“The Blues Brothers” is coming to the Astoria waterfront.
Radial Park founder and CEO Jeremy Shepard announced a one-of-a-kind “hybrid mashup” featuring “The Blues Brothers” film shown on a large screen with a live band and theatrical performance. The show will officially open on the Halletts Point peninsula on Thursday, May 27, at 7 p.m., and continue every Friday and Saturday evening at 8 p.m. through June 26.
Radial Park’s “cinemersive” experience, “Broadway at the Drive-In,” officially opened in October 2020 with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” on the big screen with live and specially interwoven musical numbers from Phantom alums alongside a live 11-piece orchestra.
Guests can enjoy the interactive, theatrical show from the safety of their own vehicles or via reserved picnic tables spaced appropriately for social distancing for those who prefer biking, walking or taking the ferry to The Durst Organization’s Hallets Point Play.
Whether attending in a car or without, each ticket secures a 16-foot-by-16-foot demarcated space, which accommodates up to five adults, in compliance with current local, state and federal guidance. Radial Park will continue to implement strict health and safety protocols including temperature checks at arrival via touchless thermometers, and color-coded wristbands which nonverbally communicate individual preference for a spectrum of strict or very strict social distancing practices.
Beverage and movie-theater-style snacks are available for purchase, alongside a selection of food trucks offering Mexican, Southern and all-American options. Radial Park is the world’s first truly “cinemersive” experience — an interactive, theatrical playground designed as “Broadway at the Drive-In” in the vacuum of COVID-19 and beyond. The movie-performance mashups include some of Broadway’s talent overlooking the Manhattan skyline across the East River.
The Durst Organization will underwrite 20 tickets per showing for residents of the Astoria Houses. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Friends of Halletts Point, a community nonprofit organization that enhances the infrastructure, transportation connections, community programming and beautification of the Hallets Point peninsula.
Halletts Point Play is a new 50,000-square-foot open-air cultural, recreational and events venue located at 27-50 First St. in Astoria. The space showcases the emerging arts and cultural district in Astoria just steps away from the NYC Ferry landing with direct connections from the Upper East Side, Midtown, Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. The location opened in 2019 and hosts artistic and family-friendly events.
“The Blues Brothers” hybrid performances feature Broadway stars including Charity Angel Dawson, Nick Rashad Burroughs, F. Michael Haynie, Brian Charles Johnson and Antoine L. Smith.
Tickets for “The Blues Brothers” are currently on sale here.
