Give Me Your Answer, Do! 1999 - Articles Page 9

Before 'Great Comet,' I didn’t have a singular favorite show. If asked, I’d list off 'Wicked,' 'Les Miserables,' 'Chicago,' 'Hamilton,' and 'Evita,' but I couldn’t give just one answer. But now, the answer is easy. This show is my absolute favorite of all time.

For his opening salvo as Magic Theatre’s newly appointed Artistic Director, Sean San José has decided to throw a party. On Thursday, August 5th, Magic will present its 2021 gala 'The New Age of Magic' outdoors at Fort Mason. San José strongly believes theater should be for everyone, not just people of means, so Magic is hosting a more egalitarian event with ticket prices starting at a very reasonable $25. Mainly, though, the goal is to bring people together to kick back and have some fun.

I find this show so inspiring because sometimes we are trying too much to fit or to follow our plans that maybe we're missing to have fun, enjoy the ride or we're not looking other ways to get where we want, and I think maybe it's because we doubt ourselves, which is normal but sometimes that little voice inside us has the answer, so we have to learn to listen to what it says and never doubt it because deeply in our hearts we know what we want and that voice will leads us to that.

Early in her career Deborah Stone used her body as a dancer in demand and left her voice to its own devices. Now, the singing actress from The Snarks has found that her voice works just as well when set to music as it does when reciting dialogue, and the cabaret community has taken to that voice like a toddler to an ice cream cake.

“BECOMOING OTHELLO taught me how to get over things that I am.  I’m a mixed-race girl, and I am on the fairer side of blackness.  I had so many issues with colorism and racism and all the isms that I needed to tell this story.  If audience members are listening, no matter where they come from; what race, what religion, everyone is going to find something they can relate to.' 

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents for one performance only ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY THE LINDA RONSTADT SONGBOOK July 25, 2021. The platinum singer/songwriter will demonstrate her take on some of Linda’s classic songs with her melodious vocals. Ann will be backed by Trey Henry on bass, MB Gordy on drums, and Linda's longtime guitarist and arranger, Bob Mann; with Billy Stritch musical directing. Ann found some time between fielding her many DIAL-A-DIVA requests to answer a few of my queries.

BroadwayWorld had the pleasure of speaking to Andrew and Olivia about their new roles, 'that' viral video, and what it means to work on such an exciting series in the middle of a pandemic. 

In part two of our Broadway World Cabaret interview with these drag sisters, we learn about how their past is going to influence their future, and which Silver Screen goddess each lady obsesses over.

There has never been a better time to hone your skills and practice your craft! On June 28 (6pm ET), Broadway favorite Jenn Colella will host her very own masterclass right here at BroadwayWorld.

And now for something ethereal, funny and more than a little trippy. On June 26, The Marsh presents 'Astronautica,' a musical drawn from the words of women who have traveled through outer space, to its digital platform, MarshStream. Conceived and performed by Hai-Ting Chinn, Lindsay Kesselman & Kirsten Sollek. BroadwayWorld speaks with Ms. Chinn.

Our student bloggers write about how they're coping with the current global health crisis, give insight on their school's performing arts programs, share their opinions on the latest theater news, and so much more. An interview with cast members from A Strange Loop, a ranking of Glee songs, and more-- read the latest from our college student bloggers!

If you've been spending some of your pandemic downtime attempting to declutter your life and have found yourself struggling to let go of certain items of no discernable value or use, Jeff Greenwald has got just the show for you. On May 29th, the acclaimed travel writer and performer will bring his new show, 108 Beloved Objects, to The Marsh, inviting audiences to rethink how we interact with the material world. When his travel assignments dried up due to the COVID pandemic, Greenwald used that as an opportunity to embark on an inward journey around his Oakland flat, ultimately picking out 108 objects that evoked personal passages. Greenwald parts with these items and introduces an element of chance by inviting five audience members to pick one object that catches their eye from a grid of 16 images. Whether it's a toy camera or a dolphin tooth necklace, each item has its own fascinating tale to tell, leading to a series of unexpected encounters and surprising destinations that are humorous, thought-provoking and deeply personal. Immediately following the performance Greenwald will be joined by The Marsh Founder/Artistic Director Stephanie Weisman for a Q&A. 108 Beloved Objects will be streamed at 7:30pm (PDT) on Saturday, May 29. For more information, visit www.themarsh.org/marshstream. BroadwayWorld spoke with Greenwald last week from his flat in Oakland, California. This past, essentially homebound year has definitely been a strange one for someone like him who makes his living largely as a travel writer. We talked about how his original impetus to declutter his life led to this new solo show, his thoughts on why we get so attached to certain objects and what their ultimate function might be, and his challenges as a self-professed non-actor to become a successful solo performer. As might be expected for such an inveterate traveler, Greenwald is an inherently interesting interview. He is very comfortable chatting with folks (like me) whom he's never met, readily offers up little bits of insight gleaned from his exposure to so many different cultures, and isn't reticent to gently question some of his interviewer's assumptions. He also has an understated sense of humor that often lies just below the surface of his actual words.

A Noise Within (ANW) will premiere their filmed staging of ALICE IN WONDERLAND streaming May 27, 2021. This Lewis Carroll classic, adapted by Eva Le Gallienne and Florida Friebus, was actually the last live production mounted on the ANW stage when theatres shut down last March. Stephanie Shroyer, who directed and conceived this Spring 2020 production, graciously agreed to answer a few of my queries.

New-ness is always fun, and though she has already been around a few years and people know her, Anais Reno is as shiny as a new penny... and as seasoned as one of her jazz idols. Her debut album, Lovesome Thing, is getting some well deserved attention, and this chat with her goes a little deeper into where it all comes from.

Bella (MT class of 2022) and Emma (AT class of 2021) are two fantastic actresses with a little more experience under their belts. I was so happy that they took the time to answer these questions for me! And boy, did they have some awesome answers.

We've rounded up some of the top productions on stage this summer! Find something near you to see using our comprehensive guide below!

You may not be aware of World Voice Day, but it’s celebrated every April 16th to demonstrate the enormous importance of the voice in the daily lives of all people. I can’t imagine a better person to observe it with than Candace Johnson, who leads CJ’s FitnesSing!™ on the MarshStream platform every Friday at 12:00 noon PT, free of charge. Her unique method combines physical activity with vocal training, and if either of those things gives you some trepidation, you needn’t worry. She blends the two seamlessly and makes it all accessible to students at all levels. In a single hour you’ll get some exercise, you’ll sing, and you’ll learn a lot about the voice and different vocal styles. And most of all, you will likely have a blast. Johnson is definitely a “people person” whose enthusiasm for is infectious. A soprano acclaimed for her vocal clarity and expressive interpretation, Johnson has concertized widely, including guest appearances at Carnegie Hall and The Manhattan Center. She earned her doctorate in voice performance from the University of Michigan and is on the music faculty at UC Berkeley. BroadwayWorld caught up with her recently to find out how she came up with her innovative approach. She also talked about her background growing up in the South as a girl who sang from a young age but didn’t initially see a path for herself as a serious student of voice. She was eventually able to fuse her Black music heritage with her classical training to find her true voice. Johnson is a delightful conversationalist, fun and upbeat yet also open and honest about her own struggles, and warm and empathetic in her responses. And she has an uncanny ability to make even the nerdiest aspects of vocal health sound like fun.

There are just some people on this planet who naturally operate on a more creative level than the rest of us, and mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn is clearly one of those people. She is bringing her wildly inventive musical science show Science Fair: An Opera with Experiments to The Marsh on Saturday, March 6th.  Conceived and performed by Chinn with pianist Erika Switzer, Science Fair pairs luscious operatic vocals with light-hearted humor and science lectures. Chinn herself describes it as “a classical cabaret of science songs with science communication staging, including live experiments and slide shows, a little audience participation and a general sort of Bill Nye fun.” Science Fair will be available for livestream at 5:00pm PST on March 6th, followed by a post-performance Q&A with The Marsh Founder/Artistic Director Stephanie Weisman. Chinn will also appear two days prior to that on Stephanie’s MarshStream at 7:30pm on Thursday, March 4th to discuss this innovative work. For more information, visit www.themarsh.org/marshstream. BroadwayWorld caught up with Chinn last week from her home in the Hudson Valley, where she had just moved from New York City only two days earlier. A Northern California native with degrees from the Eastman and Yale Schools of Music, Shinn has enjoyed an unusually eclectic career, with credits as varied as touring around the world in Phillip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach, playing Lady Thiang in The King & I on the West End, and performing with the experimental Wooster Group in New York. Given her resume, I had thought she might be fascinating to talk to, and she did not disappoint. I mean, what other opera singers do you know who do science in their spare time, just for fun? We talked about how Science Fair came to be, her passion for the creative process, and our evolving understanding around issues of racial and gender equity. In conversation, she is candid and accessible, brainy and funny, and always very, very thoughtful. Underlying everything is her enduring joy in pushing the boundaries of what it means to create musical art.

The everyone else part of ME, MYSELF, AND EVERYONE ELSE all comes from one amazing woman and breathtaking whirlwind of talent. This is Christina Bianco.

Jake Broder's UNRAVELLED virtually premieres February 25, 2021. Jake explores the not-oft-told, surprising, complicated connection between genius, art and medical science, told via the correlation between modern Canadian artist Dr. Anne Adams (1940–2007) and French composer Maurice Ravel (1875–1937). Jake found some time between his multitasking of juggling his multiple writing projects to answer a few of my queries.

International City Theatre's 36th season opener - the virtual presentation of Yasmina Reza’s ART - begins streaming on February 18, 2021. Directed by caryn desai, this story of how a purchase of a modern art piece affects friendships stars Brent Schindele, Brian Stanton and Michael Uribes. Brent took some time to answer my queries amidst newborn caring and producing his and his wife Erica's entertaining and informative regular YouTube segments for LagunaPlayhouse.

Minnesota’s Theater Mu's first mainstage production since the pandemic lockdown - playwright Susan Soon He Stanton's TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY  - will be live broadcasted February 5 through February 14, 2021, with video-on-demand available February 15 through February 21, 2021. In support of Theatre Mu, East West Players is including BIRTHDAY in its 55th anniversary season as a part of an East West Passport membership.

Neil Patel, the ever-busy production designer of AppleTV+'s hit period comedy Dickinson, always finds time to design a little (or large) theatre set. Ever in demand, Neil has shared this creative talents in venues all over the world, including those in Mumbai, Tokyo, London and Venice. Neil took a break from his Dickinson designing to answer a few of my queries.

Four decades later and in the middle of a show business shut down, Brandy's Piano Bar is still offering live entertainment ... and some great hot toddies.

BroadwayWorld had the absolute pleasure of speaking to Yeardley Smith, the actress who has voiced Lisa for over thirty years. Yeardley also hosts the true crime podcast 'Small Town Dicks.'