Ben Johnson News

Aside from the previously announced plan to lift the theatre 29 feet to provide retail space, a large LED screen will wrap around the surrounding hotel.

Do you remember that cataclysmal moment in the Stanley Kubrick film of Stephen King's “The Shining,” when Jack Nicholson axes his way through the bathroom door and says, wild-eyed, “Here's Johnny!” Well, you won't find it in King's book--or in Mark Campbell's libretto for THE SHINING, the new opera written with composer Paul Moravec and directed by Eric Simonson, opening May 7 at the Minnesota Opera as part of its New Works Initiative.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Monday's trifecta of showtune events, including Jackie Burns following Idina, and 'Boy From Oz.' 'Mormon' and 'Dancing' return, and 'Gentleman's Guide' prepares. That 'October Sky' and 'Starcatcher' are set to open, but a lot of shows are closing. Not 'Ring Of Fire!' Concerts are on tap, too, including Seth McFarlane!

Drury Lane has announced the cast and creative team for the regional premiere of the Tony-nominated Peter and the Starcatcher, directed by Jeff Award-winner and Drury Lane Artistic Director William Osetek. Hailed as "astonishing" (The New Yorker) and "an absurdly funny fantastical journey," (Entertainment Weekly), Peter and the Starcatcher answers the question of how Peter Pan became "The Boy Who Never Grew Up." Complete with an all-Chicago cast, a company of twelve actors portray over one hundred characters throughout this captivating coming-of-age tale of one of literature's most beloved stories. Peter and the Starcatcher, with a book by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson and based on the 2004 play by Rick Elice, runs August 27 - October 18, 2015. Opening Night is set for Thursday, September 3 at 8pm.

Alabama's own Loretta Wade has just released her 5th novel. 'Where The Willows Weep' is a sentimental journey that is sure to captivate any reader. The story is told in Loretta's signature southern style and it centers around a caretaker's struggle to help her patient fight through his serious illness. Now available on Amazon, 'Where The Willows Weep' is the summer read you have been waiting for. Loretta Wade was raised as a farm girl in rural North Alabama where she learned a true understanding of the simple life. Her parents, James and Ora Freeman May, gave her a carefree country childhood in the Thompson Falls community of Marshall County, Alabama which is still listed by its old name on the county map as Ben Johnson Ridge. She continues to enjoy country living on the acreage where she grew up, gardening, canning and preserving, drying laundry on a line, and raising farm fresh eggs. She uses many sources to draw the inspiration for her novels and her library contains many of today's Modern Day Classic genres including: Fiction, Biography, Supernatural, and Inspirational. Loretta's novels have achieved international notoriety for her expertise in introducing Southern American life to her readers through the lens of her own life experience. Loretta's first novel 'Walking in Slippery Places' was re-released in 2015 and is a supernatural thriller that tells of of a close encounter with the occult. Answering some questions that came from 'Walking in Slippery Places' Loretta moved into the inspirational supernatural genre with her next novel 'When the Rainbow Comes' a gripping story that wrestles with some of the deepest question about life, death, and the hereafter. A biography came next. 'Single Handed - The Story of Keith Maze and His Dog Wishbone' is an inspirational biography of Keith Maze and his battle with cancer and how his dog Wishbone helped to show him that life can go on even after terrible tragedy. In 2014, the southern saga 'The Late Night Side of Morning' was released as a free E-novel and was received with rave reviews. This novel was inspired by her ancestor (Dr. 'Doc' William May) who suffered death at the hands of his forty-year-old suitor's (Andrew Sheffield) father, Col. James L. Sheffield in 1890. Andrew Sheffield's story is written in John S. Hughes 'The Letters of a Victorian Madwoman.' Loretta's fifth novel 'Where the Willows Weep' draws heavily on her own personal experiences and is written as an expression of her sentiment for patients fighting debilitating disease and loyal love of pets. You can find out more about Loretta wade by visiting her website at: http://www.lorettawade.com Or see her on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/lorettawadebooks

Starting fittingly on July Fourth weekend, Museum of the Moving Image will present The Essential John Ford, a tribute to the consummate American filmmaker. Ford made his reputation on westerns, but worked in many genres, creating films of depth, beauty, and ambiguity. From today, July 3 through August 2, the Museum will present 20 movies directed by Ford-all on film, with some restored archival prints-including his masterpieces Young Mr. Lincoln, My Darling Clementine, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Starting fittingly on July Fourth weekend, Museum of the Moving Image will present The Essential John Ford, a tribute to the consummate American filmmaker. Ford made his reputation on westerns, but worked in many genres, creating films of depth, beauty, and ambiguity. From July 3 through August 2, the Museum will present 20 movies directed by Ford-all on film, with some restored archival prints-including his masterpieces Young Mr. Lincoln, My Darling Clementine, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Today, June 2, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) will release The John Wayne Westerns Film Collection - featuring five classic films on Digital HD and Blu-ray from the larger-than-life American hero - just in time for Father's Day.

On June 2, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) will release The John Wayne Westerns Film Collection – featuring five classic films on Digital HD and Blu-ray from the larger-than-life American hero – just in time for Father's Day.

San Francisco Playhouse Artistic Director Bill English and Producing Director Susi Damilano announced selections today for the 2015-2016 Mainstage season. Three additional world premieres will be announced soon as part of their Sandbox Series of new plays.

Porchlight Music Theatre and Artistic Director Michael Weber present the next production in the second season of Chicago's hit 'lost' musicals in staged concert series, Porchlight Revisits... City of Angels, featuring book by Larry Gelbart (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, M*A*S*H), music by Cy Coleman (Sweet Charity, Barnum) and lyrics by David Zippel (The Goodbye Girl, Disney's Mulan) with direction by Christopher Pazdernik and music direction by Aaron Benham. City of Angels is presented for two-nights-only tonight, March 3 and Wednesday, March 4 at 8:00 p.m. and is performed on the set of Porchlight's Sondheim on Sondheim (February 6 - March 15) on nights when there are no performances at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.

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 Paramount's 'Tommy,' Drury Lane's 'West Side' and the Marriott's 'La Cage.' Plus 'Stomp' puts its foot down, 'Gent's Guide' books the fall, new shows in development and rewrite, plus 'Louis And Keely' at the Royal George, 'Titanic' at Northwestern and 'Grease' on FOX!

The Community Players, Rhode Island's oldest community theatre, proudly present Larry Gelbart's hilarious comedy Sly Fox onstage today, January 9-11 and 16-18. Taking inspiration from Ben Johnson's Volpone, the play is a riotous romp about greed, lust and the art of the con from the author of M*A*S*H, Tootsie and Oh God!

Porchlight Music Theatre and Artistic Director Michael Weber have announced the next production in the second season of Chicago's hit 'lost' musicals in staged concert series, Porchlight Revisits... City of Angels, featuring book by Larry Gelbart (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, M*A*S*H), music by Cy Coleman (Sweet Charity, Barnum) and lyrics by David Zippel (The Goodbye Girl, Disney's Mulan) with direction by Christopher Pazdernik and music direction by Aaron Benham. City of Angels is presented for two-nights-only Tuesday, March 3 and Wednesday, March 4 at 8:00 p.m. and is performed on the set of Porchlight's Sondheim on Sondheim (February 6 - March 15) on nights when there are no performances at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.

The Community Players, Rhode Island's oldest community theatre, proudly present Larry Gelbart's hilarious comedy Sly Fox onstage January 9-11 and 16-18. Taking inspiration from Ben Johnson's Volpone, the play is a riotous romp about greed, lust and the art of the con from the author of M*A*S*H, Tootsie and Oh God!

The great mezzo Joyce DiDonato stripped for her art at Sunday's wonderful performance of Handel's ALCINA with the English Concert under conductor Harry Bicket. For the first act, when she was still at the height of her powers as a sorceress, she came out in a gorgeous black and gray gown with the puffy sleeves she favors. Act II, she lost the sleeves but not the attitude, as her power waned. For the final act, powerless, she lost her petticoat and showed some leg. Oh yes: She sounded glorious all the while.

Coleman is the 8th Herb Alpert Award winner to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.

In the wake of recession, the internationally renowned Belarus Free Theatre presents an urgent new exploration of how theatre has depicted money throughout the ages; from ancient Greece, through the Elizabethan golden-age to today's fractured economy.

This season, celebrated mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato curates a multi-part Carnegie Hall Perspectives series that showcases her vocal creativity and multifaceted talents, ranging from programs that include familiar and forgotten repertoire from the Baroque and bel canto eras to works by Jake Heggie written expressly for her. Her series kicks off on Sunday, October 26 at 2:00 p.m. as she sings the title role in a concert performance of Handel's Alcina alongside Harry Bicket and The English Concert.