On March 12, 2009 at 7:00 p.m., The Collegiate Chorale appears with The New York City Opera Orchestra at the newly renovated Alice Tully Hall in a performance of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin's 1945 Broadway operetta The Firebrand of Florence. The performance, led by guest conductor Ted Sperling, stars baritone Nathan Gunn, soprano Anna Christy, baritone Terrence Mann, and soprano Victoria Clark. Krysty Swann, David Pittu and Patrick Goss complete the cast, and narration will be provided by Stage Director Roger Rees.
Boasting a score by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and a book by playwright and screenwriter Edwin Justus Mayer, The Firebrand of Florence had a short run on Broadway in 1945. The work was subsequently not heard for over a half-century until three presentations - Ohio Light Opera (1999), the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London (2000) and the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna (2000) - shed new light on the relatively obscure work. The performances were not only accepted, but widely acclaimed, thus giving hope for a new life in a new century. Variety's theater critic Steven Suskin says 'I have long believed that Firebrand in concert should be a dazzling delight.'
Benvenuto Cellini, the great Florentine artist, is sentenced to hang, but he is pardoned when the duke realizes that he has not completed a previously commissioned sculpture. Freed, he is able to turn his attention to his favorite model (and object of his affections), Angela. The Duke also is interested in Angela. In a typical operetta plot, Cellini swashbuckles around the stage, keeping the Duke away from Angela, keeping himself away from the Duchess, and escaping yet another death sentence by fleeing to Paris, as the end of the show recapitulates the beginning.
Filled with colorful criminals, biting social satire and a brilliant score, The Threepenny Opera opens International City Theatre's 2009 Season at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Jules Aaron directs Michael Feingold's translation of the trailblazing musical by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill that became one of the most influential plays of the 20th Century. Darryl Archibald is musical director and Kay Cole choreographs the five-week run February 20 through March 22; low-priced previews begin February 17.
First performed in 1928, Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera was a revolutionary musical theater masterpiece that mocked the bourgeois political movement of pre-Hitler Germany. Brecht's brittle, sardonic tale of beggars, thieves and prostitutes, adapted from the 1728 play The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, was a fierce social and political critique, and Weill's innovative score that fused American jazz with German cabaret captured the ironic tone of the lyrics. Part acid social criticism, part bittersweet romance, the now eighty-year old saga of 'Mack the Knife' and his entourage of criminals and whores has never lost its theatrical punch.
'It's a satire on capitalism and corruption told from the viewpoint of the 'little people',' notes Aaron. 'If there was ever time to revive this show, it's now. Michael [Feingold]'s translation is earthy, gritty and very funny. I think it's going to strike a chord with audiences.'
The Open Fist Theatre Company presents Moss Hart's classic and timeless comedy, LIGHT UP THE SKY which will be directed by Bj?rn Johnson. LIGHT UP THE SKY will preview on Saturday, January 10 at 8pm; Sunday, January 11 at 3pm and Thursday, January 15 at 8pm and will open on Friday, January 16 at 8pm and run through Saturday, March 7 at The NEW Open Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd. (former home of The Actor's Gang) in Hollywood.
The Open Fist Theatre Company presents Moss Hart's classic and timeless comedy, LIGHT UP THE SKY which will be directed by Bj?rn Johnson. LIGHT UP THE SKY will preview on Saturday, January 10 at 8pm; Sunday, January 11 at 3pm and Thursday, January 15 at 8pm and will open on Friday, January 16 at 8pm and run through Saturday, March 7 at The NEW Open Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd. (former home of The Actor's Gang) in Hollywood.
The Open Fist Theatre Company presents Moss Hart's classic and timeless comedy, LIGHT UP THE SKY which will be directed by Bj?rn Johnson. LIGHT UP THE SKY will preview on Saturday, January 10 at 8pm; Sunday, January 11 at 3pm and Thursday, January 15 at 8pm and will open on Friday, January 16 at 8pm and run through Saturday, March 7 at The NEW Open Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd. (former home of The Actor's Gang) in Hollywood.
The producers of the upcoming Broadway revival of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit are pleased to welcome Tony-nominated actress Deborah Rush in the role of Mrs. Bradman, reuniting her with her Noises Off! director, two-time Tony Award winner Michael Blakemore.
The producers of Blithe Spirit are pleased to announce the show will play The Shubert Theatre (225 West 44th Street). Rehearsals are scheduled to begin Monday, January 26, 2009 with the first performance on Thursday, February 26, 2009.
Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans announce the Chicago premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical Grey Gardens, book by Doug Wright, lyrics by Michael Korie and music by Scott Frankel. The production, directed by BJ Jones with musical direction by Doug Peck, choreography by Marla Lampert and featuring Hollis Resnik, Tempe Thomas and Ann Whitney, has already been extended and will now run November 12-December 28, 2008, at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie.
Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans announce the Chicago premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical Grey Gardens, book by Doug Wright, lyrics by Michael Korie and music by Scott Frankel. The production, directed by BJ Jones with musical direction by Doug Peck, choreography by Marla Lampert and featuring Hollis Resnik, Tempe Thomas and Ann Whitney, has already been extended and will now run November 12-December 28, 2008, at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie.
Arena Stage presents Charles Ludlam's comic masterpiece The Mystery of Irma Vep. This clever, quick-change marathon ransacks literary, cinematic and pop culture as it satirizes everything from Hitchcock's Rebecca and classic horror film The Mummy's Curse to Wuthering Heights and Shakespeare. Arena Stage is excited to welcome back Brad Oscar (Broadway's Spamalot and The Producers, Arena's Cabaret and Damn Yankees) and J. Fred Shiffman (The Arthur Miller Festival, She Loves Me, Cabaret) as they portray all of the characters--men, women and monsters--in this gender-bending 'tour de force.' The Mystery of Irma Vep runs June 6 - July 13 at Arena Stage in Crystal City. The press opening performance is Thursday, June 12 at 8:00 p.m.
Based on the turbulent and triumphant life of Danny Kaye, this intimate musical portrayal chronicles Kaye's career and his relationships on and off the stage…
Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, artistic director; Barry Grove, executive producer) is pleased to announce full casting for the world premiere of LoveMusik, a new musical featuring the songs of Kurt Weill, starring Tony Awardâ winners Michael Cerveris and Donna Murphy.
Grey Gardens star and Tony Award-winner Christine Ebersole will appear on CBS's national edition of 'The Early Show' this Saturday morning, February 17.
'The View' will welcome award-winning Grey Gardens star Christine Ebersole as a guest-host on Friday, February 9th.
Grey Gardens, which recently concluded its sold out World Premiere production at Playwrights Horizons, will open on Broadway this Fall with performances beginning in October at The Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street).
The New York Times reports that Ana Gasteyer has joined the cast of Roundabout's 'Threepenny Opera' for which previews will beging on March 24th.
The New York Times reports that Dale will return to Broadway after an absence of nine years to star as Mr. Peachum in the Roundabout production.
Starring Gabriel Byrne (Cornelius Melody) with Dearbhla Molloy (Nora Melody), Emily Bergl (Sara Melody), John Horton (Nicholas Gadsby), Byron Jennings (Jamie Cregan), Kathryn Meisle (Deborah), Randall Newsome (Paddy O'Dowd), Ciaran O'Reilly (Dan Roche) and
Daniel Stewart Sherman (Mickey Maloy).
Alan Cumming, Edie Falco and Nelli McKay to appear in a new Roundabout production of The Threepenny Opera.
Co-hosts for the evening will be Julie Andrews and Beverly Sills. Appearances and performances will be by Jane Alexander, Orson Bean, Polly Bergen, Steven Blier, Mario Cuomo, Michael Feinstein, Robert Goulet ,Denyce Graves, Rosemary Harris, Celeste Holm, Audra McDonald, Sylvia McNair, Anna Moffo, Rise Stevens and Kitty Carlisle Hart, plus many more surprise guests.
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