The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois, north of Chicago, has an enormous subscription base, deep pockets, a talented and experienced in-house design team and a film property to adapt that touches on a number of important, stage-worthy themes (military patriotism, family, nostalgia, a timely re-visit to accusations of communism in America, parenthood, mid-century entertainment history and censorship, both military and network). And the show's lawyers have acquired the rights to a Hit Parade of jukebox-musical-worthy tunes. But is that enough to make a new stage musical out of the 1991 film 'For The Boys'?
The Marriott Theatre has long been known for fostering new works and bringing thrilling world premiere musicals to its stage. This August, The Marriott Theatre (10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire) will present the world premiere of FOR THE BOYS; based on the 1991 Twentieth Century Fox film which starred Bette Midler (Academy Award nomination) and James Caan.
In a week where we've been reminded how even the classics of the American musical stage are rarely revived in Broadway or Broadway-bound productions without their deceased authors' work being anything from tweaked to drastically rewritten, it's very refreshing to see a major revival where the material has been kept as it was and the show has simply been creatively refreshed. Director Michael Greif, who staged the original New York Theatre Workshop production of Rent that quickly moved to Broadway, gives us a new Off-Broadway mounting at New World Stages that looks at the material from a wholly different angle without any noticeable changes to the late Jonathan Larson's text. While still a life-affirming celebration of youthful passions and the need to create, this presentation is grittier and more realistic than the original, performed by an excellent ensemble placing their own interesting stamps on what, after 12 years on Broadway, many would consider iconic roles.
The Marriott Theatre has long been known for fostering new works and bringing thrilling world premiere musicals to its stage. This August, The Marriott Theatre (10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire) will present the world premiere of FOR THE BOYS; based on the 1991 Twentieth Century Fox film which starred Bette Midler (Academy Award nomination) and James Caan.
The Marriott Theatre has long been known for fostering new works and bringing thrilling world premiere musicals to its stage. This August, The Marriott Theatre (10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire) will present the world premiere of FOR THE BOYS; based on the 1991 Twentieth Century Fox film which starred Bette Midler (Academy Award nomination) and James Caan.
Producers Ben Sprecher and Louise Forlenza, in association with Tony Fusco and Larry Feinman, and by special arrangement with/and based on the Vereinigte Buhnen Wien GmbH production, announced that the new musical REBECCA, based on the classic novel by Daphne du Maurier novel, will open on Broadway Sunday, April 22 at a Shubert theater to be announced. Previews will begin Tuesday, March 27. Sierra Boggess (currently starring in Master Class, The Little Mermaid, Love Never Dies) is in negotiations to play the role of 'I.'
A labor of love and a wonderful homage to the man who was an institution in Boston, Ken Dooley's 'The Auerbach Dynasty' offers a hefty helping of nostalgia alongside a strong portrayal of Arnold 'Red' Auerbach by Jeff Gill in a solo performance as the first coach of the Boston Celtics.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents C.I.C.T./Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord's production of Fragments running April 14 to 17 in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Co-directed by Peter Brook and Marie Hélène Estienne, Fragments brings together four short plays by Samuel Beckett including Rough for Theatre I, Rockaby, Act Without Words II, Come and Go, as well as the poem, Neither. Press night will take place on Thursday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents C.I.C.T./Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord's production of Fragments running April 14 to 17 in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Co-directed by Peter Brook and Marie Hélène Estienne, Fragments brings together four short plays by Samuel Beckett including Rough for Theatre I, Rockaby, Act Without Words II, Come and Go, as well as the poem, Neither. Press night will take place on Thursday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Join us in May for our spring 2011 production of The Secret Garden! Nominated for the 1991 Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Score and originally starring Mandy Patinkin, The Secret Garden is based on the beloved children's book by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Orphaned in India, 11 year old Mary Lennox returns to Yorkshire to live with her embittered, reclusive Uncle Archibald and his invalid son Colin on his estate. Hidden within the grounds is a neglected garden, which beckons Mary with its haunting melodies and spirits from the family's past. As Mary and the children work with the earth to bring the garden back to life, its beauty and bounty are restored and the healing power of nature brings forth forgiveness, love, and renewal.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents C.I.C.T./Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord's production of Fragments running April 14 to 17 in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Co-directed by Peter Brook and Marie Hélène Estienne, Fragments brings together four short plays by Samuel Beckett including Rough for Theatre I, Rockaby, Act Without Words II, Come and Go, as well as the poem, Neither. Press night will take place on Thursday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Previous Olivier Award-winners Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton are to host the 2011 Olivier Awards with MasterCard at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 13 March.
The pair, who will preside over the most glamorous ceremony in years, are no strangers to the Olivier Awards. Ball won the coveted Best Actor in a Musical Award in 2009 while Staunton is a double winner, having picked up the famous bronze statuette in 1985 and 1991.
Both hugely experienced stage performers, Staunton and Ball's presenting double-act comes ahead of their joint appearance on stage in Chichester Festival Theatre's revival of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd this September.
Treasured as much for her screen work as her stage appearances, Staunton is a BAFTA-winning actress with a vast body of work behind her. Such is her versatility that musicals Into The Woods, Guys And Dolls and Mack And Mabel sit on her CV alongside plays Life X 3, There Came A Gypsy Riding, Uncle Vanya and, most recently, Entertaining Mr Sloane in the West End. On screen, Staunton has starred in numerous films including Shakespeare In Love, Much Ado About Nothing, Sense And Sensibility and Vera Drake - for which she won a BAFTA and received an Oscar nomination - as well as the hugely popular television serial Cranford. Before heading to Chichester, Staunton returns to the London stage in A Delicate Balance at the Almeida theatre this May.
Ball will be adding Olivier Awards host to a resume that already includes actor, producer, radio and TV presenter and recording artist. Since making his West End debut in the original production of Les Miserables in 1985, Ball has appeared in a variety of high profile West End productions, including Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom Of The Opera, The Woman In White and Aspects Of Love, Stephen Sondheim's Passion and family musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He made his opera debut at the London Coliseum in 2007 in Kismet and has appeared several times on Broadway. In 2008 he famously donned drag to play the loveable role of Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, a performance which earned him an Olivier Award. On top of that, Ball has released 12 solo albums, represented Great Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1992, toured all over the world and, since 2008, presented Michael Ball's Sunday Brunch on BBC Radio 2. In 2010 he turned producer by co-producing the musical Love Story in the West End.
Theatre fans who want to see Staunton and Ball in action can purchase tickets to the Olivier Awards, either by MasterCard through www.olivierawards.com or with cash, Theatre Tokens or MasterCard in person at the tkts booths in Leicester Square and Brent Cross.
After a long absence from the stage, Sandra Shamas is returning to Toronto's famed Winter Garden Theatre with her new show WIT'S END III: LOVE LIFE, performing February 16 to 27, 2011 (previews February 16 to 18; media night Saturday, February 19 at 8 PM).
Due to popular demand, Sandra Shamas's new show, WIT'S END III: LOVE LIFE, will be extended by two more weeks, even before it has had its first performance. WIT'S END III: LOVE LIFE begins performances on February 16 (previews February 16 to 18; media night Saturday, February 19 at 8 PM), and will now play until March 13 at Toronto's famed Winter Garden Theatre.
Pianist Chie Sato Roden & chamber jazz ensemble Fire in July celebrate the release of their CD 'Streetcar Journey,' featuring the music of beloved American film composer Alex North (1910-1991) and his magnificent, jazz-inflected score to the 1951 classic 'A Streetcar Named Desire.'
Pianist Chie Sato Roden & chamber jazz ensemble Fire in July celebrate the release of their CD 'Streetcar Journey,' featuring the music of beloved American film composer Alex North (1910-1991) and his magnificent, jazz-inflected score to the 1951 classic 'A Streetcar Named Desire.'
California Musical Theatre Executive Producer Richard Lewis has announced the line-up of shows for the 2011 summer season of Sacramento Music Circus, America's Theatre-in-the-Round.
Four of musical theater's brightest talents offer behind-the-scenes tales and the magical music of a true legend in Broadway Up Close and Personal: A Tribute to Cy Coleman. Beloved songs from Cy Coleman's award-winning shows including Sweet Charity, City of Angels and The Will Rogers Follies and songs such as 'Witchcraft' and 'The Best is Yet to Come' will be performed at the Orange County Performing Arts Center December 9 - 12 in this heartfelt and personal tribute to the life
and incredible work of this great American artist. The show features Tony-winning lyricist David Zippel, who collaborated with Coleman on City of Angels; Center favorite Jason Graae, whose special way around a song has taken him to the Metropolitan Opera, the Hollywood Bowl, Birdland and the Rainbow Room; Jenifer Lewis, who has starred in numerous Broadway productions as well as movies and television and the multi-talented Tami Tappan Damiano, who has appeared on stages all over the world.
Four of musical theater's brightest talents offer behind-the-scenes tales and the magical music of a true legend in Broadway Up Close and Personal: A Tribute to Cy Coleman. Beloved songs from Cy Coleman's award-winning shows including Sweet Charity, City of Angels and The Will Rogers Follies and songs such as 'Witchcraft' and 'The Best is Yet to Come' will be performed at the Orange County Performing Arts Center December 9 - 12 in this heartfelt and personal tribute to the life
and incredible work of this great American artist. The show features Tony-winning lyricist David Zippel, who collaborated with Coleman on City of Angels; Center favorite Jason Graae, whose special way around a song has taken him to the Metropolitan Opera, the Hollywood Bowl, Birdland and the Rainbow Room; Jenifer Lewis, who has starred in numerous Broadway productions as well as movies and television and the multi-talented Tami Tappan Damiano, who has appeared on stages all over the world.
Four of musical theater's brightest talents offer behind-the-scenes tales and the magical music of a true legend in Broadway Up Close and Personal: A Tribute to Cy Coleman. Beloved songs from Cy Coleman's award-winning shows including Sweet Charity, City of Angels and The Will Rogers Follies and songs such as 'Witchcraft' and 'The Best is Yet to Come' will be performed at the Orange County Performing Arts Center December 9 - 12 in this heartfelt and personal tribute to the life
and incredible work of this great American artist. The show features Tony-winning lyricist David Zippel, who collaborated with Coleman on City of Angels; Center favorite Jason Graae, whose special way around a song has taken him to the Metropolitan Opera, the Hollywood Bowl, Birdland and the Rainbow Room; Jenifer Lewis, who has starred in numerous Broadway productions as well as movies and television and the multi-talented Tami Tappan Damiano, who has appeared on stages all over the world.
Four of musical theater's brightest talents offer behind-the-scenes tales and the magical music of a true legend in Broadway Up Close and Personal: A Tribute to Cy Coleman. Beloved songs from Cy Coleman's award-winning shows including Sweet Charity, City of Angels and The Will Rogers Follies and songs such as 'Witchcraft' and 'The Best is Yet to Come' will be performed at the Orange County Performing Arts Center December 9 - 12 in this heartfelt and personal tribute to the life
and incredible work of this great American artist. The show features Tony-winning lyricist David Zippel, who collaborated with Coleman on City of Angels; Center favorite Jason Graae, whose special way around a song has taken him to the Metropolitan Opera, the Hollywood Bowl, Birdland and the Rainbow Room; Jenifer Lewis, who has starred in numerous Broadway productions as well as movies and television and the multi-talented Tami Tappan Damiano, who has appeared on stages all over the world.
Based on the 1991 hit movie musical masterpiece--the first animated feature film to ever score a Best Picture Oscar® nomination--Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST went on to become a hit stage musical as well, ushering a new, successful theatrical arm for the studio. That original 1994 Broadway production eventually garnered nine Tony Award nominations and played on for more than 5,000 performances before finally closing in 2007. Now revived in a newer, noticeably less extravagant touring production mounted by NETworks Presentations (on stage this week at the Orange County Performing Arts Center through November 21), the show's latest incarnation, despite its lively characters and still memorable music, feels less magical than its more Disney-esque origins.
Four of musical theater's brightest talents offer behind-the-scenes tales and the magical music of a true legend in Broadway Up Close and Personal: A Tribute to Cy Coleman. Beloved songs from Cy Coleman's award-winning shows including Sweet Charity, City of Angels and The Will Rogers Follies and songs such as 'Witchcraft' and 'The Best is Yet to Come' will be performed at the Orange County Performing Arts Center December 9 - 12 in this heartfelt and personal tribute to the life
and incredible work of this great American artist. The show features Tony-winning lyricist David Zippel, who collaborated with Coleman on City of Angels; Center favorite Jason Graae, whose special way around a song has taken him to the Metropolitan Opera, the Hollywood Bowl, Birdland and the Rainbow Room; Jenifer Lewis, who has starred in numerous Broadway productions as well as movies and television and the multi-talented Tami Tappan Damiano, who has appeared on stages all over the world.
Critically-acclaimed musical theater singer and comedic cabaret artist Carly Ozard presents her new cabaret show Somebody to Love: My Musical Tribute To Freddie Mercury. Carly Ozard will be 'Queen For A Day', paying homage to her musical idol, and sharing historic and unknown facts about Mercury's public and personal lifestyle. Ms. Ozard new cabaret show will showcase popular songs from Queen's extensive repertoire, as well as perform solo work written by Freddie Mercury without Queen. Rare musical material and collaborations will be featured in this tribute to the rock tenor who flaunted his four-octave range, charmed his audiences, and lived his 45 years to the fullest. Ozard will be joined on stage by a three-piece combo along with special guest star Katya Smirnoff-Skyy. Musical Direction is by Joe Wicht. Somebody to Love: My Musical Tribute To Freddie Mercury will be performed for Two-Nights Only, Fri. & Sat. Oct. 22 & 23, 2010 - 10:30 pm at The Rrazz Room at the Hotel Nikko - 222 Mason St. (at O'Farrell St.) in SF 94102. Tickets are $20 + a two drink minimum.
The artists of New Line Theatre, 'The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' are very proud to announce the opening of the company's Twentieth Anniversary Season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre, with the hilarious Sexual Revolution jazz musical, I LOVE MY WIFE, running Sept. 30-October 23, 2010, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend.
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