Just So 1985 - Articles Page 17

The Black Rock Coalition (BRC) in association with Joe's Pub at The Public, presents the Black Rock Coalition Orchestra in residency at Joe's Pub. Under the creative supervision of BRC co-founder and Living Colour founder Vernon Reid, the BRC Orchestra will perform three shows throughout 2014, each celebrating Black rock pioneers and movements of the American pop canon. The first show is Santana Retrospective Redux, Volume 1, an exploration of the Grammy Award-winning guitar legend's expansive musical career, on Tuesday, April 8.

The McCallum Theatre presents Gene Kelly - The Legacy, An Evening with Patricia Ward Kelly on Wednesday, March 5, at 8:00pm. Gene Kelly became one of the top stars of the 1940s and 1950s. He didn't just act, sing, and dance; he also served as choreographer and had a major impact on dancing in the movies. Biographer and film historian Patricia Ward Kelly takes audiences behind the scenes and shares an intimate story of her late husband Gene Kelly, the man who helped create some of the most memorable scenes in film history. This unique, live performance combines rare and familiar film clips, never released audio recordings, memorabilia, and personal insights culled from hours of interviews with her husband. I had the chance to chat with Ms. Kelly for a few minutes about this very special theatrical event celebrating the life and career of this legendary dancer, performer and director. Here are a few excerpts from that conversation.

This March, April and May at 54 BELOW presents a lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street. For a detailed schedule of upcoming performances at 54 Below and to purchase tickets, visit www.54Below.com.

Tonight, February 7 (7:30 pm), Symphony Space pays tribute to 'the women warriors of new music' with a concert marking a quartet of anniversaries: composer Joan Tower's 75th birthday (Sept. 6, 2013), composer Tania Leon's 70th birthday (May 14, 2013), pianist Ursula Oppens's 70th (Feb. 2, 2014), and the 30th anniversary season of the Cassatt String Quartet.

Pacific Symphony announces what is perhaps its most significant season to date for the 36-year-old orchestra-the 2014-15 Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Foundation Classical Series and special events, celebrating Music Director Carl St. Clair's 25 years at the helm. Filled with giant stars and giants of the repertoire that have moved listeners for centuries, the season is pure St. Clair-embracing and celebrating all that great music can mean to the human heart.

On Friday, February 7 (7:30 pm), Symphony Space pays tribute to "the women warriors of new music" with a concert marking a quartet of anniversaries: composer Joan Tower's 75th birthday (Sept. 6, 2013), composer Tania Leon's 70th birthday (May 14, 2013), pianist Ursula Oppens's 70th (Feb. 2, 2014), and the 30th anniversary season of the Cassatt String Quartet.

'How is it possible that one minute I'm a wife, and the next I'm a discard?'-Changing Spaces, Nancy King Nancy King's new novel, 'Changing Spaces,' focuses on a runaway soon-to-be-divorced Midwestern wife who gets a 'makeover' in New Mexico. King explained in a recent phone interview that the plot was sparked by her encounters with three mature women on the brink of divorce: 'First there was a woman at a party who said to me, 'That was before I lost my life...' referring to her divorce. Her husband of 40 years had left her to marry a younger woman. A week later, another friend showed up in tears because her husband wanted out of their 40-year marriage so he could marry his secretary.' By the time she read an Op-Ed about a woman who had written a book about the joys of being a stay-at-home-wife, and whose husband now wanted out after 40 years, Nancy King knew she was on to something. Into this familiar scenario, King injected a 'What if?' What if a Midwestern 60-year old woman woke up as she always did, made love with her husband of 40 years, and several hours later, learned her husband had fallen for a younger woman and wanted a divorce-and what if she hit the road and ended up in the healing bear-hug that is Santa Fe, New Mexico? 'Hey, ya got the Santa Fe idea. No need to be who you were. Be who you want to be.' -Changing Spaces, Nancy King In 2001, King moved from the East Coast 'and never looked back.' The decision to leave friends and job would have been bold for anyone, but since 1985, King has been living with a rare form of leukemia known as Hairy Cell. 'When I realized I had a chronic disease with no cure, I made the decision that it was not going to run or ruin my life. I focus on what I can do; not what I lost or what I used to be able to do. Even when I don't feel well, I force myself to walk or hike or play tennis because I always feel better afterward.' The unsinkable Nancy King has trekked Thailand, hiked the Grand Canyon, and 'run people 50 years her junior into the ground,' according to one friend. 'She overcame the odds of a disastrous diagnosis.' 'Laura tried on outfit after outfit, hoping toalter her personality from the outside in.She practiced taking bigger steps...' -Changing Spaces, Nancy King Why Santa Fe? King didn't even take a moment to reply: 'The nature around Santa Fe is spectacular. Many people find it has a magical energy that renews and regenerates. Even those born in New Mexico talk about this area's special energy, nature, culture.' According to King, newcomers often experience difficulties at first. 'It's as if Santa Fe were trying to spit them out. Those who manage to survive their initial problems often experience personal transformations that they couldn't have articulated before coming.' Nancy King also authored the novels, Morning Light, A Woman Walking and The Stones Speak, which was optioned for a film and won first place in the New Mexico Presswomen's Communications Contest. She has facilitated international arts-based healing workshops, which she detailed in her non-fiction book, Dancing with Wonder: Self-Discovery through Stories. 'One theme that runs throughout my writing is an exploration of the need to reconnect with the disconnected Self after trauma,' King said. 'I'm interested in what happens when characters realize their old lives and ways no longer serve them.' What helps the most when living with illness or a life out of balance? 'Having a sense of humor about every aspect of life. And good friends.' Just as in 'Changing Spaces' where Santa Fe women form a circle of care around the stranger in their midst, King's friends have seen her through the best and the worst. 'When a nurse expressed concern that I don't have family here to support me while I undergo treatments, I told her. 'Don't worry. My friends are the best support network in the world.' This book is available in all formats from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Plain View Press and Nancy King's website (nancykingstories) where you can also read reviews, excerpts from all her fiction and nonfiction books, as well as check out her workshops and public appearance calendar. 'Changing Spaces' will have its New Mexico launch in Santa Fe at Collected Works (Feb. 7 at 6pm); Albuquerque at Bookworks (Feb. 11 at 7pm); and Taos at Moby Dickens (April 19 at 2pm). Nancy King will talk on the 'Healing Effects of New Mexico on Trauma' and sign her book. ISBN: 978-1-891386-43-5-51895 Paperback and all e-book formats Pages: 256 Price: $15.50 Release Date: Jan. 1, 2014 Publisher: Plain View Press

Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horor Story) has talked openly about his excitement about A NORMAL HEART to Entertainment Weekly. Murphy had much to say on the subject matter and what the story means for civil rights, as well as the storyline itself, and how fitting it is for this time in American history.

Off-Broadway's award-winning Irish Repertory Theatre just announced the world premiere production of the new musical TRANSPORT. With book and lyrics by world-renowned Australian author Thomas Keneally (Schindler's List, the acclaimed book on which the Oscar-winning film is based) and music by Larry Kirwan (founder of the iconic New York City band Black 47), TRANSPORT follows the uneasy ocean voyage of Irish women who were sentenced and then exiled to the relatively uninhabited south coast of Australia in the mid-19th Century. TRANSPORT has direction and set design by three-time Tony Award-winning director and designer Tony Walton, and choreography by Barry McNabb (Irish Rep's FINIAN'S RAINBOW, STREETS OF NEW YORK). TRANSPORT will be performed February 7ththrough April 6th, 2014 on the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage of the Irish Repertory Theatre (132 West 22nd Street). The Press Opening is scheduled forFebruary 16th.

Vancouver, BC ~ Effervescent, intoxicating, and just a little daft, Vancouver Opera's colourful production of Albert Herring bursts onto the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Stage in less than two weeks. Benjamin Britten's fast-paced, clever and hummable opera, directed by Glynis Leyshon, transports audiences to the 1950s in a riot of scrumptious costumes, devastating satire, and charming slapstick.

Vancouver, BC ~ Effervescent, intoxicating, and just a little daft, Vancouver Opera's colourful production of Albert Herring bursts onto the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Stage in less than two weeks. Benjamin Britten's fast-paced, clever and hummable opera, directed by Glynis Leyshon, transports audiences to the 1950s in a riot of scrumptious costumes, devastating satire, and charming slapstick.

Iconic singer Cyndi Lauper returns to The Ridgefield Playhouse to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of She's So Unusual, performing the album in its entirety tonight, November 16, at 8 p.m. Recorded and released in 1983, this album made rock history as Cyndi's debut solo album, exposing the world to her unique and multifaceted talent through her most unusual well-known songs and perennial radio favorites 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun', 'Time After Time', 'She Bop', 'Money Changes Everything' and 'All Through the Night'. She's So Unusual made Lauper a household name and cemented her place in musical history as the first female artist to have four Top 10 singles on a debut album. The release went on to sell more than 16 million copies worldwide and earned Lauper a Grammy Award for 'Best New Artist'. Special guest is Hunter Valentine, an alternative all-girl rock band out of Toronto, Canada. This event is part of the XFinity Rock Series.

Tony Award-winning actors Christian Borle (Peter and the Starcatcher, Spamalot) and Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone, Elf), Tony nominee Annaleigh Ashford (Kinky Boots, Legally Blonde), and Broadway stars Heidi Blickenstaff ([title of show], The Little Mermaid) and Derek Klena (Wicked, Dogfight) are all scheduled to take part in the developmental reading. Dog and Pony will receive its World Premiere at The Old Globe next spring, running May 28 - June 29, 2014; casting for that production will be announced at a later time.

So, Eleanor Catton with The Luminaries it is. The youngest Man Booker winner in the prize's history (she is 28 but completed The Luminaries aged 27) has triumphed with the longest ever Man Booker winning novel (832 pages). Catton is just the second New Zealander to win the prize, the first being Keri Hulme with The Bone People in 1985. A more important statistic is that earlier in the year there were an extraordinary 151 novelists submitted for the prize and from this rich field of literary wheat hers is the one head that remains standing, waving in the warm breeze of the judges' favour. Life for Eleanor Catton will never be the same again.

The Associated Press is reporting that world-renowned author, Alice Walker whose many hits include 'The Color Purple' has just signed a deal with publishing powerhouse Simon & Schuster's 37 Ink to release a selected of her journals in 2017. Titled 'Gathering Blossoms Under Fire', it's said to be a mix of new journals that look back on her life, along with a half-century of diary entries about her life.

Fueled by love, anger, hope and pride, a circle of friends struggles to contain a mysterious disease ravaging New York's gay community. Simon Levy directs the exclusive Los Angeles revival of Larry Kramer's groundbreaking drama about public and private indifference to the onset of the AIDS crisis, and one man's fight to awaken the world to its urgency. The Normal Heart opens Sept. 21 at the Fountain Theatre. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today the full schedule and complete lineup for the upcoming film series, Jean-Luc Godard - The Spirit of the Forms.

Woodie King Jr's New Federal Theatre kicks off its 44th season with 'The Ed Bullins Project' - two revivals from his 'Twentieth Century Cycle of Plays' - In The Wine Time and The Fabulous Miss Marie. Bullins, winner of the prestigious NY Drama Critics' Circle Award and OBIE Award for The Taking of Miss Janie, has greatly influenced American theatre, especially Black theatre. His work, characterized by disdain for ineffective political rhetoric as a substitute for action, most often examines the lives of Black people in the inner city. In 1968, Clive Barnes, writing in the New York Times called Bullins 'a welcome addition to the ranks of New York playwrights.' Four years later, Barnes added 'Bullins writes the way Charlie Parker played: It is all so easy and effortless. It sounds improvised, and yet it doesn't sound improvised, simply because it is the improvisation of formality.' Today, Bullins is regarded as a seminal force in the American theater.

Iconic singer Cyndi Lauper returns to The Ridgefield Playhouse to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of She's So Unusual, performing the album in its entirety on Saturday, November 16, at 8 p.m. Recorded and released in 1983, this album made rock history as Cyndi's debut solo album, exposing the world to her unique and multifaceted talent through her most unusual well-known songs and perennial radio favorites "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time", "She Bop", "Money Changes Everything" and "All Through the Night". She's So Unusual made Lauper a household name and cemented her place in musical history as the first female artist to have four Top 10 singles on a debut album. The release went on to sell more than 16 million copies worldwide and earned Lauper a Grammy Award for "Best New Artist". Special guest is Hunter Valentine, an alternative all-girl rock band out of Toronto, Canada. This event is part of the XFinity Rock Series.

Digital-first publisher Le French Book just released the full collection of 52 Serial Shorts, short stories from seven of France's best writers-Tatiana de Rosnay, Didier Van Cauwelaert, Yann Queffélec, Daniel Picouly, Christine Orban, Irène Frain, and Harold Cobert. This unlikely combination of French literary giants includes two Goncourt prizewinners and one of France's most-read authors.

Fueled by love, anger, hope and pride, a circle of friends struggles to contain a mysterious disease ravaging New York's gay community. Simon Levy directs the exclusive Los Angeles revival of Larry Kramer's groundbreaking drama about public and private indifference to the onset of the AIDS crisis, and one man's fight to awaken the world to its urgency. The Normal Heart opens Sept. 21 at the Fountain Theatre.

Arion Productions, in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre, presents the first London production in more than 25 years of AS IS by William M. Hoffman. Directed by Andrew Keates, the cast features: Jordon Bernarde, Tom Colley, John Hastings, Tom Kay, Clare Kissane, David Poynor, Paul Standell and Anna Tierney.

The first London production since the 1987 UK premiere of William M. Hoffman's As Is opens at the Finborough Theatre for a four week limited season tonight, 6 August 2013 directed by Andrew Keates.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, 20th Century Fox recently formed a joint venture with top Broadway producer and Tony Award winner Kevin McCollum (Motown, Rent, Avenue Q, In the Heights), prolific film producer John Davis (Predator, The Firm, Grumpy Old Men, I Robot, Chronicle) and leading industry executive Tom McGrath, to develop live stage productions based upon the studio's vast library of films. Now according to the New York Times, Fox won't be the only major film studio with movie-based musicals in the woks in the coming years.

The first London production since the 1987 UK premiere of William M. Hoffman's As Is opens at the Finborough Theatre for a four week limited season on Tuesday, 6 August 2013 directed by Andrew Keates.