'Tale as old as time' nails the complex simplicity of Beauty and the Beast the quintessential story of true love, the most difficult to obtain and sustain. Disney's adaptation of the fairy tale with its sweepingly imaginative spectacle wins over even the hardest of hearts. The animated film was such a tremendous hit in 1991 that it was adapted for the stage in 1994 with new songs by Tim Rice added to the Academy Award-winning movie score originally written by deceased Howard Ashman. It ran worldwide until 2007 and proves undoubtedly that fairy tales retain a popularity that never dies. The current revival tour of Beauty and the Beast, now at the Pantages until March 27, is every bit as glorious, delectable and elegant as the original.
The University of Minnesota will present a tribute to honor the legacy of Lou Bellamy, founder and artistic director of Penumbra Theatre and associate professor of theatre at the University of Minnesota. Bellamy is retiring from the University of Minnesota this spring. He has worked at the University since 1979 and in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance as an associate professor since 1994. An event to honor his incalculable contributions to theater as a scholar, professor, and artistic visionary will be held at the University of Minnesota's Elmer L. Andersen Library on Tuesday, February 22, from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
The University of Minnesota will present a tribute to honor the legacy of Lou Bellamy, founder and artistic director of Penumbra Theatre and associate professor of theatre at the University of Minnesota. Bellamy is retiring from the University of Minnesota this spring. He has worked at the University since 1979 and in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance as an associate professor since 1994. An event to honor his incalculable contributions to theater as a scholar, professor, and artistic visionary will be held at the University of Minnesota's Elmer L. Andersen Library on Tuesday, February 22, from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
For the last ten years, bassist/composer Robert Hurst's commitments and accomplishments as in-demand sideman, film composer, and university educator have left the music world anticipating new recordings from him as a leader. He delivers this month with the simultaneous release, on January 25, of two new and very different CDs on his Bebob imprint-'Bob Ya Head,' an intriguing foray into world music and electronica (with Darryl 'Munyungo' Jackson, Marcus Belgrave, and Karriem Riggins), and 'Unrehurst Vol. 2,' a 2007 all-acoustic trio date recorded at Smoke in New York City (with Robert Glasper and Chris 'Daddy' Dave).
For the last ten years, bassist/composer Robert Hurst's commitments and accomplishments as in-demand sideman, film composer, and university educator have left the music world anticipating new recordings from him as a leader. He delivers this month with the simultaneous release, on January 25, of two new and very different CDs on his Bebob imprint-'Bob Ya Head,' an intriguing foray into world music and electronica (with Darryl 'Munyungo' Jackson, Marcus Belgrave, and Karriem Riggins), and 'Unrehurst Vol. 2,' a 2007 all-acoustic trio date recorded at Smoke in New York City (with Robert Glasper and Chris 'Daddy' Dave).
THE GIVER centers on young Jonas, who has been selected by the elders of his community to become the new Receiver of Memory. The old man known as The Giver has held the memory of all that has been stripped away - poverty, pain, war, strife - and now he must pass on that burden. Little by little, Jonas discovers the community has systematically given up much of what gives life its meaning: Color, music, truth and love. At the end of the story, Jonas faces a decision that will define him and set a path toward hope.
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.
Ten years after his last Toronto performance, fans of theatrical genius Robert Lepage will have a rare opportunity to see him on stage when the Sony Centre presents Eonnagata, a Sadler's Wells London production in association with Ex Machina and Sylvie Guillem, on November 18 and 19, 2010.
There aren't many bass/piano duos more musically familiar with one another than Charlie Haden and Paul Bley. The two legends have been playing together off and on since the late 1950s. Charlie Haden's career as a sideman (Ornette Coleman, Keith Jarrett, Charles Lloyd) and as a leader (Liberation Music Orchestra, Quartet West) have made him one of the most respected jazz musicians of our time. Some of Haden's most beautiful and introspective music has appeared in his duo work (the most recent of which can be heard on Jasmine, recorded with celebrated pianist Keith Jarrett on ECM). Paul Bley, an equally innovative pianist whose recording credits range from Lester Young and Charlie Parker to John Scofield and Bill Frisell, will share the stage with Haden from Nov. 18 - 21.
Ten years after his last Toronto performance, fans of theatrical genius Robert Lepage will have a rare opportunity to see him on stage when the Sony Centre presents Eonnagata, a Sadler's Wells London production in association with Ex Machina and Sylvie Guillem, on November 18 and 19, 2010.
There aren't many bass/piano duos more musically familiar with one another than Charlie Haden and Paul Bley. The two legends have been playing together off and on since the late 1950s. Charlie Haden's career as a sideman (Ornette Coleman, Keith Jarrett, Charles Lloyd) and as a leader (Liberation Music Orchestra, Quartet West) have made him one of the most respected jazz musicians of our time. Some of Haden's most beautiful and introspective music has appeared in his duo work (the most recent of which can be heard on Jasmine, recorded with celebrated pianist Keith Jarrett on ECM). Paul Bley, an equally innovative pianist whose recording credits range from Lester Young and Charlie Parker to John Scofield and Bill Frisell, will share the stage with Haden from Nov. 18 - 21.
The Opera Orchestra of New York opens its 2010-11 season on Monday, October 25 at 7:30 pm at Carnegie Hall with a double-bill of Massenet's La Navarraise starring tenor Roberto Alagna, mezzo-soprano Elena Garanea, and bass Ildar Abdrazakov and Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana starring Mr. Alagna, soprano Maria Guleghina, and mezzo-sopranos Krysty Swann and Mignon Dunn, conducted by Music Director Designate Alberto Veronesi. The concert features many important debuts including the company premiere of La Navarraise and Cavalleria rusticana; Music Director Designate Alberto Veronesi's Carnegie Hall and company debuts; the company debuts of soloists Robert Alagna, El?na Garan?a, Maria Guleghina, and Mignon Dunn, who returns to the stage for the first time since performing in Elektra at the Metropolitan Opera in 1994; and the young artist debut of mezzo-soprano Krysty Swann, a former member of the Opera Orchestra's Young Artist Program.
Canadian Stage is thrilled to bring Ex Machina's production of The Andersen Project to Toronto theatre audiences. Canadian visionary Robert Lepage has created a modern-day, multimedia fairytale that tells the story of a Quebecois songwriter (Yves Jacques, The Barbarian Invasions, The Far Side of the Moon) whose notable engagement with the Paris Opera helps him discover what defines, motivates and inspires him. The production runs October 21 to 30, 2010 at the Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front Street East, Toronto. Tickets are available in person, by phone 416.368.3110, or online at canadianstage.com.
Ten years after his last Toronto performance, fans of theatrical genius Robert Lepage will have a rare opportunity to see him on stage when the Sony Centre presents Eonnagata, a Sadler's Wells London production in association with Ex Machina and Sylvie Guillem, on November 18 and 19, 2010.
Before jazz had a name and 'world music' was a concept, a young trumpet player emerged from another hemisphere and landed alongside some of the greatest icons in American music. Louis Armstrong sent him a trumpet. Harry Belafonte arranged for him to come to New York City to study music. Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis took him under their wings. That man, Hugh Masekela, born out of apartheid South Africa, has consistently toured worldwide and his genre-bending dynamism has led to his own icon status. His uncategorizable sound comes to life on his October 2010 North American tour.
Italy's Dario D'Ambrosi, a radical innovator of the theater and founder of the movement called Teatro Patologico (Pathological Theater), will direct his newest play, 'Bong Bong Bong against the Walls, Ting Ting Ting in our Heads,' as the opening production of 'La MaMa Puppet Series IV--Built to Perform.'
Before jazz had a name and 'world music' was a concept, a young trumpet player emerged from another hemisphere and landed alongside some of the greatest icons in American music. Louis Armstrong sent him a trumpet. Harry Belafonte arranged for him to come to New York City to study music. Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis took him under their wings. That man, Hugh Masekela, born out of apartheid South Africa, has consistently toured worldwide and his genre-bending dynamism has led to his own icon status. His uncategorizable sound comes to life on his October 2010 North American tour.
Canadian Stage is thrilled to bring Ex Machina's production of The Andersen Project to Toronto theatre audiences. Canadian visionary Robert Lepage has created a modern-day, multimedia fairytale that tells the story of a Quebecois songwriter (Yves Jacques, The Barbarian Invasions, The Far Side of the Moon) whose notable engagement with the Paris Opera helps him discover what defines, motivates and inspires him. The production runs October 21 to 30, 2010 at the Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front Street East, Toronto. Tickets are available in person, by phone 416.368.3110, or online at canadianstage.com.
Reprise Theatre Company presents A Party With Marty, an evening of comedy and song with Martin Short and featuring Jason Alexander for one performance only on Monday, November 1, 2010 at 8:00 pm, at the Saban Theatre, Beverly Hills (formerly the Wilshire Theatre).
This world premiere event features old friends, and former cast mates from "The Producers," Martin Short and Reprise Theatre Company Artistic Director Jason Alexander doing what they do best - making people laugh! Ticket sales for this event support Reprise Theatre Company and their mission to produce great musical theatre as well as arts education programs that bring the magic of theatre to underserved members of our community.
Reprise Theatre Company is headed by Artistic Director Jason Alexander, who is best known for his 9-year stint as George Costanza on "Seinfeld." Christine Bernardi is Managing Director and Gilles Chiasson is Producing Director of Reprise Theatre Company.
Tickets are available for "A Party With Marty" and go on sale to the public on October 4 and are available online at www.reprise.org
The Opera Orchestra of New York opens its 2010-11 season on Monday, October 25 at 7:30 pm at Carnegie Hall with a double-bill of Massenet's La Navarraise starring tenor Roberto Alagna, mezzo-soprano Elena Garanea, and bass Ildar Abdrazakov and Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana starring Mr. Alagna, soprano Maria Guleghina, and mezzo-sopranos Krysty Swann and Mignon Dunn, conducted by Music Director Designate Alberto Veronesi. The concert features many important debuts including the company premiere of La Navarraise and Cavalleria rusticana; Music Director Designate Alberto Veronesi's Carnegie Hall and company debuts; the company debuts of soloists Robert Alagna, El?na Garan?a, Maria Guleghina, and Mignon Dunn, who returns to the stage for the first time since performing in Elektra at the Metropolitan Opera in 1994; and the young artist debut of mezzo-soprano Krysty Swann, a former member of the Opera Orchestra's Young Artist Program.
Carmen Pavlovic, C.E.O. of Global Creatures, the company behind the phenomenal world-wide success, Walking with Dinosaurs - the Arena Spectacular, has announced that a creative team has been assembled and work has begun on KING KONG - Live on Stage, an entirely new production conceived for the Broadway stage. KING KONG - Live on Stage is authorized by the estate of Merian C. Cooper (Creator of KING KONG and director of the 1933 film).
Multi-faceted comedian and actor Eddie Izzard and multiple award-winning actress Frances Conroy will guest star on the SHOWTIME series UNITED STATES OF TARA. Izzard will appear in eight episodes and Conroy in one episode of the third season opposite Toni Collette, last year's Emmy(R) Award winner and this year's Emmy(R) nominee for her role as Tara Gregson, a wife and mother who struggles with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Izzard will play Tara's brilliant psychology professor who is at first a DID skeptic, but becomes fascinated with Tara as a subject, leading him to further explore the condition. Conroy will star as Max Gregson's (John Corbett) mother, a recluse with a compulsive hoarding problem. Production on season three begins mid-September in Los Angeles for a 2011 premiere.
Italy's Dario D'Ambrosi, a radical innovator of the theater and founder of the movement called Teatro Patologico (Pathological Theater), will direct his newest play, 'Bong Bong Bong against the Walls, Ting Ting Ting in our Heads,' as the opening production of 'La MaMa Puppet Series IV--Built to Perform.'
The production of DAMN YANKEES playing at the John W. Engeman Theater in Northport (LI), New York is a solid one. There are fine performances, inventive staging, colorful costumes and a jaunty score. However something very magical takes place half way through the second act: it is at this point that Broadway veteran André De Shields, who plays Mr. Applegate, sits in a chair, crosses his legs and launches into the song 'Those Were The Good Old Days'. It is the moment when the show is elevated into something extremely grand and memorable.
The National Jazz Museum in Harlem announces its August 2010 Schedule. This month of public programs presented by the National Jazz Museum in Harlem features retrospectives (Louis Armstrong and Hank Jones), discussions with two of the most prominent and influential contemporary saxophonists (Joe Lovano and Steve Coleman) as well as a talk with top jazz journalist Bill Milkowski, and live performances that riff on the connection between visual art and jazz, by trumpeter Marcus Printup and trombonist Ryan Keberle at the Rubin Museum of Art, and the NJMH All Stars at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Whether your taste leans toward the historical and traditional, or to the futuristic and cutting edge, you'll find it this month. Mark your calendar and bring some friends!
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