Deaf West Theatre News

Jim Caruso's Cast Party is proud to present GROOVELILY in the Broadway at Birdland concert series on Monday, May 18 at 7pm.

Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) is pleased to announce that they will join 15 other professional theater organizations from 11 states participating in the first annual presentation of The Jimmy Awards, to be held in New York City on Monday, June 29 at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York University.

The Color Purple will return to Houston and play a limited one week engagement at the Hobby Center for Performing Arts, August 18 - 23, 2009. The return engagement was booked in response to the challenges brought on by Hurricane Ike, which caused the cancellation of a full week of sold out performances.

32 seats in the front two rows of the orchestra will be made available for purchase by lottery for $20.00 at every performance of Rent, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony® Award-winning musical, with Theatre Under The Stars at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Opportunity to purchase the $20 tickets will be assigned by lottery and announced 90 minutes prior to curtain

Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) will host the National Tour of RENT at the Hobby Center for Performing Arts, April 29-May 3, 2009, for just five days. Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum, Allan S. Gordon, the producers of the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning musical RENT, have announced that original Broadway cast members Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp will reprise the roles they made famous on stage and in the film adaptation.

John C. Breckenridge, President and CEO of Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS), announced today the nominations for TUTS' seventh annual Tommy Tune Awards which will be held on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Developed by TUTS, the Tommy Tune Awards honor musical theatre excellence at the high school level. After reviewing and evaluating the 45 participating Houston-area high school productions during the 2008-2009 school year, a team of 29 Houston-based theatre professionals made 152 nominations in 15 categories.

Goodbye gray skies, hello blue! The national tour of Happy Days - A New Musical will play at the Hobby Center for Performing Arts with Theatre Under The Stars May 12-24, 2009 for just two weeks.

32 seats in the front two rows of the orchestra will be made available for purchase by lottery for $20.00 at every performance of Rent, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony® Award-winning musical, with Theatre Under The Stars at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Opportunity to purchase the $20 tickets will be assigned by lottery and announced 90 minutes prior to curtain

Hy Juter and Edmund Gaynes will present 'DANNY and SYLVIA: THE DANNY KAYE MUSICAL' at the St. Luke's Theatre, 308 West 46th Street, beginning Saturday, May 2nd at 2 pm with the official opening on Wednesday, May 13 at 8 PM

John C. Breckenridge, President and CEO of Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS), announced today the nominations for TUTS' seventh annual Tommy Tune Awards which will be held on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Developed by TUTS, the Tommy Tune Awards honor musical theatre excellence at the high school level. After reviewing and evaluating the 45 participating Houston-area high school productions during the 2008-2009 school year, a team of 29 Houston-based theatre professionals made 152 nominations in 15 categories.

Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) is delighted to announce that full casting is complete for LES MISERABLES, the recent addition to the TUTS 41st season! Les Miserables, which takes place of the previously scheduled Meet Me In St. Louis, will play for two weeks, March 24 - April 5, 2009 at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Houston.

Theatre Under The Stars' (TUTS) President and CEO John C. Breckenridge announces TUTS' 2009-2010 Season: The One That You Want! September 2009 to May 2010 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. 'The quality and beauty of this lineup is something TUTS is very excited about,' said Breckenridge. 'This is the type of season that exemplifies the soul of TUTS. The incomparable energy of Grease, beauty of South Pacific, the over-the-top production quality of Miss Saigon, and the quintessential nostalgia of The Sound of Music are all at the heart of why theatre is so emotionally impactful.' In its 2009-2010 Season, TUTS combines powerful Broadway classics with innovative new creations and revivals.

Martin McDonagh?s dark comedy ?The Lieutenant of Inishmore,? originally scheduled as the fourth production of Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum?s 2009 season, will be postponed to the Taper?s 2010 season, it was announced today by CTG Artistic Director Michael Ritchie. There will be no production in the Taper in July and August.

Press notes announced 'Look out America, Gilligan's Island The Musical is docking at a desert island near you and the hilarity found in America's most cherished sitcom is in full effect in this larger than life stage musical. Bringing back all those well known and beloved characters from one of the most popular television shows of all time, this lovable musical comedy is sure to please the generations of audiences that the television show first inspired'. The first stop for the tour is the Lycian Centre for the Performing Arts in Sugar Loaf, NY on February 21st and 22nd.

Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) is delighted to announce that full casting is complete for LES MISERABLES, the recent addition to the TUTS 41st season! Les Miserables, which takes place of the previously scheduled Meet Me In St. Louis, will play for two weeks, March 24 - April 5, 2009 at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Houston.

BroadwayWorld gave the cast of Center Theatre Group and Deaf West Theatre's production of 'Pippin' a FLIP video camera and then set them free backstage during rehearsals as they prepared for opening night on January 25th and beyond!

Theatre Under The Stars announced today that LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL begins performances at The Hobby Center for Performing Arts in downtown Houston, February 10 - 22, 2009!

The Los Angeles cast of Pippin includes Michael Arden, Jonah Blechman, Dan Callaway, Bryan Terrell Clark, Nicolas Conway, Rodrick Covington, James Royce Edwards, TL Forsberg, Sara Gettelfinger, Tyrone Giordano, Harriet Harris, Rebecca Ann Johnson, Troy Kotsur, Jose F. Lopez, Jr., John McGinty, Anthony Natale, Aleks Pevec, Victoria Platt, Ty Taylor, Nikki Tomlinson, Melissa Van Der Schyff and Alexandria Wailes. Tony Award winning, the musical is composed by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell) and is directed by Jeff Calhoun. Deaf West Theatre is best known to Los Angeles audiences for their CTG productions of Big River, at the Taper and Sleeping Beauty Wakes at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

Ben Vereen earned a Tony Award for his singing and dancing in Pippin, and while his vast and celebrated career has taken him far beyond those early days of that Fosse hit, his heart will always belong to the stage. Vereen was there for the opening night of the CTG and Deaf West Theatre production of Pippin at the Mark Taper Forum. He spoke to the Los Angeles Time about performing in the original Broadway mounting, and how much the show still matters to the audience...and him. Vereen explained to the LA Times that 'Pippin' holds an undeniably central spot in his heart. 'Well, first of all, it got me a Tony,' he said with a loud laugh that echoed outside the theater minutes before the opening night curtain. 'It was also an honor to work with Bob Fosse. There was nothing more rewarding.'

The Center Theatre Group and Deaf West Theatre opened Pippin at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles January 25. Composer Stephen Schwartz and original cast members Ben Vereen and John Rubenstein joined in on the celebration.