Buffalo, NY (WBEN) A virtual concert series featuring Broadway stars will feature a performer with Buffalo roots this Saturday night. A portion of ticket sales will go to Shea's Performing Arts Center.
Vanessa Williams' mother grew up in Buffalo. So did her husband Jim Skrip, yet Wiliams has never been inside Shea's. "I've seen it many times in advertisements, and we were talking about doing something there," says Wiliams, who has performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and sang in other parts of WNY.
There's another reason Buffalo is in Williams' heart. "I know how welcoming the Buffalo area is for arts, which is fantastic. I look forward to having it all return to live theater and having people back in the seats to see some real artistry back again," adds Williams.
Shea's Performing Arts Center is one of a select group of theaters participating in a three-part virtual concert series, Live from the West Side: Women of Broadway. "We'll be doing some Broadway stuff, and some pop stuff, and then we'll squeeze in one or two holiday favorites from my two Christmas albums," says Williams. "We'll also have an opportunity to do a Q and A while we're live. All the participating theaters are fantastic and I'm looking forward to it." At-home audience members will be invited to email in questions to be answered during the livestream.
It's been a tough time for performers during this pandemic. "A lot of people have been moved in many different ways. The ups and downs, highs and lows have been tremendous. But, the common denominator that makes everyone feel great is music," says Williams. She hopes this will be a distraction from what has been 2020.
While others have been forced to the sidelines, Williams has been able to perform on PBS' A Capitol Fourth, open the Kennedy Center with Renee Fleming, and a Christmas concert tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, which will air on PBS in December.
"The silver lining is being able to do it," says Williams. "As a Broadway actress, a lot of people don't have the opportunity to be on stage. It's an honor for me to be able to not only be on stage and perform, but have a format where I can not only reach the audience in a close theater, and a broader audience as well."
Single tickets ($30 for each livestream) are available at sheas.org and include access to the livestream performance, plus an additional 72 hours of on-demand viewing of a video recording of the livestream, available beginning one hour after each live broadcast ends.
