SoHo Shakes is a theatre company dedicated to storytelling that challenges the mainstream
narrative by making space for the overlooked to rise up, be heard, and take center stage.
Last Thursday they hosted a benefit that featured performances by Broadway superstars including
Jennifer Fouché of “POTUS”, “Chicken and Biscuits”, “White Girl in Danger” debuting March
2023, and Tony Nominated choreographer Jeffrey Marc Alkins from “Mr. Saturday Night”. The audience was entertained all night with live jazz performed by Broadway legends Dolly Lewis and Roman Ivanoff.
While party goers were dazzled by the festivities, there is a more serious undertone. The company’s mission is to make education and theater training affordable to people from all walks of life. Proceeds of the nights festivities had continued to allow Soho Shakes to offering free-of-charge programming like Shakespeare Fundamentals and the Monologue Gym, as well as scholarships for otherwise paid courses. These programs are often exceptionally expensive and exclude students from education based on cost – a barrier SoHo Shakes is looking to overcome. As well as this the fundraising efforts also support up and coming shows including the show in October Anton Chekov Four sisters adaptation which offers their members an opportunity to be apart of a larger scale production.
“Live theatre is back after a long pandemic-inflicted hiatus, and it needs our support more than
ever before,” said SoHo Shakes” says founding director Alex Pepperman. “Theatre holds a
Hamletian mirror up to the world. It shows us who we are and what we’re capable of. It teaches
us empathy and makes us better global citizens. Especially here at SoHo Shakes—we’re telling
the stories you don’t get to hear and desperately need to.”
If you were unable to attend, but would like to donate or be apart of soho shakes you can learn more at www.sohoshakes.org
Photographer: Bill Chin.
