David O News

Let's first get this very necessary accolade out of the way: South Coast Repertory's brand new production of Rick Elice's PETER AND THE STARCATCHER is, hands down, one of the most enjoyable, most thrilling, and most engagingly imaginative plays I have seen all season---a fitting capper to the Tony Award-winning Orange County theater's 51st year. This delightfully revised production---which continues performances in Costa Mesa through June 7---re-calibrates the play's hyperactive mixture of mirth and mayhem by further emphasizing its seemingly 'bare-bones' storytelling devices, resulting in one entertaining night of theater that both kids and adults will find endearingly beguiling. Motivated by imagination, I seriously cannot recall the last time I laughed this boisterously and had this much unabashed joy from sitting through a play in quite some time.

Some great musicals are great because they take us to another time, another place, perhaps another world entirely, one unrecognizable and filled with magic and fantasy. Others are great because they offer us a realistic and recognizable image of our own lives, a mirror in which we see our struggles, hopes, joys, failures and successes. The really great ones do so while offering an audience a captivating story, deeply developed and universally human characters, stunning music and unforgettable songs with amazing lyrics. One such musical is Next To Normal, now playing as the final show in The Wilbury Group's current season.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for June 8-14, featuring Kurt Elling, Rolando Morales-Matos Sextet, Barbara Carroll, and more!

Continuing their mission of premiering new and unpublished musical theater tunes, A LITTLE NEW MUSIC returns to Rockwell: Table & Stage in Los Feliz with a highly original program featuring Broadway and local talent. Tony Award-winner, Daisy Eagan (The Secret Garden), will co-host with her spicy partner-in-comedy, Jordan Kai Burnett (Love is a Battlefield). Bryan Blaskie (Victorian Courting and Zombies) will return as musical director.

 Margot Harley, who co-founded The Acting Company with John Houseman in 1972, will step down as its Producer effective the end of this year.  The Acting Company began with the first graduating class of Juilliard's Drama Division, which included Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, David Schramm and David Ogden Stiers.  "They were classically trained, superbly talented and had worked together for four years," stated Ms. Harley.

The acclaimed Blair String Quartet will perform works of Haydn, Webern and Mendelssohn in concert at Cumberland County Playhouse on May 23 at 7:30 PM.

The Oscar-winning legend opened his commencement speech for NYU's Tisch School for the Arts with this cheery remark, "Tisch graduates, you made it… and you're f*cked." Check out the full video below!

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for June 1 - June 7, featuring Maria Schneider Orchestra, Lindsay Mendez, Barbara Carroll, and more!

The acclaimed Blair String Quartet will perform works of Haydn, Webern and Mendelssohn in concert at Cumberland County Playhouse on May 23 at 7:30 PM.

This is the story of what happened before Peter Pan met Wendy. Peter and the Starcatcher, by Rick Elice and based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, is next up on the Segerstrom Stage at South Coast Repertory. Directed by Art Manke and with musical direction by David O, Peter and the Starcatcher runs May 8-June 7. The show is geared toward adults and children ages 10 years and older. Tickets are now available at www.scr.org.

The latest ravishing score by Cave and Ellis is for director David Olehoffen's Far From Men and is out now on Bad Seed Ltd.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for May 25-31, featuring BossaBrasil, Steve Ross, Sean Harkness Duo, and more!

General director Anthony Freud announced today that Lyric Opera of Chicago has extended its agreement with world-famous soprano Renee Fleming to serve as its creative consultant for the next two years.

The hit AMC drama Mad Men dramatizes the alluring, and very real world of Madison Avenue advertising, and the agencies of the 1960s that branded not just products but a modern sensibility. Here is a chance to hear from some of the real executives and creators who lived through -- and shaped -- the industry. THE REAL MAD MEN panel discussion will feature the leading creatores and executives of the 'Mad Men' era, accompanied by commercials and ad campaigns from the time.

The hit AMC drama Mad Men dramatizes the alluring, and very real world of Madison Avenue advertising, and the agencies of the 1960s that branded not just products but a modern sensibility. Here is a chance to hear from some of the real executives and creators who lived through -- and shaped -- the industry. THE REAL MAD MEN panel discussion will feature the leading creatores and executives of the 'Mad Men' era, accompanied by commercials and ad campaigns from the time.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announces the highlights and overview of programming scheduled for the 56th annual Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, a production of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The 10-day celebration of the arts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is unlike any other in the nation, recently being nominated by USA Today.com for being the Best Art Festival in the nation.

It was a sold-out show. That's saying a lot. The Floatones were last seen at La MaMa twenty years ago.

City Theatre continues its 40th anniversary season with Midsummer (a play with songs), on the Mainstage today, May 9 - 31, 2015. The play is written by David Greig and singer-songwriter Gordon McIntyre, and is directed by City Theatre Artistic Director Tracy Brigden.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its performances for May 18 - May 24, featuring Diane Schuur, Lorin Cohen, Natalie Douglas, and more. Scroll down for details!

This is the story of what happened before Peter Pan met Wendy. Peter and the Starcatcher, by Rick Elice and based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, is next up on the Segerstrom Stage at South Coast Repertory. Directed by Art Manke and with musical direction by David O, Peter and the Starcatcher runs today, May 8-June 7. The show is geared toward adults and children ages 10 years and older.