The Shed will present An Audience with…, a five-night indoor performance series April 2–22 in The Shed’s 18,000-square-foot McCourt space with a MERV ventilation system, 115-foot-high ceilings, and distanced seating for 150 people, per New York State's recently announced guidelines for "Flex Venue" reopenings.
An Audience with... opens with singer and cellist Kelsey Lu April 2 and continues with musicians from the New York Philharmonic April 14–15, Tony nominee and Grammy-winning opera star Renée Fleming (Carousel, The Light in the Piazza) April 21, and comic Michelle Wolf April 22. All performances are at 8 PM ET.
The music and comedy series will kick off the West Side venue's spring-summer programming, which also includes the second edition of Open Call, a commissioning program for NYC-based early-career artists across performance, visual arts, and popular culture, opening in June. The Shed is also partnering with Frieze New York, which will bring an art fair with over 60 galleries to The Shed in May, and will collaborate with the Tribeca Film Festival on programs at The Shed in June.
Artistic Director and CEO Alex Poots said, “After an unprecedented year-long shutdown of indoor performance in New York, The Shed looks to once again celebrate the irreplaceable communal experience of attending a live show. Through music and comedy, we hope An Audience with... will provide some much-needed beauty and joy for both artists and audiences and, along with our other spring/summer programs, will contribute to our city’s recovery.”“When I performed in its very first events, I was struck by the architectural innovation of The Shed, especially the amazing flexible enclosure of The McCourt,” added Fleming. “It could not be more ideal for these unusual circumstances, as we finally begin to gather again, safely, for live performances.”
Attendance will be limited to 12 percent of The McCourt’s capacity seated in pairs and socially distanced six feet apart. There will be contactless ticket scanning, timed entry and exit, and no coat check, intermission, food/drink concessions, nor merchandise sales.
Upon arrival, attendees must present one of the following: confirmation of a negative COVID-19 PCR/NAAT test taken within 72 hours of the event start time or a COVID-19 antigen “rapid” test within six hours of the event start time, or confirmation of having completed the COVID-19 vaccination series at least 14 days prior to the date of the event.
For more information visit TheShed.org.
