Ragtime Photos - Chicago

Another thrilling and thought-provoking production at The Arden Theatre delivers an evening of something quite different. ASSASSINS is an evening of one of the tightest ensembles of dedicated performers that this reviewer has seen in quite some time.

What did our critic think of AN EVENING WITH AUDRA MCDONALD at BLOSSOM Music Center?

The first clue that ANASTASIA was going to be different than what I expected was a note on the title page reading, “Inspired by the Twentieth Century Fox Motion Pictures.” Plural? A savvy journalist, I quickly asked Siri to bring up the imdb page for “Anastasia”. Turns out Fox made ANASTASIA twice, the 1997 animated off-brand Disney princess movie and a 1957 film that scored Ingrid Bergman's second Oscar and marked Helen Hayes' transition to the big screen. And it turns out the musical version has more in common with LES MISERABLES and RAGTIME than BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Gone is the hell-wizard Rasputin, his talking fruit bat sidekick, and the singing demon caterpillars. At intermission, I asked my third grade niece, Adalyn, how she was liking it. “It's awesome…it's real people, like no Beast or anything. No animals.” We decide that Disney staged musicals are great but more it's more impressive when you can achieve the magic without a story that departs from reality. ANASTASIA is historical fiction hypothetical. It poses a “what if…?” that a daughter of the last czar of Russia (The Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna) escaped when the czar's family was executed in 1918. Rumors persisted for decades that Anastasia did, in fact, escape. In 2007, DNA testing confirmed the remains of all four Grand Duchesses were in the Imperial grave. In this version, Terrence McNalley's book follows Anastasia's rediscovery of her identity after surviving the attack on her family and sustaining some plot enabling amnesia. Renamed “Anya” she grows up and makes a life in post-Revolution Russia. Anastasia's grandmother, the Dowager Empress (in a staggeringly moving performance by Joy Franz) has fled to France and offered a cash reward for anyone escorting the rumored alive Anastasia to Paris. The wily duo Vlad (Edward Staudenmayer) and Dmitry (Jake Levy) pull a My Fair Lady style makeover on Anya to collect the Dowager's prize. They are pursued by Gleb (Jason Michael Evans). A Soviet officer drawn to Anya romantically but tasked with finding and eliminating the last Romanov. Anya's memory becomes somewhat coaxed back, but the Dowager has stopped seeing Anastasia claimants after too much heart-break from countless frauds. It sounds dark, but with high-tech digital scenery and inspired performances across the cast it is delightful. Stephen Flaherty (Music) and Lynn Ahrens (Lyrics), responsible for bringing us RAGTIME, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, LUCKY STIFF, as well as the Oscar nominated songs carried over from the animated film. ANASTASIA is a perfect context for this pair. “Stay, I Pray You” (my favorite song of the evening) is evocative of RAGTIME's “New Music”. The two songs literally race my heart in a strangely specific way. My real test of a National Tour at Gammage is how fast I get the music playing in my car on the way home. At ANASTASIA I was already finding, “Stay, I Pray You” walking through the parking lot. The rest of the score is similarly haunting. Lila Coogan, as Anya/Anastasia, powers through the score with nuance, clarity, and passion. Tari Kelly, as Countess Lily, and Stadenmayer (Vlad) were Adalyn's favorite performances and I have to agree. This incredibly gifted pair take the “triple threat” designation (singer, dancer, actor) and go quadruple with the addition of flawless comic timing. The choreography by Peggy Hickey is masterful. It somehow combines inventive and traditional throughout and the ten-minute slice of “Swan Lake” infused into “Quartet at the Ballet” is the highlight of the second act. It's a fun-size version that gets an under-represented art form onto the plate. This kind of trope often means the plot putting the plot on hold. But here, it is the connective tissue between Anya, Dmitry, the Dowager, and Gleb as they each bring us up to speed heading into the show's climax. Ultimately, the show's success comes from applying a higher artistic standard to the “previously-animated-film-now-theatrically-staged” genre. It cashes in on the name draw of the 1997 film then gives the viewer something much more enriched than what they think they are coming to see.

Porchlight Music Theatre's 25th anniversary season began with the 14th Annual Chicago Sings concert: Chicago Sings 25 Years of Porchlight, Monday, Aug. 5 at 7 p.m., at The Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave, directed by Christopher Pazdernik and Artistic Director Michael Weber with music direction by David Fiorello and a band featuring Kelsey Boltz, Cara Hartz, John McCreary, Greg Strauss, Celeste Park and Jake Saleh.

Yeston & Kopit's 'PHANTOM' made its New York Premiere here at WBT in 1992. During our record breaking nine- month run, over 120,000 people attended. Night after night, audiences rose to their feet for the stunning musical thriller. The original production was directed by William Pullinsi and starred Robert Cuccioli as the Phantom and Glory Crampton as Christine Daee. 'PHANTOM' returned to our stage in 1996 and 2007 directed and choreographed by Tom Polum, who had been in the original production. This extraordinary piece will grace our stage once again with Tom Polum at the helm.  

Berkeley Playhouse continues their tenth anniversary season of professional theater for family audiences with their largest production of the season, Ragtime. A sweeping musical epic of hopes and dreams in an America facing change at the turn of the 20th century, Ragtime boasts Tony Award-winning score and lyrics by the Broadway powerhouse duo, Stephen Flaherty and Lynne Ahrens (Once on This Island, Anastasia, Suessical) and a book by four-time Tony Award-winner Terrence McNally (The Full Monty, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Master Class), based on the celebrated novel by E. L. Doctorow. Celebrating its twentieth anniversary of opening on Broadway this month, the original 1998 production was nominated for a staggering thirteen Tony Awards and fourteen Drama Desk awards.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley kicks off its 48th season with the World Premiere of The Four Immigrants: An American Musical Manga. Drawn from one of the first ever graphic novels, set to an infectious ragtime and vaudeville score by local composer/lyricist Min Kahng, the comic musical follows four Japanese immigrants in a world of possibility and prejudice: turn-of-the-twentieth-century San Francisco. From a tumultuous earthquake to an exhilarating World's Fair, the quartet pursues the American Dream, despite limited options in the land of opportunity. Directed by TheatreWorks Associate Artistic Director Leslie Martinson, and developed at TheatreWorks' 2016 New Works Festival, the World Premiere ofThe Four Immigrants: An American Musical Manga will be presented July 12-August 6, 2017 (press opening: July 15) at Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. For tickets ($40-$100) and more information the public may visitTheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

Tony Award winner Alice Ripley (Next to Normal), Erin Davie (Sunday in the Park with George, Side Show, Grey Gardens) and Drama Desk honoree Danny Gardner (Dames at Sea) will join Tony Award nominees Brandon Uranowitz (Falsettos, An American in Paris) and Christiane Noll (Ragtime, Chaplin, Jekyll & Hyde)  two-time Nightlife Award winner Scott Coulter  and more took part in for Town Hall's Broadway by the Year Series last night.

Below, BroadwayWorld sends a fond farewell to those who passed away in 2015.

Stageworks Media just launched the LIVE FROM GRAMERCY PARK cabaret series at The Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South). The series kicked-off last night, January 27th, 2014 with Tony nominee Euan Morton, backed by Grandpa Musselman & His Syncopators. Mr. Morton and the six-piece jazz ensemble performed a repertoire of turn of the century ragtime, 1920?s jazz and depression-era swing by composers such as Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington. Check out photos from the concert below!

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, just featured Tony nominee Euan Morton, who made his debut at the acclaimed Manhattan nightspot last night, December 12th. Backed by Grandpa Musselman & His Syncopators, Morton, performed repertoire of turn of the century ragtime, 1920's jazz and depression era swing by composers such as Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington. Check out photos from the concert below!

HAIRSPRAY, the Tony Award-winning musical, is presented at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, opening April 19 and running through June 17, 2012.

HAIRSPRAY, the Tony Award-winning musical, opens tonight at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, and runs through June 17, 2012. Check out production photos of the cast below!

Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, will present Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning masterpiece SWEENEY TODD, opening August 17 at 7 p.m. and running through October 9. This razor-sharp tale of murder and corruption is Directed and Choreographed by multi-Jeff Award winner Rachel Rockwell (Ragtime and Miss Saigon at Drury Lane Theatre), who was named 'Best Director' by Chicago Magazine in 2010. SWEENEY TODD stars four-time Tony Award nominee Gregg Edelman as 'Sweeney Todd' (nominated as Best Actor in a Musical for City of Angels, Anna Karenina, 1776, and Into the Woods; other Broadway credits include Evita, Cabaret, and Les Miserables and the films Little Children and Spider-Man 2). Bistro Award winner and NYMF Award recipient Liz McCartney stars as 'Mrs. Lovett' (The Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia!, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Les Miserables on Broadway).

Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, will present Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning masterpiece SWEENEY TODD, opening August 17 at 7 p.m. and running through October 9. This razor-sharp tale of murder and corruption is Directed and Choreographed by multi-Jeff Award winner Rachel Rockwell (Ragtime and Miss Saigon at Drury Lane Theatre), who was named 'Best Director' by Chicago Magazine in 2010. SWEENEY TODD stars four-time Tony Award nominee Gregg Edelman as 'Sweeney Todd' (nominated as Best Actor in a Musical for City of Angels, Anna Karenina, 1776, and Into the Woods; other Broadway credits include Evita, Cabaret, and Les Miserables and the films Little Children and Spider-Man 2). Bistro Award winner and NYMF Award recipient Liz McCartney stars as 'Mrs. Lovett' (The Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia!, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Les Miserables on Broadway).

Transport Group (TG), the winner of a special 2007 Drama Desk Award and 2007 and 2010 OBIE Awards, has announced that its acclaimed production of Hello Again, words and music by Michael John LaChiusa (suggested by the play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler), and directed by Artistic Director Jack Cummings III (two-time Drama Desk Award nominee for Outstanding Director for TG's The Audience and The Boys in the Band), will close April 10, at 52 Mercer Street.

Transport Group (TG), the winner of a special 2007 Drama Desk Award and 2007 and 2010 OBIE Awards, will present the first major New York revival of Hello Again, words and music by Michael John LaChiusa (suggested by the play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler), and directed by Artistic Director Jack Cummings III (two-time Drama Desk Award nominee for Outstanding Director for TG's The Audience and The Boys in the Band), beginning performances Friday, March 4, with an opening scheduled for Sunday, March 20, at 52 Mercer Street. The production runs through Sunday, April 3.

Transport Group (TG), the winner of a special 2007 Drama Desk Award and 2007 and 2010 OBIE Awards, will present the first major New York revival of Hello Again, words and music by Michael John LaChiusa (suggested by the play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler), and directed by Artistic Director Jack Cummings III (two-time Drama Desk Award nominee for Outstanding Director for TG's The Audience and The Boys in the Band), beginning performances Friday, March 4, with an opening scheduled for Sunday, March 20, at 52 Mercer Street. The production runs through Sunday, April 3.

Transport Group, the winner of a special 2007 Drama Desk Award and 2007 and 2010 OBIE Awards, introduced the cast of the New York premiere of See Rock City & Other Destinations, music by Brad Alexander; book and lyrics by Adam Mathias; directed by Artistic Director Jack Cummings III, yesterday, June 21. BroadwayWorld was on hand to meet the company!

Actors Robert Wagner and Jill St. John were in attendance at a recent performance of Transport Group's THE BOYS IN THE BAND. The production is currently running through March 28 at 37 West 26th Street, Penthouse (b/w Sixth Ave. & Broadway).

Transport Group (TG), the winner of a special 2007 Drama Desk Award and a 2007 Obie Award, will present Mart Crowley's The Boys in the Band, directed by artistic director Jack Cummings III, beginning Friday, February 12, and opening Sunday, February 21, at 5pm in a site-specific production at 37 West 26 Street, between Broadway and Sixth Avenue, Penthouse.

The world premiere of Rajiv Joseph's (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) Gruesome Playground Injuries features Selma Blair (Hellboy, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, Storytelling, Legally Blonde, NBC's Kath & Kim) playing Kayleen and Brad Fleischer (Center Theatre Group's premiere of Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Broadway's Coram Boy, Off Broadway's Streamers) playing Doug.

Porchlight Music Theatre will end its 2008-2009 season, Musical Journeys-A Season of Musical Destinations, with the exhilarating Broadway musical Once On This Island at Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 West Belmont. The production begins previews May 9 with a Press Opening on May 11 at 7:30 p.m. and runs through June 28, 2009.

Rejoicing over the election, Stokes performs at a L.I. benefit prior to his Feinstein's engagement this week.