Melanie Votaw is a dancer/singer/actress who studied ballet, tap, jazz, modern, and character dance for nearly 20 years. Her teacher was one of the fastest tap dancers in the world in the 1930s. In addition to performing in cabaret, musical theater, and Shakespeare, Melanie has taught dance and choreographed solo pieces and musicals. As a writer, she has reviewed dance, theater, film, and television. She has also interviewed stars like Patrick Stewart, Linda Lavin, Sutton Foster, Raul Esparza, Leslie Odom, Jr., Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Norbert Leo Butz, Glenn Slater, and Andrew Lippa. She has authored or ghostwritten a total of 34 non-fiction books, and she has published fiction, poetry, and photography. Melanie holds a B.A. in English literature.
In the one-man play currently at Soho Playhouse, BRIGHT COLORS AND BOLD PATTERNS, writer and actor Drew Droege brings 80 minutes of classic gay snark, directed by Michael Urie. Droege's character, Gerry, has just arrived in Palm Springs for a same-sex wedding. The title refers to a directive on the invitation that guests refrain from wearing bright colors or bold patterns. Gerry is incensed by this, feeling it's utterly anti-gay to be so 'beige.'
Step Afrika!'s latest show at The New Victory Theater, THE MIGRATION: REFLECTIONS ON JACOB LAWRENCE, is an exciting and moving chronicle of the migration of Africans from their villages to the American south and then to more northern cities like Chicago in the 1920s.
At the National Dance Institute (NDI) headquarters in Harlem Monday night, October 16, 2017, Glenn Close, Norm Lewis, Charlotte d'Amboise, Robert Fairchild, and NDI's young students gave a special benefit performance titled, SONGS I'VE SUNG ON BROADWAY...AND ONE I WISH I HAD.
The latest collaboration between Princess Cruises and Stephen Schwartz is called BORN TO DANCE. On October 7, 2017, press and friends of the creators were treated to a special performance of the show aboard the Regal Princess while ported at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.
While the new musical MONEY TALKS isn't of Broadway caliber, there's a lot to like about both the book by Tony-nominated Peter Kellogg (ANNA KARENINA) and the score by Kellogg and David Friedman.
Tony Waag and the American Tap Dance Foundation, Inc. presented a program to Duke Ellington music at Jazz at Lincoln Center's The Appel Room on Friday, July 14, 2017.
TEREZIN, a tragic play written and directed by Nicholas Tolkien, the great-grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien, who wrote THE LORD OF THE RINGS series, is currently being produced by The Steinberg Theater Group at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theatre.
Former Rockette Mary Six Rupert hosted, directed and choreographed LEGACY 36 CELEBRATES THE STARS at Columbia University's Miller Theater in New York on Saturday, June 3, 2017. The event honored the Rockettes, as well as Violet Holmes Treimanis, who was director / choreographer for the Rockettes from 1972-1993.
At the beginning of ON ONE CONDITION running through May 26, 2017 at Soho Playhouse, actor Dan Daw arrives on stage in his underwear. He then proceeds to dress himself as we watch. As someone with cerebral palsy, getting dressed is a painstaking process. Immediately, Daw takes us into his world and gives us a little taste of what it's like to be him.
Broadway lyricist Glenn Slater speaks with BWW about the much-anticipated release of the full music CD set from GALAVANT, the CD signing for A BRONX TALE, BEATSVILLE, and what it's really like to write for musical theater.
ANGRY YOUNG MAN, a British play by Ben Woolf, is both entertaining and puzzling. Yuri, a surgeon from a country that isn't disclosed, arrives in London a day ahead of an interview. Since he doesn't realize how far central London is from Stansted Airport, the taxi ride takes almost all of his money, and he finds himself sitting in a park, talking to the ducks.
In the one-woman show TURNING PAGE, Angelica Page takes on perhaps the role of her career - that of her real-life mother, Geraldine Page, who was theater, Hollywood and Actors Studio royalty. A daunting role, to be sure. Angelica says at the top of the piece that her mother asked her to see that her story was told. Eventually, Angelica decided to "channel" her mother in this way to keep the iconic actress' legacy alive.
Pulitzer Prize finalist Theresa Rebeck's 2011 feminist play, WHAT WE'RE UP AGAINST, is set in an architectural firm, but I'm sure as a female playwright, she brought firsthand knowledge of what it's like to be a woman in a male-dominated profession. This satirical play, currently produced by Life Force Arts, Inc. at the June Havoc Theatre, is timely as we watch the historic battle of the sexes between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
It comes as no surprise that Judd Apatow is a good judge of quality entertainment. Along with Mike Berkowitz and Brian Stern, he's currently presenting Chris Gethard's one-man show, CAREER SUICIDE, at the Lynn Redgrave Theater, playing through Nov. 27.
According to Artistic Director/Producer Tony Waag, Tap Treasures Showcase "reinvestigates and revisits eight historic locations in Manhattan that contributed to the evolution of tap dance." The hour-long show was performed at The Duke on 42nd Street on Thursday, July 14, 2016.
BWW Review: DANCEAFRICA 2016 Brings Color and Poignancy to BAM with SENEGAL: DOORS OF ANCIENT FUTURES
The two-time Tony-winner updates fans on his two television series and his New York cabaret comeback.
Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana premiered the company's show, "Voces de Andalucia," at the Brooklyn Academy of Music May 3, 2016. The contemporary program paid tribute to Pablo Picasso and Federico Garcia Lorca.
Rhythm in Motion, which was held at Theater at the 14th Street Y in Manhattan, featured the work of artists in residence under Artistic/Executive Director of ATDF, Tony Waag.
New York City Center hosts Flamenco Festival performances every year, and this 13th season included an evening with Compañia Manuel Liñan in their New York debut. Six dancers, three singers and two guitarists led by dancer/choreographer Manuel Liñan performed 'Nomada.'
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