James T Harding - Page 10

Harvey Fierstein's TORCH SONG TRILOGY, helmed by Tony and Olivier Award winner Douglas Hodge, opened last night at the Menier Chocolate Factory. See what the critics had to say below.

Only just heading into the first week of the 16-day Winter event, the 2012 Adelaide Cabaret Festival has reached 91 per cent of its box office target, smashing all previous Festivals' box office records.

2 Couples 2 has extended its run at the Stone Cottage Theatre to June 30, 2012. This outrageous and sexy comedy will make you laugh, scandalize, tittilate, and make you think about the inherent controversy of heterosexual marriage.

THE WATER DREAM SUMMER PARTY!, with live rock and contemporary music theatre performed by Anthony Rapp (RENT) with Doug Chapman, Alexis Hightower, Justin Hines, Emily Otto & Kris Rogers under the musical direction of Emily Otto (Southern Comfort, Stolen Chair), will take place on Saturday June 30, 2012 8-10 PM at The Irish Rogue, 356 West 44th Street - Upstairs. There will be a live auction. Proceeds go towards the New York premiere of The Water Dream in 2013.

Berkeley Playhouse closes its 2011-12 main stage season with a delicious adaptation of ROALD DAHL'S WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. Berkeley Playhouse founding Artistic Director Elizabeth McKoy helms this musical treat, based on Roald Dahl's stylish children's story about the world famous candy man, starring noted Bay Area singer/songwriter, musician, and recording artist Vernon Bush in the title role. ROALD DAHL'S WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY plays July 14 through August 19 at the Julia Morgan Theatre in Berkeley.

Forest Fringe has announced Paper Stages, a beautifully designed free book co-authored by over twenty Forest Fringe artists, each page of which will be a different instruction-based performance for the reader or readers to perform themselves. Paper Stages will be launches on the 11th of August with a raucus party at an as-yet secret location. Featured writers include Kieran Hurley, writer-performer of the CATS Award-winning Beats.

Today the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) announced 2012's Michael Powell Award Competition Jury and the four other juries who will deliberate over the Festival's seven awards. Two of the jurors will also be the subjects of In-Person events that have been newly added to the EIFF programme. Jim Broadbent, Elliott Gould, Gerald Peary and Ewen Bremner are among those chosen to judge awards.

Grammy nominated singer-songwriter, musician and actor, Chris Isaak, will bring his "Beyond the Sun Tour" to the Fox Theatre, Detroit, on Friday, November 23 at 7:30 p.m.; locally presented by Fifth Third Bank.

Fair Lawn Recreation Department's resident theatre company, Old Library Theatre (OLT), presents Broadway Then & Now: A Concert, celebrating more than one hundred years of Broadway music. Under the direction of Craig M. Tiede and musical direction of Anthony Bevilacqua, 'Broadway Then & Now' will be performed at the Fair Lawn Recreation Center in Fair Lawn, NJ, Saturday, June 23 at 8pm.

The Dorset Theatre Festival has announced its program for its 37th Season at the historic Dorset Playhouse, Dorset, VT this Summer. Shows include Good People by David Lindsay Abaire, Boeing-Boeing, The Whore and Mr. Moore and Deathtrap.

Acclaimed director and choreographer Rob Ashford has joined The Old Vic as Associate Director.

After the success of Michael Frayn's Noises Off, his gripping cold war drama Democracy, opening 20 June, extends for a further two weeks until 28 July at the Old Vic Theatre.

Trevor Nunn will direct the Old Vic and Chichester Festival Theatre's production of KISS ME, KATE, with Music and lyrics by Cole Porter and Book by Sam and Bella Spewack, which is scheduled for London performances from the 20th of November and a Chichester premiere in June.

Sheridan Smith will star in the Old Vic's production of HEDDA GABLER by Henrik Ibsen, in a version by Brian Friel directed by Anna Mackmin. The show begins previews on the 5th of September and opens on the 12th for a run until the 10th of Novemeber.

The Old Vic today announced its programme through to spring 2013, which includes Brian Friel's adaptation of HEDDA GABLER starring Sheridan Smith, and KISS ME KATE directed by Trevor Nunn.

The Franklin School for the Performing Arts (FSPA) will open a satellite location in downtown Hudson this coming September, bringing performing arts classes in music, dance and drama to the historic Odd Fellows Building, located at 14 Main Street. The Franklin School for the Performing Arts offers exceptional performing arts instruction and unparalleled performance opportunities. The school boasts a large faculty of Boston-area artists and an expansive roster of classes for all ages and levels. FSPA programs serve students pursuing music, dance or drama for college and career as well as those who enjoy the arts for recreation. Since 1985, FSPA has been breaking new ground with innovative programming in the performing arts, and FSPA Hudson represents the newest chapter in the school's 25+ year history.

The Little Music School (LMS) graduates 20 students on June 20 in a ceremony that celebrates the musical achievements and development of these youngest learners. LMS, an innovative program that teaches children as early as eighteen months to play the piano, was created in 2005 at the Franklin School for the Performing Arts (FSPA). The 2012 LMS graduates are from Attleboro, Bellingham, Franklin, Hopedale, Medway, Mendon, Norfolk, North Attleboro, Raynham and Wrentham.

Electric Youth, a dynamic ensemble of talented, young singer-dancers trained at the Franklin School for the Performing Arts (FSPA), departs on a three-week concert tour of Austria and Italy on June 15. Backed by an eight-piece band of Boston's finest musicians, Electric Youth offers high-powered family entertainment with an extensive range of contemporary pop, classic rock and Broadway hits. The ensemble performed a Bon Voyage Concert at Showcase Live on June 10 for an enthusiastic crowd, providing an exciting and energetic send-off for their European adventure.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST), Chicago Park District and The Boeing Company announced today plans to bring Shakespeare, FREE FOR ALL, to community parks across the City of Chicago this summer. From Portage Park to Humboldt Park and Austin to South Shore, this summer from July 29 to August 19, Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks will break down barriers to arts participation and give Chicagoans direct access to their City's cultural resources by bringing free Shakespeare performances into their neighborhoods.

Following critically acclaimed sell-out runs on Broadway and in the West End, Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer prize winning play, DRIVING MISS DAISY, starring Gwen Taylor as Daisy Werthan, Don Warrington as Hoke Coleburn and Ian Porter as Boolie Werthan will go on a national tour from 10 October 2012.