Tom Sawyer News

'Picture a down-at-their-heels theatrical family led by a drunken womanizer married to a wacky fading beauty,' says director Michael Leeds. 'Toss in a deaf grandmother determined to get 'back on the boards' and a daughter who's vowed never to act again. They band together for one last shot at stardom, performing a riotous mash up of Cyrano and Private Lives for a TV weatherman they've mistaken for Frank Capra! That's the plot of Moon Over Buffalo!'

Its first time ever at Music Circus, the sizzling, sexy Kander and Ebb smash hit Chicago is the final show of the 2013 Music Circus season, with an extended run at the Wells Fargo Pavilion from August 20 - 29. The 1996 revival of this hit musical, one of the cornerstones of the choreographic Broadway legacy of Bob Fosse, won 6 Tony Awards and is still running on Broadway. With a plot centered on murderesses Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, on death row together fighting for the fame that may keep them from the gallows, the show features a number of popular songs including 'All That Jazz,' 'Razzle Dazzle' and 'Cell Block Tango.' BroadwayWorld has a first look at highlights of the production below!

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) Artistic Director James C. Nicola has announced that Fetch Clay, Make Man, written by Will Power and directed by Des McAnuff, will begin performances tonight, August 23 at NYTW, 79 East 4 Street, between Bowery and Second Avenue. Opening night is set for Thursday, September 12 at 7pm. Fetch Clay, Make Man is scheduled to run through Sunday, October 13; tickets are on sale now.

Its first time ever at Music Circus, the sizzling, sexy Kander and Ebb smash hit Chicago is the final show of the 2013 Music Circus season, with an extended run at the Wells Fargo Pavilion from August 20 - 29. The 1996 revival of this hit musical, one of the cornerstones of the choreographic Broadway legacy of Bob Fosse, won 6 Tony Awards and is still running on Broadway. With a plot centered on murderesses Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, on death row together fighting for the fame that may keep them from the gallows, the show features a number of popular songs including 'All That Jazz,' 'Razzle Dazzle' and 'Cell Block Tango.' BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production below!

Its first time ever at Music Circus, the sizzling, sexy Kander and Ebb smash hit Chicago is the final show of the 2013 Music Circus season, with an extended run at the Wells Fargo Pavilion from August 20 - 29. The 1996 revival of this hit musical, one of the cornerstones of the choreographic Broadway legacy of Bob Fosse, won 6 Tony Awards and is still running on Broadway. With a plot centered on murderesses Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, on death row together fighting for the fame that may keep them from the gallows, the show features a number of popular songs including "All That Jazz," "Razzle Dazzle" and "Cell Block Tango." BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek of the production below!

The show features Easton Curtis as 'Tom,' Zac Chevalier as 'Huckleberry Finn,' Madyson Bakalekos as 'Becky' and Norma Bundy as 'Aunt Polly. 'Tom Sawyer' runs September 19th through October 9th with shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 and Sundays at 2:00. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $10 for children and students. For more information or to purchase your tickets, please visit our new website at hpactn.com or call 615-826-6037.

Its first time ever at Music Circus, the sizzling, sexy Kander and Ebb smash hit Chicago is the final show of the 2013 Music Circus season, with an extended run at the Wells Fargo Pavilion from August 20 - 29. The 1996 revival of this hit musical, one of the cornerstones of the choreographic Broadway legacy of Bob Fosse, won 6 Tony Awards and is still running on Broadway. With a plot centered on murderesses Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, on death row together fighting for the fame that may keep them from the gallows, the show features a number of popular songs including "All That Jazz," "Razzle Dazzle" and "Cell Block Tango."

BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre site on the Internet, is excited to announce a new feature to its comprehensive regional coverage - the Featured Regional Theater of the Week! Each week, BWW will introduce its readers to a regional theater located in one of our (over 130!) coverage cities. By exploring these different venues, their history and showcasing the production seasons, BWW continues its commitment to expand our presence in communities and cities across the United States. This Week's Featured Regional Theater: Mesa Encore Theatre in Mesa, AZ

'Picture a down-at-their-heels theatrical family led by a drunken womanizer married to a wacky fading beauty,' says director Michael Leeds. 'Toss in a deaf grandmother determined to get 'back on the boards' and a daughter who's vowed never to act again. They band together for one last shot at stardom, performing a riotous mash up of Cyrano and Private Lives for a TV weatherman they've mistaken for Frank Capra! That's the plot of Moon Over Buffalo!'

Hangar Theatre continues its 39th Mainstage season with the regional premiere of 4000 Miles, a critically acclaimed comic drama by celebrated new playwright Amy Herzog. The winner of the 2012 Obie Award for Best New American Play, the 2012 Lucile Lortel Award, and the 2012 Off Broadway Alliance Award, 4000 Miles was also named TIME magazine's #1 Play of 2012 and was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Starring Susan Blommaert (Broadway's Grease, Showtime's The Big C) as Vera and Robbie Tann(Troublemaker at Berkely Rep, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at Actors Theatre of Louisville and The New Victory Theatre in New York) as Leo with emerging artists Paton Ashbrook and Jeena Yi to round out the cast. The Hangar production runs now through August 3. Click below for a sneak peek at the production!

Hangar Theatre continues it's 39th Mainstage season tonight, July 25th with the regional premiere of 4000 Miles, a critically acclaimed comic drama by celebrated new playwright Amy Herzog.

Goodspeed Musicals prsents LMNOP, an edgy new musical about an island whose citizens begin to lose their freedoms one letter at a time. The musical will run from tonight, July 25 to August 18 at The Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Conn. ­- Goodspeed's home for developing fresh, innovative, and original new musicals.

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) Artistic Director James C. Nicola has announced that Fetch Clay, Make Man, written by Will Power and directed by Des McAnuff, will begin performances Friday, August 23 at NYTW, 79 East 4 Street, between Bowery and Second Avenue. Opening night is set for Thursday, September 12 at 7pm. Fetch Clay, Make Man is scheduled to run through Sunday, October 13; tickets are on sale now.

I recently caught up with Joe Bishara, who while currently performing as a featured actor in the sell-out production of CATCO's "Forbidden Broadway's Greatest Hits: Vol. 1" down at the Riffe Center, is also the Associate Producing Director of CATCO. Bishara manages the day-to-day operations of the Columbus Performing Arts Center (CPAC) at 548 Franklin Ave as well, which is home to amongst many other projects, the ever-expanding CATCO Is Kids program. There is still some miscommunication out there as to what Catco Is Kids is about and what you offer. Can you clear that up for anyone who may still be confused, please? "In early 2010, CATCO merged with Steven C. Anderson's children's theatre group, The Phoenix Theatre for Children, creating our current evolution entitled CATCO is Kids. This new moniker allows us to bundle ourselves into a single brand. It's still the same imaginative and captivating programming." As of this Fall, the CATCO IS Kids school-year, weekend children's theater education class offerings are changing this year as well, correct? "Yes. I am really excited about that! We had begun the Saturday morning Musical Theater School 4 years ago, and what we noticed, after this 4th year, was that it was time for a change. We are still going to be teaching the same core principles in acting, singing, and dancing, but it's going to culminate in a weekend of performances, 3 times a year, of an actual junior version of a musical. Starting this fall, we'll have 9 weeks of camp (from 9am-12pm on Saturdays), with the conclusion being a weekend of performances that 9th week (2:30 matinees on Saturdays and Sundays), open to the general public, for the ticket charge of $5 per ticket." (For additional information of Saturday Morning school-year classes, go to: http://www.catco.org/www/dcms/files/pdf/catcokids1314class.pdf ) Less than a trip to a movie! "Very reasonably priced. In the Fall, we're going to start with "Aladdin, Jr.". In the Winter, the session will work the same way, but it will be the musical, "Snoopy", and then, in the Spring, it will be the junior version of "Suessical". For 9 weeks of instruction each session, the fee is $200 (27 hours of instruction)." This is not the extent of the Catco Is Kids season, however. You also have a full season of shows for children. "We do. We are actually starting our first show of the Catco Is Kids 2013-14 season as a camp- an all kids camp- that culminates in a weekend of performances of a show called "The Rude Mechanicals", which is adaptation of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", written specifically for kids by Ed Graczyk. Our next show will be "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", a 3 person adaptation including the perspective of Mark Twain as a character. After that, we will be launching the Ohio premiere of a new adaptation of "The Cat In the Hat". We are really excited about that! There will be 2 children's roles available in that show, and we will also be offering a week-long audition prep class for any local children who would like to get ready for that audition. The next show on the books is a World Premiere of Steven C. Anderson's (who has written over 50 shows) new play called "The Wolf Tales", which involves all of the fairytales that contain a wolf told from the wolf's perspective." Educators will love that one, as it's much like the children's book favorite entitled, "The True Story of The Three Little Pigs"… "Yes, and then last, but not least, our 2013-14 season for kids concludes with an all-kids production that is an adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz", called "Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz", but it's an audience participation version. So, when Dorothy first meets the scarecrow, for instance, the kids are going to be able to come up and help Scarecrow put his stuffing back in on stage." Catco is Kids is known for its large degree of audience participation, which the entire audience, especially the younger folks, adore. "It's loads of fun. Our Education director, Heather Burley, will be directing that production. She has taught in many of our school-year classes and our at-risk school based program as well, but this will be her directorial debut." There are all sorts of "firsts" going on at Catco Is Kids this year! "We're really offering 8 productions a season now, if you include the Saturday morning productions, which will be great shows, in addition to the traditional season. Our actual season can still be viewed as individual show tickets, or purchased as a 5-show package. For that 5 show package, 1 adult and 1 child can come see every one of those 5 shows for under $100 total. We try to keep our pricing reasonable, so that it can be accessible to families." There are half-price preview shows of "Tom Sawyer", "The Cat In the Hat", and "The Wolf Tales' available, and you also offer school matinee performances as well. (Interested parties should visit: http://www.catco.org/education/school-matinee-performances for additionl information on dates/times/pricing). I love that there is an opportunity for a budding performer of any experience level to learn and grow here at Catco Is Kids. "That's truly what we want to have here. It's really, really important for us to be offering those types of opportunities for all children. Whether or not a child chooses to pursue theater as their profession moving forward, what we are trying to do is instill confidence in them that can transcend the stage. One of our old taglines from our Phoenix days was, "Light the spark of imagination.", and it still rings true today in everything that we do. That's what we aim to do, whether it's in a child seeing the show, a parent, or a future theater performer. We're very proud of the program." The CATCO Is Kids ticket price may be one of the best deals in the city for quality, family-friendly live theater these days, so be sure to check out the Catco Is Kids 2013-14 season, as well as the offerings available for children of all ages in its theater education program by going to : http://catco.org/catco-is-kids/

The Jim Henson Company in conjunction with Mills Entertainment, Gables Grove Productions and The Brad Simon Organization announced today that the Emmy Award nominated PBS KIDS series Dinosaur Train is being adapted as a live stage production, DINOSAUR TRAIN - LIVE! BUDDY'S BIGADVENTURE. The show is scheduled to start its 60-city U.S. tour in October 2013. A complete schedule of performances with ticket information can be found at www.DinosaurTrainLive.com.

Mercury Summer Stock and Dana Aber present: Five Fingers Open, Two Fingers Crossed, a cabaret event to be performed tonight, Sunday, July 14th at 5:30pm at the Regina Auditorium on the Notre Dame College Campus.

Bell will play an uppity City Councilwoman from Eagleton named Ingrid, the 'richer and better dressed' version of Leslie Knope, according to executive producer Michael Schur.

The Hangar production runs July 25-August 3. For tickets and information, please call 607.273.4497 or visit www.HangarTheatre.org.

Mercury Summer Stock and Dana Aber present: Five Fingers Open, Two Fingers Crossed, a cabaret event to be performed on Sunday, July 14th at 5:30pm at the Regina Auditorium on the Notre Dame College Campus. The event will feature songs from new, bound-for-Broadway musicals written by up-and-coming composers and lyricists from all over the globe, including Mercury Summer Stock's own Aliyana Stewart who contributed both music and lyrics. This concert production will feature over a dozen of Mercury's favorite singers, all of whom are committed to using their uniquely talented voices to bring new work to the area of Cleveland.

Nach der Sommerpause startet das Hessische Staatstheater Wiesbaden am Samstag, 31. August 2013 ab 14.00 Uhr mit einem Theaterfest, zu dem große und kleine Theaterfans von den Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeitern aller Sparten und Werkstatten herzlich eingeladen sind.