Billie Wildrick News

Leaping lizards! The 5th Avenue Theatre is thrilled to announce that acclaimed Seattle actor Timothy McCuen Piggee and longtime 5th Avenue Theatre favorite Cynthia Jones will star as Daddy Warbucks and Miss Hannigan in this holiday season's production of the beloved musical Annie.

With one week left until The 18th Annual Festival of New Musicals, Village Theatre is excited to announce this summer's casting and creative teams! Tony Award-winner Victoria Clark (The Light in the Piazza) will direct Hansel & Gretl & Heidi & Gu?nter, a hilarious family adventure of what happens after Hansel and Gretl escape. Village Theatre's new artistic director Jerry Dixon (If/Then, Once on this Island) will direct the kick-off show Elysium: An American Fable, the moving story of a family dying under the weight of their own secrets; and associate artistic director Brandon Ivie (Jasper in Deadland) will direct The Passage, a coming-of-age mystery about a boy battling a monster holding his father captive. Joining them will be music directors Jason Hart (American Psycho), Rona Siddiqui (Bella: An American Tall Tale), R.J. Tancioco (Here Lies Love), and resident music director Tim Symons (Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion), among others.

Stephen DeAngelis continues his ongoing salute to Broadway and Off-Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates with its next edition of  AT THIS PERFORMANCE… to be held on Monday, July 16th  at The Green Room 42, Green Fig, Fourth Floor, Yotel NYC, 570 Tenth Avenue (at 42nd Street), New York, NY 10036 at 7 PM.

AT THIS PERFORMANCE… featuring Standbys and Understudies from AVENUE Q, BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL, CAROUSEL, ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE and SUMMER: THE DONNA SUMMER MUSICAL returns to THE GREEN ROOM 42, Monday, June 11th.

Asolo Rep continues its 2017-18 season with the celebrated American musical RAGTIME. Directed by Peter Rothstein, founding artistic director of Theater Latte Da in Minneapolis, RAGTIME features a book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, who all garnered Tony Awards for the production. The original Broadway production was directed by Frank Galati, who received a Tony nomination for his work and is an Associate Artist at Asolo Rep. A collaboration with Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre, RAGTIME is currently on stage through May 27 in the Mertz Theatre, located in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. Check out photos of the new production below!

RAGTIME is such an underrated piece of art. Although written in 1996 and staged for Broadway in 1998, it is almost prophetic in its reflection of the social unrest, racism and immigration sanctions prevalent in our world today. Based on the 1975 novel by E. L. Doctorow, with a book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, RAGTIME is as relevant today as it was when first conceived. Its timelessness is a credit to its brilliant and perceptive writing, albeit a sad commentary of our present society which has not learned from its past and has not progressed much in civility or compassion.

Stephen DeAngelis continues his ongoing salute to Broadway and Off-Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates with its next edition of  AT THIS PERFORMANCE… to be held on Monday, May 21st  at the series' new home, The Green Room 42, Green Fig, Fourth Floor, Yotel NYC, 570 Tenth Avenue (at 42nd Street), New York, NY 10036 at 7 PM.

Asolo Rep continues its 2017-18 season with the celebrated American musical RAGTIME. Directed by Peter Rothstein, founding artistic director of Theater Latte Da in Minneapolis, RAGTIME features a book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, who all garnered Tony Awards for the production. The original Broadway production was directed by Frank Galati, who received a Tony nomination for his work and is an Associate Artist at Asolo Rep. A collaboration with Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre, RAGTIME is currently on stage through May 27 in the Mertz Theatre, located in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. Check out photos of the new production below!

Stephen DeAngelis continues his ongoing salute to Broadway and Off-Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates with its next edition of AT THIS PERFORMANCE… to be held on Monday, April 23rd at the series' new home, The Green Room 42, Green Fig, Fourth Floor, Yotel NYC, 570 Tenth Avenue (at 42nd Street), New York, NY 10036 at 7 PM.

Asolo Rep continues its 2017-18 season with the celebrated American musical RAGTIME. Directed by Peter Rothstein, founding artistic director of Theater Latte Da in Minneapolis, RAGTIME features a book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, who all garnered Tony Awards for the production. The original Broadway production was directed by Frank Galati, who received a Tony nomination for his work and is an Associate Artist at Asolo Rep. A collaboration with Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre, RAGTIME previews May 1 - 3, opens May 4 and runs through May 27 in the Mertz Theatre, located in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. 

I was speaking with a friend the other day about the current show from Showtunes Theatre Company, "The Boys from Syracuse". He's a somewhat new, fledgling musical theater geek and I said, that it was filled with great Rodgers and Hart songs many of which are standards now. I went through a few and got nothing but blank stares. And that, Dear Readers, is why Showtunes is so important. We need someone to keep bringing us these underdone, and often times older shows such as "The Boys from Syracuse" so established geeks like me can sit there and … well … geek out, and for a place for newbies to come and be exposed to these grand old shows so they might actually learn what a "standard" is.

Stephen DeAngelis continues his ongoing salute to Broadway and Off-Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates with its next edition of AT THIS PERFORMANCE… to be held on Monday, March 26th at the series' new home, The Green Room 42, Green Fig, Fourth Floor, Yotel NYC, 570 Tenth Avenue (at 42nd Street), New York, NY 10036 at 7 PM. Hosted by series Producing Artistic Director and Casting Director Stephen DeAngelis, the popular series allows performers to showcase their versatility and share anecdotes about their experiences.

The 5th Avenue Theatre has announced an incredible six-show lineup for its 2018/19 season, which includes launching the national tour of the acclaimed sensation Come From Away, the timeless beloved musical Annie, rock 'n' roll hit parade Rock of Ages, the sumptuous West Coast premiere of Little Dancer, a lavish and loving staging of the iconic West Side Story and an exciting new collaboration with ACT - A Contemporary Theatre-Urinetown. Additionally, The 5th will host a one week run of the national tour of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical.

Showtunes Theatre Company will return to the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, March 23-25, 2018 with a concert production of The Boys from Syracuse, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and book by George Abbott. The show is produced by Showtunes in association with Village Theatre, directed by Steve Tomkins in his final year as Artistic Director of Village and is being presented as part of the city-wide "Seattle Celebrates Shakespeare" festival. With Kim Douglass music directing, the show will have four performances over one weekend. Performances are Friday, March 23 at 8:00 pm, Saturday March 24th at 2 pm and 8pm and Sunday, March 25th at 2 pm.

The 5th Avenue Theatre is a vibrant hive of musical theater activity as the projects of NextFest: A Festival of New Musicals have started rehearsals this week. A three-week musical theater intensive development cycle, NextFest has played a role in the creation of musicals ranging from Persuasion by Harold Taw and Chris Jeffries (Taproot Theatre, 2017) to  Come From Away by Irene Carl Sankoff and David Hein (Broadway). Nationally recognized for its contribution to the contemporary musical theater cannon, The 5th Avenue Theatre is a celebrated incubator for new musicals. Each year, the nationally renowned theater company connects writers at all stages of development with some of the region's most brilliant performers, giving life to the words on the page and allowing book writers, composers and lyricists to see their work in action. This year's various works are brought to life by Alexandria Henderson, Justin Huertas, Matthew Kacergis, Shaunyce Omar, Brandon O'Neill, Timothy Piggee, Hannah Schuerman, Billie Wildrick and many more.

Stephen DeAngelis continues his ongoing salute to Broadway and Off-Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates with his next edition of AT THIS PERFORMANCE… to be held on Monday, February 19th at The Green Room 42, Green Fig, Fourth Floor, Yotel NYC, 570 Tenth Avenue (at 42nd Street), New York, NY 10036 at 7 PM. Hosted by series Producing Artistic Director and Casting Director Stephen DeAngelis, the popular series allows performers to showcase their versatility and share anecdotes about their experiences. Performers scheduled for February 19th are Stefanie Brown (Cruel Intentions), Billy Bustamante (Miss Saigon), Pomme Koch (The Band's Visit), Blaine Krauss (Kinky Boots), Amy Hillner Larsen (The Marvelous Wonderettes), Stephanie Jae Park (The King and I), Nick Sacks (Dear Evan Hansen), Travis J. Shuler (Cruel Intentions) and Matt Wood (SpongeBob SquarePants). Musical Director/Accompanist for the evening will be Eugene Gwozdz.

Stephen DeAngelis continues his ongoing salute to Broadway and Off-Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates with its next edition of AT THIS PERFORMANCE which was held on Monday, January 15th at the series' new home, The Green Room 42. This concert brought the series officially to 900 performers.

Stephen DeAngelis continues his ongoing salute to Broadway and Off-Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates with its next edition of AT THIS PERFORMANCE to be held on Monday, January 15th at the series' new home, The Green Room 42, Green Fig, Fourth Floor, Yotel NYC, 570 Tenth Avenue (at 42nd Street), New York, NY 10036 at 7 PM. Hosted by series

Rehearsals begin today for The 5th Avenue Theatre's new production of Mamma Mia!, the celebrated musical that features the music of global pop sensation ABBA. The 5th Avenue Theatre is the first producing theater company in the Pacific Northwest to be granted the rights to create its own refreshed version of the show, which toured the world for nearly 20 years.

Stephen DeAngelis continues his ongoing salute to Broadway and Off-Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates with its next edition of AT THIS PERFORMANCE to be held on Monday, January 15th at the series' new home, The Green Room 42, Green Fig, Fourth Floor, Yotel NYC, 570 Tenth Avenue (at 42nd Street), New York, NY 10036 at 7 PM.