They look a little like Blue Man Group, they sound a little like Toxic Audio and they talk a lot like Andy Kaufman and Carol Kane playing Latka and Simka on Taxi, but while Voca People might give the appearance of being a bit too tourist trappy for we jaded New York theatre types, it's the kind of family friendly, good clean fun that's legitimately clever, catchly and often downright adorable.
Even with all the bases covered and loaded given this stupendous creative team, a cast of veritable Broadway all-stars and a surprise bottom of the ninth pop fly play courtesy of Norbert Leo Butz's fresh Tony win, CATCH IF YOU CAN can't seem to get the break it deserves on Broadway. Sure, it just passed the hundred performance mark and it is alive and well, but it deserves far more praise than it has been given. After all, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's score is every bit as ingratiating and endearing as their work on the Tony-winning Best Musical HAIRSPRAY and for that fact alone CATCH ME IF YOU CAN commands the utmost attention from any cast album collector or Broadway baby interested in keeping up with all the scores and stats of Broadway‘s best. And, yes, indeed, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN possesses a score among the very best of the 21st century and the best new score on Broadway this season. The songstack as represented on the brand new Original Broadway Cast Recording is even more entertaining and enlivening than the show's songs onstage - although they have all their own allure there - and that is a huge credit to the fiercely talented songwriting team who knocks each and every pitch clear out of the park; here, just as always. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is a fully-decked game of far-flung, fun, and not-so-frivolous fantasy ably aided by some of the most inspiring leading male performances in musical theatre in many years thanks to the wonderful work by the aforementioned Butz, plus impossibly charismatic leading player Aaron Tveit and a sensitive and suave Tom Wopat.
Following a heartfelt and entertaining memorial for Sidney Lumet at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall with speakers and performers including Lauren Bacall, Walter Bernstein, Bobby Cannavale, Glenn Close, Jonathan Demme, James Gandolfini, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jenny Lumet, David Mamet, Phylilis Newman and Christopher Walken among others, the Film Society of Lincoln Center has announced the details today for a retrospective of the admired and beloved director's work, Prince of the City: Remembering Sidney Lumet which will screen at the Walter Reade Theater July 19 - 25.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles® (BAFTA Los Angeles) will honor Academy Award® winning writer/director John Lasseter with the Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment, and BAFTA winning director David Yates with the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing at the 2011 BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Awards on Wednesday, November 30 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
In a quiet ceremony, stage and screen veterans Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz were married on June 22.
OBERON, the American Repertory Theater's destination for theater and nightlife on the fringe of Harvard Square, has been bringing exciting and original programming to the space in 2011.
First reported exclusively by BroadwayWorld.com on Tuesday, the producers of the new musical BONNIE & CLYDE have announced that the show as the first new musical to open this fall on Broadway. It will play at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street), beginning previews on Friday, November 4th and opening on Thursday, December 1st. BONNIE & CLYDE has direction by JEFF CALHOUN, music by FRANK WILDHORN, lyrics by DON BLACK, book by IVAN MENCHELL and music supervision/orchestrations/arrangements by JOHN McDANIEL.
Chris Isaacson and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center proudly present the premiere of Jennifer Leigh Warren in 'DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER: the songs of Dame Shirley Bassey,' which will make its Los Angeles debut on June 16 at The Renberg Theatre, 1125 N. McCadden Place in Hollywood, with acclaimed Director Richard Jay-Alexander (Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler 'Kiss My Brass' Tour, Bernadette Peters) at the helm.
This weekend, Los Angeles gets the first peek at DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, for four performances only from June 16-19 at The Renberg Theatre at the Village At Gould Plaza, in the heart of Hollywood's theatre district.
Chris Isaacson and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center proudly present the premiere of Jennifer Leigh Warren in "DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER: the songs of Dame Shirley Bassey," which will make its Los Angeles debut on June 16 at The Renberg Theatre, 1125 N. McCadden Place in Hollywood, with acclaimed Director Richard Jay-Alexander (Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler 'Kiss My Brass' Tour, Bernadette Peters) at the helm.
The Hollywood Fringe Festival is expanding its artistic scope and reach by including another artistic discipline within its primary structure.
Legends in their own time, ascending to the top ranks of the Hollywood and Broadway songwriting landscape, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman have accomplished and climbed to heights most of what many film fans, Broadway babies and general entertainment junkies only dream of witnessing and ascending to. Marc Shaiman's work with Trey Parker and Matt Stone on SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT prompted Stephen Sondheim - as he told me himself - to cite it as one of the best musicals of the era. And, it is - as is their Tony-winning Best Musical HAIRSPRAY, based on the film by Pope of Trash John Waters. Featuring John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron, Queen Latifah and an all-around-amazing cast of triple-threats, the stunning Craig Zadan/Neil Meron-produced film version of HAIRSPRAY may be the greatest cinematic Shaiman and/or Wittman accomplishment so far. Then, there is CATCH ME IF YOU CAN - one of the snappiest new scores on Broadway in a strangely strong season of original scores - boasting boss Sinatra blues and sizzling Shirelles riffs and everything else that's swingin' in between. Up next for the team - onstage and off - is a stage adaptation of Roald Dahl's CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY directed by Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes, in addition to what is perhaps the most exciting prospect on their impossibly cluttered horizon: the new Steven Speilberg/Craig Zadan/Neil Meron musical/comedy/drama series SMASH which has just been picked up for the Fall season on NBC! In this exclusive, extensive and exhaustive conversation we cover it all from HAIRSPRAY to CATCH ME to CHARLIE to all about SMASH and far, far beyond!
Gemma Arterton, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Jeremy Irvine, and Saoirse Ronan are all set to star together in Neil Jordan's new film 'Byzantium,' according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Chris Isaacson and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center proudly present the premiere of Jennifer Leigh Warren in "DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER: the songs of Dame Shirley Bassey," which will make its Los Angeles debut on June 16 at The Renberg Theatre, 1125 N. McCadden Place in Hollywood, with acclaimed Director Richard Jay-Alexander (Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler 'Kiss My Brass' Tour, Bernadette Peters) at the helm.
Chris Isaacson and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center proudly present the premiere of Jennifer Leigh Warren in 'DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER: the songs of Dame Shirley Bassey,' which will make its Los Angeles debut on June 16 at The Renberg Theatre, 1125 N. McCadden Place in Hollywood, with acclaimed Director Richard Jay-Alexander (Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler 'Kiss My Brass' Tour, Bernadette Peters) at the helm.
This new show really does signal a new day for Celine Dion and her fans and is very likely to bring her more and more devotees. In a word, her new show is gorgeous - gorgeous to watch and gorgeous to hear.
Legendary French pianist and composer Michel Legrand will return to the Blue Note for a series of concerts with his trio from March 29 - April 3. Legrand is best known for his film scores - Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Thomas Crown Affair and the theme song from Yentl are among the highlights - but they tend to overshadow his extensive work as a jazz arranger/composer and pianist.
Legendary French pianist and composer Michel Legrand will return to the Blue Note for a series of concerts with his trio from March 29 - April 3. Legrand is best known for his film scores - Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Thomas Crown Affair and the theme song from Yentl are among the highlights - but they tend to overshadow his extensive work as a jazz arranger/composer and pianist.
TimeLine Theatre Company, dedicated to presenting plays inspired by history that connect to today's social and political issues, has finalized its four-play 2010-11 season. The Chicago premiere of In Darfur by Winter Miller, directed by Nick Bowling, joins three previously released titles: The Chicago premiere of Frost/Nixon by Peter Morgan, the world premiere of Mastering the Art by William Brown and Doug Frew, and The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.
A new music festival celebrating the 'Art of Song' will feature some of the world's great singers and songwriters in performance in the heart of the West?End at Leicester?Square?Theatre, from Tuesday April 5 - Tuesday April 19.
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