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The Sheen Center for Thought and Culture, 18 Bleecker St. in Manhattan, opens its fall season with a new series, “Broadway Bares Soul: An Intimate Evening of Song and Spirit,” hosted by Father Edward L. Beck, C.P., CNN’s faith and religion commentator. His first guest will be award-winning performer Vanessa Williams on Saturday, Sept. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Loreto Theater.
The Sheen Center is a project of the Archdiocese of New York.
In keeping with the Sheen Center’s commitment to showcase art and meaningful cultural discourse, the series explores the spiritual, social and personal influences that shape the worldviews of three celebrated performers. Also joining Father Beck will be Broadway star Kelli O’Hara on Tuesday, Oct. 3, at 7:30 p.m., and television and Broadway actor Raúl Esparza on Thursday, Dec. 14, at 7:30 p.m. Father Beck will conduct 90-minute interviews with each of the guests. The guests are invited to perform musical numbers of personal significance.
This fall, the Sheen Center also presents the New York premiere of the Tectonic Theater Project production “Uncommon Sense,” a play by Anushka Paris-Carter and Andy Paris. The groundbreaking production amplifies the conversation around autism, challenging conventional notions of “difference” through the unifying theme of love. The play will run from Oct. 25 through Nov. 26, with talkbacks after Saturday matinees and “relaxed performances” with subdued light and sound for the autism community.
The Justice Film Festival returns Friday, Oct. 6, with a roster of films organized around themes of social justice, redemption and the sacred. Among them is “Outcasts,” the much-anticipated documentary film that captures the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal as they serve the marginalized in Central America, New York, London and Ireland.
