jackbenny. Photo by Cliff Lipson.
Twin brothers Jack and Benny Lipson, aka the critically acclaimed jackbenny, have announced their special guests for It’s National See-a-Show Day! at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex Intimate Theatre on Saturday, March 16, at 8pm. Along with jackbenny’s longtime percussionist Theo Seidmon, the show will feature the Baritone Bombshell Jonnie Reinhart, fiery songstress Bella Hicks, guitarist Chili Corder, violinist Miyuki Miyagi, and musical theatre legend Valerie Perri.
It’s National See-a-Show Day! spotlights the musical and lyrical prowess of Jack and Benny Lipson aka jackbenny, Los Angeles-native twin composers, songsters, and multi-instrumentalists who inject musical theater storytelling into the gamut of artistic styles. Heralded as “a testament to their generation,” their progressive and fresh harmonic language informed by jazz and classical roots complements their progressive, savvy lyrics that explore queer identity, consensual conduct, healthcare bureaucracy, and myriad other contemporary social/cultural phenomena. In two acts of iconically provocative originals served with a healthy heaping of sibling shtick, jackbenny guides audiences on a candid tour through the fragile, well-curated millennial mind.
After years of studying, performing, and writing a wide range of music separately, Jack and Benny Lipson united to birth the award-winning project jackbenny. They shared their debut show in 2016 with musician-comedian Reggie Watts, and have since played their “sensational, clever and astute” originals in Los Angeles (in residency at the Lyric Hyperion Theatre), New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Sheridan, Wyoming, where they presented their “musicalette,” Miranda, Please! through the Wyoming Theater Festival—even in Falam, Myanmar. jackbenny serves as house band for both For Good: a monthly night of showtunes to save the world and Jonnie Reinhart’s A Queer Cabaret, where the Lipsons have collaborated with artists including Darren Criss and Michael Arden. Jack and Benny are developing Brainstorm, a three-character song cycle of their music.
Tickets: $25
Available via Ticketmaster or the Luckman Box Office.