Jo Swerling News

 Long considered one of America's foremost community theater groups, the Bergen County Players is proud to announce its 2015-16 season, an ambitious, passionate and playful year of audience pleasing musicals, innovative plays and special events for its 83rd consecutive season. From toe-tapping musicals to hilarious comedies to intense dramas, BCP has garnered a reputation for outstanding quality productions at affordable prices. As audiences have been anxiously anticipating, the new season kicks off with the Tony Award-winning musical, Guys and Dolls.

GUYS AND DOLLS hit the Broadway stage in 1950 and was soon considered 'the perfect musical comedy.' With timeless music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and a clever, seamless book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, the musical has seen success since it first opened. GUYS AND DOLLS promises heartfelt and hilarious entertainment in Bayou City Theatrics' upcoming production, which runs July 17 through August 2 at The Kaleidoscope.

The Board of Directors and Artistic Director, David Leidholdt, are pleased to announce Millbrook's 40th Anniversary production of Guys and Dolls on the Ryan Main Stage.

The Board of Directors and Artistic Director, David Leidholdt, are pleased to announce Millbrook's 40th Anniversary production of Guys and Dolls on the Ryan Main Stage.

A cast of student actors from 14 Triangle-area schools will perform the Tony Award-winning musical 'Guys & Dolls' July 15-25 for the PlayMakers Summer Youth Conservatory (SYC) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. High school actors and technicians began work on the production June 15.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show. Thus, we are happy to present a new feature: The Nashville Theater Calendar, a comprehensive - maybe even exhaustive (lord knows we're exhausted from putting it together, gathering all the info from all over the interwebs!) - listing of theatrical openings for the 2015/16 season. We'll update the calendar every Monday, clearing out the shows that have closed and adding additional information on the shows still to come.

We pride ourselves on our bounteous Southern hospitality here in Nashville, so who's gonna explain this: On Thursday, as thousands of country music fans gathered downtown for CMA Fest and thousands more fans of every musical genre you can think of were headed southward for the Bonnaroo Music Festival - just another summer in Tennessee, mind you - a truck spilled its load all over Interstate 65-S, adding to the hot, humid atmosphere with a whole mess of fish parts. Yep, you heard it right: smelly, disgusting fish parts baking on the hot asphalt under the blazing sun.

Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston will open its 47th consecutive summer season with the Broadway favorite, Guys and Dolls, from today, June 11-21, 2015 at the Robinson Theatre (617 Lexington St. Waltham, MA, 02452).

It's another busy theater week in Tennessee, and in Nashville there are an extra 50,000 to 100,000 country music fans jamming up traffic and increasing wait times at local restaurants, thanks to CMA Music Fest, which natives and longtimers will remember as Fan Fair. So while you're steering clear of our version of Broadway in downtown Nashville, which will be teeming with more people than you can shake a stick at (as my mama would say),  you should instead make reservations to see some local talent onstage at some of the shows included in our Critic's Choice column today!

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show. Thus, we are happy to present a new feature: The Nashville Theater Calendar, a comprehensive - maybe even exhaustive (lord knows we're exhausted from putting it together, gathering all the info from all over the interwebs!) - listing of theatrical openings for the 2015/16 season. We'll update the calendar every Monday, clearing out the shows that have closed and adding additional information on the shows still to come.

Is there anything more magical or more transformative than live theater? Honestly, I can't think of anything which can take you from the depths of despair to the fanciful heights of imagination so quickly - and there certainly is no art form in which things can change so capriciously or quicker, either for good or bad.

It's another busy weekend of new shows opening and many others continuing to delight audiences, with ACT 1's Dog Sees God and Street Theatre Company's Dogfight both opening tonight, while two shows that opened yesterday will continue to treat audiences to some especially wonderful music. Plus, there's a whole slate of shows being performed at Crossville's Cumberland County Playhouse, a revival of Osborne & Epplers' Southern Fried Nuptials down in Woodbury at the Arts Center of Cannon County, and John Chaffin's Cliffhanger enters its final weekend at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre. Go to the theater, young man (and woman) and let yourself be transported to a whole new world of magic and enchantment!

Jenny Norris Light plays Sarah Brown, with Michael Maupins as Sky Masterson, Hallie Long as Miss Adelaide and Brian Best as Nathan Detroit in The Larry Keeton Theatre's eagerly anticipated production of the classic Broadway music Guys and Dolls. Directed by Ginger Newman (who doubles as musical director as well), with choreography and staging by Cary Street, the musical that introduced the theatrical standards 'Bushel and a Peck,' 'Adelaide's Lament' and 'Luck Be A Lady Tonight' to Broadway audiences runs at the Keeton Theatre tonight, June 4, through June 20.

No matter what the calendar says, we're in early summer already - insofar as theater in Tennessee is concerned, at least - and there are four new shows opening this week that should command your attention. Along with a number of shows that are continuing their runs (like John Chaffin's Cliffhanger at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre), you have plenty of diverse and intriguing onstage offerings to keep you in the relative, air-conditioned comfort of a darkened theater. We've done the necessary research, made the calls to the people-in-the-know and have included the dates, the phone numbers and the websites to make it as easy as possible for you to buy tickets and go show some support for the arts while indulging in the magic of live theater…

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

Jenny Norris Light plays Sarah Brown, with Michael Maupins as Sky Masterson, Hallie Long as Miss Adelaide and Brian Best as Nathan Detroit in The Larry Keeton Theatre's eagerly anticipated production of the classic Broadway music Guys and Dolls. Directed by Ginger Newman (who doubles as musical director as well), with choreography and staging by Cary Street, the musical that introduced the theatrical standards "Bushel and a Peck," "Adelaide's Lament" and "Luck Be A Lady Tonight" to Broadway audiences runs at the Keeton Theatre June 4-20.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening around us that it's difficult to keep track of it all. Thus, we are happy to present a new feature: The Nashville Theater Calendar, which is a comprehensive listing of theatrical openings,that will be updated each week, for the 2015/16 season.

Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston will open its 47th consecutive summer season with the Broadway favorite, Guys and Dolls, from June 11-21, 2015 at the Robinson Theatre (617 Lexington St. Waltham, MA, 02452). Set in Damon Runyon's jubilant, shimmering New York City, this Tony Award-winning musical about gangsters, showgirls, and mission workers stars Olivier Award nominee Brent Barrett as Sky Masterson (Broadway's Chicago, PBS's Kiss Me, Kate) and opera singer Mara Bonde as Sarah Brown (The Boston Pops). Broadway veteran David Hugo (LES MISERABLES) returns to direct Frank Loesser's romantic comedy that demonstrates the great lengths to which a guy will go when he truly falls in love with a 'doll.' Reagle Music Theatre is the long-running regional theater company known for casting Broadway stars alongside regional talent. Individual tickets range from $35 to $63; season subscriptions and group tickets are available at a discount. Tickets can be purchased at www.reaglemusictheatre.com, by calling 781-891-5600, or at the theater box office.

Hey BroadwayWorld-ers! Welcome to Runyonland! My name is Noah Plomgren and I'm currently playing Benny Southstreet in Guys & Dolls at the gorgeous Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut. I will be one of your guest bloggers over the next few weeks, giving you an inside look at the beauty and madness of our little show.

The Frank Loesser classic is onn stage in Chambersburg, as sharp and sassy as ever