Ian Wilson News

The State Theatre Center for the Arts, Easton, PA, announces its 2016-17 Season, the 90th Season of WOW! 

This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature stories in Washington DC, Los Angeles, Japan, and more. Check out our top 10 stories around our Broadway World below, which include MAME in DC, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY Tour in L.A., and our featured Guest Blogger in Japan, just to name a few.

For the last few years the uber talented Lythgoe family have been entertaining us at Christmastime, first at the El Portal in NoHo and now at the Pasadena Playhouse with a British style panto. A panto is an interactive entertainment that starts with a very contemporary retelling of a fairy tale such as Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, or in this case Peter Pan and turns it into a fun imaginative show with music that will appeal to both children and their parents. There's usually an actor in drag - none here, and a villain (John O'Hurley as Captain Hook) ... and audience are encouraged to root for the heroes and HISS loudly at the villains. O'Hurley merely needs to turn on that magnificent voice to seize control of the audience, after which kids and adults boo and boo some more. It's all in amusement, of course, and this year's Peter Pan and Tinker Bell A Pirate's Christmas is all good fun with an excellent cast, some fine pop singing and fast-paced dancing... and, first and foremost, a pleasant script by Kris Lythgoe. I feel that some elements of the traditional Peter Pan telling should have been left in tact. For whatever reason, Lythgoe made some less appealing changes.

Three New York City dance organizations - Country Dance New York, Brooklyn Contra, and Village Contra - and the Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) will present a celebratory weekend of contra dancing and English country dancing to live music today, November 6 and Saturday, November 7, 2015. The weekend marks 100 years of contra and English dancing in New York City as well as the centennial of CDSS promoting traditional dance, music and song.

Three New York City dance organizations - Country Dance New York, Brooklyn Contra, and Village Contra - and the Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) will present a celebratory weekend of contra dancing and English country dancing to live music on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7, 2015. The weekend marks 100 years of contra and English dancing in New York City as well as the centennial of CDSS promoting traditional dance, music and song.

Celebrating five years of bringing internationally acclaimed artists and performers to Liverpool, The Capstone Theatre is delighted to announce its new Autumn 2015 Season, which boasts a diverse collection of the finest cutting edge jazz, contemporary dance, gripping theatre, and film classics plus the return of the Cornerstone Arts Festival.

Paul Dano will portray BEACH BOYS frontman BrIan Wilson in the upcoming film, LOVE & MERCY, while John Cusack plays the musician later in life.

Paul Dano will portray BEACH BOYS frontman BrIan Wilson in the upcoming biopic, LOVE & MERCY, while John Cusack plays the musician later in life.

For the last few years the uber talented Lythgoe family have been entertaining us at Christmastime, first at the El Portal in NoHo and now at the Pasadena Playhouse with a British style panto. A panto is an interactive entertainment that starts with a very contemporary retelling of a fairy tale such as Snow White, Cinderella, or in this case Sleeping Beauty and turns it into a fun imaginative show with music that will appeal to both children and their parents. There's usually an actor in drag (outrageous David Engel as Nanny Tickle, Aurora's nanny), a villain or villainess (Lucy Lawless as Carabosse))... and audience are encouraged to root for the heroes and HISS loudly at the villains. Lawless tries to sway and seize control over the audience by singing 'One Way or

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons bring their show to Jacksonville's Times-Union Center's Moran Theater tonight, March 5, 2014 at 7:30PM for one performance only!

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons bring their show to Jacksonville's Times-Union Center's Moran Theater on Wednesday, March 5, 2014 at 7:30PM for one performance only!

Broadway Records just announced the release of the Original Broadway Cast Recording of the critically acclaimed, A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN on the occasion of the iconic musician's birthday celebration. The album will be available digitally on January 17, and the CD is currently available at the Lyceum Theatre. The album is also available for pre-orders at Amazon.com and the official show website.

The Artist of the Month campaign coincides with the [official] opening of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical on January 12, 2014, at Broadway's Stephen Sondheim Theatre. (The show has been in previews since November 2013.)

As the festive month of December approaches, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Pacific Symphony and Pacific Chorale ring in the season with a cornucopia of holiday shows. The Center presents three yuletide concerts, including the return of Fiesta Navidad with Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano (December 4), the Center debut of The Beach Boys performing their Christmas show (December 7) and American vocal ensemble The Manhattan Transfer entertaining with holiday favorites (December 16).

The Warner Theatre has just announced two new shows coming to the theatre in April:

As the festive month of December approaches, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Pacific Symphony and Pacific Chorale ring in the season with a cornucopia of holiday shows. The Center presents three yuletide concerts, including the return of Fiesta Navidad with Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano (December 4), the Center debut of The Beach Boys performing their Christmas show (December 7) and American vocal ensemble The Manhattan Transfer entertaining with holiday favorites (December 16).

Gene & Shelley Enlow Recital Hall (Enlow Hall) at Kean University 2013-2014 season features a one-night-only concert by multi-platinum pop-trio Wilson Phillips on Saturday, December 14 at 7:30pm.

The Four King Cousins made a triumphant return to the concert stage, after a three decade absence, before a sold-out audience at LA's famed Catalina Jazz Club. Glamorously gowned for their entrance, the vocal quartet opened the evening with a high energy medley of Carole King's 'Music' and Neil Sedaka's 'That's When The Music Takes Me' which showcased their intricate four part harmonies. The group, whose new CD compilation More Today Than Yesterday is available now, performed a 90 minute set featuring songs from their new album, including 'I Couldn't Live Without Your Love,' plus standards from the Great American Songbook including a stunning and heartfelt rendition of 'You Made Me Love You,' and 'I'll Get By' an early hit by their Grammy nominated mothers, The King Sisters, which the group performed acapella to the delight of concertgoers.

GRAMMY award-nominated and Songwriters Hall Of Fame Inductee, Gordon Lightfoot performs his '50 Years on the Carefree Highway Tour' at The Colonial Theatre tonight, November 8 at 8pm.

GRAMMY award-nominated and Songwriters Hall Of Fame Inductee, Gordon Lightfoot performs his '50 Years on the Carefree Highway Tour' at The Colonial Theatre on Friday, November 8 at 8pm.