Marc Blitzstein News

Roulette presents "Five Beasts" a collaboration between Grammy Award winning performance artist Rinde Eckert and highly acclaimed musician Ned Rothenberg. "Five Beasts" is a set of human portraits of men and women seen as if by an animal, the language a kind of music or noise, the gestures unaccountable. We are, most of us, lost in a forest of our own design, a welter of unconscious narratives, the pull of our complicated past, an obsessive constructor of futures, howling our troubled allegory of self: this is ourmasquerade-cum-delusion. But the animal informs and teaches us - if we listen. We are absurd and amazed, and sometimes beautiful, in our utter ignorance.

Theatre writers who were lured to that other coast by Hollywood greenbacks have been known to express their disillusionment with the film industry via the Broadway stage.  George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart based their comedy Once In A Lifetime on their maddening movie studio experiences as did Betty Comden and Adolph Green with the musical Fade Out – Fade In.

Tickets go on sale today for New York City Center Encores! Off-Center, a new series featuring seminal Off-Broadway musicals filtered through the lens of today's most innovative artists, opening on July 10. In keeping with City Center's founding mission to make the arts accessible to all, the majority of tickets will be $25.

New York City Center goes Off-Broadway this summer with the launch of Encores! Off-Center, a new series featuring seminal Off-Broadway musicals filtered through the lens of today's most innovative artists. In keeping with City Center's founding mission to make the arts accessible to all, the majority of tickets will be $25.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'South Pacific' at the Marriott, two shows with Gene Kelly's vibe, cabarets from Porchlight, Brown Paper Box and Darrian Ford, 2014 premieres from Marc Blitzstein and Alan Schmuckler, lots of Doug Peck and more!

TimeLine Theatre Company, dedicated to presenting plays inspired by history that connect to today's social and political issues, announces its four-play 2013-14 season: Lorraine Hansberry's classic drama set in Chicago A RAISIN IN THE SUN, directed by Ron OJ Parson; Larry Kramer's Tony Award-winning Broadway play THE NORMAL HEART, directed by TimeLine Associate Artistic Director Nick Bowling; a third play to be announced; and the Chicago premiere of the musical JUNO, with book by Joseph Stein, music and lyrics by Marc Blitzstein, based on the classic Irish play Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey, directed by Nick Bowling with musical direction by Doug Peck and Elizabeth Doran.

Court Theatre Artistic Director Charles Newell and Executive Director Stephen J. Albert present Proof written by David Auburn, and directed by Charles Newell. Proof will run tonight, March 7 - April 7, 2013 at Court Theatre.

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's (CCM) year-long Kurt Weill Festival resumes this month with a dynamic new production of the iconic musical The Threepenny Opera. Composed by Kurt Weill with book and lyrics by dramatist Bertolt Brecht (adapted into English by Marc Blitzstein), The Threepenny Opera weaves the riveting tale of notorious bandit and womanizer Macheath ('Mack the Knife') and his seedy companions in London's underworld. Weill's innovative score invented a new form of musical theatre, leading the way for such shows as Chicago and Cabaret.

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's (CCM) year-long Kurt Weill Festival resumes this month with a dynamic new production of the iconic musical The Threepenny Opera. Composed by Kurt Weill with book and lyrics by dramatist Bertolt Brecht (adapted into English by Marc Blitzstein), The Threepenny Opera weaves the riveting tale of notorious bandit and womanizer Macheath ('Mack the Knife') and his seedy companions in London's underworld. Weill's innovative score invented a new form of musical theatre, leading the way for such shows as Chicago and Cabaret.

Court Theatre Artistic Director Charles Newell and Executive Director Stephen J. Albert present Proof written by David Auburn, and directed by Charles Newell. Proof will run March 7 - April 7, 2013 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue. Press Opening is Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 8:00PM.

With internationally renowned Director Nigel West and Canadian leading lady Jayme Armstrong already attached to the inaugural production at the new Dunfield Theatre Cambridge, Drayton Entertainment is thrilled make another exciting casting announcement.

The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music has announced the expansion of its Grant Program. In addition to existing categories funding performances of Weill's musical works, scholarly research, and educational initiatives directly related to Weill and Lotte Lenya, financial support will now be awarded in the same categories for projects directly related to Marc Blitzstein, including performances of his musical works. This development is a result of the Foundation's receipt of a 50% share of Blitzstein's musical and literary estate, donated by Blitzstein's nephew Stephen Davis. Blitzstein is best known for his stage works Regina and The Cradle Will Rock and for his English adaptation of Weill and Brecht's The Threepenny Opera.

Today, we're featuring Bea Arthur and Hal Linden circa 1981. Arthur's stage roles included Lucy Brown in the 1954 Off-Broadway premiere of Marc Blitzstein's English-language adaptation of Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, Yente the Matchmaker in the 1964 premiere of Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway, and a 1966 Tony Award-winning portrayal of Vera Charles to Angela Lansbury's Mame. She reprised the role in the 1974 film version opposite Lucille Ball. In 1981, she appeared in Woody Allen's The Floating Light Bulb.

PlayMakers Repertory Company presents actor-playwright-composer Rinde Eckert's award-winning 'And God Created Great Whales' tonight, Jan. 9-13.

Beth Morrison Projects (BMP) and HERE announce programming for the inaugural PROTOTYPE: Opera/Theatre/Now, running today, January 9-19, 2013, in New York City.

PlayMakers Repertory Company presents actor-playwright-composer Rinde Eckert's award-winning 'And God Created Great Whales' Jan. 9-13.

The first 11 o'clock number of the evening came at around 8:05, when Marc Kudisch opened Town Hall's The Best of Broadway By The Year concert by caressing Lerner and Loewe's “If Ever I Would Leave You” with his rich, dramatic baritone and superlative musical acting skills.  It was a very appropriate opening since Kudisch, a regular participant throughout the concert series' twelve-season history, very much represents what these evenings have evolved into; a look at what Broadway could be in a commercially different environment.

Beginning this month, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) will celebrate the iconic work and enduring legacy of composer Kurt Weill with an unprecedented series of events. Opening on Friday, Oct. 19, and running through Tuesday, March 12, CCM's Kurt Weill Festival will incorporate the renowned theatre composer into a broad range of both public performances and classroom exercises.

University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music has announced its 2012-2013 mainstage series, including selections from opera, musical theatre and drama.

A composer and lyricist of enormous innovation and influence, Marc Blitzstein remains one of the most versatile and fascinating figures in the history of American music, his creative output running the gamut from films scores and Broadway operas to art songs and chamber pieces. A prominent leftist and social maverick, Blitzstein constantly pushed the boundaries of convention in mid-century America in both his work and his life.