Erik Gratton News

NETworks Presentations has announced casting for the Boston engagement of ELF THE MUSICAL.

NETworks Presentations presents the Boston engagement of ELF THE MUSICAL. Presented in Boston by the Boch Center and The Madison Square Garden Company, the show will play tomorrow, November 28 through December 10, 2017 at the Boch Center Wang Theatre. Press night is set for Wednesday, November 29 at 7:00 pm. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Madison Square Garden ushers in the holiday season with the New York return of Elf The Musical. Director Sam Scalamoni oversees a cast of 28 including George Wendt (Cheers) starring as Santa Claus. The show is playing a limited engagement at The Theater at Madison Square Garden from December 13th through December 29th.

Tickets are now on sale for the Broadway musical ELF The Musical at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre, November 21 - 26, 2017.

Tickets are now on sale for the Broadway musical ELF The Musical at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre, November 21 - 26, 2017.

NETworks Presentations has announced casting for the Boston engagement of ELF THE MUSICAL.

NETworks Presentations has announced casting for the New York engagement of ELF THE MUSICAL. The show will play from December 13 through December 29 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.

THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE is a hip musical comedy which follows six young people in the throes of puberty, who are overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, as they learn that winning isn't everything and that losing doesn't necessarily make you a loser. The musical, featuring emotionally revealing musical selections filled with side-splitting lyrics written by William Finn, chronicles the overachievers' angst of six precocious adolescents who turn out to be the unlikeliest of heroes: a quirky yet charming cast of outsiders for whom the Bee is the one place where they can stand out and fit in at the same time.

Because it is arguably one the most beloved and critically-acclaimed musicals of all time, WEST SIDE STORY is revisited often by regional theaters across the country (and, frankly, the world). So it is no surprise that yet another large regional theater in Southern California is reviving this nostalgia-baiting, reliably-entertaining, and thematically-resonant show, this time by the talented folks over at McCoy Rigby Entertainment at their home base at the La Mirada Theater for the Performing Arts, where performances continue through May 14, 2017. The resulting show---while mostly and genuinely enjoyable---presented a few jarringly curious presentation choices that didn't quite sit well. Unfortunately, in its admirable quest to inject some 'new-ness' into the well-known retro musical, some of the slight staging reinventions did enough to really lessen the impact of certain scenes that have previously been significant highlights.

Powerful, poignant and timely as ever, LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & McCOY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT presented the fourth show of its 2016-2017 season, the most acclaimed musical of all time, WEST SIDE STORY, book by Arthur Laurents, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, music by Leonard Bernstein with musical direction by Brent Crayon, choreography by John Todd and directed by Ovation award-winner Richard Israel.

Indeed, West Side Story is the most acclaimed musical. And, ask musical actors/actresses what is their favorite Broadway musical of all time and most concur, West Side Story. Why? It has phenomenal music by Leonard Bernstein, with concise poetic lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a tight and gripping book by Arthur Laurents. The brilliant choreography established in 1957 by Jerome Robbins will never be forgotten. The book presents one of the most powerful love stories ever, next to Romeo and Juliet. With all these elements complementing one another, from the first downbeat of the orchestra and the appearance of the Jets creeping in one by one on a half-lit stage, the show pulls you in and doesn't let go for its two and a half hours ... and its message and images of love linger long after the curtain falls.

Powerful, poignant and timely as ever, LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & McCOY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT present the fourth show of its 2016-2017 season, the most acclaimed musical of all time, WEST SIDE STORY, book by Arthur Laurents, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, music by Leonard Bernstein with musical direction by Brent Crayon, choreography by John Todd and directed by Ovation award-winner Richard Israel.

Powerful, poignant and timely as ever, La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts & McCoy Rigby Entertainment present the fourth show of its 2016-2017 season, the most acclaimed musical of all time, WEST SIDE STORY, book by Arthur Laurents, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, music by Leonard Bernstein with musical direction by Brent Crayon, choreography by John Todd and directed by Ovation award-winner Richard Israel.

Broadway-bound new musical, Come From Away, presented by Seattle Repertory Theatre, wins four Gypsys, tying with another new musical, Lizard Boy, also produced by Seattle Repertory Theatreand also with four Gypsys, a company that has been known for years as a powerhouse dramatic straight-play playhouse! 

Seattle Theater Writers critics' circle is pleased to present the nomination slate of the fifth annual Gypsy Rose Lee Awards, theater awards devoted to recognizing excellence across the economic spectrum of professional Seattle theaters in the prior calendar year.

Anne Washburn's hit play "Mr. Burns, a post-electric play", currently playing at ACT, does a fine job at exploring the genesis of mythology and still keeps itself very funny. But that exploration tends to draw itself out a little too long with too little payoff for the time spent.

A Contemporary Theatre is thrilled to present the imaginative dark comedy of MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY by Anne Washburn (The Internationalist, A Devil At Noon, and The Small). Spanning several years to several decades after the end of the world, survivors must begin again to create a new society. As the survivors bond by recounting the popular 'Cape Feare' episode of The Simpsons, the story evolves into its own mythos.

A Contemporary Theatre is thrilled to present the imaginative dark comedy of MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY by Anne Washburn (The Internationalist, A Devil At Noon, and The Small). Spanning several years to several decades after the end of the world, survivors must begin again to create a new society. As the survivors bond by recounting the popular "Cape Feare" episode of The Simpsons, the story evolves into its own mythos.

How do you come out with an anti-war novel without it becoming preachy or scolding? You let Kurt Vonnegut handle it. His tale of the life of a soldier through his time in war and beyond is so shrouded in other elements that the lessons learned just slide on into your brain along with the rest of the story. And Book-It's presentation of this gripping work is just as seemingly effortless in its message and manages to engage and entertain rather than lecture and scold.

It's a musical theater nerd's paradise and as a nerd one of my favorite times of the year. Village Theatre has once again brought together an incredible weekend of new works for workshop readings and one full production. Five shows put up for one performance as readings with music stands and scripts in hand and then one larger production put up for two weekends. And while the weekend may be over (and only for members anyway) there's still time to see the larger production and I've got some wonderful photos for you all. But let's start with the production you can still see and then we'll move onto the workshops.