Bristol Riverside Theatre, Take 6, Summer Music Fest

Bristol Riverside Theatre moves outside for the summer season with help from one of the biggest a cappella sensations in music history! Ten-time Grammy Award Winner Take 6 will kick-off the three month-long William Penn Bank Summer Music Fest. Bristol Riverside Theatre, with help from sponsor William Penn Bank, will present six outdoor summer shows that will be held at Bristol Township’s brand-new outdoor amphitheatre. After moving to online virtual productions, Bristol Riverside Theatre brings back the sound of music to Bucks County with Take 6 (June 11-12), Broadway Memories (June 18-20), Totally Awesome 80s (July 16-18), 70s Flashback (July 30-31), Broadway Ahead (August 13-15) and The Doo Wop Project (August 27-28). Take 6 will bring in the star power to electrify the stage for the season kick-off and BRT's return on Friday, June 11th and Saturday, June 12th. Tickets for individual shows range from $35 to $55 depending on the show. All performances will take place at Bristol Township’s outdoor amphitheatre, 2501 Bath Road. Tickets and more information are available online at brtstage.org or by calling the box office at 215-785-0100.

“We are beyond thrilled to begin producing in-person shows and concerts again,” said BRT Producing Director Amy Kaissar. “And we are honored to have Take 6 joining us to kick off the summer. The William Penn Bank Summer Music Fest is like an instant cure for the COVID blues.”

Tickets are on sale now. Seating is socially distanced and masks are required when not seated. Food trucks will be on-site. No alcohol permitted. Chairs and blankets are available for purchase at the venue and online at brtstage.org. All seating is general admission.

The concerts begin June 11-12 at 8:00pm with a performance from a cappella legends Take 6 (Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Joel Kibble, Dave Thomas, Alvin Chea and Khristian Dentley). This legendary group was heralded by Quincy Jones as the “baddest vocal cats on the planet!.” With 10 Grammy Awards, 2 NAACP Awards, a Soul Train Award, and more, the multi-platinum selling sextet has toured the globe and is recognized as the pre-eminent a cappella group in the world. In April 2018, Take Six released their sixteenth album, aptly titled ICONIC (SRG/Universal) and the debut of a PBS special, The Summit, alongside The Manhattan Transfer.

ICONIC, is composed of the songs the sextet loves to perform both on stage and for the pure joy of lending their voices to songs that have taken on a greater meaning to them and to their audiences over their career of nearly four decades. These eclectic tunes pay tribute to both the music and the artists that made them famous, from a fun and vocally significant cover of Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop the Feeling, a unique and harmonic interpretation of Christopher Cross’ Sailing, Khristian’s melodic and memorable vocal on Norah Jones’ Don’t Know Why to a jazz cover that the Beatles would surely be pleased with of Got To Get You Into My Life. They pay homage to their friend Al Jarreau, with their rendition of Roof Garden, and are true to their gospel roots with the hymn Nothing But the Blood. Change The World (Eric Clapton), the first single, was the most-added tune in Smooth Jazz upon its release. Take 6’s last release, in 2016, Believe (SRG/Universal) landed on six Billboard charts simultaneously.

Take 6 has admirably and adeptly crossed most musical genres, from straight-ahead jazz to pop to adult R&B, doo wop to blues. Like a fine-tuned vocal orchestra (Alvin, bass; Khristian, baritone; Claude, Mark and Joel, tenors), the group continues to push the boundaries of creativity and musical genius with every new release, and with their ever-evolving live performances.

Any singer who aspires for vocal excellence cannot overlook the contributions these men have made to music. Take 6 has performed with and won praise from such luminaries as Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, Ben E. King, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Al Jarreau, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, and Whitney Houston, to name a very few.

“Take 6 is a Grammy Award winning vocal group that we’ve been fans of for decades,” said BRT Producing Director Ken Kaissar. “If this summer is a celebration of live performance, we figured we had to kick it off right!”

On top of a big name to lead off the series, Bristol Riverside Theatre also celebrates the perfect new venue to get back to the stage. “Last spring, we discovered this new amphitheater right in our backyard,” said Ken Kaissar. “And then our good friend Mandee Hammerstein introduced us to William Penn Bank CEO Ken Stephon, who had always wanted to sponsor an outdoor Music Fest and was eager to help make it happen. It was a win-win! With the lineup and new location we wanted to celebrate coming back together for live performances and simultaneously expand our offerings so that there’s something for everyone. It’ll be fun to see how the concerts grow and change outdoors. As great as the summer concerts have always been in our theatre, there’s something about listening to Broadway hits, under the stars, on a summer evening, that sounds about as great as it gets right now.”

Other concerts in the William Penn Summer Music Fest line-up include the following shows. Watch for more details as each show approaches.

WILLIAM PENN SUMMER MUSIC FEST 2021

Take 6
June 11-12 at 8pm
Tickets start at $55

Take 6 (Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Joel Kibble, Dave Thomas, Alvin Chea and Khristian Dentley), heralded by Quincy Jones as the “baddest vocal cats on the planet!,” is the quintessential a cappella group and the model for vocal genius. Six virtuosic voices united in crystal clear harmony, against a backdrop of syncopated rhythms, innovative arrangements, and funky grooves that bubble into an intoxicating brew of gospel, jazz, R&B, and pop.

With praise from such luminaries as Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald and Whitney Houston, the multi-platinum selling sextet has toured across the globe, collaborated across genres, and is recognized as the pre-eminent a cappella group in the world. See the most awarded vocal group in history!

Broadway Memories
with Keith Baker and the BRT Concert Band
June 18-19 at 8 pm
June 20 at 3 pm
Tickets start at $35

Take a journey down memory lane with the greatest hits from Broadway. From My Fair Lady to Wicked, audiences will find themselves singing along and falling in love with Broadway all over again. It’s the perfect way to kick-off summer.

Totally Awesome 80s
with Keith Baker and the BRT Concert Band
July 16-17 at 8pm
July 18 at 3pm
Tickets start at $35

Get your big hair and acid-wash jeans ready for a totally awesome time. This July, BRT is going back to the decade that brought us Madonna, Tina Turner, and Foreigner (just to name a few)

70’s Flashback
July 30-31 at 8pm
Tickets start at $40

From Carole King and Three Dog Night, to The Doobie Brothers and Led Zeppelin, to Studio 54 and CBGB – 70’s Flashback invites you to step back in time, as they bring to life the soundtrack of a generation. Their high energy, show-stopping performance will have audiences singing along to every iconic lyric, dancing in the aisles, and re-living the promise of the grooviest music ever written.

Broadway Ahead
with Keith Baker and the BRT concert band
August 13-14 at 8pm
August 15 at 3pm
Tickets start at $35

The lights may be dimmed on Broadway, but the future is bright. End thesummer enjoying songs from the Broadway shows just waiting to shine again. Audiences will hear fan favorites from Come From Away, Moulin Rouge, and Company and more.

The Doo Wop Project
August 27-28 at 8pm
Tickets start at $40

The Doo Wop Project begins at the beginning: tracing the evolution of Doo Wop from the classic sound of five guys singing harmonies on a street corner to the biggest hits on the radio today. In their epic shows The Doo Wop Project takes audiences on a journey featuring foundational tunes from the Crests, Belmonts and Flamingos through the vocal artistry of Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, and The Four Seasons all the way to DooWopified version of modern hits from Michael Jackson, Jason Mraz, Maroon 5, and Sam Smith.

Featuring stars from the Broadway hits Jersey Boys, Motown: The Musical, and A Bronx Tale, The Doo Wop Project brings unparalleled authenticity of sound and vocal excellence to recreate—and in some cases entirely reimagine—the greatest music in American pop and rock history.

Tickets and subscriptions are available now on brtstage.org. Tickets start at $35-$55. Subscriptions for the three BRT produced shows (Broadway Memories, Totally Awesome 80s, and Broadway Ahead) start at $90

ABOUT BRISTOL RIVERSIDE THEATRE

Since 1986, BRT has continued to bring critically acclaimed professional theatre to Bucks County. The theatre is the recipient of over 71 Barrymore Award nominations for Excellence in Theatre, given annually by Theatre Philadelphia. Under the direction of Co-Producing directors Amy Kaissar, Ken Kaissar, and General Manager David J. Abers, the theatre serves as a cultural hub for the community. In addition to its mainstage productions, BRT offers the William Penn Bank Summer Music Fest, including the holiday tradition An American Christmas Songbook Concert, the new play development series America Rising, the summer theatre arts camp ArtRageous, and a range of education programs for local youth. For information, visit www.brtstage.org.