The 2013 BroadwayWorld San Francisco audience choice awards saw a fantastic number of nominations for theatres throughout Northern California this year, from Fresno's Good Company Players to Modesto's Gallo Center to Broadway Sacramento, San Jose and San Francisco. If only enough time existed for us writers to see every talented cast perform. Here are a few of my favorite productions from 2013 in a brief look back at some of the shows I was fortunate enough to witness.
The Kennedy Center, under the auspices of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), presented a free, five-night ASCAP Centennial Celebration on the Millennium Stage, November 16 through the 18th and 20-21, 2013. Click HERE to watch Corey Cott and Kara Lindsay perform!
Jim Caruso'S CAST PARTY will return to the West Coast for two nights, tonight and Saturday, November 22 and 23, 2013 at 7:30pm. The 'extreme open mic' will take place at Spaghettini (3005 Old Ranch Parkway, Seal Beach, CA).
KEVIN CARTER, Bobby Cronin, Scott Evan Davis, Drew Gasparini, Julia Meinwald, Blake Pfeil, Jeff Thomson, and Amanda Green star in INSPIRED 2: A Benefit Concert for the Humane Society of NYC and The Last Resort Rescue of NJ, today, Monday November 18th, 7pm at Stage 72/Triad.
The Kennedy Center, under the auspices of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), presents a free, five-night ASCAP Centennial Celebration on the Millennium Stage today, November 16 through the 18th and 20-21, 2013.
Come and be dazzled (and 'bedazzled') by Jamie Salzano's sparkling musical journey of a girl on the rocks reaching for the stars. The New York City-based cabaret singer will present 'Stardust and other sparkly things...' tonight, November 9 (4 p.m.);Tuesday, November 26 (7 p.m.); and Saturday, December 7 (4 p.m.) at The Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues), New York City.
KEVIN CARTER, Bobby Cronin, SCOTT EVAN DAVIS, DREW GASPARINI, JULIA MEINWALD, BLAKE PFEIL, JEFF THOMSON, and AMANDA GREEN star in INSPIRED 2: A Benefit Concert for the Humane Society of NYC and The Last Resort Rescue of NJ, on Monday November 18th, 7pm at Stage 72/Triad.
92Y announces casting for the 2014 season of Lyrics & Lyricists. Faith Prince, Rob McClure, Christiane Noll and Rachel York are among the performers from the worlds of Broadway, jazz and cabaret presenting a panoramic journey through the American Songbook via Broadway, Hollywood and Second Avenue. L&L's shows this season explore MGM Musicals, tunes that swept away the Great Depression, an insider's look at Rodgers & Hammerstein, iconic funny girl Fanny Brice and the glorious songs salvaged from Flop Shows. The season is curated by series artistic director Deborah Grace Winer and a line-up of guest artistic directors that includes three Tony Award winners-director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall (in her L&L debut); music director Ted Sperling; and lyricist David Zippel- musical theater historian Robert Kimball, and Rodgers & Hammerstein oracle Ted Chapin.
Co-Producers Juliana Hansen and Jonathan White will present a one night only benefit performance, ONE STARRY NIGHT: Hollywood and Broadway Come Together to Fight ALS, on Monday, January 13, 2014 at 8pm, hosted by The Pasadena Playhouse. The evening will also include a silent auction and VIP post-show meet-and-greet. Proceeds will provide critical funding for The ALS Association Golden West Chapter's mission priorities in care services, public policy, and cutting-edge global research toward treatments and cure.
The Kennedy Center, under the auspices of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), presents a free, five-night ASCAP Centennial Celebration on the Millennium Stage November 16-18 and 20-21, 2013. This live showcase of musical theater works from the past 100 years features songs by some of the theater world's most talented composers and lyricists and concerts from a lineup of acclaimed musical theater performers. The celebration is part of the Center's daily, free Millennium Stage performance series streamed live on the Kennedy Center website and archived for future viewings. It is the first in a series of events across the country that will celebrate ASCAP's upcoming 100th birthday, on February 13, 2014.
Come and be dazzled (and 'bedazzled') by Jamie Salzano's sparkling musical journey of a girl on the rocks reaching for the stars. The New York City-based cabaret singer will present 'Stardust and other sparkly things...' on Saturday, November 9 (4 p.m.);Tuesday, November 26 (7 p.m.); and Saturday, December 7 (4 p.m.) at The Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues), New York City.
On September 15th, 1 host, 12 singers, 2 musical directors, 1 comedian, and a packed house of friends and invited guests celebrated Michael Sterling's birthday at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. The night, appropriately titled A Sterling Affair, was a sparkling tribute to the man whose name has come to be synonymous with Los Angeles cabaret.
Musical Theatre Guild, the winner of the Los Angles Drama Critic's Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in the theatre, will present OUR BROADWAY SCRAPBOOK, a benefit concert at their new venue: Santa Monica's Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre. OUR BROADWAY SCRAPBOOK, a celebration benefit introducing the Musical Theatre Guild, will be presented September 22, 2013 at 7:00 pm, two months in advance of their inaugural Moss Theatre season opening. All proceeds from this one-night-only event will benefit the New Roads School
Composer/Lyricist Scott Evan Davis will present a staged revue of his music in August at Catalina Jazz Club in downtown Hollywood, CA. There will be one show: tonight, August 21st, 2013 at 8;30pm.
JIM CARUSO'S CAST PARTY will return to the West Coast for two nights, Friday and Saturday, November 22 and 23, 2013 at 7:30pm. The 'extreme open mic' will take place at Spaghettini (3005 Old Ranch Parkway, Seal Beach, CA).
Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond's screenplay for the 1959 cult classic film Some Like It Hot relied on one comedy gimmick, that two men, played by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, could escape from Chicago mobsters by donning drag and joining a girl band ...and convince everyone around them that they were really women. Could they pull it off? Wilder himself reputedly stated that he never thought the movie would be as successful as it became due to its meager plotline. But... with Marilyn Monroe alongside Lemmon and Curtis as Sugar Kane, the hilarious trio really blended uproariously...and the rest is history. When in 1972 Jule Styne and Bob Merrill collaborated with book writer Peter Stone to create Sugar, their Broadway musical flopped, probably for two reasons. Firstly, Styne's music, with the exception of one or two songs, is not memorable. Secondly, the book, too faithful to the screenplay, has tremendous holes for a stage play and just does not, no offense to composer Styne, come up roses.
The secret ingredient is dance. After that, everything else falls into place. Fantastic ensemble singers. Broadway talent. Men in women's clothing. The production's name fits it well, as plenty of delicious treats entice Music Circus audiences into the world of 'Sugar.'
Sugar, a hilarious Tony-nominated musical comedy based on the classic film Some Like It Hot, is the next show in the 2013 Music Circus season, at the Wells Fargo Pavilion from today, July 23 - 28. Like the 1959 film starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, Sugar follows the hysterical antics of two male musicians, disguised as women in an all-female band, as they experience a series of mishaps while fleeing from the mob. The brassy score is by Jule Styne (music) and Bob Merrill (lyrics), composers of the hit musical Funny Girl.
Sugar, a hilarious Tony-nominated musical comedy based on the classic film Some Like It Hot, is the next show in the 2013 Music Circus season, at the Wells Fargo Pavilion from July 23 - 28. Like the 1959 film starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, Sugar follows the hysterical antics of two male musicians, disguised as women in an all-female band, as they experience a series of mishaps while fleeing from the mob. The brassy score is by Jule Styne(music) and Bob Merrill (lyrics), composers of the hit musical Funny Girl.
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