Stefanie Batten Bland, a choreographic artist and 2016 Bessie Schonberg Fellow is the Artistic Director of Company SBB. Alex Timbers is a two-time Tony nominated playwright and theater director, recipient of the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards, and two-time OBIE and Lortel Award winner, and co-creator and co-executive producer of the television show, Mozart in the Jungle. Both will be presented with the 2016 Jerome Robbins Award at Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) on November 7, 2016 at an invitation-only performance beginning at 6.30.
Sion Lloyd joins the 30th anniversary cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera in the role of Monsieur Firmin, beginning tonight. His past credits include Titanic (Charing Cross Theatre), Miss Atomic Bomb (St James Theatre), The Pajama Game (Shaftesbury Theatre), Avenue Q (Noel Coward Theatre) and the touring production of The Bodyguard.
Today's big news: Roundabout's HOLIDAY INN begins performances on Broadway, Mel Brooks appears at Radio City, and the cast of Off-Broadway's STUFFED meets the press, so stay tuned for coverage! Hello, September!
Lonny Price's 'Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened' is set to screen as part of the Special Events of the 54th New York Film Festival (September 30 - October 16). Below, check out a clip from the documentary, in which Hal Prince and Stephen Sondheim discuss their new 'show about kids.'
Do you remember what were you doing on September 27th, 1986? That is how long Phantom of the Opera has been on stage. Thirty years of audiences enjoying Sir Andrew Lloyd Webbers masterpiece. On top of the longest running production on both the West End and Broadway, there is also currently a US touring production which has landed here in Denver.
Theater Works is excited to announce an exclusive event with Broadway stars Kelli James, James May and special guest, Tony Award winner Anthony Crivello. J
The Den Theatre is pleased to announce the expansion into its newest space, The Bookspan Theatre, set to open in fall 2016. Named for respected arts educator, performance coach, director and performer Janet Bookspan, the 99-seat, fully adaptable theatre will open at 1335 N. Milwaukee Ave., adjacent to The Den's six other theatres and spaces. Haven Theatre Company will be the head resident company of the The Bookspan, set to inaugurate the space with the Chicago premiere of How We Got On by Idris Goodwin, directed by Jess McLeod from September 29 - November 12, 2016. Other companies expected to produce in the space during the 2016-17 season include Griffin Theatre and Route 66 Theatre Company.
Thomas James O'Leary's recent directing credits include Flim Flam: Houdini and the Hereafter, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Nine, Dusty de los Santos, The Debut of Georgia, A Horse with a View, and currently Sunday in the Park with George. Thomas is best known for his three-year run (over 1,000 performances) in the title role of Broadway's longest-running musical, The Phantom of the Opera. Other acting credits include Miss Saigon (Broadway original cast), Les Miserables (First National original cast), Chess (First National), You Never Can Tell (Yale Rep), Last Sunday in June (Century Center), Travels with My Aunt (Colony Theatre), and Take Me Out (LA Weekly Award, Celebration Theatre).
'There are two kinds of people in the world, as ye very well know,' Peter Cormican asserts in a lilting accent, 'those that are Irish and those that want to be.' The English-born actor, son Irish parents - a Protestant mother from Belfast and a Catholic father from Galway - is currently in Maine to make his Maine State Music Theatre/Portland Stage debut in Frank McCourt's play The Irish and How They Got That Way, directed by Marc Robin, which opens in Portland August 19th. The production, a bold new collaboration between two of Maine leading Equity companies, marks an exciting new chapter for both theatres and promises to be one of the season's biggest hits, as it has been in every town its played.
Cormican is joined in our conversation by two of the other four principals from the a small cast that also stars Curt Dale Clark [see BWW interview 5/24/16], Charis Leos and Cary Michele Miller, (and features Cameron Wright and Emily Davis, Ernest Sauceda (fiddler) and two other musicians). Both Leos and Miller are MSMT veterans, but new to McCourt's play. 'This is my debut at Portland Stage,' Miller says with anticipation. 'I always look forward to working with Curt and Charis and Marc, and I am enjoying getting to know Peter. And I am always excited to learn new material and new music.'
DANCE FILMS ASSOCIATION invites you to 'AN EVENING WITH VINCENT PATERSON' at the SVA Theatre on Thursday, August 25. The director and choreographer, who, with superstars Madonna and Michael Jackson, created some of the most iconic moments in pop culture, will take to the stage for a presentation of clips and imagery, and a discussion about his career with host Joseph A. Berger. Mr. Paterson will also read excerpts from his new memoir. A reception will immediately follow in the SVA Theatre lobby.
There's good news and bad news in the Gloucester Stage production of Jason Robert Brown's SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD. The inspiring song cycle from 1995 shows the composer's promise that has been fulfilled, as evidenced by his three Tony Awards, and there is much to enjoy in both the music and lyrics (when you can hear them). The five-member cast features quality vocalists, but they often lose focus while they are busily moving around the stage in Director Robert Walsh's zeal to substitute action for the nonexistent connective libretto.
Name an opera or operetta and it is likely listed in soprano Sarah Rice's repertoire. Over her long and illustrious career, she has starred and performed in a myriad of productions all across the map, from Broadway to Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy. Strauss, Salieri, Sondheim--- it's there.
Now, in her first solo show since 2013, Rice will debut her new show Music of the Night (borrowing, of course, from Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, in which Rice played Christine in the National Tour) at Pangea Restaurant Pangea Restaurant (2nd Avenue between 11th and 12th streets) on August 17, 18, and September 20, all at 7 pm. Alongside pianist Matthew Martin Ward (Eric Sedgwick for the September show) and special guest David Vernon, she will sing and play a set aimed to explain 'the things that go through your head at 4:00 AM,' covering classical, Celtic, television and movie themes, and musical theatre.
ALGONQUIN THEATER PRODUCTIONS and JASON HEWITT proudly present the world premiere of On the Rails, a new musical with book by Tony Sportiello (Second Chance, National Pastime), music and lyrics by Al Tapper (Sessions, An Evening at the Carlyle), arrangements and musical direction by David Wolfson, and directed by Misti B. Wills (In Search of Euphoria).
Gloucester Stage Company continues its 37th season of professional theater on Cape Ann with a limited run of Jason Robert Brown's Songs For A New World from August 4 through August 27 at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA. Songs For A New World with music and lyrics by three time Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown is a stirring musical journey examining the moments of decision and difficult choices faced in everyday life. Known for such Broadway hits as Parade, The Bridges of Madison County, Honeymoon in Vegas, and The Last Five Years, Mr. Brown artfully blends pop, jazz and gospel in solos and ensemble styles to create this inspiring song cycle. Directed by Gloucester Stage Artistic Director Robert Walsh, the production features five singers including Tony Award nominee Barbara Walsh, Broadway veterans Rockport's Wendy Waring and Jack Donahue, Berklee College of Music graduate Chris Pittman and Brandeis' Nyah Macklin, all four in their Gloucester Stage debut. According to Director and GSC Artistic Director Walsh, "Songs For A New World is an enthralling evening of storytelling through song and movement reminiscent of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. We are so fortunate to have such a talented group of actor-singers to bring this work to our audience. It's a particular treat to work with my cousin Barbara again after so many years! Wendy, Jack, Chris and Nyah are also incredibly fun, hugely talented and all working together in such a fun way - it's a thrill!'
If you were among the lucky theatre lovers who scored a ticket to the Broadway blockbuster hit, Mamma Mia! in 2005, you might have had the pleasure the pleasure of experiencing Lauren Mufson make her Broadway debut in the leading role of Donna Sheridan. Now more than ten years later, the actress returns to the beloved ABBA musical in a highly anticipated new production at Maine State Music Theatre that opens August 10. The musical theatre and cabaret artist, teacher and voice coach and mother of two is delighted not only to revisit one of her favorite parts, but to make her Maine stage debut in one of the first ever regional productions of the show.
Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Atlanta announced today that individual tickets for the Atlanta engagement of Roundabout Theatre Company's CABARET will go on sale Sunday, August 28 at 10 a.m.
Grab your friends and head out for an evening of humor, heart, and harmony as Chick Flick the Musical comes to The Royal George Theatre Cabaret, 1641 N. Halsted Street in Chicago. This uniquely female-positive new musical begins previews November 1, and opens November 10 for an open run.
For their inaugural offering, Great Circle Productions will present the world premiere of EDWIN, The Story of Edwin Booth, a dramatic musical that commemorates the 150th Anniversary (1866-2016) of the legendary actor's return to the stage, as well as the 400th Anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare, with music by Marianna Rosett, and book & lyrics by Eric Swanson.
