The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'The Jungle Book' opens, Audra and Sondheim visit, Stephen Wallem's St. Louis 'Shrek,' Make Music Chicago, 'The Land Of Smiles,' the Auditorium's cabaret series, Idina in Aurora and more!
Tony award-winning singer, actress and American icon, Bernadette Peters performs with the Pasadena POPS for one night only on Saturday, June 29 at 7:30 pm at the Los Angeles Arboretum. The star of stage, film and television will sing from her extensive songbook including 'Let Me Entertain You' (Gypsy), 'No One Is Alone' (Into the Woods), 'Some Enchanted Evening' (South Pacific), 'Send in the Clowns' (A Little Night Music), 'Being Alive' (Company) plus signature songs from her illustrious career.
Set to cast a spell over Australia, Glinda the Good Witch of the North, Kristin Chenoweth, comes south for her Australian debut beginning tonight at the 2013 Adelaide Cabaret Festival. She made the announcement earlier this spring - watch it below!
In its 17th (and final) season, the BMCC Tribeca PAC's Artists-in-Residence (AIR) hallmark program enables four to eight emerging and established artists-writers, dancers, and composers-to create and develop new work over the course of one year. We are celebrating this tremendous program with a final presentation that is indicative of the cutting-edge work this program has strived to present. The artists have been chosen by a panel of established performing arts professionals from some of the city's highest regarded organizations such as LaMama, Here ARTS, Abrams Arts Center, The New York State Council on the Arts, River to River, and Dance New Amsterdam. The artistic disciplines the artists come form are dance, multimedia, music, and theater.
Set to cast a spell over Australia, Glinda the Good Witch of the North, Kristin Chenoweth, comes south for her Australian debut in June at the 2013 Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Presented by Arts Centre Melbourne in association with Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Kristin Chenoweth will take to the stage at Arts Centre Melbourne's Hamer Hall at 8pm Wednesday 12 June as part of a national tour to Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane. Kristin Chenoweth will enchant audiences at this once-in-a-lifetime concert traversing pop, opera and the Broadway classics that have made her a star.
In the video below, Chenoweth stops by 'Sunrise' to chat about the concerts. Check it out below!
On Sunday, June 16, from 1pm to 10pm, Bang on a Can returns to downtown Manhattan for its annual Bang on a Can Marathon, FREE for the public at Pace University's Schimmel Center for the Arts (3 Spruce Street), presented by River To River Festival and Bang on a Can, and co-presented by Pace University. The Marathon is part of the opening weekend of River To River Festival, kicking off the month-long celebration of free music, dance, film, and arts events. The extensive renovation of Brookfield Place temporarily impacts the presentation of large-scale events in the Winter Garden, where the Marathon has been held for several years. This year the Marathon will embrace the intimate Pace setting to present a few dramatically quiet and tender musical offerings before returning to the Winter Garden's wide-open spaces in 2014.
The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. The Jeff Awards, the Tony Awards (and our BWW Chicago Tony Award Viewing Party!), the return of two special events, 'West Side Story,' upcoming seasons of musicals, and my June 13th cabaret concert, plus more!
Roundabout Theatre Company presents the world premiere of The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin by Steven Levenson, directed by Scott Ellis. The cast will include Christopher Denham as 'James Durnin,' Lisa Emery as 'Karen Brown-Canedy', Sarah Goldberg as 'Katie Nicholson,' David Morse as 'Tom Durnin,' and Rich Sommer as 'Chris Wyatt'. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!
The 5th Avenue Theatre has announced complete casting for Hairspray in Concert, featuring some of Seattle's favorite musical theatre stars and the powerful voices of the 250-member Seattle Men's Chorus. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Hairspray's 2002 Broadway debut, this unique concert event will play for six very special performances of glorious and irreverent John Waters-inspired wackiness (Friday-Sunday, June 20-23). In 2002, Hairspray was The 5th Avenue Theatre's first world premiere musical to head for Broadway where it won the 2003 Tony Award for Best Musical and launched The 5th's unprecedented track record for sending new works to New York. Now the smash hit musical comes home, as audiences have never seen it before.
Snap-Two Productions, Inc. and LimanAde Productions in association with Issembert Productions, Inc. will present a staged reading of the new drama with music, Signs of Life, at American University in the Katzen Arts Center Studio Theatre tonight, June 1 at 7:00 P.M. and June 2 at 1:00 P.M. The performances will feature American University alumni, current students and a student from BRAVO@KAT, the children's wing of Kensington Arts Theatre. This is the first academic production of Signs of Life.
Atlantic Theater Company welcomes Olivier and two time Tony Awardwinning playwright John Guare will make his Off Broadway acting debut in the world premiere production of his new play 3 KINDS OF EXILE, directed by Atlantic artistic director Neil Pepe, featuring Atlantic ensemble members Peter Maloney and David Pittu and guest artists Alison Cimmet, Jeffrey Kuhn, Jacquelyn Landgraf, Martin Moran, Kate Rigg, Omar Sangare and Timothy Splain. 3 KINDS OF EXILE will officially open Tuesday, June 11 and play a limited engagement through Sunday, June 23 off-Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company Mainstage at the Linda Gross Theater (336 West 20th Street). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!
The Laguna Playhouse is thrilled to present film great Leslie Caron (An American In Paris, Gigi, Fanny) in a comic and heartfelt valentine to the human condition, SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS, written by Richard Alfieri and directed by Michael Arabian (Waiting for Godot). Additional exciting casting news to be announced shortly! SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS will begin previews on Tuesday, November 26 and will open on Saturday, December 7 at 7:30pm and run through Sunday, December 29, 2013 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.
In its 17th (and final) season, the BMCC Tribeca PAC's Artists-in-Residence (AIR) hallmark program enables four to eight emerging and established artists-writers, dancers, and composers-to create and develop new work over the course of one year. We are celebrating this tremendous program with a final presentation that is indicative of the cutting-edge work this program has strived to present. The artists have been chosen by a panel of established performing arts professionals from some of the city's highest regarded organizations such as LaMama, Here ARTS, Abrams Arts Center, The New York State Council on the Arts, River to River, and Dance New Amsterdam. The artistic disciplines the artists come form are dance, multimedia, music, and theater.
Snap-Two Productions, Inc. and LimanAde Productions in association with Issembert Productions, Inc. will present a staged reading of the new drama with music, Signs of Life, at American University in the Katzen Arts Center Studio Theatre on June 1 at 7:00 P.M. and June 2 at 1:00 P.M. The performances will feature American University alumni, current students and a student from BRAVO@KAT, the children's wing of Kensington Arts Theatre. This is the first academic production of Signs of Life.
Atlantic Theater Company welcomes Olivier and two time Tony Award winning playwright John Guare, who will make his Off Broadway acting debut in the world premiere production of his new play 3 KINDS OF EXILE, directed by Atlantic artistic director Neil Pepe, featuring Atlantic ensemble members Peter Maloney and David Pittu and guest artists Alison Cimmet, Jeffrey Kuhn, Jacquelyn Landgraf, Martin Moran, Kate Rigg, Omar Sangare and Timothy Splain.
BBC Worldwide North America Sales & Distribution and PBS announced today the sale to PBS of the first season of the critically acclaimed British drama LAST TANGO IN HALIFAX and the third season of the award-winning BBC hit CALL THE MIDWIFE.
Joe's Pub at The Public welcomes world premieres, highly-anticipated debuts and the return of many esteemed performers this May and June. Funny girl JULIE KLAUSNER makes her debut with two evenings of cabaret. Legendary downtown performance artist JOHN KELLY returns to premiere Rebel Songs. The 60s-inspired flight attendant PAM ANN returns for five nights in the Cockpit. Elsewhere: Tony Award-winners TONYA PINKINS and LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA, Once star CRISTIN MILIOTI, TAYLOR MAC'S epic exploration of popular music, a special appearance from Justin Vivian Bond, JOEY ARIAS, the greatest rapper in the world, CHAMPAGNE JERRY and more. Read on for more May and June cabaret, comedy, Broadway and musical theater highlights at Joe's Pub at The Public.
Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director), Barry Grove (Executive Producer), and Mandy Greenfield (Artistic Producer) have announced full casting for the world premiere of THE EXPLORERS CLUB, the new play by Tony Award nominee Nell Benjamin, directed by Marc Bruni.
Atlantic Theater Company has announced that Olivier and two time Tony Award winning playwright John Guare will make his Off Broadway acting debut in the world premiere production of his new play 3 KINDS OF EXILE, directed by Atlantic artistic director Neil Pepe, featuring Atlantic ensemble members Peter Maloney and David Pittu and guest artists Alison Cimmet, Jeffrey Kuhn, Jacquelyn Landgraf, Martin Moran, Kate Rigg, Omar Sangare and Timothy Splain.
The New York Philharmonic will present A Dancer's Dream: Two Works by Stravinsky, a multidisciplinary, theatrical reimagining of the ballets The Fairy's Kiss and Petrushka, created by Giants Are Small. Sara Mearns, New York City Ballet principal dancer, will star in the production, which will be conducted by Music Director Alan Gilbert, directed and designed by Doug Fitch, choreographed by Karole Armitage, and produced by Edouard Getaz - Thursday, June 27, 2013, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, June 28 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, June 29 at 8:00 p.m.
Set to cast a spell over Australia, Glinda the Good Witch of the North, Kristin Chenoweth, comes south for her Australian debut in June at the 2013 Adelaide Cabaret Festival. She made the announcement today - watch it below!
The Hartt School Community Division (HCD) presents Snow White Friday, June 14, at 7:00 PM; Saturday, June 15, at 7:00 PM; and Sunday, June 16, at 2:00 PM. All performances are held in Millard Auditorium at the University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford. Tickets will be made available to the public on April 20, 2013. Please call the University Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587, or visit hcd.hartford.edu, to purchase tickets. Admission to each performance is $30 for adults; $15 for children 12 and under; and $20 for students and senior citizens with ID. University of Hartford discount rates are not available for this production. Group rates may be available to organizations. Contact Amanda Kilpatrick, Hartt Community Division Dance Department, at 860.768.2491 for more information.
Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) announced today complete details for FAR FROM HEAVEN, a new musical with book by Tony Award winner and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Richard Greenberg (Take Me Out, Three Days of Rain, the current Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Assembled Parties both now on Broadway), music by Tony Award nominee Scott Frankel (Grey Gardens at PH and on Broadway, Finding Neverland) and lyrics by Tony Award nominee Michael Korie (Grey Gardens at PH and on Broadway, The Grapes of Wrath, Finding Neverland). The musical is choreographed by Alex Sanchez (Giant, Fiorello!) and directed by three-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif (Grey Gardens at PH and on Broadway; Rent, Next to Normal, Giant). The musical is based on the Focus Features/Vulcan Productions motion picture Far From Heaven, written and directed by Todd Haynes.
FAR FROM HEAVEN will now begin previews Wednesday evening, May 8 at 8PM with an Opening Night set for Sunday, June 2 at 7PM. The limited engagement subscription run will play through Sunday, June 30 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).
Headlining the cast is the previously-announced four-time Tony Award nominee Kelli O'Hara (nominated for her acclaimed performances in The Light in the Piazza, The Pajama Game, South Pacific and the current Nice Work If You Can Get It). One of Broadway's leading musical stars, she returns to Playwrights Horizons for the first time since starring in the World Premiere of the new musical My Life with Albertine in 2003.
She will reunite with co-star Steven Pasquale (The Spitfire Grill at PH; reasons to be pretty on Broadway; The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide… at The Public; Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle nominations for A Man of No Importance at Lincoln Center; The Grapes of Wrath at Carnegie Hall, star of the NBC series 'Do No Harm'). Ms. O'Hara and Mr. Pasquale created their respective roles in FAR FROM HEAVEN for the musical's Preview Production run at Williamstown Theatre Festival last summer.
In addition to Ms. O'Hara and Mr. Pasquale, the full cast of FAR FROM HEAVEN will feature J.B. Adams (Parade, Beauty & the Beast, Me & My Girl on Broadway; Annie Warbucks Off-Broadway; the film Far From Heaven), Marinda Anderson (From the Inside, Out at NY Fringe Festival; Freedom Train for TheatreWorks USA), Olivier Award nominee Nancy Anderson (Wonderful Town, A Class Act on Broadway; Kiss Me, Kate in London; Yank! Off-Broadway), Elainey Bass (Radio City Christmas Spectacular), Obie Award winner Quincy Tyler Bernstine (In the Next Room… on Broadway; Ruined at MTC), Justin Scott Brown (Les Miserables, Spring Awakening national tours), Obie Award winner Alma Cuervo (PH's The Heidi Chronicles and Isn't It Romantic?; Titanic, Cabaret, Women on the Verge… on Broadway; Road Show at The Public; Wicked national tour), Korey Jackson (Wild with Happy at The Public; 'Homeland'), Isaiah Johnson (Peter and the Starcatcher; The Merchant of Venice on Broadway), Jake Lucas (Newsies), James Moye (Million Dollar Quartet, Ragtime, White Christmas, on Broadway; Happiness Off-Broadway), Julianna Rigoglioso (Pippi Longstocking Off-Broadway; Mary Poppins national tour, The Smurfs), Sarah Jane Shanks (Wicked, Promises Promises, Shrek, Wonderful Town, The Apple Tree on Broadway), Tess Soltau (The Addams Family on Broadway; Into the Woods for The Public/Shakespeare in the Park), Mary Stout (Cather County at PH; Jane Eyre, Beauty & the Beast, Me & My Girl on Broadway) and Victor Wallace (Mamma Mia! on Broadway, Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera national tours).
FAR FROM HEAVEN will feature scenic design by Tony Award nominee Allen Moyer, costume design by five-time Tony Award winner Catherine Zuber, lighting design by Tony Award winner Kenneth Posner, sound design by Nevin Steinberg, projection design by Peter Nigrini and orchestrations by Tony Award winner Bruce Coughlin. Musical Director is Lawrence Yurman and Production Stage Manager is Judith Schoenfeld.
Cathy Whitaker (Ms. O'Hara) seems to be the picture-perfect wife and mother in 1957 suburban Connecticut. But roiling beneath the surface, secret longings and forbidden desires cause her world to unravel, with incendiary consequences. With a lush score that is both jazz-inflected and hauntingly lyrical, FAR FROM HEAVEN is a powerful story of romance, betrayal and intolerance, as a woman grapples with her identity in a society on the verge of upheaval.
FAR FROM HEAVEN was commissioned, developed, and produced through the Playwrights Horizons Musicals in Partnership Initiative, with leadership support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Through this initiative, the musical had a Preview Production run at the Williamstown Theatre Festival last summer, also featuring Ms. O'Hara, Mr. Pasquale, Mr. Adams, Ms. Bernstine and Ms. Stout. The program allows Playwrights Horizons to develop new works of musical theater, each in partnership with a Regional theater - wholly within the not-for-profit system. This seven-year program aims to commission at least four new works of musical theater and develop and produce three or four full-scale productions. Each of the three musicals will be produced at both one specific Regional partner and at Playwrights Horizons.
Generous support for FAR FROM HEAVEN was also provided by The Laurents / Hatcher Foundation, Stacey & Eric Mindich Fund for New Musicals at Playwrights Horizons, Daniel & Joanne Smith, Cathy & Stephen Weinroth, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Tobin Theatre Arts Fund, Thomas & Patricia Barron, Bruce Horten, Rosalee A. & Bruce Lovett, Larry Tatelbaum, Elroy and Terry Krumholz Foundation, and Nancy Roistacher & Wayne P. Merkelson.
The original 2002 film, which stars Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert and Patricia Clarkson, earned over 100 awards, honors and nominations. It was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Actress (Ms. Moore), Best Original Screenplay (Todd Haynes), Best Cinematography (Edward Lachman) and Best Original Score (Elmer Bernstein), and was named one of the 10 Best Movies of the Decade by Entertainment Weekly. It was also named Best Film of the Year by the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, Independent Spirit Awards and the Village Voice, among many others. Far From Heaven also earned 4 Golden Globe nominations including Best Screenplay, a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and a bevy of additional awards for leading actress Julianne Moore, including one from the National Board of Review Award and nominations from the Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes.
With FAR FROM HEAVEN, Playwrights Horizons continues its commitment to developing unique and ground-breaking new musicals, including Grey Gardens, James Joyce's The Dead, Floyd Collins, Assassins, Once on This Island and Sunday in the Park with George. FAR FROM HEAVEN reunites the theater company with Mr. Frankel, Mr. Korie and Mr. Greif, the composer, lyricist and director of Grey Gardens, which was one of Playwrights Horizons' most heralded original musicals. The project also marks the long-awaited return to the theater company of Mr. Greenberg, who was last represented there in 1987 with his play The Maderati.
The performance schedule for FAR FROM HEAVEN will be Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7PM, Thursdays and Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2:30 PM & 8PM and Sundays at 2:30 PM & 7:30 PM. Both the Wednesday, May 8 and Tuesday, May 28 evening performances have 8PM curtains and the Sunday, June 2 matinee has an early 2PM curtain. Beginning the week of April 8, single tickets, starting at $80, may be purchased online via www.TicketCentral.com, by phone at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily), via Facebook at www.Facebook.com/PlaywrightsHorizons or in person at the Ticket Central Box Office, 416 West 42nd Street (between Ninth & Tenth Avenues).
A ticketing initiative created as part of Playwrights Horizons' Arts Access program, LIVEforFIVE makes available $5 tickets for the first preview performance of each Playwrights Horizons production through a lottery via the company's website. The LIVEforFIVE lottery for FAR FROM HEAVEN will be for tickets to the first preview on Wednesday, May 8 at 8PM. Details for the lottery are as follows: beginning Wednesday, May 1 at 12 Noon, theatergoers can enter the lottery by filling out an entry form at www.PlaywrightsHorizons.org. Entries will be accepted until Monday, May 6 at 12 Noon. Winners of the lottery will be notified via email no later than 3PM on Monday, May 6 with instructions on how to book their $5 tickets. Unclaimed tickets will be offered via email to a limited standby list starting at 12 Noon on Tuesday, May 7 on a first-come, first-served basis. One or two tickets may be purchased for $5 each. A limited number of tickets will be available for Mainstage shows via the lottery.
Reflecting Playwrights Horizons' ongoing commitment to making its productions more affordable to younger audiences, the theater company will offer HOTtix, $25 rush tickets, subject to availability, day of performance only, starting one hour before showtime to patrons aged 30 and under. Proof of age required. One ticket per person, per purchase. Cash only.
LIVEforFIVE and HOTtix are two of Playwrights Horizons' popular Arts Access initiatives, which allow the institution to reach out to those who may not be able to afford the cost of a full-price theater ticket. This program is supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and The McGraw-Hill Companies.
A special open captioned performance of FAR FROM HEAVEN for theatergoers who are deaf and hard of hearing will be held on the Saturday, June 8 matinee at 2:30 PM. Funding for this program is provided, in part, by the Theodore H. Barth Foundation, and TDF and TAP Plus, which is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Eighty-Eight Entertainment presents the Chicago Premiere of Hershey Felder's riveting new production, AN AMERICAN STORY for ACTOR AND ORCHESTRA, which tells the story of Abraham Lincoln's last day, in a limited engagement at The Royal George Theatre, 1641 North Halsted, currently in previews and opening Sunday, March 10 at 3 p.m. The Chicago Premiere follows successful tryout productions in Los Angeles and San Diego. BroadwayWorld has a first look at Felder onstage below!
Eighty-Eight Entertainment presents the Chicago Premiere of Hershey Felder's riveting new production, AN AMERICAN STORY for ACTOR AND ORCHESTRA, which tells the story of Abraham Lincoln's last day, in a limited engagement at The Royal George Theatre, 1641 North Halsted, previewing tonight, March 8, 2013 and opening Sunday, March 10 at 3 p.m. The Chicago Premiere follows successful tryout productions in Los Angeles and San Diego.
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