James Jennings News

SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET is the 1979 Tony Award winning Best Musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler which is based on Christopher Bond's 1973 play of the same name. It has enjoyed several revivals and has been presented by multiple opera companies. Set in 19th century England, the show details barber Sweeney Todd's (Joe Penrod) return to London after 15 years of exile to take revenge on the corrupt judge who banished him. He conspires with a local baker, Mrs. Lovett (Cathie Sheridan), who has a struggling pie shop below the space that becomes Todd's tonsorial parlor. The character originated in serialized Victorian popular fiction, known as 'penny dreadfuls'

Laurie Rae Waugh, one of the senior directors at the American Theatre of Actors, James Jennings' multi-theatre complex designed to give opportunities to young artists, will open the 41st Season with MIRRORS by Steve Silver.

DOGFIGHT is a musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul and a book by Peter Duchan. It is adapted from Nancy Savoca's 1991 film and premiered Off-Broadway in 2012. The current production by Austin Theatre Project is the Central Texas premiere. An intimate new musical with a small cast, DOGFIGHT shines a light on the nastier aspects of young Marines, especially the ritual where each man tries to find the ugliest girl to bring to a bar to win a bet. It is this ritual that gives the work its name. A look at swaggering, macho culture at its worst, dehumanizing both the women and the faceless enemy the boys are being dispatched to fight.

Votes are cast; polls are closed; and results have been tabulated! This was our biggest year yet! After a record number of voters in more than 70 regions worldwide, BroadwayWorld is very excited to announce the 2015 Austin winners! Thanks to all who voted, and huge congratulations to all the winners!

Happy Holidays! It's the last week to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Austin Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Time is running out to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Austin Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Voting is fully underway for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Austin Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 11. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Austin Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

The American Theatre of Actors celebrated in style its 40 years of providing emerging artists with a caring and knowledgeable environment via its multi-stage facility in midtown with a gala event at Sardi's.

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Austin Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

On Friday, October 16, The Chernuchin Theatre, one of the theatres housed at The American Theatre for Actors (ATA, 314 West 54th Street, New York City) was named for beloved Broadway legend and two-time Tony Award winner John Cullum. He is best known as Holling, the bartender in 'Northern Exposure.'

Today, October 16, The Chernuchin Theatre, one of the theatres housed at The American Theatre for Actors (ATA, 314 West 54th Street, New York City) will be named for beloved Broadway legend and two-time Tony Award winner John Cullum. He is best known as Holling, the bartender in 'Northern Exposure.'

BroadwayWorld has learned that on Friday, October 16, The Chernuchin Theatre, one of the theatres housed at The American Theatre for Actors (ATA, 314 West 54th Street, New York City) will be named for beloved Broadway legend and two-time Tony Award winner John Cullum. He is best known as Holling, the bartender in 'Northern Exposure.'

A stunning new production of William Shakespeare's MACBETH  will be presented at the stunningly renovated Chernuchin Theatre, opening the 40th season of the American Theatre of Actors, directed by founder James Jennings and featuring - yes - a stunning cast head by Thomas Leverton and Jessica Jennings with Jane Culley (appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association).

Disney Channel announces September 2015 Programming Highlights. *All programming subject to change*

Shakespeare's masterpiece about a soldier led into corruption by greed and darkness will have a run at the American Theatre of Actors (ATA) 314 West 54th St. 2nd Fl, NYC (btw 8th/9th avenues) directly after Labor Day, Wednesday - Saturday @ 8:00 p.m. (September 9 - 12 and 16 - 19) and Sunday @ 3:00 p.m. (September 13 & 20)

Forever Plaid runs through August 29 at the Ground Floor Theatre (979 Springdale Road). Tickets are $25-$40 with special group rates available for parties of ten or more. For specific dates, show times, and ticket purchase, visit www.austintheatreproject.org.

FOREVER PLAID, a musical revue written by Stuart Ross in 1990 has been performed internationally. The show is about those close-harmony groups like The Four Aces and The Four Freshmen that were popular during the 50s. These groups personified the clean-cut genre. The Plaids are a quartet of high-school friends with dreams of recording an album who come to their untimely end in a collision with a bus filled with Catholic schoolgirls on their way to see the Beatles' American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. The Plaids have been given a final chance from the afterlife for musical glory.

It was a time of big cars, crewcuts, The Ed Sullivan Show, and beautiful music. On February 9th, 1964, a semi-professional harmony group from eastern Pennsylvania was on their way to their first big gig at the airport Hilton Cocktail Bar. While driving in their cherry-red 1954 Mercury convertible, they were rehearsing their finale when they were slammed broadside by a school bus filled with eager Catholic teens from Our Lady of Harrisburg. The teens were on their way to witness the Beatles make their U.S. television debut on the Ed Sullivan Show, and miraculously escaped uninjured. The harmony group, however, was killed instantly.

Alvin Puentevella and the American Theatre of Actors present a new play by Jack Horton Gilbert as part of the 39th Season of New Playwrights. 'WE WILL ALWAYS TALK THIS WAY' runs now through the 27th, 2015 at The Beckmann Theater within the American Theatre of Actors (314 West 54th Street, 2nd Floor).