It was announced today that Williamstown Theatre Festival Artistic Director Jenny Gersten will step down at the end of the year to become Executive Director of Friends of the Highline, the non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and re-use of an elevated railway that has become a renowned public space in New York City. While the search is underway for a new Artistic Director, WTF's 2014 summer season will remain under Gersten's Artistic Direction; she will curate and oversee the season to ensure a seamless leadership transition.
The Walnut Street Theatre opened their 2013-2014 season with the energetic IN THE HEIGHTS. This show takes place in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, and tells the story of a "day' in the lives of those who live in this neighborhood. What is unique about this show is that each person not only has their own individual story, but when they sing throughout the show, they have their own style of music. For example, the character of Usnavi's songs are all rap where Nina's songs are all ballads. This show is full of energy and passion, and the Walnut Street Theatre's production of IN THE HEIGHTS is remarkable.
The National Pastime Theater will present the Chicago premiere of Octavio Solis' Pulitzer Prize nominated play 'Lydia' opening Friday, October 4 at 8pm.
Walnut Street Theatre opens its landmark 205th season with the groundbreaking 21st century musical IN THE HEIGHTS. Directed by Bruce Lumpkin, with choreography by Michelle Gaudette, this exhilarating musical about chasing your dreams and finding your true home, opens tonight, September 11th, and runs through October 20th on the WST Mainstage. BroadwayWorld has a first look at highlights of the show below!
Walnut Street Theatre opens its landmark 205th season with the groundbreaking 21st century musical IN THE HEIGHTS. Directed by Bruce Lumpkin, with choreography by Michelle Gaudette, this exhilarating musical about chasing your dreams and finding your true home, opens tonight, September 11th, and runs through October 20th on the WST Mainstage. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!
Legendary Broadway composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz travels to Melbourne for three special performances of his works Godspell, Pippin and Children of Eden at Melbourne Recital Centre in September, realised by the award-winning theatre company Magnormos and a stellar Australian cast including Chloe Dallimore, Rohan Browne, and David Harris.
Legendary Broadway composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz travels to Melbourne for three special performances of his works Godspell, Pippin and Children of Eden at Melbourne Recital Centre in September, realised by the award-winning theatre companyMagnormos and a stellar Australian cast including Chloe Dallimore, Rohan Browne, and David Harris.
Back for its sixth summer, the Fordham Alumni Company will for the first time host a weekend of film screenings created by Fordham Alumni. The sister program to the company's FRESH ART festival the weekend before, The CANNED Art weekend showcases work Fordham Alumni have finished creating, saved for prosperity in the can. A variety of feature length and short films, documentaries, as well as web-series and sketches will be shown. All screenings will be presented at the Wild Project (195 E. 3rd St., NYC). Admission is $5 per film. In addition, audience members can purchase a $12 “RamPass” to see 3 or more films. To purchase tickets in advance visit www.thewildproject.com. Specific screening information is as follows:
Back for its sixth summer, the Fordham Alumni Company will for the first time host a weekend of film screenings created by Fordham Alumni. The sister program to the company's FRESH ART festival the weekend before, The CANNED Art weekend showcases work Fordham Alumni have finished creating, saved for prosperity in the can. A variety of feature length and short films, documentaries, as well as web-series and sketches will be shown. All screenings will be presented at the Wild Project (195 E. 3rd St., NYC). Admission is $5 per film. In addition, audience members can purchase a $12 “RamPass” to see 3 or more films. To purchase tickets in advance visit www.thewildproject.com. Specific screening information is as follows:
Continuing its tradition of bringing Broadway's favorites back to life, SMTC has announced their next production, the beloved classic musical The Music Man, for a special engagement. Performances will take place at the intimate 300-seat Dorrance Auditorium on the beautiful campus at Phoenix Country Day School in Paradise Valley. All SMTC shows feature the best local talent in the valley and a live 20+ piece orchestra.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare's popular story of illusive and abiding love, opened Saturday to cheers and a robust crowd at Harlem's Richard Rodgers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park. The show, produced by the Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) (Producing Artistic Director, Ty Jones), is directed by CTH Artistic Associate and Oberlin College Professor of Theater and Africana Studies Justin Emeka and runs Tuesdays through Sundays at 7:30 pm through July 20. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!
Five thrilling new works will be showcased in Pride Films and Plays Gay Play Weekend May 17 to 19 at Center on Halsted's Hoover-Leppen Theater. They include:
SMTC has announced their next production, the tap dancing musical sensation Thoroughly Modern Millie. Performances will take place at the intimate 300-seat Dorrance Auditorium on the beautiful campus at Phoenix Country Day School in Paradise Valley. All SMTC shows feature the best local talent in the valley and a live orchestra.
Five thrilling new works will be showcased in Pride Films and Plays Gay Play Weekend May 17 to 19 at Center on Halsted's Hoover-Leppen Theater. They include:
Fans of Erik Larson's Devil in the White City may have to wait a few more years for a screen adaptation of the hit novel, but Jet City Improv will bring Seattle audiences the next best thing this spring. Inspired by the story of H.H. Holmes, America's first serial killer, World's Fair takes audiences inside the mind and lair of a killer amidst a celebration of progress at the dawn of the 20th Century.
SMTC has announced their next production, the tap dancing musical sensation Thoroughly Modern Millie. Performances will take place at the intimate 300-seat Dorrance Auditorium on the beautiful campus at Phoenix Country Day School in Paradise Valley. All SMTC shows feature the best local talent in the valley and a live orchestra.
On the heels of its record-breaking 2012 Summer Season, Williamstown Theatre Festival payed tribute to Abe Burrows, the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and director, at its 2012 Benefit, lats night, November 18 at the Edison Ballroom. The evening featured performances by recent Williamstown Theatre Festival alumni David Hyde Pierce (director of last season's The Importance of Being Earnest), Steven Pasquale and Kelli O'Hara (WTF's Far From Heaven), Greg Naughton, Malcolm Gets (WTF's Ten Cents a Dance) and more. BroadwayWorld was there for the event and we bring you coverage below!
My distant cousin Walter Elias 'Walt' Disney had a knack for turning everything into perfection, or at least practically perfect in every way. He took the mean, cranky nanny from P.L. Travers' book "Mary Poppins" and turned her into a saint. He excised two of the four Banks children, allowing the cutest ones to remain in the story. Travers' nanny couldn't dance on rooftops, didn't have adventures with Bert, didn't win at the horse races and couldn't sing. Travers was Australian; they take pride in being able to endure aggressive crocodiles, harsh deserts and appalling alloparenting. For those of us in the northern hemisphere who prefer our protagonists to be a bit on the spoonful of sugar side, Disney's Mary Poppins is just the ticket.
The Old Globe presents INHERIT THE WIND, directed by Adrian Noble. In the play, two powerhouse lawyers face off in a small town with the eyes of an entire nation upon them when a schoolteacher is arrested for teaching Charles Darwin's theories of evolution. When the issue goes to trial, the two attorneys must passionately confront questions of faith and science in a heated courtroom. This fictional re-creation of the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial tackles issues that are every bit as relevant today as they were in 1925.
Check out production photos below!
The New Amsterdam Singers, led by music director Clara Longstreth, will present the final concert of the season, titled Songs of Birds and Angels on Thursday, May 31 at 8 p.m at Saint Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church at 552 West End Avenue at 87th Street. The work that inspired the program's focus on birds is Steven Stucky's cycle, Skylarks, (2001), which is receiving its New York City premiere on this concert. Also receiving its New York City premiere is Matthew Harris' Shakespeare Songs, Book VI (2006).