Erik Altemus News

Maestro Luke Frazier and The American Pops Orchestra are proud to present Make Someone Happy: A 60s Cocktail Party,  the closing concert of their inaugural season. The event will take place at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium on Friday, May 6th at 8:00 PM, including special guests Erik Altemus, Nova Y. Payton, Nicholas Rodriquez  and Hayley Travers , in addition to dancers, choreography and full costumes.

Symphony Space pays exuberant homage to the Great White Way with Project B-way/95, a two-week celebration comprising 14 events, now through April 20. A particular highlight is this year's installment of Symphony Space's signature event, WALL TO WALL STEPHEN SCHWARTZ (tonight, April 16).

Maestro Luke Frazier and The American Pops Orchestra - Washington, DC's innovative hometown orchestra - are proud to present the closing concert of their successful inaugural season. MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY: A 60s Cocktail Party will debut at the George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium on Friday, May 6th at 8:00 PM.

Symphony Space pays exuberant homage to the Great White Way with Project B-way/95, a two-week celebration comprising 14 events, April 7 - 20. A particular highlight is this year's installment of Symphony Space's signature event, WALL TO WALL STEPHEN SCHWARTZ (Saturday, April 16).

Four-Time Tony Award Winner PIPPIN is heading to Europe with Broadway star Kyle Dean Massey to join in Amsterdam.

Four-Time Tony Award Winner PIPPIN is heading to Europe with Broadway star Kyle Dean Massey to join in Amsterdam.

After a successful run on Broadway as well as a national tour through the country, the high-flying, tony awards-winning hit musical PIPPIN is heading to Europe. Hailed by audiences and critics alike this 'eye-popping, jaw-dropping extravaganza' opens in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on March 9 for a 5-weeks run through April 10. The European premiere is on March 10.

The National Tour of PIPPIN is, hands down, the finest touring production to land at The McCallum Theatre during my tenure in the desert cities. Passionate. Polished. Near Perfection! It is a glorious spectacle of sight, sound and immaculate storytelling that, despite its mesmerizing visual feast of circus spectacle, remains honest and intimate and, at every turn, very human.

Pippin, Broadway's high-flying, death-defying hit musical drops in at The McCallum Theatre for a week long engagement, January 12-17. Full of extraordinary acrobatics, wondrous magical feats and soaring songs from the composer of Wicked, Pippin 'lifts you up and leaves you smiling', say press notes. Directed by Diane Paulus, the revival of Pippin won four 2013 Tony Awards® including 'Best Musical Revival' and has been hailed as 'an eye-popping, jaw-dropping extravaganza' (NY1). Erik Altemus originated the role of Lewis in the Broadway revival and is now on the road, reprising his role, in this national touring iteration. I had the opportunity to chat with Erik about the production and 'all things Erik'. Here are a few excerpts from that conversation.

Dear Readers, I hope you've all fared well over the holidays and had a good time with your families. It's been a tumultuous year with lots of great theater for us to take in. And so I'm pleased to share with you some of the best things I saw this past year and the ones that I felt worthy of getting my Critic's Choice Awards for 2015. So settle in and allow me to expound on all the amazing I saw over the year. The envelope please.

While down in Mexico performing in Puerto Vallarta at the Red Room, The Skivvies came up wth a holiday medley of bells-centric tunes. Check it out below, plus get ready for their upcoming concerts December 6 and 7 at Joe's Pub!

Joe's Pub at the Public has announced a fresh slate of shows for the holiday season, starting today, December 2!

Joe's Pub at the Public has announced a fresh slate of shows for the holiday season, starting December 2-13! 

Joe's Pub at The Public has announced its upcoming nightly performances from November 25-December 6, 2015. Scroll down or visit www.joespub.com for a complete list of shows!

There are the warhorse musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin; there are the lavish productions befitting Phantoms in opera houses and French revolutionaries and revisionist fairy tales (and you know the ones I mean); there are the Disney powerhouses; and . . . there are musicals of a quaint, mind-nudging nature that don't quite fit into any category. Certainly THE FANTASTICKS comes to mind, and -- at least in the previous productions I have seen -- Stephen Schwartz's PIPPIN. Somewhere in my video collection is a filmed version of the musical with William Katt, and just a few years ago PIPPIN was the first musical staged at the shiny, new Playhouse on the Square (with Alvaro Francisco stepping in for a sidelined Jordan Nichols). I sometimes think that small-scale musicals are better suited to venues less grand than the Orpheum; I needn't have worried, however, as PIPPIN has acquired the kind of theatrical, Cirque du Soleil-style atmosphere that perfectly suits the show's opening number, 'Magic to Do.'

Stephen Schwartz's "Pippin" is one of those under appreciated musicals. It definitely has its problems but if done well it can deliver the goods. Well, the current tour of the recent Broadway run certainly delivers those goods. Not only does it retain the dark edginess of the story but it's also infused with thrilling circus routines that make it a crowd pleaser on many levels.

Hailed as the launchpad of the American theater, the two-time Tony Award-winning Eugene O'Neill Theater Center responsible for developing more than 1,100 new works for the stage as well as thousands of artists through the semester-long training programs of the National Theater Institute, recently announced the 2015 summer season of plays, musicals, and other works in development through the National Theater Institute, National Puppetry Conference, National Music Theater Conference, National Playwrights Conference, and the Cabaret & Performance Conference.

Broadway Bares, the unrivaled evening of sexy striptease that benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, will celebrate its 25th spectacular edition on Sunday, June 21, 2015, with Broadway Bares: Top Bottoms of Burlesque, a show inspired by the golden age of Broadway.

Leslie Kritzer (Sondheim on Sondheim, A Catered Affair) and Kyle Dean Massey (Pippin, Next to Normal) join the slate of performers scheduled for Broadway Sings Tori, a one-night concert benefitting RAINN on Monday, April 20th. The concert will feature the music of legendary singer-songwriter Tori Amos.

Tony winners Laura Benanti (Gypsy) and Lena Hall (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and singer-songwriter Scott Alan are among the stars set to perform at Broadway Sings Tori, a concert celebrating the music of eight time Grammy Award nominee, Tori Amos. The one-night concert will take place on Monday, April 20th at 7pm at (le) Poisson Rouge in New York City and will benefit RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network).