Walt Disney News

Los Angeles sensation Ken Roht is arriving in New York City, along with his musical extravaganza ORANGE STAR DINNER SHOW. There are three performances only: September 27th, 28th, and 29th (8:00) at 3Legged Dog (80 Greenwich St).

What are the songs of birds and men? 24th Street Theatre, the company that produced Walking the Tightrope to universal acclaim on its stage, on tour and, most recently, for CTG at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, presents the second production of its LAb24 resident experimental theater company. The U.S. premiere of Man Covets Bird by Finegan Kruckemeyer opens tonight, September 26, at 24th Street Theatre in downtown L.A.

Juanchi y Juli de Disney Junior llegan al teatro para presentar PLAYGROUND EN VIVO, un divertido espectaculo lleno de aventuras, musica y humor para que los mas pequeños disfruten junto a toda su familia.

Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn, originally scheduled to perform with the Houston Symphony in Fall 2015, has notified the Houston Symphony of her plans to take a short leave to care for her newborn baby due this summer, a decision that would force her to withdraw from her performances at Jones Hall tonight, September 25-27, 2015.

Playwrights Horizons presents Lucas Hnath's, THE CHRISTIANS, a new drama that explores the controversial subject of a religious leader announcing to his congregation his new interpretation of The Bible.

Nominees for the 2015 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards were announced on Thursday, September 24 on @ This Stage Magazine [ThisStage.la]. This year's Ovation Awards ceremony will take place Monday, November 9 at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center. The curtain will rise at7:30pm.

The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts will host the 2015 National Young Composers Challenge on October 18, 2015 beginning at 1 p.m. in the Walt Disney Theater. With the immense popularity of television reality talent shows, the National Young Composers Challenge provides a similar avenue for teenagers with a talent for classical composition. The challenge culminates in a free daylong Composium whose purpose is to involve and educate the public in the process of new music creation. The Composium is part concert, part rehearsal, part recording session, and part seminar. At the October 18 Composium, winning compositions are sight-read, rehearsed, discussed, and recorded in front of a live audience.

When Disney's new live-action CINDERELLA came out in March, the reviews were reserved, but positive. Most critics praised the style, performances, and design of the film, while admitting that it did little to add to the tale's long history on screen. While not every retelling needs to be a reinvention, there were aspects of the film that I felt might have actually set Cinderella back a bit, however, the Bonus DVD extra are incredibly fun and informative.

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) Board of Directors has elected Maria Elena Lagomasino, the CEO and managing partner of financial advisory firm WE Family Offices, as an independent director, effective Dec. 1.

So that's it.  We not only opened and closed our last mainstage show, The Gala Celebration, but our guest artists have all packed and left.  And even though I thought I would enjoy writing about these final moments of the summer season, I didn't expect it to be so difficult.

This week FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visitwww.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

Don Bluth Front Row Theatre is Scottsdale, AZ presents their fall musical spectacular Mary Poppins playing October 1st-November 7th, 2015.

Updated this week! Check out upcoming Equity Auditions from Sunday, September 20, 2015 for both productions in your area and around the country including what/when/where and how to audition!

Christoph Waltz makes his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut as the narrator for Egmont, one of Beethoven's dramatic works featured in the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2015/16 Opening Night Gala: THE BRILLIANCE OF BEETHOVEN at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Tuesday, September 29, at 7 pm.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment announce the first show of their 2015-2016 season, FIRST DATE, music & lyrics by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner, book by Austin Winsberg, musical direction by Brent Crayon, choreography by Lee Martino and directed by Nick DeGruccio. FIRST DATE will preview on Friday, September 18, 2015 (with a press opening tonight, September 19) and run through Sunday, October 11, 2015 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada.

Broadway's elite turned out in style for the finals of the 2015 New York New Works Theatre Festival!  Industry leaders congregated at the sold out Elektra Theatre for a superb evening of performances that were mentored by the panel of Broadway Producers and Emmy Award winners.  

BroadwayWorld recently announced a new partnership with renowned caricature artist Ken Fallin, a life-long theater enthusiast, who has drawn many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. Fallin previously drew for BroadwayWorld and our readers have long wanted his return, so it is with great pleasure that we welcome him back! Be sure to check back for more of Ken's exclusive art. Below, check out his illustration of Michael Laurence and Annette O'Toole in Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre's HAMLET IN BED, by Michael Laurence.

BoyleSports, an Ireland-based online betting firm, announced this week that Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway leads the race as favorite actress to take on the role of the iconic nanny, with 6/4 odds.

Playwrights Horizons and Center Theatre Group present The Christians, the New York premiere of a new play by Lucas Hnath (A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney, Isaac's Eye, Death Tax). Directed by Obie Award winnerLes Waters (Doris to Darlene at PH; the recent 10 Out of 12; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; Big Love; eurydice), the play is the opening production of the theater company's 2015/2016 Season.