Thomas Murray News

The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA) is most famous for its magnificent and enormous pipe organ - and every summer, organists from around the country, and around the world, thrill organ-loving audiences with its splendid range from roars to whispers. On Wednesday, August 15th at 7:30pm yet another organ virtuoso will take hold of this majestic instrument: ADAM PAJAN, a young musician who has been called 'a rising star definitely worth watching' (Michael Barone, Pipedreams). Be sure to take advantage of this free concert. It will be held, of course, in The Great Auditorium, located at 54 Pilgrim Pathway in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. All facilities are handicapped accessible.

Broadway's newest intimate concert venue - welcomes back Stephanie's Child, New York's premier pop-vocal drag trio, for their one-year anniversary concert on Friday, August 10 at 9:30 PM. Hailed as one of the "Best LGBT Events in New York" from Time Out New York, the Stephanie's Child residency features tight harmonies, pop hits, hilarious original parodies and surprise special guests.

Premiere Stages at Kean University is now presenting playwright, Craig Garcia's gripping family drama, 'Linger' through Sunday, July 29. The play was recently selected from over 570 submissions as the winner of the 2018 Premiere Play Festival. The production features superb direction by the theatre's Producing Artistic Director, John J. Wooten and an excellent cast.

Once again, the whispers, thunder and wonders of the Great Auditorium Pipe Organ will ring out during The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA)'s Free Organ Recital Series, a signature part of its summer-long program of family entertainment. OGCMA's Pipe Organ is among the largest in the world and is the heart-beat of this Christian Victorian resort on the Jersey Shore. The historic 11,000-pipe instrument was built and installed in 1908 with original design innovations that became standard elements still extant in modern organ construction. It is made of over 40,000 feet of California No. 1 Sugar Pine and weighs 20-25 tons. In its illustrious 109-year history, this remarkable instrument has been played by numerous distinguished organists, including Will C. MacFarlane, Clarence Kohlman, Josephine Eddowes, Harold Fix, Clarence Reynolds, Beverly Davis, Jon Quinn, and Robert Carwithin. Order tickets by phone at 800-590-4064 or online at www.oceangrove.org.

What do you get when you combine Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors with the Jersey Shore? The Comedy of (Jersey) Errors, a Kean University Theatre Conservatory production that opens Wednesday, April 4 at Kean's Zella Fry Theatre in Union.

Encores! Off-Center Co-Artistic Directors Anne Kauffman andJeanine Tesori today announced the directors for the 2018 season, which begins June 27. The popular summer musical theater series at New York City Center will welcome directors Kate Whoriskey, Ken Rus Schmoll, and Savion Glover, all of whom are making their City Center directorial debuts.

Grammy-Award winning American organist Paul Jacobs will appear as the featured soloist in three organ concertos with conductor Julian Wachner and his NOVUS Orchestra at Trinity Church Wall Street (75 Broadway, New York, NY 10006), Thursday afternoon, February 22nd, 2018, 1 pm. The program will include Francis Poulenc's Concerto for Organ, Timpani and Strings in G minor; the New York premiere of Christopher Rouse's Organ Concerto; and Julian Wachner's 'Logos,' the first movement of his Triptych for Organ and Orchestra.

Foster Mom, an entertaining and significant new play is now being presented at Premiere Stages at Kean University through September 24. This charming theatrical piece is written Chris Cragin-Day, meticulously directed by Kel Haney, and features an excellent cast. It is a story that will touch the hearts and minds of all who see it.

The New Jersey Premiere of Playwright Dominique Morisseau's Obie Award winning play, 'Skeleton Crew' is now being presented by Premiere Stages at Kean University through Sunday, July 30th. Directed by the theater's Producing Artistic Director, John J. Wooten, this insightful show is a must-see production for metro area audiences.

After screening to a sellout audience for it's world premiere at the ICFF Film Festival in Toronto, followed by a second screening added because of popular demand, The Neighborhood claimed the ICFF Film Festival's prestigious Trilogy Award.

THE RED MAPLE LEAFthe star-studded feature film by Frank D'Angelo available worldwide on video-on-demand starting May 1 st, 2017 has just won another Best Picture award, this time at the 2017 Boston International Film Festival.

Following performances across the globe and a five-year run in the West End, the multi award-winning comedy Stones in His Pockets by Irish writer Marie Jones, will be performed at Riverside Theatres for two shows only on 18th March 2017. 

ANASTASIA will begin previews on March 23, 2017 and open on Broadway on April 24, 2017 at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street). Starring Christy Altomare, Derek Klena, John Bolton, Ramin Karimloo, Caroline O'Connor, and Mary Beth Peil, the musical features a book by celebrated playwright Terrence McNally and a lush, original score by Tony Award winners Stephen Flaherty (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics). Tony Award-winning director Darko Tresnjak directs.

Earlier today we went live on Facebook to give you all an exclusive peek inside BroadwayCon! Check out this performance from Christy Altomare performing 'Journey to the Past!'

ANASTASIA is still on a journey to the past - and Broadway - despite the news that a New York District Court judge has denied a motion to dismiss a plagiarism lawsuit against the show's producers.

Hailed as "one of the great amateur choruses of our time (New York Today) for its "full-bodied sound and suppleness (The New York Times)," The Dessoff Choirs turns the church into a petit Paris with an all-French program that puts the spotlight on the brilliant French Impressionists of music: Marcel Dupre, Claude Debussy, Lili Boulanger, Reynaldo Hahn, Jean Langlais, and Francis Poulenc. Joined by accompanist Steven Ryan (celebrating his 20th anniversary season with Dessoff) and Dr. Raymond Nagem, Associate Organist at the Cathedral of St John the Divine, Dessoff presents a magnifique tribute to French composers and to the majeste of the organ. 

Producers Stage Entertainment, Bill Taylor (Sister Act, Rocky), Tom Kirdahy (It's Only A Play, The Visit) and Hunter Arnold (Kinky Boots, Spring Awakening) just announced complete casting for the new musical, ANASTASIA.

The producers of the new musical, ANASTASIA, today unveil a first look photo of Christy Altomare, Derek Klena, and Ramin Karimloo.

According to an article in the New York Post, French playwright Jean-Etienne de Becdelievre has accused the producers of the upcoming Anastasia musical of plagiarizing material from his 1952 play titled 'Anastasia.' 

Just announced, Mary Beth Peil will star in the role of Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna in the new Broadway musical Anastasia, opening on Broadway on April 24, 2017 at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street). Peil originated the role in the world premiere production at Hartford Stage.