Artistic Director Mathew Wright today announced BEYOND IDEAS, ArtsWest's 2018-19 Season, with six productions - featuring plays by Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights, a soaring new version of a beloved classic, and a world premiere musical - all centered on the human need for connection in a time of increasing division and misunderstanding.
The DC theatre community hurried along the waterfront on Monday night, attempting to beat the looming, black storm clouds that threatened, but this could not dampen the vibrant crowds as they entered the recently opened Anthem for this year's Helen Hayes Awards. This stunning, modern space will be greeting the likes of Belle & Sebastian, Janelle Monae, and Nine Inch Nails in the coming months, and on this evening, theatre creative showed off their finest.
Wajatta - the new group formed by beat-boxer/comedian/musician Reggie Watts and electronic music artist/DJ/producer John Tejada - offers Casual High Technology, its first album, on May 11, 2018 via Comedy Dynamics. Presented as a cosmic collection of funk-infused techno, Casual High Technology is the culmination of decades' worth of Watts and Tejada's favorite electronic music shaped to fit a new dance sensibility. Check out the first single, 'Runnin',' on SoundCloud and the latest offering, 'Get Down (With Ya Bad Self)' [feat. Justin Maxwell] at https://soundcloud.com/comedydynamics/get-down-with-ya-bad-self. Pre-orders are live now: http://radi.al/WajattaTechnology.
Arts on the Horizon, a non-verbal interactive theatre for children ages 0 - 6, is excited to present a new commission by a local DC playwright. To the Clouds will run from May 31st - June 16th, 2018 at The Lab at Convergence in Alexandria, Virginia.
Geva Theatre Center's Wilson Stage Season 2017-2018 concludes with Steel Magnolias, by Robert Harling and directed by Skip Greer, in the Elaine P. Wilson Stage from May 8 through June 3.
Revered for their dark, experimental sound, DC-based electronic-pop duo NUEXannounce their debut EP Affectus, set for release on May 25th. Comprised of singer-songwriter Camille Michelle Gray and drummer-producer Teddy Aitkins, Affectus is a five-track collection that fuses haunting synths with kick-clap, hip-hop influenced rhythms.
Today, Birds of Chicago release their new full-length album Love in Wartimeon Signature Sounds Recordings. The album features 'Superlover', 'Never Go Back' and 'Roll Away', which NPR can't get enough of. 'We can almost see a full audience on their feet in a live show, singing and dancing along,' says Kim Ruehl (Folk Alley, NPR 'Heavy Rotation: 10 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing') adding, 'Roll Away' celebrates change, with all its painful revelations and inevitable doubt.'
The Flaming Lips announce their first official 'hits' collection on Warner Bros. Records to be released on June 1. Greatest Hits Vol. 1 will compile eleven WBR-era singles and album tracks on a single black vinyl pressing. This is the first time The Lips have presented singles from Transmissions From The Satellite Heart (1993), Clouds Taste Metallic (1995), The Soft Bulletin (1999), Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002), At War With The Mystics (2006), Embryonic (2009) and their current album Oczy Mlody (2017) on a single disc.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has today announced the shortlist for the 2018 BAFTA Student Film Awards. Following the international expansion of the Awards in 2017, this year's shortlisted 60 films have been selected from the 469 submissions by students at film schools in 35 countries across the world, including Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Egypt, Germany, India, Israel, Kenya, Lebanon, Russia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Jerry Mouawad, Artistic Co-Director of Imago Theatre, opens his world premier To Fly Again this Friday May 4 at 7:30 at Imago Theatre. , The work written, choreographed and directed by Jerry Mouawad plays May 4, 5, 6, 11, and 12, Fri/Sat at 7:30, Sun at 2:00. Tickets for the show are $10, $15 or $20 - pay what you will. Tickets can be purchased at the door or by calling Imago at 503.231.9581 or online at ticketswest.com or by calling TicketsWest at 503.224.8499.
Wajatta - the new group formed by beat-boxer/comedian/musician Reggie Watts and electronic music artist/DJ/producer John Tejada - offers Casual High Technology, its first album, on May 11, 2018 via Comedy Dynamics. Presented as a cosmic collection of funk-infused techno, Casual High Technology is the culmination of decades' worth of Watts and Tejada's favorite electronic music shaped to fit a new dance sensibility. Check out the first single, 'Runnin',' on SoundCloud and the latest offering, 'Get Down (With Ya Bad Self)' [feat. Justin Maxwell] at https://soundcloud.com/comedydynamics/get-down-with-ya-bad-self. Pre-orders are live now: http://radi.al/WajattaTechnology.
Leading immersive animation studio Baobab Studios announced today that Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o will lend her voice to the first-ever live animated experience, "Jack." Directed by visionary French director Mathias Chelebourg, "Jack" is an experience unlike any other - brilliantly combining immersive theater with virtual reality technology and gorgeous animation. The first installment of the series, "Jack: Part One" is currently showing at the Tribeca Film Festival Virtual Reality Arcade now through Saturday, April 28, 2018.
The Flaming Lips announce their first official “hits” collection on Warner Bros. Records to be released on June 1. Greatest Hits Vol. 1 will compile eleven WBR-era singles and album tracks on a single black vinyl pressing. This is the first time The Lips have presented singles from Transmissions From The Satellite Heart (1993), Clouds Taste Metallic (1995), The Soft Bulletin (1999), Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002), At War With The Mystics (2006),Embryonic (2009) and their current album Oczy Mlody (2017) on a single disc. The Deluxe digital and Deluxe 3-CD Edition ofGreatest Hits Vol.1 significantly expands the concept of their “hits” and gathers some of their best-loved album tracks from the aforementioned albums plus deep cuts from their WBR album debut, Hit To Death In The Future Head (1992), along with music from, Zaireeka (1997), The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends (2012) and The Terror (2013). The Deluxe Edition will also compile a generous hatful of International single B-sides, studio outtakes and several previously unreleased tracks to present an essential view into the extraordinary body of work from one of the most influential and enduring rock bands of all-time.
On Thursday, April 19th, the clouds cleared and the festive sounds of jazz filled the beautifully lit Broadway Presbyterian Church setting the tone for the nonprofit Bloomingdale School of Music's (BSM) annual scholarship benefit, Notes From 108th Street hosted by Ken Fischer, President Emeritus University Musical Society. The event honored Alexander Bernstein and the nonprofit Artful Learning, founded by Leonard Bernstein. Notes From 108th Street coincided with the worldwide celebration of Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday, and this year's event featured the music of this legendary composer, conductor, educator, cultural ambassador, and humanitarian performed by BSM students and faculty.
There's an old rocking chair with a threadbare cushion in the corner of small living room near Brooklyn Bridge, New York. In it sits Eddie Carbone, our tragic hero, reading the paper. He smells of coffee from the sacks he's been unloading at the docks. A hard-working man providing for his wife Beatrice, and his orphaned niece Catherine who is by now a young woman, ready to fly the nest.
Aside from the joy of living one's dream with a national tour, MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL is a production of historical consequence. The actors in the present touring production landing at The Playhouse May 1 understand its significance and the honor bestowed upon them.
'The Coterie Theatre' has opened a new and clever retelling of the classic 1734 English fairy tale about a boy, a giant, and a magic beanstalk. For adults, the enduring charm of 'The Coterie' is seeing a gaggle of squirmy preschoolers and primary schoolers morph into a rapt and respectful audience as soon as house lights begin to dim. The kids sit in bunches on the carpeted floor next to the stage and chatter and wrestle (sometimes restrained by concerned parents - sometimes not) waiting for the show to begin.
It's never a good sign when, during an opera, you pay more attention to the orchestra than the people onstage. This is the kind of situation that befalls George Mason University's School of Music and Mason Opera's new revival of Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring. Britten's complex score is indeed a difficult one and Mason Opera tackles it head-on. They're never able to reach the necessary heights this work allows. This calls into question whether this selection was the right choice for this class of students.
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