Noelle Hannibal - Page 2

Exhilarating. Feral. Thoughtful. These are just a few choice words from The Guardian's five-star review of Rachel Bloom's recent London show. Bloom will be bringing that energy on stage for a five-night run of What Am I Going To Do With My Life Now? at this years' Just For Laughs Festival.

'...There was a city called Berlin in a country called Germany and it was the end of the world...' The Cote Saint-Luc Dramatic Society has another hit on their hands with a perfectly marvelous production of CABARET. The show is both highly entertaining and brutally tragic; sadly fitting to the world we currently find ourselves living in.

Montreal theatre fans, take a memo: WISTA's upcoming production, 9 to 5 The Musical is headed to the West Island. The show will run for 6 performances from June 7, 8, 13, 14 and 15 at 7:30 PM, as well as June 15 at 1:30 PM at the Louise Chalmers Theatre (501 Boulevard St. Jeans, Pointe-Claire, QC).

Emerging Montreal Theatre Company, Rentrobuff Productions will present its exciting inaugural production of 'tick, tick...BOOM!' from May 15-25, 2019 at the MainLine Theatre. 

Emerging theatre company, Contact Theatre, announces remount of their sold- out, critically acclaimed debut production, BONNIE & CLYDE, September 6 - 8 2019 at the MainLine Theatre.

There's a theory that we are all connected via six degrees or less. This past summer, Full Circle Productions was fortunate to have the opportunity to perform in New York City at the iconic Feinstein's/54 Below with their original cabaret called SIX DEGREES OF BROADWAY SEPARATION. The concept was so well received, it has been evolved and developed into a full two-hour Broadway musical revue that will demonstrate through musical numbers, how five of the leading shows currently on Broadway, are all connected via six degrees or less!

Brand new musical theatre company, Contact Theatre has made it's debut with a bang! Their inaugural production BONNIE & CLYDE opened last night at the MainLine Theatre to a sold out crowd.

Roger and Lynn Neal, Founder and Chairman of the annual Oscar night event, will be hosting, along with their partners Maryanne and Thomas Lai , the 4th Annual ROGER NEAL OSCAR VIEWING DINNER, SUITE AND AFTER PARTY which will take place on Oscar Sunday Feb 24th, 2019 at the World Famous Hollywood Palladium.

Alison Whitehurst was born in Sugar Land, Texas. The daughter of a professional pianist, she was exposed to music at a very early age, tagging along and watching her father play gigs from backstage. She would often sit and experiment with him at the piano and played herself for nine years. After her parents divorce, Whitehurst transferred to a new middle school. Her mother recommended she sign up for a theatre class to help her make friends. She was cast in her first musical in eighth grade, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, and thought to herself, 'wait a second! I'm going to sing AND do this fun new theatre thing at the same time?!' She continued on through high school and never looked back, earning a BFA in Theatre Performance from Texas Christian University. Whitehurst is currently on tour as Cynthia Weil in BEAUTIFUL - THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL. I had the chance to chat with her just prior to the tour's stop in Montreal.

ONCE is a perfect gem of a musical that has found a home at The Segal Centre for Performing Arts. In 2006, writer and director John Carney recruited his long time friend and former bandmate Glen Hansard to write songs for his indie film, which was being produced on a shoestring budget. Due to a series of what could have been perceived as unfortunate events, Hansard took over the male lead opposite Markéta Irglovà, who was also composing songs for the film. The resulting film is both true to life and magical and easily one of the best romantic comedies of a generation. ONCE took home the Audience Award at Sundance before going on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Hansard and Irglovà's Falling Slowly.

Canada's oldest professional black theatre company, Black Theatre Workshop are all set to launch their 48th season this October. The first production of the season is SOUND OF THE BEAST (SOTB), a one-woman show that uses spoken word, story-telling and hip-hop to spit rhymes from the underground and relentlessly challenge poverty, oppression, and bad dancing. SOTB is the latest instalment of writer / star Donna-Michelle St. Bernard's marathon project of writing 54 plays - one for every African nation. This one is inspired by Tunisian emcee Weld-El 15 who was jailed for 2 years in 2013 for his song Boulicia Kleb (The Police Are Dogs). Currently the Artistic Director of New Harlem Productions, Donna-Michelle is a multi-award winning, two-time nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama, and, alongside Black Theatre Workshop is bringing Sound of the Beast to Montreal for the very first time.

Matt Manuel was born and raised in Detroit, MI, 'the heart of Motown.' He got his start as a competitive gymnast. When he was 13, he had to quit gymnastics, which he says broke his heart. His mother convinced him to try a piano lesson while his brother took a voice lesson. The teacher accidentally switched their lessons, which made Manuel realize he could sing. He studied theatre in high school, but once in college, focused more on vocal performance, so he would be classically trained. He was a contestant on season 13 of AMERICAN IDOL, which jump started his career. Since then, he has never stopped working. Manuel plays Marvin Gaye in MOTOWN THE MUSICAL. I had the chance to speak with him while MOTOWN recently had a tour stop in Boston, MA.

Laurie-Anne Jean-Baptiste was born and raised in the West Island area of Montreal. She studied Cinema and Communications at Vanier College and Creative Writing at Concordia. She first delved into theatre in the 6th grade. Discovering how much she enjoyed it, she continued to be involved in theatre through CEGEP. Whenever she got the chance to take a theatre class, she did. She has always loved writing. She started writing stories at the age of 8 and would stay up all night in her teens writing about characters from Young Adult novels. She still writes short stories whenever inspiration strikes. She became very interested in photography in her teens and began to develop her skills in her early 20s with Laurel Grace Photography, her photography company. At that stage, she began taking on clients and shooting events. What she'd love to do is a marriage of writing and photography. 'Photo Fiction,' as she calls it. This month, Laurie-Anne will be performing in JOURNEY TO BROADWAY, with the Lyric Theatre Singers, a group she has been with for 11 years. I had the chance to sit down with Laurie-Anne to discuss her past, future and all things Broadway.

Three-time META Award nominee WISTA will present its tenth full book musical production, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, A New Musical Comedy. This production will run for 6 performances on June 8, 9, 14, 15 and 16 at 7:30 PM, as well as June 9 at 1:30 PM at Riverdale High School (5060 Boulevard des Sources, Pierrefonds, QC).

Sam Boucher was born and raised in Montreal. He developed his passion for musical theatre at a young age, really beginning to focus on it in high school. He studied classical voice for two years at Vanier College, has just finished his first year at Concordia University and next year, he heads off to Sheridan College in Toronto, renowned for its Musical Theatre Program. I had the chance to chat with Sam about his life leading into starring as Joseph is JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT with the Cote St-Luc Dramatic Society.

Three-time META Award nominee WISTA will present its tenth full book musical production, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, A New Musical Comedy. This production will run for 6 performances on June 8, 9, 14, 15 and 16 at 7:30 PM, as well as June 9 at 1:30 PM at Riverdale High School (5060 Boulevard des Sources, Pierrefonds, QC).

Tracy Braunstein's love of theatre began when she was just a child. She recalls early memories of performing ANNIE in the basement and singing 'Big Spender' into a hairbrush around the age of 6. She soon graduated to school plays and immersed herself in community theatre. When she was 17, she got on a bus, with her mom. to take a trip to New York City to see Lea Salonga in her last week of MISS SAIGON.

The McGill Savoy Society opened its new production of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta Iolanthe on February 9, 2018. The show runs for three more performances on Friday, February 16 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, February 17 at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm at Moyse Hall Theatre in the McGill University Arts Building at 555 Sherbrooke Street West.

Broadway Star of HAMILTON, Andrew Chappelle (HAMILTON, MAMMA MIA!, PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT) will hold an exclusive masterclass in Montreal for local performers. Andrew will teach lucky participants a song and dance combo from HAMILTON as well as sharing tricks of the trade for auditioning for musical theatre productions. Enrollment in the masterclass is extremely limited. The class is also open to auditors who can observe and learn from the audience. The masterclass will conclude with a lively Q & A with Andrew where he will share his experiences in this historic, revolutionary and inspiring new American musical phenomenon! The smash hit musical, HAMILTON, which won the Pulitzer Prize, Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album, 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and 8 Drama Desk Awards, including Best Musical, is currently running on Broadway and around the world. 

Brandon Howard Roy was born and raised in Beaconsfield, QC, in the West Island of Montreal. A recent graduate of Sheridan College, just outside Toronto, Roy is making his professional theatre debut in THE HOCKEY SWEATER: A MUSICAL this week at The Segal Centre.