Laurie Sammeth News

Beautiful Soup Theater's Shades of Blue: The Decline and Fall of Lady Day is an unconventional, almost chilling ode to Holiday that is careful not to emphasize and dwell upon the singer's musical accolades and success; in fact, it does little to promote her career and the person as seen through the eyes of her adoring public. This production, written and directed by the incredibly talented Steven Carl McCasland (who also founded Beautiful Soup and serves as the group's Artistic Director), wades in the realm of storytelling without the fantastical twist that people always enjoy adding to make their lives seem more interesting - to add drama where drama may sometimes be due.

After Beautiful Soup Theater's acclaimed and sold-out production of Little Wars in April, they proudly present the last two works in Steven Carl McCasland's trilogy examining women in the arts. SHADES OF BLUE: THE DECLINE AND FALL OF LADY DAY begins tonight, August 27, running in rep with WHAT WAS LOST. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast of SHADES OF BLUE in action below!

Steven Carl McCasland is a rising voice in the world of theatre. After their acclaimed and sold-out production of Little Wars in April, Beautiful Soup presents the last two works in McCasland's trilogy. The plays examine the lives of historical women in the arts. Beginning tonight, August 27th, Shades of Blue: The Decline and Fall of Lady Day and What Was Lost, an examination of Laurette Taylor's preparation for The Glass Menagerie, will open at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre.

Steven Carl McCasland is a rising voice in the world of theatre. After their acclaimed and sold-out production of Little Wars in April, Beautiful Soup presents the last two works in McCasland's trilogy. The plays examine the lives of historical women in the arts. Beginning on August 27th, Shades of Blue: The Decline and Fall of Lady Day and What Was Lost, an examination of Laurette Taylor's preparation for The Glass Menagerie, will open at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal!

Steven Carl McCasland is a rising voice in the world of theatre. After their acclaimed and sold-out production of Little Wars in April, Beautiful Soup presents the last two works in McCasland's trilogy. The plays examine the lives of historical women in the arts. Beginning on August 27th, Shades of Blue: The Decline and Fall of Lady Day and What Was Lost, an examination of Laurette Taylor's preparation for The Glass Menagerie, will open at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre.

New York-based Beautiful Soup Theater, known for their revivals of Liliom, Rags, A Doll's Life and Moose Murders, has announced their 2014-2015 theatrical season. The season will begin in September with a revival of Lillian Hellman's The Autumn Garden. A study of the defeats, disappointments and diminished expectations of people reaching middle age, Hellman's rarely-seen memory play returns to New York in a new production from Beautiful Soup Artistic Director Steven Carl McCasland.

What a soothing, kind feeling the name of Liliom would bring to whoever hears such a name; surely the person who possesses it would not damn its beauty to the means of a harsh and indignant life. Alas, such a man who bears this name is apparently nothing more than a brute - a man whose soul is marred by his inability to express his true feelings because of the hubris ever-present in his heart. Yet, what authors, poets and the like have been telling their audiences for years on end is this brute of a man is not the monster he is depicted as. Beneath the exterior is a tortured being whose inner beauty is just as present as the fierceness from which he comes to define himself as a human being; unfortunately, though, it is not as prevalent and is thought not to exist at all. This tormented soul, hidden behind the appearance and demeanor of a fierce, angry man, is always so appealing because of its trials and tribulations; it is a person who is simultaneously allowed to live and be held back to the point of becoming a person that is hardly recognizable to the self. It is with this concept in mind that Beautiful Soup presents this gorgeous production of Liliom, a tale of one woman's undying love for a seemingly undeserving and hideous man whose reconciliation comes as a result of his wife's irrational yet beautifully inspiring sense of hope in the man that, beneath the rough and domineering exterior of the carousel barker, exists in the form of the gentle, loving Liliom who abandoned the man he was for the sake of loving, and being loved in return.

Beautiful Soup Theater's revival of Ferenc Molnar's LILIOM opens tomorrow, February 26th, 2014, at The Celebration of Whimsy in New York City. Check out a first look at the production below!

Beautiful Soup Theater will host a special talk-back discussing the play and its journey to Carousel following the Sunday, March 2nd 2:00pm performance of Liliom.

Complete casting has been announced for Beautiful Soup Theater's revival of Ferenc Molnar's LILIOM, opening at The Celebration of Whimsy in New York City on February 26th, 2014.