Cecelia News

There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Memphis Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

The 1843 Charles Dickens novel A Christmas Carol is a familiar tale. Each holiday season A Christmas Carol can be found in one of its over 130 adaptations on the screen or on the stage. As the stress of the holiday season grows, it is not unusual to hear someone utter the words made famous by Ebenezer Scrooge-Bah! Humbug! No matter what version of the classic tale we see, however, the story reminds us that the true spirit of the holiday season is one of compassion, kindness, forgiveness, charity, love, and hope. A Christmas Carol opened for the 19th year at Open Stage of Harrisburg on December 1st.

February 8 will see the release via the venerable Bar/None label of Songs From Robin Hood Lane and From Memphis to New Orleans, two thought-provoking looks at an often overlooked period of Alex Chilton's long, curious career.  He was at the height of his cult star fame in the mid 1980s to mid 1990s when he made these recordings. It is some of his best most honest work oddly neglected for some time but delivered here for enthusiasts and neophytes alike. All these recordings have been out of print for decades.

There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Memphis Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

James Goldman's bitingly witty play A LION IN WINTER has been a favorite of mine most of my life. Written in 1966, this show has everything in my opinion; warring family, a larger than life king, a queen who is, arguably, the most famous woman in history, grasping, greedy princes, all wrapped up in a real life, high stakes game of thrones. The biggest plus is some of the best dialogue ever written for the stage, and roles that are on every actor's bucket list. As a devotee of medieval history, A LION IN WINTER, is quite simply my cup of tea. The legendary Plantagenet family known as the 'Devil's Brood' on stage at the same time? It doesn't get better. Unfortunately The Wimberley Players production is sadly lacking in the passion that runs through the veins of Goldman's work like life's blood.

The National Theatre production of Nine Night, Natasha Gordon's award-winning play begins previews at the Trafalgar Studios on 1 December 2018 (press night 6 December) in a co-production with Trafalgar Theatre Productions. Natasha Gordon will take the role of Lorraine in her debut play, for which she won 'The Charles Wintour Award for Best Emerging Playwright' in last week's Evening Standard Theatre Awards.

Holidays at the Center highlights world-class arts and entertainment, dining and fun-filled festivities aplenty starting next week at Seattle Center. We invite the community to enjoy all the free, affordable and enriching activities across the 74-acre grounds. From Pacific Northwest Ballet's beloved tradition, George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, to live theater, film, laser shows, shopping, outdoor lighting and indoor decoration and offerings of Seattle Center Winterfest, revelers will find the following during Holidays at the Center:

Music Theater Works (formerly Light Opera Works) presents INTO THE WOODS with full original orchestrations at Cahn Auditorium in Evanston, December 22 through 31, 2018.

On Saturday, December 1st at 8:00 PM, the Orchestra of St. Peter by the Sea, led by accomplished conductor, Father Alphonse Stephenson, will be bringing holiday spirit and cheer once again to the Union County Performing Arts Center. This performance will be early on in the Orchestra's December tour of New Jersey, and it has become a yearly must-see show for dedicated fans at the center.

Maryland Ensemble Theatre's (MET) family theatre, The Fun Company is proud to bring back Junie B. Jones in Jingle Bells Batman Smells. Based on the children's books by Barbara Park, this play follows the feisty and irrepressible Junie B. Jones as she plays Secret Santa to her least favorite classmate, Tattletale May. Will Junie B. give Tattletale May exactly what she thinks she deserves or will the holiday spirit force a change of heart? With plenty of laughs and life lessons, this story is the perfect holiday treat for the whole family.

Playwrights Project will produce its 34th annual festival of Plays by Young Writers, sponsored by the Sheila and Jeffrey Lipinsky Family Fund, at The Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre in the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center at The Old Globe on January 10 - January 26, 2019. The festival will feature winning scripts from Playwrights Project's California Young Playwrights Contest for ages 18 and under.

Performances will begin Wednesday, January 30 and continue through March 3, 2019 at the Eccles Theater. Tickets will be available at the Eccles Theater box office, Broadway-at-the-Eccles.com, or by calling 801-355-ARTS (2787). Groups of 15+ call 801-703-2057.

The Des Moines Community Playhouse presents The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Nov. 2-25, 2018. Tickets may be purchased online at dmplayhouse.com, by phone at 515-277-6261, or at the Playhouse ticket office, 831 42nd St. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is sponsored by Nationwide.

The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance presents The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, directed by Adam L. Sussman, November 14 - December 2, 2018 at the Oscar G. Brockett Theatre.

Seattle Center Winterfest offers music and dance, comedy and acrobatics, dining and wintertime activities for anyone in search of uplifting spirit or delightful diversion from the hustle and bustle of the holiday routine. The five-week festival happens on the grounds and in Center venues, festively decorated for the occasion.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a fast-paced and witty musical, literally litters the stage with letters during its run at Theatre Memphis in the Next Stage, November 2 - 17, 2018.  Mid-pubescents (played by adults) vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime and learn that winning (and losing) isn't everything. Hoping never to hear the soul-crushing, life un-affirming 'ding' of the bell that signals a spelling mistake, they candidly disclose hilarious and touching stories from their home lives. A truly fresh and vibrant score makes this musical 'Bee' unforgettable.

Playwrights Project will produce its 34th annual festival of Plays by Young Writers, sponsored by the Sheila and Jeffrey Lipinsky Family Fund, at The Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre in the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center at The Old Globe on January 10 - January 26, 2019. The festival will feature winning scripts from Playwrights Project's California Young Playwrights Contest for ages 18 and under.

WICKED, L.A.'s most popular musical, has announced that JACKIE BURNS will return to the role of Elphaba and KARA LINDSAY will return to the role of Glinda in the national tour. WICKED will return to Hollywood Pantages Theatre for a limited engagement this holiday season beginning November 28, 2018 and playing through January 27, 2019.

Melbourne, Australia's Oh Pep! are back with their sophomore effort, I Wasn't Only Thinking About You..., out October 26th on ATO Records. Today, the duo share the second single and accompanying video - 'Hurt Nobody.' 20 year old director Emily Dynes led an all female team in the production of the video saying, 'Hurt Nobody' touched me from the very first time I heard it. The song encapsulates a very guttural, raw and female type of pain, so it felt like natural fit to bring together a young female led team of creatives for the project. It was an absolute privilege to work on such a beautiful song for a band I deeply admire, and a complete joy to spend three days shooting and dancing across the mountains in the alpine region of Victoria, Australia.' The video features performer Cecilia Low. The band's Liv Hally notes, 'Emily and her team were so true to capturing the emotion of the song with actress Cecelia Low. As a writer of the song, it gave it a new life for me. This one has travelled far having been written in New York and then taken south to have its film clip be made in home state Victoria.”

Untold Stories New Writing Festival is bringing their New Writing Festival to The Pleasance this Autumn. Following a sold festival at The Arcola earlier this year and a hugely successful year at SLAM Kings Cross in 2017, where they staged 24 new plays over four festivals to sell out audiences and critical acclaim.