The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) has announced a full slate of musical productions, a developmental reading series and special events for their eighth annual festival. This year's Festival will begin September 26th and continue through October 16th.
The Harris Theater for Music and Dance today announced its full Harris Theater Presents 2011-2012 season, offering Chicago audiences a ground-breaking collection of innovative, culturally diverse programming by the world's finest musicians and dance companies, as well as Harris' signature collaborations with Chicago's leading dance and music institutions.
The Open Fist Theatre Company is thrilled to announce the second production of its 2011 Season, the Los Angeles premiere of a newly revised version of Sam Shepard's CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS, directed by Scott Paulin (who played Wesley in Magic Theatre's production where Mr. Shepard was playwright-in-residence).
Now through May 7th, there's a big, scary dragon occupying the Know Theatre and he's quite the dictator.
Know Theatre is once again pushing the boundaries and going further 'left of off Broadway' as their tag line states with their current production of The Dragon, a 1943 play by Russian playwright Eugene Schwartz. A modern day political fairytale, The Dragon tells the story of a small village oppressed by the beast in a way that they do not question the strict rules even though they're unhappy. Lancelot rides into town just in time to save the Dragon's young bride, Elsa from her marriage and impending death. But what happens after the dragon is slain? The same thing that happens after any dictator is gone: you have to continue to slay more dragons, only in different forms.
On this very day in 1943, Michael DiFiglia was born in Buffalo, New York, and the world of Broadway would simply never be the same. Cutting his teeth with the accomplished choreography for A JOYFUL NOISE, PROMISES, PROMISES, SEESAW and COCO was merely the beginning of a career that would virtually rewrite and revolutionize the ways and means by which a director could yield ultimate control over a project. With COMPANY and FOLLIES, the later co-directing with Hal Prince, Bennett solidified himself as one of the most talented and brilliant choreographers of his generation and, shortly thereafter, proved with A CHORUS LINE that he was a master theatrical engineer with few, if any, peers. Worldwide success, Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize were just the gravy. Who else but Michael Bennett would then, or ever, receive - or should I say, earn - the credit "Entire Production Conceived, Produced and Directed by," besides him? While BALLROOM failed to live up to A CHORUS LINE in mostly every way, he soon after reinvented the wheel yet again with DREAMGIRLS in 1981. We never got to see his productions of CHESS and SCANDAL, both of which he was in the latter stages of developing at the time of his death in 1988. Broadway has never been the same since he's been gone. So, today, on the day following a glittering new production of COMPANY at Lincoln Center - with the complete dance sequence "Tick Tock" fully restored, now with five dancers - we take a tip of the top hat to the tops in taps, temerity and truthfulness onstage - the one and only Michael Bennett.
In cooperation with the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, Cape May Stage announces several exhilarating events in conjunction with the 14th Annual Family Week at the Theatre and Stages Festival. Family Week, an annual statewide program, begins March 6th and runs through March 13, 2011. During the week, Cape May Stage offers free and discounted events to their patrons, encouraging families to attend professional theatre together, making the experience affordable, educational, and, most importantly, exciting.
In cooperation with the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, Cape May Stage announces several exhilarating events in conjunction with the 14th Annual Family Week at the Theatre and Stages Festival. Family Week, an annual statewide program, begins March 6th and runs through March 13, 2011. During the week, Cape May Stage offers free and discounted events to their patrons, encouraging families to attend professional theatre together, making the experience affordable, educational, and, most importantly, exciting.
Rochelle Slovin, Director of Museum of the Moving Image, today announced the complete schedule for the screenings and programs that will celebrate the grand re-opening of America's only museum dedicated to film, television, and digital media.
Rochelle Slovin, Director of Museum of the Moving Image, today announced the complete schedule for the screenings and programs that will celebrate the grand re-opening of America's only museum dedicated to film, television, and digital media.
Rundgren, IU's ninth Wells Professor, will teach the middle two weeks of a four-week, one-credit hour honors course designed for a maximum of 25 Wells Scholars and Hutton Honors Scholars. The class commences in late October and finishes in mid-November. Co-teaching the class will be IU Professor of Music Glenn Gass -- whose relationship with Rundgren helped make the professorship possible -- and IU Distinguished Professor of Sociology Bernice Pescosolido, who was instrumental in helping to plan the course.
Gass, a professor at IU's world-class Jacobs School of Music, said he sees Rundgren's engagement at IU as the start of a trend in which legendary rock stars share their knowledge with a new generation. Rundgren, who performs frequently, gave a concert at Clowes Memorial Hall at Butler University in Indianapolis on Sept. 11.
'Todd is a treasure trove of memories, knowledge, stories . . .,' Gass said. 'This class is a way for him to celebrate what he's done and allows him to share his experiences with students who really want to hear what he has to say.'
In addition to learning about the culture, politics and economics of the music business, from the 1970s through today, students will visit Professor of Anthropology Nicholas Toth at IU's Stone Age Institute to view some of the earliest tools used for making music.
'I think the students will love it. For us, the appeal of the class is really both Todd and Glenn,' said Professor of Physics Tim Londergan, director of the Wells Scholars Program. Londergan is a self-professed rock 'n' roll fan who has audited three of Gass' courses.
The Rundgren course is currently full with a waiting list, and course auditors/visitors, including IU students not registered for the class, cannot be accommodated.
During his stay in Bloomington, Rundgren will give a public lecture titled 'LONGHAIR: Todd Rundgren on the Beatles Effect' at 7 p.m. Oct. 28 in Ballantine Hall 013. He will also present a Halloween-night recital titled 'CLUSTER: The Birth of the T Chord' at 8 p.m. Oct. 31 in Auer Hall. Both are free and open to the public.
Gass said he asked Rundgren to talk about the Beatles both because of Rundgren's collaborations with various members of the band and because of the window it will provide into his own music. 'If it was going to be 'Todd talks about Todd,' he may have felt awkward,' Gass said. 'By asking him to talk about the Beatles, we can get more insight into his music, too.'
Rundgren's unique associations with the Beatles include a number of covers, participation in the Ringo All-Star Band and co-producing the power pop band Badfinger with George Harrison. When Harrison died, Rundgren did a highly acclaimed version of 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' for a tribute album. In 1980, Rundgren and his then-band Utopia, did a loving sendup of the Beatles (Deface the Music) that Gass calls 'just genius.'
Rundgren is also a longtime Beatles fan who credits Harrison with inventing the 'lead guitar' player, Gass said. 'When Todd was in the band Nazz, he wasn't the lead singer -- he was the lead guitar player -- which in the 50s meant one of the backup musicians. Because of George, lead guitar now means you're one of the band's leaders.'
Glenn Gass
Print-Quality Photo
Gass initially met Rundgren in Hawaii, when Gass and his wife were on sabbatical for a year (and where they spent the past two summers). 'The kids start taking the bus together and the next thing you know, you're going to cookouts at Todd's,' Gass said. 'I quickly learned that everything they said about him was true. He's brilliant, articulate, really interesting -- and interested in things far beyond his own work and even his music. He's just a really engaged human being.'
Rundgren is also known for staying true to his artistic muse. 'He refused to take the easy way out,' Gass said. 'The easy way would have been to do five more songs like 'Hello, It's Me.' He paid a price for that, but in the long run, in 50 years, I think that's why he'll matter more than starts who may have had more hits.'
Rundgren was the highest paid producer of the 1970s, producing bands that ranged from the New York Dolls, The Band and Patti Smith to Meat Loaf, Hall & Oates and Cheap Trick. On Aug. 1, 1981 -- the evening MTV debuted with 'Video Kills the Radio Star' by the Buggles -- Rundgren was ready with his music video for 'Time Heals,' which premiered on MTV the same evening. Always a fan of technology, Rundgren made his music available through online downloads about 10 years before iTunes ('Everyone had dial-up connections then,' Gass commented. 'His fate is always to be just a few years ahead of his time.').
Gass said after the Beatles broke up, he was personally attracted to singer-songwriters like James Taylor, Neil Young, Carole King, Joni Mitchell -- and Todd Rundgren. 'Todd was always one of the best and most interesting performers. Even in those early albums, it was clear he wasn't just a singer-songwriter,' Gass said. At turns, Rundgren played with electric guitar or classical riffs, producing his own double album in 1972, on which he also played all of the instruments.
From the time he met Rundgren in Hawaii, Gass starting thinking of ways to bring the performer to IU. A confluence of events sparked by a Rundgren speaking engagement at DePauw University led to the IU professorship. DePauw's executive director of media relations, Ken Owen, is 'a huge Todd scholar -- Todd to him is like the Beatles to me,' Gass said.
'All of a sudden it went from being a day dream to being a real possibility, and now it's actually happening,' Gass said. 'He really can call himself Professor Rundgren. This is not a gimmick: He is the Wells Professor.'
About the Wells Professorships
The Wells professorships are made possible by gifts from the IU classes of 1941, 1942 and 1963. Previous Wells professors have included the Honorable Helen Suzman, a South African political leader (Class of 1941 Wells Professor in 1993), Sir Malcolm Bradbury, a novelist-screenwriter-critic (Class of 1942 Wells Professor in 1997), and Holocaust scholar Christopher Browning (Class of 1943 Wells Professor in 2003). The most recently appointed Wells Professors were Sir (now Lord) Timothy Garden (Class of 1941 Wells Professor) and artist Robert Colescott (Class of 1943 Wells Professor), both of whom taught at IU in 2004.
Know Theatre is pleased to announce our 13th season producing innovative theatre in Over-the-Rhine.
Toga! Toga! Toga! Put on your favorite college t-shirt and join Victoria Theatre Association for the 2010 Michelob Ultra Cool Films Series presentation of, Animal House. Directed by John Landis and considered number one on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies, Animal House comes to the historic Victoria Theatre in Dayton for three performances from August 6 -August 8.
Toga! Toga! Toga! Put on your favorite college t-shirt and join Victoria Theatre Association for the 2010 Michelob Ultra Cool Films Series presentation of, Animal House. Directed by John Landis and considered number one on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies, Animal House comes to the historic Victoria Theatre in Dayton for three performances from August 6 -August 8.
To open its 30th anniversary summer season, Moonlight Stage Productions presents the most American of American musicals, Rodgers and Hammerstein's OKLAHOMA! from July 14-31 at the Moonlight Amphitheatre.
Toga! Toga! Toga! Put on your favorite college t-shirt and join Victoria Theatre Association for the 2010 Michelob Ultra Cool Films Series presentation of, Animal House. Directed by John Landis and considered number one on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies, Animal House comes to the historic Victoria Theatre in Dayton for three performances from August 6 -August 8.
Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) in association with
David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers and Cineworld has announced the full Broadway company for Kneehigh Theatre's production of Noël Coward's Brief Encounter, adapted and directed by Emma Rice.
To open its 30th anniversary summer season, Moonlight Stage Productions presents the most American of American musicals, Rodgers and Hammerstein's OKLAHOMA! from July 14-31 at the Moonlight Amphitheatre.
To open its 30th anniversary summer season, Moonlight Stage Productions presents the most American of American musicals, Rodgers and Hammerstein's OKLAHOMA! from July 14-31 at the Moonlight Amphitheatre.
Miller Theatre's 2010 - 2011 season is the first fully programmed by its exuberant new director Melissa Smey. The season is a richly drawn exploration of diverse musical genres and styles, confirming what The New York Times declared: 'For sheer adventurousness, Miller Theatre remains the place to go.'
Big band sound transforms the Lincoln Theatre into a Duke Ellington jazz club as Arena Stage presents Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, choreographed by and starring Maurice Hines (Broadway's Sophisticated Ladies and Uptown... It's Hot!) with direction by Charles Randolph-Wright (Arena's Guys and Dolls and Blue).
Big band sound transforms the Lincoln Theatre into a Duke Ellington jazz club as Arena Stage presents Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, choreographed by and starring Maurice Hines (Broadway's Sophisticated Ladies and Uptown... It's Hot!) with direction by Charles Randolph-Wright (Arena's Guys and Dolls and Blue).
Strawdog Theatre Company concludes their 22nd season with Bertolt Brecht's classic The Good Soul of Szechuan, translated by David Harrower, directed by Strawdog Artistic Associate Shade Murray, April 25 - May 29 at Strawdog Theater, 3829 N. Broadway Street.
Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino ('Ratatouille,' 'Up') will guide audience members through some of the most inspired and memorable uses of classical music in animation in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 'What's Opera, Doc? Animation and Classical Music' on Friday, May 14, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. He will be joined by Academy Music Branch governor Bruce Broughton ('Silverado,' 'The Rescuers Down Under') and Oscar-winning animated feature director Pete Docter ('Monsters, Inc.,' 'Up').
Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino ('Ratatouille,' 'Up') will guide audience members through some of the most inspired and memorable uses of classical music in animation in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 'What's Opera, Doc? Animation and Classical Music' on Friday, May 14, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. He will be joined by Academy Music Branch governor Bruce Broughton ('Silverado,' 'The Rescuers Down Under') and Oscar-winning animated feature director Pete Docter ('Monsters, Inc.,' 'Up').
Strawdog Theatre Company concludes their 22nd season with Bertolt Brecht's classic The Good Soul of Szechuan, translated by David Harrower, directed by Strawdog Artistic Associate Shade Murray, April 25 - May 29 at Strawdog Theater, 3829 N. Broadway Street.
| 1943 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
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