Jackie Popovec of The Vindys to Appear in New York Stage Musical

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Jackie Popovec of the Youngstown-based rock band The Vindys will appear in a musical theater production in New York City later this month.

Popovec will perform the role of beatnik singer-songwriter Carolyn Hester in “Gaslight Café: The John Mitchell Story.” The show will be performed at 9 p.m. April 27 and 2 p.m. April 28 at The Cutting Room cabaret theater.

Tickets are available HERE.

The musical tells the story of the Gaslight Café in New York’s Greenwich Village district. The coffeehouse was a venue for folk music and other artists from 1958-71. Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Alan Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac and other folk artists and writers played there in the early days of their careers.

Popovec will play a few songs in the show. She landed the small role, which has no spoken lines, through Jimmy Hoyson, whom she knows from her connections to the regional music scene.

Hoyson, of The Vault recording studio in Pittsburgh, is one of the producers and musical directors for “The Gaslight” and a friend of Popovec’s.

“He invited me on for a small part as Carolyn Hester who frequented the Gaslight Cafe and sort of brought Bob Dylan into the scene,” Popovec said.

It will be Popovec’s first appearance in a theatrical stage production since she was in middle school.

“I’ll be performing ‘House of the Rising Sun’ and ‘St. James Infirmary’ acoustically,” she said.

Torrence Bajuzik, a graduate of Youngstown State University, will play singer Maria Muldaur in the musical, Popovec said.

Clinton Clegg of Pittsburgh rock band The Commonheart will play folk artist Dave Van Ronk.

The show is being directed by Larry Thomas, who played the well-known “Soup Nazi” in several episodes of the sitcom “Seinfeld.”

The performances will cap a busy weekend for Popovec. The Vindys will perform with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra at Powers Auditorium on Friday, April 26.

Popovec will fly to New York the following morning for a rehearsal and that evening’s performance of “The Gaslight.”

“I’m most looking forward to seeing how a Broadway show is run behind the scenes and meeting some new friends,” she said.

For tickets to the Youngstown Symphony show, click HERE.

Pictured at top: Jackie Popovec. (Facebook | The Vindys)

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