A Man for All Seasons 1961 - Articles Page 8

The RRazz Room, San Francisco's premier nightclub, presents the return of three time MAC award winning singer and pianist, Mark Nadler, in his critically acclaimed one-man show "Crazy 1961: The Songs and Events of 1961." The show celebrates the extraordinary year that saw the first man orbiting the earth in outer space (not to mention the first monkey!), the first performance of The Beatles, the inauguration of President Kennedy, Barbra Streisand's first TV appearance and Judy Garland's big comeback concert at Carnegie Hall.

On Thursday, three-time Tony Award-winning Broadway composer Richard Adler passed away at the ripe old age of 90. Responsible for two of the biggest Broadway smash hits of the 1950s, THE PAJAMA GAME and GAMN YANKEES, Adler never quite managed to equal his career-high double-hitter of that era, yet his earlier work with Tony Bennett ('Rags To Riches'), Doris Day ('Everybody Loves A Lover') and Marilyn Monroe (the iconic 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President') surely shall solidify his place in the firmament of entertainment history along with his two classic musicals from the Golden Age. Winning both Best Score and Best Musical for both THE PAJAMA GAME and DAMN YANKEES, Adler's partnership with lyricist Jerry Ross - which began on Broadway in 1953 with JOHN MURRAY ANDERSON'S ALMANAC - was tragically cut short just months after the DAMN YANKEES premiere when Ross was diagnosed with lung disease and passed away soon thereafter. Yet, thanks to the beloved film versions of THE PAJAMA GAME and DAMN YANKEES and continued interest in the entities as expressed in the revivals and reappraisals of both onstage from Broadway to Biloxi to Bombay year after year, the snappy, snazzy tunes of Adler and Ross live on eight times a week all around the world - even now, more than fifty years after they premiered. Unfortunately, Adler's subsequent shows with other collaborators post-1955 failed to capture the early magic of his previous projects with Ross and his earlier musical and theatrical endeavors in the pop arena, with the racially charged KWAMINA flopping on Broadway in 1961 (though he took home a Best Composer Tony Award for his efforts anyway) and the awkwardly titled MUSIC IS failing to recreate the magic of its source material, Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT, in 1976. A MOTER'S KISSES, starring Bea Arthur and a young Bernadette Peters, died on the road, as well. In the intervening years, Adler attempted musical adaptations taken from a number of intriguing sources - OF HUMAN BONDAGE and others among them - though only his ballet scores seemed to reach an audience; particularly his last, commissioned for a new production of Lorca's THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA in 1998. Of course, THE PAJAMA GAME has had two Broadway revivals - most recently the rapturously received Kathleen Marshall-directed production starring Harry Connick, Jr. and Kelli O'Hara; and DAMN YANKEES famously returned to the Great White Way with much ado in 1994 starring Victor Garber. Now seems particularly ripe for remounting YANKEES, as we approach twenty years in its absence - especially given the musical's seriously smashing showing at Encores! in 2007. Who knows, perhaps some risky producer will even take a chance on a new production of KWAMINA, MUSIC IS, A MOTHER'S KISSES or one of the bottom drawer shows someday soon to see if they possess any of the limitless potential shown by Adler's earlier work. Or maybe a stage treatment of his TV musical GIFT OF THE MAGI (originally composed for then-wife Sally Ann Howes)? Or, better yet, how about a revue? What a stupendous songstack Adler created over the course of his career - 'Whatever Lola Wants' to 'Hey There' to 'Hernando's Hideaway' to 'You Gotta Have Heart' to 'Steam Heat' to the aforementioned Bennett, Day and Monroe standards and so many more chestnuts.

Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie has set the 2012-2013 season at the CTG/Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In a season of contrasts - of surprising comedy and startling drama, the 2012-2013 season at the Kirk Douglas Theatre will include the magical and mystical hi-jinks of the CTG-commissioned "Elephant Room" by Trey Lyford, Geoff Sobelle and Steve Cuiffo; the acclaimed Gate Theatre Dublin production of the Beckett classic "Krapp's Last Tape" with one of Britain's greatest actors, John Hurt; the comic genius of The Second City with their unique, satirical twist on a Dickens's favorite - "A Christmas Carol: Twist Your Dickens!" written by Peter Gwinn and Bobby Mort; the world premiere of the otherworldly drama "The Nether" by the 2012 Susan Blackburn Smith prize-winning playwright Jennifer Haley; and the world premiere of the powerful boxing drama "The Royale" by Los Angeles playwright Marco Ramirez.

According to an Equity Audition notice, the Steppenwolf's production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf will begin previews on Broadway on September 27, 2012 in anticipation of its previously announced October 13, 2012 opening at a Shubert Theatre to be announced. Pam Mackinnon will continue to helm the project. Jerry Frankel, Jeffrey Richards Susan Q. Gallin and Mary Lu Roffe will produce.

5th Avenue Theatre Executive Producer and Artistic Director David Armstrong yesterday announced the seven productions making up the celebrated Seattle musical theater's 2012-13 season. The program features a mix of contemporary musicals and timeless classics, plus Seattle's first peek at some of Broadway's greatest new hits.

Following its U.S. premiere in Chicago, "I Killed My Mother," a new play by Romanian playwright Andras Visky, will make its New York premiere at La MaMa E.T.C. this winter in a production staged by director Karin Coonrod.

Upcoming Theatre Communication Group Member Shows - 1/08 for Columbus

Upcoming Theatre Communication Group Member Shows - 1/08 for Cleveland

Upcoming Theatre Communication Group Member Shows - 1/08 for Cincinnati

Upcoming Theatre Communication Group Member Shows - 1/08 for Dayton

Upcoming Theatre Communication Group Member Shows - 10/16 for Columbus

Upcoming Theatre Communication Group Member Shows - 10/16 for Cleveland

Upcoming Theatre Communication Group Member Shows - 10/16 for Cincinnati

Upcoming Theatre Communication Group Member Shows - 10/16 for Dayton

People's Light & Theatre presents The Return of Don Quixote, by Kira Obolensky, freely adapted from Cervantes' Don Quixote of La Mancha. It closes October 16, 2011 on the Main Stage.

Following enormously successful seasons at the Edinburgh Festival and the Barbican, Christopher Green and Ursula Martinez bring their site specific interactive Office Party to London this autumn.

Signature Theatre Company (Founding Artistic Director James Houghton; Executive Director Erika Mallin), announced today seven productions for its inaugural 2012 season at Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street near 10th Avenue), the company's new Frank Gehry-designed permanent home opening in February 2012. Signature Center will allow the Company to expand its programming, introduce new initiatives, and build audiences. Featuring three intimate theatres, a studio theatre, rehearsal studio and a shared lobby with café and bookstore, Signature Center will be both a theatre community hub and a neighborhood destination.

People's Light & Theatre presents The Return of Don Quixote, by Kira Obolensky, freely adapted from Cervantes' Don Quixote of La Mancha.

Acclaimed actor, Ian McKellen, returns to the Belgrade Theatre where he started his career, to celebrate his 50th year in the acting business, which began in 1961 on the Belgrade's Main Stage.

People's Light & Theatre presents The Return of Don Quixote, by Kira Obolensky, freely adapted from Cervantes' Don Quixote of La Mancha.

In celebration of Tennessee Williams' centennial year, Westport Country Playhouse will stage a special performance by acclaimed actor Richard Thomas in 'A Distant Country Called Youth,' based on a collection of lively and evocative letters written by a young Tennessee Williams, on Monday, August 29, 7 p.m.

Trisha Brown's pioneering dance style is a celebrated cornerstone of modern dance.

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of artist Augustus John, the first production in 24 years of William Douglas Home's Portraits opens at the Finborough Theatre for a limited run of six Sunday and Monday performances from Sunday, 7 August 2011 (Press Night: Monday, 8 August 2011).

Trisha Brown's pioneering dance style is a celebrated cornerstone of modern dance.

Acclaimed actor, Ian McKellen, returns to the Belgrade Theatre where he started his career, to celebrate his 50th year in the acting business, which began in 1961 on the Belgrade's Main Stage.