Mark Valdez - Page 10

WBEZ Chicago's hit radio show THIS AMERICAN LIFE comes to the big screen at Middlebury's Town Hall Theater on Thursday, May 10. Host Ira Glass and popular contributors present their usual stories but also dance, animation, video and more.

Beginning in July 2012, the Alley Theatre will produce Agatha Christie's BLACK COFFEE during its popular ExxonMobil Summer Chills series. Under the direction of Gregory Boyd, the Alley's resident company of actors will bring to life the cast of characters, including the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, in Agatha Christie's BLACK COFFEE.

Recent Vermont Battle of the Band winners, The Grift, is set to perform the music of Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Marvelettes, Elvis and more. The audience is invited to sit and listen or enjoy the large dance floor at Middlebury's Town Hall Theater, Friday, May 4 at 8:00 pm.

Kenny Loggins brings his library of hit songs to Crown Center for a Friday Night Concert on August 3. The show starts at 8 p.m. and is held rain or shine. Admission is $5 and all seating is general admission.

The Growing Stage, the Children's Theatre of New Jersey, located in the Historic Palace Theater on Route 183 in Netcong, New Jersey is set to present the New Jersey Premiere of DIARY OF A WORM, A SPIDER AND A FLY from April 27th to May 20th with performances Saturday and Sunday matinees at 4:00PM and a special opening night performance on Friday, April 27th at 7:30PM. Book, music and lyrics by Joan Cushing and based on the books by Doreen Cronin and illustrations byHarry Bliss. DIARY OF A WORM, A SPIDER & A FLY is directed by TGS Director of Educational Programming Lori Lawrence with choreography by Jillian Petrie and musical direction by Laura Petrie.

The trio, Jessica 6, which was formed by Nomi Ruiz, Andrew Raposo and Morgan Wiley, will be making a special appearance at XL Nightclub's Rockit Fridays on April 27th. After releasing their debut record, "See The Light" last year, the video for their first single, "White Horse" premiered on PerezHilton.com and their second video for "Prisoner of Love" featuring Anthony premiered on Pitchfork.com.

On Sunday, May 20 and Monday, May 21, 2012 at 8pm American Opera Projects (AOP) will present COMPOSERS & THE VOICE: FIRST GLIMPSE 2012, the first public presentation of compositions developed during this season's Composers & the Voice program. Audiences will hear songs written by five emerging composers - Sidney Marquez Boquiren, Mikael Karlsson, Robert Paterson, Rachel Peters, and Ronnie Reshef - and one composer/librettist team, Zach Redler and Sara Cooper, who were chosen by AOP to spend a year creating new works focusing on the operatic voice. The performances will be held at South Oxford Space in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, the home of AOP. Tickets are $15 general admission, $10 for students/seniors and are available at www.operaprojects.org.

Musicals Tonight will be presenting Cole Porter's SOMETHING FOR THE BOYS May 1-13 at The Lion Theatre (410 West 42nd Street). Tickets are $25 at the Box Office or from Telecharge at (212)239-6200 or telecharge.com.

Keigwin + Company (K+C) returns to The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, NYC, for its annual weeklong season including the World Premieres of two new dances on June 12- 17, 2012. Performances: Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30pm; Thursday through Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 2pm & 7:30pm. Tickets are $10-$49 and can be purchased at JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800 or joyce.org. Prices subject to change.

Soprano Teresa Wakim will be making her Handel and Haydn Society (H&H) Symphony Hall debut as a featured soloist with Mozart Coronation, H&H's final program of the 2011-2012 Season. Wakim, a member of the H&H professional chorus since 2003, will be stepping in to replace scheduled guest Rosemary Joshua, who has withdrawn from her appearance due to personal reasons. Performing with Wakim is tenor Thomas Cooley, who returns to H&H in Mozart Coronation after most recently performing in Mozart Mass in C Minor in 2010; he can be heard on H&H's recording of the work, released on CORO. Soloists also include mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy and Boston-based baritone Sumner Thompson, who both return toH&H after having performed as members of the H&H Chorus as well as guest soloists. Murrihy most recently appeared in Handel's Messiah in 2008, and Thompson was heard last season in The Bach Experience.

After raising L.A.'s cultural pulse with new productions attracting critical acclaim, The Eli & Edythe Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center had unveiled its vision for the future and announced its 5th Anniversary Season beginning on September 1, 2012 with the Brazilian jazz singer Luciana Souza. Highlights of the expanded season include world premieres from today's most relevant companies and artists in dance, theater, and music from around the world; artistic partnerships with London's Menier Chocolate Factory, the Los Angeles Opera, and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre; the 4th Annual Westside Jazz Experience featuring stars such as Pat Metheny, Rickie Lee Jones, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds; a return of family programs including a hit from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival; and artists direct from Brazil, Cuba, Europe, and across the U.S.

April 22, 2012 marks the centenary of one of the finest and most beloved singers of the 20th century - the English contralto, Kathleen Ferrier. Her international career lasted just eight years, from 1946 until her untimely death in 1953 from cancer at the age of 41, but her unparalleled artistry still has an impact today. Decca Classics, the label that recorded so much of her output during her short career, celebrates her centenary with a collection of releases and a new documentary.

Polarity Ensemble Theatre in association with Azusa Productions presents ADRIFT, a new play by David Alex, directed by Maggie Speer, playing July 26 - August 26, 2012 at the Greenhouse Theater Center Upstairs Studio, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. ADRIFT features James Eldrenkamp, Colin Fewell, Gary Murphy and Eric Swanson. Tickets for ADRIFT are available by calling the Greenhouse Theater Center Box Office at (773) 404-7336 or online at www.greenhousetheater.org.

The Dallas Opera, in partnership with Cowboys Stadium, has entered world record territory: more than 30,500 tickets to the Dallas Opera's one-night-only April 28th Dallas Opera Cowboys Stadium Simulcast, presented by The Dallas Foundation, have been requested by opera lovers from throughout Texas and 26 additional states. Ticket requests have also come in from the District of Columbia and Canada since the joint announcement was made on January 26th at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Tacoma Musical Playhouse has announced the 19th season of musical theater in Tacoma. The 2012-2013 season will include six Broadway-style musicals on the TMP Mainstage and three family-friendly productions from the Tacoma Children's Musical Theater.

Canadian Stage today announced a programming change for the upcoming 2012-13 25th anniversary season. The company's second internationally-focused spotlight festival, SPOTLIGHT JAPAN, featuring work from some of Japan's leading contemporary artists, will span one week rather than two.

Planet Connections and Ego Actus present SAFE by Penny Jackson, directed by Joan Kane in the 2012 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. Nina Foster's mom is in rehab for alcoholism, her father goes on endless business trips, she hates high school and Liz, her anorexic best friend, wants to kidnap her baby niece. What else can she do but go to meet a dangerous man? SAFE is about trying to find your way in a scary world. In keeping with the social conscious values of Planet Connections this production is in support of the National Eating Disorders Association.

LP is currently hard at work recording her debut album for Warner Bros. Records and doing shows in-between sessions. As previously announced, her debut 5-song CD + DVD package, titled Into The Wild: Live At EastWest Studios, will be released on April 24th, and fans can see her national TV debut the following night, April 25th, on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live. LP has also created a cover of Beyoncé's 'Halo.'

Over the next four weeks, Paper Mill Playhouse will launch five, short video interviews with ONCE ON THIS ISLAND composer, Stephen Flaherty.

Columnist Liz Smith, composer and conductor Marvin Hamlisch, choreographer George Faison, and jazz artist Annie Ross are among the presenters appearing at the 27th Annual Bistro Awards on Monday April 23 at 6:30pm at Gotham Comedy Club in New York, 208 West 23rd Street.