Come Out to Play 1940 - Articles Page 4

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the greatest theatrical works (non-musical) from 1920-2020; see if your favorites made the list!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best film musicals since the sound era began; see if your favorites made the list!

How do we make a list of the 101 greatest show tunes from the past 100 years? Well, we did the near-impossible task.  Check out our full list here! 

Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater have announced their lineup of artists for March 16 through March 29: 

The popular cabarettist, Molly Pope, took some time off from the scene but she is back now... with a vengeance.

The Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Center for Thought & Culture, the arts center of the Archdiocese of New York, has announced highlights of its 2020 Spring season, a rich mix of theater, film, music, author's nights, gallery exhibitions, and talk events featuring artists and thought leaders including Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal columnist and author Peggy Noonan; New York Times columnist and bestselling author David Brooks, and Director of The Philanthropy Roundtable's Character Initiative and author Anne Snyder; Director of the Vatican Observatory and President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ; a rousing evening of gospel music from Vy Higginsen's Sing Harlem choir; celebrated composer and big bandleader Darcy James Argue plus the New England Conservatory Alumni Big Band; Tony Award nominee Melissa Errico and multi-award winning New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik; singer, songwriter, and acclaimed clawhammer banjo player Abigail Washburn and genre-bending composer, guzheng virtuoso and vocalist from Beijing Wu Fei; and events tackling thought-provoking topical themes including justice in underserved communities, the protection of immigrants to America, and the inspiration of Sr. Thea Bowman and other Servants of God.

Though SCR's admirable new production of the 1963 Broadway musical SHE LOVES ME, for the most part, still has many charming, beautifully-staged, and well-sung moments, it also somehow feels like it is slightly reigned in, as if there was a purposeful attempt to downscale some of its built-in whimsy and spirited vivaciousness---particularly in the first act where emotional expressions all seem to sit in the same middle areaa?? never tipping over to too angry or too sad or too happy or too, well, anything. Now on stage in Costa Mesa through February 22, 2020, the production---directed by the theater's own artistic director David Ivers---is genuinely entertaining, but still needs a huge shot of joy, romance, and pep to make it feel complete.

From February 27 to March 29, Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre will celebrate both Black History Month and Women's History Month with an Off-Broadway production of 'Two Can Play' by Trevor Rhone, directed by Clinton Turner Davis, at Castillo Theater, 543 West 42nd Street. In this two-act comedy, Gloria and Jim, a lower middle-class couple in Kingston, try their wildest schemes to escape gun crime and establish residence in the United States. They survive because they learn to communicate and rediscover each other. Playwright Trevor Rhone was the artistic giant of Jamaican theater. The play celebrates the pent-up need for self-discovery and personal development in Jamaican women, a theme which is also universal. Director is Clinton Turner Davis, who helmed the comedy's New York premiere in 1985.

Everyone loves a good Romantic Comedy, and when people find a good one, they latch onto it. Such a RomCom was the 1937 play a?oeParfumeriea?? by Miklos Laszlo. Now, if you're not familiar with that one maybe you're more familiar with some of the films that were based on it. There was the 1940 James Stewart-Margaret Sullavan film a?oeThe Shop Around the Cornera??, or how about the 1949 Judy Garland-Van Johnson musical version a?oeIn the Good Old Summertimea??. No? Well I'm sure you remember the 1998 Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan feature a?oeYou've Got Maila??. And beyond those, the play also spawned one of the most underrated and underappreciated shows in American Musical Theatre, a?oeShe Loves Mea?? by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick with a book by Joe Masteroff, currently playing at Village Theatre. a?oeShe Loves Mea?? has been revived on Broadway since it's 1963 beginnings twice, plus a concert version in 1977, but still there are too many people who don't know the glory of this show. Well, Dear Readers, let's try and change that.

25 Shows & Performances in the Tampa Bay Area That Rocked Our World from 2010 to 2019!

On October 24th through the 27th, MADCAP Comedy and Improv Troupe presented the John Bishop farce The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 at Newman University's Jabara Flexible Theatre. Under executive artistic director Cameron Carlson and wife Lana, the show was a night of pre-war, German societal commentary and comedy amid a mysterious murder mystery in a Chappaqua, New York City mansion setting. Starring Vonda Newby-Schuster, Mark Barlow, Mary Lou Phipps-Winfrey, Crystal Meek, and Steve Dunn among many others, the show was a perfect selection for tying into their previous show Hounds of Baskerville and for what was Halloween weekend in Wichita.

A frothy holiday confection playing out in Hollywood inspired Technicolor-come-to-life is the best way to describe the Shaw Festival's jubilant production of Irving Berlin's HOLIDAY INN now onstage at their Festival Theatre. Based on the 1942 movie of the same name starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, HOLIDAY INN has been overshadowed a bit by the later Berlin hit WHITE CHRISTMAS. But thanks to some crackerjack casting and a huge budget, The Shaw has breathed new life into the 2014 stage version written by Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge.

The National Theatre has announced its upcoming lineup for December 2019 - June 2020.

From the heartwarming story of the mean old Grinch to an evening of impressive moves by your TV favorites from So You Think You Can Dance, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts is your holiday season headquarters for live entertainment with programming fit for the entire family. Tickets for the following engagements are on sale now at TheSmithCenter.com.

Extensive and far-ranging interview with Loni Anderson. The showbiz legend joins animation legend Don Bluth in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN. November 23 at Don Bluth Front Row Theatre.

Slipstream Theatre Initiative proudly treads new waters with its sixth season; fusing classic characters and themes with current plays and playwrights. The company's 6-show season expands on their founding mission of creating classical work for a contemporary minded audience by presenting some Michigan Premieres, a World Premiere by Maxim Vinogradov, and a couple other surprises, all focusing on classic stories or characters. 

Celebrating the legendary Cole Porter, The York Theatre Company launches their 50th Anniversary Celebration with the 2019 Fall Musicals in Mufti series featuring three shows which highlight the genius of the legendary Cole Porter through his music and lyrics

Family dynamics never really change, and Brighton Beach Memoirs is a wonderfully classic example of this. The play, written by Neil Simon, is the first of a semi-autobiographical trilogy written about Eugene Morris Jerome and his family. In this particular story, Eugene is almost 15 years old and has just reached puberty...

It never ceases to amaze me how prolific and creative the theatrical community is here in Connecticut. With 80 + theatrical companies (at my last count) in the state, you don't have to go far to take in some amazing theatre. From professional, equity houses to community theatres, the variety, and unique offerings from each company is truly amazing. And speaking of unique offerings, I had the pleasure of attending my first performance at The Arts at Angeloria's in Southington for their production of Larry Gelbart, Cy Coleman, and David Zippel's musical CITY OF ANGELS, which also served as the premiere production in their new 100-seat "Art Barn." For those familiar with the musical, you will know that this is not an easy show to mount, especially in a smaller theatrical space. But for the company who performed THE WHO'S TOMMY in their small 50-seat black box space, if anyone was up to it, they were. As for CITY OF ANGELS? It is a valiant attempt with some high points that mostly overshadow any challenges that come from the limitations of the space.

ArtsEmerson, Boston's leading presenter of contemporary world theatre, proudly announces its 10th Anniversary Season featuring five new commissioned works and five reprises from six different countries. The 2019/20 season continues ArtsEmerson's commitment to international work and to contemporary artistic forms including circus, mixed media, music theatre and first person narrative all from diverse perspectives. The landmark anniversary season will feature the world premiere of Detroit Red (produced by ArtsEmerson and written by Will Power) which uplifts Malcolm X's under-examined, life-shaping experiences as a young man who called Boston home. It will also feature the U.S. Premiere of Plata Quemada (TEATROCINEMA), the gritty true story of Argentina's most daring bank heist.

If you know Tennessee Williams, and I hope you do/will, you know there's a lot to unpack in his work. His characters are tormented and textured, plotlines layered with the riddles and aches of the human heart. There's no mercy when Tennessee Williams shines a flashlight into the darkest corners of a soul, and you will likely come away from the work exhausted and amazed for both the damage and any bit of renewal you've witnessed. Such is the case in The Night of the Iguana, playing at The Grandel Theatre now, as the main stage production of the 2019 Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis.

What makes a Broadway theatre? Technically any venue with 500 seats or more, located along Broadway in New York City's Theatre District is a Broadway theatre, and the art that is produced in these special places is widely considered the highest form of theatrical entertainment in the world. Today, forty-one theatres are technically Broadway houses, each with their own rich history. Below, we're giving you the scoop on the life of every one of them!

After a 2018-2019 season filled with heartfelt American stories, rousing musicals, and Theatre Bay Area Recommended Productions, Los Altos Stage Company is thrilled to announce its 2019-2020 / 25th Anniversary Season of plays and musicals, continuing its proud tradition of presenting bold, entertaining, and thought-provoking theatre.  

It would have been interesting to hear the 1953 conversation between author Richard Wright and the upstart man of letters James Baldwin at the ex-pat literary nexus of Les Deux Magots in Paris.

Park Theatre today announced their new July - December 2019 season. Featuring four World Premiere productions, two UK and London Premieres and a range of revivals from Broadway and the West End, the theatre also introduces a revised young person's membership scheme called Park Up.