James Wright News

The Old Opera House rarely cancels a performance due to the weather, but in the interest of safety, they have annonced that they are cancelling today's performance of SHREK the musical and the auditions for The Love List this evening due to negative weather forecast.

Directed by Steven Brewer, musically directed by Alison Shafer and choreographed by Ashley Snow, Shrek: The Musical will open this weekend at the Old Opera House in Charles Town, West Virginia. Shrek: The Musical follows the story of the well-known 2001 movie almost identically. Shrek (Edgar Conn) is a misjudged ogre who lives alone in a swamp.....until tyrannical ruler Lord Farquaad (Shawn Nakia) evicts all of the 'reject' fairy tale creatures in the kingdom of Duloc (including the Three Bears, the Three Pigs, Pinocchio and many others) onto Shrek's muddy home. In order to win back his land, Shrek must rescue the not so typical damsel-in-distress, Princess Fiona (Karilee Grossnickle), from a dragon guarded castle, with the help of his wise-cracking donkey (Andrew McClain).

Slide Lounge, Oxford St's home of cabaret, hosts an electrifying collection of performing artists who celebrate all aspects of queer culture during the Mardi Gras season.

Based on the Oscar-winning DreamWorks film that started it all, SHREK the Musical brings the hilarious story of everyone's favorite ogre to the stage! Join Shrek and his loyal steed Donkey, as they set off on a quest to rescue the beautiful (if slightly temperamental) Princess Fiona. Add the diminutive Lord Farquaad, a gang of fairytale misfits and a cookie with attitude, and you've got this year's must-see new musical comedy!

Minneapolis, MN, November 5, 2013 – In many ways, the practice of Eastern meditation meets its antithesis in traditional American culture. That's why early readers find Go Deep and Take Plenty of Root: A Prairie-Norwegian Father, Rebellion in Minneapolis, Basement Zen, Growing Old, Growing Tender by Erik Storlie such a gripping experience.

Moonrise Press is pleased to announce the publication of a volume of poetry inspired by a six-and-a-half-day ordeal of Ed Rosenthal, a Poet-Broker, who survived alone after being lost in the Mojave Desert in September 2010. An experienced hiker, he unexpectedly veered far away from his usual route and could not find his way back. While in Salvation Canyon, he was several times missed by search-and-rescue aircraft and helicopters, and finally, miraculously, was found by San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputies. The wry, surreal, and reflective poems in 'The Desert Hat: Survival Poems' describe the spiritual trajectory of a survivor living through a close encounter with death, starting from alienation in a corporate urban environment and ending with the post-trauma reflections about life and natural environment. The book consists of 36 poems organized in four sections, reflecting the distinct stages in the spiritual and personal journey, from getting off track, through searching for a way back, through hallucinations in a hostile desert environment, finding shelter in the shade of Salvation Canyon, to being rescued and experiencing the world after the return from the brink of death. The title alludes to a canvas hat that Rosenthal used as a notebook and helped the lost poet control his thoughts, capture emotions, and write down his last will and a farewell to his wife and daughter. The 12 illustrations include photos of the famous hat. This is Ed Rosenthal's first book-length publication. Paperback: ISBN 978-0-9819693-7-4, 74 pages. E-Book, ISBN 978-0-9819693-9-8. Future Readings · Sunday, November 10, 2013 - Featured Poet at Beyond Baroque Beyond Baroque Literary Center, Venice, 681 Venice Blvd. · Sunday, November 24, 2013 - Featured Poet at Village Poets Monthly Reading Bolton Hall Museum, 10110 Commerce Avenue, Tujunga, CA 91042. About Ed Rosenthal Ed Rosenthal, 'Poet/Broker of Downtown Los Angeles,' was known for using his verses to keep his escrows going. Taking the opposite tact of iconic modernist poets Wallace Stevens and T.S. Eliot, who kept their day jobs at a seeming distance from their poetry, 'Poet/Broker' employed poetry as a tool in commercial real estate. Rosenthal's 'Poetic Request for 30 day Extension of Contingencies' was cited in the Los Angeles Times for enabling a redevelopment project. His Wall Street Journal piece admonished clients in couplets. To place poetic legitimacy on his state-issued real estate licenses, Rosenthal had some signed by world renowned writers, including Seamus Heaney and Evan Boland. Prior to his near-death experience, he was already bored with the persona of the 'Poet/Broker.' A fan of Federico Garcia Lorca, Rosenthal began to work with poems carrying lunar motifs in urban landscapes. Survival of a harrowing near-death experience in the Mojave Desert in 2010 has deepened this imagistic writer's divorce from practicality in the direction of spiritual exploration. About 'The Desert Hat' In 'The Desert Hat,' Los Angeles poet/real estate broker Ed Rosenthal presents the mythopoetic journey through his real-life experience of being lost for 6 days in remote canyons of the Mojave Desert's Joshua Tree National Park in September, 2010. 'The Desert Hat' delves deeply into the wildest and unpredictable heart of the Mojave into a storied landscape that Rosenthal renders as both recognizable to the reader and also deeply specific to his solitary and unanticipated experience, and in these poems, creates an empathetic and spiritually-affirming desert landscape that resonates within all of our desert hearts. - Ruth Nolan. Professor of English @ College of the Desert, California desert poet, writer, editor, conservationist & scholar Ed Rosenthal's 'The Desert Hat' not only recounts an incredibly vivid story of survival, but maps out the dangerous journeys of the heart and the imagination in that hallucinatory place between mind and body, between nature and man, between the past and the future. Like poet James Wright, Rosenthal 'goes/ Back to the broken ground' of the self and finds a stranger there trapped in the cosmology of an endless, unpitying desert. As the stark 'sun burns holes/ into the sky' the psyche's true-north compass finds salvation's shade. Rosenthal climbed out of 'the busted monster's mouth' with a beautiful, moving book. - Elena Karina Byrne, Executive Director of AVK Arts, author of The Flammable Bird Masque and Squander To Book a Reading, Please Contact: Ed Rosenthal: poetbroker@yahoo.com For Book Inquiries, Please Contact: Dr. Maja Trochimczyk maja@moonrisepress.com 818-384-8944

Serenbe Playhouse's 'Season of Change' will conclude with the smash Broadway classic, HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, which defined a generation when it first opened in 1967. Now, 45 years later, Serenbe Playhouse, along with director Brian Clowdus, brings the story to life outdoors in a beautiful, vast Wildflower Meadow as they transport us back in time and remind us of the relevance it's message has today.

The last few years have brought difficult financial times to a number of venerable Atlanta theatres, including the 2012 closing of Marietta's Theatre in the Square, a successful half-million dollar fundraising campaign by Georgia Shakespeare in 2011, and last week, one of Atlana's oldest theatrical institutions announced a desperate plea for public support. After over six decades in Atlanta, Theater of the Stars (TOTS) now needs to raise $500,000 by the end of next week, and another half-million dollars by the end of August, to continue operations.

The Old Opera House has announced the winners of the 13th Annual New Voice Play Festival. Scroll down for photos of the winning casts!

The New Voice Play Festival, opening today, June 21, provides the opportunity for audiences to witness completely new and original plays from playwrights all across the nation and vote on which play is their favorite. The 13th Annual New Voice Play Festival seeks to showcase four new, rarely performed original one act plays. Plays are submitted year-round to the Old Opera House for consideration. All of the submitted plays are judged by a selection committee during the winter months. Out of the hundreds of shows submitted, four plays are chosen for performance.

The New Voice Play Festival, opening on June 21, provides the opportunity for audiences to witness completely new and original plays from playwrights all across the nation and vote on which play is their favorite. The 13th Annual New Voice Play Festival seeks to showcase four new, rarely performed original one act plays. Plays are submitted year-round to the Old Opera House for consideration. All of the submitted plays are judged by a selection committee during the winter months. Out of the hundreds of shows submitted, four plays are chosen for performance.

Do you enjoy reading a new book or seeing a new movie or play before you hear the reviews and commentary from friends or the press? Seeing something fresh with no preconceived opinion? Then you won't want to miss the 13th Annual New Voice Play Festival at the Old Opera House Theatre in Charles Town on June 21, 22 & 23, 2013.

Anyone familiar with the Atlanta theatre scene knows that there is as much talent here as in nearly anywhere else in the country, and this summer, Atlanta's 30+ professional theatre companies are putting that talent to use. While there are countless other great productions going on around the city this summer, BWW Atlanta has narrowed it down to six that will surely leave Hotlanta talking well into the winter months.

Votes are cast, polls are closed, and results have been tabulated! This was our BIGGEST year yet! After a record number of voters in over 30 regions worldwide, BroadwayWorld is VERY excited to announce the 2012 Atlanta Winners! Thanks to all who voted and HUGE congrats to all the winners!

Voting is now underway for Atlanta and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January.

Voting is now underway for Atlanta and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the live standings below.

Voting is now underway for Atlanta and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the live standings below.

Voting is now underway for Atlanta and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the latest standings below!

Voting is now underway for Atlanta and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the live standings below!

Voting is now underway for Atlanta and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. We are updating live, so check out the stats here to see how your favorite stars and shows are doing.