David Brown, News

Beijing Academy of Performing Arts kids theatre camp presented AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS on August 9, 2014. Thirty student actors, ages 6-14, performed the show. They did all their own acting, singing and dancing. They even made all the sets and costumes. Scroll down for a look at them in action!

Wondering Sound just introduced the “majestic” Wray to the masses. Teaming up with award-winning director Steve Ashlee, Wray created a visually stunning video for their stand-out track “Apacheria.”

Wray is David Brown, Blake Wimberly, and David Swatzell. Though the band is new to the scene, the members' involvement in the music community starts over a decade ago.

Custom Made Theatre announces its 2014-2015 season. The award-winning company will stage six exciting works, opening with the Bay Area premiere of Eric Simonson's adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse- Five, or The Children's Crusade and closing the season with Grey Gardens: The Musical. Two of the shows are Bay Area Premieres and one, Plautus's The Braggart Soldier, or Major Blowhard, adapted and directed by Evren Odcikin, is a World Premiere.

Wray is David Brown, Blake Wimberly, and David Swatzell. Though the band is new to the scene, the members' involvement in the music community starts over a decade ago. The trio has been involved with bands Last Flight In, Comrade, Nightmare Waterfall, and a handful of other projects you might not have had the chance to see if “punk rock” just isn't your scene. But this project is something you don't want to miss.

Starz Digital Media is set to release the award-winning horror film Septic Man this summer. The film will be available On Demand and for digital download August 12 and will have a limited theatrical run on August 15.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 271 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy's membership in 2014.

What do you expect from a band that boasts its inspiration from, “Dreamlike frequencies, sonic colors, ritualism, stagnation, repetition, movement and cohesiveness.”

Following on from the huge success of the 2013 national Family Arts Festival in which over 500,000 people took part across the UK, the 2014 Family Arts Festival will run its second year from 17 October to 2 November with Michael Morpurgo announced as patron and Center Parcs as a major new partner.

MR. IRRESISTIBLE - A New Sci-Fi Musical Comedy Thriller - described as 'The Terminator meets Ugly Betty' - directed by Jonathan J. Carpenter, with book & lyrics by D'Arcy Drollinger (Shit & Champagne / Project: Lohan)and music by Christopher Winslow (OMFG!), make its West Coast premiere today, June 4 - 8, 2014.

The curtain comes down on Pacific Northwest Ballet's 41st season with its annual Season Encore Performance, a crowd-pleasing reprise of some of PNB's greatest hits. A thrilling evening of inspired repertory selections and awe-inspiring performances (including Crystal Pite's show-stopper, Emergence), the program will feature PNB's entire Company, along with the mighty PNB Orchestra. The Season Encore Performance will be presented one night only, Sunday, June 8 at 6:30 pm at McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer Street. Tickets may be purchased exclusively through the PNB Box Office (206.441.2424, online at PNB.org, or in person at 301 Mercer Street at Seattle Center.)

Dark-fired tobacco is one of the nation's oldest and richest cash crops, and notoriously precarious. The new five-episode series TOBACCO WARS takes an unfiltered look inside the lives of fourth and fifth generation Adairville, Ky. farmers who BET everything they have on the high-stakes dark fire industry, premiering tonight, April 19 at 10:00-11:00 p.m., ET/PT on CMT.

MR. IRRESISTIBLE - A New Sci-Fi Musical Comedy Thriller - described as 'The Terminator meets Ugly Betty' - directed by Jonathan J. Carpenter, with book & lyrics by D'Arcy Drollinger (Shit & Champagne / Project: Lohan)and music by Christopher Winslow (OMFG!), make its West Coast premiere June 4 - 8, 2014 for a very limited engagement of 5 performances only, running Wed., Thurs., Fri. & Sat. 8:00 pm / Sun. 7:00 pm. (Preview Wed. 6/4 / Opening Thurs. 6/5) at the Alcazar Theatre - 650 Geary St. (btw'n. Jones & Leavenworth Sts.) in SF.

The new five-episode series TOBACCO WARS takes an unfiltered look inside the lives of fourth and fifth generation Adairville, Ky. farmers who bet everything they have on the high-stakes dark fire industry

For DIRECTOR'S CHOICE, the fourth program of Pacific Northwest Ballet's 2013-2014 season, Artistic Director Peter Boal selects from his roster of acquisitions and increases them by one: The captivating mixed-bill program will feature a much-anticipated world premiere by Alejandro Cerrudo, resident choreographer of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. The program also reprises audience favorites TAKE FIVE...More or Less, Broadway-darling Susan Stroman's sunny slice of jazz-infused Dave Brubeck fun; and Susan Marshall's distinctive aerial duet, Kiss. Rounding out the lineup is Molissa Fenley's State of Darkness, a tour-de-force solo performance set to Stravinsky's riot-inducing The Rite of Spring. DIRECTOR'S CHOICE runs for seven performances only, today, March 14 through 23 at Seattle Center's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall.

The Wetumpka Depot Player's production of The Fantasticks took top honors at Southeastern Theatre Conference on Saturday, March 9 in Mobile, Alabama. Competing against eleven community theatres from across the south, the Wetumpka Depot Players were named Best in Show. The production also took top regional awards with Best Direction, Best Lighting Design and Best Set Design. The musical, a romantic journey of two young people finding true love, featured a company of 15 cast, crew and musicians from the River Region.

The 86th Annual Academy Awards, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, are tonight, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live on the ABC Television Network.

For DIRECTOR'S CHOICE, the fourth program of Pacific Northwest Ballet's 2013-2014 season, Artistic Director Peter Boal selects from his roster of acquisitions and increases them by one: The captivating mixed-bill program will feature a much-anticipated world premiere by Alejandro Cerrudo, resident choreographer of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. The program also reprises audience favorites TAKE FIVE…More or Less, Broadway-darling Susan Stroman's sunny slice of jazz-infused Dave Brubeck fun; and Susan Marshall's distinctive aerial duet, Kiss. Rounding out the lineup is Molissa Fenley's State of Darkness, a tour-de-force solo performance set to Stravinsky's riot-inducing The Rite of Spring. DIRECTOR'S CHOICE runs for seven performances only, March 14 through 23 at Seattle Center's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. Tickets start at just $28 and may be purchased by calling the PNB Box Office at 206.441.2424, online at PNB.org, or in person at the PNB Box Office, 301 Mercer Street.

Noel Coward's film Brief Encounter (1945) based on his 1936 play Still Life, is perhaps one of the finest movies ever made about illicit romance. Now the Kneehigh production from London, which played Broadway in 2010 to great acclaim, an event quite unlike any you will ever see, is being mounted at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts through March 23 with some of the original Broadway cast, including the remarkable Hannah Yelland as Laura. Wisely presented in one act without an interval, Brief Encounter never drags and retains a unique solidarity.

UK Theatre has announced that Bill Kenwright, one of the UK's most successful theatre producers, will deliver the keynote speech at its 7th annual Touring Symposium, sponsored by leading theatre consultancy, Charcoalblue. With over a month to go, demand for the event is high and over 200 people have already booked their place on this year's event.