Arlington News

Mary-Arrchie is not taking a vacation this summer. The group finishes its 26th Season with a new partnership with Illinois State University when it presents an energetic staging of Electra in a new adaptation by Sonja Moser in July. And Mary-Arrchie will be performing a special two-week extension of Jeff Nominated Superior Donuts at Metropolis Arts Center in Arlington Heights. Plus, the Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins Theatre Festival celebrates it's 24th year this August.

Former Jersey Boys Chicago cast member, John Michael Coppola, will be "workin' his way back" to the New York tri-state area this July with his solo concert, A JERSEY VOICE: Sinatra to Springsteen...And Everyone In Between. Featuring song selections from the 1940s through present day, the set list includes songs made popular by such artists as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen and of course, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

Continuing in its ongoing efforts of supporting new musical theater works, Eric Schaeffer, Artistic Director of Signature Theatre, announced today that the Tony Award®-winning theatre is commissioning two new musicals under Signature's American Musical Voices Project (AMVP): The Next Generation. Composers Joshua Rosenblum (Einstein's Dreams, Fermat's Last Tango) and Josh Schmidt (Adding Machine, A Minister's Wife) will be creating new musicals for future seasons at Signature. In December of 2011, Mr. Rosenblum and Mr. Schmidt were awarded "honoree grants" and shared selections from projects in development at a special performance held at Signature Theatre.

In the videos below, FIRST YOU DREAM cast members James Clow and Alan H. Green talk about their journey from hometown to Broadway and the excitement of performing in the Kander & Ebb First You Dream revue at The Kennedy Center, beginning performances tonight!

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts previously announced casting for its production of First You Dream: The Music of Kander & Ebb in the Eisenhower Theater tonight, June 8 to July 1, 2012.

In case you missed it in the "Showtune Mosh Pit" column last week, here is my full listing of musical theater shows (plus three special concert events) happening in Chicago this summer. Click on the name of each show for a link to more information. And enjoy!

NBC's LOVE IN THE WILD announces the 14 original single men and women as well as the seven surprise men searching for 'the one' on the Endemol produced adventure-dating series premiering tonight, June 7 (8-10 p.m. ET).

Ten Chimneys Foundation has announced the ten actors who will participate in the 2012 Lunt- Fontanne Fellowship Program, a widely acclaimed national program to serve the future of American theatre. July 22-29, the Lunt-Fontanne Fellows will join Broadway legend Joel Grey for an intensive, weeklong master class and immersion experience at Ten Chimneys, the National Historic Landmark estate of Broadway legends Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin.

Ten Chimneys Foundation has announced that Washington, D.C. actors E. Faye Butler, Christopher Bloch, and Brad Oscar have been selected as 2012 Lunt-Fontanne Fellows.

The 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theatre celebrates its tenth anniversary by bringing previous recipients back to the stage to present the next generation of musical theater stars with awards and accolades. The acclaimed program, sponsored by Wells Fargo, is a high school version of the Tony Awards, and allows theater students from across Washington to meet, celebrate, and honor the exceptional musical Theater Productions presented during the 2011-12 school year. The 5th Avenue Awards will be held at 7:00 PM, tonight, June 4, at The 5th Avenue Theatre.

The cast and director Eric Schaeffer of the musical revue First You Dream, set to open this month at the Kennedy Center, discuss the work of their show's muses, John Kander and Fred Ebb, the songwriting team who created Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Zorba, and many more Broadway hits. Watch video interviews, plus footage of the cast in reherasal, below!

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. The non-Equity Jeff Awards are Monday night, and we've compiled our first ever Summer Musical Theatre Guide! Here are 35 listings for your viewing pleasure....

XANADU will bring you ninety minutes of non-stop fun and enjoyment.

Brighton-based duo Blood Red Shoes (Laura-Mary Carter and Steven Ansell) are coming to America this fall in support of their 3rd full length release, In Time To Voices - out July 24th on V2/Cooperative Music.

Today, May 29th, President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Medal of Freedom is our Nation's highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. The Medals were presented at the White House in an afternoon ceremony. What follows is a transcript of the president's remarks. To read more about each of this year's honorees, click here.

Three exciting acappella groups who gained national attention on NBC's "The Sing Off" will share their unique styles as they launch the 2012 summer season at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre in Orem. The Memorial Day concert, tonight, May 28 at 8:00pm, will feature the television show's reigning champs, Pentatonix, as well as the powerful all-female group Delilah and the local boys gone big time, BYU's Vocal Point, who both made it to the show's final few competitors.

For the very first time, two-time Tony Award winner Chita Rivera brings her concert, Chita Rivera: MY BROADWAY, to The New Jersey Performing Arts Center in the intimate setting of The Chase Room and performs songs from her legendary Broadway career. She will perform two shows only at 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM. All tickets are $50 (general admission) and can be ordered by calling 1-888-GO-NJPAC or at www.njpac.org. NJPAC is located at 1 Center Street in Newark, N.J.

The annual Radio 92.9 EarthFest will return to DCR's Hatch Memorial Shell in Boston today May 19, 2012 with a stellar line-up that includes Third Eye Blind, The Spin Doctors, Switchfoot, and Eve 6.

The William V. Musto Cultural Center presents the Opening Gala of Frank Guiller and Juan-Si Gonzalez art exhibit In Transit: Parallel Time with a special musical presentation of 'Haunted" The Show, tonight, May 17, 2012 at 7:00 PM at the William V. Musto Cultural Center, 420 - 15th Street in Union City. Refreshments will be served and admission is free.

The 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theatre will celebrates its tenth anniversary by bringing previous recipients back to the stage to present the next generation of musical theater stars with awards and accolades. The acclaimed program, sponsored by Wells Fargo, is a high school version of the Tony Awards, and allows theater students from across Washington to meet, celebrate, and honor the exceptional musical theater productions presented during the 2011-12 school year. The 5th Avenue Awards will be held at 7:00 PM, Monday, June 4, at The 5th Avenue Theatre.