It's hard to believe, but the ever-youthful, trailblazing actor/writer/comedian Marga Gomez is now well into the fourth decade of her remarkable career. Known for her funny and touching solo theater pieces as well as her uproarious standup comedy, Gomez recently revived her hit play Not Getting Any Younger for the MarshStream International Solo Fest where it won the award for Best Solo Show. In the play, Gomez weaves commentary through hilarious surreal life vignettes like little Marga visiting the worst amusement park ever with her showgirl mom in tow, and adult Marga trying to get a senior discount at Forever 21. In a swift 55 minutes, Gomez looks back on how even an outspoken lesbian can find herself in the closet for women of a certain age. Luckily for viewers everywhere, Gomez is now reprising the show for two more livestreamed performances on December 5th and 6th. Additional details can be found on the MarshStream website.
BroadwayWorld recently chatted by phone with Gomez from her home in the Glen Park neighborhood of San Francisco. Our conversation delved into how she adapted Not Getting Any Younger for virtual performance, her experience as one of the first successful, out lesbian comedians, and her colorful family history in the Latino variety show world. Offstage, she is much as you would expect - naturally warm, funny and down-to-earth - but also surprisingly nerdy about the careful technique that goes into making a successful virtual performance.
Today (July 28) in live streaming: Ann Reinking visits Backstage Live, Broadway unites to #SavetheArts on Stars in the House, and so much more!
BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest protest songs from 1939-2020. See if your favorite songs or artists made the list!
The keeper of the keyboards, Billy Stritch, heads into the busiest month of his year so far.. and it's only the first month of the year! Read his chat with Stephen Mosher to learn how it all started and how he's going to keep it going with a song in his heart.
25 Shows & Performances in the Tampa Bay Area That Rocked Our World from 2010 to 2019!
It's incredible to think Thriller Live has been a staple of London theatre for an entire decade. It holds the record as the 13th-longest-running musical in West End history and has played around the world to over five million people. With Peter Andre slipping on the white sequinned glove once again for a short stint commencing 10 December, the show remains in demand.
Until October 27th, Wayne State will be showcasing their sold-out production of Heathers: The Musical at the 110-seat theatre, Underground at the Hilberry. Based on the 1988 movie, Heathers: The Musical has music, lyrics, and a book by Laurence O'Keefe and Kevin Murphy.
Broadway and TV actor Frances Jue is currently starring in TheatreWorks' production of Julia Cho's 'The Language Archive.' Mr. Jue recently talked to BroadwayWorld about his lengthy and surprising career path, from his formative experiences with Stephen Sondheim and TheatreWorks to working with Tony winners David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori, and of course his continuing role on the CBS television series 'Madam Secretary.' His fascinating story serves as an inspiring example for anyone who doesn't see a clear path to success or struggles to find a place to fit in.
Samuel Beckett's masterpiece HAPPY DAYS has already begun previews May 15, 2019 at the Mark Taper Forum, with Dianne Wiest taking center stage as Winnie, partially buried in the sand. Providing a foil for her non-stop, almost-soliloquy, Michael Rudko portrays Willie, Winnie's mostly unseen husband. Michael found some time to answer a few of my inquisitive queries.
Funny lady Julia Sweeney brings her latest one-woman show JULIA SWEENEY: OLDER & WIDER to the Geffen's Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater stage for a limited comedy engagement February 5 through February 10, 2019. I had the pleasure of delving into the comedic genius of this Saturday Night Live/The Groundlings alumnus, getting some very insightful responses.
Choreographer extraordinaire Matthew Bourne, already a force of nature in the British dance arena since 1988, turned the international dance world upside down with his ground-breaking SWAN LAKE in 1995. His unique take on CINDERELLA will land at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre beginning February 5, 2019, as part of its international tour. I had the wonderful occasion to interview Andrew Monaghan, who's dancing the dual lead role of Cinderella's heroic pilot Harry, as well as, The Prince.
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA first opened in London's West End in 1986 and later on Broadway in 1988. It continues to be among the most popular shows visitors have to see when in New York and continues to hold the record for the longest running show in Broadway history. As the show tours around North America, audiences are blown away by the talents of this amazing cast. As THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA makes it way to San Antonio, Texas, BWW had a chance to catch up with Susan Moniz who recently joined the cast and plays Madame Giry.
We see you may be new here and you may not know things. You probably need good friends who can tell you what to think. Well, we think you should join us in supporting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, which does amazing work in helping people across the country get the lifesaving help they need.
MATILDA may be losing some of its appeal as a children's story, especially when Children's Theatre of Charlotte makes it more realistic than the national tour that came to town just two years ago.
As a follow-up to 2017's acclaimed Ballet: The Music of Michael Gibbs, Seattle-based trumpeter Cuong Vu joins forces once again with guitar great Bill Frisell, bassist Luke Bergman and drummer Ted Poor on the boundary-pushing quartet outing for RareNoiseRecords, Change in the Air. With all the members of the quartet contributing compositions, this one finds the four participants on equal footing on ten adventurous originals. From Poor's dreamy, noirish opener 'All That's Left of Me Is You' and his lonesome echo-laden waltz 'Alive' to Bergman's dynamic 'Must Concentrate,' Frisell's delicate 'Look, Listen' and his beguiling heartland melody 'Long Ago' and Vu's angular 'Round and Round' and his edgy and electrified 'March of the Owl and the Bat,' these four stellar musicians are truly on one accord and dealing with a rare level of nuance and depth of communication on Change in the Air.
Clarksville's Roxy Regional Theatre transports audiences back to Baltimore - the capital of big hair and the city of big dreams - in 1962 with their production of Hairspray, now onstage through September 29. This weekend (which features the company's annual fundraising gala on Saturday night) kicks off the second weekend of the show's multi-week run in Historic Downtown Clarksville.
When writer/director Stan Lai has an idea for a new play, people take notice. He is the most celebrated Chinese language playwright and director in the world and his body of work - which to date includes 35 original plays - has redefined how we think about the art form itself. With such well-known works as Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, his epic, eight-hour A Dream Like a Dream, and That Evening, We Performed Crosstalk, he has continued to study the human condition with great thoughtfulness while inspiring countless theatremakers around the world to reach beyond the familiar.
RareNoiseRecords was founded in 2008 by two Italians, entrepreneur Giacomo Bruzzo and music producer Eraldo Bernocchi. Located in London, the label's mission is to detect and amplify contemporary trends in progressive music, by highlighting their relation to the history of the art-form, while choosing not to be bound by pre-conceptions of genre. It seeks to become a guiding light for all those enamored by exciting, adventurous and progressive sounds. For further information and to listen to excerpts, please go to www.rarenoiserecords.com.
A prolific dramatist, Tennessee Williams proved most succinct in declaring an ironic dictum: A play does not exist until it's on the stage.
SOFT POWER, the first collective creation of Tony Award winners David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori, will world premiere at the Ahmanson under the auspices of Center Theatre Group, in association with East West Players and the Curran, opening May 16, 2018. We had the wonderful opportunity to chat with a frequent collaborator of both David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori, actor/singer Francis Jue who portrays DHH in SOFT POWER.
This month, Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond, just in time for the holidays. Scroll down for details!
November programming has been announced at City Winery Chicago. Highlights of the month include multi-night runs from Jazz vocalist (and Chicago transplant) Lizz Wright (Nov. 1-2), Herb Alpert of Tijuana Brass with his wife, Grammy-winning singer Lani Hall, (Nov. 6-7), and four shows over two days with saxophonist Kurt Elling (Nov. 25-26) plus a benefit for Merit School of Music with Nico Segal (previously known as Donnie Trumpet from the Chance the Rapper-affiliated band, The Social Experiment) and The JuJu Exchange (Nov. 28) and much more.
Producers Nelle Nugent, Steve Traxler, Kenneth Teaton, Benjamin Feldman, Doug Morris and Spencer Ross today announce full casting for the first Broadway revival of David Henry Hwang's Tony Award®-winning play, M. BUTTERFLY, directed by Tony Award® winner Julie Taymor.
When David Moscow made his 'Big'-screen debut in 1988, it was huge. Penny Marshall had plucked this precocious, 11-year-old kid from the Bronx to play the younger version of Tom Hanks' character, Josh Baskin. This comic fantasy-fable about a boy who literally became 'Big' overnight, was a giant box-office hit. Moscow was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor in a Comedy. And in that same season, another kid won for Best Young Actor in a Drama: Christian Bale for 'Empire of the Sun.'
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