Lynn Ahrens News

Porchlight Music Theatre will end its 2008-2009 season, Musical Journeys-A Season of Musical Destinations, with the exhilarating Broadway musical Once On This Island at Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 West Belmont. The production begins previews May 9 with a Press Opening on May 11 at 7:30 p.m. and runs through June 28, 2009.

The exuberant Broadway musical, SEUSSICAL will open on April Fool's Day and run through May 16th at Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre for Young Audiences, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, IL. The whimsical production, based on over 14 magical stories by beloved children's author Dr. Seuss, is directed and choreographed by Rachel Rockwell.

Signature Productions, in conjunction with Super Summer Theatre, is pleased to announce auditions for its upcoming production of ONCE ON THIS ISLAND. This highly original and theatrical Caribbean adaptation of the popular fairy tale 'The Little Mermaid' sings and dances the story of Ti Moune, the black peasant girl who rescues, nurses and falls in love with Daniel, a mulatto from a wealthy family.

JESSICA MOLASKEY, the Broadway musical actress, jazz singing sensation, recording artist and radio personality, will perform an exclusive week-long engagement at the legendary jazz club Birdland (315 West 44th Street in Manhattan) from March 31 to April 4. She will be joined by the John Pizzarelli Quartet featuring John Pizzarelli on guitar, Larry Fuller on piano and Martin Pizzarelli on bass, Aaron Weinstein on violin and Tony Tedesco on drums. The show will feature selections from her critically acclaimed albums that she hasn't performed live, in addition to the possibility of special surprise guests. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 9:00 PM and 11:00 PM. There is a $30 general admission cover charge and $40 premium seats, both with a $10 table minimum. For reservations and further information, please call (212) 581-3080 or visit www.birdlandjazz.com.

Perfect for age's four to fourteen, the Paper Mill Playhouse Children's Theatre Series has partnered with the best and brightest theatre companies to bring charming, whimsical, and educational performances filled with audience participation and adventure. All shows take place on select Saturdays and Sundays in the spring and begin at 10:00am.

York Little Theatre will present Ragtime, the American classic, Tony-winning, Broadway musical based on E.L. Doctorow's 1975 novel. Ragtime is a narrative of 20th century growing pains with themes addressing race and poverty, women's roles, cultural changes, and the impact of technology.

JESSICA MOLASKEY, the Broadway musical actress, jazz singing sensation, recording artist and radio personality, will perform an exclusive week-long engagement at the legendary jazz club Birdland (315 West 44th Street in Manhattan) from March 31 to April 4. She will be joined by the John Pizzarelli Quartet featuring John Pizzarelli on guitar, Larry Fuller on piano and Martin Pizzarelli on bass, Aaron Weinstein on violin and Tony Tedesco on drums. The show will feature selections from her critically acclaimed albums that she hasn't performed live, in addition to the possibility of special surprise guests. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 9:00 PM and 11:00 PM. There is a $30 general admission cover charge and $40 premium seats, both with a $10 table minimum. For reservations and further information, please call (212) 581-3080 or visit www.birdlandjazz.com.

Porchlight Music Theatre will present the exotic musical Pacific Overtures at Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 West Belmont. This touching and witty musical tells the story of the painful westernization of Japan through the eyes of two friends. Pacific Overtures begins previews on March 15 with a Press Opening on March 18 at 7:30 p.m. and runs through May 2, 2009.

Porchlight Music Theatre will present the exotic musical Pacific Overtures at Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 West Belmont. This touching and witty musical tells the story of the painful westernization of Japan through the eyes of two friends. Pacific Overtures begins previews on March 15 with a Press Opening on March 18 at 7:30 p.m. and runs through May 2, 2009. A ground-breaking musical, Pacific Overtures examines the transformation of Japan beginning when U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry brought four black ships into 'a land of changeless order.' Many of the events and characters portrayed in the show- Japan's self-imposed isolation from the world, the fisherman Manjiro, the Tokugawa shogunate, the Meiji revolution and its consequences - are as familiar to an Japanese schoolchild as George Washington and the Revolutionary war are to Americans. This rarely produced show mixes elements of traditional Japanese theatre with the Broadway musical. The original 1976 production was nominated for a whopping ten Tony Awards including best musical, book and score.

Winners of the 2009 Richard Rodgers Awards for Musical Theater were announced today by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which administers the Rodgers Awards. They are: Cheer Wars by Karlan Judd and Gordon Leary Rosa Parks by Scott Ethier and Jeff Hughes

Porchlight Music Theatre will present the exotic musical Pacific Overtures at Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 West Belmont. This touching and witty musical tells the story of the painful westernization of Japan through the eyes of two friends. Pacific Overtures begins previews on March 15 with a Press Opening on March 18 at 7:30 p.m. and runs through May 2, 2009.

The exuberant Broadway musical, SEUSSICAL will open on April Fool's Day and run through May 16th at Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre for Young Audiences, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, IL. The whimsical production, based on over 14 magical stories by beloved children's author Dr. Seuss, is directed and choreographed by Rachel Rockwell.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced a one week extension for its production of RAGTIME. The musical will now run in the Eisenhower Theater April 18 through May 17, 2009. Based on a 1975 novel by E.L. Doctorow, the production features book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and will be directed and choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge. The musical is part of the Kennedy Center?s Broadway: The Third Generation, a series celebrating the current generation of Broadway musical composers. The official press night will take place on Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.

Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook ends its 11th season with a special concert by Stew and Heidi Rodewald in the newly revitalized Alice Tully Hall on March 6th at 8:00pm.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will present Terrence McNally's Nights at the Opera - an event showcasing three of the playwright's works including Master Class, The Lisbon Traviata, and Golden Age concurrently in Kennedy Center theaters from March 20 - April 18, 2010. Directors include Walter Bobbie for Master Class and Christopher Ashley for The Lisbon Traviata.

With equal parts hope, humor and heartbreak, Portland Center Stage's 2009-2010 Season explores the challenges and rewards of creating community in a nation both defined and distracted by the chasm that often exists between our ideals and our actions... and between one neighbor and another.

arlier this month, Alan Zachary & Michael Weiner joined in a week-long celebration at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. of the 'Next Generation of Broadway Songwriters' by performing an hour-long concert of their songs, joined by Megan Hilty (star of Broadway's Wicked and 9 to 5). The concert is now available to watch online.

Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook ends its 11th season with a special concert by Stew and Heidi Rodewald in the newly revitalized Alice Tully Hall on March 6th at 8:00pm.

Theater News from Broadway and the Baltimore/Washington Region

Wheelock Family Theatre deftly illustrates Horton the Elephant's philosophy that 'a person's a person, no matter how small' and anything's possible in the land of Dr. Seuss