Arthur Laurents News

Seattle Theatre Group (STG) kicks off its 2011 - 2012 performance season at the historic Paramount, Moore, and newly leased Neptune Theatres.

Fifty years after its release, the MGM re-mastered film returns to the big screen in high definition with its original vocals and dialog intact. Experience this classic romantic tragedy and the bitter battle between the Jets and the Sharks as Leonard Bernstein's seminal score, featuring the much loved ‘America', ‘Somewhere' and ‘Tonight', is dramatically brought to life on stage by The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by Jayce Ogren.

Two-Time Tony Nominee Alison Fraser and Jill Shackner join previously announced actress Alysia Reiner in A CHARITY CASE. This new play about adoption by Australian playwright and director Wendy Beckett, will open Wednesday, November 2nd at Off Broadway's Clurman Theatre (410 West 42nd Street - between 9th and 10th Avenues). The play, which is also directed by Ms. Beckett, begins previews Friday, October 28th. The play is produced by Peter Walters for Pascal Productions. A CHARITY CASE is third in a series of Ms. Beckett's plays that Pascal Productions will produce in New York.

Landmark on Main Street proudly opens its Main Street Cabaret Series with Tony Award winner and star of NBC's new show 'The Playboy Club' on Saturday, October 22 at 8 PM.

The Fabulous Fox Theatre continues its tradition of bringing the best of Broadway to St. Louis audiences since 1982.

The tour of the smash hit Broadway revival of WEST SIDE STORY comes to Tempe. WEST SIDE STORY opens tonight at ASU Gammage and runs through October 2, 2011. Tony Award-winning librettist Arthur Laurents' Broadway direction will be recreated for the tour by David Saint, the Associate Director on Broadway. The original Jerome Robbins choreography is reproduced by Tony Award-nominee Joey McKneely (The Boy from Oz, The Life).

The new musical A Letter to Harvey Milk, based on the short story by Lesléa Newman will enjoy an invite-only staged reading in New York on Monday, September 26 & Tuesday, September 27, 2011.

American Theater Company (ATC) announces the Chicago Premiere of The Amish Project written by Jessica Dickey and directed by Artistic Director PJ Paparelli, featuring ATC Ensemble member Sadieh Rifai. The production will run September 23 - October 23, 2011 at American Theater Company, 1909 W Byron, Chicago, IL. Press opening is Monday, September 26, 2011 at 7:00PM.

Broadway By The Bay, the Peninsula's premiere musical theatre company, presents the delightful Broadway classic GYPSY, running Thursday, September 22 through Sunday, October 9, at their new home, the historic Fox Theatre in Redwood City (2215 Broadway Street, Redwood City). Press night is scheduled for Friday, September 23, 2011 at 8:00. Tickets for GYPSY range in price from $22 - $48 and are on sale now at Broadway By The Bay Box Office (851 Burlway Road, Suite 300, Burlingame), by phone at 650-579-5565 and on the Web at www.broadwaybythebay.org. Special youth, student, senior and group pricings are available.

GLEE is back! With a bevy of big Broadway anthems in tow - including HAIRSPRAY'S "You Can't Stop The Beat", ANNIE GET YOUR GUN'S "Anything You Can Do", the Barbra Streisand version of "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead" from THE WIZARD OF OZ by Harold Arlen, and, a song culled from a show currently in a hit revival playing eight times a week on Broadway, Cole Porter's title song from ANYTHING GOES - last night's GLEE was a Broadway baby's perfect first day back to school. If all of that wasn't enough, Darren Criss even got a chance to tear up a jive-talkin' Tom Jones hit, "It's Not Unusual"! The musical quotient was exceedingly satisfying, without a doubt, yet what about the rest of the night's proceedings? Will Season Three and the final season for a handful of New Directions' best assets - and two of the show's finest performers, Lea Michele and Chris Colfer - spell disaster come this time next Fall? What do Ryan Murphy and co. have up their sleeves to satiate the situation and appease the fans, and, furthermore, will they make right on their promise to bring the main players into even sharper focus this season? While we still have more than twenty episodes to find out, the kick-off episode, "The Purple Piano Project", came through in a rainbow of colors on its promise. The long-awaited return of Idina Menzel as Rachel Berry's absentee mom next week, in a season-long arc, will only up the ante and make GLEE an even more winning bet than it already is, even just judging from the fun and touching premiere ep!

The new musical A Letter to Harvey Milk, based on the short story by Lesléa Newman will enjoy an invite-only staged reading in New York on Monday, September 26 & Tuesday, September 27, 2011.

Bristol Riverside Theatre opens its 25th Anniversary mainstage season with Barrymore by William Luce on October 11-30 about matinee idol John Barrymore.

Lyric Stage will present GYPSY featuring a 39-piece orchestra. For tickets visit here or call the box office @ 972-252-2787

Theare legend Stephen Sondheim took soe time out of his busy musical-writing schedule back in 1968 to write a series of crossword puzzles for New York Magazine. The collection was published in 1980, but has been out of print since, making it difficult for theatre lovers to track them down. Now, according to the New York Times, a website has just shared 19 scans of real Sondheim puzzles!

American Theater Company (ATC) announces the Chicago Premiere of The Amish Project written by Jessica Dickey and directed by Artistic Director PJ Paparelli, featuring ATC Ensemble member Sadieh Rifai. The production will run September 23 - October 23, 2011 at American Theater Company, 1909 W Byron, Chicago, IL. Press opening is Monday, September 26, 2011 at 7:00PM.

En los años 50 el cine musical comenzaba a saturar la industria cinematográfica. West Side Story de Robert Wise y Jerome Robbins datada en 1961 rescató al cine musical por el pozo por el que parecía precipitarse. Supuso una renovación en la industria y se convirtió en una de las obras más recordadas del género musical.

A near-perfect blend of story, lyrics, score and movement, the terrific 2009 Broadway revival of WEST SIDE STORY--now playing at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County through September 18--bursts forth with a kind of style and intelligence that arguably reiterates its place as one of the greatest musicals of all time. This stirring, energetic reboot--spearheaded by the late original book author Arthur Laurents--has been smartly touched up with an awareness of current sensibilities and a healthy dose of heightened reality. Do yourself a favor and see this important stage musical while it's still here.

Lyric Stage will present GYPSY featuring a 39-piece orchestra. For tickets visit here or call the box office @ 972-252-2787

Stephen Sondheim's second book, a follow up to his 'Finishing The Hat', is now available for pre-order. Entitled, 'Look, I Made a Hat: Collected Lyrics (1981-2011) with Attendant Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Wafflings, Diversions and Anecdotes,' Amazon is taking pre-orders here. The book was scheduled for release on October 25, 2011, but has now been moved to November 22, 2011.

Ali Ewoldt, the standout star of the on-going national tour of the latest Broadway revival of WEST SIDE STORY, wanted to really follow her dreams. Though always drawn to musical theater all her life, she decided to graduate from Yale with a degree in Psychology, thinking it was a 'safer' bet than to pursue a life in the theater. But her dreams proved to powerful to ignore, prompting her to take on musicals full-tilt, culminating in her Broadway debut as Cosette in LES MISERABLES. Now she's wowing audiences across America with her take on Maria, in the smash hit revival of WEST SIDE STORY, now playing at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County, CA through September 18. Before landing in Costa Mesa with the tour, Ewoldt chatted with BroadwayWorld's Michael Lawrence Quintos to talk about her early theater experiences and working with the late Arthur Laurents.