The Country Cousin 1917

Russian-set musicals figure highly in this actor's nontraditional path to the tour stage. ANASTASIA, the new Broadway musical, and its Dowager Empress are on the Orpheum's stage till Dec. 19.

Rarely produced in full, Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre (MET) presents the entirety of Horton Foote's nine-act  Magnus Opus “The Orphans' Home Cycle” running in repertory through November 18, 2018. This massive production utilizes over 30 veteran performers from across the Metro KC area in 64 roles throughout the expansive production.  

His day job is as associate justice of the Second District, Division Six of the California Courts of Appeal, but Steve Perren's passion for the stage has seen him appear in a variety of shows in Ventura County over the years. He played founding father Roger Sherman in Cabrillo Music Theatre's 2012 production of 1776 and has also appeared in numerous operettas staged by the Ventura County Gilbert and Sullivan Repertoire Company. In Panic! Productions' Parade, currently playing at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts, Perren is ideally suited for the part of Judge Leonard S. Roan, who presides over the trial of accused child murderer Leo Frank. Parade deals with the real-life arrest and trial of Frank (played by Joshua Finkel), a Georgia factory superintendent who was accused of murdering 13-year-old factory worker Mary Phagan in 1913. We sat down with Steve during a break in rehearsals for the show, and talked about his unique perspective as an actor who also shares the occupation of the character he portrays.

Kathy Evans, Founding Executive Director, announced the nine musicals and twenty-six writers selected for the 2014 Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, its fourth year of providing working retreats for musical theatre writers. For nine consecutive weeks beginning June 29th, each writing team will have an individual weeklong residency in Rhinebeck, New York to write their musical. They are provided with a private home, transportation, food, and a stipend. All costs are fully funded by donors including The ASCAP Foundation, The Dramatists Guild Fund, and The Noel Coward Foundation. Writers participating this year include Broadway's Mindi Dickstein (Little Women), this year's Kleban Prize winner Nathan Tysen (Burnt Part Boys), and Peter Mills, past winner of the Kleban, Fred Ebb Award, and Richard Rodgers prize. The musicals' subjects cover 19th century nautical mysteries, 20th century fairy tales, a 1970's gay bar, and modern-day meth addicts. Every score is original and styles include 16th century Renaissance, big band, folk, rock, and electronic music.

'I can't marry Ernest Hamilton. I love him! We wish to be free to keep together! In the old days when they had interests in common, marriage used to make man and woman one, but now, it puts them apart. Can't you see it all about you? No wonder one in eleven ends in divorce. The only way to avoid spiritual separation is to shun legal union like a disease. Modern marriage is divorce.' Helen is talking to her much befuddled family in Jesse Lynch Williams' comedy 'Why Marry?,' the first play to receive a Pulitzer Prize. A Broadway hit in 1917, it toured the country for a year, but had not been produced again until East Lynne Theater Company included it in its 2006 Cape May production season. The show was so successful, that ELTC revived it the following summer. On Friday, May 10 at 7:30p.m., 'Why Marry?' returns to a NYC stage for the first time since 1917 when ELTC presents a staged reading with most of the actors who were in the acclaimed 2007 production, at The Players Club, located at 16 Gramercy Park South (20th Street, East of Park Avenue).

The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.