Andrew Jackson News

Industry presentations of the new murder mystery musical It's The Bear will be held December 7 at The Ailey Studios in Manhattan.

A brand new production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, produced by NETworks Presentations, is making its Kansas City premiere January 15 - 20 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts as part of a North American tour. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com, BroadwayInKC.com, the Kauffman Center box office, 301 W. 13th Street, or by calling 816.994.7222. Groups of 10+ call 1.866.314.7687. Ticket prices start at $43.00. For more information, please visit www.SoundOfMusicOnTour.com.

As difficult as it may be to comprehend, Nashville's Nutcracker - Paul Vasterling's beautiful and evocative holiday gift to his adopted hometown - first debuted in 2008 and its return in 2018 only enhances the already stellar reputation of Nashville Ballet as the city's leading arts entity and adds more luster to the glittering resume of its artistic director, who this season celebrates his 20th anniversary leading the company.

Looking ahead, you'll find a number of new productions on tap for your entertainment pleasure, including a number of holiday season offerings to put you in the Christmas spirit, thanks to the efforts of theater companies all over Middle Tennessee. Here's our calendar for December 3, 2018, to help you plot your course through the beginning of a new year...

Due to popular demand, La Jolla Playhouse announces a week-long extension for its upcoming world premiere musical Diana, featuring the Tony Award-winning Memphis creative team of Joe DiPietro (librettist/lyricist), David Bryan (composer/lyricist) and Playhouse Artistic Director and 2017 Tony recipient Christopher Ashley (director), along with Tony Award nominee Kelly Devine (choreographer) and Ian Eisendrath (music supervisor).

Tickets are now on sale for Moulin Rouge! The Musical, based on the 2001 Twentieth Century Fox Motion Picture by Baz Luhrmann. Moulin Rouge! The Musical will begin performances on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on June 28, 2019 ahead of a July 25 opening night.

Producer Scott Rudin announced today that Tony Award nominee Kristine Nielsen will complete the starry cast of Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, the new comedy by Pulitzer Prize finalist and MacArthur Fellow Taylor Mac, joining the previously announced three-time Tony Award winner Nathan Lane and two-time Tony Award winner Andrea Martin. Directed by five-time Tony Award winner George C. Wolfe, Gary is set just after the blood-soaked conclusion of William Shakespeare's first tragedy, Titus Andronicus.

Grammy nominated Hip-Hop Jazz artist and Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Member, The ZYG 808 Delivered the keynote speech and performed for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's Native American Heritage Program.

Villain: DeBlanks makes its Birdland Theater debut with a one-night-only benefit performance on December 12. This star-studded event promises to be an evening of laughter and shenanigans, with 100% of proceeds to benefit God's Love We Deliver -- the non-profit organization which cooks and home-delivers nutritious, individually tailored meals to people in the New York City metropolitan area living with severe illness.

A brand new production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, produced by NETworks Presentations, comes to Sarasota on December 19 and 20 at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall as part of a North American tour. Tickets are $37-$87. Purchase at VanWezel.org, the Box Office or by calling (941) 953-3368.

Performances of THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY will now run through December 16th. Performances run Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm.

Villain: DeBlanks makes its Birdland Theater debut with a one-night-only benefit performance on December 12. This star-studded event promises to be an evening of laughter and shenanigans, with 100% of proceeds to benefit God's Love We Deliver -- the non-profit organization which cooks and home-delivers nutritious, individually tailored meals to people in the New York City metropolitan area living with severe illness.

Broadway producer Jerry Frankel passed away this morning, Saturday, November 17, 2018.

Portland's festive, family friendly favorite, A Christmas Carol returns to Portland Playhouse December 1-29

Producer Carmen Pavlovic (Global Creatures) just announced that Moulin Rouge!, based on the 2001 Twentieth Century Fox Motion Picture by Baz Luhrmann, will open on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Previews will begin June 28, 2019 prior to a July 25 opening night.

Celebrated cabaret performer and writer Justin Sayre brings his 'Camp-Horror-Soap Opera,' Ravenswood Manor: The BOX Set to Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street) on November 17 & 18 at 9:30pm.

Short on financial resources but long on ambition, Utopia Opera started its eighth season last weekend with a New York premiere: Thea Musgrave's THE STORY OF HARRIET TUBMAN. It's a 90-minute chamber version, orchestrated by composer Julian Grant, of Musgrave's full-length, two-act HARRIET, THE WOMAN CALLED MOSES, which debuted in 1985 at the Virginia Opera, with some fervent portrayals by its cast of about two dozen, including the stellar soprano MaKayla McDonald as Harriet and mezzo Karmesha Peake as her mother, Rit.

The Delaware Valley will light up for the holiday season with Christmas Tree lighting ceremonies in four major neighborhoods and towns. Downtown Ardmore, South Street Headhouse District, East Passyunk Avenue and Old City District will all light up their Christmas and Holiday trees in the coming weeks - with Downtown Ardmore on Black Friday, November 23rd at 6:00pm in Schauffele Plaza, East Passyunk Business Avenue Business Improvement District on Thursday, November 29, 2018 at 5:00pm at the Singing Fountain, Old City District and Historic Holidays in Old City continues on Thursday, November 29, 2018 at 5:00pm at the Betsy Ross House, and South Street Headhouse District on Sunday, December 2, 2018 at 4:00pm at the Historic Headhouse Shambles. Santa Claus is coming to town and will join the celebration in Downtown Ardmore, on South Street and on East Passyunk Avenue. He will arrive by Fire Truck in Ardmore and on South Street. On East Passyunk, look for him to make a surprise entrance. 

Faith, politics, pride, scandal, community, THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY now playing at Diversionary Theatre through December 9th, may be based on past events, but finds that's its themes are still current today.

If there is a musical theater moment more joyous that what occurs at the top of Act Two in Irving Berlin's White Christmas, then we must respectfully demand it be performed in front of us as quickly as possible. Certainly, we recognize there is much joy to be found in musical theater, but sitting in the audience at Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall - six years to the day we last found ourselves awash in the nostalgia and sentimentality so abundant in this particular holiday favorite - we simply couldn't recall anything more engaging or more entertaining than watching Jeremy Benton and Kelly Sheehan, backed by a cadre of 12 other fleet-footed dancers, tapping their hearts out to "I Love a Piano.'