Kyle Cooper News

One of the most exciting, edgy, in-your-face new musicals to have popped up in recent years, the electrically-transfused angst-rock musical BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON is making quite a splashy, enjoyable Orange County debut at The Chance Theater. Filled with clever barbs and super-silly gags, this bloody-good, uniquely original musical---a creatively-crafted retelling of the emotions, deeds and actions of our 7th U.S. President---continues performances through August 4 in Anaheim Hills.

Chance Theater presents the third show of its 15th Anniversary Season - the hilarious and irreverent emo rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson by Alex Timbers, with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman, and directed by Kari Hayter. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson opens tonight, July 12 and continues through August 4 at Chance Theater.

Chance Theater presents the third show of its 15th Anniversary Season - the hilarious and irreverent emo rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson by Alex Timbers, with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman, and directed by Kari Hayter. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson began previews on July 5, and opens July 12, continuing through August 4 at Chance Theater. Check out a first look below!

Chance Theater presents the third show of its 15th Anniversary Season - the hilarious and irreverent emo rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson by Alex Timbers, with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman, and directed by Kari Hayter. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson begins previews on July 5, opens July 12 and continues through August 4 at Chance Theater.

Chance Theater presents two shows for your Holiday entertainment, LITTLE WOMEN: The Broadway Musical with book by Allan Knee, music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, directed by Casey Long, music direction by Bill Strongin and choreography by Jessie McLean; and the ninth anniversary production of THE EIGHT: Reindeer Monologues, written by Jeff Goode and directed by Oanh Nguyen.

Chance Theater presents two shows for your Holiday entertainment, LITTLE WOMEN: The Broadway Musical with book by Allan Knee, music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, directed by Casey Long, music direction by Bill Strongin and choreography by Jessie McLean; and the ninth anniversary production of THE EIGHT: Reindeer Monologues, written by Jeff Goode and directed by Oanh Nguyen. LITTLE WOMEN will open tonight, November 17 at 8pm and continue through Sunday, December 23.

Chance Theater presents two shows for your Holiday entertainment, LITTLE WOMEN: The Broadway Musical with book by Allan Knee, music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, directed by Casey Long, music direction by Bill Strongin and choreography by Jessie McLean; and the ninth anniversary production of THE EIGHT: Reindeer Monologues, written by Jeff Goode and directed by Oanh Nguyen.

Theatre Unleashed is launching its 5th season with the west coast premiere of a musical that made big waves in 2011, Justin Moran's The Spidey Project: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility. The original Broadway parody musical opened and closed before another highly publicized spider-musical could get off the ground…and it did it with no budget. Now Theatre Unleashed brings it to Los Angeles audience for a run that begins March 8 at Studio/Stage.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will present 'Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design,' celebrating one of the 20th century's most acclaimed designers, on Monday, November 14, at 7 p.m. at MoMA in New York City.

Long before the stage saw puppets having sex and Ugandans confronting Mormons, there was JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA, a joyously foul-mouthed stage musical that's as much of a hilarious guilty pleasure as its title suggests. The Chance Theater in Anaheim Hills is the latest American regional theater to take on this racy, over-the-top show. Due to popular demand--and, frankly, rightly so--this surreal musical's run has been extended through August 14. At the height of its popularity, Jerry Springer's eponymous TV program which inspired this reverent parody cornered the market in shocking reveals, loud on-stage brawls, and outrageous fringe parades. So the idea that this low-brow talk show-slash-circus sideshow has somehow been immortalized into a musical theater piece--specifically an Opera, perhaps the most high-brow of the Arts--attracts nothing less than amusing curiosity.

Broadway?s biggest show SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark officially opens Tuesday, June 14th at the Foxwoods Theatre (213 West 42nd Street). The show features creative consultation by Philip William McKinley (The Boy From Oz), original direction by Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor (The Lion King, Across The Universe, Frida), music and lyrics by 22- time Grammy Award-winners Bono and The Edge, and book co-written by Taymor, Glen Berger (Underneath The Lintel) and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Fantastic Four and Spider-Man comics, 'Big Love').

The funny thing about 70 million dollar musicals is that the paper used to write them costs no more than the paper used to write church basement showcases budgeted on the limit of someone's maxed-out credit card.  And twenty thousand years from now, when intergalactic societies consider our generation's artistic ambitions based on which words and music written on that paper we chose to support with extravagantly-financed productions viewed by over ten thousand purchasers of high-priced tickets every week, let's hope we don't have to sheepishly shield our faces in our afterlife abodes as they flabbergastedly wonder, 'What the hell were they thinking?'

Catch a sneak peek of 'SpiderMonster, the Musical,' Sesame Street's new spoof of the Broadway show as part of the program's 42nd season. New episodes begin September 2011. Also the butt of a few punches at the Tony Awards last night, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark officially celebrates it's opening night on tomorrow, June 14 th at the Foxwoods Theatre.

It's the most highly anticipated opening in recent Broadway memory, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark officially celebrates their opening night on Tuesday, June 14 th at the Foxwoods Theatre. The show features creative consultation by Philip William McKinley (The Boy From Oz), original direction by Tony® Award-winner Julie Taymor (The Lion King, Across The Universe, Frida), music and lyrics by 22- time Grammy® Award-winners Bono and The Edge, and book co-written by Taymor, Glen Berger (Underneath The Lintel) and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Fantastic Four and Spider-Man comics, "Big Love"). The first full video preview footage has been released and we've got a first look at the production that has EVERYONE talking!

In one of the most highly anticipated openings in recent Broadway memory, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark officially celebrates their opening night on Tuesday, June 14 th at the Foxwoods Theatre. The show features creative consultation by Philip William McKinley (The Boy From Oz), original direction by Tony® Award-winner Julie Taymor (The Lion King, Across The Universe, Frida), music and lyrics by 22- time Grammy® Award-winners Bono and The Edge, and book co-written by Taymor, Glen Berger (Underneath The Lintel) and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Fantastic Four and Spider-Man comics, "Big Love"). The newest production photos have been released and BroadwayWorld brings you a first look below!

Lahr writes 'Taymor has a dynamic, painterly sense of space; she can marshal all the sensual elements of movement, light, and perspective into amazing stage pictures. (Two minutes after the show had ended, I couldn't recall a line of dialogue, a song lyric, or a melody, but I do remember any number of the show's images.) Before our eyes, for instance, the New York sky line is tipped ninety degrees, so that what begins at street level ends up a bird's-eye view, with buglike yellow cabs skittering below; in another scene, the spider chorines dance before us, with their eight syncopated limbs. In these moments-and there are plenty of them-the audience finds itself exactly where Taymor wants it to be: in a waking dream. The technicians of wonder are the real stars of 'Spider-Man': George Tsypin and his ravishing angular cityscape, with its monumental Cubist and Constructivist touches; Kyle Cooper and his ingenious projection design; Eiko Ishioka and her witty, beautifully made costumes (I loved Swarm, a one-man killer-bee hive, and the Green Goblin's scaly carapace). The stagecraft is about as good as it gets: all 'Spider-Man' needs now is a new book and new songs. Call me, Mister Mercury, this show will never be frozen.'

In USA Today, Elysa Gardner bucks the trend thus far and writes that 'And while the state-of-the-art visuals can be stunning - not just the aerial sequences, but Kyle Cooper's blazing projection design - some of the most affecting touches are low-tech. Before Spider-Man first takes flight, the dancers doing his stunts leap and twitch like giddy children perfecting a new trick. Bono and Edge's songs aspire to the same emotional sweep. In a USA TODAY interview in November, Bono described the 'operatic' scope of U2's music. There are tunes here, melodic and undeniably theatrical, that confirm that determination to transcend sentimentality that links them to tunesmiths from Bruce Springsteen to Rodgers and Hammerstein. For more, tune in again in March. But know this for now: Spider-Man's creative team is trying to bring musical theater back to the future. And that's a mission worth rooting for.'

As BroadwayWorld reported last night, according to the NY Times, the Broadway run of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was rumored to be postponed once again; this time, because of safety issues. inspectors from The New York Department of Labor visited the Foxwoods Theatre to take a look at the flying devices and methods being used. Because they saw only some of the dozens of aerial stunts in the show, delays in the opening are likely. If the Department of Labor approves of the rest of the stunts in the next 10 days, then performances will begin on November 14.

According to the NY Times, the Broadway run of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark might be postponed once again; this time, because of safety issues. As reported previously, inspectors from The New York Department of Labor payed a visit to the Foxwoods Theatre to take a look at the flying devices and methods being used. Because they saw only some of the dozens of aerial stunts in the show, delays in the opening are likely. If the Department of Labor approves of the rest of the stunts in the next 10 days, then performances will begin on November 4.