From March 13 to 22, The Club at La MaMa E.T.C. will present the U.S. premiere of 'Tonight: Lola Blau,' written and composed by Georg Kreisler, English version by Don White, directed by Dick Top (Holland), featuring Anna Kr?mer (Germany) as Lola. This U.S. premiere is an opportunity for NY audiences to savor one of Europe's 'big little' musicals and its unforgettable holocaust themes. The piece depicts a rising, charismatic, Dietrich-style cabaret singer who is forced to flee Austria because of her Jewish heritage, taking refuge in the U.S. She makes do with 'survival jobs' on Tin Pan Alley until her sensational return to her homeland after the war, when she discovers that nothing much has changed.
The first full recording of Allegro, a 1947 musical by Rodgers & Hammerstein, has just been released on CD. Allegro producer Ted Chapin visited NPR Fresh Air from WHYY, February 17, 2009 to chat about the restored gem.
Filled with colorful criminals, biting social satire and a brilliant score, The Threepenny Opera opens International City Theatre's 2009 Season at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Jules Aaron directs Michael Feingold's translation of the trailblazing musical by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill that became one of the most influential plays of the 20th Century. Darryl Archibald is musical director and Kay Cole choreographs the five-week run February 20 through March 22; low-priced previews begin February 17.
First performed in 1928, Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera was a revolutionary musical theater masterpiece that mocked the bourgeois political movement of pre-Hitler Germany. Brecht's brittle, sardonic tale of beggars, thieves and prostitutes, adapted from the 1728 play The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, was a fierce social and political critique, and Weill's innovative score that fused American jazz with German cabaret captured the ironic tone of the lyrics. Part acid social criticism, part bittersweet romance, the now eighty-year old saga of 'Mack the Knife' and his entourage of criminals and whores has never lost its theatrical punch.
'It's a satire on capitalism and corruption told from the viewpoint of the 'little people',' notes Aaron. 'If there was ever time to revive this show, it's now. Michael [Feingold]'s translation is earthy, gritty and very funny. I think it's going to strike a chord with audiences.'
BILL KRAKAUER will be singing popular songs from the 20's to the 2000's - famous or forgotten - written by women or sung by great women performers at THE CELL PERFORMANCE SALON for just two nights only. JONATHAN CERULLO directs, PAUL TRUEBLOOD is the accompanist and music director, and JERED EGAN performs on double bass. The production plays two nights only, Monday, February 16th and Monday, March 2nd at 8:00 pm. All Tickets are $25.00 (no minimum) and can be reserved by calling 212-724-7933. THE CELL is located at 338 West 23rd Street between 8th and 9th Avenues.
March at Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts turns breaking out from winter into a joyful experience with a month of shining stars for folks of all ages. Jorgensen is close to home on the University of Connecticut campus, and events are reasonably priced with free parking. Look what's in Storrs for you!
BILL KRAKAUER will be singing popular songs from the 20's to the 2000's - famous or forgotten - written by women or sung by great women performers at THE CELL PERFORMANCE SALON for just two nights only. JONATHAN CERULLO directs, PAUL TRUEBLOOD is the accompanist and music director, and JERED EGAN performs on double bass. The production plays two nights only, Monday, February 16th and Monday, March 2nd at 8:00 pm. All Tickets are $25.00 (no minimum) and can be reserved by calling 212-724-7933. THE CELL is located at 338 West 23rd Street between 8th and 9th Avenues.
The LA Opera production of The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny has won th GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Album.
The LA Opera production of The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny premiered on PBS 'Great Performances' on Monday, December 17th, 2008.
Tony Award-winning Broadway star Patti LuPone (the original Evita) takes us on a high-spirited tour of songs and roles that she 'could have played, should have played, did play and will play,' with selections from Hair, Bye Bye Birdie, Funny Girl, West Side Story, Peter Pan, Evita, Anything Goes and more!
Theatre for a New Audience's Winter-Spring Shakespeare Season which begins with Othello (February 14 - March 7) continues with Hamlet which previews Sunday, March 15, at 7:00pm, opens Thursday, March 26, at 6:30pm and plays through April 19. Both productions play at The Duke on 42nd Street SM, a New 42nd Street? project, 229 West 42nd Street.
Hamlet features Christian Camargo in the title role. The production is directed by David Esbjornson. Joining Mr. Camargo will be Alyssa Bresnahan as Gertrude, Alvin Epstein as Polonius, Graham Hamilton as Laertes, Jennifer Ikeda as Ophelia and Patrick Page as Claudius.
THE SWEETEST SOUNDS -- ALLEGRO Written in 1947, ALLEGRO was preceded in the R&H canon by OKLAHOMA! and CAROUSEL, and followed directly by SOUTH PACIFIC and THE KING AND I. In this podcast, hosted by Jeff Lunden, the bold innovations and experimental aspects of ALLEGRO are explored in the context of the first complete recording of its score, released by Sony Masterworks Broadway today, February 3, 2009. The CD is produced by David Lai, Bruce Pomahac and Ted Chapin.
The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization is thrilled to announce that the first complete recording of Rodgers & Hammerstein's ALLEGRO will be released by Sony Masterworks Broadway on February 3, 2009. The CD is produced by David Lai, Bruce Pomahac and Ted Chapin.
In honor of Black History Month, City Opera co-presents a three-part series, Black History at New York City Opera, with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The first program, 'I'm on My Way': Black History at City Opera on Wednesday, January 28, 2009, commemorates the rich African-American contributions to City Opera's heritage and the great African-American works and artists who have graced City Opera's stage. Continuing with 'One Fine Day': A Tribute to Camilla Williams on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 and 'Troubled Island': 60th Anniversary Celebration on Tuesday, March 31, 2009, the programs feature discussion, live performance, special guests, historic slides and audio and video clips. All three events take place at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, located at 15 Malcolm X Boulevard in New York City.
On March 12, 2009 at 7:00 p.m., The Collegiate Chorale appears with The New York City Opera Orchestra at the newly renovated Alice Tully Hall in a performance of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin's 1945 Broadway operetta The Firebrand of Florence. The performance, led by guest conductor Ted Sperling, stars baritone Nathan Gunn, soprano Anna Christy, baritone Terrence Mann, and soprano Victoria Clark. Krysty Swann, David Pittu and Patrick Goss complete the cast, and narration will be provided by Stage Director Roger Rees.
Boasting a score by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and a book by playwright and screenwriter Edwin Justus Mayer, The Firebrand of Florence had a short run on Broadway in 1945. The work was subsequently not heard for over a half-century until three presentations - Ohio Light Opera (1999), the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London (2000) and the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna (2000) - shed new light on the relatively obscure work. The performances were not only accepted, but widely acclaimed, thus giving hope for a new life in a new century. Variety's theater critic Steven Suskin says 'I have long believed that Firebrand in concert should be a dazzling delight.'
Benvenuto Cellini, the great Florentine artist, is sentenced to hang, but he is pardoned when the duke realizes that he has not completed a previously commissioned sculpture. Freed, he is able to turn his attention to his favorite model (and object of his affections), Angela. The Duke also is interested in Angela. In a typical operetta plot, Cellini swashbuckles around the stage, keeping the Duke away from Angela, keeping himself away from the Duchess, and escaping yet another death sentence by fleeing to Paris, as the end of the show recapitulates the beginning.
ALLIES, a new rock musical featuring the songs of the legendary band Heart, will be presented in concert version at BLVD ( 199 Bowery at Spring St) on Monday, January 26th at 9:00 p.m. Industry and the general public are invited to make reservations on the show's official website at www.alliesthemusical.com.
ALLIES features a book by Celina Carvajal and Maggie F. Levin. The staged concert will be directed by Sam Buggein. Paul Leschen is the music director. The cast features Ms. Carvajal, Brian Charles Rooney (Threepenny Opera), Chris Hall (Bedbugs!!!, Twist). Ryan Bogner (Bedbugs!!!, Hey, You Know What Movie Would Make A Good Musical?) will read the stage directions.
In the tradition of Hedwig & the Angry Inch, ALLIES is a raw, concert-style musical about a love triangle that rocks the lives of a brother & sister. Gabby & Chris Ford are as close as struggling twenty-something siblings can be, when their bond is blown apart by the seductive - and secretive - Matt Rhode. Part live rock show - complete with roadies changing the set and a kickass lead axe - and part heartstring-plucking drama, ALLIES features the songs of the legendary band Heart, including hits like 'Barracuda,' 'These Dreams,' and 'Alone.'
Marni Nixon has joined the upcoming Encores! presentation of Music in the Air, she replaces Sally Ann Howes who had to drop out due to an illness. Marni Nixon, is known in the popular world as the singing voice behind the stars of West Side Story, The King and I and My Fair Lady. An accomplished singer in her own right, she has has sung opera, classical song and appeared on Broadway. Ms. Nixon worked with Lehmann in a production of Ariadne auf Naxos at the Music Academy of the West and considered her a friend. Besides her singing career, Marni Nixon is also an actress, recently nominated for an Ovation award. She gives master clases throughout the country in musical theater and classical song. She was last seen on Broadway in NINE and The Dead. Music in the Air, a rarely seen 1932 musical, will be directed by Gary Griffin with music direction by Rob Berman and choreography by Michael Lichtefeld. The production runs for five performances at City Center, West 55th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues). Production dates are February 5th through the 8th.
New York City Center Presents Encores! Music In The Air with tickes avaliable for as low as $20.00.
Music in the Air, a rarely seen 1932 musical, will be directed by Gary Griffin with music direction by Rob Berman and choreography by Michael Lichtefeld. The production runs for five performances at City Center, West 55th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues).
In addition to Kristin Chenoweth, the cast includes Douglas Sills, Dick Latessa, Tom Alan Robbins, Sierra Boggess, Walter Charles, Anne L. Nathan, David Schramm, Ryan Silverman, Robert Sella and Sally Ann Howes.
Music in the Air, with music by Jerome Kern, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett, has been restored by the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization and not been seen in New York in its original form since its premiere Broadway
engagement at the Alvin Theatre in 1932. Opening on November 8th of that year, it played for 342 performances in a production directed by the authors. A revised version had a brief revival at the Ziegfeld Theatre in 1951.
Music in the Air is a musical romance, with the wit and elegance of an Ernst Lubitsch film. It's the story of a Bavarian music teacher (Robbins), his beautiful young daughter (Boggess), and the daughter's suitor, who travel to the big, bad city of Munich where they encounter a cast of self-involved, egotistical theater folk who promise them fame, fortune and romance. Marin Mazzie and Douglas Sills play a Diva (Mazzie) and an operetta librettist (Sills) who take the young couple
under their wings (and claws). Songs include 'I've Told Ev'ry Little
Star' and 'The Song Is You.'
The Hub at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco (JCCSF) will present six cutting-edge events in the first half of 2009, including plays, another great Purim party, and musical extravaganzas. Consisting of Jewish adults in their 20s and 30s (and friends), The Hub offers groundbreaking music, innovative films, literary events, DJs, dance parties and more, at choice venues around the city.
Filled with colorful criminals, biting social satire and a brilliant score, The Threepenny Opera opens International City Theatre's 2009 Season at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Jules Aaron directs Michael Feingold's translation of the trailblazing musical by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill that became one of the most influential plays of the 20th Century. Darryl Archibald is musical director and Kay Cole choreographs the five-week run February 20 through March 22; low-priced previews begin February 17.
First performed in 1928, Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera was a revolutionary musical theater masterpiece that mocked the bourgeois political movement of pre-Hitler Germany. Brecht's brittle, sardonic tale of beggars, thieves and prostitutes, adapted from the 1728 play The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, was a fierce social and political critique, and Weill's innovative score that fused American jazz with German cabaret captured the ironic tone of the lyrics. Part acid social criticism, part bittersweet romance, the now eighty-year old saga of 'Mack the Knife' and his entourage of criminals and whores has never lost its theatrical punch.
'It's a satire on capitalism and corruption told from the viewpoint of the 'little people',' notes Aaron. 'If there was ever time to revive this show, it's now. Michael [Feingold]'s translation is earthy, gritty and very funny. I think it's going to strike a chord with audiences.'
ALLIES, a new rock musical featuring the songs of the legendary band Heart, will be presented in concert version at BLVD ( 199 Bowery at Spring St) on Monday, January 26th at 9:00 p.m. Industry and the general public are invited to make reservations on the show's official website at www.alliesthemusical.com.
ALLIES features a book by Celina Carvajal and Maggie F. Levin. The staged concert will be directed by Sam Buggein. Paul Leschen is the music director. The cast features Ms. Carvajal, Brian Charles Rooney (Threepenny Opera), Chris Hall (Bedbugs!!!, Twist). Ryan Bogner (Bedbugs!!!, Hey, You Know What Movie Would Make A Good Musical?) will read the stage directions.
In the tradition of Hedwig & the Angry Inch, ALLIES is a raw, concert-style musical about a love triangle that rocks the lives of a brother & sister. Gabby & Chris Ford are as close as struggling twenty-something siblings can be, when their bond is blown apart by the seductive - and secretive - Matt Rhode. Part live rock show - complete with roadies changing the set and a kickass lead axe - and part heartstring-plucking drama, ALLIES features the songs of the legendary band Heart, including hits like 'Barracuda,' 'These Dreams,' and 'Alone.'
