Lon Chaney News

BWW reviewer, Peter Nason, celebrates 2018 with his choices for the best in local theatre (Tampa, St. Pete and Sarasota) that the past year had to offer.

In the summer of 1993 renowned composer and jazz pianist Roy Budd's score for Rupert Julian's classic 1920s silent film The Phantom of the Opera was to set be performed in London. Then he had a brain haemorrhage. Nearly a quarter of a century later his widow, Sylvia, fulfilled his dream and Budd's masterpiece score to the 1925 Phantom of the Opera was performed at the London Coliseum on 08 October 2017, featuring the 77-piece orchestra. The performance received a resoundingly positive response from critics and audience alike.

Richard Kaufman Conducts New West Symphony featuring Dennis James on Pipe Organ and soprano Kristi Holden Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) Saturday, November 3 at 8:00pm What a Holiday treat! A wonderful combination of an authentic classic silent and gripping movie, 'The Phantom of the Opera,' (Universal Studios, 1925) played on a jumbo screen coupled with live organ expertise and opera singing, the original score, the superb New West Symphony and the conduit that blends it all together, the Conductor, Richard Kaufman.

The Geffen is currently hosting a world premiere adaption of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Adapted by Jefferson Mays, Susan Lyons and Michael Arden, this one-man production features Mays taking on nearly 50 different roles in a new adaptation, which is based on the edited version Dickens himself used for public performances. Let's see what the critics had to say.

A Halloween treat pairs live orchestra with the 1925 horror classic The Phantom of the Opera on The Soraya's large screen on Saturday, November 3 at 8:00pm. The original score ratchets up the spook factor with the world's foremost theater organ expert, Dennis James on the rare Allen theatre organ. CSUN alum Richard Kaufman returns to conduct the New West Symphony with the haunting score.

London International Mime Festival, directed by Helen Lannaghan and Joseph Seelig, is a unique event in the theatre calendar, a once a year chance to see the very best and newest contemporary visual theatre that embraces cutting edge circus-theatre, juggling, puppetry, live art, mime and physical theatre.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's music softens the Gothic horror of the original story.

As a Norwegian Production 'The Phantom of the Opera' is a triumphant success showcasing talents seldom seen on an Oslo stage.

Audiences know the Broadway version, now they can see the original. The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts brings back the first silent film played at the theatre after it finished renovations a decade ago. The Phantom of the Opera: Silent film accompanied by the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ returns on Sunday, October 7 at 2 pm. Tickets are on sale now.

Thirty of the most iconic cinematic masterpieces starring the most famous monsters of horror movie history come together on Blu-ray for the first time ever in the Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection on August 28, 2018, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Featuring unforgettable make-up, ground-breaking special effects and outstanding performances, the Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection includes all Universal Pictures' legendary monsters from the studio that pioneered the horror genre with imaginative and technically groundbreaking tales of terror in unforgettable films from the 1930s to late-1950s.

Jeff Farley's love letter to Ray Bradbury will soon be on Bill Oberst Jr.'s face. Special effects makeup artist and Primetime Emmy Award Nominee Farley has just completed the sculpt for Oberst's prosthetic transformation into Bradbury in the authorized stage portrayal of the beloved author, Ray Bradbury Live (forever.)

Lon Chaney, the 'Man of A Thousand Faces', story comes to life in new musical titled A Thousand Faces. The musical takes us from Lon's childhood as the son of deaf parents, through his stage career and tumultuous life with songstress wife Cleva who attempts suicide backstage which drives Lon to try the new industry of movies where he rises to fame as the pioneering silent film star of the original PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. Sam Scalamoni (Elf, Disney's Beauty and the Beast) directs.

Lon Chaney, the 'Man of A Thousand Faces', story comes to life in new musical titled A Thousand Faces. The musical takes us from Lon's childhood as the son of deaf parents, through his stage career and tumultuous life with songstress wife Cleva who attempts suicide backstage which drives Lon to try the new industry of movies where he rises to fame as the pioneering silent film star of the original PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. Sam Scalamoni (Elf, Disney's Beauty and the Beast) directs.

The American Tap Dance Foundation's TAP DANCE AWARDS will be presented on Tuesday, July 10 at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater, Symphony Space at 7pm. The ceremony will honor winners of the organization's Hoofer and Tap Preservation Awards and include inductions into the ATDF Tap Dance Hall of Fame. The awards evening, which will also offer film presentations and performances, is a featured event of 'TAP CITY,' the week-long celebration of tap dance returning to New York City for its 18th consecutive year (July 7 to 13).

As BroadwayWorld reported yesterday, stage and screen star, Patricia Morison died at the age of 103 at home in Los Angeles of natural causes. A stage icon and legend best known for her starring roles in Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate and The King & I opposite Yul Brynner, she established an indelible mark in films with a reputation as a the villainous femme fatale with large blue eyes and extremely long, dark hair that made her a favorite of studios and fans alike. 

Stage and screen star, Patricia Morison died today at the age of 103 at home in Los Angeles of natural causes. A stage icon and legend best known for her starring roles in Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate and The King & I opposite Yul Brynner, she established an indelible mark in films with a reputation as a the villainous femme fatale with large blue eyes and extremely long, dark hair that made her a favorite of studios and fans alike. 

The American Tap Dance Foundation's TAP DANCE AWARDS will be presented on Tuesday, July 10 at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater, Symphony Space at 7pm.  The ceremony will honor winners of the organization's Hoofer and Tap Preservation Awards and include inductions into the ATDF Tap Dance Hall of Fame. The awards evening, which will also offer film presentations and performances, is a featured event of "TAP CITY," the weeklong celebration of tap dance returning to New York City for its 18th consecutive year (July 7 to 13).

The cast is phenomenal, especially Ned Averill-Snell in a performance that brings to mind the odd combination of Daniel Day-Lewis, Harpo Marx and Lon Chaney, Jr. It's a timely show that must be seen to be believed.

Three of New Jersey's top corporations, Bank of America, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, and PSEG Foundation, have once again joined forces with the New Jersey State Arts Council to support the 21st annual  Stages Festival ("Stages"). Stages will offer over 90 theatre performances and programs for children and adults free of charge or at significantly discounted rates. Events will take place at theatres, art centers, libraries, schools, and other community venues from March 1st to the 31st, across the state.

New Jersey Theatre Alliance ("the Alliance") and its partners and funders are pleased to present the 21st annual Stages Festival ("Stages"), a statewide, month-long festival of theatre offering over 90 theatre performances and programs for children and adults free of charge or at significantly discounted rates. Events will take place at theatres, arts centers, libraries, schools, and other community venues throughout the state during the month of March.