Funktions at the Junctions

Return to LALA Land

Return to LALA Land is the creative nonfiction literary musical performance piece, inspired by true events, of a highly successful musician-singer- songwriter-performer struggling to tear down borders& construct boundaries between her present day artistry and a golden past that threatens to crush her under its glittery weight.

- Mark Blickley, Author/Playwright

Past Funktions

Queens College Masters Poetry Reading, Flushing, NY - Dec 2006
The Jackson Heights Poetry Festival (JHPF), 7 at Terraza Café - May 2008
CUNY Graduate Center Turnstyle Readings, "No Show" - New York, NY - Feb 15, 2009
Barnes and Noble Booksellers, Manhasset, NY - November 10, 2009
We Write the Songs: Celebrating the ASCAP Collection at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC - May 11, 2010
Smalls Lit Reading Series, Smalls Jazz Club New York, Jamaica, NY - October 30, 2010
York College Africana Colloquium Series, Jamaica, NY - September 21, 2011
York College Music Club/AARC Symposium, “Life in the Key of Love: The Impact of Stevie Wonder."- March 19, 2012
York College Wow's Night of Jazz and Soul, "The Shadow of Your Smile" - Jamaica, NY - September 21, 2012
Oh, Bernice! Reading Series: Sunnyside, NY - October 20, 2012
Queens Library, Freddy Dugard's Jazz Salute to Dr. Martin Luther King (feat.LALA), East Elmhurst, NY - January 14, 2013
York College/AARC Retrospective Panel, “Man in the Mirror: A Look at Michael Jackson." - March 18, 2013
Jackson Room:Tom "Jamaica Funk" Browne (feat.LALA), St. Albans, NY - November 15 & 16, 2013
Showmans: L.A. Blacksmith (feat.LALA), Harlem, NY - January 24, 2014
Billie's Black: Ron Monroe (feat.LALA), Harlem, NY - April 28, 2014
First Reformed Church of Jamaica: Dugard's Hit Squad (feat.LALA), Jamaica, NY - May 22, 2014
Sangria Tapas Restaurant: Dugard's Hit Squad (feat.LALA), Jamaica, NY-October 24, 2015
York College Fall Faculty Reading, Soul Shaker by Prof. Cope (feat. Jazz drummer, Freddy Dugard), Jamaica, NY-November 11, 2015

The Shop for a Cause "Objects of Desire" fundraiser at Hempstead House: Dugard's Hit Squad (feat.LALA), Sands Point Preserve, NY - November 22, 2015
BAM Café: Onaje Allen Gumbs Presents New Vintage (feat.LALA), Brooklyn, NY - January 16, 2016
Astoria Bookstore: Oh!Bernice Reading Series: Soul Shaker featuring Freddy Dugard, , NY - February 20, 2016
Newtown Press Reading, Jackson Heights, NY - September 01, 2016
13th Street Repertory Theater, NYC: Return to LALA Land: a one-woman literary musical based on the book, Soul Shaker, starring LaForrest "Lala" Cope featuring Dugard's Hit Squad, - August 20 & September 24, 2016
Newtown Literary Issue #9 Launch Reading, Soul Shaker by Prof. Cope (feat. Jazz drummer, Freddy Dugard), Jackson Heights, NY - December 7, 2016
The AirTrain Jazz Festival (LALA & Dugard's Hit Squad), Jamaica, NY - December 14, 2016
Hempstead House Mansion Private Fundraiser, Hempstead NY - July 04, 2017
Queens Public Library, East Elmhurst, NY - September 04, 2018
First Reform Church Funk and Soul Concert. Queens, NY - August 29, 2019
Air Train Jazz Festival, Jamaica, NY - April 29, 2020
Weill Cornell Medicine NY - Presbyterian Board of Directors Party Live Stream DHS Studios: Live Jazz Performance - June 10, 2021
Black & Blue Supper Club, Huntington, NY - December 23, 2021
Summer in the Hamptons Country Club, North Hampton, NY - May 30, 2022
The Light of Bernard Wright Concert, City Winery, New York, NY - August 29, 2022
Women Songwriters Hall of Fame, Women In Music Museum, Washington D.C.-June 15, 2024