Event

Stairway to Paradise: Songs of Sin and Redemption

Stairway to Paradise: Songs of Sin and Redemption is the product of a 5-year long exploration of the music of Jewish-American theatre composers Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and Kurt Weill conceived by Laboratory member Megan Elk in collaboration with co-artistic director James Slowiak and some of the region's most accomplished jazz musicians. It's current incarnation takes the form of a virtuosic dialogue between voice and saxophone featuring local alto sax great, Bobby Selvaggio. 'Stairway' weaves haunting melodies, scathing comedic tunes, and pop music standards of the 1940's and 50's with the personal narrative of a young woman searching for her voice amidst the confusing clash of culture and spirituality in the 21st century. Stairway to Paradise has been called, "...hypnotic, ethereal... strangely captivating... Elk uses her lovely soprano voice to infuse each tune with such honest emotion that it's impossible not to join her on this trek." -Christine Howey, Cleveland Scene