Bob Telson News

Progressive Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director, Gregory Omar Osborne, is slated to stream THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS on November 26th, 2020 via ShowTix4U.

As of April 14, 2020 data from Spotify indicated that listeners were turning to throwback hits during the era of quarantines and stay-at-home orders. For fans of music looking for something new that is also nostalgic, they need look no further than Lena Hall's lively new album, THE VILLA SATORI: GROWING UP HAIGHT ASHBURY, released by Hall on April 10, 2020.

Court Theatre announces new dates for its production of The Gospel at Colonus, featuring book and lyrics by Lee Breuer, and music by Bob Telson.

Skylight Music Theatre today announced the cast and creative team for The Gospel at Colonus running January 17-26, 2020 in the Cabot Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway, in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward.

Onassis USA is pleased to announce thatcelebrated artist Kostis Velonis's large-scale sculptural work Life Without Tragedy has now been installed on Governors Island, where it will remain on view, free of charge, today through October 31, 2019. Life Without Tragedy, developed with architect Christian Kotzamanisand initially created for the acclaimed Onassis Festival 2019: Democracy Is Coming (during which it could be seen on Astor Place, April 10-30, free of charge), explores the intersection of democracy and theater-perhaps Greece's two greatest contributions. The work consists of three wood sculptures that mimic an ancient Greek amphitheater, a place that was a social institution and a site for political discourse as well as a venue for art. 

Exhibition on Governors Island Immediately Follows the Work's Debut, on Astor Place, in Onassis Festival 2019: Democracy Is Coming, Presented by Onassis USA and The Public Theater

The Onassis Foundation USA has appointed Vallejo Gantner as its new Artistic and Executive Director. Gantner led the internationally influential New York City cultural institution Performance Space 122 (now Performance Space New York) from 2005 to 2017 and was responsible for all programming and strategic direction, including the creation of the annual, interdisciplinary COIL Festival; the production of worldwide tours for multiple shows under the PS122 Global moniker; and the conception, fundraising, and management for the recent $35 million renovation of the organization's longtime East Village home.

The Onassis Foundation USA has appointed Vallejo Gantner as its new Artistic and Executive Director. Gantner led the internationally influential New York City cultural institution Performance Space 122 (now Performance Space New York) from 2005 to 2017 and was responsible for all programming and strategic direction.

Court Theatre, under the continuing leadership of Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Charles Newell and Executive Director Angel Ysaguirre, announces its 65th season. The company's 2019/20 season will feature the ninth play in August Wilson's American Century Cycle, King Hedley II, directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson; the launch of Court's Oedipus Trilogy with the Sophocles classic Oedipus Rex, directed by Charles Newell; Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, directed by Sean Graney; Henrik Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea, directed by Shana Cooper; and The Gospel at Colonus, a reimagining of the story of Oedipus, conceived by Lee Breuer with music by Bob Telson, directed by Charles Newell.

Artistic Director Ray Jivoff today unveiled Skylight Music Theatre's 2019-2020 season, which will mark the theatre's 60th Anniversary.

The Public Theater and Onassis USA today announced the wide-ranging line-up for the ONASSIS FESTIVAL 2019: DEMOCRACY IS COMING running April 10-28, 2019 at The Public Theater and also La MaMa.

The Public Theater and the Onassis Foundation USA will begin free performances for a limited six-performance run of THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS on Tuesday, September 4.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) and the Onassis Foundation USA announced today six free performances of THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS, the groundbreaking re-telling of Sophocles' classic, for a limited engagement, September 4-9 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. With book, original lyrics, and direction by Lee Breuer and original music, adapted lyrics, and music direction by Bob Telson, the iconic musical returns to New York City for the first time since 2004 to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the original production at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and to honor visionary director Lee Breuer for his lifetime of excellence and historic collaboration with The Public Theater.

As part of the 2018 Next Wave Festival, BAM and Onassis Cultural Center New York will present Speaking Truth to Power, a fall series of theater productions, conversations, and film screenings that explores the concept of free speech as a form of resistance, and examines the challenges facing individuals, societies, and movements that seek to employ it. While freedom of speech is considered a cornerstone of our democratic freedoms, ancient Greeks wrestled with the extent to which the power to speak freely could degrade the very institutions designed to protect that right. The debate about the role of truth--who is able to speak it and the potential dangers posed to our society when it is either permitted or restricted--rages on.

What if gospel music was taken out of church? What if its structure, soul and power were applied to some other ancient stories, such as, for example, Sophocles, where actors talk about gods plural?

Avant Bard's acclaimed up-close and unplugged production of The Gospel at Colonus reopens with some exceptional new talents on board-including a gospel recording artist and a drummer who worked on Black Panther.

Avant Bard's acclaimed up-close and unplugged production of THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS reopens with some exceptional new talents on board-including a gospel recording artist and a drummer who worked on Black Panther.

Well-known gospel recording artist Kenton Rogers has joined the cast of Avant Bard's revival of The Gospel at Colonus, a critical and audience hit last season. Rogers--an actor, singer, and ordained preacher--will headline The Gospel at Colonus in the role of Singer Oedipus along with local civic legend William T. Newman Jr., who returns as Preacher Oedipus.

Well-known gospel recording artist Kenton Rogers has joined the cast of Avant Bard's revival of The Gospel at Colonus, a critical and audience hit last season. Rogers-an actor, singer, and ordained preacher-will headline The Gospel at Colonus in the role of Singer Oedipus along with local civic legend William T. Newman Jr., who returns as Preacher Oedipus.