To Be or Not to Be – What Kind of a Question Is That? 1970

LAB Theater Project will present the first play of the 2024 season, SYD, by Craig Houk, opening on February 22.  Learn more about the production and how to get tickets here!

“IMAGINE...” a table is set, where a meeting is to soon take place between Britain’s First Female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and an Ex-Beatle, John Lennon. This is what is laid forth in Ben Randall’s Whiskey & Soda currently onstage at the Off-Central Players.

This COMPANY is a touching portrait of one woman’s attempts to connect with her friends amid a bustling New York City, simultaneously a connecting and isolating place.

Each Halloween Season, many horror and science fiction offerings hit our stages. This year, David P. Johnson is bringing his Sally Spectre: The Musical back to Theatre West weekends through October 29. A combination horror and morality play, it centers around the ghost of a 5-year-old girl trying to escape from her locked bedroom where she was brutally murdered. But is this musical really for children? To find out, I decided to speak with David P. Johnson who not only wrote the book, music, and lyrics but also directs and co-produces it, and appears onstage accompanying the cast on keyboard during every performance.

This month, the reader question was: I’ve heard Shucked parodies a lot of musical tropes w/ references to Oklahoma!, The Music Man, etc… We’ve seen that a lot on Broadway lately - Something Rotten, Mean Girls, Bad Cinderella, Be More Chill, etc… It seems to be becoming more and more popular - when did it start, why do audiences love it?

Next month, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. A recipient of the 2022 Tony Awards Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, 54 Below is a non-profit organization with a mission to preserve and expand the art of the cabaret, honor the music of Broadway, and provide an unparalleled experience to diverse communities.

Directed and choreographed by Rick Kerby, this production of Sondheim's groundbreaking musical is given an A+ treatment.

Tickets are now on sale for the 5th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, the largest of its kind in North America, returning January 18-29, 2023, at venues large and small throughout the city.

As he prepares to open TECHNICOLOR DREAMS on December 10th, Mark William chats with Broadway World Cabaret.

Next month, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, will present some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. A recipient of the 2022 Tony Awards Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, 54 Below celebrates Broadway musicals and writers of the past and present, promoting an ongoing engagement with their work.

One of the most enduring of human beliefs is the idea of the existence of an afterlife. All sorts of terrors and challenges can be endured in an earthly life if one believes in a world beyond where things will be not only better but perfect. That is one of the central ideas of THE FIELDS OF AMBROSIA, a musical that is opening next week at Surflight Theatre in Beach Haven, NJ on Long Beach Island.

Reviewer Peter Nason counts down the greatest 101 YACHT ROCK HITS for your summertime listening pleasure.

Respected cabaret artist Susanne Mack recently finished a run of shows at Pangea and guest reviewer Andrew Poretz has some high praise for her.

Pasadena Playhouse has announced the 2022/2023 Season featuring a six-month-long celebration of the works and impact of Stephen Sondheim.  The State Theater of California’s Sondheim Celebration will begin in January 2023 and extend into June.  Find out what shows are included and the full schedule.

The Actors’ Gang Theater has just begun streaming their live virtual production of WE LIVE ON, based on the 1970 Hard Times by Studs Terkel. Directed by Actors’ Gang’s artistic director Tim Robbins, WE LIVE ON is performed in three parts. Had a chance to have a fun chat with Patti Tippo, who’s playing legendary burlesque dancer Sally Rand.  

The Actors’ Gang Theater will debut We Live On, a new play based on Hard Times by Studs Terkel, on July 22nd. With additional text by Tim Robbins and the cast and under Robbins’ direction, the live virtual production will be presented in three parts and will run through September 4th. With music by Cameron Dye and David Robbins, this world premiere features 30 accounts of the Great Depression, including those of Dolores Huerta, Dorothy Day, and Cesar Chavez.

It's like taking a roller coaster ride through QT's mind!

Playing an icon is no easy feat, but Krysta Rodriguez takes it on as if she were born to step into the role of one of show business's greatest legends. The legend in question is EGOT-winner Liza Minnelli, who is at the heart of the new Netflix series 'Halston'. We spoke with Krysta Rodriguez about preparing to play Liza Minnelli and much more!

Today (February 18) in live streaming: Anna Deavere Smith visits Backstage Live, Orfeh and Andy Karl visit My Broadway Memory, and more!

Eric Michael Gillett has done it all and he always does it with an open heart and open hand. His annual holiday gala for Benjamin House was only briefly threatened by the global health crisis - for Gillett, nothing can stop him from honoring his favorite organization to support.

San Francisco’s Cutting Ball Theatre has scored quite a coup in presenting the world premiere of Utopia, the latest work from Obie-winning playwright Charles L. Mee, available for streaming from October 16th through November 15th. Directed by Ariel craft, who is also Cutting Ball’s Artistic Director, the play is a multidisciplinary fantasia that explores the question “How do you make a life?” Cutting Ball is partnering on the production with RAWdance contemporary dance company, and Creativity Explored which supports artists with developmental disabilities, to create a work that harmonizes theater, dance and animation in a genre-defying dreamscape.  Audiences can stream from home from October 16th through November 15th. Additional details can be found at www.CuttingBall.com. BroadwayWorld chats with Mee from his home in New York City.

Redefining the ‘Nashville sound,’ East Nashville rock band The Love-In is proud to share their anticipated new EP As It Lays, released today.

Ah, just when we need it the most, here is the perfect tonic for our troubled times! The Marsh is bringing back comedic legend Geoff Hoyle in his latest work 'What Will I Be When You Grow Up?' Presented for one night only on Saturday, March 20th at 7:00PM PDT, this filmic version of Hoyle's show will be followed by a live post-performance Q&A with The Marsh Founder/Artistic Director Stephanie Weisman. Visit The www.themarsh.org for more information. Born and raised in England before coming to America in the 1970a??s, Hoyle has had a fascinating career and at this point has become a veritable Bay Area institution. After first coming to local attention as part of the Pickle Family Circus, he went on to perform with Cirque du Soleil, create the role of Zazu in the original Broadway company of The Lion King, act in plays at virtually all the major Bay Area theater companies, and create numerous solo shows, many of them at The Marsh. BroadwayWorld recently caught up with Hoyle by phone from his home in Inverness, California.

It is time for Robert Kelley to take a richly-deserved curtain call. June 30th will be his last day as Artistic Director of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley after a mind-blowing 50 years in that role. It is not hyperbole to state there isn't another individual who has had a more profound influence on the Bay Area theatre landscape. Kelley founded TheatreWorks as a scrappy, community theater company in April, 1970 and guided its transformation over the years into a Tony-winning powerhouse and nationally-recognized incubator of new works. BroadwayWorld had the pleasure of speaking with Kelley earlier this spring to discuss his half-century history with TheatreWorks.

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest protest songs from 1939-2020. See if your favorite songs or artists made the list!