I Have Been Here Before 2005 - Articles Page 5

All of these theaters had programming that was - you know, sort of your tent poles on the mainstage, your occasional blockbuster musical. On the second stage, there was riskier work, new work being developed that might not appeal to a 700-seat audience. I thought that was incredible - you're doing these blockbuster Broadway musicals, the best of the best plays, and then new work that is exciting and thrilling. And that sort of became part of my DNA as I was thinking about directing.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, starring Tony and Grammy-nominated multi-platinum recording artist Josh Groban and Tony Award winner Annaleigh Ashford, returns to Broadway tonight, March 26. The revival is directed by Thomas Kail, and featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Hugh Wheeler, from an adaptation by Christopher Bond, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Check out what the critics had to say!

John Farmanesh-Bocca is a multi-award-winning physical theatre director, the Founding Artistic Director of both Not Man Apart - Physical Theatre Ensemble (2005-2015) and Shakespeare Santa Monica (2003-2014). Now he has shifted gears to go on a search for America by directing the sensual, passionate, and delightfully funny Pulitzer Prize winning play Picnic by William Inge, with his version featuring an entirely Black American cast. I decided to speak with him about his vision for presenting the quintessentially American play and the unique challenges faced while shifting gears from physical movement to character development.

This month, the reader question was: There's a lot of talk about Lea Michele's performance in Funny Girl, and how she won't be eligible for a Tony Award since the show opened last season. Is there any history of Tony Awards rules changes/exceptions in the past?

Despite the recent focus on metaverses and 3D gaming, digitally-rendered worlds – and the hype around them - have been in the public consciousness for decades.

As part of its current Performing Arts Season, Fall 2022—Spring 2023, Japan Society presents a staged reading of I'm Trying to Understand You, But… by Japanese playwright Yuri Yamada, led by NYC-based director NJ Agwuna, taking place Monday, March 13 at 7:30 PM at Japan Society.

Something I have said many times is that I wish audience members would fully realize the amount of work and the amount of people it takes to put on a production. The things I have heard in theatre lobbies are both scary and laughable at the same time. Things like 'Oh, I want a chance to crash that chandelier. It's just one button!' or 'Wow, that didn't look hard at all. I could do that easily'. Well folks, working in theatre is not an easy profession. It comes with lots of stress and long days but if you have the drive and passion, it can be very fulfilling.

The 29-city tour kicks off Monday, May 1 in Stroudsburg, PA at Sherman Theater with stops in Nashville, TN, Las Vegas, NV, Grand Rapid, MI, and more before wrapping up on Thursday, June 15 in Seattle, WA at Paramount Theater. Malevolence and Archetypes Collide will join the bands on all dates across the upcoming tour.

This month, the reader question was: 'Which Songs Have Appeared in Multiple Broadway Shows?'

It's a guide to the Mean Girls movie musical. A Mean Girls remake is officially happening with the adaption of the hit Broadway musical! BroadwayWorld collected all the information we could about the upcoming film - including who's starring, what roles haven't yet been cast, and what will change from stage to screen.

Although it’s been romanticized and idealized in sitcoms like “Friends,” the wilderness years of the modern twentysomething has been most accurately captured in Jonathan Larson’s seminal work RENT. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1996 and subsequently became a phenomenon that’s influenced virtually every musical to follow in its wake.

Center Theatre Group’s co-artistic director playwright Luis Alfaro curates and leads CTG’s L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival taking place over the course of two weekends, September 9-11 and September 16-18, 2022 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. I had the chance to obtain a few answers from this very busy, multi-tasking man.

Leapin’ Lizards! The full cast and creative team has been announced for the all-new tour of the iconic Tony Award®-winning musical ANNIE. In the title role of Annie is Ellie Pulsifer, a 12-year-old actress from South Florida, making her tour debut. 

Los Angeles audiences will have the opportunity to experience new theatre thanks to Center Theatre Group’s L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival which will take place over the course of two weekends, September 9-11 and September 16-18, 2022 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

The album, which is currently available on CD and digital formats, boasts a 20-piece orchestra conducted by renowned jazz piano virtuoso Jon Weber (host of NPR’s “Piano Jazz”) and is produced by Bart Migal, with Ronald Thomas serving as executive producer. Listen to the new album and check out new information on tickets!

Like many theatre fans, I'd been reading the raves she's been getting as Beanie Feldstein's standby, and since I doubted press would be offered comps during her run, I sprung for a ticket to see for myself.

Actor and playwright Jeffrey Vause is coming back to Don't Tell Mama after his one-night-only cabaret debut packs the club with wall-to-wall patrons.

Syracuse Stage has announced casting for the world premiere of How to Dance in Ohio, a new musical inspired by Alexandra Shiva’s Peabody Award-winning documentary of the same name. How to Dance in Ohio’s fourteen-member cast includes Tony Award-winning RENT star Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Broadway veterans, and seven autistic actors. Learn all about the production here!

Berkshire Theatre Group and Kate Maguire have announced casting for shows in BTG’s Early Summer 2022 Season. The full season will feature B.R.O.K.E.N code B.I.R.D switching, a world premiere play and recipient of an NEA Grants for Arts Projects Award and more.

Every so often in our lives along comes a musical full of heart. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, is a musical comedy with Music & Lyrics by William Finn, with a book by Rachel Sheinkin. The Broadway Production opened in 2005 and was directed by James Lapine. Since its opening, many productions both locally and regionally have been produced throughout the United States. Spelling Bee was nominated for 6 Tony Awards, winning two including Best Book. This fast-paced musical comedy features 6 adult performers playing children in a local annual spelling bee competing for the top prize, and a savings bond for furthering their education. At the judge’s table and moderator for the events of the bee are past spelling Champion Rona Lisa Peretti, who is also a local Real-Estate Agent, and Vice Principal Douglas Panch. The unique aspect of the show is that four audience members are invited on stage with the performers in the show to compete in the bee. The Announcer and Moderator switch off by ad-libbing mixed sentences and various definitions for the words often to hilarious ends. One by one the performers playing middle school-aged children take their turn at the mic and perform their unique form of spelling by talking into their hand, writing the word on the floor with their foot, or drawing the word on their arm all competing to make sure each word is spelled correctly.

The enduring power of portraiture through time will be on show when two major exhibitions open at the Art Gallery of South Australia in July. Large-scale video portraits by ground-breaking artist Robert Wilson will be presented in the Australian premiere and exclusive exhibition, Robert Wilson: Moving portraits, alongside Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize - a national touring exhibition that celebrates 100 years of Australia’s most prestigious portrait award. One ticket will give audiences access to experience both exhibitions.

He expresses himself as articulately when speaking as he does when singing

 Actors Theatre of Indiana has announced the lineup for their 2022-2023 season. The season will begin September 9, 2022 and run through May 21, 2023. This season will make you shake with laughter and perhaps move you to tears. And you will have the unique opportunity to watch a world premiere!

Clinton Leupp brings his celebrated alter ego drag legend Miss Coco Peru back to the Renberg Theatre at Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center for three performances of his latest show Bitter, Bothered & Beyond the weekend of April 29, 2022. I got a chance to get some behind the scenes dish on Coco and her latest entertaining efforts.

Michael John LaChiusa's See What I Wanna See, a musical based on three short stories by the Japanese writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa, originally premiered Off-Broadway in 2005. Nominated for nine Drama Desk Awards, this compelling musical about lust, greed, murder, faith, and redemption sheds light on truth and perspective.