Jonathan Larson News

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, the performance venue located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond:

Very Intense Productions and Your Theatrics | Jeremy Youett and Jacob Harvey present RSO FEST, a series of concerts showcasing three new musicals by composer Ryan Scott Oliver. RSO FEST will launch at New York's premier Supper Club, 54 Below (254 West 54th Street, NYC), today, October 7 with the 35mm: A Musical Exhibition (produced in association with Tony Award-winning producer John Johnson), followed by Darling (produced in association with Grammy Award-winner Kurt Deutsch and Sh-k-boom) today, November 4, and then Jasper In Deadland (produced in association with Prospect Theater Company) completing the trilogy today November 18.

THE HINTERLANDS, a free musical web series about teenage gay bullying, officially launched on October 28, 2013 at a special event held at The New 42nd Street Studios. At the event, special guest speaker James Clementi of The Tyler Clementi Foundation shared some touching words about his younger brother Tyler and underscored the importance of being a light for young people who were struggling with thoughts of suicide. Connor Russell (Disney's Aladdin world premiere), star of THE HINTERLANDS, performed "Like It Here," a song from the fifth episode of the series. Katie Thompson (GIANT), backed by 13 students from the Professional Performing Arts School in Midtown, sang "Worthy," which will be part of the sixth episode of THE HINTERLANDS. Scroll down for photos!

On Sunday, October 27 Charlotte Mary Wen, winner of LA's Next Great Stage Star 2013, made her long awaited cabaret debut at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal with Time to Take a Breath directed by Peter Welkin and with musical direction by Dr. James Lent. Petite, pretty and ultra confidant, the terrific singer truly soared, leaving past anxieties far behind her.

Applications are now being accepted for the January 2014 installment of the tri­annual CAP21 Writers Residency , focusing on new musicals. The CAP21 Writers Residency is offered by CAP21 as an opportunity for a concentrated time and place to be artistically productive in a focused atmosphere while remaining in NYC . It will take place for a 1­2 week period ( Jan 6th ­ 17 ) depending on the needs of the writers. During the length of the residency, selected writing teams are provided a beautiful studio space at CAP21 in New York City , complete with a piano and wireless internet , between the hours of 10am and 6pm , Monday through Friday .

After numerous extensions and unprecedented attendance due to word-of-mouth that broke box office records at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, the highly acclaimed show NOTHING TO HIDE will premiere in New York this fall in a limited engagement. Two of the world's most gifted sleight-of-hand artists, Derek DelGaudio (2011 & 2012 Close-up Magician of the Year) and Helder Guimarães (2011 & 2012 Parlor Magician of the Year) star in this uniquely unconventional magic show, directed by Emmy Award winner Neil Patrick Harris. Through a series of diverse and engaging vignettes, NOTHING TO HIDEleads the audience on an amazing and memorable journey into a world of pure astonishment.

Vital Theatre Company and HIT Entertainment are pleased to announce the return of the yuletide hit, Angelina Ballerina The Very Merry Holiday Musical, to the McGinn/Cazale Theatre at 2162 Broadway from November 16th - January 5th, 2014. The show, with book and lyrics by Susan DiLallo, music by Ben Morss, and direction and choreography by Sam Viverito, is based on the famous dancing mouseling and her friends created by Katharine Holabird and illustrated by Helen Craig. Angelina and her friends will return to the Vital stage with a special 'red carpet' press opening on November 16th. Performances continue November 17 through January 5th on Selected Saturdays and Sundays at 3:30 pm.

Collaborative Arts Project 21, America's Musical Theatre Conservatory and Theatre Company (CAP21) and Molloy College have established a one-of-a-kind partnership. CAP21 is in residency at Molloy College, and to inaugurate the residency, both institutions are developing a four year BFA Theatre Arts Degree Program that will combine CAP21's 20 years of experience in training musical theatre actors and Molloy College's renowned academic programming.

'Crossing The River', a discussion featuring interfaith leaders led by Reverend Susan Turchin, and 'The Power of the Voice', a discussion with innovative contemporary theater composers hosted by Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812's Dave Malloy, will be offered as free post-performance events following upcoming performances of Prospect Theater Company's world premiere of TAMAR OF THE RIVER. The announcement was made today by Cara Reichel and Melissa Huber, the Producing Artistic Director and Managing Director of Prospect Theater Company.

A free musical web series about teenage gay bullying, THE HINTERLANDS, was conceived by the writing team of Michelle Elliott and Danny Larsen (Cloaked, The Yellow Wood). Created as a response to the flood of suicides by bullied LGBTQ youth, THE HINTERLANDS will be available online beginning October 28, 2013.

Bay Street Theatre has announced that Scott Schwartz, a leading voice of the next generation of American theater, has joined Bay Street as its new Artistic Director. A special welcome party was hosted last evening by Bonnie Comley and Stewart Lane at a private club in New York City to celebrate his arrival and to introduce him to Bay Street Theatre patrons and members of the Broadway community of actors, directors and producers. Scroll down for photos from the event!

The enduring music of Burt Bacharach is given new life as musician and actor Kyle Riabko (Spring Awakening, Hair) performs his unique, soulful arrangements of the Bacharach songbook with an eclectic group of young musicians and performers. Steven Hoggett, whose choreography has been featured in such diverse works as Once, Peter and the Starcatcher, andBlack Watch, returns to NYTW, this time as director. What's It All About? is a re-introduction to the timeless music of Bacharach through the eyes and ears of a new generation.

“If there's one thing I've learned from Finn dying it's that shame is a wasted emotion,” Kurt (Chris Colfer) eloquently asserted mid-way through last night's unfortunately unavoidable and unabashedly emotional address of the passing of prominent GLEE cast member Cory Monteith, who portrayed star quarterback Finn Hudson on the series for its entire run until this year - and, unashamed was GLEE in its tribute to the fallen young star. And, unforgettable, as well.

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, the performance venue located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond:

TICK, TICK...BOOM is Jonathan Larson's story before he wrote Rent. Social issues, plotlines and melodic phrasing made famous in that rock opera are in formation here. It's simpler than Rent with its own quirky charm. The story is not new, but the performers are refreshing, and the real-life tragedy adds new meaning to the main character's obsession with his looming milestone birthday.

'Crossing The River', a discussion featuring interfaith leaders led by Reverend Susan Turchin, and 'The Power of the Voice', a discussion with innovative contemporary theater composers hosted by Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812's Dave Malloy, will be offered as free post-performance events following upcoming performances of Prospect Theater Company's world premiere of TAMAR OF THE RIVER.

For the first DG Conservatory event of the fall, the Dramatists Guild is thrilled to team up with the writers who created Behind the Music-al, Kyle Ewalt and Michael Ian Walker, today, October 8, 2013, at 6:00 p.m. The event will take place at the Dramatists Guild's New York office, in the Frederick Loewe Room, 1501 Broadway (between 43rd and 44th Streets), Suite 710. This free seminar is opening a limited number of seats to the public and reservations are required.