What did our critic think of ORDINARY DAYS at BWU Musical Theatre Program In Collaboration With Playhouse Square/Cleveland? Adam Gwon, who wrote the music and lyrics for ORDINARY DAYS, which recently finished its run as part of the Playhouse Square/Baldwin Wallace annual collaboration, was in attendance at the brief 3-day run.
Loft Ensemble in North Hollywood is presenting the world premiere of Behind the Six by Dan Perry. Directed by April Littlejohn, the cast will feature Antwan Alexander II, Lemon Baardsen, Lara Blanco, Nathan Bock, Cassandra Carmona, Abram Connor, Travyz Santos Gatz, John Goodwin, Robert Jolly, Xavier LeFlore, Sean Alan Mazur, Alejandro Mungaray, Mitch Rosander, Matthew Scheel, and Kyle Wallen. Check out photos here!
Arthur Miller's electrifying family drama ALL MY SONS won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best New Play and Miller his first Pulitzer Prize when it first opened in 1947, and went on to be a recipient of numerous Tony Awards. Inspired by a story from an Ohio Newspaper on an aircraft factory's troubled contracts during WWII, the tale remains as timely as it is timeless about pointing your finger at someone else rather than soil your own reputation by taking responsibility for your own actions, a personality trait all too evident in today's society.
It was fitting that Manipuri dance was chosen to commemorate India Independence Day, because during British colonial rule the dances were ridiculed as savage, immoral and outdated. Fortunately, thanks to India's independence, the help of activists, scholars and performers revitalizing ancient yet timeless traditions, and organizations like Battery Dance Festival, Manipuri dance can continue to thrive not only in India but on the world's stage. Lord Krishna must be pleased!
Last year, in 2018, the third annual Dancers For Good Benefit supporting the Actors Fund Dancers Resource in East Hampton was so impressive that I challenged the founders to 'high-kick it up a notch even higher next year'. I'm thrilled to announce that not only did they clearly accept that challenge, they superseded all expectations!
Director Linda Fortunato has cast Neil Friedman as Kris Kringle, Stella Rose Hoyt as Susan, Courtney Jones as Doris and Christopher Kale Jones as Fred for Theatre at the Center's Miracle On 34th Street: The Musical. Previews began November 15 with Opening Night on November 18 and a continued run through December 23. This production is sponsored in part by American Community Bank.
The Group Rep presents Arthur Miller's 1947 award-winning American drama ALL MY SONS, directed by Linda Alznauer, produced by Diane Frank and Linda Alznauer for the Group Rep. How far would a man go to protect his family, his interests, and his legacy? Re-visit this exquisitely written, post-war play depicting the tragic downfall of an American family caught in a web of lies, greed, love, and loss, and asking its audience examine their own social responsibilities to all the sons of American wars. ALL MY SONS runs June 30 - August 5 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre, in North Hollywood, CA 91601 (at the edge of the NoHo Arts District).
Composer Thea Musgrave is celebrating these days. It's not just that she's marking her 90th birthday on May 27 with a concert in New York, but that the concert is showcasing a gaggle of world premieres, US premieres and NY premieres (along with more familiar works), which highlight her rich musical vocabulary and keen sense of drama.
As BroadwayWorld reported yesterday, stage and screen star, Patricia Morison died at the age of 103 at home in Los Angeles of natural causes. A stage icon and legend best known for her starring roles in Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate and The King & I opposite Yul Brynner, she established an indelible mark in films with a reputation as a the villainous femme fatale with large blue eyes and extremely long, dark hair that made her a favorite of studios and fans alike.
Ghostlight Records has announced it will record the New York City Center production of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's musical Brigadoon, for a new cast recording to be released this fall. Brigadoon has book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. Starring Kelli O'Hara, Patrick Wilson and Stephanie J. Block, the show features The Encores! Orchestra, led by Music Director Rob Berman. The cast headed into the recording studio this week. Check out some shots below of the making of the Brigadoon cast recording!
Betsy Wolfe (Falsettos, Waitress), Eddie Korbich (A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder, The Drowsy Chaperone), Sal Viviano (The Full Monty, The Life), Olivier Award winner Lesli Margherita who has won fans across the length and breadth of Broadway with her starring roles in Matilda & Dames at Sea, Tony Yazbeck (Tony Award nominee for On the Town), Jenny Lee Stern (Rocky: The Musical & Spamilton), and Mia Gerachis (Jekyll & Hyde) performed at Broadway by the Year at Town Hall on March 26th at 8pm.
Barry Levitt the acclaimed pianist, conductor, composer, musical director and mensch passed away on September 21 after suffering a massive heart attack at the Laurie Beechman Theatre on Sept 21st.
Just last night, Irish Repertory Theatre presented FINIAN'S RAINBOW: IN CONCERT, this season's Gala Benefit production celebrating their return home to 22nd Street. Hosted by Saoirse Ronan, FINIAN'S RAINBOW: IN CONCERT featured performances by members of the Irish Rep cast in their original roles: Melissa Errico as 'Sharon,' Malcolm Gets as 'Og,' David Staller as 'the Narrator,' and Max Von Essen as 'Woody.' They were joined by Tony Award winner Jim Norton as 'Finian,' Megan Fairchild of New York City Ballet as 'Susan the Silent,' and a full chorus.
Jobsite Theater offers up a sexy and smart classic in Jean Genet's unequivocally literate 1947 play THE MAIDS, playing April 29 - May 22, 2016 in the Shimberg Playhouse at the Straz Center where Jobsite is resident theater company. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in costume below!
A classic drama by America's only Nobel Prize-winning playwright continues the 2015-2016 ESL Wilson Stage Series as Geva Theatre Center presents A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN by Eugene O'Neill and directed by Ben Barnes in the Elaine P. Wilson Stage now through April 24, 2016. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!
THE HEIRESS, Ruth and Augustus Goetz's 1947 adaptation of Henry James' WASHINGTON SQUARE and currently occupying the Lohrey Stage at Theatre Memphis, has had a long and steady run on stages throughout the world - and why not? Tightly corseted, polite to a fault, and observing proprieties, this intelligently written script captures the essence of the James source material without the convoluted, complex sentences that, alas, repel many readers. As tautly drawn as the material on one of the samplers for which its heroine is noted, when one of the characters punctuates the prevailing politeness with a barbed or telling line of dialogue, it's as if a sharp and jagged blade suddenly ripped through the fabric of the needlework itself. All this play needs for a successful run is a handsome set, period costumes - and four or five gifted players.
Finian's Rainbow began previews at Broadway's ST. James Theatre, 246 West 44 Street, on Thursday, October 8 at 8pm, and celebrated Opening Night, last night, Thursday, October 29 at 6:45pm. BroadwayWorld.com was there as the stars arrived for the first night festivities!
'The Broadway Musicals of 1947,' kicked-off the eighth season of The Town Hall's critically acclaimed Broadway by the Year series on March 3 at Town Hall. The star-studded cast included Howard McGillin, Marc Kudisch, Eddie Korbich, Noah Racey, Donna Lynne Champlin, Meredith Patterson, Kerry O'Malley, Kendrick Jones, Alexander Gemignani, Christiane Noll and Jeffry Denman.
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