George Mason News

Calling all musical adventurists! The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's new CSO Proof series offers a novel way to experience performances at Music Hall. Imagine artists and audience members sharing the stage in casual, intermission-less concerts with elements of music, theater, lighting and dance. During the 2019/2020 season, three CSO Proof performances will help celebrate the Orchestra's 125th anniversary by presenting artists collaborating with different curators who craft themes connecting orchestral music to listeners in adventurous ways.

Buglisi Dance Theatre celebrates its 26th Anniversary Season with a program of works by artistic director Jacqulyn Buglisi, company principal dancer Virginie Mécène, Kristine Bendul and Abdiel Jacobsen, and Meagan King.  The program will feature two world premieres by Ms. Buglisi, and a NYC premiere by Ms. Mécène, presented with a commissioning award from the New York State Council on the Arts, and performed by the brilliant of company dancers known for their power and passion.  The Tuesday December 10 performance, an early Performance of Premieres running one hour, will begin at 6 PM and consist of The Moss Anthology: Variation#5, UNUM, In the name of the fire, and the flame, and grace, and Sand.   The full program will be performed Wednesday and Thursday, with curtain time at 7:30 PM.

The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation's premier member organization of independent storytellers, announced today the nominees for the 29th Annual IFP Gotham Awards. Ten competitive awards will be presented to independent features and series. In addition to the competitive awards, Gotham Tributes will be given to actors Laura Dern and Sam Rockwell, director Ava DuVernay, and the Gotham Industry Tribute to Glen Basner.

The Center for the Arts at George Mason University continues the 2019/20 season this November and December with an array of dance, theater, opera, and music from around the world through programs from Great Performances at Mason, the Family Series, as well as signature events from Mason's College of Visual and Performing Arts.

The College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) at George Mason University held its 14th ARTS by George!benefit Saturday, September 28, 2019. The philanthropic event headlined by Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award winner Audra McDonald raised support for student scholarships in visual arts, dance, music, theater, computer game design, film, arts management, as well as for the Mason Community Arts Academy, the Green Machine Ensembles, and the Great Performances at Mason series. Information about the event is available at https://cvpa.gmu.edu/arts-by-george.

The 32nd Annual Virginia Film Festival will feature a deep and diverse program of more than 150 films, including some of the hottest titles on the festival circuit today, and an array of special guests from throughout the industry, and from across the globe. This year's lineup includes award-winning actor, writer, and director Ethan Hawke, noted actor Ann Dowd, international bestselling author John Grisham, actor Dennis Christopher, acclaimed filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu - plus more than 100 filmmakers in all.

Jackie Sibblies Drury's play, Fairview, currently playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, is a show that desperately calls for conversation. It's no wonder, then, that each performance is immediately followed by community discussions led by Build With, a DC-based anti-racist training, facilitation, and consulting practice focused on people, power, and partnership. While I wasn't able to stay for this event following Saturday night's performance, it is an important step in ensuring this work's complicated themes are digested in a clear way. Fairview is one of the most conceptual shows in recent memory. Not every idea can be fully explored in this production, which has a tight 100-minute run time that director Stevie Walker-Webb keeps clipping at a good pace. Nevertheless, Fairview is a necessary piece for anyone looking to dive deeper into discussions of race and identity in America.

Sing for Hope Pianos continue to be embraced as symbols of community, excellence, and access. A newly unveiled Sing for Hope Piano helped mark the much-anticipated opening of The REACH at The Kennedy Center, the first new addition to The Kennedy Center since its grand opening nearly 50 years ago. As the United States' National Cultural Center, The Kennedy Center is the busiest of all U.S. performing arts venues, hosting more than 2,000 performances a year and serving as the home of both the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera. 

The College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) at George Mason University presents its 14th ARTS by George! benefit Saturday, September 28, 2019. The philanthropic event headlined by Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award winner Audra McDonald raises support for student scholarships in visual arts, dance, music, theater, computer game design, film, arts management, as well as for the Mason Community Arts Academy, the Green Machine Ensembles, and the Great Performances at Mason series. Information and ticket/sponsorship packages are available at artsbygeorge.gmu.edu.

Few characters become so embedded in the fabric of pop culture that merely the mention of a color can elicit their memory. Such is the case, however, for Elle Woods, the golden-haired Malibu native at the center of Legally Blonde. Talk about the color pink for too long and someone in your circle is guaranteed to quote one of the now-iconic lines made immortal by Reese Witherspoon in the 2001 film. The 2007 Broadway musical burdened its star, Laura Bell Bundy, with the responsibility of carrying on Ms. Witherspoon's legacy while appearing in almost every scene and belting her lungs out. This hot pink explosion of female empowerment and sisterhood is a deceptively demanding production with a non-stop score by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin. While the DC premiere at The Keegan Theatre is a fun evening, the overly-choreographed production feels like Elle Woods' first day at Harvard: its trying a little too hard.

George Mason University's School of Theater and School of Music will collaborate this fall to present the newest adaptation of the American musical Rags, a heart-warming story of loss and hope surrounding a group of Jewish immigrants as they arrive to start a new life in America at the turn of the 20th century. The D.C.-area premiere of the new version of Rags will run October 31 to November 3, 2019 in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall (4373 Mason Pond Dr., Fairfax, VA).

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces select cast members for upcoming productions as part of the company's 2019/20 Season in advance of single tickets going on sale July 30, 2019.

Washington National Opera (WNO) announces the roster of emerging artists engaged for the 18th season of its Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, beginning August 26, 2019.

The Hylton Performing Arts Center is pleased to welcome the addition of country and gospel music legends Larry, Steve, and Rudy—The Gatlin Brothers to the Merchant Hall stage in a special Hylton Center EXTRA! performance, Sunday, September 22 at 7:00 p.m. (10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas, VA). HyltonCenter.org

Manoa Valley Theatre completes its momentous 50th anniversary play season with the hilarious musical comedy sci-fi fantasy by Richard O'Brien playing July 18th - August 4th. One fateful night, Brad Majors and his fiancee, Janet Weiss - a wholesome and utterly normal young couple in love - innocently set out to visit an old professor. Unfortunately for them, this night out is destined to be one they will never forget. A thunderstorm and a flat-tire force them to seek help at the castle of Dr. Frank 'N' Furter, an alien, transvestite scientist with a manic genius and insatiable libido. Brad, Janet, and Frank 'N' Furter's cohorts are swept up into the scientist's latest experiment. The night's misadventures will cause Brad and Janet to question everything they've known about themselves, each other, love, and lust. A loving homage to the classic B sci-fi film and horror genres with an irresistible rock'n'roll score, The Rocky Horror Show is a hilarious, wild ride that no audience will soon forget.

Prince William Little Theatre presents Annie from July 19-28 at the Hylton Performing Arts Center.

At auditions attended by more than 350 women held on May 17 and 20, Maria Ambrose, Lisa Borres and Jada Pearman were selected by Artistic Director Michael Novak to join the world-renowned Paul Taylor Dance Company. Jessica Ferretti was chosen to join the acclaimed Taylor 2.

Luis Salgado is quickly becoming known as an acclaimed director and choreographer. He has just returned from Germany where he served as Associate DirectorChoreographer for Cirque du Solieil's PARAMOUR. Two years ago he directed and choreographed the Helen Hayes winning musical IN THE HEIGHTS at the GALA Hispanic Theatre. He is now returning to GALA with his own version of FAME, The Musical.

The cast of The Gala Hispanic Theatre's bilingual production of Fame -- The Musical takes this marathon show at a dead sprint, bucking Broadway bluster to deliver on the idea fame is an illusion, and hard work is what we seek.