Review Roundups - Page 94

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, February 6, 2011 - Sunday, February 6, 2011.

The startling new musical Next to Normal, winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, launched a national tour at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre on November 23. The production plays San Francisco's Curran Theatre January 25-February 20.

The Writers Guild of America, West and the Writers Guild of America, East have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in television, news, radio, promotional writing, and graphic animation during the 2010 season to be honored at the 2011 Writers Guild Awards on February 5, 2011, in Los Angeles and New York.

The Manhattan Theatre Club New York premiere of THE WHIPPING MAN, the acclaimed new play by Matthew Lopez, directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes, announced today that due to popular demand, the limited engagement has been extended again with tickets now on sale through Sunday, March 27. This marks the second extension for THE WHIPPING MAN as the show prepares to open today, Tuesday February 1, at MTC at New York City Center-Stage I (131 West 55th Street).

The national tour of the Broadway hit 9 TO 5 features a stellar cast of Dee Hoty (Violet), Diana DeGarmo (Doralee Rhodes) and Mamie Paris (Judy). 9 to 5: The Musical is a new musical comedy, based on the hit movie, that features Dolly Parton's original hit title song along with her new Tony Award® and Grammy-nominated score. 9 to 5: The Musical was nominated for four 2009 Tony Awards® including Original Score and received a record breaking 15 Drama Desk nominations including Outstanding Musical.

The Public Theater's new Tony-winning production of HAIR is now on tour, currently playing the Pantages Theatre.

The startling new musical Next to Normal, winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, launched a national tour at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre on November 23. The show moved on to Denver on January 4, where it is currently playing at Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

Roundabout Theatre Company presents the new Broadway production of Oscar Wilde's comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by and starring Brian Bedford as 'Lady Bracknell,' at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway (227 West 42nd St.).

An unflinching and darkly comic depiction of life in blue collar Connecticut, Blood From A Stone zeroes in on a working class family wrestling to keep it together as day-to-day struggles exert their squeeze. When Travis pays a visit to his parents' home, he finds an already volatile household imploding and his close-knit but deeply conflicted family teetering on the brink.

Count Dracula, the world's most famous vampire, returns to the New York stage this fall in DRACULA by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, based on the eponymous novel by Bram Stoker, opened January 5 at the Little Shubert Theatre (442 West 42nd Street). Paul Alexander directs the production, which began previews December 14. Based on the world-famous novel by Bram Stoker, DRACULA is the classic Gothic drama about the power of seduction and the nature of true love.

After Love Never Dies' hiatus last month and its subsequent reopening, the theatre critics returned to the Adelphi this week to give their official verdict on the changes to the show.

Donny & Marie - A Broadway Christmas, a new holiday production starring America's favorite sibling entertainers, has extended for two performances, now ending on January 2, 2010. The production had been once extended through December 30, 2010. Productions on December 31 and January 2nd have now been added due to demand.

Now, it's also been picked by the paper amongst the The 10 Best Books of 2010, which honor 5 fiction, and 5 non-fiction titles. About the book, the noted Book Review section writes 'The theater's pre-eminent living songwriter offers a master class in how to write a musical, covering some of the greatest shows, from 'West Side Story' to 'Sweeney Todd.' Sondheim's analysis of his and others' lyrics is insightful and candid, and his anecdotes are telling and often very funny.'

The Writers Guild of America, West and the Writers Guild of America, East have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in television, news, radio, promotional writing, and graphic animation during the 2010 season to be honored at the 2011 Writers Guild Awards on February 5, 2011, in Los Angeles and New York.

There is much speculation about the Arena Stage production of OKLAHOMA! making a transfer to the Great White Way in spring of 2011. Arena Stage begins a new life in its renovated home at the Mead Center for American Theater in Southwest D.C., opening its inaugural season with a classic American musical that similarly embraces life on a new frontier. Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! is the first production at the Mead Center and features an all-star cast under the direction of Artistic Director Molly Smith. Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! runs October 22-December 26, 2010 in the Fichandler Stage.

Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim's new book 'Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes' was released on October 26, 2010. The book, which debuted at #11 on the New York Times Book Review Bestseller list, has now made the paper's 100 Notable Books of 2010 list. They write 'Sondheim's analysis of his songs and those of others is both stinging and insightful.'

[title of show] is a musical comedy for anyone who has followed a dream. When two struggling writers make a commitment to write something new in three weeks, they quickly find that writing a comedy about the process of writing was more interesting than anything else they could write!

The Invisible Man opened on 24 November and is booking until 13 February 2011. Illusions are by Paul Kieve, with set designs by Paul Farnsworth, costume designs by Matthew Wright, lighting by Jason Taylor, music by Steve Edis, sound by Gareth Owen and choreography by Sam Spencer-Lane.

The Break of Noon is Neil LaBute's seventh collaboration with MCC Theater as Playwright-in-Residence, following the 2009 Tony Award-nominated Best Play, Reasons to be Pretty. Renowned for his darkly-comic morality plays (The Shape of Things, In a Dark Dark House), he teams up again with longtime collaborator, director Jo Bonney (Some Girl(s), Fat Pig), for this exploration of the daunting, sometimes harrowing process of 'finding religion.' David Duchovny ('Californication,' 'The X-Files') stars as John Smith, a man who, amidst the chaos and horror of the worst office shooting in American history, sees the face of God. His modern-day revelation creates a maelstrom of disbelief among everyone he knows. A newcomer to faith, John urgently searches for a modern response to the age-old question: at what cost salvation?

Asolo Repertory Theatre's production of Bonnie & Clyde opened on November 19. Bonnie and Clyde is a thrilling new musical with book by Ivan Menchell (The Cemetery Club, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang); music by Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel); lyrics by Tony Award-winner Don Black (Sunset Boulevard, Song and Dance); Music Supervision, Arrangements and Orchestrations by John McDaniel; and direction and musical staging by Tony Award- winner Jeff Calhoun (Deaf West's Big River and Pippin, Grease!).