It's not often that listening to a cast album makes one think of Richard Strauss, but such is the genius of Scott Frankel and Michael Korie. The composer-lyricist team best known for the brilliant GREY GARDENS is back with WAR PAINT, the story of rival beauty moguls Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden. Here both story and emotion are thinner, but the music is gorgeous--Straussian in its elegiac beauty and bell-like notes--and worthy of its two stars, Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole, two of the most unique and exciting voices in musical theater. Like a golden-age Hollywood director 'managing' the two stars of a women's picture, the score has to find ways to manage its two leads, giving each an equal role. Ebersole gets an old-fashioned entrance--her Red Door spa staff sings breathlessly, 'She's coming, she's coming...,' bursting into a triumphant 'She's here!' LuPone's entrance is less heralded but equally dramatic (and separate), as she steps off a ship in New York. From then on, many of the songs are duets, in which one star sings half of a song about her own experience, and the second sings the other half, with lyrics expressing her different but parallel experience. Occasionally they sing in unison. What sounds tedious as a show (a narrative in which two separate characters have similar, not highly dramatic arcs and don't meet until the very end) enchants on the album. Without the strain of the storytelling, we can simply enjoy the gorgeous songs and their peerless purveyors.
Theater Breaking Through Barriers celebrates the 50th anniversary of The Ridiculous Theatrical Company with the first Off-Broadway revival of THE ARTIFICIAL JUNGLE by Charles Ludlam. It is directed by Everett Quinton, who co-starred in the 1986 premiere and was the Artistic Director of The Ridiculous from 1987-1997. Performances run through July 1 at Theatre Row's Clurman Theatre. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!
BroadwayWorld has teamed up with Broadway alum Ilana Levine, who makes her entrance onto the podcast stage with her new show Little Known Facts. Ilana's unique brand of celebrity interview, 'Podcast Verite,' is unfiltered, raw, honest and uniquely funny.
Following the success of Versailles, Ovation TV, America's only arts network, continues to showcase premium scripted drama series. The network has acquired the basic cable rights to another impressive costume drama: THE BORGIAS.
The Local Playwrights Showcase tradition continues in June and this is a unique production that includes numerous original one act plays performed by talented local actors. Don't miss this fun event! The Players Guild of Leonia is thrilled to be presenting its Playwrights Showcase series, a collection of short one-act plays written by 'local' playwrights.
American Theater Company (ATC) opens the world premiere of Dan Aibel's T. tonight, Thursday, May 25. The competitive ice skating saga is directed by Margot Bordelon and features Guy Massey (Al), Leah Raidt (T.), ensemble member Tyler Ravelson (Jeff), Kelli Simpkins (Joanne) and Nate Whelden (Shawn).
Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, has announced additional casting for the 2017 season.
I'm always cautiously optimistic in seeing a regional production of Jonathan Larson's Rent as I am a Renthead of MANY years. The thing to remember, obviously, is art has different interpretations. It is interesting to see the different elucidations of the choreography, the varied choices the actors make, the Director's vision, et cetera. I can proudly say that The Gateway Playhouse's incarnation of the Tony and Pulitzer winner, which is kicking off a very busy Summer season for the darling Bellport venue, does not disappoint.
ActorsNET in Morrisville, Pennsylvania continues its 21st season with British dramatist J.B. Priestley's classic mystery, AN INSPECTOR CALLS. James Cordingley of Lawrenceville, NJ directs this atmospheric thriller about a wealthy family whose dinner is interrupted by a police investigator probing the death of a young woman.
Following a sold-out run at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Trevor Nunn's revival of Terence Rattigan's brilliant comedy Love in Idleness has just transferred to the Apollo Theatre. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening festivities below!
On Monday, June 26th, international recording artist/Broadway performer Julie Budd and renowned Tony Award and Drama Desk Award winner Wayne Cilento, as well as a cast of Broadway performers and recording artists, including the Young People's Chorus of NYC, will join together for an evening of inspiration, illumination, healing and love, channeled through song, music and shared experiences to benefit the New York Center For Children for The Healing Of The Abused Child's Soul.
The Everyman has a tantalising line up for the summer season with a rich mix of theatre, music, comedy and family shows. With over 100,000 customers through the doors in 2016, the Everyman team are looking forward to creating more magic for Cork audiences in the season ahead.
Further evidence that Yiddish is suddenly hip in 2017 was on flashy display last night at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, as the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene welcomed a diverse and eclectic crowd to celebrate mothers and the mother tongue in grand style. Prominent producer Daryl Roth and nine other women trailblazers in the arts, sciences, business and philanthropy were honored, and a dazzling all-female cast performed one showstopper after another. The evening's mother hen was the fabulous four-time Tony nominee Tovah Feldshuh, who delighted the audience with her funny and peppery mix of wisdom and heartfelt cheerleading for the Jewish mothers attending and for the Jewish mother in all of us.
Single Day Tickets for the 60th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, September 15–17 go on sale Monday, May 15, and can be purchased online at montereyjazzfestival.org or by calling 888.248.6499.
