Fontana News

You will not be disappointed when you see a production of the worldwide hit Mamma Mia!. As the current offering from the Noel S. Ruiz Theater at CM Performing Arts Center, this show boasts a remarkable cast. Running through March 9th at the Oakdale venue, Patrick Grossman directs the superb production featuring our favorites from pop group ABBA.

The Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) today announced a group of talented actors serving as Ambassadors for the 2019 Excellence in Theatre Education Award.

The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) tonight announced the winners of the 2019 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for film, television, new media, videogames, news, radio/audio, promotional, and graphic animation categories at concurrent ceremonies at the Edison Ballroom in New York City and The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.

Tootsie is on its way to Broadway bringing a colorful cast of characters to life on stage. Tootsie will open on Broadway on Tuesday, April 23, 2019 at the Marquis Theatre (210 West 46th Street) in the heart of Times Square. Broadway preview performances will begin on Friday, March 29, 2019.

The Joffrey Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet presents four world premieres in the culmination of Joffrey's national call for ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab and Native American) artists to submit applications for the Joffrey Academy's Ninth Annual Winning Works Choreographic Competition. This year's Competition winners-Tommie-Waheed Evans, Marissa Osato, Xiang Xu and Edgar Zendejas-each have choreographed an original work created on the Joffrey Academy Trainees and Studio Company. Winning Works returns to the Museum of Contemporary Art's Edlis Neeson Theater (220 E. Chicago Avenue) for three performances, Saturday, March 9 at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM and Sunday, March 10 at 2:00 PM. Tickets for Winning Works are $25 and now available for purchase at joffrey.org/winningworks.

Frozen's Patti Murin, Summer's Jenny Laroche and Julie Gold (Grammy-Award winner for Song of the Year for 'From a Distance'), join an amazing collection of talent for this year's BROADWAY BELTS FOR PFF!, hosted by actress/comedienne Julie Halston. This year marks the ninth BROADWAY BELTS FOR PFF!, featuring an evening of music and comedy benefitting the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF). The event will take place on Monday, February 25 at 5:30 pm at the Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street) in New York City. A limited number of tickets are still available and can be purchased at www.BroadwayBeltsForPFF.org.

Sarasota Opera Celebrates 60th Diamond Anniversary Opening With A Brilliant Production of Turandot

The box office for the new Broadway musical, Tootsie, is now open at the Marquis Theatre (210 West 46th Street). TOOTSIE begins preview performances on Friday, March 29th and officially opens on Tuesday, April 23rd.

The box office for the new Broadway musical, TOOTSIE, will open on Friday, February 8 at 10am at the Marquis Theatre (210 West 46th Street). The Marquis Theatre box office will be open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 8pm.  Beginning May 5, the box office will be open on Sundays from 12pm to 6pm.

The San Francisco International Arts Festival (SFIAF) is pleased to reveal the full schedule of performances for the 2019 Festival that will run from May 23 - June 2 and have as a central theme The Path to Democracy. As the dark clouds of nationalism and fascism re-assert themselves on the global stage, SFIAF looks at some of the struggles for democracy past and present and how they manifest themselves in different cultures. The Festival will take place at, and in partnership with, the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture.

SHOWTIME will premiere its new one-hour drama series CITY ON A HILL starring Golden Globe winner and Emmy(r) nominee Kevin Bacon (The Following) and Screen Actors Guild(r) award winner Aldis Hodge (Underground) on Sunday, June 16 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Production on the 10-episode series will begin in February in New York and Boston. The announcement was made today by Gary Levine, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc., at the Television Critics Association's Winter Press Tour.

Written and directed by Nathan Catucci, Impossible Monsters will have its World Premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival on Saturday, March 9, 2019.  

Continuing its ongoing commitment to preserving and celebrating timeless recordings, the Recording Academy has announced the newest inductions to its distinguished GRAMMY Hall Of Fame®. The latest additions recognize a diverse range of both singles and album recordings at least 25 years old that exhibit qualitative or historical significance. Each year recordings are reviewed by a special member committee comprised of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of the recording arts, with final approval by the Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees. With 25 new titles, the Hall, now in its 46th year, currently totals 1,088 recordings and is on display at The GRAMMY Museum.

Three riddles stand between love and death in Giacomo Puccini's last and most majestic opera, as Turandot returns to the Sarasota Opera House on Saturday, February 9, 2019 at 7:00pm. The passionate tale of intrigue and mystery is based on an age-old Persian fairy tale and set in legendary Peking. The Princess Turandot, sung by Kara Shay Thomson, is so desirable that men come from all over the world to win her love, and yet underneath her royal beauty beats a cold heart, turned bitter by desire to avenge the honor of an ancestor. The fearless prince Calaf, played by tenor Jonathan Burton, takes on the challenge posed by the three questions he must answer to win her hand in marriage. If he errs, he will lose his head just like countless princes before him. Will he outwit her, or will he face a gruesome death? Soprano Anna Mandina will play the faithful Liu, a slave girl loyal to Calaf's father Timur, sung by returning Sarasota Opera favorite, bass Young Bok Kim. The most outspoken of the three royal ministers, Ping, will be sung by baritone Filippo Fontana, returning after his celebrated performance as Figaro in Fall 2018's The Barber of Seville. Stephanie Sundine is the stage director of this critically acclaimed production of Turandot, which premiered in 2013, with Maestro Victor DeRenzi conducting. Turandot is one of the grandest operas to ever play the stage of the Sarasota Opera House, with 74 performers on stage and one of the largest orchestras assembled in opera house history.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Begin your Tuesday the only way Broadway fans know how: by catching up on the latest news!

Santino Fontana, star of the eagerly anticipated new Broadway musical Tootsie and creator and cast member of the upcoming Lyrics & Lyricists event We'll Have Manhattan: Rodgers & Hart in New York at the 92ndStreet Y, will be the focus of an exclusive Drama Desk interview/Q&A program today, January 15 at 6:00 pm. The event will take place at Ripley Grier Studios, 520 8th Ave (between 36th and 37th Streets), on the 17th floor (Rm. 17-N), and will be moderated by Drama Desk member Michael Portantiere (BroadwayStars.com, TalkinBroadway.com). Limited General Admission seating is available for the public (non DD Members) $5 General, please make reservations at michael@broadwaystars.com. Please put 'RSVP Santino Fontana event' in the subject line.

Today, during day three of BroadwayCon, fans were given the unique chance to catch a First Look at some of the most talked-about new shows on Broadway: Beetlejuice, Hadestown, Kiss Me, Kate, Tootsie, and more, hosted by Tootsie's Julie Halston. Watch the performance from Tootsie below!

Hosted by the actress/comedienne Julie Halston, BROADWAY BELTS FOR PFF! will hold its ninth annual fundraiser, featuring an evening of music and comedy benefitting the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF). This year's event will take place on Monday, February 25 at 5:30 pm at the Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street) in New York City. A variety of sponsorship opportunities and tickets are available and can be purchased at www.BroadwayBeltsForPFF.org.

Santino Fontana, star of the eagerly anticipated new Broadway musical Tootsie and creator and cast member of the upcoming Lyrics & Lyricists event We'll Have Manhattan: Rodgers & Hart in New York at the 92ndStreet Y, will be the focus of an exclusive Drama Desk interview/Q&A program on Tuesday, January 15 at 6:00 pm.

Santino Fontana, star of the eagerly anticipated new Broadway musical Tootsie and creator and cast member of the upcoming Lyrics & Lyricists event We'll Have Manhattan: Rodgers & Hart in New York at the 92ndStreet Y, will be the focus of an exclusive Drama Desk interview/Q&A program on Tuesday, January 15 at 6:00 pm. The event will take place at Ripley Grier Studios, 520 8th Ave (between 36th and 37th Streets), on the 17th floor (Rm. 17-N), and will be moderated by Drama Desk member Michael Portantiere (BroadwayStars.com, TalkinBroadway.com). Limited General Admission seating is available for the public (non DD Members) $5 General, please make reservations at michael@broadwaystars.com. Please put 'RSVP Santino Fontana event' in the subject line.