FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: KST Presents Suite Life, A Theatrical Jazz Benefit Concert Celebrating Icons Billy Strayhorn and Gene Kelly
EAST LIBERTY, PA, October 18, 2023 — Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) invites you to celebrate our namesakes with the music of composer Billy Strayhorn and the imagery of performer Gene Kelly at our unforgettable theatrical jazz benefit concert Suite Life on Saturday, November 25, 2023, at 7:30pm at Kelly Strayhorn Theater (5941 Penn Ave.). Starting two hours before Suite Life, we hold our VIP Reception at our generous sponsor Duolingo’s East Liberty Headquarters (5900 Penn Ave.) at 5:30pm. The reception features specially crafted cocktails, sumptuous hors d’oeuvres, and meaningful opportunities to connect with Pittsburgh’s leading jazz enthusiasts.
We warmly welcome music director and pianist Dr. Alton Merrell, as well as band members: Dwayne Dolphin (bass), James Johnson III (drums), and Colter Harper (guitar). The concert features jazz singer and Billy Strayhorn aficionado Joshua Banbury, along with Suite Life veterans kelsey jumper and Treasure Treasure. KST reunites our friends, media artist Scott Andrew, and lighting designer Madeleine Steineck for a dazzling visual experience.
“Strayhorn has inspired me to bring theatrics into jazz,” classically trained jazz singer and opera librettist Joshua Banbury explains, “in recent years, I have attempted to get very close to Strayhorn and his work. Being near his work, his story has greatly impacted my own. I’ve also fallen in love with his music because his ballads in particular are so akin to arias and art songs. To be able to sing his music in a theater dedicated to him is so special to me”.
This year’s event marks KST’s 16th annual celebration of Gene Kelly’s energetic and athletic dance style and Billy Strayhorn’s longing and artful tones. Billy Strayhorn, born in 1915, lived in the Homewood section of Pittsburgh while Gene Kelly, born in 1912, grew up in East Liberty.
“While there is no written record showing the two ever met, it is documented that they both attended shows at Pittsburgh venues like the Stanley Theatre, where Strayhorn met Duke Ellington in 1938. Through the mixing of music and visuals, Suite Life imagines how their lives might have crossed paths right here, at Kelly Strayhorn Theater, back when it was the Regent Theatre,” according to Joseph Hall, KST’s Executive Director. We commemorate the duo’s artistic and social legacies while cheering the communal and creative spirit embedded in our locality.
Suite Life travels back in time and delivers an immersive visual and sonic experience with dance, live music, monologue, and storytelling. “This will be my third year performing in Suite Life, and I’ve loved witnessing the shift from pure concert format to a dramaturgically grounded production,” said vocalist and dancer kelsey jumper. The theater lighting and multimedia projection create a lush atmosphere. As media artist Scott Andrew comments, “This event is a fun chance to generate live visuals that complement the work of the musicians, offering a vibrant backdrop to the performance.”
Let’s dress for jazz and “sing in the rain,” immersing ourselves in the shower of rich and lush harmonies.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Scott Andrew (media artist) is a queer multimedia video, 
installation, performance artist, media designer, educator, and curator. His works have been exhibited at Ballroom Marfa (Marfa, TX), The Hammer Museum (LA), The J. Paul Getty Museum (LA), Whitechapel (London, UK), among others. Media Design and VFX projects include ‘Show Queen’, a collaboration with Jesse Factor, ‘Suite Life’ and ‘House Party’ (KST), and the documentary ‘Workhorse Queen’ by Angela Washko. Scott is a Visiting Lecturer in Studio Arts at the University of Pittsburgh, an Adjunct Professor in the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University, and co-curates TQ Live! (CMoA). www.scottnandrew.com/
Joshua Banbury (vocalist) is a classically trained jazz 
singer and opera librettist with Texas roots. At twenty-eight, his collaborations include solo performances with many of the most respected musical organizations in the country, including The Apollo Theatre, The Phillips Collection, The New York Philharmonic, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazz at The Ballroom, National Sawdust, and The National Black Theatre. In 2022, Joshua also served as Librettist in Residence with the American Lyric Theatre, considered to be one of the country’s premier mentorship initiatives for promising operatic writers. His work has been commissioned and presented by The Kennedy Center, Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, and Fort Worth Opera. Joshua is a graduate of The New School and The Austin School for Performing and Visual Arts.
Dwayne Dolphin (bass) is a Pittsburgh-born bassist, bandleader, 
and educator who has been an essential member of the jazz scene and a major artistic force for many years. He is a world-class acoustic and electric bassist, and in the late 1990s Dwayne began playing the electric piccolo bass. His piccolo band played strictly in an R&B funk setting for years, and now Off Minor features Dwayne playing his electric piccolo bass in a straight ahead, acoustic jazz setting. Something he’s never done before! Repertoire includes music from the jazz and American songbook catalog, and a few surprises.
Colter Harper (guitar) is a guitarist and 
ethnomusicologist whose creative and scholarly work explores jazz, American nightlife, and the music of West Africa. Harper served as a Fulbright Scholar in the University of Ghana from 2018 to 2020 and has performed as a guitarist, including with the rock band Rusted Root. His forthcoming book Jazz in the Hill: Nightlife and Narratives of a Pittsburgh Neighborhood (University Press of Mississippi, 2024) delves into the intersections of jazz, entrepreneurialism, placemaking, labor organizing, and critical listening in Pittsburgh’s Hill District from 1920 to 1970.
James Johnson III (drums) adapts 
comfortably to various genres, excelling in Jazz. He began his musical journey playing drums at five years old. His father, Dr. James Johnson Jr., a nationally known pianist and educator sparked his passion for music. Prior to his worldwide career, he attended Pittsburgh’s High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA), where he was mentored by jazz great Roger Humphries. This laid the foundation for a stellar career that has included performing as a regular member with legendary jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. His musical adventures have led him to play in prestigious venues and with respected artists worldwide.
kelsey jumper (vocalist, dancer) is a Brooklyn-born, 
rustbelt-reared performance artist. She’s joined celebrated PGH theater companies including The Public, Quantum, Pittsburgh CLO and Carnegie Mellon Drama in musical storytelling, as well as local bands Afro Yaqui Music Collective, Bindley Hardware Co. and Ames Harding & the Mirage. She’s been honored to perform at favorite local venues as well as internationally acclaimed stages including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, The Studio Museum of Harlem, MoMA and The Shed. Her duo with Treasure Treasure, The Cookie Table, is currently in residency at The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and is honored to return for another year of Suite Life.
Dr. Alton Merrell (musical director, piano) is a world-class 
pianist, Hammond B-3 organist, composer, author and educator. He has performed and taught throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and parts of the Caribbean. Merrell’s musical artistry is a unique blend of lyrical melodies, rich harmonies, and fluid technique that spans multiple music genres including jazz, gospel, classical, pop, and rhythm and blues. Merrell’s musical interpretations take listeners on spirit-filled excursions that deeply touch the soul. Currently the Professor of Jazz Piano at West Virginia University, Merrell has taught students all over the world and continues to train musicians worldwide through his online school Minstrel School of Music. www.altonmerrell.com / www.minstrelschool.com
Treasure Treasure (vocalist, dancer) (she/her) is a performing 
artist, comic, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. She recently starred as the title role in Hamlet with Quantum Theatre. Other appearances: Broadway, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Museum of Art, Atlantic Theater Company, PCLO, PICT, Hangar Theater, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Squonk Opera. Treasure’s original score for The Tempest made its premiere with Southwest Shakespeare Company and her debut EP, Hypnerotomachia, is available on all platforms. Instagram: @beingtreasure
Madeleine Steineck (lighting designer) has been working 
as a lighting designer and master electrician in western Pennsylvania since 2011. Companies she has designed for include: Mercyhurst University’s MIAC and Theatre Programs, MCG Jazz, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, off the WALL Productions, the New Hazlett’s CSA Program, Texture Contemporary Ballet, fireWALL dance theatre, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, and various local schools. She also works as a stagehand for IATSE Local 3. Her design for PPTCO’s production of Miss Julie, Clarissa, and John was seen at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017. She has also toured with Philadelphia artist and choreographer, Raphael Xavier.
ABOUT KELLY STRAYHORN THEATER
Named after 20th century entertainment legends Gene Kelly and Billy Strayhorn, both natives of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) is reflective of the passion that its namesakes had for the arts. Today, KST carries their legacy by fostering bold and innovative artistry with a global perspective. KST celebrates diversity in voice, thought, and expression, and upholds a firm commitment to inclusion.
KST has a dynamic footprint in Pittsburgh, with two venues running along Penn Avenue. KST’s Alloy Studios is a cultural hub in the heart of Friendship, and the historic Kelly Strayhorn Theater is located in the thriving business district of East Liberty. More than 20 years after the founding of the theater, KST continues to use its broad reach to impact the contemporary arts and the community.
PC: Heidi Wiren Bartlett, Courtesy of the Artists
Theron Brown (musical director, piano) is a musician whose sound is inspired by glimpses of gospel, jazz, and soul from the great legends. But the reason he plays is to encourage and influence people through his talents. Originally from Zanesville, Ohio, Theron currently resides in Akron, Ohio, where he is Professor of Practice at The University of Akron teaching jazz piano, and the program coordinator for Curated Storefront’s Artist Residency Program at the ‘I Promise School’. Theron also serves as an educator for the interactive piano learning app, Playground Sessions. Theron is heavily involved in the music community as the founder and artistic director of the Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival, which takes place annually in Akron, Ohio’s downtown historic district. Theron performs and tours regularly with his trio that includes Zaire Darden on drums and Jordan McBride on bass. Theron received an amazing opportunity as he auditioned for and was cast as young Herbie Hancock in the 2016 film, Miles Ahead, directed by and starring Don Cheadle. In 2019, Theron released his debut album, No Concepts. Theron is currently working on his second album titled Spirit Fruit, which reflects on essential and fundamental characteristics that bring positive vibes to peoples lives. This was inspired by Galatians 5:22-23.
Monteze Freeland (director) is a multidisciplinary artist from Baltimore, MD whose talents include acting, directing, writing, producing, and teaching. Monteze is the current Co- Artistic Director of City Theatre Company and was named City Paper’s Person of the Year for Theatre in 2021, in addition to being named the Performer of the Year in 2017 by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Select directing credits include: The Santaland Diaries, The Young Playwrights Festival ’17 & ’21, Claws Out: A Holiday Drag Musical, The Garbologists and Clyde’s (City Theatre); King Hedley II and Fences (Co-Director with Mark Clayton Southers), Savior Samuel, Miss Julie, Clarissa and John, Christmas Star, In The Heat of the Night and Poe’s Last Night (Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company); I know Why The Caged Bird Sings (Prime Stage Theater); Hairspray, Shrek, The Addams Family, and Freaky Friday (CLO Summer Academy); readings of Trouble in Mind and The Coffin Maker (Pittsburgh Public Theater) and Flyin’ West (DEMASKUS). Many thanks to the incredible KST staff and creative team.
Scott Andrew (media design) is a multimedia queer-oriented video, installation, and performance artist. He creates speculative fantasies that peer into otherworldly portals and voids. He has exhibited at MoMA (NYC), Ballroom Marfa (Marfa, TX), the Hammer Museum (LA), and the J. Paul Getty Museum (LA), among others. Scott is an educator, advising and teaching animation, video, concept, and performance courses as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University, a Visiting Lecturer in the Studio Arts program at the University of Pittsburgh, and with the CMU Pre-college program. Scott has taught at Youngstown State University, Seaton Hill University, The Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, and has conducted workshops at the Andy Warhol Museum, Mattress Factory, and Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. Scott co-curates TQ Live! a yearly LGBTQ+ variety series that has been presented at the Andy Warhol Museum and the Carnegie Museum of Art. Along with Angela Washko and Jesse Stiles, Scott organizes a National Endowment for the Arts funded performance series called Fail-Safe, which seeks to provide a supportive space for the presentation and potential failure of performative works-in-progress. Other previous curatorial projects include the drift and the Institute for New Feeling’s Felt Book.
Jonathan Robert Bucci (lighting design) is the founder and chief creative technologist of Jonathan Bucci Productions, LLC. Along with his team, Jonathan produces live, hybrid, streaming, and video production content with a theatrical flair. As an alum of Point Park University’s Conservatory of Performing Arts, Jonathan is especially at home working in music, dance, and theatre. In recognition of all of the mentorship he has received, Jonathan enjoys spending time paying it forward to young people entering the fields of lighting, audio, video, and management; especially to those who are walking non-traditional paths.
Anita Levels (vocalist) is a vocal artist, voice influencer, songwriter and producer who began singing at the age of 3 years old in Frankfurt, West Germany. Texas-born, being a preacher’s kid, and a member of a musical family from New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A, singing and performance are in her blood. Anita’s powerhouse, soulful, but lark-like vocals have graced national and international audiences. She has performed in London, England, has toured the country of Holland with world renowned ethnomusicologist, Dr. Portia Maultsby, was featured in the NFL’s Super Bowl 50 commemorative commercial, has appeared in the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, and has performed in many, many other private, public and virtual events. Ms. Levels has a plethora of original music on all streaming music platforms and enjoys sharing the history and influence of Black American music on world and American culture. Anita Levels, MS, has a Masters Degree in Training and Development from Carlow University (Pittsburgh, PA, USA) and believes that instrumentation and the voice have the innate ability to vibrate truth, healing and thought. Anita’s more recent venture is, Corn and Potatoes Are Good For You, a podcast exploring the soul’s journey through all things spiritual and sensual. She will always be the Mother of two magical daughters, put clorox in her water, powder her sheets, season her vittles, sing, laugh and cultivate spaces for communication and thought.
Billy Mason (vocalist), a multi-hyphenated artist, director and producer, and Pittsburgh Hometown favorite, is thrilled to make Pittsburgh his home once again. After spending nearly a decade traveling the country as front man and soloist to a 36 piece orchestra, Billy has returned to his Musical Theater roots and cabaret roots. Locally, you may have seen him in productions at Pittsburgh CLO, the Strand theater, Quantum Theater and a host of others, gracing the stages of the Byham theater, the Greer cabaret, the Benedum Center and many more. Splitting his time between Pittsburgh and NYC, Billy has changed the focus of his career from performing to producing and directing, creating opportunity and safe spaces for artists both in Pittsburgh and beyond. Billy is also the owner and operator of PennyJar Media, LLC, A digital arts and media company that will, after delays caused by the pandemic, debut in 2023. Peace and blessings.
Jordan McBride (bass) picked up the bass at age 12 and began to develop a sound influenced by the Philadelphia Jazz scene. There he joined a group of young jazz performers and began performing in and around Philadelphia. Jordan has studied with jazz greats such as bassist Andy McCloud, Mike Boon, Peter Dominquez and Gerald Cannon. As an artist, Jordan has performed with musicians across many genres. Jordan has shared the stage with the Sean Jones, Kenny Werner, The Theron Brown Trio, Dan Wilson, Jimmy Health, James Carter, Justin Faulkner, Jerome Jennings, Jamey Haddad, Paul Samuels, Jay Ashby, Chris Coles, Javon Jackson, The Admirables, Nathan Davis, and Tommy Lehman’s Squadtet. Jordan McBride holds an Artist Degree from Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Jordan is a creative arranger and composer, as well, based in Akron, Ohio.
Kelsey Robinson (dancer) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Pittsburgh and Brooklyn. She’s grateful to have worked with well-celebrated Pittsburgh theater companies including Quantum Theater, Bricolage Production Company, Carnegie Mellon University Drama and Pittsburgh CLO. She’s also played world-renowned venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, MoMA, The Studio Museum of Harlem and The Shed. Kelsey was granted the opportunity to bring the words of MacArthur Fellow, Claudia Rankine, to life under their direction in the newly released White Card. Kelsey’s own project Talking with Ghosts About Freedom, which traverses the nation by bicycle in search of regional Black history, has been produced in residence with Kelly Strayhorn Theater and received the support of The Opportunity Fund, Advancing Black Arts, Cultural Trust and #notwhitecollective. Kelsey choreographed Point Park University Conservatory production Everybody at her alma mater where she studied Musical Theater. She’s a proud recipient of the SCALE Fellowship and was recently commissioned by The Carnegie Museum of Art to reinterpret songs for the opening of Working Thought. Kelsey has spent the last year touring North America with Squonk Opera and is thrilled to be home celebrating a new year’s Suite Life!
John Shannon (concept, guitar) is a guitarist and songwriter born in Pittsburgh, PA who grew up studying with local luminaries Dwayne Dolphin, Eric Kloss, and Mike Ross before attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. After college John moved to New York City, where he lived for over a decade, playing locally and touring the globe as a freelance guitarist for many prominent artists across many genres. John performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the MIDEM Festival in Cannes, France, as well as internationally releasing three critically acclaimed albums of his own music under his name with French/NYC record label ObliqSound. After accepting an offer to run the music for a modern circus show in Australia for two years, John returned to Pittsburgh to tour relentlessly with his rock’n’roll band theSHIFT, whose song “Dreams” became a Number 1 hit in South America. While back in Pittsburgh and reconnecting to the jazz scene where he spent many formative years, John was part of the creation of Con Alma Restaurant and Jazz Bar. Born through the concept of giving the Pittsburgh jazz scene a new home, Con Alma celebrates its legacy in a space of great atmosphere, cuisine and cocktails. In the summer of 2021 Con Alma was named in Esquire Magazine’s “Best Bars in America of 2021” and is the only jazz bar to ever have been named on the prestigious list.
Treasure Treasure (dancer) is an artist and multi-instrumentalist working in music, comedy, film, and visual art. Theatre credits include Cabaret (Emcee, Hangar Theatre,) This Ain’t No Disco (Atlantic Theater Company,) Agnus Teaches Acting (The Duplex,) Fiddler on the Roof (CLO). She made her Broadway debut in the revival of Annie Get Your Gun. She holds a BFA from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. Her debut EP, Hypnerotomachia, is available on all platforms. IG: @manifestingtreasure
Reggie Watkins (trombone) Pittsburgher, trombonist, pianist, arranger and composer has released three recordings as leader and has been featured on many others. From 1999 to 2006 he served as trombonist and musical director for trumpeter Maynard Ferguson and with singer-songwriter Jason Mraz from 2008 to 2013. In 2003 Watkins was chosen as a semi-finalist in the “Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition.” Watkins has performed and recorded with many great artists from various genres including Aretha Franklin, Dave Matthews, Dianne Shuur, Warren Haynes, Beverley Knight, Jose Feliciano, Willie Nelson, The Backstreet Boys, Engelbert Humperdinck, Ariana Grande, Dumpstaphunk, Arturo Sandoval, Trombone Shorty, The Temptations and The O’Jays. Currently, in addition to leading the Reggie Watkins Trio, he is also a member of the Grammy nominated Orrin Evans’ Captain Black Big Band, The Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra, Scott Bradley’s Postmodern Jukebox and a founding member of The Keystone Jazz Collective and Steeltown Horns. Reggie plays a Michael Rath trombone and David Monette mouthpieces.
Gia Fagnelli, a third-generation yinzer, the current reigning Mx. Innovative at the Portland Erotic City Awards, and a writer, speaker, death doula, video producer, actor, performer and extraterrestrial gender experiment who combines the arts of drag, pole, prose, video, sound, installation and movement and transmits the amalgam to screens and stages across the galaxy, and Jordan Harris, an experimental movement artist, aerialist, choreographer, dance instructor, and drag artist currently working in both Pittsburgh, PA and Austin, TX will present their interpretation of movement meditation with the assistance of various movement artists during Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s Freshworks Residency Showing: 
heartbeat is at a steady rate. “I don’t think people realize when they fall asleep with the television on their subconscious is soaking in the panic, noise and explosions,” Gia said. “We are recording and internalizing this stress and it’s living in our bodies. This piece will provide a rinse cycle for the mind, spirit and be visually stimulating.
Moving Meditations – Kinaesthetic
s