Marilyn News

I spoke recently with Elaine Alvarez who will be singing the lead role this weekend in the San Diego Opera's production of Florencia en el Amazonas by Mexican composer Daniel Catan and librettist Marcela Fuentes-Berain. Alvarez told me that when she got a call from the San Diego Opera's General Director David Bennett, 'I was at a train station in France, and it was cold. I started jumping up and down! And he was like, 'Do you think you're going to be ready to sing this? Is this in line now with where your voice is.' And I'm like, a hundred percent! Yes! Yes! Yes!' Spanish was her first language, Florencia appealed to her Latin heritage, and she knew her voice was ready. She'd sung Beatrice in Catan's earlier opera Rappaccini's Daughter and was delighted with the opportunity to make her San Diego debut with another of his works.

The New York Choral Society (NYCHORAL) will hold its annual Spring Gala at New York's Metropolitan Club (1 E 60th St, New York, NY 10022) on Thursday evening, April 5, 2018, starting at 6:00 pm. The organization will honor renowned opera singer and recitalist Stephanie Blythe with the NYCHORAL Music Excellence Award for her contributions to the musical profession, as well as Sylvia R. Hoisington who is celebrating her 50th season with the chorus. Produced in partnership with the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, the evening's showcase performance will feature soprano Amanda Majeski and tenor Ben Bliss, both of whom will be participating in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Cosi fan tutte from March 15 to April 9, 2018. Members of the NYCHORAL Chamber Ensemble will also perform. The evening will feature a silent auction of unique items and experiences. The program is as follows:

The New York Choral Society (NYCHORAL) will hold its annual Spring Gala at New York's Metropolitan Club (1 E 60th St, New York, NY 10022) on Thursday evening, April 5, 2018, starting at 6:00 pm.

Carnegie Hall announced today that its one-night-only benefit concert performance of Leonard Bernstein's Candide on Wednesday, April 18 at 7:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage will feature Broadway starsRyan Silverman (Side Show, Cry-Baby,Chicago) as Maximilian and Bryonha Marie Parham (The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, AfterMidnight, Prince of Broadway) as Paquette. They join the previously announced Paul Appleby (Candide), Erin Morley (Cunegonde),Patricia Racette (Old Lady), William Burden(Governor), and John Lithgow (Voltaire / Dr. Pangloss).

A 90th Birthday party for Marilyn Maye became an impromptu cabaret performance that will forever remain in the musical memories of the Palm Beach folks that were present at Dick Robinson's party for Ms Maye. 

The Axelrod Performing Arts Center (APAC) is celebrating the Fred Astaire songbook on Sunday, April 8 at 3 p.m. with star vocalists Danny Bacher and Alexis Cole, who recently appeared together at Carnegie Hall, and two leading Broadway dancers, Cory Lingner("On the Town," "American in Paris") and Eloise Kropp ("Dames at Sea," "CATS"), performing with an all-star jazz band led by Dr. Art Topilow on piano, with Aaron Weinstein on violin, Mike Lee on saxophone, Doug Clarke on guitar, Rudy Petschauer on percussion and Gary Mazzaroppi on bass.

The UK Tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit SUNSET BOULEVARD is coming to the Koninklijk Theater! This touring production stars Ria Jones, Glenn Close's understudy in the recent West End production, as Norma Desmond, as well as Danny Mac as Joe Gillis. SUNSET BOULEVARD will open at the Koninklijk Theater on March 28th and run through April 8th.

The greater Binghamton area's only non-profit Equity theatre company's 12th season includes the North American premiere of a comedy that's been popular in Europe for years, as well as three regional premieres, including a new musical that sold out it's extended 2017 run in LA.  Local audiences will be one of the first in country to see this new country western hit musical, set in a laundromat and featuring songs from many outstanding country artists.

Mercury Theatre Colchester and TBO Productions today announce full casting for the world premiere of their brand-new musical - Pieces of String, with book, music and lyrics by Gus Gowland. Ryan McBryde directs Carol Starks (Jane), Andy Coxon (Ed), Marilyn Cutts (Rose), Ella Dunlop (Gemma), Lauren Hall (Anna), Joel Harper-Jackson (Tom), Craig Mather (Edward) and Gary Wood (Harry). Open auditions were held in Colchester to cast Young Rose, and the part will be alternated by three young people local to the theatre. Pieces of String, designed by 2017 Linbury Prize Finalist Fin Redshaw, opens on 27 April at the Mercury, with previews from 20 April and runs until 5 May.

Imagine a place where the sun is hot, the water's warm, and the drinks are as cold as they are plentiful. Welcome to Margaritaville, the island paradise where city folk get away from it all, and the locals get into the kind of trouble you can almost always sweet talk your way out of. Take a nice long break from your troubles, make some new friends at the bar, and kick back to the soothing sounds of the kettledrum. It doesn't get much better than this.

The sixth annual ArtFields competition and exhibition, sponsored by the Lake City Creative Alliance (LCCA), will return to Lake City, S.C. April 20-28, 2018, where it will showcase the works of more than 400 Southeastern artists, who are competing for prizes totaling $120,000, including a grand prize of $50,000, which will be awarded on the final day of the event.

This Spring 2018, the talent performing at New Hope's RRazz Room at The Clarion is a diverse mix of world class artists. From Las Vegas Entertainer Of The Year and Grammy Nominee Clint Holmes, the always hilarious Judy Gold,

From March 22 to September 9, 2018, the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) presents Surface/Depth: The Decorative After Miriam Schapiro, an exhibition that showcases twenty-nine collage paintings by the pioneering feminist artist Miriam Schapiro in conversation with twenty-eight works by nine contemporary artists: Sanford Biggers, Josh Blackwell, Edie Fake, Jeffrey Gibson, Judy Ledgerwood, Jodie Mack, Sara Rahbar, Ruth Root, and Jasmin Sian. Bringing into focus the key, but unheralded, role Schapiro played in the reframing of craft and decoration in the American art world, this juxtaposition of historic and contemporary work highlights ways in which the decorative continues to be utilized as a critical tool in art today.

Academy Award-nominee, Angela Bassett will join Kathleen Battle as a guest narrator in Battle's program Underground Railroad: A Spiritual Journey accompanied by pianist Joel Martin and the LA-based choir, The Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) on Thursday, March 29 at 8:00pm.

Academy Award and Golden Globe winning performer George Chakiris and acclaimed dancer, Barrie Chase have been named the honorees for the Professional Dancers Society's (PDS) annual Gypsy Awards Luncheon, it was announced by PDS President, Mitzi Gaynor and PDS Board Chairman, Joni Berry.  Emmy and Grammy nominated choreographer/director/singer Toni Basil will receive the organization's Choreographer's Award.  PDS' 31st Anniversary Luncheon will be held on Sunday, April 15, 2018 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel (9876 Wilshire Blvd.) in Beverly Hills, CA.

Stephen Sondheim's 'I'm Still Here' is her anthem, but it would also be accurate to say 'We're Still Here' as South Florida music lovers packed the Kravis Center last night for a Maestro Michael Feinstein and Kravis Center Pops Orchestra concert titled First Ladies of Song. Arguably the first lady of song, the incredible Marilyn Maye was Michael's guest in a exciting evening of music as The Kravis Center pulled out all the stops for Marilyn's 90th Birthday.

Eddie Redmayne, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of young Stephen Hawking in the film The Theory of Everything, also paid his respects in a statement to Mashable.

Bauhaus' member Kevin Haskins will be releasing 'Bauhaus – Undead: The Visual History and Legacy of Bauhaus' on March 16via Cleopatra Records. While this is an elegant and tasteful deluxe coffee table art book, it is also a historical and intimate trip through the development of this groundbreaking band from the perspective and memorabilia of one of the quartet's founding members.

Write Act Repertory Producing Artistic Director John Lant and Producer Cornell Christianson, ICFB Productions are pleased to announce the Off-Broadway premiere of IT CAME FROM BEYOND, a 1950's sci-fi, musical comedy with book by writer / producer Cornell Christianson, music and lyrics by Stephen M. Schwartz and Norman E. Thalheimer, and directed by Jim Blanchette.