Mario News

Boston Court Performing Arts Center announces the extension of their reimagined modern take of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. Due to audience demand, the production will now play through April 1, 2018. This radical re-envisioning of Streetcarfeatures a multicultural cast and modern setting, pushing on the play's present-day relevance.

The League of Professional Theatre Women (Kelli Lynn Harrison & Lisa Rothe, Co-Presidents) will present the 2018 Theatre Women Awards at The TimesCenter (242 West 41st Streetbetween 7th and 8th Avenues) on Friday, March 16 beginning at 6:30pm. Tickets ($85-$250) are available for advance purchase at www.theatrewomen.org.

Kairos Italy Theater, New York's preeminent Italian Theater Company, and KIT Italia present the 6th Edition of In Scena! Italian Theater Festival NY, which will feature a record 12 shows, brought over from Italy to NYC, including a Special Opening Night Event, We are Not Alone starring Dario D'Ambrosi. The 15-day, 5-borough Festival, founded by KIT Artistic Director Laura Caparrotti and KIT Italia Artistic Director Donatella Codonesu, will close with the 5th annual Mario Fratti Awards, created especially for In Scena! to honor excellence in Italian playwriting.

Celebrating the centennial (1918 - 2018) of its composer -- Leonard Bernstein -- the multi-Grammy nominated Bobby Sanabria and the MultiVerse Big Band pay tribute to West Side Story, the theatrical production that redefined the American musical, reimagined with an all new instrumental Latin jazz score. The 21-piece ensemble will perform the work at the Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture, 450 Grand Concourse (at 149th Street) in the Bronx, on Saturday, March 17, 7:30 PM in the Main Theater. Tickets range from $25 to $35 with student tickets at $5 and can be purchase online at www.hostoscenter.org or by calling (718)-518-4455. The box office is open Monday to Friday, 1 PM to 4 PM and will be open two hours prior to performance.

STEVE is a character-driven play in which not much happens, but it is a humorous treatise on the lives of a couple of middle-aged gay couples who are exploring ways to enliven their 'post-passion' relationships. Right about now, we can all use a shot of humor, and whether one is gay or straight, there's much to recognize and connect with in the quotidian routines of these characters. In his first play, Mark Gerrard puts the spotlight on four good friends who face the challenges of kids, in-laws, boredom, infidelity, and mortality with various strategies and mixed results.

The Juilliard School announced today that it has received a bequest from Academy Award-winning composer and conductor John Williams of his complete library of concert music and film music scores as well as his sketchbooks. Mr. Williams, who studied piano with longtime Juilliard faculty member Rosina Lhevinne, announced the gift at a special alumni event held in Los Angeles at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills, where Mr. Williams was also presented with a President's Medal by Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi.

Brooklyn based honky-tonk band, Bourbon Express, announces the release of their latest studio-album, Cry About It Later, produced by Eric 'Roscoe' Ambel (Steve Earle, Joan Jett), on April 20, 2018. Today, The Daily Country premieres 'Pick Me Up', the first single from the album. 'Pick Me Up' is an autobiographical song written from the point of view of a newly wedded woman who's so depressed about being broke in the wake of her honeymoon that she wishes there was some kind of buzz she could get that would last until payday. Listen here.

Ars Lyrica Houston's A Roman Feast Gala, Honoring Rhonda and Donald Sweeney chaired by Drs. Rachel and Warren Ellsworth IV, and Sarah and Gabriel Loperena took place March 3, 2018 in the historic Esperson building in downtown Houston, an event to raise funds for the organization's first fully-staged Baroque opera, Handel's Agrippina to be produced November 2018. The evening began with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres in the contemporary Rusk Lobby, filled with fragrant lavender, ferns and Romanesque decor with live harp music. An intimate concert of Handel arias followed, performed by acclaimed countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, Artistic Director Matthew Dirst on harpsichord, and violinist Alan Austin in the Esperson Neils Lobby. Guests then enjoyed a grand feast on theme and ended with an Italian disco after party in the transformed Neils Lobby complete with dancing, drinks, light bites, and craft beer sponsored by Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co.  

Quincy Jones Presents Richard Bona & Mandekan Cubano on Saturday, March 17 at 7:30pm. Richard Bona and his Mandekan Cubano ensemble, a sextet devoted to reappraising Africa's influence on Cuban rhythms, have carefully crafted a fusion of sounds, which merge cultures together through their ability to speak the universal language of music.

Bravo Media's 'The Real Housewives of New York City' returns for an epic 10th season of humor, healing, and heartbreaks on Wednesday, April 4 at 9pm ET/PT, with BETHENNY Frankel, Carole Radziwill, Dorinda Medley, Luann de Lesseps, Ramona Singer, Sonja Morgan, and Tinsley Mortimer. The ladies are redefining their lives while building new friendships and frenemies. For a sneak peek of the series, visit here!

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in collaboration with the Annenberg Foundation, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, the Aspen Institute Arts Program, and Citizen University, presents the 2018 Kennedy Center Arts Summit: The Future States of America: Using the Arts to Take Us Where We Want to Go. Taking place on Monday, April 16, 2018, in the Kennedy Center Theater Lab and adjoining spaces, the annual spring convening brings thought leaders from the arts and related fields together for conversation and connection.

New York based creator of comedy, music, and film Lauren Maul (NY Times, Amazon Reviews: The Musical!) is announcing the release of her album Apologies from Men. The album will be available for purchase on March 9th, 2018, and she will be debuting the songs live at a concert at The People's Improv Theater on that same date at 9:30pm - tickets are available here for $10.

The Verdi Chorus celebrates its 35th anniversary with its Spring 2018 concert The Force of Destiny for two performances only at the First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica on April 28 and 29 led by Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum. As the only choral group in Southern California that focuses primarily on the dramatic and diverse music for opera chorus, their program will feature selections from three Verdi operas - La forza del destino, Nabucco, including the famed chorus "Va, pensiero," the opening party scene of La traviata, and conclude with beloved melodies from Strauss' Die Fledermaus.

Get your brushes and contour kits in hand for Lifetime's new beauty competition series, GLAM MASTERS, hosted by Emmy(R) Award nominee Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black, TRANSform Me), premiering Today, February 28 at 10pm ET/PT.

From Columbus, Ohio to Guerrero, Mexico and countless cities in between, the opioid epidemic has ravaged communities on both sides of the border. On Friday, March 2 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, the finale of SHOWTIME's “The Trade” strives to find hope and closure for the stories highlighted throughout the season.

Celebration, under the artistic direction of Michael Matthews & Michael A. Shepperd, and in association with Ryan Allen, Andrew Carlberg and Amy Miller Gross is thrilled to announce that the fastest selling show in its history and the second show in its 2017-2018 season, its critically acclaimed (LA Times CRITIC'S CHOICE, Stage Raw RECOMMENDED), Los Angeles intimate theatre premiere of PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT The Musical, book by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott, based on the Latent Image/Specific Films Motion Picture Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., presented in special arrangement with Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW) with choreography by Roman Pantoja, musical direction by Jennifer Lin, directed by Jessica Hanna and produced by Stephen Soucy and Jay Marcus is EXTENDING through SUNDAY, MAY 6 at Celebration Theatre @ the Lex Theatre, 6760 Lexington Ave. in Los Angeles.

The press has called Tony Award-nominated director, Broadway actress and singer Eleanor Reissa the "Yiddish Beyonce." Yiddish movies have been showcased at Sundance and film festivals world-wide. Mario "Moishele" Alfonso teases audience with his lecture entitled, "Making Yiddish Sexy Again." Some 5,000 Yiddish words are now officially part of the English language.

Welsh National Opera presents a feast of Italian operas from three of the greatest composers for its Spring season in Bristol. The season, entitled Rabble Rousers, will feature a new production of Verdi's La forza del destino alongside revivals of Puccini's Tosca and Mozart's Don Giovanni.

International vocalist Michelle Johnson has worked with some of the biggest music legends. When she sings their songs in her show, it is from the heart and soul of a performer who understands the lyrics and music. Johnson will be performing 'Spotlight: The Music of Icons' in Myron's Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts on March 2.