Lamar Jefferson News

The Guthrie Theater (Joseph Haj, artistic director) proudly announced the cast and creative team for the theater's summer musical, West Side Story. Directed by Haj, this major revival of a timeless classic will play June 16 - August 26, 2018, on the Wurtele Thrust Stage. Single tickets for West Side Story start at $15 for preview performances (June 16-21) and are on sale now through the Box Office at 612.377.2224, 877.44.STAGE (toll-free), 612.225.6244 (group sales) and online at guthrietheater.org.

Dueling dancers played by Lamar Jefferson and Ben Bakken did the first-ever duel 6 Questions & a Plug to dish on being part of Theater Latte Da's world premiere musical in Northeast Minneapolis.

BroadwayWorld is going inside Theater Latte Da's world premiere musical FIVE POINTS. Check out the cast in action in the video below!

Theater Latte Da announces extended performances of the rousing, world premiere musical FIVE POINTS thru May 13. This latest and most ambitious musical world premiere to date brings together the talents of a dynamic creative team. The score is the work of Douglas Lyons and Ethan D. Pakchar, a New York-based songwriting team with significant Broadway credits. The book is written by the prolific Twin Cities-based playwright Harrison David Rivers, who has penned three world premieres this season including FIVE POINTS, as well as productions at the History Theatre and Penumbra Theatre. Theater Latte Da Artistic Director Peter Rothstein directs the production with Resident Music Director Denise Prosek. Performances run now thru May 13 at the Ritz Theater (345 13th Avenue NE in Minneapolis). Single tickets go are on sale now and can be purchased at Latteda.org or by calling 612-339-3003.

BroadwayWorld has an exclusive first look at Theater Latte Da's Broadway-aimed world premiere musical FIVE POINTS. Check out the cast in action in the photos below!

BroadwayWorld has an exclusive first look at Theater Latte Da's Broadway-aimed world premiere musical FIVE POINTS. Check out the cast in action in the photos below!

The ending of WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT, now playing in the Guthrie's Dowling Studio, is unlike anything I've ever seen in theater. It left me shocked, confused, and a little traumatized, but mostly it left me incredibly moved. It's such a powerful and important piece, forcing us to look at the long-lasting effects of colonialism around the world, its parallels with slavery in America, and how difficult it is to talk about racism. But even though the show leaves on a heavy and intense note, it's also really funny and innovative and theater-y too. It fools you into thinking it's a fun look at actors in rehearsal and then sneaks in some serious issues that soon become almost more than one can bear. Fortunately the Guthrie's Level Nine initiative includes what they call Community Engagement Activities, which often means a post-show discussion with the cast or creative team or experts on the subject. Take advantage of this - it's a wonderful opportunity to decompress and process what you've just seen, and begin a conversation.

For the 2016-2017 no 'shrinking violet' opening of the Cabot Theatre Stage, Skylight Music Theatre presents the 1997 award-winning musical, Violet. Set in the mid 1960's, the Broadway Theatre Center production relates to a young woman's journey when her father accidentally disfigured her face and left a traumatic facial scar amid the burgeoning civil rights movement and beginnings of the Vietnam war. When Violet travels from North Carolina to Oklahoma carrying her dream and hope that a faith healer will remove the scar, the young Southern woman encounters various people on her Greyhound bus ride to remind the audience life's miracles arise in multiple forms when the heart opens the eyes and mind and removes the mundane from the material world.

What does somenone do when his or her world is turned upside down and there's no where to go? James Henry, the litlte boy in author Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach discovers this dilemma after a terrible accident places him alone in an orphanage. That is, until his two aunts Spiker and Sponge, his only living family, take him into their home, which he hopes will be the family he longs for..So begins First Stage's  29th season with the Theater for Young Audiences premiere of the new musical sharing the identical name: Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach.

OLIVER!, an re-imagining of the iconic musical based on Charles Dickens' classic Oliver Twist, directed by the nationally acclaimed Peter Rothstein, runs tonight, February 4-March 1, 2015, at the historic Pantages Theatre, 710 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis.

OLIVER!, an re-imagining of the iconic musical based on Charles Dickens' classic Oliver Twist, directed by the nationally acclaimed Peter Rothstein, runs February 4-March 1, 2015, at the historic Pantages Theatre, 710 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis.

Minneapolis Musical Theatre's (MMT) Eating Raoul, based on Paul Bartel's 1982 black comedy film about a couple who go to extreme lengths to make money to open a restaurant, makes its area premiere today, October 3-26, 2014 at Hennepin Theatre Trust's New Century Theatre (Street Level of City Center in downtown Minneapolis).

Minneapolis Musical Theatre's (MMT) Eating Raoul, based on Paul Bartel's 1982 black comedy film about a couple who go to extreme lengths to make money to open a restaurant, makes its area premiere October 3-26, 2014 at Hennepin Theatre Trust's New Century Theatre (Street Level of City Center in downtown Minneapolis). Under the guidance of MMT's new artistic director Christian Unser, Eating Raoul is directed by Ryan McGuire Grimes and kicks off the 2014-15 MMT season which also includes Calvin Berger and Happy Days-A New Musical. Tickets and three-show subscription packages are on sale now. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit HennepinTheatreTrust.org or call 612.451.9501.

Get your Shrek on with a set of those tiny, tree like buds the lovable ogre Shrek sprouts on his glamorous green head. Milwaukee's First Stage makes the ears available in their Todd Wehr Theater lobby when the company presents, Shrek,The Musical to open their 2013-2014 season. The fairy tale character Shrek comes to life courtesy of the DreamWorks Animation Motion Picture, a 2001 film still beloved by fans with the book written by William Steig, and the musical brings all the fairy tale creatures to children's theater in professional First Stage style.

The eleven-time Tony Award-nominated pop opera, Miss Saigon lands on the Casa Mañana stage today,August 10, and runs through August 18.

The eleven-time Tony Award-nominated pop opera, Miss Saigon lands on the Casa Mañana stage August 10-18, 2013. Tickets are on sale now. Check out a first look at the production below!