Craig Smith News

Guys and Dolls is among the most famous and popular shows in all of musical theater.  Dutch Apple stays true to the source material and gives their audience what they expect. 

Much has happened to the venerable Alhambra Theatre & Dining since Fiddler on the Roof was last produced there in February of 2003, not the least of which is an ownership change from Todd Booth to Craig Smith. But some things have stayed the same: Todd Booth is still either on stage or behind the curtain and Fiddler on the Roof is as popular as ever. 

Check out photos from the red carpet with the cast, creative team, and company of HERE LIES LOVE on opening night!

The Alhambra Theatre & Dining has always billed its summer show as specifically family-friendly and regardless of what's on stage, the summer run can be counted on to sell out. 

Four local high school students will have their new plays read on May 30 by professional actors as part of the Stephen H. Grant Student Playwrights Festival presented by Penguin Rep Theatre and the Phoenix Theatre Ensemble.

When it premiered on Broadway in 2006, the jukebox musical, Jersey Boys, collected a trophy case full of awards, including the Tony Award for Best Musical. It’s 2009 London West End run earned the Laurence Oliver Award for Best Musical honors. 

Budding writers in Rockland high schools are being invited to compose and submit 10-minute plays to a competition co-sponsored by two professional theatres, Penguin Rep Theatre and Phoenix Theatre Ensemble, this spring in the newly launched Stephen H. Grant High School Student Playwriting Festival. 

The hysterical dark comedy, Arsenic and Old Lace will open at Jacksonville's Alhambra Theatre & Dining on March 23, 2023. Best known through the 1944 film starring Cary Grant and directed by Frank Capra, Arsenic and Old Lace was written in 1939. The play opened on Broadway at the Fulton Theatre on January 10, 1941.

All aboard for a night of Agatha Christie-inspired mystery and murder in Dutch Apple's current production of Murder on the Orient Express. This straight play written by Central Pennsylvania's own Ken Ludwig is fun and fast-paced.

On the heels of a successful 2022 launch, the Phoenix Festival: Live Arts Hudson Valley has been awarded an $86,000 grant from Empire State Development's Division of Tourism, through the state's Regional Economic Development Council initiative.

Cobb PARKS and the award-winning Jennie T. Anderson Theatre are back with the southeast's only concert musical series. They're beginning their fourth season with the Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman classic, ASSASSINS. Featuring a cast of 11 actors and 13 musicians, this is the first time ASSASSINS has been produced in Atlanta in over a decade.

What did our critic think of MISS HOLMES at David S. & Anne V. Howard Studio Theatre?

Mountain Theatre Company opened BKLYN: The Musical at The Highlands Playhouse on September 23, 2022. The show is described as a fast-paced, modern fairytale founded in the American Dream. See video from the production!

When Craig Smith and Theatre Partners reopened the historic Alhambra Theatre & Dining in 2009, they promised that everything about the experience would be new from the chairs to the menu to stemware. 

Mountain Theatre Company released a music video for their upcoming production of BKLYN: THE MUSICAL featuring the show's hit song, 'Once Upon a Time.' The video, filmed in the company's first week of rehearsals, features an ensemble cast including Mackenzie Germain, Camille Capers, Jason Scott McLaughlin, Craig Smith, and Alyson Snyder. Watch ere!

WBOS have announced full casting for their production of SHREK THE MUSICAL at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from Tue 4 – Sat 8 October.

Three professional theater productions, a Shakespeare performance by and for kids, the premiere of a song cycle inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper, prizes from 25 sponsoring businesses, and bus excursions from Manhattan are being prepared for the First Annual Phoenix Live Arts Festival 

Nyack joins the roster of world class arts events with the launch of The Phoenix Festival: Live Arts in Nyack – a performing arts celebration set for this fall 2022.

When “Rock of Ages” opened on Broadway in 2009, it was honored with five Tony Award nominations and went on to run for more than six years and 2300 performances. 

Phoenix Theatre Ensemble announces that HONDURAS by Drama Desk nominated playwright Sara Farrington will be performed April 5-10 at the Paradise Thearte II at 64 East 4th Street (between Bowery and 2nd Avenue).