John Henry News

It seems every four years, as political primaries come upon us, Americans start thinking more about those far off people in drastically different communities we share this country with. If New Yorkers have had many thoughts about the coal industry recently, they probably had to do with President Trump's vocal support of it in the face of cleaner options.

Performances start next week for the Alliance Theatre's family production, NAKED MOLE RAT GETS DRESSED: THE ROCK EXPERIENCE, with book and lyrics by award-winning author and illustrator Mo Willems (Knuffle Bunny, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, the Elephant and Piggie series) and music by Deborah Wicks La Puma (Elephant and Piggie's: We Are In A Play, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: The Musical).  Get a peek inside the first day of rehearsal!

In David Mamet's book On Directing Film, he breaks down the way a linear narrative can be conveyed by placing images in direct contrast to each other. a?oeThe dream and the film are the juxtaposition of images in order to answer a question.a?? Certainly, with a majority of the action taking place upstage of a scrim and the fusion of filmed and live material, ArtsEmerson's Detroit Red, an original play by Will Power about Malcolm X's early adult life in Roxbury, leaves one feeling more as though one has watched a movie or woken from a dream than sat through a performance. Recently, I also saw Gloria: A Life, which is playing at the American Repertory Theatre. While I admittedly found the show to be trite and pandering, it obtusely fused projection effects with live performance in a way that felt cheap, gimmicky, and more like a new SnapChat filter than anything else. Contrast that with Ari Herzig's film work for Detroit Red, which snaps the audience effectively between viewpoints in black and white and splays broad images across the haziness of Adam Rigg's nondescript set. The success of the production lies in the success of the filmed elements, which establish a framing device, pinpointing the action to an exact moment in time. Additionally, the projections act as effective abstractions, allowing the actors to waver between realism and poetry as photos of their faces appear as oversized watermarks in space. Lighting designer Alan Edwards equally contributes to the cinematic feel of the piece. Sharp shafts of light slice through open space and act, ingeniously, as the camera lens might in film, focusing our attention on specifics and the relevant details. Aside from a few extraneous hat changes for the three actors who take on all the roles in the piece, between the work of Herzig, Rigg, and Edwards, the performance seems to be a study in the logistics of jump-cuts or cross-fades in real time. Adding to the film-instead-of-theatre feeling in the space, the performance actively roused and engaged the audience, which had a huge swathe of Boston school groups present. The crowd felt comfortable verbalizing responses, in part, because of our physical separation from the action presented to us, and to be able to laugh, cheer, gasp, and grimace in solidarity with those around you is a rare treat.

The 37th Schwabacher Recital Series continues on Wednesday, March 4, with its second performance of 2020. San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows Simone McIntosh and Zhengyi Bai take the stage at San Francisco's Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater for a musical exploration of love and heartbreak, accompanied by Robert Mollicone on the piano. Their program will spotlight Olivier Messiaen's rarely performed Harawi, Richard Strauss' beloved Opus 27 songs and selections from Vincenzo Bellini's Sei Ariette da Camera.

The trailer for 'John Henry' was released today. Watch it below!

The leading live music platform for concert recordings and live streams, nugs.net, will live stream The 5th Annual John Henry's Friends Benefit, presented by Steve Earle and City Winery. The event takes place at The Town Hall in New York City, NY on Tuesday, December 17, 2019 at 8pm ET.

Luna Stage will present a benefit performance of Ami Brabson's newest cabaret A Change is Gonna Come on Saturday, December 14th. Doors open at 6:30 PM for wine and mingling. Brabson's performance at 7:30 will be followed by live music, dessert, drinks, and coffee.

During Lisa Viggiano's critically-praised 2018 Bruce Springsteen Tribute Shows (which helped earn her a 2019 Bistro Award for “Outstanding Vocalist”), she included a section of songs by iconic musicians and singers discovered over five decades by talent scout/record producer John Henry Hammond, who also championed Springsteen and recorded “The Boss's” first demo. Now, like a spinoff from a hit TV sitcom, Viggiano has created an entire cabaret show featuring songs and performers produced by Hammond during his long career at Columbia Records. In FROM LADY DAY TO THE BOSS: 50 YEARS OF TALENT DISCOVERED BY LEGENDARY COLUMBIA RECORD PRODUCER JOHN HENRY HAMMOND, Viggiano will deliver her unique renditions of classic tunes recorded by Bessie Smith, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Harry James, Count Basie, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Leonard Cohen, George Benson, and Springsteen.

10th Anniversary Hispanicize, the largest event of its kind, connected well over a thousand Latinx trendsetters, social media influencers, content creators, marketers, advertisers, social and political activists, as well as A-list celebrities last week, October 17-19, 2019, at the iconic 73-story InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown.

Congratulations to Driftwood Soldier whose new album Stay Ahead of the Wolf is out today. Over the last three months, the inimitably gritty, gutterfolk duo from Philadelphia have released three singles and drawn acclaim from the likes of Billboard, Glide Magazine, Americana Highways and more. Owen Lyman-Schmidt's guttural, gravely voice and raging mandolin growling atop Bobby Szafranski's ominously tempered bass compose the band's distinct sonic-scape, which they skillfully enage to drive tales of injustice with force. Stay Ahead of the Wolf was produced with Erin McKeown, mixed by Ted Hutt (Old Crow Medicine Show, Devil Makes Three, Lucero, Violent Femmes) and mastered by Ryan Schwab (The Districts, Hop Along, Ron Gallo).

NGL Collective today announced that the official schedule of events for 10th Anniversary Hispanicize is available on their official website. Event highlights include keynote speakers, musical performances, marketing panels, discussion on music, podcasts, film/tv and more. Hispanicize, the largest event of its kind, connects Latinx trendsetters, social media entrepreneurs, technology leaders, celebrities. The landmark 10th Anniversary Hispanicize Event will take place at the iconic 73-story InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown, October 17-19, 2019

Disney Hyperion's Rick Riordan Presents line has another brand-new series to add to its growing family. This time, we get to dive into African mythology.

The play 'Member of the Wedding' is based on Carson McCullers 1946 novel of the same name. The author also penned the script for the 1950 Broadway stage production which starred Ethel Waters, Julie Harris and Brandon DeWilde.

The Rubell Museum today announced that its new campus will open on December 4, 2019 with a museum-wide installation of works that chronicle key artists, moments, and movements in vital arts centers over the past 50 years, from the East Village to Beijing, Los Angeles to Leipzig, and São Paulo to Tokyo

Bristol Riverside Theatre announces that Founding Director Susan D. Atkinson and Artistic Director Keith Baker will be stepping down from their day-to-day roles at the end of the 2019-2020 season. Atkinson is credited with helping to rejuvenate Bristol Borough during her 33 years of service. She led the way in turning an old adult movie theatre into a professional theatre company that has produced five world class productions a year for the past 33 years. Baker steps down after 28 years of service to the theatre. He wore many different hats at BRT, directing, singing and acting in over 120 plays and musicals, and steering its artistic vision. The duo will step down from their roles at the conclusion of the current season. The BRT Board of Directors has launched an extensive search for a new artistic director. Later in the season, look for news of a special event that will honor Atkinson and Baker's service to the organization and the community. 

'Matilda The Musical' will open the 2019/2020 Season at The Growing Stage (TGS), The Children's Theatre of New Jersey. Broadwayworld.com had the pleasure of interviewing Sean Quigley who plays Miss Trunchbull in the show.

a??a??a??a??a??a??a??Beck Center for the Arts is pleased to produce The Member of the Wedding, directed by regional talent Eric Schmiedl. This limited engagement runs October 4 through November 3, in the Studio Theater. This intimate performance space puts the audience in the middle of this regal family drama. Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. Buy early and save with promo code: FRANKIE to receive $5 off each adult/senior ticket purchased by Oct 3, 2019. Preview performance is the Thursday before opening night, October 3. Opening Night is Friday, Oct 4. Tickets range from $10 Smart Seats to $33 each. Group and student discounts are available.  Tickets are on sale now.

The Florentine Opera Company is excited to announce its 2019-20 Baumgartner Studio Artists a?" soprano Kathryn Henry, mezzo-soprano Meghan Folkerts, tenor Luke Selker and baritone Samuel James Dewese. 

The New York Philharmonic and Music Director Jaap van Zweden's World Premiere performances of Julia Wolfe's Fire in my mouth will be released in digital formats on August 30, 2019, and in physical format on October 4, 2019, on Decca Gold, Universal Music Group's newly established US classical music label. It is now available for preorder at https://DeccaGold.lnk.to/Fireinmymouth. The release will mark Decca Gold's fifth New York Philharmonic album.

Chester Theatre Company (CTC) will present Curve of Departure by Rachel Bonds in the historic Chester Town Hall, 15 Middlefield Road in Chester, MA, from August 8 - 18. The production is directed by Keira Naughton making her CTC debut.