Haunting, gentle spirits from far-flung worlds meet in the pulsing sphere of dreams and lullabies that is Angel Heart, a music storybook. With an original tale by best-selling children's fantasy writer Cornelia Funke, Angel Heart weaves an evocative original score by Luna Pearl Woolf with beloved songs by Irving Berlin, Lennon-McCartney, Jake Heggie, Engelbert Humperdinck, Gordon Getty, and others. An affecting narration by Academy Award-winning actor Jeremy Irons layers upon intoxicating performances by singers Frederica von Stade, Daniel Taylor, Lisa Delan, and Zheng Cao – all above a rich bed of cellos, Matt Haimovitz and his Grammy-nominated ensemble Uccello.
Casting is complete for the new Broadway production of the musical comedy Kiss Me, Kate, starring Tony Award winner Kelli O'Hara as 'Kate/Lilli Vanessi,' Tony Award nominee Will Chase as 'Petruchio/Fred Graham,' Corbin Bleu as 'Lucentio/Bill Calhoun,' Terence Archie as 'Harrison Howell,' Mel Johnson Jr. as 'Harry Trevor/Baptista,' James T. Lane as 'Paul,' Stephanie Styles as 'Lois Lane/Bianca,' Adrienne Walker as 'Hattie,' Lance Coadie Williams as 'Gangster (Second Man)' and John Pankow as 'Gangster (First Man).'
The Morris Choral Society under the baton of Music Director Jason Tramm will present the work of three contemporary composers - all New Jersey residents - in their annual Holiday Concert entitled "Songs Earthly and Divine" December 8 and 9 St. Virgil's Church in Morris Plains. The concert will feature the New Jersey premiere of R. Wayne Walters, Magnificat and contemporary works which will include David Eddleman's Dai Diddle Dai and Michael John Trotta's Veni, Veni Emmanuel.
Looking ahead, you'll find a number of new productions on tap for your entertainment pleasure, including a number of holiday season offerings to put you in the Christmas spirit, thanks to the efforts of theater companies all over Middle Tennessee. Here's our calendar for December 3, 2018, to help you plot your course through the beginning of a new year...
There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Seattle Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.
I recently spoke with Mary Nye Bennett who is directing the inaugural holiday show for Atlanta Lyric Theatre, Your Happy Holiday, which will be performed at the Jennie T. Anderson Theatre (548 South Marietta Pkwy., Marietta), Dec. 20-23.
ASCAP Award-winning writer/producer Chip Deffaa's new CD, 'An Irving Berlin Travelogue,' is being released today. The album is an outgrowth of shows celebrating Berlin that Deffaa has been presenting at his base in New York, the 13th Street Theater. It features Broadway performers singing rare--and in some cases, never-before-recorded--songs by master songwriter Berlin. The album includes such Broadway pros as Jon Peterson ('Cabaret'), Charlie Franklin ('Book of Mormon'), Giuseppe Bausilio ('Hello, Dolly!'), Seth Sikes ('The Band's Visit'), Jackson Demott Hill ('Finding Neverland'), Alex Dreier ('Billy Elliot'), Matthew Nardozzi ('Dracula'), Analise Scarpaci ('Matilda'), and more. Richard Danley is the music director. The album, available from Amazon, CDBaby, iTunes, Footlight Records, etc., may be ordered here now: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/chipdeffaasanirvingberli
To celebrate the arrival of the national tour of Hamilton at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts (December 11 - 30), the Broadway music radio program, "On Broadway," will feature an all-Presidential themed show on Sunday, December 9 from 5:30-6:30pm on WRTC-FM, 89.3. The program can also be heard online at www.wrtcfm.com.
What good is sitting alone in your room this week? If you don't already have plans to see a Broadway show, come out to see your favorite Broadway stars in a cabaret act instead. Highlights this week include: George Salazar & Joe Iconis, Santino Fontana, Pronoun Showdown, Liz Callaway, and Jason Kravits.
Legendary American song composer Harold Arlen will have a Hollywood Big Band tribute when Broadway powerhouse Eden Espinosa (Wicked) and Joseph Leo Bwarie (Jersey Boys) join Arlen's son Sam Arlen and singers Karon Blackwell and George Bugatti, for The Music of Harold Arlen, Wonderful Wizard of Song at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) today, December 1 at 8:00pm.
Arena Stage presents Corbin Bleu (Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical; In the Heights; Disney Channel's High School Musical) as Billy Crocker and Soara-Joye Ross (Les Miserables, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess National Tour) as Reno Sweeney in Cole Porter's madcap seafaring musical, Anything Goes. Check out Corbin in photos from the shoe below!
The Firehouse Theatre in Farmers Branch will deck the halls with Irving Berlin's iconic holiday tunes in the family-favorite musical, WHITE CHRISTMAS. With tickets as low as $13, this song-and-dance spectacle is sure to please audiences of all ages. WHITE CHRISTMAS opens Friday, November 30th and runs through Sunday, December 16th.
Adrienne Haan has most recently been cited as “one of the best cabaret performers in New York City today” by Wolf Entertainment Guide, “an entertainer of the highest caliber” by Cabaret Scenes and “quite original with a large vocal range, electrifying personality and enormous dramatic talent” by the New York Concert Review.
Paper Mill Playhouse presents Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn, based on the film from Universal Pictures, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, and book by Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge. Performances Wednesday, November 21, 2018, and will continue through Sunday, December 30, 2018, at Paper Mill Playhouse (22 Brookside Drive, Millburn, NJ).
Westport Country Playhouse announces its upcoming 2019 season, featuring five productions, playing April 23 through November 23, under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos. The Connecticut professional theater's lineup includes two musicals, two dramas, and a comedy. 2019 season tickets are now on sale. Single tickets for 2019 productions will go on sale in March.
The story and songs of America's Composer come to life onstage in Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin, a play with music written and performed by acclaimed actor/pianist Hershey Felder. This special engagement will run for 13 performances, December 19 - 30, 2018 at the O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater's home in the heart of Downtown's Cultural District. For tickets call 412.316.1600, click ppt.org, or visit the Box Office. The Production Sponsor is UPMC.
Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn is dazzling audiences at Paper Mill Playhouse. Recently seen on Broadway, this brilliant musical has a book by Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge. The production enjoys superb direction by Mr. Greenberg, inspired choreographies by Denis Jones, vibrant musical direction by Shawn Gough, and the talents of a stellar cast.
PBS has a merry and bright lineup of holiday programming, with new specials and returning fan favorites from series like CALL THE MIDWIFE, THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, GREAT PERFORMANCES and LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER, including treats for children and adults alike.
