “High Maintenance” for HBO, and her self-produced short film Steve, has been a critical darling at film festivals across the country and internationally, winning Best Short, Best Actress, and the Audience Choice Award. She wrapped production on her second short, “Blackberry Winter”, this Spring. As an activist, Amber is the proud Co-Founder of the TONY award winning Broadway Advocacy Coalition and Black Women on Broadway. Her Webby Award nominated one woman show, An Evening with Amber Iman, is available on Audible! @amberiman amberiman.com

Robert LaValva is a designer and placemaking consultant with expertise in sustainable infrastructure, food systems, and economic development. His practice focuses on the connections between culture and environment. He was the founder and executive director of the acclaimed New Amsterdam Market, a gathering of sustainable food purveyors held on the East River waterfront in Lower Manhattan from 2007 to 2014. Since then he has consulted on initiatives for the private sector, government agencies, and non-profit organizations combining his passion for design with his understanding of food systems and public space. He played a key role in the redevelopment of New York City’s Essex Market and is currently programming the revitalization of Buffalo’s historic Broadway Market. His clients include the New York City Economic Development Corporation; New York State Empire State Development; and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (Monticello). Robert studied urban planning at NYU and received a Master’s in Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Angélica Negrón (Music) is a Puerto Rican-born composer and multi-instrumentalist. She writes music for voices, orchestras, and film as well as robots, toys, and plants. Angélica is known for playing with the unexpected intersection of classical and electronic music, unusual instruments, and found sounds.

Recent commissions include works for Opera Philadelphia, the LA Philharmonic, NY Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Dallas Symphony Orchestra (featuring Lido Pimienta as a soloist), the NY Botanical Garden, Sō Percussion, Kronos Quartet, Roomful of Teeth, and an original score for the HBO docuseries Menudo: Forever Young.

Angélica regularly performs a solo show and is a founding member of the tropical electronic band Balún. As an educator, Angélica has been a teaching artist with NY Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers program (2013-2021) and with Lincoln Center Education (2014-2018).

Angélica lives in Brooklyn, where she’s always looking for ways to incorporate her love of drag, comedy, and the natural world into her work.

Beth Lake (Sound Design). Broadway: Uncle Vanya, Camelot. Broadway Associate: The Cottage, for colored girls…, Pass Over, Is This a Room?, Dana H, My Fair Lady, The Play That Goes Wrong, Natasha Pierre…, Velocity of Autumn. Off-Broadway: for colored girls… , The Play That Goes Wrong, The Wolves, Freud’s Last Session. Regional: Into The Woods (Guthrie), A Little Night Music (Pasadena Playhouse), Kinky Boots (Bucks County Playhouse), Selling Kabul, Ghosts, (Williamstown Theater Company), Kiss My Aztec (Hartford Stage, with Jessica Paz), A Thousand Splendid Suns (US Tour), American Girl, Live! (US Tour), The Revolutionists, An Iliad, The Price (Gulfshore Playhouse). USA829, IATSE

Miller & Harlow (Writer). Honorable Mentions for the American Theatre Wing’s 2023 Jonathan Larson Grant, Miller and Harlow are composed of director-producer Ciera Miller and singer-songwriter Emma Harlow.

Later this summer their original musical Funeral for a Dog will be featured at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Described as “the grassroots of Broadway” (Choreographer Mindy Cooper) their work is driven by earnest hope, and a love for all of the small strange things that make up our world.

millerandharlow.com @millerandharlow

Keenan Tyler Oliphant (Director) is a Theatre-maker and Director from Cape Town South Africa. Keenan’s work is in the lineage of the communal theatre-making and storytelling traditions of South Africa. Selected directing credits include Heather Christina’s Terce: A Practical Breviary (HERE Arts); To the Ends of the Earth (JACK); Will You Come With Me? (PlayCo 2022), Jay Stull’s The Singularity Play (Harvard TDM); Sam Grabiner’s People on Earth (Columbia University), Vivian Barnes’ Intro To (Ensemble Stage Theatre), queen a queer ritual by Jay Stull (Dixon Place). He is the Associate Director for Hadestown on Broadway and Gatsby: an American Myth. He has developed work with NYTW, Ars Nova, Clubbed Thumb, and the Vineyard amongst others. Keenan is an alumnus of the Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellow (2020-2021) and the Drama League Directing Fellowship (2021-2022).

Beatrice Perez-Arche (Stage Manager) is a Cuban American theatre artist focused on creating community through her work in the arts. She has primarily worked at the Public Theater on Shakespeare in the Park, the Under the Radar Festival, and the Public Shakespeare Initiative. She is an Associate Artist at Sanguine Theatre Company and has collaborated with a range of institutions including The Flea, The Civilians, Tectonic Theater Project, One Whale’s Tale, Women’s Project, La Mama, Little Island, Chelsea Factory, and Ballet Collective. She received her BFA in Theater Arts from Boston University and currently freelances as a stage manager, director, and dramaturg.

RR Sigel (Creative Director) is a performing arts consultant, collaborator, and creative producer who is interested in how media, performance, and interdisciplinary collaborations can be used to create a better understanding of the systems that surround us. Consulting and producing collaborators include:  Sound Postings (the Office of Yo-Yo Ma), From the Top, Cal Performances, and other artists and organizations. In 2021, Sigel was Associate Artistic Director of NY PopsUp – a statewide festival designed to get artists back to paid performance, to bring the public back to connection with live art, and to develop new safety and public health protocols that can allow performance to resume as New York State emerged from the pandemic. Sigel was Executive Director of the International Contemporary Ensemble; a strategic business planning consultant with the National Park Service in the Great Smoky Mountains; and Manager, Social Innovation at the LA Phil where her focus was on the organization’s community-based music education program, YOLA. Additional background includes leadership development and backcountry tripleading. Sigel is a musical utility player – originally a bass player, she now prefers playing acoustic guitar at campfire singalongs.

Mark Sonnenblick (Music) is an Emmy and Drama Desk-nominated songwriter. His projects include Theater Camp (Searchlight Pictures, Sundance Special Jury Award), Spirited (Apple TV+, Oscar shortlist), Lyle Lyle Crocodile (Sony Pictures), Saturday Night Seder (youtube.com), and Midnight at The Never Get (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics’ Circle nominations). Other honors include a Jonathan Larson grant (American Theater Wing), the Harold Adamson Award (ASCAP), a MAC Award (Show of the Year), and Best Production at the New York Fringe Festival (RIP). Upcoming: Harlem (Amazon Prime), The Devil Wears Prada (West End, October), Nativity (Judson Memorial Church, December).

Jeanette Yew (Lighting and Video Designer) received an Obie for Sustained Achievement in lighting design. She designs for theatre, dance, opera, musicals, music performances and immersive experiences. NY Times described them as “clever” and “inventive”. Recent: Kimberly Akimbo (Broadway), The Thanksgiving Play (Broadway), An American Soldier (PAC), Big Dance Group’s The March (PAC), The Connector (Drama Desk Nomination, MCC), Oratorio for Living Things (Lortel Nomination, Ars Nova), MANAHATTA (The Public), The Nosebleed (LCT3), Your Own Personal Exegesis (LCT3), and Golden Shield (MTC). For immersive experiences: Nevermore Park: Home of Flyboy with artist Hebru Brantley, David Byrne’s Theater of the Mindand Emersive’s LIFE & TRUST. Instagram: @jeanette_yew | JeanetteYew.com

Yo-Yo Ma’s Our Common Nature explores how culture can reconnect us to the natural world.

ABOUT LITTLE ISLAND

Little Island, the 2.4-acre park that sits along the Hudson River, opened in May 2021 and has since been enjoyed by 4.6 million visitors. In 2013, Barry Diller, in partnership with Hudson River Park Trust leadership, embarked on the unique opportunity to envision a solution for the repair and reactivation of Pier 54, which had been badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy. The park was designed as an entirely new type of public space for New York, one that would create an immersive experience of nature and art. Born from a collaboration of the UK-based Heatherwick Studio and the New York-based landscape architecture firm MNLA, led by Signe Nielsen, the park’s imaginative design offers all New Yorkers and visitors a new public space that is dynamic, captivating, and restorative.

Little Island is operated year-round by a 50-member staff co-helmed by Producing Artistic Director Zack Winokur and Executive Director Laura Clement.

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