‘Project 2026: Blue Tsunami’ – Needed now more than ever

By Alix Cohen

I think I’ve seen all thirteen of Stephen Hanks -produced Blue Wave/Blue Tsunami shows. What became clear again last night, the first of four new evenings, is though donations are made to candidates, the fervent concerts additionally buoy community.
Volunteer artists and loyal audience feel they’re doing something to help. Collective frustration and despair diminishes among like-minded, like-hearted people. Thoughts fly; arms hug. AND it’s entertaining.

Blair Alexis Brown opens the evening with the series’ four-time-updated theme song by Michael Roberts. “…Once again we have this curse/And, my God, this time it’s worse/But now there is light in the distance/The righteous have arisen/And we”ll vote!”…she sings with vigor and purpose. Referring to “the man who never gives up; he of the wacky socks” Brown then introduces Hanks.

“Don’t listen to any of the negative pundits. We’re gonna take the house and maybe the senate…” the impassioned politico and knight-of-the-realm insists. Funds will be donated to Democratic senate candidates in North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, Maine, Ohio, Michigan, and Alaska…”

At the piano, Brown then performs Randy Newman’s “I Think It’s Gonna Rain Today.” The song arrives full-throated, urgent.
Goldie Diver offers the first of several selections written by Roberts. “This is Mine” speaks to women’s agency over their own bodies. “…this body I was given/This body that I live in… Regardless of your opinion/This is my sole dominion…” Powerful lyrics, viscerally performed.

A second Roberts’ song, “The Darkness Now” is shared by Lane Bradbury: “I don’t know why we got here/Or even how/But no night is darker than now.” The tune has a 60s cop show feel; danger in the streets. Bradbury belts from her gut. Marissa Mulder brings softness to the mix with a wistful “Rainbow Connection” (Paul Williams/Kenny Ascher) Arms at her sides, the vocalist channels every part of her being into hope. The song wafts, yet not for a moment is it insubstantial.

Remy Block begins her segment with narrative about Trump’s ridiculous animosity towards windmills (any kind of climate control.) He’s said, “they’re for losers”, “very bad environmentally” and “driving the whales crazy.” Uh huh. Accompaniment evinces whoosh in counterpoint with Block’s longlined rendition of Michel Legrand’s “Windmills of the Mind.”

“What we’ve been witnessing tonight is that joy is an act of resistance, “Alex De Suze notes. Her “Backlash Blues” (Nina Simone) arrives from the gut, metaphorically shimmying up the microphone stand, working its way through the room. Roberts’ honky-tonk piano adds color.

About 15 years ago, Hanks tells us, he was introduced to the iconoclastic work of Joe Iconis. Tonight gives him reason to perform “The Protector”, a song he heard then. In potent terms, the singer promises to shield/defend: “I’m older than you/I’ve been under the bus/I know what can happen/To people like us…I swear I’ll be there to protect you…from all the bad things/That happen in Florida…” The room cracks up, but this is a serious lyric, wrenching, in fact. Hanks tears up. He understands.

Sure that MAGA is losing its base, Nicolas King remains optimist despite “idiotic decisions and foolish choices.” A wise man plants trees whose shade he’ll never sit under, he quotes. “Children Will Listen” (Stephen Sondheim) emerges more forceful than accustomed, more a message song. King’s silk notes are tensile. Every word is important.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays 9:00 to 11:00 am, Steve Schalchlin and guitarist Gavin Gold can be found performing Beatles material at the Central Park Imagine Memorial near 72nd street. It’s open mic. Come sing. Tonight, wearing a pink Sgt. Pepper jacket, he presents a rousing “Come Together” and infectiously leads “Imagine,” feeding the audience verse. Spirits collectively, disarmingly lift.

Elizabeth Ward Land, she of the Linda Ronstadt show, is hopeful “because of some of the young leadership we have on the horizon.” Susan Werner’s “May I Suggest” rises persuasive. Lit up with resolution, the artist’s superb voice surges almost visibly.

Hanks expresses thank-yous and offers six vibrantly printed Blue Tsunami T-Shirts for sale, hopefully returning with more in June.

The musical “rally” closes with Karen Akers’ rendition of “Anthem for America.” Written by Louise cook in 1976, it’s as true and moving today as it must’ve been then:
“Listen, now, my people of our un-united nation/A country that was born of freedom’s declaration/Of paper written dreams that haven’t quite come true/America, I love what you can still maybe do.”

A grand evening. Plan now to attend one or several (all different) of the next shows:

June 13
Gregory Toroian MD
April Armstrong, Peter Calo, Terri Dannenberg, Natalie Douglas, Amy Engelhardt, Lauren Fox, Rosemary Loar, Sue Matsuki,
Kati Neiheisel, Geri Palast

September 1
Ian Herman MD
Bruce Clough, Mary Sue Daniels, Dawn Derow, Lianne Marie Dobbs, Sean Harkness, Karen Oberlin, Julie Reyburn, David Sabella, Gerrilyn Sohn, Ty Stephens, Vanessa Trouble, D.C. Anderson

October 20
Tracy Stark MD
Sandra Bargman, Raissa Katona Bennett, Meg Flather, Janice Hall, Laurie Krauz, Ann Kittredge, Lorinda Lositza, Adam B. Shapiro, Sierra Rein, Liora Michelle, Lisa Viggiano, Kenneth Gartman. Joe Iconis and his wife Lauren Marcus

“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” —Nelson Mandela

MD Michael Roberts
Unless otherwise noted Michael Roberts on piano

Project 2026: Blue Tsunami
reservations: www.shows.donttellmamanyc.com