Archive: Arts & Entertainment

When sixteen-year-old Jewell Payne sings, people listen. She’s been described as having the “buttery warmth, easy sophistication, raw power, and depth of soul of a young Aretha Franklin”--yet she’s mostly self-taught because of her family’s limited financial means. So when the renowned French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts gave her a partial scholarship to their summer training camp, the Ithaca performing arts community stepped forward to raise the rest of the funds. On March 8, from 2-4 pm, nearly a dozen talented local teens will take the stage at Corks & More, 708 W Buffalo Street, Ithaca, in a cabaret to raise scholarship money for Payne.

“I was so glad to hear of her plans to attend French Woods , as it seems like the next natural step for a performer as gifted as she is,” says Jesse Bush, Associate Artistic Director at the Hangar Theatre; he cast Payne in the Hangar’s “Once on this Island” in 2009.

“We have a lot of talented kids in Ithaca,” says Joey Steinhagen, artistic director of Running to Places Theatre Company, “but Jewell’s voice is one-in-a-million, the kind that brings down the house. She really deserves this chance at French Woods, and I hope the Ithaca community will come to the cabaret and show their support.”

The March 8 cabaret will feature popular group musical numbers and solos performed by Payne. Light hors d'oevres from Corks & More’s delicious tapas menu is included with the ticket price. There will be handmade scarves and other items for sale, as well as a raffle and silent auction that includes hotel stays, theater tickets, local wines and an array of gift certificates and gift baskets donated by local businesses. Steinhagen will serve as Master of Ceremonies.

While Payne has appeared in numerous local theater productions and is in great demand as a National Anthem soloist at sporting events—as well as being a past winner of local radio station Z-95.5’s Z-Star Contest—she has never had the opportunity for the kind of intensive education offered at French Woods. Theater critic Michael Gioia describes French Woods as “the Mecca of professional theatre and stomping ground of legendary performers (where children) are training to become the next generation of theatre professionals.”

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