Springs Youth on Midtown Stage
The 16th annual Midtown International Theater Festival, which runs through Nov. 22 at the Workshop Theater’s Jewel Box Theater in Manhattan, features dramatic, comedic, and musical performances in a celebration of the finest off-off-Broadway talent. On Sunday, a young man with roots on the South Fork will be part of the offerings.
Greg Gropper, who is 16 and lives in Manhattan and Springs, will present “Greg Gropper Sings!” on Sunday at 7 p.m. A baritone, Mr. Gropper will sing a mix of Broadway tunes and popular music by artists including the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Coldplay. He will accompany himself on the latter selections, while Laura Maruzzella, a vocal teacher, actress, and singer from Springs, will accompany him on piano for his Broadway selections.
The former Ross School student played in the school’s jazz band under Morris Goldberg and studied clarinet with the late Hal McKusick, who lived in Sag Harbor. He has performed in piano recitals under the tutelage of Jonathan Howe, who teaches at East Hampton High School; studied at the music educator Jamey Aebersold’s summer jazz workshops, and, last summer, studied with Larry Dvoskin, a professor of songwriting at New York University’s School of Continuing Education and Professional Studies.
“I love music,” Mr. Gropper said last week. “I’ve been into it since I was 3 or 4.” So into it, in fact, that he introduced himself, at age 5, to Paul McCartney after a performance by the latter in Manhattan. “I also met him in 2012 when I was bicycling on Newtown Lane” in East Hampton, Mr. Gropper said. “We were both biking, and I stopped and said hi. He was excited that I was a fan.”
At Sunday’s concert, for which he had to audition, Mr. Gropper will perform some of Mr. McCartney’s compositions, including “Let It Be” and “Lady Madonna,” along with other songs by the Beatles. He plans to sing “God Only Knows,” a classic song by the Beach Boys, and others from rock ’n’ roll’s golden age, as well as “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay and an original song. Selections from Broadway, he said, will include music from “Man of La Mancha,” “Chess,” and “Oklahoma!”
Mr. Gropper is a baseball enthusiast. On Long Island, he has pitched for the New York Diamonds and, in the city, the New York Gothams. He is also an advocate for wildlife. One year ago, he and his parents were among a group that rallied outside East Hampton Town Hall in an effort to persuade the town board to take a stand against proposed state hunting regulations allowing gunning on January weekends and sharply reducing the distance from structures for bow hunters. “I’m against shooting and hunting,” he said, “and especially the killing of fawns.”
Tickets for “Greg Gropper Sings!” are $20 and available at midtownfestival.org or by calling 866-811-4111. Patrons can receive a 20 percent discount by applying the promotional code “friendsfamily” at midtownfestival.org, through 11:59 p.m. on Saturday.