This year, Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble joined forces with award-winning a capella quartet Smoke Ring for a third season of Close Quarters at the Slipper Room.
ST/DE performed sections from Anna Sokolow’s incisive Kurt Weill and her portrait of urban longing, Rooms, along with the supremely silly “Threatened Assassin” from Magritte, Magritte with guest artist Clarence Brooks. As a special treat, company member Krista Jansen performed her own choreography in the show-stopping “Off the Cuff.”
And we included live music for the first time in a Close Quarters program, with the fresh artistry and amazing close harmonies of our special guests, Smoke Ring.
About Smoke Ring
Smoke Ring is a mixed voice, queer barbershop and contemporary a cappella quartet based in New York City. Since their start in January 2023, they have taken the barbershop world by storm. They won the 2024 Mid-Atlantic District championship on their first go, becoming the first-ever mixed voice quartet to earn the championship title! And more recently, they placed 9th in the world at their debut at the Barbershop Harmony Society’s International quartet contest. They’re currently the highest-ranked mixed voice quartet in the world. They’ve wowed audiences at venues such as the US Open and NYC’s Terminal 5, where they opened for Sammy Rae and the Friends. No matter the venue or the size of the audience, Smoke Ring always aims to inspire singers and othered voices within the barbershop community.
CLOSE QUARTERS
May 20, 2025
Doors open at 7:30 pm
Show starts at 8 pm
The Slipper Room
167 Orchard St (enter on Stanton Street)
New York, NY 10002
Admission: $25
As the Slipper Room serves alcohol, this is an adults-only event.
Review
“Samantha Géracht constantly seeks new ways to remind us of the genius of Anna Sokolow (1910-2000). …The unmet desire, isolation, and claustrophobia of Suite from Rooms (1955) and the brutal cruelty of Suite from Kurt Weill (1988) strike us all the more forcefully in this cabaret atmosphere. …Krista Jansen performed her own snappy, surprising choreographic battle with a shirt, Off the Cuff, the only non-Sokolow dance piece of the evening, and a delightful addition. …Speaking of delightful additions, the velvet-voiced acapella quartet SMOKE RING serenaded us with witty and romantic songs between dance sets. Exceptional performances all around, I eagerly await Close Quarters IV.
Christine Jowers
The Dance Enthusiast, June 3, 2025