Karen Marie News

David Sisco and Laura Josepher, owners of ContemporaryMusicalTheatre.com, are launching a new radio show on MusicalTheatreRadio.com on Saturday, January 16 at 10 AM (EST).

Harriet (Karen Marie Black) is a highrise uptown girl and Janie (Sara James) who is unmotivated and heavy on the chutzpah. These two young women are facing a dilemma in trying to find and fit all of their life expectations into a self-imposed small box labeled 'you can have it all' in the romantic comedy 'Isn't It Romantic' at Homewood Theatre.

The Auditorium Theatre's signature production Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah celebrates 15 years in Chicago, and is one of the first performances to kick off the Year of Chicago Music, on January 18 and 19, 2020, in addition to a special Student Matinee performance on January 17. The jazz-gospel twist on George Frideric Handel's classic Messiah oratorio premiered at the Auditorium in 2006, and has been inspiring and uplifting audiences ever since.

See the full schedule of events coming up The Auditorium Theatre now through May 5, 2020.

The Auditorium Theatre's signature production Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah celebrates 15 years in Chicago, and is one of the first performances to kick off the Year of Chicago Music, on January 18 and 19, 2020, in addition to a special Student Matinee performance on January 17. The jazz-gospel twist on George Frideric Handel's classic Messiah oratorio premiered at the Auditorium in 2006, and has been inspiring and uplifting audiences ever since.

Birdland Theater presents Darrian Ford singing selections from his album, NEW STANDARDS (which gives a nod to the classics of the Standards genre, but moreover, is a personal statement), and other exemplary gems.

Broadway performer Karen Marie Pisani and Radio City Rockette Jessica Davison return to the Marblehead School of Ballet (MSB) to present two special master classes, Acting for Dancers and Jazz.  The public is invited to sign up for these master classes taught at the studio located at 115 Pleasant Street in Marblehead, Massachusetts, a historic, scenic coastal town on the North Shore region of Massachusetts in the United States.

Acclaimed Broadway and North Shore performer, choreographer, and dancer Karen Marie Pisani returns to the Marblehead School of Ballet (MSB) this summer presenting the new Theater Arts Week series. Dancers, 12 to 17 years of age, are invited to enroll. The series runs August 5 through August 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the school, located at 115 Pleasant Street in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

Broadway visionaries meet ballet royalty at The 5th Avenue Theatre this spring in Marie: A New Musical. Tony Award-winning authors Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Once On This Island), five-time Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman (The Producers, Contact), and acclaimed New York City Ballet principal dancer Tiler Peck invite you backstage into 19th-century Paris, where glittering opulence hobnobbed with underworld dangers. Marie was formerly titled Little Dancer in a previous production that played at The Kennedy Center in 2015. 

The Chicago theatre community will ring in 2019 with major events, getting the Year of Chicago Theatre off to an exciting start.

The Auditorium Theatre is proud to continue to extend the impact of its signature show Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah beyond the stage with programs offered to schools, community groups, and correctional facilities. Too Hot, hosted annually on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend in honor of his life and legacy, is a joyous, uplifting show that puts a jazz, gospel, rock, and blues twist on Handel's classic Messiah oratorio. The production features soloists Rodrick Dixon (tenor), Alfreda Burke (soprano), Karen Marie Richardson (alto), the famed Detroit pianist Alvin Waddles, a 100-person choir, an orchestra, and a jazz combo.

In the Auditorium Theatre's 129th year of existence, we honored the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the 13th annual Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah; asked "What's This?" on Halloween with a special screening and the Midwest premiere of Disney in Concert's The Nightmare Before Christmas; and sang along to timeless classics like "December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" and "Grease" with Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. We reveled alongside the dancers from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; celebrated Ballet Nacional de Cuba's return to Chicago following a 15-year absence; highlighted top local dance companies, including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Giordano Dance Chicago; and got transported to Mexico with the colorful music and dance of Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez. We also hosted the 14th  year of our Hearts to Art summer camp, a performing arts camp for young people who have experienced the death of a parent; welcomed over 5,000 students to our Student Matinees; and brought thousands of people from across the city to the theatre through our ADMIT ONE program.

For the 14th consecutive year, the Auditorium Theatre proudly presents Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah over Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend. Celebrating Dr. King's vision of "beloved community" - a world without poverty, bigotry, and violence - Too Hot is a true Chicago show that unites people from all across the city as they sing, dance, and clap along with the performers. 

Danish superstar MØ debuts new track “Imaginary Friend” from her eagerly awaited second album Forever Neverland today. Produced by Illangelo, the new track comes accompanied by a video co-directed by MØ and Jonas Bang—listen here and watch here.

Chief Executive Officer Tania Castroverde Moskalenko announces the Auditorium Theatre's 2018-19 Season, which includes exciting premieres, inspiring speakers, innovative contemporary artists, and legendary performers.

Michigan Opera Theatre CEO and President Wayne S. Brown and Principal Conductor Stephen Lord today announced the company's 2018-19 opera season.  MOT's 48th opera season will be the second under Lord's artistic leadership and celebrates masterworks of literature turned opera, with "Eugene Onegin" (Pyotr Tchaikovsky), "Candide" (Leonard Bernstein) and "The Grapes of Wrath" (Ricky Ian Gordon/Michael Korie). The season also includes a staple of the opera repertoire, "The Barber of Seville" (Gioachino Rossini) and a fairytale opera, "Hansel and Gretel" (Engelbert Humperdinck). The season begins Sept. 29 with a gala concert featuring opera superstar Renee Fleming.  

'Nostalgia,' the first new music from Danish vocalist, songwriter and breakout star MØ this year, premieres today. Listen to the song here and watch the lyric video here.

At a time when the USA is waffling on its commitment to honor Harriet Tubman with her image on the 20 dollar bill, Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre will present 'Harriet's Return: Based Upon the Legendary Life of Harriet Tubman,' written and performed by Karen Jones Meadows. The production takes audiences on a deeply personal, high energy journey into the private and public life of this famed Underground Railroad conductor, spiritual icon, revolutionary, and entrepreneur, whose life spanned nine decades and still influences the consciousness of people throughout the world. The production is directed by Clinton Turner Davis and will take stage February 8 to March 4 at Castillo Theatre, 543 West 42nd Street.

On January 13 and 14, 2018, the Auditorium Theatre presents the 13th annual performance of Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah. Traditionally held on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend, Too Hot celebrates Dr. King's message of 'beloved community.'

On January 13 and 14, 2018, the Auditorium Theatre presents the 13th annual performance of Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah. Traditionally held on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend, Too Hot celebrates Dr. King's message of 'beloved community.' The show features acclaimed soloists Rodrick Dixon, Alfreda Burke, and Karen Marie Richardson; legendary Detroit pianist Alvin Waddles; a choir of over 100 members led by Bill Fraher, director of concert choirs at Old St. Patrick's Church; a chamber orchestra conducted by Suzanne Mallare Acton, the assistant music director at Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit, MI; and a world-class jazz band featuring electric bass, electric guitar, string bass, and more. Too Hot, which was originally conceived by conductor Marin Alsop and arranged by Bob Christianson and Gary Anderson, puts a twist on George Frideric Handel's classic oratorio, infusing the music with jazz, gospel, rock, and blues.