In June of 1937, the United States government padlocked New York's Maxine Elliot Theatre and sent security guards to prevent the performance of a new musical, but the unknown leading lady Olive Stanton courageously fought her fears and led an act of defiance that made headlines the morning after opening night.
Play On Shakespeare in association with Classic Stage Company (CSC) and Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) presents the Play on! festival-featuring 39 readings of new, work-in-progress translations of Shakespeare's plays into contemporary modern English by some of today's most exciting playwrights-May 29-June 30 at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater at CSC (136 E. 13th Street).In 2015, Oregon Shakespeare Festival launched an ambitious 39-play, three-year commissioning project, Play on!, tasking 36 playwrights-more than half of whom were women and playwrights of color, each paired with a dramaturg-to translate Shakespeare's canon in celebration of the enduring impact of the Bard's work. Supported by a generous grant from the Hitz Foundation and inspired by long-time patron Dave Hitz's passion for Shakespeare, the project was and continues to be led by Lue Morgan Douthit. For more information, visit playonfestival.org.
The Off-Broadway League today announced nominations in 19 categories - and bestowed one special award - for the 34th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway. The Awards will be handed out on Sunday, May 5, 2019 at NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts, beginning at 7:00pm EST. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League by special arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation. Additional support is provided by TDF. Beloved and celebrated entertainer, Wayne Brady, will emcee the ceremony.
Broadway stars Liz McCartney and Bob Stillman will headline Judson Theatre Company's Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins by Stephen Temperley. Souvenir is the first production of Judson Theatre Company's eighth season, opening Thursday, May 9, 2019 and running through Sunday, May 12 at the Hannah Center Theatre.
On Monday, April 8 at their annual Broadway Beacon Awards Gala at The JW Marriot Essex House (160 Central Park South), leading NYC arts education nonprofit Inside Broadway (Executive Director, Michael Presser) will honor Tony Award-winning Broadway icon Chita Rivera and NBC News/The Today Show's Al Roker. Rivera will be receiving the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award which will be presented to her by celebrated musician Steven Van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.
Chicago audiences will be the first to see the world premiere of August Rush: The Musical a never-before-seen musical based on the original Oscar-nominated Warner Bros film about a musically gifted orphan and the search for his birth parents.
Chicago audiences will be the first to see August Rush: The Musical, a world premiere musical crafted by some of the top creative artists working in American theater today, based on the Oscar-nominated Warner Bros. film about a musically gifted orphan and the search for his birth parents.
Classic Stage Company announces their 2019-2020 season. Bookended by two John Doyle-directed productions-William Shakespeare's Macbeth (October-December 2019) and Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Assassins (April-June, 2020)-the lineup also includes two canonical works of gothic horror: Dracula and Frankenstein, presented in repertory, January-March 2020, based on the novels by Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley.
On Monday, April 8 the annual Broadway Beacon Awards Gala will honor Tony Award-winning Broadway icon Chita Rivera and NBC News/The Today Show's Al Roker.
Be up close and personal with the indomitable Broadway icon Chita Rivera as she recreates signature moments from her legendary career in CHITA & FRIENDS, coming to the Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS at 8 p.m., Saturday, April 6. Tickets on sale now, http://www.jccc.edu/carlsen-center-presents/events/2018-2019/chita-friends.html or (913) 469-4445.
Second Stage Theater has announced SOMMER CARBUCCIA, MATT DALLAL, JAKEIM HART, ERIKA HENNINGSEN, KENNEDY KENAGAWA, ALEC MATHIESON, SARAH NAUGHTON, GABRIELLA PEREZ, JONATHAN RAVIV, NATHAN SALSTONE and KYLE SELIG will perform SATURDAY NIGHT as a part of the special concert series, MUSICAL MONDAYS, in celebration of the acclaimed company's 40th anniversary. NOAH BRADY directs the performance on Monday, March 11th, featuring musical direction by ALEXANDER GEMIGNANI.
Stalin, Lenin, mass executions. Who knew that war and civil unrest would make a good backdrop for a love story? Well, a lot of people. Margaret Mitchell, Victor Hugo, the Hollywood execs behind THE NOTEBOOK. But that doesn't make ANASTASIA, a romantic musical from librettist Terrence McNally, and composers Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, any less impressive.
Forty years ago, the legendary Stephen Sondheim musical 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' attended the tale for the first time on Broadway starring Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury. In honor of the occasion, we're throwing it back to the opening night of show's 2005 Broadway revival starring Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone. Take a trip to Fleet Street by checking out the footage below!
In the spirit of Classic Stage Company's new production of The Cradle Will Rock, Marc Blitzstein's historic pro-labor American play in music (March 21 - May 19), CSC is implementing a policy through which members of any union will receive $25 rush tickets to the show. In order to redeem these tickets, patrons must show their union ID at the box office the day of the performance they would like to attend, pending availability. This will be in addition to CSC's regular and student rush policies.
Actor/writer and 2018 Fred Ebb Award winner Will Reynolds makes his Birdland debut premiering all new songs, including selections from his musicals RADIOACTIVE and THE VIOLET HOUR (recently developed by MTC), written with collaborator Eric Price. Special guests include trumpeter and Birdland favorite Benny Benack III, Broadway stars Kirsten Anderson (MY FAIR LADY), Aisha Jackson (FROZEN), Adam Kaplan (A BRONX TALE), and soul singer-songwriter Chris Ams (FAVORITE STATES band).
New Stage Theatre presents the new musical Sweet Potato Queens March 13 - 24, 2019. Curtain times and dates for performances are Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Sundays. Ticket prices are $35.00 with discounts available for students, senior citizens, and groups. Tickets can be purchased at the box office, located inside the Jane Reid Petty Theatre Center, charged by phone by calling the theatre at (601) 948-3531 or ordered online at www.newstagetheatre.com. Sponsored by Sid Davis, Chairman of the Board Peoples Bank Mendenhall.