Just So 1985 - Articles Page 14

One of the basic rights of freedom in America is the right to free speech. This allows for anyone to state an opinion or belief whether or not anyone else likes what is being said - and hopefully to not be threatened or attacked. Certainly the ability to express yourself and believe in what you want to believe is a basic human right in American society. But challenging those who disagree with what the 'majority' believe often causes outrage and sometimes even violence against those who have the right to say whatever they want. Such is the case right now, given the political scene leading up to the Presidential elections this year, Lawrence Meyers' script really should be shared with school students today to remind them about what it takes to protect their basic rights and how Americans cannot allow the government or any industry to attempt censorship, and how important it is to allow others to state a differing opinion without stooping to violence against them. Be and let be. Why is this always so impossible?.

The controversial and unintentionally hilarious hearing, engineered by Tipper Gore of the Parents' Music Resource Center, comes to HFF in an intentionally hilarious re-staging at the Sacred Fools Main Stage for 5 shows only in June.

STEEL MAGNOLIAS is now in an extended run at the Hanna Theatre, as part of the Key Bank Broadway series. It is based on author Robert Harling's sister's 1985 death from diabetic complications following the birth of his name-sake nephew.

Bright Colors. Big Hair. Bigger Hearts! North Raleigh Arts and Creative Theatre rewinds to the 1980s with their final production of the 2015-2016 season, THE WEDDING SINGER: THE MUSICAL, which begins today, May 27th, and continues through June 12th, 2016.

Legendary newsman Morley Safer has passed away at the age of 84, just one week after announcing his retirement from CBS's long-running news show 60 MINUTES. 

The Stephen Sondheim Society and Mercury Musical Developments recently announced the winners of the Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year and Stiles + Drewe Prize. The winners were revealed at the 10th anniversary West End Gala held at the Novello Theatre which was hosted by star of stage and screen Julian Ovenden. Scroll down for photos from the big event!

Olivier Award-winning writing duo George Stiles and Anthony Drewe today announce the winners of their newly-expanded Stiles and Drewe Prize 2016. Now in its 9th year, the Stiles + Drewe Prize for Best New Song is joined by their first-ever Mentorship Award, supported by Music Theatre International (Europe).

The Stephen Sondheim Society and Mercury Musical Developments today announce the winners of the Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year and Stiles + Drewe Prize. The winners were revealed at the 10th anniversary West End Gala held at the Novello Theatre which was hosted by star of stage and screen Julian Ovenden.

This spring, Portland's Milagro Theatre, whose mission since 1985 has been to provide 'extraordinary Latino theatre, culture, and arts education experiences for the enrichment of all communities' is presenting the world premiere of its first commissioned play, INTO THE BEAUTIFUL NORTH: AN ADVENTUROUS QUEST, by Karen Zacarias, based on the novel by Luis Alberto Urrea. In advance of the opening, I sat down with Zacarias to learn about her life, the play, and what she thinks about the Portland theatre scene.

Playwright John Pielmeier's Agnes of God, written in 1982, was based upon a real life police case of a novice nun in Boston, accused of murdering her baby. Coyote StageWorks just closed a stellar 10 performance only run of the play at the Annenberg Theatre in Palm Springs. Under the direction of veteran actor/director Don Amendolia, Agnes of God proved itself as topical today as it did in the 80s, and Broadway is ripe for a revival.

Two shows in Repertory: DEATH OF A SALESMAN and A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE...it just doesn't get better than this.

Vassar & New York Stage and Film have announced a few of the projects tapped for the upcoming 32nd Powerhouse Season, the annual summer season which stages full productions of new plays, workshop presentations of new plays and musicals, and readings of other works in progress, among other developmental programming.

Bright Colors. Big Hair. Bigger Hearts! North Raleigh Arts and Creative Theatre is proud to rewind to the 1980s with their final production of the 2015-2016 season, THE WEDDING SINGER: THE MUSICAL, which runs May 27th-June 12th, 2016.

The Stephen Sondheim Society and Mercury Musical Developments today announce the 10thanniversary West End Gala for the Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year and Stiles + Drewe Prize. To mark this special landmark occasion, the 2016 competition is being staged at the Novello Theatre in London on Sunday 15 May, hosted by star of stage and screen Julian Ovenden (Downton Abbey, Sunday in the Park with George, Merrily We Roll Along, Sondheim 80th Birthday Prom). In addition to this, among this year's judges will be Don Black,Jason Carr, Anne Reid MBE, Sondheim Society Patron Julia McKenzie and Olivier Award-nominated actress Sophie-Louise Dann, reuniting her with Ovenden after they performed together in Sunday in the Park with George at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. Furthermore, writer and broadcaster Edward Seckerson will Chair the Student Performer judging panel. 

SJ Presents, announces that R&B super group, New Edition and multi-platinum hit-maker Babyface will be coming to the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut Thursday, July 7 at 8:00 p.m. See New England's biggest R&B band perform their platinum plus hits 'Candy Girl' to 'Can You Stand the Rain' along with Babyface who not only produced mega hits for many superstars but sold millions of records with hits 'Whip Appeal' to 'We've Got Love' and so much more. Summer just got hotter with the New Edition and Babyface concert that will undeniably keep the crowd fully entertained performing one chart-topper after the other. Be sure to reserve tickets on Friday, April 29th at 10am at Ticketmaster.com or by phone at 800.745.3000 and at the Webster Bank Arena Click It or Ticket Box Office located at 600 Main Street, Bridgeport, CT.

How many of these great songs do you know from underappreciated musicals?

No joke!  This week, we go around  our Broadway World to feature the top 10 stories in St. Petersburg, Austin, Los Angles and more.  Included in the list are 400 MILES in St. Petersburg, LONDON CALLING in Austin, and TICK, TICK... BOOM! in Los Angeles, just to name a few.  

It took 30 years for Shawn Moninger, a Unity minister and longtime technical director with four MAC awards, to move out of the booth and onto the stage. His show Because I Can (which has been running monthly at the Metropolitan Room since last November) is more a one-man Off-Broadway comedy show than typical cabaret. Almost without exception, the opening of a cabaret show is the weakest. Performers tend to warm up around the third or fourth number. That was not the case at the February 27 show, or as Moniger put it, 'the Senior Citizen Happy Hour.'

Catalina Bar & Grill will present singer ALEXIS GERSHWIN, the niece of the iconic American composer and lyricist, GEORGE & IRA GERSHWIN, in a 75-minute musical journey and salute to her uncle's music in a show entitled 'GERSHWIN SINGS GERSHWIN,' backed by The Gershwin Singers & Band, under the musical direction of Steven Applegate, to be presented One Night Only on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 8:30 p.m. at Catalina Bar & Grill; 6725 West Sunset Boulevard (just east of North Highland Avenue); Los Angeles, CA 90028. There is $20 Cover Charge, plus dinner or a two-drink minimum per person. Valet Parking is available.

The original London production of Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil's musical adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel LES MISERABLES (LES MIS), which was Messrs Schonberg and Boublil's first collaboration with theater producer Cameron Mackintosh, opened to very mixed reviews from the critics in 1985. But 'LES MIS has always been big for criticism,' says Meghan Lewit for The Atlantic. 'Bombast? Bathos? That's the point. The original production [which remains intact and continues to play at the Queen's Theatre in London until today] has endured because it gave audiences exactly what they wanted.'

In September, 2010, Scot Copeland - who joined Nashville Children's Theatre as producing artistic director in 1985 - did an interview ahead of his induction among the very first Class of First Night Honorees and we are happy to share some 'Scot stories,' straight from the horse's mouth as it were, as part of our continued remembrance of the vital role he has filled in our theater community for more than 30 years and in honor of his abiding friendship and astounding imaginative leadership of our creative community.

But the play is not all philosophical argument, as important as this is: it also is a love story, a family tale, and an account of the 'band of brothers' that was Gay Men's Health Crisis. And like most great playwrights who turn their attention to public events, Kramer maintains a tight relationship between these stories. Kramer's artistic control of the huge canvas on which he paints is in the end what makes the play so powerful.

Olivier Award-winning writing duo George Stiles and Anthony Drewe today announce they are to offer an annual award to help support and develop new musical theatre writing in the UK. For its first three years, the award will be fully funded by the world's leading theatrical licensing agency Music Theatre International (MTI), to coincide with the opening of its European office in London, Music Theatre International (Europe).

Now, There are a few things that happen when the voices of Phil Burton, Toby Allen and brothers Andrew and Michael Tierney of the Australian harmony group Human Nature come together. Your eyes close, your head begins to sway, your foot taps and you are transported into a place of pure bliss.

Elaine Paige has graced the West End and Broadway stages in multiple hit musicals, including EVITA and CATS, but the actress originally had her sights set on a completely different profession- sports.