BroadwayWorld has just obtained photos from the recently buzzed about production of RENT in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Presented by the South Jackson Civic Center's Performing Arts for Children and Teens, the show has met with local religious opposition, as first reported on Director of the Arts Integrity Initiative at the New School for Drama, Howard Sherman's blog. Check out the snapshots below!
A Tullahoma community theatre has met with religious opposition to its upcoming production of RENT. A few pastors from around the area have sent emails around the city citing that the Performing Arts for Children and Teens (PACT) at the South Jackson Civic Center's July musical, is unsuitable for the age group involved.
The Board of Directors of The Music Center announced today that Rachel S. Moore, an accomplished leader in the performing arts, has been named president and CEO of The Music Center. Moore joins The Music Center from American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the world's great dance companies, where she served as CEO since 2012 and as its executive director since 2004. Moore comes from the performing arts, having danced with ABT as a member of its corps de ballet 1984-1988. She will assume her new position with The Music Center on October 5, 2015.
As BroadwayWorld previously reported last year, Timberlane Regional High School planned to present a PG version of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd but administrators feared it would not be family friendly and attempted to cancel the production. In response, hundreds of supporters for SWEENEY TODD gathered at a meeting to fight for the show. At the three-hour forum, the majority of the attendees were in support of SWEENEY. Superintendent Earl Metzler said he was not completely opposed to the play but that he needed to think of the community as a whole. In the end, the show went on, an Stephen Sondheim himself even wrote to the company to applaud their persistence. He writes: 'I've never understood why Sweeney Todd is considered 'controversial.' The incidents in the plot may be lurid, but the show's themes are primarily injustice, morality and greed, as Howard Sherman pointed out. More important, it's a wonderful scary story- what Sweeney Todd is really about is having a good time.' Check out his full letter below!
The Dramatists Guild Fund celebrated moving into their new offices on April 17. Check out photos from their Music Hall and Office warming party below!
92Y presents an evening of conversation and musical performances from the cast and creative team of the new Broadway musical Doctor Zhivago, as they discuss bringing this timeless tale of romance and revolution to the Broadway stage. Stars Tam Mutu (Yurii Zhivago) and Kelli Barrett (Lara Guishar) perform songs from the new show; they also join composer Lucy Simon (a two-time Grammy winner and Tony nominee for The Secret Garden) and director Des McAnuff (the Tony-winning director of Jersey Boys) to discuss bringing Boris Pasternak's classic tale to the stage, and making Doctor Zhivago sing. The conversation is moderated by Howard Sherman, U.S. correspondent for The Stage in London.
Great news! Playwright David Adjmi has won his legal battle with DLT Entertainment. The writer was accused of copyright infringement for his play '3C', a dark parody of THREE'S COMPANY, which originally ran off-Broadway at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre in 2012.
In his blog, arts adminstrator and writer Howard Sherman reacts to a recent article by Deadline's Nellie Andreeva titled 'Pilots 2015: The Year of Ethnic Castings - Long Overdue Or Too Much Of A Good Thing?'
Tony Award-winning actor and clown Bill Irwin opens Philadelphia Theatre Company's new Theatre Masters Series on February 16 at 7:00 PM at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre (Broad and Lombard Streets). Irwin will be joined in his conversation by arts consultant and former Executive Director of the American Theatre Wing Howard Sherman.
The Music Center named 108 of some of Southern California's most talented high school students as semifinalists* in the 27th annual The Music Center Presents Spotlight program, a free nationally-acclaimed scholarship and arts training program for teens. An important part of The Music Center's fundamental support for arts education, Spotlight provides opportunities for Southern California high school students to acquire the skills they need to pursue their artistic dreams in the performing arts.
Blogger Howard Sherman spoke this morning play's writer, Eve Ensler who shared her reaction to the news, and the still evolving situation. She shared 'This is my perspective on it: The Vagina Monologues is a play. It's one play. It was never meant to speak for all women and it was never a play about what it means to be a woman. It was a play about what it means to have a vagina. It was very specific. I don't I ever said that the definition of a woman - that a woman is defined by having a vagina. I think we have to be able to live in a world where talking about our vaginas is legitimate, due to that three and half billion women have them.'
This fall, the Maiden High School's production of John Cariani's 'Almost, Maine' was canceled because of one scene in which two young men realize they have feelings for each other. Now students are producing the play off-campus with the help of former local elementary school teacher, Carmen Eckard. Catch a first glimpse at the independent production below!
The Dramatists Guild of America has announced the recipients of their annual awards, which will be presented at an awards ceremony hosted by David Henry Hwang on Monday, February 23, 2015, at The Harvard Club in New York.
Earlier today, theatre administrator and former Executive Director of the American Theatre Wing, Howard Sherman kicked off a Twitter topic aimed at the most creative theatre fans online. Sherman, known for his creative social media presence started the fun with the tweet below:
This fall, the Maiden High School's production of John Cariani's 'Almost, Maine' was canceled because of one scene in which two young men realize they have feelings for each other. Now students are producing the play off-campus with the help of former local elementary school teacher, Carmen Eckard.
What makes the production remarkable is that the first two shows of the production were performed with censorship, yet the final two performances were done with book and lyrics intact.
High schools in Connecticut and Pennsylvania made national news this year when their principals canceled productions of 'controversial' musicals Rent and Spamalot. Now the National Coalition Against Censorship is honoring those who stood up for the shows' performances on their list of Top 40 Free Speech Defenders of 2014.
As previously reported, Maiden High School in Maiden, North Carolina, recently canceled its upcoming production of ALMOST, MAINE due to controversial content, specifically, a single scene, 'titled The Fell,' in which two male characters realize their feelings for one another. The Maiden High School principal made the decision to cancel the romantic comedy soon after rehearsals began, after receiving complaints from both parents and churches in the area, despite permission slips being signed. Now, Maiden's ALMOST, MAINE has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund that effort. It has already met (and surpassed) its $1,000 goal, with 41 backers, $1,363 donated, and 13 days to go. Watch their Kickstarter video below!
As previously reported, Maiden High School in Maiden, North Carolina recently canceled its upcoming production of ALMOST, MAINE due to controversial content, specifically, a single scene, 'titled The Fell,' in which two male characters realize their feelings for one another.
The school district has recently heard from the Educational Theatre Association, and Dramatists Guild, amongst other organizations and industry professionals. Last night, the American Critics Association wrote in to address the controversy:
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