Kelsey Denette - Page 44

The company of this year's BROADWAY BACKWARDS will now include five-time Tony Award nominee Jan Maxwell, four-time Tony nominee and five-time Emmy nominee Victor Garber, Tony nominees Malcolm Gets, Chad Kimball and Josh Young, five-time Emmy Award winner Doris Roberts and teenage spoken word sensation Noah St. John.

FLASHDANCE, the pop culture phenomenon and runaway international success, is now live on stage! It all started with a dream. To be bigger. To burn brighter. To dance harder. Now is the time to live the dream all over again. Based on the movie that defined a generation, FLASHDANCE - The Musical tells the unforgettable story of Alex, a working-class girl from Pittsburgh striving to make her dreams of becoming a professional dancer a reality.

Horse Trade Theater Group (Heidi Grumelot, Artistic Director, Erez Ziv, Executive Director) and Less Than Rent Theatre will present the World Premiere of WORDS, RAZORS, AND THE WOUNDED HEART by James Presson. The production will be directed by Jake Ahlquist (Fringe Excellence Award Winner '10) and star Sean Patrick Monahan (Charles Busch's Time Square Angel) and Emma March Barash (Stop the Virgins at St. Anne's Warehouse). The show will also feature Dean Acree (New York Dream at The Pearl), Cory Asinofsky (Puppet Hamlet), Amanda Brooklyn (HBO's Girls), Ben Diserens (the upcoming Wolf of Wall Street), Patrick Dooley, Jenna Grossano, Jackie Hansen, Jacob Presson, Tom Sanchez (Independents), and RJ Vaillancourt (Healthy Start by Gilad Cohen). Designs will feature sets by Grace Laubacher (Convergence at soloNOVA), lights by Gary Slootskiy (Independents), and costumes by Samantha Jacobsen.

The London production of Once will open at the Phoenix Theatre on 9 April, with previews from 16 March 2013 and is currently booking to 30 November 2013.

Currently in its 23rd season, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra (ACO) proudly announces the release of the orchestra's first ever CD on the Artek label under the baton of Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Stewart Robertson. In a nod to the orchestra's core repertory of late 18th and 19th century works, the recording comprises works by Robert Schumann, considered one of, if not the, greatest composers of the Romantic era. The CD opens with the lyrical gem, Hermann and Dorothea Op 136, based on Goethe's epic poem about the fate of two young lovers, followed by the Overture Scherzo and Finale, Op. 52 (second version without trombones), a symphony in all but name. The last work on the recording is the composer's sole violin concerto, the Violin Concerto in D minor, Woo1, written for the 19th century violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim, and performed on the recording by the distinguished violinist Elmar Oliveira.

The Academy of The Company Theatre (ACT) presents Disney's The Little Mermaid Jr., on March 15, 16 and 17 at The Company Theatre Centre for the Arts, 30 Accord Park Drive, Norwell, MA, directed by Zoe Bradford and Jordie Saucerman, with choreography by Sally Ashton Forest and assistant direction/choreography by Corinne Mason.

Clawhammer banjo player, composer and singer ABIGAIL WASHBURN will debut POST-AMERICAN GIRL at Joe's Pub at The Public March 28 - 30 as part of NEW YORK VOICES, the popular commission series designed to help musicians make the leap from songwriting and performance to theatrical production. Washburn's new stage piece is about an American girl coming-of-age in a swiftly changing global order. It features folk arts of China and Appalachia in shadow puppetry, sacred harp song, traditional music as well as new compositions. Tickets go on-sale today, February 28 at http://www.joespub.com/.

Street, a new video by artist James Nares, will have its New York premiere as the centerpiece of an exhibition by the same name at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from March 5 through May 27, 2013. A recent acquisition of the Museum, the mesmerizing 61-minute high-definition video-which was shot on the streets of Manhattan over the course of a week in September 2011-will be shown continuously on a large screen in the central gallery of the Museum's Drawings, Prints, and Photographs Galleries. The exhibition Street will also include 60 works of art-selected by the artist from the Met's encyclopedic collections-that situate his video in relation to earlier works that capture the spirit of the street.

Dane Cook has been tapped to voice the lead character Dusty, a plane with high hopes in "Disney's Planes." Inspired by the world of "Cars" and directed by Disneytoon Studios veteran and aviation enthusiast Klay Hall ("King of the Hill," "The Simpsons"), "Disney's Planes" is an action-packed 3D animated comedy adventure about Dusty's dream of competing as a high-flying air racer-and his decidedly unfortunate fear of heights. The film takes off in theaters in 3D on Aug. 9, 2013.

Country music superstars Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift and chart-topping R&B artist Ne-Yo are the first performers to be added to the all-star lineup scheduled to perform at the ACM PRESENTS: TIM McGRAW'S SUPERSTAR SUMMER NIGHT, taping Monday, April 8 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The special will be broadcast at a later date on the CBS Television Network.

Strange Sun Theater - under the direction of co-Artistic Directors Jessica Bashline and Evan Mueller - will present as its inaugural production the US premiere of the multi-award winning play THE DROWNING GIRLS by Beth Graham, Daniela Vlaskalic & Charlie Tomlinson, with preview performances beginning March 15 prior to an official press opening of March 18 at Walkerspace (46 Walker Street) in Manhattan.

59E59 Theaters will welcome the US premiere of THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME, written by Neil Bartlett and Jessica Walker, and directed by Mr. Bartlett to Brits Off Broadway. THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME begins performances on Tuesday, April 30 for a limited engagement through Sunday, May 19. Press opening is Sunday, May 5 at 7:30 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM & 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM & 7:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.

Beginning in May, The Cherry Orchard Festival Foundation will hold its inaugural International Arts Festival in New York City. The Festival's mission is to introduce and promote global cultural activity and exchange of ideas, aiming to enlighten and engage audiences through performing and visual arts, educational programs and events. Tickets for each of the festival's shows are available at ticket box offices and at www.cherryorchardfestival.org. Group tickets, student discounts, VIP tickets and festival subscription packages are available by calling Festival's office at 1.800.349.0021 or e-mailing info@cherryorchardfestival.org.

Pumpkin Theatre continues our 45th Anniversary Season "A Celebration of Imagination" with Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz.

Playwright Donald Margulies has been quoted as calling his Pulitzer Prize-winning play DINNER WITH FRIENDS "a rueful comedy". The story is not just a thoughtful study on divorce, but a turbulent meditation on the minefield of middle age. Happily married Gabe and Karen have been friends with Tom and Beth for many years. While having dinner with Gabe and Karen, Beth tearfully reveals that she is getting a divorce. Over the course of the play, we witness the effects of Tom and Beth's breakup on Gabe and Karen, who first feel compelled to choose sides, and then begin to question the strength of their own seemingly tranquil marriage. The play exposes the same, universal insecurities that people face every time there are shattering changes in their lives. Margulies' characters are normal and real, they are our family, friends, and the people next door.

Building on the numerous sold out performances of their ambitious holiday musical 'James Joyce's The Dead', Quotidian Theatre Company follows their large-ensemble bestseller with a production of Lee Blessing's intimate two-man play 'A Walk in the Woods'. The charming, thought-provoking, politically-infused serio-comedy will run March 15 - April 14 at The Writer's Center in downtown Bethesda, MD.

Abingdon Theatre Company continues its 20th Anniversary Season with the Off-Broadway premiere of Robert Brustein's THE LAST WILL, the final installment of his trilogy examining the life of William Shakespeare, with previews set to begin April 5, prior to its official opening on April 17 in the June Havoc Theatre (312 West 36th Street). OBIE Award-winning director Austin Pendleton, who helmed WAR IN PARAMUS at Abingdon, directs.

Due to overwhelming demand, the producers of SILENCE! The Musical today put a new block of seats on sale through May 26th.

The York Theatre Company continues the Winter 2013 Musicals in Mufti Series with Hollywood Pinafore, with book & lyrics by George S. Kaufman and music by Sir Arthur Sullivan. Hollywood Pinafore was originally produced in 1945. Directed by Mark Kaufmann and with music direction by Beth Falcone, the cast features Susan Blommaert, Claybourne Elder, Jennifer Evans, Sara Jean Ford, Tom Galantich, Julie Kotarides, Dennis Parlato, Andrew Ragone, Kilty Reidy, Danny Rutigliano and Mary Stout.

Signature Theatre has announced a one-week extension for THE MOUND BUILDERS written by Lanford Wilson and directed by Jo Bonney. The production will now play through Sunday, April 14. The production is currently in previews and will open March 17 in The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues). Tickets during the extension week are $75 each.