Chris Porter News

Exactly two months after Jermyn Street Theatre's doors closed, its Artistic Director, Tom Littler, today announced a series of new online projects joining its Brave New World Season, featuring actors including Rachel Pickup, Ian Hallard, Issy van Randwyck, Rob Mountford and Jack Klaff alongside new graduates.

Fresh from her sell-out run of Fascinating Aida, singer and comedienne Liza Pulman has announced details of her rescheduled dates in London and released an EP featuring tracks from her forthcoming album.

Americana duo The Mastersons, aka Chris Masterson and Eleanor Whitmore, address the current state of the nation with their new song 'Spellbound,' premiering today with Billboard. They discuss the sentiments behind the track in an exclusive Billboard interview.

Singer-songwriters/multi-instrumentalists The Mastersons are premiering the first single from their upcoming Red House album, NO TIME FOR LOVE SONGS, today with The Bluegrass Situation. When they're not touring the world as valued longtime members of Steve Earle's band the Dukes, the musical and marital twosome of Chris Masterson and Eleanor Whitmore make inspired albums of their own emotionally vivid, deeply humanistic songs. The duo recorded the song, 'Eyes Open Wide,' at L.A.'s legendary Sunset Sound Recorders with Shooter Jennings and it was engineered and mixed by five-time Grammy Award-winning engineer, Ryan Freeland.

With her two self-penned plays, Rosalind Blessed returns to the stage with a family affair as she performs alongside her mother, Hildegard Neil, with her father, Brian Blessed, as executive producer. Shedding light on what we often keep hidden from the world, The Delights of Dogs and the Problems of People and Lullabies for the Lost will be performed in rep throughout January at the Old Red Lion Theatre.

The Mastersons are singer-songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Chris Masterson and Eleanor Whitmore. When they're not touring the world as valued longtime members of Steve Earle's band the Dukes, the musical and marital twosome make inspired albums of their own emotionally vivid, deeply humanistic songs. The duo's fourth set of original compositions is the appropriately titled NO TIME FOR LOVE SONGS, out March 6, 2019 on Red House Records. 

With her two self-penned plays, Rosalind Blessed returns to the stage with a family affair as she performs alongside her mother, Hildegard Neil, with her father, Brian Blessed, as executive producer. Shedding light on what we often keep hidden from the world, The Delights of Dogs and the Problems of People and Lullabies for the Lost will be performed in rep throughout January at the Old Red Lion Theatre.

Chris Porter performs stand-up from Jimmy Kimmel's Comedy club in Las Vegas.

Audience members traverse memories, dreams, emotional and real battlefields, coming in contact with a multitude of characters from Dalton Trumbo's life and novel, as we re-visit Johnny's childhood loves, family members, war room generals, soldiers, nurses, and even major religious figures, each performed to perfection while maintaining the ability to guide and interact with audience members who are often asked to participate and/or share comments during each scene. Soon it becomes apparent in THE JOHNNY CYCLE that each character, whether intentional or not, has sent Johnny to his destiny as he desperately struggles to be heard, trapped between the living and the dead without a voice. Immersive theater at its best!

Over dozen new acts have been added to the extensive list of performers for The Town and The City Festival taking place in Lowell, Massachusetts on Friday, October 18th and Saturday, October 19th, 2019.

For the past 18 years, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has brought hundreds of thousands of die-hard live music fans from around the world to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park each October. This year, onOctober 4-6, Hardly Strictly will celebrate its 19th year with performances by celebrated acoustic duo The Milk Carton Kids, the unique collaboration ofCalexico and Iron & Wine, Ukraine's heralded folk-music group Dakhabrakha, Texas troubadour Hayes Carll, Bay Area golden boy Jackie Greene, cowpunk heroes Meat Puppets, powerhouse soul spirit Bettye LaVette, country-music renaissance woman Margo Price, songwriting legend Steve Earle, and British-Irish folk-rockers The Waterboys. “To me, this lineup reflects our event's legacy while looking ahead to the future,” says Hardly Strictly's talent buyer Chris Porter. “Steve Earle has been celebrating with us since 2002 and artists like Margo Price and Dahkabrahka are making their first Hardly Strictly Bluegrass appearances.” This first round of artists was announced today after Hardly Strictly fans were treated to what the festival calls an “artist medley”—a sneak-peak audio clip of soon to be announced artists—on the festival's social media accounts. The first lineup announce coincides with the 85th birthday of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass founder Warren Hellman who created the festival in 2001 as a gift to the people of San Francisco and the world, celebrating American “roots” music and its many outgrowths.

Tickets are now on sale for the much anticipated production The Johnny Cycle by The Speakeasy Society. 

Celebrating the adventurous spirit of Lowell native author Jack Kerouac, the line-up for the Second Annual The Town and The City Festival, will bring together more than 50 locally-based and national touring acts for performances throughout multiple venues in downtown Lowell, MA.

Do You Love This Planet? by the playwright and philosopher Alexander Matthews will premiere at Covent Garden's Tristan Bates Theatre in February 2019. Directed by Antony Law with design by Adrian Gee, the play will star Christian James as 'Alan', Lucy Lowe as 'Rachel' and Chris Porter as 'Schumann'. Do You Love This Planet will run from 27 February to 23 March, with a press night at 7pm on Tuesday 5 March.

Independent Shakespeare Co.(ISC), presenters of the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival announce the world premiere of interdisciplinary artist Kalean Ung's original solo work, LETTERS FROM HOME, directed by Marina McClure, with music by Chinary Ung. LETTERS FROM HOME will play October 26 - November 18 at Independent Studio in the Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex, 3191 Casitas Ave., #130 in Atwater Village.

Porter Productions announced the lineup for the first-ever The Town and The City Festival to be held in Lowell, MA on October 19th and 20th.  The festival, which will be held in multiple venues in downtown Lowell, will celebrate the adventurous spirit of Lowell native, Jack Kerouac, in an event which features both locally based and national touring acts.

This summer spend a bewitching night with A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at the GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL. Independent Shakespeare Co. celebrates the 15thanniversary season of free Shakespeare in Los Angeles City Parks. The Old Zoo will be transformed into an enchanted forest with an all-new production that envelops the audience with the action of the play. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director, Melissa Chalsma,will begin previews at THE GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL on Saturday, June 30 at 7pm and will open on Saturday, July 7 at 7:00pm and perform through Sunday, September 2 at the Old Zoo in Griffith Park.  All ISC Summer Shakespeare productions are FREE to the public!  A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM is the first of two productions being presented at this year's GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL. TITUS ANDRONICUS will open July 28 and then the plays will run in repertory through September 2. 

Live In Vienna, December 1st, 2016 is a new 3-disc set by King Crimson. Featuring a rendition of “Fracture,” one of the most acclaimed KC compositions and last performed live in 1974, the three-disc set will be released on April 6th and is available for pre-order now.

THIS IS NOT HAPPENING has big things in store with new host Roy Wood Jr. at the helm of the storytelling madness.

Roy Wood Jr. is New Host of Comedic Storytelling Series THIS IS NOT HAPPENING on Comedy Central 2/2