Punk Standards debuts 8 p.m. Wednesday at The Asbury
Deborah Dutcher free show reimagines punk hits as jazz ballads
A collaboration between four Jersey natives, three from Rumson, asked, ‘What if the rock stars who wrote the greatest punk songs of all time had been lounge singers?’
The answer came in the form of Punk Standards, debuting 8 p.m. Wednesday at The Asbury, located at 210 Fifth Avenue.
Be it hits by The Ramones, Clash, or Sex Pistols, West End Stage’s Deborah Dutcher transforms punk’s fast, aggressive tempo into the improvisational syncopation that launched the early 20th century jazz movement.
The showcase is conceived and produced by Phil Kuntz, a Bloomberg News’ Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has also worked for The Wall Street Journal, according to a news release.
The Rumson resident co-authored “The Sinatra Files,” and was a researcher and commentator on Oscar-winner Alex Gibney’s Emmy-nominated HBO documentary “Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All.”
An actress with worldwide credits, Dutcher starred as Christine in “Phantom of the Opera” on London’s West End and in its 25th Anniversary celebration at the Royal Albert Hall. She was the original Cosette in “Les Misérables” in Germany, Belgium and on the Flemish and German cast albums. She also played the role in Scandinavia and toured Europe as Priscilla Presley in “Elvis, The Musical.”
Dutcher is a Corning, New York native who moved to Rumson to raise her son Donovan.
Her husband, Donovan Mannato, co-produces Punk Standards.
A financial advisor by trade, Mannato also is a Broadway producer and filmmaker. His credits include “Ghost: The Musical” on West End and Broadway, “Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s” on Broadway and “Prey for Rock & Roll,” a movie starring Gina Gershon. He played a juror in Jonathan Demme’s “Philadelphia.” His next project is a musical adaptation of “Back to the Future.”
The music is arranged by London’s award-winning composer Mike Woolmans, a former BBC sound engineer, who composed music for movies, radio, television, and theater. Woolmans spent the 1980s playing ‘Mikey,’ the sidekick on UK’s radio program “Steve Wright in the Afternoon.” His jingles for BBC’s Radio One won awards, and he co-wrote “I’ll Be Back” by Arnee and the Terminaters and performed it on TV’s”Top of the Pops” after the single reached No. 5 on the charts.
Punk Standards debuted last fall in New York City.
Immediately following the free performance, Sid Gold’s Request Room owner Joe McGinty will lead a live piano karaoke. McGinty’s venue has been called the “absolute best karaoke bar in New York,” by New York Magazine’s Grub Street website. The former Psychedelic Furs’ keyboardist has worked with the Ramones, Ronnie Spector and Ryan Adams. The Atlantic City native also founded the popular “Loser’s Lounge” series of tributes to pop icons.
The Punk Standards lineup includes:
“I Wanna Be Sedated” by the Ramones
“Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)” by the Buzzcocks
“Pretty Vacant” by the Sex Pistols
“Lost in the Supermarket” by the Clash
“Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” by Ian Dury
“Life During Wartime” by Talking Heads
“Watching the Detectives” by Elvis Costello
“Ça plane pour moi” by Plastic Bertrand
“Personality Crisis” by the New York Dolls
“Welcome to Paradise” by Green Day
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