UNTANGLING THE SHADOWS

What begins as a quest to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of an infant becomes a gripping odyssey. Immersing himself in faded photos, newspaper articles, dusty basements, and fragments of his own memory, Charles Hale summons the voices from the past and seeks to discover how his ancestors lived. Traversing landscapes, beginning at the burial site of a baby, to a butcher’s shop in Ireland, to a tapestry of tenements, bustling streets, and ballfields in the heart of New York City, Hale asks, Can we navigate the hidden recesses of history and untangle the shadows that shroud the past?

Weaving together a tapestry of stories, a realization emerges: Our narratives shape our very existence, influencing how we perceive ourselves and the world around us. Examining both physical and personal terrains, Hale embarks on an exploration of family, grief, meaning, and purpose, infusing his journey with intense self-reflection. Readers will be inspired to embrace the transformative power of family history, the interconnectedness of the human experience, and to become the torchbearer of ancestral tales.

AVAILABLE AT AMAZON: UNTANGLING THE SHADOWS: SEARCHING FOR THE VOICES OF MY NEW YORK IRISH ANCESTORS

SOL PROM’S NEW YORK CITY, 1937

 
 
 
I walked past the corner of the Bowery and Houston Street in NYC a few days ago and thought of this Sol Prom photo called “Shadows 1,” which he took at that same corner in 1937.
 
After I returned to my apartment I went through a number of Prom’s photos. Prom was a member of the Photo League between 1936 and 1939 and worked with the League on a number of projects including “Dead End: the Bowery,” from which this photo is taken.
 
Every time I look at Prom’s photos I think of one song…native New Yorker Yip Harbug wrote the lyrics and Jay Gorney the music….“Brother Can You Spare a Dime,” sung here by Al Jolson (1932).
 
 
 

650 READ APPEARANCE: SUN, JAN 22nd

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be part of the cast of Read650’s Genealogy show, “Who, Me?” on Sunday, Jan. 22, at City Winery, a very cool restaurant and concert venue on the Hudson River.

I wrote a five-minute story, which I’ll be performing, about an event that took place one-hundred years ago and connected me to my family history in a way I hadn’t imagined. It became the portal into which I entered the collective memory of my family’s past…and mine.

I’ll be performing with an ensemble cast of talented writers, sharing their personal stories about their families and their ancestry.

For tix and info: https://bit.ly/3uwxgDP650

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BARON FENWICK IN “WWII AND NYC: CONNECTING TIME AND PLACE”

Here’s what Columbia Free-Times said about Baron Fenwick, who will be performing in “WWII and NYC: Connecting Time and Place,” at the Cell Theatre, on February 11 and 12, 7:30pm: “Brilliant…. His driving rhythm, virtuosic technique, musical treatment and careful attention to the ensemble were all stunning. Put two or three more years on this young man, and we might well have a major star.” – Columbia Free-Times.

Baron was an enormous hit in a show I created two years ago, “From Carnegie to The Cell.” If you missed that show, here is your chance to hear why Baron was such a sensation.

Awarded the Silver Medal in the 2019 Sendai International Music Competition, Baron has emerged as a leading pianist of his generation. At 27 years old, he regularly performs with orchestras around the world, including the Flint Symphony, the South Shore Symphony, the Wintergreen Festival Orchestra and the Sendai Philharmonic, among others. He performed with the Mannes Orchestra after winning the 2018 Mannes Concerto Competition and he recently made his debut in Carnegie Hall’s “Weill Hall.

For tickets and additional information click here.

DAVID GOLDMAN, MUSIC DIRECTOR “WWII AND NYC: CONNECTING TIME AND PLACE”

I’m working with some wonderful talent in my show, “WWII and NYC: Connecting Time and Place,” including the show’s music director, David S. Goldman. Click here for tickets and information.

David is an award-winning and world-traveled multi-lingual singer/songwriter who performs in a wide variety of genres and languages including Blues, Latin, Acoustic Rock, Pop/Jazz, and World. His versatile and moving, melismatic voice gains him fans wherever he goes. David currently has an international musical under development with the Cell Theater in NYC encompassing his college journey to India and multi-ethnic background. It will first be a podcast and audio release and then a live performance


In December of 2021, David and his co-writer American Dreamer Daniella Vieira released their song “Alien (Revisited)” on 11Million Records, distributed by DistroKid on all media platforms. Daniella received a Grammy Certificate in 2019 for American Dreamers: Voices of Hope, Music of Freedom by John Daversa Big Band. “Alien (Revisited)” powerfully expresses Ms. Santos’ feelings about her experience as an immigrant.


David has also frequently worked with me as co-producer, music director and performer at various NYC venues from 2015 to the present-day. His latest release, “Going To America” is a song of hope for the country’s founding ideals and diversity.

“David Goldman has a gift for channeling his love of the whole wide world of music into well-crafted songs, and he has the voice to do those songs justice.”—John Platt, WFUV 90.7FM

Click here to visit David’s website

ROBERT ANTHONY MACK IN “WWII AND NYC: CONNECTING TIME AND PLACE”

I first heard tenor Robert Anthony Mack performing the role of Bartell D’Arcy in the Irish Repertory Theatre’s production of The Dead, 1904. He was fabulous. Robert is the male vocalist—Clare Maloney the female vocalist—in my upcoming show, “WWII and NYC: Connecting Time and Place.”

Robert has performed on Broadway in Smokey Joe’s Café and 3 with Mo’ Tenors. He has received glorious reviews for his powerful but sweet lyric tenor voice, throughout the US and Europe with Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Budapest Opera, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, The Royal Danish Opera, Opéra Française de New York, Nashville Opera, Opera Carolina, The Springfield Symphony, The Paris Bastille, The Teatro Real in Spain, and has spent several seasons on the roster of The Metropolitan Opera. He has been the tenor soloist in The Verdi’s Requiem, and other notable oratorios.

With Clare Maloney/vocals, Baron Fenwick/piano and Sara Caswell/violin. Music Director David S. Goldman

The Cell Theatre, NYC, Feb 11 and 12, 7:30pm.

For tickets and additional information click here.


CLARE MALONEY IN “WWII AND NYC: CONNECTING TIME AND PLACE

I’m thrilled that Internationally acclaimed vocalist and musician, Clare Maloney, will be performing in a Charles R Hale Production, “WWII and NYC: Connecting Time and Place,” at the Cell Theatre in NYC, Feb 11 and 12. Click here for tickets

Clare has shared the stage with members of The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Starship, Allman Brothers Band, Hall & Oates, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, Hot Tuna, The Tubes and The New Riders of the Purple Sage. Her interpretations of the folk and rock favorites of the 60s and 70s era have gained her a loyal following for her powerful voice and her ability to move effortlessly between Grace Slick’s “White Rabbit” and Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock.”


Before transitioning to Rock and Roll full-time, Clare trained extensively and toured as an opera singer, appearing on some of the most famous stages in the world including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Town Hall, Symphony Space, 92ndY, National Sawdust and at concert halls throughout Europe and Asia. A uniquely versatile artist, Clare is an in-demand studio session vocalist, having lent her voice to numerous studio projects including jingles, TV theme songs, national ad campaigns, and new music by composers writing for Broadway, Jazz, Opera and the concert stage.


Since 2018, Clare has toured as the vocalist for The Englishtown Project – a tribute to the Grateful Dead, New Riders of the Purple Sage and The Marshall Tucker Band. Since the music industry reopened in 2021, playing over a dozen shows for the reopening of the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, and assembling her own band, Clare Maloney & The Great Adventure, which recently played to sold-out crowds at the Bitter End in NYC.

WWII & NYC: CONNECTING TIME & PLACE

New York, New York, a “helluva town” during WWII. The city witnessed three million soldiers and sailors passing through, waiting to be shipped out to an uncertain destiny. 

Nightclubs and theaters opened their doors to the droves of servicemen passing through. Broadway’s leading actors and actresses entertained servicemen at the Stage Door Canteen in Midtown. New Yorkers filled the theaters and the Times Square movie houses. They listened to songs that hailed American optimism at a time of national testing…and they listened to “slush songs”, sentimental songs of loss and loneliness. 

Charles R. Hale’s “WWII and NYC: Connecting Time and Place” recalls the electricity of the wartime home front, while recounting the significant role New York played in the national war effort. The show weaves the era’s vivid personalities, music and stories into an exciting tapestry of a city overcoming the greatest challenge of the twentieth century.

Charles R. Hale/Creator and Narrator

David S. Goldman/Music Director

Gertjan Houben/Lighting Designer

Clare Maloney/Vocals, /Sara Caswell/Violin, Robert Anthony Mack/Vocals and Baron Fenwick/Piano

—–

February 11 and 12, Cell Theatre, 338 West 23rd St, NYC

For tickets: http://www.thecelltheatre.org/box-office

CLASSICALLY EXPOSED: MUSICAL CROSSROADS 2021/2022 at THE CELL 2021/2022

Charles R. Hale Productions​, Musica Solis​ and Nancy Manocherian’s “the cell” are pleased to announce another season of ​Classically Exposed. This season is called ​”Musical Crossroads,” in honor of the confluence of musical genre that we are presenting. Our goal is simple: To present outstanding music at a great value; accordingly, w​e have assembled a fabulous collection of artists who will performing a variety of musical genre including classical, jazz, theatrical, rock and more. ​Based on the comments we received after our last series, it’s fair to say “this is a one-of-a-kind” series here in New York.

Tickets and season subscriptions will be on sale shortly for the following shows:

November 20: The Anderson Brothers/Benny Meets Artie.

December 18: Igor Lipinski/Piano Illusions

January 8: Rossano Sportiello/Stride Piano Master

January 29: Empire Wild

February 11 and 12: Charles R. Hale’s/WWII and NYC:Connecting Time and Place

February 26: Mark Dover and Jeremy Jordan/Port Mande