Raymond Berg News

A fast, fun, flirtatious farce that takes place in the French Riviera is perfectly suited to take audiences away from it all in the Twin Cities out to the Old Log Theater for a little spring break.

The Old Log Theatre presents the Tony Award nominated DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS- The Musical with a cast of 18, featuring Peter Moore, Eric Morris, Kaylyn Forkey, James Michael Detmar, Jen Burleigh-Bentz and Aylssa Seifert. Directed by R. Kent Knutson and Musical Director Raymond Berg

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts will continue the popular Broadway Songbook series April 17-18 with Broadway Songbook: Rock & Roll on Broadway. Tickets are $37 and can be purchased online at www.ordway.org, by phone at 651-224-4222 or in person at the Ordway ticket office.

The Old Log Theatre will present the Tony Award nominated DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS- The Musical with a cast of 18, featuring Peter Moore, Eric Morris, Kaylyn Forkey, James Michael Detmar, Jen Burleigh-Bentz and Aylssa Seifert. Directed by R. Kent Knutson and Musical Director Raymond Berg

Individual tickets and series subscriptions for new subscribers go on sale to the general public April 15! Ticket prices remain unbelievably affordable. A full five show series for matinees begin at $135 per person. Senior citizen evening five show series runs $165 and adult evening ticket are only $175 for five shows! Add the summer show for just a few dollars more!

DISENCHANTED! is a new musical that gives fairytales the bird! The original fairytale princesses are none too happy with the exploitation they've suffered in today's films, books and merchandise. Snow White and her angry band of storybook friends are 'storming the castle' in order to take their lives back! Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Hua Mulan, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas and The Princess Who Kissed the Frog unite at Minneapolis' Illusion Theater, Oct. 31 - Nov. 23, 2014 (preview tonight, Oct. 30).

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is excited to present its 2014 holiday show, A Christmas Story, the Musical. The Ordway-produced musical comedy will run Nov. 29-Dec. 28, 2014, for a total of 36 performances. Tickets are available now and can be purchased online at www.ordway.org, by phone at 651-224-4222 or in person at the Ordway ticket office.

DISENCHANTED! is a new musical that gives fairytales the bird! The original fairytale princesses are none too happy with the exploitation they've suffered in today's films, books and merchandise. Snow White and her angry band of storybook friends are 'storming the castle' in order to take their lives back! Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Hua Mulan, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas and The Princess Who Kissed the Frog unite at Minneapolis' Illusion Theater Oct. 31 - Nov. 23, 2014 (preview Oct. 30).

The Ordway is opening its fourth season of the BROADWAY SONGBOOK series with a retrospective of the first 100 years of Broadway. If you're like me, your first question is - when did Broadway begin? It's debatable, but Professor James Rocco - who presides over what feels like a college seminar on musical theater history with live show-and-tell by the Twin Cities' best musical theater performers - tells us that the beginning of Broadway can be marked by THE BLACK CROOK in 1866. This is just one of the things you'll learn in this BROADWAY SONGBOOK, but don't worry, it is anything but dry and pedantic. The stories are fascinating and entertaining (at least to a musical theater nerd like myself), James has chosen just the right collection of songs to illustrate his points, and music director Raymond Berg has beautifully arranged the songs, which are performed with much passion, emotion, and humor by the talented cast of actor/singer/dancers.

How do you pack 100 years of the American musical into a brief show? James Rocco may still be whittling it down but patrons at the latest BROADWAY SONGBOOK: THE FIRST 100 YEARS OF BROADWAY will soon find out, in Saint Paul and all over Minnesota, too.

James Rocco's BROADWAY SONGBOOK series at The Ordway Center for Performing Arts in Saint Paul, Minn., is a treasure for anyone who has an iPod full of showtunes (me: guilty!) and should earn continuing education credits for audience members who gain a wealth of knowledge in theatre history over the course of the show.

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts' Broadway Songbook series returns June 13-15 with a tribute to Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who co-wrote some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows in the mid-20th century. Seating for Broadway Songbook: Comden and Green is on the Ordway's Music Theater Stage, providing a unique backstage experience.

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts' Broadway Songbook series returns June 13-15 with a tribute to Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who co-wrote some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows in the mid-20th century. Seating for Broadway Songbook: Comden and Green is on the Ordway's Music Theater Stage, providing a unique backstage experience.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Welcome to the '60s, with 'How To Succeed,' 'Motown,' 'Cabaret' and 'Hair,' plus tributes to Jack Lemmon and the Carpenters, the upcoming 'Jersey Boys' film, 'Option Up!,' that one-night 'Parade' concert and the BroadwayWorld Chicago Tony Award Viewing Party!

History Theatre produces the world premiere of a new musical by local artists Dominic Orlando (book and lyrics) and the late Hiram Titus (composer). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the show below!

History Theatre will produce the world premiere of a new musical by local artists Dominic Orlando (book and lyrics) and the late Hiram Titus (composer). The Working Boys Band tells the story of Professor C.C. Heintzeman, a German-born educator who believed in the power of music to give structure and purpose to people's lives, especially for the children who worked in the mills and factories of Minneapolis in the years before Child Labor Laws. The story of the Minneapolis Working Boys Band and its founder was suggested to History Theatre back in 2010 when Titus handed a photo of the band circa 1915 and his first draft of the opening number to artistic director Ron Peluso. In September of 2013, Titus submitted the show's finale just days before suffering a fatal cardiac arrest; Raymond Berg joined the team to finish the musical arrangements.

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts will feature many exciting events as part of its April-June calendar.

History Theatre will produce the world premiere of a new musical by local artists Dominic Orlando (book and lyrics) and the late Hiram Titus (composer). The Working Boys Band tells the story of Professor C.C. Heintzeman, a German-born educator who believed in the power of music to give structure and purpose to people's lives, especially for the children who worked in the mills and factories of Minneapolis in the years before Child Labor Laws. The story of the Minneapolis Working Boys Band and its founder was suggested to History Theatre back in 2010 when Titus handed a photo of the band circa 1915 and his first draft of the opening number to artistic director Ron Peluso. In September of 2013, Titus submitted the show's finale just days before suffering a fatal cardiac arrest; Raymond Berg joined the team to finish the musical arrangements.

They sold over 90 million records, nine of them gold. They had more Top Ten hits than the Beatles or Elvis. And they are still one of the best-selling female vocal groups of all time. Sisters of Swing: The Story of the Andrews Sisters puts the Andrews Sisters where we remember them best -- center stage! A regional premiere that is sure to have audiences singing along and tapping their toes, Sisters of Swing plays Boulder's Dinner Theatre March 7 through May 11, 2014.

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts will feature many exciting events as part of its April-June calendar.