Christopher Williams News

North Coast Repertory Theatre proudly presents THE ILLUSION, hailed by The New York Times as "Fantastical…takes your breath away." Legendary playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America) displays his brilliance in this wildly inventive tour de force, which celebrates the magic and illusory nature of theatre. Employing crackling, contemporary language and sheer artistry, Kushner creates this most joyfully theatrical play: a supremely entertaining tale of passion, regret, love and magic. Freely adapted from Pierre Corneille's L'Illusion Comique, THE ILLUSION was praised by Chicago Theatre Beat as "hilarious, dreamlike and startlingly poignant".

Now celebrating its 10th Anniversary at Tempe Center for the Arts, the 2017 Breaking Ground Festival will be held January 27 & 28 at 7:30 pm. Tickets: $28Adults/$23 Students and Seniors at the door $25Adults/$18 Students and Seniors when purchased in advance (minimum 24 hours)

Now celebrating its 10th Anniversary at Tempe Center for the Arts, the 2017 Breaking Ground Festival will be held January 27 & 28 at 7:30 pm. Tickets: $28Adults/$23 Students and Seniors at the door $25Adults/$18 Students and Seniors when purchased in advance (minimum 24 hours)

Are you looking for something different for Christmas this year? Tired of Christmas Carol and Gift of the Magi? True confessions from Santa's eight reindeer come to North Coast Repertory Theatre in the reading of The Eight: Reindeer Monologues by Jeff Goode on December 16-17 2016, at 10:00 pm. 

Lumberyard Contemporary Performing Arts (formerly American Dance Institute) is pleased to announce its 2017 season at The Kitchen, which will comprise the premieres of five new contemporary performance works.

After receiving a record-breaking 145 submissions from the top national and international voices in contemporary dance, CONDER/dance announces its final selection of artists who will be featured at the 2017 Breaking Ground Contemporary Dance Festival.

Are you looking for something different for Christmas this year? Tired of Christmas Carol and Gift of the Magi? True confessions from Santa's eight reindeer come to North Coast Repertory Theatre in the reading of The Eight: Reindeer Monologues by Jeff Goode on December 16-17 2016, at 10:00 pm. 

Commissioned and produced by DANCE NOW, National Intimacy Month is a collaboration between performance duo Chelsea and Magda, choreographer/dancers Bryan Strimpel and Shaina Branfman of B.S. Movement, and choreographer Raja Feather Kelly and his troupe, the feath3r theory. Combining choreography, improvisation, text, live podcasting, and sketch comedy, the work explores the role of intimacy in the creative process and in performance. The cute and the aggressive, the familiar and unknown, the popular and the underrated-all come into play in dynamic, surprising, and humorous ways, complete with commercial breaks and apple pie.

A pre-Thanksgiving Holiday Treat is in store for the whole family when Randy James' all male dance company, 10 Hairy Legs, and invited female guest artists will dance James' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at The Theatre at Raritan Valley Community College on Sunday, November 20 at 3:00 pm for public audiences and again onMonday, November 21 at 10:00 am for school groups. Tickets for the November 20 show are $20 and $30, and $7.00 for students on November 21.  Tickets: RVCCArts Online.

THE WINTER YARD is indeed back for the 2016-2017 season, courtesy of funding from Boston's Barr Foundation and the Massachusetts Cultural Council/Local Cultural Council (MV).  And there's no better way to kick off a season of sugar, spice, and gender-fluid mistletoe, renegade skaters, proto-punk Inuk throat-singers and the island's home-grown dance stars, than with a delirious celebration of holiday spirit and tradition. Ladies and Gentlemen, you asked for it to come back, and now it's here - "NUT/CRACKED", choreographed by The Bang Group's co-director David Parker, in collaboration with the company.  You may likely see a few of your neighbors or offspring up there on stage ...

Commissioned and produced by DANCE NOW, National Intimacy Month is a collaboration between performance duo Chelsea and Magda, choreographer/dancers Bryan Strimpel and Shaina Branfman of B.S. Movement, and choreographer Raja Feather Kelly and his troupe, the feath3r theory. Combining choreography, improvisation, text, live podcasting, and sketch comedy, the work explores the role of intimacy in the creative process and in performance. The cute and the aggressive, the familiar and unknown, the popular and the underrated-all come into play in dynamic, surprising, and humorous ways, complete with commercial breaks and apple pie.

Following the critically acclaimed "reaccession" of pioneering modernist choreographer Ted Shawn at The Museum of Modern Art, and recent performances at Tate Modern Museum as part of "20 Dancers of the 20th Century", Adam H Weinert returns with MONUMENT, an imaginative and dynamic new dance piece exploring legacy and identity. While others seek to turn museums into theatrical spaces, Weinert transforms the proscenium stage into an archive with stunning scenic design by Paul Tate dePoo III and lighting by JAX Messenger . The program includes historic choreography by Ted Shawn, Doris Humphrey and Jose Limon dating back to the early 20th century as well as creative re-imaginings of these events by Weinert and others - effectively transfiguring the site into a living archive, investigating ideas of mediation, memory and space.

American Dance Institute (ADI), continuing to find new ways to support contemporary dance artists, is presenting performances in New York City for the first time this summer, offering five premieres over the course of five weeks at The Kitchen. The fifth of ADI's New York premieres at The Kitchen will be celebrated choreographer Jack Ferver's I Want You To Want Me, June 30 - July 02.

I was delighted but not surprised by the polished professionalism of the teenage musicians and dancers from Michigan's Interlochen Center for the Arts who performed on the afternoon of June 5th 2016 at David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center as part of the New York Philharmonic's Biennial celebration. I expected nothing less because I knew from my own years as a ballet major and later as a ballet teacher at Interlochen's summer camp that first-rate artistry is the goal at the Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Michigan's Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra - the only high school orchestra invited to participate in the NY PHIL BIENNIAL - makes its debut at the immersive new-music festival on June 5, with a program titled 'Young Americans.' This unique performance features music by composers only a generation older than the gifted young orchestral musicians themselves, with a program consisting entirely of world and New York premieres. The orchestra will be led by a perfect exemplar of the genre-defying trend in today's music: Los Angeles-based conductor Christopher Rountree, the founder, conductor and creative director of the path-breaking Los Angeles chamber orchestra 'wild Up,' which mixes elements of traditional classical music with new music, performance art, and pop.

On paper, Lawrence Goldhuber/Bigmanarts contrasted with Christopher Williams -- both theatrically inclined and unafraid of being wacky -- sounds marvelous. Marvelous dance evenings are certainly what Mr. Parker usually presents, but many hours after the fact I am still waiting for the magic of May 19th, 2016 to coalesce. 

The intimate and friendly West End Theater will once again play host to the Soaking WET dance series, curated by David Parker and Jeff Kazin, May 19-22, two performances, two different programs daily. The early performances will be shared by Joshua Bisset/Shuagroup and Katy Orthwein; the later shows will feature the ensembles of Larry Goldhuber and Christopher Williams.

The intimate and friendly West End Theater will once again play host to the Soaking WET dance series, curated by David Parker and Jeff Kazin, May 19-22, two performances, two different programs daily. The early performances will be shared by Joshua Bisset/Shuagroup and Katy Orthwein; the later shows will feature the ensembles of Larry Goldhuber and Christopher Williams.

THE DAY BEFORE HEAVEN, a dramatic, autobiographical musical chronicles the journey of Crystal Johnson as she goes from early developmental stages as a vocalist and thespian on Off-Broadway blossoming into a Broadway actress, singer and songwriter signed to a major record label.

THE DAY BEFORE HEAVEN, a dramatic, autobiographical musical chronicles the journey of Crystal Johnson as she goes from early developmental stages as a vocalist and thespian on Off-Broadway blossoming into a Broadway actress, singer and songwriter signed to a major record label.