Leslie Fazin - Page 10

The return of 'PERFECT HARMONY,' a hit of the 2006 New York International Fringe Festival and a 2008 sold-out summer run on Theatre Row is now back on track after a dispute between the theatre manager at 45 Bleecker Theatres (the show's recent home) and the space's landlord resulted in a closing of that complex on October 13. Theatre Row General Manager Erika Feldman came to the show's rescue and offered the production a new home - The Acorn Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street (between 9th and 10th Avenues) in the Theatre Row complex. 'PERFECT HARMONY' is conceived and directed by Andrew Grosso, and written by Grosso and The Essentials. Performances resume at The Acorn on Thursday, October 21 and the official opening performance is set for Wednesday, October 27 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets for the Off Broadway run are available through Telecharge at 212-239-6200 or www.telecharge.com, and on sale through November 13, 2010. (The producers are planning to move the show to another space following this run at The Acorn.)

Four of musical theater's brightest talents offer behind-the-scenes tales and the magical music of a true legend in Broadway Up Close and Personal: A Tribute to Cy Coleman. Beloved songs from Cy Coleman's award-winning shows including Sweet Charity, City of Angels and The Will Rogers Follies and songs such as 'Witchcraft' and 'The Best is Yet to Come' will be performed at the Orange County Performing Arts Center December 9 - 12 in this heartfelt and personal tribute to the life and incredible work of this great American artist. The show features Tony-winning lyricist David Zippel, who collaborated with Coleman on City of Angels; Center favorite Jason Graae, whose special way around a song has taken him to the Metropolitan Opera, the Hollywood Bowl, Birdland and the Rainbow Room; Jenifer Lewis, who has starred in numerous Broadway productions as well as movies and television and the multi-talented Tami Tappan Damiano, who has appeared on stages all over the world.

Sir Colin Davis will lead the New York Philharmonic in Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 and Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn, featuring Dorothea Röschmann in her Philharmonic debut, and tenor Ian Bostridge, Thursday, December 2, 2010, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, December 4, at 8:00 p.m., and Tuesday, December 7, at 7:30 p.m. This program is part of a season-long focus honoring the 150th anniversary of Mahler's birth and the 100th anniversary of his death and last season as music director of the Philharmonic. For more information, go to nyphil.org/mahler.

One of the best shows to go on tour in Ireland will make its way to Roscommon Arts Centre next Friday 12th November, featuring Frank McNamara and his talented family. Not unlike the Von Trapp Family, the hugely musically talented McNamara Family are touring the theatres of Ireland to great acclaim. Frank McNamara late of the Late Late Show and a world class pianist is performing with his children - Twins Frankie and Quincy (14) play guitar, piano and sing; JJ (11) who was featured on the Late Late Show with his father earlier this year, is a child prodigy pianist and plays a number of pieces with consummate ease, that most accomplished adult pianists would find difficult. Daughter Charlotte (9) will also sing.

Emmy nominee John Slattery (Mad Men, Rabbit Hole) will star opposite Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City, Rabbit Hole) in a one-night only play reading of the quirky comedy, Hate Mail, to benefit Opening Act, an innovative nonprofit that provides free after-school theater programs to New York City's most under-served public high schools. Nixon and Slattery reunite after their performances in the award-winning Broadway show, Rabbit Hole.

Performing Arts Fort Worth proudly welcomes Lyle Lovett and His Large Band back to Bass Performance Hall on Saturday and Sunday, November 13-14, 2010, at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $44-$77 and are on sale NOW! A four-time Grammy®-winner, Lyle Lovett creates songs and albums that consistently incorporate nearly every faction of Texas music, from roadhouse country to front porch folk to Saturday night blues to Sunday morning gospel. Over the course of a career that has spanned more than two decades, he has not only built a foundation of unwaveringly loyal fans, he has been a major influence on the shape and sound of Texas music.

EarthCam, the world's premium webcam network, is proud to announce that a giant panda at Zoo Atlanta has given birth to her third cub, the only panda birth at a U.S. zoo so far this year. A live streaming webcam, EarthCam's exclusive 'PandaCam' is on line live daily from 10 am ET until 5 pm ET at the zoo's panda habitat.

Based on the timeless film, White Christmas, this heartwarming musical features seventeen of Irving Berlin's most beloved songs in historic Charles Town's Old Opera House throughout the month of December. Veterans Bob Wallace and Phil Davis have a successful song-and-dance act after World War II. With romance in mind, the two follow a duo of beautiful singing sisters en route to their Christmas show at a Vermont ski lodge, which just happens to be owned by Bob and Phil's former army commander. They arrive to find that it has not snowed all season and there is plenty of room at the Inn. In an effort to save the Inn and their former commander, Bob and Phil bring their entire show to the Inn for the Christmas holidays. The dazzling score features well known standards including Blue Skies, I Love A Piano, How Deep Is the Ocean and the perennial favorite, White Christmas.

The producers of London's DIRTY DANCING - The Classic Story on Stage, which has been playing at the Aldwych Theatre since 2006, have announced the show's first UK tour, due to high demand for performances in neighboring cities.

Dallas Theater Center and Goodman Theatre proudly present the world premiere of The Trinity River Plays, written by Oak Cliff native Regina Taylor, directed by Ethan McSweeny.

Anna Netrebko reprises her celebrated portrayal of Norina, the irresistible and clever romantic heroine of Don Pasquale, in a revival of Donizetti's comic opera that begins performances Friday, October 29. James Levine, in his first-ever performances of this opera, will conduct a cast that also features Matthew Polenzani as the lovelorn Ernesto, Mariusz Kwiecien as the duplicitous Dr. Malatesta, and John Del Carlo as the title character. Renowned Austrian director Otto Schenk will return to the Met to direct the first revival of his production, which The New York Times praised as 'wonderful' and 'insightful' when it premiered in 2006.

Pablo Heras-Casado returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in three performances, Friday, November 5, at 11 a.m.; Saturday, November 6, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, November 7, at 2 p.m. Acclaimed pianist Peter Serkin performs Stravinsky's Concerto for Piano and Winds as well as riverrun, which was written by Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu for Serkin and the LA Phil in 1984. The program also features Debussy's Jeux and Stravinsky's popular Suite from The Firebird.

The Library of Congress honored baritone Thomas Hampson with its Living Legend medal during a concert on Thursday, October 28, in the Library's Coolidge Auditorium. Hampson, with pianist Wolfram Rieger, celebrated the birth anniversaries of Samuel Barber and Gustav Mahler, as well as offering a selection of American favorites.

In December 2010, The New York Philharmonic This Week - the two-hour, national, weekly radio program of concerts by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by actor Alec Baldwin - begins with conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos leading the Orchestra in Glinka's Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila; Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, with Leonidas Kavakos as soloist; Debussy's Nocturnes, with the Women of the New York Choral Artists; and Stravinsky's 1919 Suite from The Firebird.

Gotham Chamber Opera, Music-Theatre Group and the Opera Company of Philadelphia announced the commission of a new American opera, DARK SISTERS, composed by Nico Muhly with libretto by Stephen Karam, conducted by Neal Goren, and directed by Rebecca Taichman at The Chelsea Art Museum on Thursday, October 28. The three organizations have co-commissioned and will co-produce the opera, which will have its World Premiere in November 2011 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, 899 Tenth Avenue, NYC, one of the first works to be presented at the Theater following the creation of a new lobby at the space. The cast will be headed by Caitlin Lynch and Kevin Burdette, with Kristina Bachrach, Jennifer Check, Eve Gigliotti, Brenda Harris, and Jennifer Zetlan. Dark Sisters will also be presented in June 2012 as part of the Opera Company of Philadelphia's chamber opera series at the Perelman Theater.

Scott Foley (THE VIOLENT HOUR, THE CHERRY ORCHARD) has been cast in a major recurring role on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, according to EW.com. Foley, who has guest-starred on NBC's Scrubs and ABC's Cougar Town, will join the cast as a potential love interest for Kim Raver's Dr. Teddy Altman

The record-breaking, Tony Award-winning, international musical smash CHICAGO will usher in the holiday season as it celebrates its 14th anniversary on the Great White Way. CHICAGO, which opened to rave reviews on November 14, 1996, now has the distinction of being the second longest-running production currently playing on Broadway, the sixth longest-running production in Broadway history, and Broadway's longest-running musical revival...and it shows no sign of slowing down.

Atlantic Theater Company (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Jeffory Lawson, Managing Director) is proud to announce that Atlantic Theater Company members Larry Bryggman and Matt McGrath and guest artists Lisa Emery, Rebecca Henderson and Darren Pettie will star in its first main stage production of the 2010-2011 season, THE COLLECTION & A KIND OF ALASKA: TWO PLAYS BY Harold Pinter, directed by Atlantic founding member Karen Kohlhaas. THE COLLECTION AND A KIND OF ALASKA will begin previews Wednesday, November 3; officially open Monday, November 22; and play a limited engagement through Sunday, December 12 Off-Broadway at Classic Stage Company (136 East 13th Street) while its main stage Linda Gross Theater undergoes renovation.

A little bit burlesque, a little bit farce and a whole lot funny, Mark Twain's Is He Dead? will be performed by Deep Dish Theater Company now until November 13. This witty satire, adapted by David Ives and directed by Marc Williams, continues the company's tenth season at University Mall.

In THE NANJING RACE, Philip (Marcus Ho), a gay Japanese-American businessman, visits Nanjing China in 1988. Yu Ahn (Ian Wen), a hotel 'floor-boy' befriends Philip in the hope of being sponsored to go to America. But it is Bao (James Chen), another floor-boy, who intrigues Philip. Trapped in their social and racial identities, the three men struggle to come to terms with their desires and prejudices. THE NANJING RACE depicts an intimate culture-clash at an intriguing moment in recent Chinese history.