A. Wilson News

This week's newly-announced releases include a Broadway cookbook, a book about the making of Oklahoma!, and more.

Innovation requires the genius to recognize the possible and the single-minded drive to make it a reality. The fourteenth volume of National Sawdust's Digital Discovery Festival celebrates four remarkable artistic minds whose phenomenal creative talent have brought vital innovations to the worlds of music, theater, visual art and opera.

Following the opening episode of The Revival, which centred around the Nottingham Playhouse 2018 production of The Madness of George III, today Nottingham Playhouse and Theatre Royal Stratford East announce that King Hedley II will be the subject of episode 2, which is available from July 15. 

National Sawdust's physical doors are still closed but, thanks to a generous grant from the Alphadyne Foundation, the mission of providing artists the resources and support they need to create and present new work continues with the Digital Discovery Festival, featuring over 100 artists from May through August. All past and present Digital Discovery Festival events are accessible on the newly-constructed Live@NationalSawdust website, as well as on Facebook Live, entirely free of charge.

With over sixty total events featuring more than 100 artists over a four month span, National Sawdust's ongoing Digital Discovery Festival is the rarest sort of story in NYC's post-COVID live music world: an unalloyed success.

On Tuesday night's episode of The Late Late Show, host James Corden connects with Rita Wilson. Wilson talks about recovering from Coronavirus and making music, including a collaboration with Naughty By Nature.

Need something new to listen to, read, or watch? Check out this week's list of new and upcoming releases, including Nick Blaemire's A Little More Alive, Royalties with Darren Criss, and more!

Just prior to the New York City shelter-in-place orders due to COVID-19, Dance Lab New York (DLNY) Spring Lab Cycle Choreographer Yoshito Sakuraba completed his lab cycle, and photos from inside the rehearsals are now available. 

Rita Wilson has performed for the first time since revealing his diagnosis with COVID-19. Wilson appeared as part of NASCAR's virtual iRacing event, singing a rendition of the National Anthem.

 Dance Lab New York (DLNY) Spring Lab Cycle Choreographer Joshua Beamish has completed his lab.

Luck Reunion, presented by Southwest®, will take place on March 19 in Luck, TX, less than thirty miles outside of Austin, and feature both artists who have defined American music and artists who are redefining it. Luck Reunion performers, or “Luck Family” as they've grown to be called, all take after the event's gracious host, free-wheeling legend Willie Nelson, in that they bow to nothing but inspiration, refuse to play it safe, and are always open for collaboration. Below is a view of each branch of 2020's “Luck Family” tree—a.k.a. this year's lineup: 

Today, Feinstein's at the Nikko announced an exciting lineup of national and local artists who will take the stage at San Francisco's premier intimate nightclub this spring. Additional artists will be announced at a later date. Tickets for all shows are on-sale now by visiting www.feinsteinssf.com or calling 866-663-1063. Ticket prices are subject to change without notice.

Luck Reunion, presented by Southwest®, will take place on March 19 in Luck, TX, less than thirty miles outside of Austin, and feature both artists who have defined American music and artists who are redefining it. Luck Reunion performers, or “Luck Family” as they've grown to be called, all take after the event's gracious host, free-wheeling legend Willie Nelson, in that they bow to nothing but inspiration, refuse to play it safe, and are always open for collaboration. Below is a view of each branch of 2020's “Luck Family” tree—a.k.a. this year's lineup:

Live Nation Urban & The Roots team up to present the thirteenth annual “Roots Picnic” Saturday, May 30, 2020 in Philadelphia, PA. This year the Picnic will take place at the Mann at Fairmount Park, for the second consecutive year.

Today, Arts Music releases the benefit album Let the Rhythm Lead: Haiti Song Summit Vol. 1, a collaborative project of songwriters Jonathan Wilson, Jenny Lewis, Jackson Browne, Paul Beaubrun, Habib Koité, Raúl Rodríguez and Jonathan Russell, along with members of the Haitian roots band Lakou Mizik. Along with the album's release, Paul Beaubrun has shared the video for his song 'Surrender'.

'If Music Be The Food Of Love - A Benefit for Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen' will be celebrated at Joe's Pub on February 10th, 2020 at 6:30pm (doors open at 6pm), with an after party at Pangea in the East Village (starting at 9:30).

Performances begin this Saturday, January 18, as The Old Globe presents August Wilson's Jitney, 2017 Tony Award winner for Best Revival of a Play, directed by one of Wilson's foremost interpreters, Ruben Santiago-Hudson (directed Jitney on Broadway, performed in Gem of the Ocean and Seven Guitars).

Founded in 1993 - and now under the artistic and musical leadership of Kerry Kristine and Joe Trainor a?" City-Theatre says close to its roots to take risks and eschew redundancy in staging PASSING STRANGE at Opera Delaware's Black Box on the Riverfront.

Apples and Oranges Arts' #THEatreACCELERATOR, an immersive musical theatre development accelerator for promising storytellers, culminates in a live Shark-Tank-style pitch session where participants present their shows to theatre and tech industry veterans including Broadway producer Deborah Barrera, tech and Broadway media entrepreneur Robert Diamond, director/choreographer/performer Galen Hooks, investor and producer Frank Kavanaugh, investor Jonathan Ledden, producer Laura Wagner, tech startup coach and Broadway investor Alisa Cohn and multi-hyphenate entrepreneur Cindy Convery.