Birth Place: St. Louis, Missouri
New Line Theatre, 'the bad boy of musical theatre,' closes its 24th season of adult, alternative musical theatre in June with one of the masterpieces of the art form, the darkly satiric THREEPENNY OPERA (which isn't really an opera), running May 28-June 20, 2015.
I always know to expect the unexpected when I attend a production by New Line Theatre. Artistic Director Scott Miller has a gift for choosing shows that are consistently engaging, entertaining, and smartly cast and directed. Whether it's a revival of a classic or something of a more recent vintage, each receives the same special care and attention that makes the old seem new again, and makes you wonder why some of the newer material wasn't more successful during their initial runs. With JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA, New Line brings us a St. Louis premier of a musical that has actually achieved a modicum of success (including a filmed staging in 2005), but it's not a choice that you're likely to find anywhere else in this region due to its adult nature and content. New Line is dedicated to taking those kind of risks. And, I'm so glad they are, because I love seeing presentations that push the envelope, especially when they're done so brilliantly. JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA (music by Richard Thomas with book and lyrics by Stewart Lee and Thomas) delivers a unique, funny, tuneful, and completely tasteless parade of humanity that will win you over immediately. Prepare yourself to see opera from an entirely different perspective, in way that manages to stay true to the very tropes that define the genre, while turning them on their head with delicious blasphemy.
New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," continues its 24th season of adult, alternative musical theatre, with the St. Louis premiere of the outrageous JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA, running March 5-28, 2015, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road.
New Line Theatre, 'the bad boy of musical theatre,' continues its 24th season of adult, alternative musical theatre, with the St. Louis premiere of the outrageous JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA, running tonight, March 5-28, 2015, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. This show contains very adult content and language.
New Line Theatre, 'the bad boy of musical theatre,' continues its 24th season of adult, alternative musical theatre, with the St. Louis premiere of the outrageous JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA, running March 5-28, 2015, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. This show contains very adult content and language.
New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," closes its 24th season of adult, alternative musical theatre in June with one of the masterpieces of the art form, the darkly satiric THREEPENNY OPERA (which isn't really an opera), running May 28-June 20, 2015.
New Line Theatre's production of BONNIE & CLYDE tied with Stages St. Louis' rendition of HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING with nine nominations apiece for the St. Louis Theater Circle Awards to lead nominations for all shows produced by local professional theater companies in 2014.
Mustard Seed Theatre has brought back their popular staging of ALL IS CALM - THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE OF 1914, which premiered around this time last year, and it's definitely a piece of theatre that demands your time and attention. Somehow I must have missed mentioning this the first time around, but this was originally a broadcast that occurred on Minnesota Public Radio. Artistic director/director Deanna Jent took that raw material and molded it into a moving and compelling stage production that won deserved accolades and awards for its excellence. If you didn't catch it last year, then you need to make sure you do so during its current run, and even if you did see it, I can promise you that it's certainly worth seeing again.
THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL, the latest show by Dramatic License Productions, is a nutty little work that lampoons the denizens of its community, as well as a number of aspects of American culture, like the daytime reality TV shows made popular by the likes of Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer. It may be short on plot, but the songs are generally catchy, the characters are sublimely absurd, and the jokes come fast and furious.
New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," announces its 24th season of adult, alternative musical theatre, including the St. Louis premiere of the new musical BONNIE & CLYDE, running Oct. 2-25, 2014; the St. Louis premiere of the outrageous JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA, running March 5-28, 2015; and one of the masterpieces of the art form, the darkly satiric THREEPENNY OPERA (which isn't really an opera), running May 28-June 20, 2015.
Looking over a list of New Line Theatre's shows for the past 23 years is a very telling experience. This is a group dedicated to restoring the old and embracing the new. That's why their current production of HANDS ON A HARDBODY shouldn't shock you that it's so damn good (it really is), because this is exactly what they do so well. They take something tuneful and different, perform it enthusiastically in an intimate environment, and the audience is rewarded with a fresh and invigorating experience. Go see HANDS ON A HARDBODY now!
New Line closes its 23rd season with the American regional premiere - the very first production since its Broadway run - of HANDS ON A HARDBODY, the thrilling, powerfully emotional new musical featuring a country-rock-pop score by Trey Anastasio (frontman for the rock band Phish) and Amanda Green (High Fidelity, Bring It On), and a script by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Doug Wright.
New Line Theatre, 'the bad boy of musical theatre, ' closes its 23rd season of adult, alternative musical theatre with the American regional premiere, straight from Broadway, of the country-rock musical HANDS ON A HARDBODY, running May 29-June 21. New Line is the first company in the country to produce this show since its Broadway run last season. Check out a first look at the cast below!
New Line Theatre, 'the bad boy of musical theatre, ' continues its 23rd season of adult, alternative musical theatre with an all-new, re-imagined production of the Pulitzer Prize winning contemporary classic, the iconic rock opera RENT, running through March 29, 2014. And tonight, March 25, at 7:00 p.m., New Line Theatre Off Line presents the first in the new Special Features series, bringing the RENT production and design team to the stage to talk about their work and take questions from you!
New Line Theatre, 'the bad boy of musical theatre, ' continues its 23rd season of adult, alternative musical theatre with an all-new, re-imagined production of the Pulitzer Prize winning contemporary classic, the iconic rock opera RENT, running through March 29, 2014. And on Tuesday, March 25, at 7:00 p.m., New Line Theatre Off Line presents the first in the new Special Features series, bringing the RENT production and design team to the stage to talk about their work and take questions from you!
If you think you've seen RENT before, you really haven't. The touring companies with adults in the lead roles never really worked for me. They all seemed too old and mature to be portraying what is basically a 'coming of age' story. That's where New Line Theatre's current production really gets it right, and why you have to check it out immediately. A very talented, enthusiastic, and youthful cast brings Jonathan Larson's (book, music and lyrics) work to life in vibrant, intimate fashion that makes you actually care about these characters and their situation. This is a must-see show, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
New Line continues its 23rd season with Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize winning, long-running rock opera RENT. This cheerfully transgressive, 1990s rock/pop riff on the classic story, set in New York City's East Village, is best described in its creator's own words: "In these dangerous times, where it seems the world is ripping apart at the seams, we can all learn how to survive from those who stare death squarely in the face every day and we should reach out to each other and bond as a community, rather than hide from the terrors of life at the end of the millennium." BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!
New Line Theatre, 'the bad boy of musical theatre, ' continues its 23rd season of adult, alternative musicaltheatre with an all-new, re-imagined production of the Pulitzer Prize winning contemporary classic, the iconic rock opera RENT, running tonight, March 6-29, 2014.
New Line Theatre, 'the bad boy of musical theatre, ' continues its 23rd season of adult, alternative musical theatre with an all-new, re-imagined production of the Pulitzer Prize winning contemporary classic, the iconic rock opera RENT, running March 6-29, 2014.
New Line's season closes with the regional premiere of this new rock musical, inspired by true events, with music and lyrics by Amanda Green (High Fidelity, Bring It On), music by Trey Anastasio (of the rock band Phish), and a script by Doug Wright (Pulitzer Prize winner, I Am My Own Wife), adapted from the 1997 documentary of the same name.
