Macy News

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that James Lipton, executive producer, writer, and host of the Bravo cable television series Inside the Actors Studio, has died at age 93.

MAXA, The Maddest Woman in the World will be having a NY industry reading Thursday, March 12th at 2pm EST in preparation for its world stage premiere at University of Minnesota Duluth in November, 2020, with book and lyrics by Mika Kauffman and music by Thomas Jacobsen.

Vince Ebert, who is starring in the show: SEXY SCIENCE: SERIOUS HUMOR and Matt Ratner, the director of the new Billy Crystal movie, STANDING UP, FALLING DOWN are Tom Needham's exclusive guests this Thursday at 6 pm on WUSB's SOUNDS OF FILM.

FEFU AND HER FRIENDS passes the Bechdel test with glowing colors a?" there are no men seen, and only mentioned briefly, even though we feel their presence as plot catalysts. As these women make soup, have water fights and practice French, read aloud from magazines and eat bourbon popsicles, cry and laugh and struggle, they mostly talk about what it is like to be women. How to make space for themselves, and hold space for other women. That is a rare thing.

Matt Ratner, the director of the new Billy Crystal movie, STANDING UP, FALLING DOWN, and Vince Ebert, who is starring in the show: SEXY SCIENCE: SERIOUS HUMOR at the SoHo Playhouse are Tom Needham's exclusive guests this Thursday at 6 pm on WUSB's SOUNDS OF FILM.

Working: A Musical, running now through March 8th at Meadow Brook Theatre, is a thought-provoking exploration of the modern American workforce. Based on Studs Terkel's best-selling book of interviews with American workers, Working paints a vivid portrait of the men and women that the world so often takes for granted: the schoolteacher, the phone operator, the waitress, the millworker, the mason, and the housewife - just to name a few. Nominated for six Tony Awards, this classic has been updated for a modern age.

Today, seven-time GRAMMY® Award-winner and multi-platinum singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette announces her much anticipated European leg of her 2020 World Tour celebrating 25 years of Jagged Little Pill and her upcoming album Such Pretty Forks In The Road. The run will see Alanis perform in 13 cities across Europe, kicking off in Copenhagen on 23rd September and concluding at Paris' AccorHotels Arena on 22nd October. Alanis will be joined by Liz Phair across all dates. Tickets go on general sale on Friday 28th February starting at 9am at https://www.livenation.co.uk.

Barn Players production of TITANIC (The Musical) opened this past weekend at the Arts Asylum to full and appreciative audiences. TITANIC is a huge (pardon the play on words) Community Theater undertaking in all ways you might imagine it could be. TITANIC (The Musical) was written by Maury Yeston and Peter Stone. It won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The BARN PLAYERS production directed by Kipp Simmons is similarly complex but in different ways.

American roots artist The Reverend Shawn Amos has shared a new video for his track 'Stranger Than Today.' The video is currently streaming via American Songwriter who writes, 'After making the move from Los Angeles to Texas, Amos found himself with an abundance of freedom that he had not felt before as an artist. This new free-spirited way of life created a desire to explore his past while still pursuing his future.' Amos will release his new album Blue Sky on April 17th.

An enduring member of the Marvel universe (both cinematic and TV) as Agent Phil Coulson, Clark Gregg will be making his Los Angeles stage acting debut in his long-time friend David Mamet's new play THE CHRISTOPHER BOY'S COMMUNION. Slated for an eleven-performance run at the Odyssey beginning February 13, 2020; this cast includes: Fionnula Flanagan, Dominic Hoffman, William H. Macy, David Paymer, Rebecca Pidgeon and John Pirrucello. I managed to catch Clark for a quick phoner.

NEW YORK'S Atlantic Theater Company is home to many high-profile Off-Broadway shows, some of which transfer to Broadway, including the Tony-winning musicals The Band's Visit and Spring Awakening. It is also an acting school that teaches the Practical Aesthetics acting technique.

'10 Days in a Madhouse' will be having an industry staged reading Monday, February 10th in preparation for its Off-Broadway premiere in January 2021.

American roots artist The Reverend Shawn Amos has announced the April 17 release of Blue Sky, his debut with the newly formed Brotherhood band. The new album is a full-circle moment for the Rev, featuring a group of masterful musicians that includes drummer Brady Blade (Dave Matthews, Indigo Girls), bassist Christopher Thomas (Norah Jones, Carly Simon, Macy Gray) and longtime Rev guitarist Chris “Doctor” Roberts. While his previous release, 2018's politically-charged Breaks It Down, reckoned with the calamity of our current society, the new album looks inward as the Rev explores his own identity and embraces his singer/songwriter past. 

Canadian filmmakers, Patricia Marcoccia and Maziar Ghaderi, discuss their documentary, THE RISE OF JORDAN PETERSON, on Tom Needham's THE SOUNDS OF FILM this Thursday on WUSB. The show is also going to featuring the music of composer Thomas Newman, who is nominated for an Academy Award this year for Best Original Score.

The organizers behind California's favorite winter film festival, Mammoth Film Festival, are thrilled to announce their 2020 lineup. The five-day event will showcase world and U.S. premieres, exclusive cuts, and special screenings including the world premiere of Tony Hawk's highly-anticipated feature documentary PRETENDING I'M A SUPERMAN. Taking a bite out of the 3rd annual year will be the world premiere of horror fan favorite Juliet Landau (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Deverill Weekes' docu-series THE UNDEAD SERIES starring Gary Oldman, Ron Perlman, Nathan Fillion, Robert Patrick, Joss Whedon and Tim Burton, a six-part anthology that providing an insider's view into the vampire phenomenon. MammothFF will run from February 27th - March 2nd, 2020 in the majestic town of Mammoth Lakes, CA.

On Thursday, February 6th 2020, at the Hollywood for the Global Ocean Gala presented by Chopard, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award for his leadership and commitment to the Planet and Ocean conservation. The award will be presented by Academy Award nominated actress Uma Thurman, also a dedicated conservationist as well as civil rights activist.

Atlantic for Kids (Atlantic Theater Company Artistic Director, Neil Pepe; Atlantic Theater Company Managing Director, Jeffory Lawson; Atlantic Acting School Executive Director, Mary McCann; Atlantic for Kids Artistic Director, Alison Beatty) has announced casting for She Persisted, The Musical, a New York premiere musical with script and lyrics by Adam Tobin, music by Deborah Wicks La Puma, adapted from the book written by Chelsea Clinton and illustrated by Alexandra Boiger, published by Philomel Books, with music supervision by Macy Schmidt.

Macy Adams, a beautiful law student, is abducted and assaulted by a vicious serial killer known as the Bayou Butcher. She escapes with the help of a guardian angel and Houston Police Detective Chance O'Brien.

This February, Farmers Alley Theatre will present the West Michigan premiere of a delicious slice of American life, The Cake. Written by Bekah Brunstetter (writer and supervising producer of NBC's hit drama a?oeThis is Usa??), this ripped from the headlines story has been called a?oerefreshing and hearteninga?? by the Los Angeles Times. Directed by D. Terry Williams and starring Zoe Vonder Haar, The Cake runs February 7-23 at Farmers Alley Theatre, right in the heart of downtown Kalamazoo.