Keith Levenson News

What did our critic think of THE WHO at Schottenstein Cente? When the Who, a 1990 inductee to the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame, announced their current 'The Who Hits Back' tour, the response of many 'fans' on one website was a hard pass.

After stunning her St. Mark's High School classmates with a blistering re-creation of the violin solo in the Who's 'Baba O'Reilly,' Katie Jacoby was ready for bigger things. Jacoby, then 15, emailed the Who to let them know she was available to perform in their upcoming show at the Wachovia Center in 2007.

Pittsburgh's greatest musical theatre creation comes home, in a production that's something old, something new. If you're going to talk about musicals in Pittsburgh, let alone musicals FROM Pittsburgh, the story is ultimately going to revolve around Godspell. Created by bookwriter John-Michael Tebelak as his master's thesis at CMU circa the early 1970s, the musical quickly headed to Off-Broadway, with a brief Broadway run and a historic Toronto production that formed that roots of the seventies sketch comedy scene. Soon, there was a movie, and after that point, the little Jesus-clown musical from Pittsburgh was a worldwide sensation. Pippin, which shares composer Stephen Schwartz, had a similar Pittsburgh-to-Broadway trajectory, but a show as niche and nihilistic as Pippin will never be able to compete with the mix of loose hippie vibes, vaudeville throwbacks and old-time religion that give Godspell its heart.

The Axelrod Performing Arts Center presents its highly anticipated production of Jason Robert Brown and Marsha Norman’s musical The Bridges of Madison County this March. The production is directed by Hunter Foster who played the role of Bud Johnson in the original Broadway cast. Broadway legends Kate Baldwin and Aaron Lazar star in the respective roles of Francesca Johnson and Robert Kincaid.

Axelrod Theatre Presents “Bridges of Madison County: The Musical” For Bestselling Novel’s 30th Anniversary 

Legendary rock band The Who have announced a brand new tour for 2022, THE WHO HITS BACK!  The iconic band’s upcoming North American trek promises to be another rock n’ roll knockout, bringing singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist/songwriter Pete Townshend back to U.S. venues two years after their acclaimed MOVING ON! Tour. See the complete list of dates!

The Axelrod Performing Arts Center will present The Bridges of Madison County, The Musical, starring Kate Baldwin (Hello, Dolly!, Finian's Rainbow) and Aaron Lazar (A Little Night Music, The Light in the Piazza). Get a first look at the cast in rehearsals! 

The Axelrod Performing Arts Center will present The Bridges of Madison County, The Musical, starring Kate Baldwin (Hello, Dolly!, Finian’s Rainbow) and Aaron Lazar (A Little Night Music, The Light in the Piazza).

Legendary rock band The Who have announced a brand new tour for 2022, THE WHO HITS BACK! The iconic band’s upcoming North American trek promises to be another rock n’ roll knockout, bringing singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist/songwriter Pete Townshend back to U.S. venues. Check out the complete list of tour dates!

Adapted and directed by veteran theatre actor and director Mat Young, with music arrangements and direction by The Who’s global tour conductor and Broadway professional Keith Levenson, the show will run about 120 minutes and feature Queen hits like, “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “We Are The Champions” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.”   

The American Theater Group, Somerset County's newest professional theater company, proudly presents a weekend of encore concerts of its critically acclaimed 2019 production of The Bridges of Madison County, live at the Pleasant Valley Park amphitheater in Basking Ridge.

Holiday shoppers who are looking for gifts that give back during these challenging times need look no further than Fustercluck, the music-driven organization created to champion and support those in the live entertainment industry (and their families) who have been struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.

Fustercluck Music Productions has been founded by Keith Levenson (Musical Director/Conductor of The Bridges of Madison County and Amazing Grace; conductor: Tony® and Grammy® Award winning Dreamgirls) and Gilgamesh Taggett (Oliver Warbucks in Annie; Shrek in Shrek the Musical, Satan/Warm Up Guy in Jerry Springer the Opera).

Broadway's original Annie, Andrea McArdle will reunite with members of the original Broadway at TV cast in THE 1977 ANNIE CHRISTMAS SHOW TV SPECIAL: LIVE! In Concert, honoring the show's Tony Award winning creator, Martin Charnin, to benefit The Actors Fund. There will be one performance only, at 9:30 on Monday, December 16th, at The Cutting Room. The 1977 Best Musical and TV iconic TV both special feature lyrics by Martin Charnin, music by Charles Strouse, and book by Thomas Meehan.

Legendary rock band The Who have announced they'll be moving on in 2020 with more tour dates, not quite ready to close the books on their acclaimed MOVING ON! TOUR, which paired Singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist/songwriter Pete Townshend with local symphony orchestras across North America and was hailed bycritics as a once-in-a-lifetime rock experience.  Along with a series of rescheduled shows announced earlier in the month (see complete list of dates below) the band has expanded their 2020 itinerary to include a show on April 21 in Hollywood, FL (Hard Rock Live), April 23 in Cincinnati, OH (BB&T Arena at Northern Kentucky University), and a series of six shows at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV kicking off on May 5 and running to May 16 (see dates below). Tickets will be available at Ticketmaster.

American Theater Group and Producing Artistic Director James Vagias present the Tony Award-winning musical The Bridges of Madison County at the South Orange Performing Arts Center June 20-30. Based on the best-selling novel and hit film starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller was developed by the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning creative team of Jason Robert Brown (The Last Five Years, Parade, Songs for a New World) and Marsha Norman (The Color Purple, The Secret Garden, 'night Mother).

American Theater Group and Producing Artistic Director James Vagias present the Tony Award-winning musical The Bridges of Madison County at the South Orange Performing Arts Center June 20-30. Based on the best-selling novel and hit film starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller was developed by the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning creative team of Jason Robert Brown (The Last Five Years, Parade, Songs for a New World) and Marsha Norman (The Color Purple, The Secret Garden, 'night Mother).

THE WHO are gearing up for a 29-date North American 'Moving On' Symphonic Tour where a local symphony orchestra will join the band nightly for songs from 'Tommy' and 'Quadrophenia'along with their greatest hits and some long awaited new tunes.  Roger Daltrey got the idea of a symphonic tour after spending the summer of 2018 performing 'Tommy' with symphonies and“loving the experience”.  That tour was conducted by renowned composer and conductor, KEITH LEVENSON, where he led symphonies including The Boston Pops, The Chicago Symphony and The Cleveland Orchestra.   

American Theater Group, SOPAC's professional Equity theatre company in-residence, announces auditions for non-Equity actors for the musical The Bridges of Madison County by Jason Robert Brown and Marsha Norman, based on the best-selling novel by Robert James Waller. The performances will take place at the South Orange Performing Arts Center June 20-30, 2019. The musical will be directed and choreographed by Merete Muenter with musical direction by Brent Sawyer and conducted by Keith Levenson.

The Broadway musical AMAZING GRACE will take its inspirational message on the road as it launches a 23-week national tour, kicking off with an eight-week run at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, as it inaugurates the new museum's state-of-the-art, 472 seat theatre. The DC run begins tonight, November 17, for a run through January 8, 2018, opening on November 20.