David Weiss News

This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature stories in Minneapolis, Memphis, Portland and more. Check out our top 10 stories around our Broadway World below, which include THE CRUCIBLE in Minneapolis, ANNIE in Memphis and IRVING BERLIN in Portland, just to name a few.

This Quentin Tarantino-style black comedy is written by Arizona native playwright and actor Ron Hunting, and runs through December 10 at Stray Cat Theatre for its world premiere. 'Anything You Hear and Only Half of What You See' is a dark, yet hilarious delight, driven by plot twist and turns that leaves the viewer engaged throughout its entirety.

Times Square Arts presents a visual lullaby for the city in filmmaker and theatrical video artist Tal Yarden's Counting Sheep on Times Square's electronic billboards from 11:57 pm to midnight throughout December.

In partnership with the Cuban Artists Fund, Times Square Arts will take the public on an abstract, visual road trip in Emilio Perez's Dream Season on Times Square's electronic billboards from 11:57 p.m. to midnight every night in November.

Atari! Pong! Space Invaders! The New Colony will conclude its 2016 Season with the world premiere comedy MERGE, a fast-paced, heartfelt and uproarious journey inside the burgeoning 1970s video game industry. Written by Spenser Davis and directed by Co-Artistic Director Andrew Hobgood, MERGE will play October 8 - November 13, 2016 at The New Colony's resident home, The Den Theatre's Upstairs Main Stage, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets go on sale Monday, August 22 at www.thenewcolony.org.  

In partnership with the Cuban Artists Fund, Times Square Arts will take the public on an abstract, visual road trip in Emilio Perez's Dream Season on Times Square's electronic billboards from 11:57 p.m. to midnight every night in November.

11th Hour Theatre Company kicks off its 12th season with its Next Step Concert Series and a performance of the hilarious musical Urinetown. With Music and Lyrics by Mark Hollmann and Book and Lyrics by Greg Kotis, this concert reading of this popular musical will run October 21-23 at The Arden's Studio Theatre at the Hamilton Family Arts Center. 62 N. Second Street.  Tickets cost $19-34 and are available online at www.11thhourtheatrecompany.org or by phone 267-987-9865.

Atari! Pong! Space Invaders! The New Colony concludes its 2016 Season with the world premiere comedy MERGE, a fast-paced, heartfelt and uproarious journey inside the burgeoning 1970s video game industry. Written by Spenser Davis and directed by Co-Artistic Director Andrew Hobgood, MERGE plays now through November 13, 2016 at The New Colony's resident home, The Den Theatre's Upstairs Main Stage, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. The press opening is tonight, October 11 at 7:30 pm, and BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

In partnership with the French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF) as part of FIAF's 2016 Crossing the Line Festival, Times Square Arts will highlight the human details that bring us together with Tim Etchells' Eyes Looking, which will appear on Times Square's electronic billboards from 11:57 p.m. to midnight every night in October. This project is a part of Midnight Moment, a monthly presentation by the Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) and Times Square Arts. 

As part of the 2016 edition of Crossing the Line, the French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF)'s celebrated contemporary arts festival, FIAF will present Forced Entertainment, returning this year with the New York premiere of their provocative and darkly comic performance, Tomorrow's Parties.

As part of the 2016 edition of Crossing the Line, the French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF)'s celebrated contemporary arts festival, FIAF will present Forced Entertainment, returning this year with the New York premiere of their provocative and darkly comic performance, Tomorrow's Parties.

Atari! Pong! Space Invaders! The New Colony will conclude its 2016 Season with the world premiere comedy MERGE, a fast-paced, heartfelt and uproarious journey inside the burgeoning 1970s video game industry. Written by Spenser Davis and directed by Co-Artistic Director Andrew Hobgood, MERGE will play October 8 - November 13, 2016 at The New Colony's resident home, The Den Theatre's Upstairs Main Stage, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets go on sale Monday, August 22 at www.thenewcolony.org.  

In partnership with the Metropolitan Opera and Gallery Met Shorts, Times Square Arts brings Elizabeth Peyton and Kristian Emdal's Tantris (Young Tristan) to Times Square's electronic billboards from 11:57 p.m. to midnight every night in September. This project is a part of Midnight Moment, a monthly presentation by The Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) and Times Square Arts. 

Atari! Pong! Space Invaders! The New Colony will conclude its 2016 Season with the world premiere comedy MERGE, a fast-paced, heartfelt and uproarious journey inside the burgeoning 1970s video game industry. Written by Spenser Davis and directed by Co-Artistic Director Andrew Hobgood, MERGE will play October 8 - November 13, 2016 at The New Colony's resident home, The Den Theatre's Upstairs Main Stage, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets go on sale Monday, August 22 at www.thenewcolony.org.  

Influenced by imagery from Victorian patterns, letterpress printing, archetypal symbols, and apocalyptic themes, artist Beau Stanton – fresh from a massive commissioned mural for Dubai Walls – is known for his deeply metaphorical oil paintings that fuse these elements with modern environmental realities. Translating oil to animation, Stanton has preserved his antiquated language with a style that emulates early moving images, pulling inspiration from the zoetrope and the Lumiere brothers' cinematograph.

Broken Nose Theatre (BNT) continues their first season as a Pay-What-You-Can organization with the Chicago Premiere of HUMAN TERRAIN, written by recent PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation Award winner Jennifer Blackmer and directed by BNT Artistic Director Benjamin Brownson. Performance will June 10 - July 9 at Voice of the City, 3429 W. Diversey Ave. Press Opening is Monday, June 13 at 7:00pm. All tickets are Pay-What-You-Can, available now at https://dime.io/events/human-terrain. 

I hear music, mighty fine music . . . Host Michael Feinstein sings with pristine bass accompaniment, as Musical Director Tedd Firth's Big Band filters in musician by musician. The sweetest sounds I ever heard . . . he continues as a light saxophone joins syncopated rhythm. Then whomp! All 17 players swing. Rarely have I heard sound design so perfectly balanced, appropriately favoring vocals. Feinstein remains smooth and easy riding the wave. 'You may wonder about the role of jazz in popular song . . . ' our host begins at the start of Jazz at Lincoln Center's first of three segments of the Jazz & Popular Song Series in the Appel Room. At a time when popular songs came and went with alacrity, jazz artists meeting for improvisational jam sessions needed pieces they all knew. Thus jazz mined popular music creating an intersection of the two art forms. Aided and abetted by four very different featured guests, Feinstein illuminates by example, not narrative.

Two major retrospectives offer insights on art, everyday life, and the clever intersection of the two.

Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the ANA-4A's Joint Policy Committee on Broadcast Talent Union Relations (JPC) have reached a tentative agreement on terms for successor television and radio commercials contracts, subject to approval by the SAG-AFTRA National Board of Directors later this month.

Leading names from both sides of the Atlantic will come together this April in London to develop a new musical. Tony Award-nominated singer & actress Melissa Errico will star in the workshop of The Gold Room which features original music by five-time Grammy nominee Michael Feinstein and book & lyrics by Walking With Dinosaurs writer Warner Brown. Conceived originally by Brown, The Gold Room explores a night behind closed doors in the life of Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton.