Cindy Photos - Off-Broadway

Orlando was a deeply engaging, intriguing and thought-provoking exploration whose pondering, messages, striking soundscapes and visuals reverberated and lingered long after the curtain had closed. It is a highly ambitious undertaking but Neuwirth and her colleagues were up for the challenge. What is most exciting is what has now been established for a venue such as The Wiener Straatsoper as we move into a new decade of uncertain times when it is vital that radical expressions of art and activism combined are given such a grand stage with which to proclaim their truths.

The saying, 'Good things come to those who wait,' could certainly be applied to the world premiere of The Good Swimmer playing at BAM's Fishman Space as part of the Next Wave festival from November 28th-December 1st. Defined as a pop requiem for the youth of the Vietnam War, this collaboration between Heidi Rodewald (music) and Donna Di Novelli (lyrics) directed by Kevin Newbury has been the better part of a decade in the making since the two women began working on the piece at a Eugene O'Neill Theater Center residency and left with three songs based on text from out-of-print lifesaving manuals that would become the foundation of The Good Swimmer -- the title song, 'Red Cross' and 'Double Drowning'.

The National Music Theater Institute (NMTI) students have just returned to campus from two weeks training in New York City; scroll down for photos from the visit! NMTI is the newest credit-earning, semester-long intensive from the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Utilizing the O'Neill's 50-year experience in training young theater artists and history of developing new musicals (including Nine, Avenue Q, In The Heights, [title of show], and Violet), NMTI offers broad-based training in all areas of musical theater: acting, singing, directing, writing, dance, composition, and choreography. In addition to the semester's rigorous curriculum-classes 14 hours a day, 7 days a week with emphasis on collaboration and the creation of original work- two weeks of the semester are spent learning in the epicenter of American music theater.

The MTC production of DOUBT, the new play by John Patrick Shanley, celebrated its Broadway opening on Thursday, March 31st.