(M) Willing News

Earlier this week, Condé Nast's LGBTQ+ brand Them hosted Out Now Live, a celebration honoring the spirit and history of Pride. Premiering on Youtube Live, and presented by Polo Ralph Lauren, the virtual event included uplifting speeches, storytelling, messages and performances from prominent members of the LGBTQ+ community and notable allies.

Hot off the success of Les Misérables, the creative team of Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil created another war musical: Miss Saigon. Loosely based on the opera Madame Butterfly, Miss Saigon is an epic romance set right before the end of and three years after the Vietnam War. While the musical ultimately lost the 'Best New Musical' Tony to 'The Will Rogers Follies' in 1991, when done properly, it remains one of Broadway's greatest spectacles, something that this production has absolutely taken to heart.

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, will present The 'Love is Love is Love' Cabaret on Wednesday, February 12th at 9:30pm. Join us in a celebration of pride and acceptance this Valentine's month at the 'Love is Love is Love' Cabaret. This evening will feature gender-bent musical theatre classics, and repertoire from queer theatre of the past century. This salute to the LGBTQ+ community will include a cast of queer Broadway favorites. Come bang your own drum, deal your own deck, loud and proud, at the 'Love is Love is Love' Cabaret at Feinstein's/54 Below! Produced by Meghan Gunther.

Playwright Larissa FastHorse is having one hell of a year. Her THE THANKSGIVING PLAY has already been produced in various cities across the United States this year, with her next production already in previews at the Geffen Playhouse, and opening November 5, 2019. Michael John Garcés directs Larissa's humorous and woke take on Thanksgiving traditions featuring Noah Bean, Alexandra Henrikson, Jeff Marlow and Samantha Sloyan. After a full day of PLAY's rehearsals, I had the opportunity to chat with Larissa on her South Dakota, Sicangu-Lakota heritage.

The Tank will present the World Premiere of The Séance Machine, written by EllaRose Chary and Brandon James Gwinn (Cotton Candy and Cocaine with Theater C; TL;DR: Thelma Louise; Dyke Remix at Rhinebeck Writers Retreat/The Tank), co-produced by Kimberly Hyacinthe and directed by Julia Sears (Bullet Catchers with Women in Combat Theatre Project; Wives Tale with Exquisite Corpse Company), at The Tank (312 West 36th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues), October 10-31.

Venerated songwriter and singer Meg Flather brings immaculate marriages of her music and her singing sisters of cabaret to Don't Tell Mama in this show celebrating her work, her friends and sisterhood.

Before sitting down and experiencing Alice Ripley's RIPLEYTHEBAND set at Feinstein's/54 Below, I'd have confidently told you that I already got it. I understood her influence as a Broadway juggernaut, I was totally down for her killer, just-salty-and-just-sweet enough personality, and was obviously in awe of her vibratoed belt that could make a tree transition into Fall just a li'l bit too early. But after seeing her show- a relatively short, wholly intimate, and undeniably personal hour with just two band-mates and a former co-star to back her- I would be forced (and happy) to admit, loudly and genuinely, that I was wrong. I didn't get it. I only thought I did.

The Tank (Meghan Finn, Artistic Director) will present the World Premiere of The Séance Machine, written by EllaRose Chary and Brandon James Gwinn(Cotton Candy and Cocaine with Theater C; TL;DR: Thelma Louise; Dyke Remix at Rhinebeck Writers Retreat/The Tank), co-produced by Kimberly Hyacintheand directed by Julia Sears (Bullet Catchers with Women in Combat Theatre Project; Wives Tale with Exquisite Corpse Company) at The Tank (312 West 36th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues), October 10-31. Performances will be on Thursday, October 10 at 7pm & 9:30pm, Friday, October 11 at 7pm, Saturday, October 12 at 7pm, 9pm & 11pm, Thursday, October 17 at 7pm & 9:30pm, Friday, October 18 at 7pm, Saturday, October 19 at 7pm, Thursday, October 24 at 9:30pm, Friday, October 25 at 7pm, Saturday, October 26 at 7pm, 9pm & 11pm, Monday, October 28 at 7pm & 9pm, Tuesday, October 29 at 7pm & 9pm, Wednesday, October 30 at 7pm, and Thursday, October 31 at 7pm, 9pm & 11pm. Tickets ($20) are available for advance purchase at www.thetanknyc.org. The performance will run approximately 60 minutes, with no intermission.

After a sold-out WorldPride debut, Alexis Michelle, star of Drag Me Down the Aisle and Drag Race, makes her triumphant return to Club Cumming with this tribute to Judy Garland. Through songs that Judy made iconic, Alexis honors the memory of the starlet that became the World's Greatest Entertainer. Far from impersonation, Alexis's one of a kind tribute to Judy Garland runs one night only. 

This Month, FEINSTEIN'S54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.comFeinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

Feinstein's/54 Below presents Canada Day with Joshua Stackhouse. Have you been thinking about Canada a little more than usual these days? Enviously envisioning its gorgeous landscape, its low crime rates, its free healthcare, and its all-around #woke-ness? Have you looked at the calendar to see Canada Day looming ever closer - knowing that the glorious holiday will only amplify these feelings of deep longing? (Psst!...Canada Day is July 1st!) Don't you worry! The nice folks at Feinstein's/54 Below are looking out for you (kinda like how the Canadian government actually looks out for its citizens)!

In a few short weeks Bayonne aka Roger Sellers will be releasing his new album Drastic Measures. Each song is orchestral in texture, unfolding in countless layers and kaleidoscopic tones. With great intensity of detail, the Austin-based artist deepens that sonic complexity by weaving in elegantly warped samples of the field recordings he's gathered for over a decade. But in its powerful melodies and pristine arrangements, Drastic Measures ultimately bears a pure pop lucidity even in its most grandiose moments.

The 10th Anniversary Fertile Ground Festival has reached its final weekend. This year, there was not only a smorgasbord of new works, but several of them were musicals! Last week, I saw three (watch for themes: local Oregon stories, revamps of classics, and 90s throwbacks).

'How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman...' So begins, as we all know, a musical that has, perhaps unexpectedly, enjoyed more popularity among children than any other in recent history. And yet, even in its first moments, the show confronts children with words they (especially younger children) may not have heard before and may not understand. When a group of small children in our elementary school talent show performed this song, they sang 'bastard' but labeled Hamilton the son of 'a girl and a Scotsman.' I don't know what parental or directorial input led to this alteration, but I do wonder what the children thought about it, both the original and the substitute lyric.

Bid to win 2 house seats to School of Rock on Broadway plus a backstage tour after the show from ensemble member, Joel Waggoner!

You survived your first week. And I'm willing to bet money that you were told at least 20 times this week how to breathe.

The fifth season of Rise Bar's RISING STAR competition continues September 4th. This week contestants celebrate BROADWAY!

What the f*ck was I thinking putting a swear word into the title of my play? I have created a marketing nightmare. Over the course of the last months of pre-production, we've lost an 'i' in favour of an '!'. And as for the posters on the Tube, the word 'Sh!t' has been turned in its entirety into four squares. Which, if I squint at them from a distance, look very nearly like four stars. I can dream...

I want to stretch my technical and artistic capabilities as far as they will go. It's wonderful for me to play around with different emotional journeys

On April 21, 2018, Patrick Marber spoke about Travesties with Education Dramaturg Ted Sod as part of Roundabout Theatre Company's lecture series.