David Allen News

Heather Orth stars as mysterious opium den proprietress Princess Puffer in Foothill Music Theatre's new production of Rupert Holmes' rollicking musical comedy a?oeThe Mystery of Edwin Drood.a?? A Tony Award winner for Best Musical, the show is based on an unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. As the novel was left incomplete, so is the show - up to a point. When the cast reaches the part in the story where Dickens left off, they put a vote to the audience at each performance as to how the show will end. Ms. Orth has been gracing Bay Area stages with astonishing frequency as of late. She possesses a big, flexible voice and the ability to charm the pants off you or break your heart with her emotional transparency. BroadwayWorld caught up with her recently while she was still in the thick of rehearsals for a?oeDrood.a?? She has often played characters older than she is, and as she matures one gets the sense she may just be coming into her own as a musical theater performer, and even bigger opportunities may be on the horizon.

Multi-award winning Foothill Music Theatre presents the Tony Award-winning musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Thomas L. Beckmen, Board Chair of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, and Chad Smith, David C. Bohnett Chief Executive Officer Chair, today announced that Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel's contract will be extended through the orchestra's 2025/26 season.

 Multi-award winning Foothill Music Theatre presents the Tony Award-winning musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Adapted from Charles Dicken's unfinished novel of the same name, this hilarious whodunit invites audiences to solve its main mystery by identifying the murderer of its title character.

Alt-Pop band Paper Jackets are ready for the holiday season with the release of their new single 'This Christmas' today. The souped up synth-pop track is the perfect anthem for the holidays and is sure to be a staple add on many party playlists.

The life and times of legendary showman George M. Cohan explode into the 21st century in a sensational musical, Yankee Doodle Dandy! For the first time, the complete recording of this remarkable new musical is available on CD, digital and streaming formats. The Seattle Times called the show, 'Irresistible!' It features a book by David Armstrong (Artistic Director Emeritus of The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle) and new songs inspired by unfinished Cohan melodies, including the heartbreaking ballad, Pick Up Your Dreams, by Albert Evans (Nite Club Confidential, Pageant).

BWW Review: BULL IN A CHINA SHOP at Aurora Theatre dramatizes the love letters of early women's rights activist Mary Wooley, President of Mt. Holyoke 1901-1937.

Jason Graae is soon to star once again as the title character in a?oeScrooge in Love!a?? at 42nd Street Moon, where has found a sort of Bay Area artistic home in recent years. This eternally youthful performer is now a veritable showbiz veteran, having starred on Broadway several times, toured the country with legendary composer Jerry Herman, recorded almost 50 CD's and most recently played The Wizard of Oz in the national tour of a?oeWicked.a?? Known for his spirited comic performances and sterling vocals, you might expect Mr. Graae to be a lot of fun to talk to, and you would be right about that. While quick to express heartfelt gratitude to colleagues, he is also the irrepressible imp who can't resist entertaining you with his mischievous sense of humor.

Set in 2016, the ghosts of two ex Civil War soldiers, Alex (the Yank) and Web (the Confederate), are still inhabiting the old, dilapidated farm house on their abandoned turkey farm in Central Ohio. These men have lived through much of gay history and have had wonderful adventures and a great romance. Their quasi-existence is interrupted by the sudden arrival of a man and woman dragging into their home a sixteen year old lesbian, entrusted to their care by her parents with the hope that they can “pray away the gay” and turn her into a 'happy heterosexual'. Should Alex and Web get involved even if it means their permanent disappearance after over 150 years? Of course the answer is yes. Based on true events and real people, The Turkey Men, is filled with humor, romance, and pathos. Previews on October 16th & 17th, performances from Oct. 18th thru the 26th 2019 at the Columbus Performing Arts Center, 549 Franklin Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215. For tickets or more information, visit: http://evolutiontheatre.org/

Octopus behavior has fascinated humans for centuries; their unique shape and skillsets often provide the inspiration for extraterrestrials in science fiction. New in the world of cephalopod research is the extent to which these intelligent animals are individual personalities – able to recognize faces and interact with other individuals – all of which is an odd adaptation for an animal thought to live an asocial existence. Follow this new science through the story of a pet octopus and its evolving relationship with the passionate American scientist studying it in Nature – Octopus: Making Contact, premiering nationwide Wednesday, October 2 at 8 p.m. on PBS(check local listings), pbs.org/nature and the PBS Video app.

In Michael Leeds new murder-mystery comedy, on a dark stormy night, five men arrive at a cabin for a famous soap star's surprise birthday party. Each guest has been asked to dress as the birthday boy's favorite actress, Joan Crawford, in one of her signature roles - and the results aren't pretty, in more ways than one. As they wait for the star, the five 'Joans' begin drinking and dishing, soon dark secrets emerge and then there's one less Joan ... and then there are four…then three…then…? All this leads to a shocking and unforeseen ending. Featuring: David Bahgat as Gene Harlow, Frank Barnhart as Harvey Goldberg, Ralph Scott as Stewart Fry, David Allen Vargo as Leo Lawrence, Lane Schlicher as David Hoch, Stewart Jamison as Trick Rogers. Performances are August 21st thru the 31st, 2019 at the Columbus Performing Arts Center, 549 Franklin Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215. For tickets, visit: http://www.evolutiontheatre.org/

In the summer of 1983, Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein put on a show that was light years ahead of the zeitgeist, vis-a-vis the awareness and acceptance of LGBTQ people in America, and about twenty years before the legalization of same-sex marriage. Yet, after a successful tryout at the Colonial Theatre in Boston, they boldly went where no Broadway musical had gone before when they opened LA CAGE AUX FOLLES at the Palace Theatre on August 21, 1983. Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston concludes its 51st Summer Season with LA CAGE, and I am pleased to report that the show continues to stand the test of time. The three most important components for a successful staging of this musical are the two actors who play the leading men, Georges (J.T. Turner) and Albin (James Darrah), and the dance troupe who comprise Les Cagelles, the drag performers at the Saint-Tropez title nightclub owned by the latter couple, and they collectively win the trifecta.

Exploring some of the most remote and spectacular places on Earth, five pioneering scientists make surprising discoveries that flip our understanding of nature on its head, and offer new hope for restoring our world in Nature: The Serengeti Rules, premiering nationwide Wednesday, October 9 at 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/nature and the PBS Video app.

Following a successful World Premiere run at The Marsh San Francisco, Who Killed Sylvia Plath, written by award-winning playwright Lynne Kaufman and starring Lorri Holt, will transfer to The Marsh Berkeley this Fall.

Multi-award winning Foothill Music Theatre presents Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical from the creators of The Sound of Music and South Pacific, legendary songwriting team Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.

Melissa Gialdini is thrilled to be playing stepsister Gabrielle in 'Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella' at Foothill Music Theatre now running through August 4th. Melissa recently spoke to BroadwayWorld about the show, her love of performing and her rich life outside the theater.

Iconotheatrix presents their dazzling summer musical, Chicago: High School Edition, August 2 - 4, 2019 at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston (MATCH).

Wit, by Margaret Edson, presented by actor Pamela Vogel opens for eight performances in a limited run; a production in the inaugural year of the Houston Equity Festival a collection of local professional actors, all members of the union Actors' Equity Association, each of whom is mounting herhis own show during the summer and fall of 2019. Ms. Vogel (Leap and the Net Will Appear Catastrophic Theatre) plays Vivian Bearing, and Vance Johnson (Bootycandy Theatre) and (Passing Strange Standing Room Only Productions) directs.

Multi-award winning Foothill Music Theatre presents Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical from the creators of The Sound of Music and South Pacific, legendary songwriting team Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.