John Russell News

a?oeSuperstara?? is the title of the final number in Maine State Music Theatre's third concert staging, THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, but the designation seems to apply just as easily to the aspirations and abilities of the young artists who brought this sensational evening of theatre to life. Each season MSMT, as part of its Educational Fellowship Program, presents a fully staged concert performance created completely by these young professionals in training, and, each year in recent memory, the offerings have grown more complex, the talent more dazzling. Last night's performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's music bears witness to that phenomenon, offering an evening of inspired staging, strong solo and ensemble performances, and spectacular vocalism and dancing.

Judging by the squeals of delight from the youngsters attending MSMT's second Theatre for Young Audiences production of THREE LITTLE PIGS, the familiar nursery rhyme made into a musical by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe proved to be a great hit! The fifty-five minute retelling of the tale of the three piglets who leave home to make their way in the world and must outsmart the Big Bad Wolf to survive is told with charm, wit and a touch of contemporaneity and gentle messaging.

The COOP is a new theatre company founded by Artistic Director Andrus Nichols and Playwright in Residence Kate Hamill. Conceived out of the desire to create a community of NYC based artists who are interested in making extraordinary theatre and committed to fostering a culture of collaboration, experimentation, and trust, The COOP produce both old plays reinvigorated through a new lens, and new plays that resonate with timeless themes and universal truths.

It's the 1920s and a Tennessee schoolteacher has been arrested and put on trial for teaching Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Forte Dramatic Productions presents the acclaimed play "Inherit the Wind" at Mercer County Community College's (MCCC's) Kelsey Theatre. Dates and show times for this powerful drama are Fridays, May 24 and 31 at 8 p.m.; Saturdays, May 25 and June 1 at 8 p.m.; and Sundays, May 26 and June 2 at 2 p.m.

Long Beach Playhouse 'So closely woven with thrills and comedy that shocks and laughs are about 50/50' ~London Guardian Agatha Christie's Spider's Web At the Long Beach Playhouse January 12 - February 9, 2019  Long Beach, CA.

Chris Stapleton reveled in a celebratory night in Nashville as he took home three wins at "The 52nd Annual CMA Awards," while Keith Urban warmed hearts with his gracious acceptance of the coveted Entertainer of the Year trophy. Country Music's Biggest Night was hosted for the 11th consecutive year by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood and aired live from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Wednesday, Nov. 14 on the ABC Television Network.

An heroic struggle for dignity, the importance of family, and the attainment of the American Dream take center stage in Lorraine Hansberry's acclaimed drama "A Raisin in the Sun," to be presented by Theater To Go at Mercer County Community College's (MCCC's) Kelsey Theatre.

From October 7, 2018, to January 6, 2019, The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) presents John Waters: Indecent Exposure, the first major retrospective of the artist's visual art in his hometown of Baltimore. Through more than 160 photographs, sculptures, soundworks, and video made since the early 1990s, Waters' renegade humor subverts mainstream expectations of representation and reveals the ways that mass media and celebrity embody cultural attitudes, moral codes, and shared tragedy. Waters freely manipulates images of less-than sacred, low-brow references-Elizabeth Taylor's hairstyles, Justin Bieber's preening poses, his own self-portraits, and pictures of individuals brought into the limelight through his films-to entice viewers to connect to his astute and provocative observations about society.

The Long Beach Playhouse opens its 2018 - 2019 season with Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club by playwright Jeffrey Hatcher. The play explores the question: 'What if Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective found himself in a plot inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson?'

THEATER TO GO presetns its October production of Lorraine Hansberry's classic American drama A RAISIN IN THE SUN. This drama about the African American experience explores the hopes and dreams of one extended family, the Youngers, a black working class family struggling to achieve the American Dream in the face of racial tensions and economic disenfranchisement in 1950's Chicago.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale will open its 2018/19 concert season in Walt Disney Concert Hall with two performances of The Mozart Requiem on Saturday, September 22 at 2 PM and Sunday, September 23 at 7 PM. The performances will feature the full 100-voice Master Chorale and Orchestra, and will be conducted by Grant Gershon, Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director. Guest soloists for the Requiem are Liv Redpath (soprano), J'Nai Bridges (mezzo-soprano), David Portillo (tenor), and Rod Gilfry (baritone). The concerts will open with Shawn Kirchner's Songs of Ascent-a setting of the Psalms sung by pilgrims journeying to Jerusalem-commissioned and premiered by the Master Chorale in 2015 when Kirchner was the Swan Family Composer-in-Residence. These performances will include three Psalms Kirchner has since added to the piece.

This summer the Los Angeles Master Chorale and choral music superstar Eric Whitacre will present the largest free group singing event in California history-Big Sing California.

Today the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) announced that it has named celebrated contemporary artist and Baltimore resident Amy Sherald as a new trustee on the Museum's board. Sherald will officially take her board seat on February 20, joining Board Chair Clair Zamoiski Segal and Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director Christopher Bedford, as well as 39 other active trustees guiding the institution. This diverse group is comprised of regional and national leaders in art, philanthropy, and business, including another recently named artist trustee, Adam Pendleton, who joined the board last August.

In 1930, Agatha Christie wrote Black Coffee as a play featuring her master sleuth Hercule Poirot. In this seldom seen and intricately crafted mystery, Christie weaves scientific discoveries, international espionage, and unimaginable murder together to give the audience a night of unraveling the knots of danger and suspense.

It's time to travel back to the 1930s for a rollicking good time on the rails as Theater To Go presents Ken Ludwig's Twentieth Century at Mercer County Community College's (MCCC's) Kelsey Theatre. A train trip from Chicago to New York City has lots riding on it including the future of a legendary producer and his Broadway show. Show times for this comedy classic are Fridays, Jan. 26 and Feb. 2 at 8 p.m.; Saturdays, Jan. 27 and Feb. 3 at 8 p.m.; and Sundays, Jan. 28 and Feb. 4 at 2 p.m.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

This spring, The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) will present the first exhibition dedicated to sculptures by renowned contemporary artist Jack Whitten. Odyssey: Jack Whitten Sculpture, 1963-2016, on view April 22 through July 29, 2018, reveals an extensive and entirely unknown body of the artist's work.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.