Howard Lindsay News

Alabama Shakespeare Festival will present The Sound of Music beginning November 15, 2018, directed by ASF Artistic Director Rick Dildine. The Sound of Music features music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, and book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse (suggested by "The Trapp Family Singers" by Maria Augusta Trapp.)

The hills are alive with a brand-new production of "The Sound of Music" at the Spencer Theater, where the famed touring Broadway production team Of NETworks Productions recreates, with a cast of 30 professional singers, dancers, actors (aged 6-60) and orchestra musicians, the adventurous musical story of Maria and the von Trapp Family in pre-World War II Austria.

Alabama Shakespeare Festival will present a new production of The Sound of Music beginning November 15, 2018, directed by ASF Artistic Director Rick Dildine. The Sound of Music features music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, and book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse (suggested by "The Trapp Family Singers" by Maria Augusta Trapp.)

A brand new production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, produced by NETworks Presentations, is making its Lowcountry premiere March 13 & 13 at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center as part of a North American tour. The show is part of the Best of Broadway series presented by Planet Fitness.

This week, Molly Smith and the cast of Anything Goes at Arena Stage chose to honor and support Indigenous Peoples' Day (Oct 8). Just as those at sea use Morse code to send SOS alerts, the cast of Anything Goes -- joined by Molly's partner, Suzanne Blue Star Boy -- taps out a call to action in the video below to bring awareness to the epidemic of murdered, kidnapped, and missing Native women in the United States and Canada:

Desert Theatreworks has mounted a must-see production of Stephen Sondheim's and James Lapine's INTO THE WOODS. The acting, singing, and choreography are superb.

Arena Stage is now hard at work in rehearsal for Cole Porter's madcap seafaring musical, Anything Goes, with music and lyrics by Porter; original book by P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton, with co-authors Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse; and new book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman.

Great Performances presents more of the Great White Way's brightest stars with a new "Broadway's Best" lineup premiering Fridays, November 2-23 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). Returning for a second year, this fall's lineup includes the beloved musicals "An American in Paris The Musical" and Rodgers & Hammerstein's "The Sound of Music," as well as documentaries about the making of John Leguizamo's Tony-nominated play "Latin History for Morons" and 21-time Tony-winning director and producer Harold Prince. All programs will be available to stream the following day via pbs.org/gperf and PBS apps.

Desert Theatreworks has opened its 2018-19 season with a hilariously funny production of SOUTHERN FRIED FUNERAL. A clever script, great acting by the ensemble cast, great direction, and great set and costume designs ensure that audiences will have a great deal of fun at the dysfunctional Frye family's send-off for their husband and father.

Arena Stage announces casting for Cole Porter's madcap seafaring musical, Anything Goes

Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Director Edgar Dobie announce the 2018/19 season lineup for the company's 69th season. The season reflects Arena Stage's commitment to championing diverse voices and producing work that is politically and socially relevant.

Artistic Director Rick Dildine and Executive Director Todd Schmidt have announced their inaugural New Festival Season at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, which features 14 extraordinary productions, with a full six weeks of spring repertory along with unexpected theatrical experiences in found spaces.

In a charming take on Cole Porter's 1930s musical, Music Theater Works' ANYTHING GOES delivers lively big-band music, crowd-pleasing dance numbers, and a hearty dose of nostalgia. Directed by Rudy Hogenmiller and choreographed by Clayton Cross, a strong ensemble cast brings to life an eclectic assortment of characters-nightclub singers, undercover gangsters, hapless young lovers, a drunken businessman, a bumbling aristocrat, and more. Brought together in the confines of a transatlantic ocean liner, mischief and misunderstandings abound in true P.G. Wodehouse* fashion, until a series of farcical ruses brings about the inevitable happy ending, complete with a wedding (or three).

The award-winning East Lynne Theater Company has seen many successes since its founding in 1980, but none like 'Arsenic and Old Lace.'  Although first produced on Broadway in 1941 by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, Joseph Kesselring's comedy is still the most produced play in this country today. Yes - It' just that good!

Calling all "de-lovely" dogs! Aspiring pup-thespians could be the next Toto, Sandy or Bruiser when Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater holds a Canine Casting Call on Saturday, September 22, 2018 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Mead Center (1101 Sixth St., SW). Two dogs will be selected to alternate the role of Cheeky in the upcoming production of the Cole Porter classic, Anything Goes, running November 2 - December 23, 2018 in the iconic in-the-round Fichandler Stage.

The Music Theater Works (formerly Light Opera Works) 2018 season continues with Cole Porter's ANYTHING GOES (August 18-26), JUDY GARLAND: COME RAIN OR COME SHINE, STARRING ANGELA INGERSOLL (October 5-14), and Stephen Sondheim's INTO THE WOODS (December 22-31).

Beginning August 9, Central Arkansas' audiences will be treated to hilarity and hijinks aboard the SS American as Anything Goes begins its run at The Royal Theatre, and sponsored by W.W. & Anne Jones Trust. With songs and lyrics by Cole Porter, captivating choreography, and a stellar cast, Royal Players' production of Anything Goes delivers summertime fun.

Los Altos Hills will be alive with The Sound of Music this summer, when multi-award winning Foothill Music Theatre presents the Tony, Grammy, and Academy Award-winning musical. This beloved musical, set in Austria in 1938, follows novice Maria Rainer who becomes the governess for the von Trapp family, capturing the hearts of the seven children and their father, a widowed naval captain. As the Nazis occupy Austria, the family is forced make decisions which forever change their lives, fleeing their home in pursuit of freedom. Director Milissa Carey, music director William Liberatore, and choreographers Brett and C.J. Blankenship breathe new life into this classic tale of hope, love, and family. The Sound of Music will play July 19- August 5, 2018(press opening: July 20) at the Smithwick Theatre, I-280 & El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills. Tickets ($12 - $32) and information can be found at www.foothill.edu/theatre or by phone at (650) 949-7360.    

Murder! Mayhem! Madcap fun! Meet the Brewsters! The Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company presents 'Arsenic and Old Lace' from July 25 through September 1, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00 PM, at the First Presbyterian Church of Cape May, 500 Hughes Street, where ELTC is in residence.

An energetic cast of nearly 40 performers and a 16-piece orchestra give the incomparable Cole Porter score of ANYTHING GOES its due. Leigh Barrett headlines as Reno Sweeney, and multiple IRNE Award-winners Elaine Grace and Dan Rodriguez direct/choreograph and music direct/conduct, respectively. The fabulous singing and dancing keep this ship afloat for its transatlantic journey.