Everything in the Garden 1967

VJM: Thank you both for giving of your time to answer my questions.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard of two Choreographers being hired for the same Broadway show, not even a revival, that I can think of.  How did that come about for both of you? Ellenore Scott:  Funny Girl was my Broadway debut as a choreographer. I was so happy when I got a call from Michael Mayer (the director) asking me to work on this revival with him. He knew I was NOT a tap dancer and was aware of the multiple tap routines in the show and asked if I would be down to share the billing with Ayodele Casel. Ayo is an extraordinary artist so I was thrilled to be by her side as she made her Broadway debut as well. Michael first met me initially at Head Over Heels on Broadway where I was an associate choreographer to Spencer Liff. In 2019, he asked if I would choreograph the Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors and we opened the show October 17th, 2019. I have loved working with Michael and feel as though he keeps his people close and I’m grateful he thought of me for this historic revival. Ayodele Casel:  I met Michael Mayer in 2016 when he directed a New York City Center Encores! show I performed in.  Later that fall he invited me to perform that piece in a Broadway for Hillary fundraiser he was also directing. We'd kept in touch over the years and in 2019, after seeing a show I’d premiered at The Joyce Theater, he asked if I would be interested in providing the Tap choreography for a revival he was working on. Like Ellenore shared, Michael wanted to work with us both to deliver the full choreographic vision of the show. I believe it was a very progressive vision on his part and I’m really thankful that I was able to make my Broadway debut with this team.

Funny Girl is a semi-autobiographical comedic musical about the life and times of comedian and Broadway star Fanny Brice, and her tumultuous relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nick Arnstein. With a musical score by Jules Styne, lyrics by Bob Merill, and featuring a book by Isobel Lennart, Funny Girl first opened on Broadway in 1964 featuring Barbara Streisand in the starring role, and was produced by Fanny’s own son-in-law Ray Stark. The first Broadway production received 8 Tony Nominations at the 18th Annual Awards Ceremony, and the OBC (Original Broadway Cast) Recording was inducted into the Grammy’s Hall of Fame in 2004.

Wiltshire Creative has announced their Spring 2024 programme. Building on their recent in-house productions at Salisbury Playhouse, which include The Girl on the Train and Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, Wiltshire Creative's programme for next spring includes three new in-house productions.  

Whenever we prepare to see an older musical, there is a fear that it will be outdated and difficult to watch.  Funny Girl has no such problems, as the message of self acceptance still stands up well today. It is the story of a Jewish girl's rise to fame, despite her homely looks, doing everything she can to ignore the opinions of thousands who say 'if a girl isn't pretty', they can't make it in show business. 

Just a reminder, the MATCH complex in Houston has some of the best air conditioning around. And this show is pretty hot and sultry, so it’s a perfect pairing.

Brooklyn-based nonprofit Photoville has announced Photoville NYC 2022 (June 4 - 26), marking the outdoor festival’s celebratory return to a summer format for the first time in 10 years, and filling all five of New York’s boroughs with expansive and vivid views of our world.

New York Stage and Film, will return July 9-August 7 for five weeks of in-person programming in Poughkeepsie for their 2022 Summer Season. 

New York Stage and Film returns July 9-August 7 for five weeks of in-person programming in Poughkeepsie for their 2022 Summer Season.  For 38 years, NYSAF has operated as a vital incubator for artists and their work, a catalyst for stories that continue across the country and around the world.  All tickets are $25 and go on sale June 1.

At times exquisitely lovely and, at others, confronting and brutal.

The month of March has a variety of events to offer in venues across Seattle Center’s campus with something for everyone to do. There is no shortage of fun activities taking place at Seattle Center this March, and you don’t want to miss out. 

Tis the season for holiday tunes! From festive favorites to brand-new bops, Broadway isn't disappointing this year, with a huge variety of new holiday albums from your favorite artists to put under the tree.

Walter C. Miller, award-winning television director and producer who served as an executive producer, producer and consulting producer for the CMA Awards for more than 40 years, passed away last night, Nov. 13, 2020. He was 94 years old. 

Happy Gay Pride! BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest LGBTQ songs and anthems from 1920-2020. See if your favorite songs or artists made the grade!

The Beatles! Rihanna! Michael Jackson! Johnny Cash! Kanye West! The Rolling Stones! Aretha Franklin! Bob Dylan! Miles Davis! Nirvana! BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the greatest albums from the rock and rap era (1950-2020); see if your favorites made the grade!

The Old Globe's 2020 Summer Season brings to Balboa Park an extraordinarily talented group of artists who will delight audiences with their unique takes on four great works of theatre. The season incudes a classic American musical, a new adaptation of a 20th century thriller, and two of Shakespeare's masterworks on our outdoor stage.

The American Film Institute (AFI), in partnership with AGBO Films, has announced Angela Chen (AFI Class of 2018) as the recipient of the inaugural AGBO/AFI Conservatory Development Grant. This new program awards $25,000 to a recent AFI Conservatory graduate to develop at least one project, with year-long mentorship from AGBO. Chen will receive the grant for her project TRIAD OF US, which tells the story of a broken Chinese immigrant family and their first-generation children in America. Told from multiple perspectives and based on true events, the story finds the young daughter unveiling dark family secrets as an assassination is executed and a sting operation is underway.

Well before The Met Gala's kitschy theme for 2019 inspired the likes of Lady Gaga, Jordan Roth and countess celebrities to strut their most outrageous stuff down the pink carpet, Mark Morris has been the reigning King of Camp in choreography, celebrating this gleeful genre in company classics such as The Hard Nut. This spring he elevated the playful style integrated with expressive movement in Pepperland, an exuberant homage to the 1960s counterculture and The Beatles' seminal 1967 concept album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

An outstanding cast takes on a very funny book, and the result is shimmering perfection that is just what audiences need to kick off the summer season. It's like ice cream for the theater world.

The bustling beach town of Grand Bend will be even busier this June as a beloved Hollywood star arrives in town. Iconic television actor Cindy Williams, best known for her role as Shirley Feeney on the classic sitcom Laverne & Shirley will play the role of Mrs. Meers in Drayton Entertainment's production of the hit Broadway musical comedy, Thoroughly Modern Millie. The production launches the 2019 Season at the Huron Country Playhouse running from June 5 to June 22 on the Mainstage.

The Crossing and Donald Nally have won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance for their recording of Lansing McLoskey's Zealot Canticles. The award was presented yesterday, February 10, 2019, at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. This marks the Philadelphia new-music choir's second consecutive Grammy in the category, previously winning the 2018 Grammy for Gavin Bryars' The Fifth Century with PRISM Saxophone Quartet on ECM. The Crossing's recording of Thomas Lloyd's Bonhoeffer (Albany 2016) was nominated for the 2017 Grammy in the same category.