Ivan Menchell News

Warner Bros. new rom com BLENDED, starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, will hit theaters on Memorial Day. Check out the trailer below!

New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," has secured the rights to the regional premiere of BONNIE & CLYDE to open its 24th season next fall. The show opened on Broadway in fall 2011, but was too dark and unforgiving for Broadway audiences - which means of course it's perfect for New Line. Like the company did with High Fidelity and Cry-Baby, the New Liners hope to bring this smart, intense, sexy show back to life and spur new productions in regional theatre across America.

The Theater St. Gallen announces the performers in the title roles of the world premiere of the musical ARTUS - Excalibur on 15 March 2014. Patrick Stanke will portray the figure of Arthur. Stanke's repertoire includes numerous leading and title roles. In 2012 he received the DaCapo Award for the best male voice. Mark Seibert will play the legendary figure of Lancelot. Seibert is currently appearing in the musical Elisabeth at the Raimund Theater in Vienna. The figure of the wizard Merlin will be played by Thomas Borchert, who is already familiar to St. Gallen audiences from his roles in the musicals Rebecca and MOSES - The 10 Commandments. The two heroines will be portrayed by Annemieke van Dam (Guinevere) and Sabrina Weckerlin (Morgan le Fay). Van Dam has interpreted the title role of Elisabeth in the eponymous musical and Sabrina Weckerlin was last seen in the German premiere of the Broadway musical Next to Normal - Fast Normal.

Sometimes going against the grain pays off. Sadly, for the real life Bonnie and Clyde, going against the grain by becoming bank-robbing outlaws ended in their demise, but for the McCallum Fine Arts Academy and their musical production of Bonnie & Clyde, doing something daring and different is far more fruitful. Even when compared to productions starring more experienced, seasoned performers, Bonnie & Clyde is an exceptional accomplishment.

San Jose Stage Company Artistic Director Randall King announces The Stage's 2013-14 Season:

The Broadway at Birdland partnership with multi-Grammy and Tony nominated composer Frank Wildhorn continued on July 15th with another "Frank & Friends" concert. Joining Wildhorn onstage were singers Adrienne Warren, Orfeh, Stark Sands, John Treacy Egan and Jim Caruso. Scroll down for photos from the concert!

The Ensemble Studio Theatre will honor two of Broadway's most distinguished producers, Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel, at its 45th Anniversary Gala, Monday evening, May 20, at 6:30pm at SIR Stage 37, 508 West 37th Street. Tickets are $500 and $1,000.

For ARTUS - Excalibur the St.Gallen Theatre is pleased to once again be working with the successful composer Frank Wildhorn, who previously composed the thoroughly successful musical in St.Gallen Der Graf von Monte Christo (The Count of Monte Christo) (Japanese premiere in 2013). Together with Ivan Menchell (script) and Robin Lerner (lyrics), he will turn the legendary tale of Arthur and his sword Excalibur into a stage musical.

A closed reading was just held for Excalibur, featuring music by Frank Wildhorn, a book by Ivan Menchell, lyrics by Robin Lerner, and orchestrations by Koen Schoots. Directed by Francesca Zambello, the show was commissioned by Werner Signer of Theater St. Gallen, in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Opening night will be in March 2014.

Broadway director and choreographer Jeff Calhoun will soon award the Jeff Calhoun Performing Arts Award to a senior at Pine-Richland High School. This is the sixth year that Calhoun, a 1978 graduate, will award a $5000 scholarship to a student who is planning to pursue a career in the performing arts and meets the scholarship criteria. Applications for this scholarship are due April 19, 2013.

The Vagabond Players continues its 97th season with Ivan Menchell's The Cemetery Club, directed by Roy Hammond. The laughter-filled, bittersweet comedy runs tonight, February 22 through March 24.

The Vagabond Players continues its 97th season with Ivan Menchell's The Cemetery Club, directed by Roy Hammond. The laughter-filled, bittersweet comedy runs February 22 through March 24.

The Vagabond Players continues its 97th season with Ivan Menchell's The Cemetery Club, directed by Roy Hammond. The laughter-filled, bittersweet comedy runs February 22 through March 24.

As 2012 comes to a close, many Austin theater companies are putting together their 2013-2014 season. Given the incredible talent in this town and the large number of daring, courageous theater groups in the Austin area, here are my picks for 13 musicals that I'd love to see produced in the 2013-2014 season.

According to MTI's official website, BONNIE & CLYDE, which last year played the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, is now available for licensing. In the show, two small-town kids from the middle of nowhere became the biggest folk heroes in all America. They craved adventure-and each other. Their names were Bonnie and Clyde.

Vagabond Players have announced the following events for their upcoming season.

On Twitter Watch, Jeff Calhoun wrote 'Thank you @michaelarden and @andymientus for connecting me to the world of twitter! Can't wait to hear tweets from around the world!!!! On my way to first vocal session with Constantine for Jekyll and Hyde. Phyced!'

If anyone overheard the conversation in Ida's Queen's apartment, they might assume they were listening to a bunch of gal pals in their early 30s giggling and chatting over dating, men, and buying secondhand furs. But as we find in Ivan Menchell's The Cemetery Club, the last production in Lantern Theatre's season, the threesome featured in this dramedy are older women who have all recently lost their husbands. There's Lucille, confident ando utgoing; Ida, dependable and sweet; and Doris, stubborn and loyal.