Backstage Bunny - Page 2

Missy Miller: 'I'm back where I belong, at the Josphine'

Make Me a Musical, which opens at PASA on Friday, is loosely based on the Faust story and is set in the context of a 'backstage musical' which embraces many of the cliches of the genre - and turns them on their head. It could almost be described as a something of a parody musical, with some elements of pastiche and with its tongue firmly in its cheek.

'London Calling' at the Harlequin is one of the slickest shows I have seen since moving to San Antonio just under six years ago. It offers a multitude of classic rock songs presented with such enormous verve and energy that it takes your breath away. The pace never lets up. It's a wonder the cast had any breath left at the end of it

Director Shawn Kjos is particularly excited by London Calling, his 13th original production for the Harlequin Dinner Theatre. The musical revue style show is currently playing to a packed house and runs through April 16th. The revue strings together over 50 notable hits by artists stemming from British influence including the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Amy Winehouse, The Spice Girls, Petula Clark, Rod Stewart and The Beatles to name a few.

St. Philips College Theater announces its Spring production of the musical “In the Heights.”  This musical written by Lin Manuel-Miranda was nominated for 13 Tony awards following its Broadway debut in 2008.

Jade Esteban Estrada, who just completed an Australian run of his solo musical comedy, 'ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 1' as part of the 2016 Fringe World Festival in Perth, has just joined Texas Light Opera (www.texaslightopera.org) as an artistic advisor. His first role in this new capacity is co-director with Vaughn Taylor of 'Make Me a Musical', which opens at Performing Arts San Antonio (PASA) on April first for a three week run.

After its recent sold-out run at the Carver Community Center, Divas of Eastwood - 'a celebration of the Chitlin Circuit' - returns to the Carver on March 4th for three nights to offer up another selection of familiar songs by some of San Antonio's finest singers and performers, including Danielle King and Alisa Claridy.

Ruthless! - the show that launched the careers of child stars such as Britney Spears, Natalie Portman and Laura Bell Bundy - opens at Performing Arts San Antonio (PASA) on Friday (February 19) at 15705 San Pedro (behind McDonalds). 

Darrin Newhardt is one of the busiest music directors in San Antonio. In recent months he has been the music director of ten shows, including the premier of the musical 'Oh Rats' for the Vexlar Theater. 'Ragtime' 'The Last 5 Years' for the Playhouse San Antonio, 'Young Frankenstein' 'Into The Woods' 'Mary Poppins' and 'West Side Story' for the Woodlawn Theater and many more shows while he lived in Los Angeles, California. On top of that he is the regular accompanist at Broadway Nights, a weekly cabaret at the Woodlawn Theatre every Saturday night, where the cream of San Antonio's singers exercise their vocal skills. He is also a vocal coach to many local performers and has been the music director at Forest Hills Presbyterian Church for the past 15 years.

Rebecca Greenstein (pictured on the left in a photo from the Viennese production of Der Kaiser von Atlantis) founded Opera Moderne (http://www.operamoderne.com) in New York in 2011 and it quickly began to attract favorable reviews for its fresh approach to opera. The company has also spawned two offshoot activities that have attracted enthusiastic audiences - namely, The Hot Box Girls and L'Opera Burlesque, two troupes that combine striptease and other innovations with opera. Rebecca is also an artistic consultant to Texas Light Opera (http://www.texaslightopera.org/about.html). Recently moving to Europe to expand her operations, Rebecca now divides her time between Vienna and New York. In this question-and-answer interview, she talks about the way she is juggling the activities of her three troupes and the geographical divide.

The Japanese premiere of Wuthering Heights, a musical adaptation of the classic Emily Bronte novel, opens today (February 2nd) in Kyoto. A poster for the show is shown here. The show is the only stage adaptation of Wuthering Heights that has received an endorsement from the Bronte Society, while Herbert Kretzmer (lyricist for the phenomenally successful Les Miserables) has described it as a 'great show', with music that has 'the breadth and sweep of a great novel and a romantic intensity not heard for many generations'. The novel is one of the most popular English novels in Japan.

Roald Dahl's children's classic 'James and the Giant Peach' runs from January 22nd to February 28, 2016, at the Magik Theatre, 420 S Alamo St, San Antonio, TX 78205. Telephone (210) 227-2751. When James is sent by his aunts to chop down their old fruit tree, he discovers a magic potion which results in a tremendous peach. Suddenly, James finds himself in the center of the gigantic peach on a journey with human-sized insects with equally oversized personalities. Thanks to James' quick wits and creative thinking, the travelers learn to live and work together.

Having served the SA theatre community in a number of capacities - as an actor, singer, director, producer and a board member of local theatres - Lee Cusenbary is one of the most respected people in San Antonio theatrical circles. In this interview he discusses the year ahead.

WILLIAM RAZAVI is the artistic director of the Overtime Theatre, the only theatre in San Antonio (and possibly in the whole of Texas) dedicated purely to original works, mostly by local writers. In this question-and-answer interview he discusses the future of the Overtime and its artistic direction.

Now in its sixth year, Performing Arts San Antonio (PASA) has established itself as one of most innovative musical theatres in the region. While the other musical theatres in the area tend to rely on tried and trusted Broadway standards, or on musical reviews as in the case of the Harlequin Theatre, PASA has been bringing musical shows to San Antonio that it would not otherwise see - including world premieres and shows new to Texas and San Antonio.

Tonight (Tuesday the 19th)  The Tobin Center in San Antonio will present a  Broadway Revue 'Lila's Broadway Birthday Bash' , which will celebrate Mayor Emeritus Lila Cockrell's 94th Birthday.  The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are available at the door at 6:30 pm and are $25 for mezzanine seating.  Proceeds benefit The Bexar County Family Justice Center. 

One of the busiest people in San Antonio theatre right now is Nicole Erwin, who was recently appointed Executive Director of the Overtime Theatre. She is also executive director of Texas Light Opera, which is co-producing Make Me a Musical at Performing Arts San Antonio, and has launched her own production company, Aria Creative Productions, to produce independent play productions.