Berger News

GO BROADWAY 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY at Gorriti Art Center

After a most successful run last December, For The Record's LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE encores at The Wallis beginning November 27, 2019. FTR pairs the actual screening of the 2003 perennial holiday hit film Love Actually with live singers and a 15-piece orchestra on stage complementing the movie's soundtrack. I got the chance to grab a few minutes and some behind-the-scenes with the prolific, ever busy, For The Record Live executive producer Shane Scheel.

Thursday, November 7th, the Talent Managers Association announced the 15th Annual Heller Awards at the Taglyan Complex in Los Angeles. 

Becoming Dr. Ruth by Mark St. Germain, produced by Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF, runs from January 8 - February 9, 2020. In this incredible one-woman performance, actress Eileen DeSandre* embodies media personality Dr. Ruth in a tell-all reflection of her extraordinary life. Becoming Dr. Ruth is presented in partnership with the Holocaust Memorial and Resource Center of Central Florida through the generous support of Jim and Valeria Shapiro. Tickets (starting at $30) are available now by phone (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online at orlandoshakes.org, or in person at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street).

Tube & Berger and Juliet Sikora have announced today that they will be releasing the third volume in the 'It Began In Africa' compilation series on Kittball Records, which includes tracks from Dario D'Attis, Flashmob, Josh Butler, Mat.Joe, Magdalena, Riva Starr, Walker & Royce and many more. 

For her 4th CD release, vocalist/violinist Calabria Foti wanted to do an album like her vocal heroes did back in the day; that is, with a big orchestra and legendary arrangers on the podium in an iconic Hollywood recording studio. Ms. Foti says, “This is the most expansive project I have ever done, and at the same time, it's the most intimate and personal. I recorded at Capitol Records with a full orchestra, singing some of the most endearing, sentimental songs ever written, all for my loved ones. This album is a full-production tear-jerker!”

BroadwayWorld is checking in with the cast to uncover some little known facts about the political giants they play onstage. Today, watch as Angela Pierce gives us a lesson on Pat Nixon.

Casting has been announced for The Wallis and For The Record's production of LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE, the multimedia concert celebration of one of the most beloved holiday films of all time and the biggest, record-breaking hit in The Wallis' history, which is back by popular demand, now as a not-to-be-missed Los Angeles tradition with performances beginning the day before Thanksgiving (November 27) and running through the weekend following Christmas (December 29).

San Jose Stage Company (Randall King, Artistic Director and Cathleen King, Executive Director) announced the cast and creative team for the second production of The Stage's 37th Season, Stephen Karam's THE HUMANS (2016 Tony Award®-winning a?oeBest Playa?? and 2016 Finalist - 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama). Directed by Tony Kelly, THE HUMANS will run from November 20 a?" December 15, 2019 at San Jose Stage Company (490 South 1st Street, San Jose, CA, 95113). The press opening will take place on Saturday, November 23, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets range from $32 - $60 and can be purchased through the Box Office at (408) 283-7142 or online at www.thestage.org.

Red Bull Theater (Jesse Berger, Artistic Director | Jim Bredeson, Managing Director) today announced the cast for the first of the 2019-'20 season of REVELATION READINGS, its OBIE Award-winning series: James Shirley's The Traitor, directed by Nathan Winkelstein, will star Oge Agulue, Keith Hamilton Cobb, Christian Coulson, Sarah Herrman, Hubert Point-Du Jour, Daniel Jose Molina, Max Gordon Moore, Nneka Okafor, Antoinette Robinson, Socorro Santiago, and more to be announced.

Just in time for the holidays, the Provincetown Theater opens its final main stage production of the 2019 season with Joe Landry's unique adaptation of the beloved Frank Capra classic It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play. Running Nov 21 thru Dec 8, as the title states, this iconic movie steps onto the stage as a live 1940s radio broadcast a?" complete with a real live Foley Artist. Performed by an acting ensemble of ten, bringing the many dozens of residents of Bedford Falls to life (not to mention Heaven!), the story of idealistic George Bailey unfolds as he considers the relevance and meaning of his life one fateful Christmas Eve a?" thanks to the help of an angel-in-waiting named Clarence Oddbody.

On May 4, 1970, over a period of 13-seconds, nearly 70 shots were fired upon Kent State University unarmed students by the Ohio State National Guard. The students, and their supporters, were protesting against the bombing of Cambodia by the United States, part of the ill-conceived Vietnam incursion. Forever after, to be known as 'The Kent State Massacre,' the attack killed four and wounded nine others.

HAIR was written more than 50 years ago by Gerome Ragni, James Rado and Galt MacDermot and broke new ground in musical theatre by defining the genre of 'rock musical' as well as using a racially integrated cast and inviting the audience onstage to join in the a?oeBe-Ina?? finale. But at the time it opened off Broadway at the end of 1967, it seemed unlikely that HAIR would be relevant five decades later. A product of the hippie counter-culture, sexual revolution, and Vietnam War protests of the late 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-war movement, while its profanity, depiction of the use of illegal drugs, treatment of open sexuality, irreverence for the American flag, and full-frontal nude scene caused much comment and controversy at the time. Yet today it seems what was shocking has become so common place that even a few children were in the audience at the performance I attended.

Three Cat Productions presents the world premiere of the The Holiday Radio Show: 1944 at the Chicago Park District's Berger Park Coach House Theater at 6205 N. Sheridan Road (Edgewater by Granville el stop on Red Line). 

BroadwayWorld has a first look at the new national touring company of CATS! The Jellicle Cats include Phillip Deceus as 'Alonzo,' McGee Maddox as 'Bill BaileyRum Tum Tugger,' Lexie Plath as 'Bombalurina,' Mariah Reives as 'Cassandra,' PJ DiGaetano as 'Coricopat,' Liz Schmitz as 'Demeter,' Keri Rene Fuller as 'Grizabella,' Kaitlyn Davidson as 'Jellylorum,' Emily Jeanne Phillips as 'Jennyanydots,' Tion Gaston as 'Mistoffelees,' Tony D'Alelio as 'Mungojerrie,' Dan Hoy as 'Munkustrap,' Timothy Gulan as 'PeterBustopher JonesAsparagus,' Tyler John Logan as 'PlatoMacavity,' Anthony Michael Zas as 'Pouncival,' Rose Iannaccone as 'Rumpelteazer,' Ahren Victory as 'Sillabub,' Ethan Saviet as 'Skimbleshanks,' Halli Toland as 'Tantomile,' Devin Neilson as 'Tumblebrutus,' Brandon Michael Nase as 'VictorOld Deuteronomy,' Caitlin Bond as 'Victoria,' along with Zachary S. Berger, Nicholas Burrage, Erin Chupinsky, Maria Failla, Justin W. Geiss, Charlotte O'Dowd, Adam Richardson, Tricia Tanguy, and Andy Zimmermann.

The Art Directors Guild (ADG, IATSE Local 800) announces that Stephen Myles Berger, best known for his work in theme parks around the world and on films such as Sunshine Boys, Basic Instinct and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Set Designers and Model Makers (SDMM) Council at the 24th Annual ADG 'Excellence in Production Design' Awards. Berger's illustrious career spans five decades and has earned him international acclaim. The 2020 ADG Awards will be held at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown in the Wilshire Grand Ballroom on Saturday, February 1, 2020. This is the third of four Lifetime Achievement Awards to be announced by Art Directors Guild.

The documentary Revolution Rent will have its premiere at SVA Theatre on Friday November 8, 2019 at 9:30 PM.

Jonathan Groff, who stars in the new Off-Broadway 'Little Shop of Horrors,' was a guest on Monday night's episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Groff is such a big fan of Julie Andrews, who was the other guest on the show that night, that he shared the story of how he once dressed up as Mary Poppins for Halloween.

MWM Universe, the IP engine of diversified entertainment media company MWM, and Frolic Media, the integrated media brand for Romance fans founded by Lisa Berger and Sarah Penna, have joined forces to form Frolic Podcast Network. The network launches today with 13 of the most popular romance-centric podcasts covering the range of topics and genres for Romance fans and everyone who loves a Happily Ever After. Frolic's podcast network is the first project that falls under a new overall deal with MWM Universe to develop and produce diversified, story-driven media experiences that cater to Romance fans.  

According to Page Six, Krystal Joy Brown will take over the role of Eliza Hamilton in the Broadway company of Hamilton beginning December 10.