Based on the stories of Rudyard Kipling
How did the Elephant get his trunk?br
How did the Leopard get his spots?br
How did the Rhinoceros get his skin?brbr
In the "Just So Stories," Rudyard Kipling created a magical world as he told his daughter fables of the animal kingdom. In "Just So," George Stiles and Anthony Drewe ("Honk!") have created a new musical that weaves five of Mr. Kipling's most famous tales together into a fanciful lesson about personal courage, individuality and friendship.
The old adage that the show must go on was put to the test at Hudson Theatre during the opening night performance of Jonathan Larson's musical RENT presented by the 2Cents Theatre Group. Not only did the air conditioning go out, the sound equipment was on the blink! Even so, the produciton still packs a punch.
Deborah Boily is preparing for her cabaret performance of DEBORAH BOILY - ONE NIGHT ONLY.
The high-flying actress, and former award-winning gymnast, Cathy Rigby ends her decades-spanning reign as 'Peter Pan' in one final run in Boston April 23-28. She brings her relationship with the boy who won't grow up full circle by ending her national tour in the city where it all began in 1990 to rave reviews.
The summer festival season has begun and HARD SUMMER is just around the corner. Get festival-ready with the first entry of the 2013 HARD Summer Mixtape series with Busy P's HARDer Deeper Darker Summer Mix.
Sarah Brightman's new album 'Dreamchaser' will be released worldwide this month, and the track list for iTunes Deluxe Edition has just been revealed. Scroll down for the songs!
Playing now through April 21, 2013 at the No Exit Cafe in Rogers Park, and officially opening yesterday, the rarely seen Andrew Lloyd Webber musical 'Aspects of Love' has been very competently mounted by the consistently high-quality storefront non-Equity company, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre. And this 1989 London show, receiving what I believe is the Chicago premiere of the revised version first mounted in the UK in 1993-4, has been clearly intended by the company to be a follow-up to its phenomenally successful, multi-Jeff Award winning, multi-BroadwayWorld Award winning 2012 production of 'A Light in the Piazza,' a show with a similar post-war, stylish Continental setting and the seduction of romantic melodies in the air--not much dialogue or dance needed.
A legendary trio of country veterans gets back to the roots of their music with stories and songs. With over one hundred songs on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, forty-two top singles and fourteen #1 songs between them, good buddies Aaron Tippon, Joe Diffie and Sammy Kershaw perform on stage together in an acoustic evening filled with 'You've Got To Stand For Something,' 'John Deere Green,' 'She Don't Know She's Beautiful,' and so many more.
Today we are shifting our focus from the stages of Broadway and beyond to the stages of the previous 84 Academy Awards telecasts that have transpired to date, in anticipation of Sunday night's big, big, big show. After all, this year's Academy Awards is of particular interest and excitement to theatre fans around the globe, especially because super-producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are behind it - the men responsible for the hit stage-to-screen adaptations of CHICAGO and HAIRSPRAY, as well as the small-screen successes GYPSY, LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND: ME & MY SHADOWS, ANNIE, and, most recently, NBC's musical series SMASH, to name a few of their many marvelous musical-friendly credits. They told me themselves earlier this week that this year's telecast would be the most music-packed Academy Awards show to date, and, just judging from the announced tributes, performers and presenters thus far it is clear to see that they were not kidding - reunions of the casts of the film versions of CHICAGO and LES MISERABLES live onstage, singing their film's most famous songs to Jennifer Hudson leading a DREAMGIRLS tribute all the way to a James Bond 50th anniversary celebration featuring Adele and Shirley Bassey on some famous Bond themes, as well as Barbra Streisand herself singing 'The Way We Were' in memory of friend and collaborator, three-time Oscar-winner Marvin Hamlisch.
Join Goodspeed Musicals as it celebrates its 50th Anniversary! Don't miss your chance to get the best seats at the greatest values for each of the three fantastic musicals specially selected to commemorate our Golden Anniversary season at the Goodspeed Opera House. Due to this extraordinary milestone, demand is expected to be high when tickets go on sale for the 2013 season so audience members are encouraged to call right away. The Box Office will open at 10 a.m. this Today offering great deals on three terrific musicals that are sure to delight theatre-goers: sweet and spirited Good News!; the beloved Hello, Dolly!; and The Most Happy Fella, a charming and romantic musical from the creator of Guys and Dolls. Be among the first to purchase tickets for all three shows at Goodspeed Musicals, the first regional theatre in the nation to receive two Tony Awards.
Join Goodspeed Musicals as it celebrates its 50th Anniversary! Don't miss your chance to get the best seats at the greatest values for each of the three fantastic musicals specially selected to commemorate our Golden Anniversary season at the Goodspeed Opera House. Due to this extraordinary milestone, demand is expected to be high when tickets go on sale for the 2013 season so audience members are encouraged to call right away. The Box Office will open at 10 a.m. this Sunday offering great deals on three terrific musicals that are sure to delight theatre-goers: sweet and spirited Good News!; the beloved Hello, Dolly!; and The Most Happy Fella, a charming and romantic musical from the creator of Guys and Dolls. Be among the first to purchase tickets for all three shows at Goodspeed Musicals, the first regional theatre in the nation to receive two Tony Awards.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today a rare chance to take in the full measure of a master filmmaker with A CLOSE-UP OF ABBAS KIAROSTAMI from tonight, February 8-17.
Paul Reid, author of the just released conclusion to 'The Last Lion' trilogy begun by William Manchester, will speak at Burning Coal Theatre Company tonight, January 31st at 6 pm.
Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings announce the release of She's Got A Way: Love Songs, a new collection of 18 essential love songs drawn from three decades of recordings by music legend and composer/singer songwriter, Billy Joel. This collection comes just in time for Valentine's Day.
Actress Cathy Rigby was the highest-scoring American gymnast at the 1968 Olympics and became a favorite with American television audiences. She was U.S. National Gymnastic Champion in 1970 and 1972. Her greatest accomplishment was to become the first American woman to win a silver medal for the balance beam at the 1970 World Championships. In 1974, retired from gymnastics, she was offered the role of Peter Pan, which she has gloriously played for over 40 years, including Broadway with a Tony Award nomination as Best Actress in a Musical in 1990. She is about to open Peter Pan once more at the Pantages on January 15, having done it here in 2004. In our chat she talks about how she keeps the role fresh and why it has remained a favorite all these years.
Paul Reid, author of the just released conclusion to 'The Last Lion' trilogy begun by William Manchester, will speak at Burning Coal Theatre Company on Thursday, January 31st at 6 pm.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today a rare chance to take in the full measure of a master filmmaker with A CLOSE-UP OF ABBAS KIAROSTAMI from February 8-17.
Amazon.com has just released their list of top selling books for the online marketplace as of today, 12/23: from children's stories to political assasination conspiracy theories, this week's Top 10 Reads includes a little something for any reader. Check out the list below!
Anticipation for the revived and revised version Frank Wildhorn's acclaimed musical JEKYLL & HYDE is building in Houston, TX. The tour opened in La Mirada, California on September 7, 2012 and will be make a whirlwind stop in San Diego, California before coming home to Houston in October. To give me the inside scoop on this new Broadway-bound production, Constantine Maroulis, starring in the titular dual roles, chatted with me from La Mirada.
La MaMa will present The Fever, a gripping play by Wallace Shawn (My Dinner With André, Vanya on 42nd Street, and Grasses of A Thousand Colors), in a new production directed by Lars Norén, one of Sweden's most prominent playwrights/directors, and featuring acclaimed French-Romanian actress Simona Maicanescu. This powerful dramatic monologue, written between 1985 and 1990 but more relevant now than ever, is a fierce, forensic examination of social inequality and the links between the affluence many take for granted and the poverty and suffering that haunt the lives of millions.
Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings announce the release of She's Got A Way: Love Songs, a new collection of 18 essential love songs drawn from three decades of recordings by music legend and composer/singer songwriter, Billy Joel. This collection comes just in time for Valentine's Day.
Just in time for the holidays, iLuminate, the sensational dance-in-the-dark act that fuses performance with technology to literally glow in the dark, and earned a third-place finish on season six of 'America's Got Talent,' will debut a live show in New York City at The Duke on 42nd Street, a NEW 42ND STREET project on West 42nd Street. The limited run engagement commences November 23, 2012 and runs through January 5, 2013.
The classic story of 'Peter Pan' has aged well, as has its star, the legendary Cathy Rigby, who took her first trip to Never Land in 1990 and was nominated for a Tony for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her efforts. Playing a limited engagement now through November 25, 'Cathy Rigby is Peter Pan,' shimmers with fairy dust, magic and wonder.
The musical "Forever Plaid," created in 1990 by writer/director Stuart Ross and the late musical director/arranger James Raitt (cousin to John and Bonnie), was and is a perennially popular staple of regional theaters looking for a small-cast, upbeat and moving musical to satisfy audiences of a certain age (meaning my parents, and your grandparents).
The 2013 Lincoln Center American Songbook series has just been announced via the New York Times.
Producer David Youse and Four Things Productions in association with L.A. Works has just announced a celebrity staged reading in celebration of The 25th Anniversary of Robert Harling's Steel Magnolias to take place on Monday, 3 December 2012 at 7pm to benefit The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). This special one night only event will take place at the Lucille Lortel Theater located at 121 Christopher Street in New York City, where the original production performed. Directed by Judith Ivey and starring Blythe Danner, Annie Potts as M'Lynn, the original Truvy, Margo Martindale as Ouiser, Celia Keenan-Bolger as Shelby and Sarah Stiles as Annelle. Additional cast announced soon! Music for this production has been generously donated by Bonnie Raitt and Pat Boone. With support from the 25th Anniversary Honorary Committee including Olympia Dukakis, Sally Field, Daryl Hannah, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton and Julia Roberts and sponsored by Lifetime Television, Magnolia Bakery and Veranda Restaurant. A VIP reception with the cast and crew will follow this special performance.
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