Craig Brown News

A raging storm of laughs will hit the Shakespeare/Summerfest Orange County stage as George M. Cohan's comedy, The Tavern performs August 9-30. As part of SOC's commitment to a diverse season, The Tavern will provide audiences with a turn of the century comedy for all ages. Among new faces to SOC -- including Ovation Award nominated Bo Foxworth -- many SOC regulars will return for this production, as well as Producing Artistic Director John Walcutt.

A raging storm of laughs will hit the Shakespeare/Summerfest Orange County stage as George M. Cohan's comedy, The Tavern performs August 9-30. As part of SOC's commitment to a diverse season, The Tavern will provide audiences with a turn of the century comedy for all ages. Among new faces to SOC-including Ovation Award nominated Bo Foxworth- many SOC regulars will return for this production, as well as Producing Artistic Director John Walcutt.

The Pasadena Symphony will celebrate the music of Beethoven in back to back powerhouse concerts with his Symphony No. 9 and No. 5 on Saturday February, 15 and Saturday March 29, 2014 at Ambassador Auditorium with both matinee and evening performances at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

To commence the festivities for Downtown Berkeley Association's sixth year MusicFest, Bay Area a capella singers Talk of da Town (who appeared on NBC's 'The Sing-Off') perform sizzling renditions of R&B, Motown and doo-wop hits. Their warm and joyful music will charm your socks off :) Feet at the ready you can then(as Clifton Chenier once said about Zydeco) '...dance, your aches and pains will disappear' to the sounds of Grammy nominated virtuoso accordionist Andre Thierry & his band Zydeco Magic. Andre and the band are cooking up a soulful bubbling cauldron of Zydeco Creole music that is stewed and imbued with hip-hop, blues, jazz and rock mastery! Both groups are performing in a free concert tonight, August 1st from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza.

THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH is set to perform August 15 - August 31, 2013 with a preview on August 14, 2013 at Shakespeare Orange County. Directed by Thomas F. Bradac, THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH performs in the Festival Amphitheatre in Garden Grove, California.

The Orpheum's Summer Movie Series is pleased to present Decades, the world-renowned a cappella barbershop quartet, tonight, July 12 at 6:30 PM. Decades will perform contemporary songs combined with barbershop favorites. The group will conclude their performance by leading the audience in a fun, engaging vocal warm up before The Orpheum's showing of a special Sing-a-long version of THE SOUND OF MUSIC at 7:00 PM.

To commence the festivities for Downtown Berkeley Association's sixth year MusicFest, Bay Area a capella singers Talk of da Town (who appeared on NBC's 'The Sing-Off') perform sizzling renditions of R&B, Motown and doo-wop hits. Their warm and joyful music will charm your socks off :) Feet at the ready you can then(as Clifton Chenier once said about Zydeco) '...dance, your aches and pains will disappear' to the sounds of Grammy nominated virtuoso accordionist Andre Thierry & his band Zydeco Magic. Andre and the band are cooking up a soulful bubbling cauldron of Zydeco Creole music that is stewed and imbued with hip-hop, blues, jazz and rock mastery! Both groups are performing in a free concert on Thursday, August 1st from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza.

The Orpheum's Summer Movie Series is pleased to present Decades, the world-renowned a cappella barbershop quartet, on Friday, July 12 at 6:30 PM. Decades will perform contemporary songs combined with barbershop favorites. The group will conclude their performance by leading the audience in a fun, engaging vocal warm up before The Orpheum's showing of a special Sing-a-long version of THE SOUND OF MUSIC at 7:00 PM.

A mauling of Martin Amis and a savaging of Salman Rushdie are in the running for the best bad book review of 2012.

A mauling of Martin Amis and a savaging of Salman Rushdie are in the running for the best bad book review of 2012.

Shakespeare Orange County closes out its summer season with a sparkling production of Shakespeare's MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING that time travels its characters to Messina, Italy in the 1920's. There amid the sultry Mediterranean breeze, Jazz Age music, and stylish flapper frocks, Cupid and his henchmen and women conspire to ensure that love prevails using any tactics necessary. And therein lies the fun.

Shakespeare Orange County will present William Shakespeare's MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING through September 1 at Garden Grove's Festival Amphitheatre ---outside and 'Under the Stars.' Set during the 1920s, this production features costumes and music of the era. The Festival Amphitheatre will allow audiences to enjoy watching the story of 'Beatrice and Benedick' unfold through the brilliant language and action of the play performed by professional actors from an open-air stage. Founding Artistic Producing Director Thomas F. Bradac directs. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production photos below.

Soho Theatre has announced a full summer season of theatre, comedy and cabaret to be presented both at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and in London. In theatre, the group presents new work from Phil Porter, Will Eno and Joel Horwood. In Edinburgh and in London Soho presents acts from across the globe, including Barry Award Winner Doctor Brown and the joint Best Newcomer Winners from the Melbourne Comedy Festival Matt Okine and Ronny Chieng. Plus the return of the Soho Literary Festival.

Soho Theatre has announced a full summer season of theatre, comedy and cabaret to be presented both at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and in London. In theatre, the group presents new work from Phil Porter, Will Eno and Joel Horwood. In Edinburgh and in London Soho presents acts from across the globe, including Barry Award Winner Doctor Brown and the joint Best Newcomer Winners from the Melbourne Comedy Festival Matt Okine and Ronny Chieng. Plus the return of the Soho Literary Festival.

The Yale School of Music opens its 2011-12 YALE IN NEW YORK concert series with a rousing evening of 20th-century vocal music from Britain, featuring two masterpieces: Benjamin Britten's beloved Serenade for tenor, horn, and strings (written for Peter Pears, Britten's partner, and the immortal horn player Dennis Brain, who requested Britten write the work) and a rare performance of William Walton's satirical mini-opera The Bear.