A cappella Theater.

There are two—count 'em two!—a cappella stage shows coming to New York.

The first, Perfect Harmony, is up now. According to the press materials: PERFECT HARMONY is a new comedy about the search for truth, love and high school a cappella championship glory. Perennial powerhouse, The Acafellas, and their female classmates, The Ladies in Red, bare their dreams, hopes, and struggles to blend, as they battle to win Acapalooza, The National Championship Jam, and discover the true meaning of harmony.

The show is playing thru July 24th at Theater Row on 42nd Street. To see the show for only $15 (regular ticket price $18), use the code SATB or TTBB to buy four or more tickets. To Buy Tickets and For More Info, click here.

The second is called IN TRANSIT, and it's running August 8-10 at the York Theatre Company space on Lexington and 54th Street. The plot (according to the press materials): A cappella on the express track! From below the city's streets springs a brand new musical, inspired by the rhythms and sounds of life on the subway. There's not an instrument in sight as a colorful array of commuters find their way in NYC. Mixing reggae, pop, soul, beat box and more, IN TRANSIT is unlike anything you've ever seen-or heard-on stage before.

For ticket information visit www.yorktheatre.org or call 212-935-5820. Tickets are $35. But save 10% if you use the discount code PITCH.

More on both productions soon!

Bubs on the radio.

Celebrate your July 4th by listening to the Beelzebubs (and other noted a cappella groups) on Vocal Chords—an excellent a cappella radio show hosted by Rick Alloway of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Assistant Professor Alloway was kind enough to chat with me about Pitch Perfect and the changing face of a cappella. That segment (along with a handful of good tunes) will air—and stream live—on Friday in the second half of his show. Info below. Enjoy!

Show: "Vocal Chords"
Time: 8am-10am central daylight time Friday morning July 4 (repeating in the same time slot on Sunday morning, July 6)
If you're in Nebraska, check it out at 90.3 KRNU. Or, to stream on the web, click here http://krnu.unl.edu or go to the college radio section of iTunes, under 90.3 KRNU.

Phish. Fried!

I'm not a big Phish fan. (Though my old group, Cayuga's Waiters, once performed "Bouncin' Round the Room.") Anywho, apparently Phish used to close concerts with an a cappella rendition of "Freebird." I doubted this claim. But there's a legit recording of it on 2002's Live Phish Volume 16.

Click here and scroll down for 30 seconds of awesomely terrible a cappella from a very famous band!

Unintended Side Effect of 'Pitch Perfect.'

Album sales. Yup, the Tufts Beelzebubs sold $2,000 worth of albums in the wake of the NPR spot on "Pitch Perfect." (Listen to that here.) And Divisi is reporting a similar spike in sales for their album, "Undivided," featuring Usher's "Yeah." Glad to hear people are supporting the music!

Best (And Worst) A Cappella Album Covers.

The dominance of iTunes may have an unintended consequence: the album cover may be a dying art. Which is why I was so pleased to find this cover from Hyannis Sound's 2007 album, "Shirt! Tie! Khaki!" It's a play on the old school folk album covers, and it's brilliantly designed.

I remember back in my day, the members of Cornell's Cayuga's Waiters met in the basement of Ruloff's--our local Ithaca watering hole--to discuss the cover art for our latest album. The artwork was, of course, due at the printer the next morning. After a few drinks, the group decided to rename our forthcoming album and to shoot a new cover. No one remembers why, but it must have seemed like a good idea at the time. Because the next morning, a bunch of guys took a bow tie, threw it into the snow, and photographed it. That album became "Clothing Optional." (Get it!)

No one will ever praise that one (visible here) for its art direction. Nice work, Hyannis Sound. Keep it coming.

'American Idol' Auditions Announced.

Yup, it's that time again. From Blake Lewis to Luke Menard--a cappella alums are often represented on "Idol." Today, Fox announced the audition dates for Idol '09, which I've pasted here:

San Francisco, CA: Thursday, July 17, Cow Palace
Louisville, KY: Monday, July 21, Freedom Hall
Phoenix, AZ: Friday, July 25, Jobing.com Arena
Salt Lake City, UT: Tuesday, July 29, EnergySolutions Arena
San Juan, Puerto Rico: Saturday, Aug. 2, Coliseo de Puerto Rico
Kansas City, MO: Friday, Aug. 8 , Sprint Center
Jacksonville, FL: Wednesday, Aug. 13, Veterans Memorial Arena
East Rutherford, NJ: Tuesday, Aug. 19, IZOD Center at the Meadowlands Sports Complex

Good luck, folks. And if you don't make it, take comfort in the fact that Andrew Savini of the Tufts Beelzebubs (who is featured in Pitch Perfect) auditioned last year to no avail. And he's supremely, impossibly talented. Reminder here:

Anne Hathaway's A Cappella Past: Revealed!

I'm sure the "Get Smart" people are thrilled that Anne Hathaway and Conan O'Brien spent a full three minutes talking about her old a cappella group on NBC two nights ago. Video here: