Today in 1938, Pygmalion opened at the Maxine Elliott's Theatre. Written by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, the play centers on Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins. He makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of gentility, the most important element of which, he believes, is impeccable speech. The play is a sharp lampoon of the rigid British class system of the day and a comment on women's independence, packaged as a romantic comedy.
The Canadian Opera Company's 2014/2015 winter season opens with a game-changing new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Internationally acclaimed Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov defies convention with this dark and witty masterpiece inspired by literature's most famous womanizer, Don Juan. His vision is brought to blistering life by a dream cast led by renowned Canadian baritoneRussell Braun and German maestro Michael Hofstetter conducting Mozart's glorious score of irresistible melodies. Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM, Don Giovanni runs for 10 performances on January 24, 27, 30,February 1, 3, 6, 12, 14, 18, 21, 2015 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.
The Canadian Opera Company's 2014/2015 winter season opens with a game-changing new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Internationally acclaimed Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov defies convention with this dark and witty masterpiece inspired by literature's most famous womanizer, Don Juan. His vision is brought to blistering life by a dream cast led by renowned Canadian baritone Russell Braun and German maestro Michael Hofstetter conducting Mozart's glorious score of irresistible melodies. Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM, Don Giovanni runs for 10 performances on January 24, 27, 30, February 1, 3, 6, 12, 14, 18, 21, 2015 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.
On Monday, December 1st the 2014 Shaw New York Critics' Symposium was held at The Players Club before a sold out crowd.
A team of critics examine the ever-changing needs of their field, how their world has changed and how they predict their roles in the arts will continue to evolve.
This panel included Joe Dziemianowicz (NY Daily News), Adam Feldman (TimeOut NY), Frank Rizzo (Hartford Courant/Variety), David Rooney (The Hollywood Reporter), Elisabeth Vincentelli (New York Post), and Jason Zinoman (The New York Times), moderated by Frank Rizzo (Hartford Courant).
Gingold Theatrical Group presents these events annually. Gingold Theatrical Group is a human rights arts organization using the work of George Bernard Shaw as its guide.
As George Bernard Shaw began his theatrical career as a critic and arts journalist, GTG presents this annual forum for critics to meet and discuss their world in front of an audience.
This event was part of Gingold Theatrical Group's Shaw New York 2014 festival, which includes the now-running production of Shaw's MAJOR BARBARA at the Pearl Theatre Company. GTG's Shaw Symposium will take place on Monday, December 8th at The Players. The festival's Shaw Concert (with the Tesla Quartet) happens on Monday, December 15th, also at The Players. The final festival event will feature a new play by Time Out New York's David Cote as part of GTG's Project Shaw series.
For more information about these events: www.gingoldgroup.org or phone 212.355.7823
Check out photos from inside the special event below!
Photo Credit: Genevieve Rafter Keddy
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The main goal of Straight From New York Workshop and Concert Series is to offer "educational opportunities for performing arts students to work with top Broadway artists in cities around the country. In addition, the concert series features Broadway artists in performance for the public!" This October, Tony Award Nominee Jennifer Damiano and Broadway/TV Star Wesley Taylor are touring Texas to teach a series of Musical Theatre Audition Masterclasses.
The Pearl Theatre Company and Gingold Theatre Group will soon present Shaw's Major Barbara, running November 4 through December 14, 2014. Check out phtoos of the company below!
Today in 1981, the second Broadway revival of My Fair Lady opened at the Uris Theatre (now the George Gershwin Theatre), where it ran for 120 performances. My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, so that she may pass as a well born lady. The musical's 1956 Broadway production was a hit, setting what was then the record for the longest run of any major musical theatre production in history. It was followed by a hit London production, a popular film version, and numerous revivals.
There's a reason My Fair Lady is one of the most beloved musicals of all time. Not only does it feature a bunch of wonderful songs by Lerner and Loewe that have become classics, but it's based on the George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion that deals with issues of class, gender, societal expectations, and the intersection of wealth and power. It's a musical that has style and substance. The Guthrie's gorgeous new production does well by this classic. The show is perfectly cast, the familiar music sounds great, the choreography is fantastic, and the sets and costumes are luscious. This hugely entertaining show is definitely a must-see summer blockbuster musical.
Gingold Theatrical Group's PROJECT SHAW, under the leadership of Founding Artistic Director David Staller, presented George Bernard Shaw's curious comedy, Getting Married on June 23 at 7pm, at Symphony Space'sLeonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre (2895 Broadway at 95th St.). BroadwayWorld has photos from the event below!
Today in 1976, the first Broadway revival of My Fair Lady opened at the St. James Theatre, where it ran for 377 performances. My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, so that she may pass as a well born lady. The musical's 1956 Broadway production was a hit, setting what was then the record for the longest run of any major musical theatre production in history. It was followed by a hit London production, a popular film version, and numerous revivals.
Gingold Theatrical Group, under the leadership of David Staller, honored philanthropist Anita Jaffe and playwright/actor Charles Busch at its Annual Golden Shamrock Gala, earlier this week at Manhattan Penthouse (80 Fifth Ave at 14th Street). The GTG Golden Shamrock Award is given annually for artistic contribution to society. Past honorees include Terrence McNally, Judith Ivey, Brian Murray, and Robert Osborne. BroadwayWorld was there for the special night abd you can check out photo coverage below!
Audiences be warned: a dangerously attractive aristocrat will be in Vancouver when VO's Don Giovanni hits the Queen Elizabeth Theatre stage in just a few weeks. The serial seducer will captivate audiences for five passionate performances only, tonight, March 1 to 9, 2014. Based on the captivating figure of Don Juan, Mozart's treatment is comedic and tragic, complex, and a towering achievement of music and drama.
Audiences be warned: a dangerously attractive aristocrat will be in Vancouver when VO's Don Giovanni hits the Queen Elizabeth Theatre stage in just a few weeks. The serial seducer will captivate audiences for five passionate performances only, March 1 to 9, 2014. Based on the captivating figure of Don Juan, Mozart's treatment is comedic and tragic, complex, and a towering achievement of music and drama.
Gingold Theatrical Group's PROJECT SHAW, under the leadership of Founding Artistic Director David Staller, presented George Bernard Shaw's 1894 comedy, Arms and the Man, on Monday, January 27 at 7pm, at Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre (2895 Broadway at 95th St). BroadwayWorld has photos from the show below!
Academy Award, Tony Award and Emmy Award winner Christopher Plummer takes the stage for 16 performances only in a Center Theatre Group special event, "A Word or Two," which opened at the CTG/Ahmanson Theatre on Wednesday, January 22, 2014. Written and arranged by Plummer and directed by Tony Award winner Des McAnuff, "A Word or Two" is presented in association with the Stratford Festival of Canada and continues through February 9, 2014. Click below to watch interviews with Plummer and McAnuff on opening night!
