Jess Goldstein News

The Tony, Olivier and Grammy Award-winning smash musical JERSEY BOYS, celebrates four stars (*The London Times), Four Seasons and four years on Broadway Friday, November 6.

Primary Stages (Casey Childs, Founder & Executive Producer; Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Elliot Fox, Managing Director) continues its 25th anniversary season of new works celebrating the female playwright with the New York premiere of The Night Watcher, written and performed by Charlayne Woodard. An inspiring solo play, The Night Watcher is directed by Tony Award-winner Daniel Sullivan. Performances begin Tuesday, September 22, 2009 for a limited run through Saturday, October 31, 2009 at Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Opening night is set for Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.

Tickets will go on sale Friday, Nov. 6 for the Charlotte premiere engagement of the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award winning hit musical JERSEY BOYS, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, playing the Belk Theater March 31 - April 18, 2010.

Patricia Racette is the first soprano since Teresa Stratas 20 years ago to sing all three leading soprano roles in Puccini's Il Trittico at the Met. Comprised of three one-act operas, Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi, Il Trittico returns to the Met in the production by Jack O'Brien that was a popular and critical hit at its premiere in 2007.

Even the presence of Melissa Gilbert - who so memorably played 'Half-Pint' in the Little House TV series of the 1970s and '80s and now is cast as Caroline Ingalls - can't save this musical from mediocrity. Try as they might, Gilbert and her castmates unfortunately just can't get past Sheinkin's overly earnest and plodding book, Portman's completely unmemorable score or Di Novelli's clumsily crafted lyrics. Sheinkin's book does offer some glimmer of hope: There are some lovely moments to be found in the script, but they are too few and far between. Portman's score fares worse, since there is not one melody that can be recalled and all the musical numbers sound alike. Di Novelli's lyrics are even worse. When 'I'm sick with wind sickness' is the only lyric you can remember, you know the show's in trouble. And, clearly, the material is not served well by director Francesca Zambello's seemingly uninspired staging (save for some creatively conceived horse-racing sequences).

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, a new musical based on the beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder series of classic American books, will open October 27, 2009 at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center as part of the HCA/TriStar Broadway at TPAC series.

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, a new musical based on the beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder series of classic American books, will arrive on November 24 at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri. Melissa Gilbert, who rose to fame as a child playing ‘Laura' in the hugely successful NBC television series 'Little House on the Prairie' during the 1970's, now continues her legacy ‘on the prairie' by taking on the role of Ma. LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE will also star Steve Blanchard as Pa and Kara Lindsay as Laura. Tickets for the St. Louis engagement of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE are on sale now. Tickets may be purchased by calling 314-534-1111, online at www.metrotix.com, or by visiting the Fox Theatre box office.

Yale School of Drama (James Bundy, Dean; Victoria Nolan, Deputy Dean) will offer a new concentration in Projection Design under Wendall Harrington, within the Design Department (Ming Cho Lee, Stephen Strawbridge, Co-Chairs) beginning in the fall of 2010, the first such course of graduate theatre training in the United States.

Casting has been announced for the Detroit engagement of the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award winning hit musical JERSEY BOYS, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, playing the Fisher Theatre, December 17, 2009 - January 23, 2010.

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, a new musical based on the beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder series of classic American books, will arrive on December 15 at The Buell Theatre, presented by Denver Center Attractions.

Today's Broadway Blogs on BroadwayWorld.com from Friday, October 9, 2009.

Primary Stages (Casey Childs, Founder & Executive Producer; Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Elliot Fox, Managing Director) continues its 25th anniversary season of new works celebrating the female playwright with the New York premiere of The Night Watcher, written and performed by Charlayne Woodard.

JERSEY BOYS is the winner of the 2006 Best Musical Tony Award®, the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album, and most recently, the 2009 Olivier Award for Best New Musical.

The Washington, DC engagement of JERSEY BOYS opened to rave reviews at the National Theatre Sunday, October 4 where it will play through Saturday evening, December 12. From there, the national tour will play Detroit from December 17 through January 23, 2010.

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, a new musical based on the beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder series of classic American books, will arrive on November 24 at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri. Melissa Gilbert, who rose to fame as a child playing ‘Laura' in the hugely successful NBC television series 'Little House on the Prairie' during the 1970's, now continues her legacy ‘on the prairie' by taking on the role of Ma. LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE will also star Steve Blanchard as Pa and Kara Lindsay as Laura. Tickets for the St. Louis engagement of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE are on sale now. Tickets may be purchased by calling 314-534-1111, online at www.metrotix.com, or by visiting the Fox Theatre box office.

'Little House on the Prairie,' a new musical based on the beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder series of classic American books, will arrive on October 13, 2009 at Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in Saint Paul, Minn. Melissa Gilbert, who rose to fame as a child playing 'Laura' in the hugely successful NBC television series 'Little House on the Prairie' during the 1970's, now continues her legacy 'on the prairie' by taking on the role of Ma. 'Little House on the Prairie' will also star Steve Blanchard as Pa and Kara Lindsay as Laura. Tickets for the Saint Paul, Minn. engagement of 'Little House on the Prairie' are on sale now.

Primary Stages (Casey Childs, Founder & Executive Producer; Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Elliot Fox, Managing Director) continues its 25th anniversary season of new works celebrating the female playwright with the New York premiere of The Night Watcher, written and performed by Charlayne Woodard. An inspiring solo play, The Night Watcher is directed by Tony Award-winner Daniel Sullivan. Performances begin Tuesday, September 22, 2009 for a limited run through Saturday, October 31, 2009 at Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Opening night is set for Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.

JERSEY BOYS, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, premieres tonight, October 1, at the National Theatre in Washington DC. The production will run through December 12.

Casting has been announced for the Washington, D.C., premiere engagement of the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical JERSEY BOYS, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, playing the National Theatre October 1 through December 12. The cast of JERSEY BOYS will be led by Matt Bailey (Tommy DeVito), Joseph Leo Bwarie (Frankie Valli), Josh Franklin (Bob Gaudio), and Steve Gouveia (Nick Massi) as The Four Seasons, with Jonathan Hadley and Joseph Siravo, a Washington native.

Tickets will go on sale Sunday, May 10, for the Washington, D.C., premiere engagement of JERSEY BOYS, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, playing the National Theatre October 1 through December 12.