Mark Cohen News

Actor and Broadway star Tony Vincent has just launched Empowered By Speech (EBS) — a public speaking and communications coaching firm — alongside corporate consultant Raven Chapman. The company offers acting-based speech coaching and communication workshops to corporate executives and their teams. 

Porchlight Music Theatre presents the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, RENT, music, lyrics and book by Jonathan Larson, at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., October 29 - November 27.

Jonathan Larson a name synonymous with American Musical Theatre in the 90s penned this phenom of a Musical based on the Puccini Opera La Boheme. Featuring a rock and roll score unlike anything heard on Broadway at its time, Rent received critical and mass acclaim following the untimely passing of its creator, who passed prior to its premiere. With such recognizable songs as, “Take Me or Leave Me,” “Will I,” “Out Tonight,” and probably the biggest musical theatre anthem of its time “Seasons of Love,” Rent went on to achieve Tony and Pulitzer claim and won the world over with its unique score and storyline of unlikely characters who were mirror images of very real people in its time. Still a musical that has many outdated references manages mass appeal today.

The musical is all over the place, but key performances make this one show to go out of your way to see.

The world-famous Comedy Cellar has announced the August 2022 lineup for its first West Coast location, an exact replica of its New York club, at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Anthony Rapp is a legendary performer in the theater industry, and fans are inspired by the iconic roles he originated in popular shows like RENT, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, and If/Then. In 2016, Anthony helped his long-time friend and Mischief Management’s CEO and Founder, Melissa Anelli, launch the first-ever BroadwayCon theater convention as its co-creator. The three-day annual event is in its seventh year, and was held in-person for the first time since the pandemic on July 8-10, 2022 at The New Yorker Hotel and Manhattan Center.

Evanston’s Fleetwood – Jourdain Theatre will present Lisa B. Thompson’s THE MAMALOGUES – an evening of monologues about the experience of parenting while Black, unmarried, and middle class in the age of anxiety – from July 23 to August 7, 2022.

The world-famous Comedy Cellar has announced the July 2022 lineup for its first West Coast location, an exact replica of its New York club, at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The Emmy and Grammy winner appears in new musical Noir until it closes July 3, 2022!

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts virtually hosted more than 125 outstanding theater students from colleges and universities across the nation as part of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. 

The blockbuster musical RENT will open at the award-winning TADA Theatre June 9th.

The blockbuster musical RENT will open at the award-winning TADA Theatre June 9th. RENT is a Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning theatrical production that follows a year in the lives of a diverse group of artists and friends struggling to follow their dreams without selling out.

Historic six-time Tony Award Winner Audra McDonald, star of Broadway’s The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Carousel, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill and HBO’s The Gilded Age, opens the Town Hall series on May 29 with Seth Rudetsky as music director and host.

Known for its distinctive “showcase format,” featuring television-headliner comedians performing their best 15-20 minute sets, the renowned comedy club brings the unique vibe from the legendary, underground Greenwich Village club, including the iconic brick wall, stained glass and low-ceiling design.

Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning rock musical Rent takes over Portland Center Stage hot off its 25th anniversary. Rent will be directed by PCS's Associate Artistic Director Chip Miller. It begins previews on May 21, opens on May 27, and runs through July 10 on the U.S. Bank Main Stage. The production, originally slated to run through June 26, has already been extended due to strong ticket sales.

In the latest episode of Why I'll Never Make It, a top 25 theater podcast hosted by Patrick Oliver Jones, Anthony Rapp (Rent, If/Then) talks about what would've been his Broadway debut back in 1982, but The Little Prince and the Aviator closed after 20 preview performances and never officially opened.

The world-famous Comedy Cellar has announced the April 2022 lineup for its first West Coast location, an exact replica of its New York club, at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Known for its distinctive “showcase format,” featuring television-headliner comedians performing their best 15-20 minute sets, the renowned comedy club brings the unique vibe from the legendary, underground Greenwich Village club, including the iconic brick wall, stained glass and low-ceiling design.

Original Rent star Anthony Rapp is set to bring his solo show, Without You, back to NYC this spring. Presented by Royal Family Productions and directed by Stephen Maler, Without You will play the Royal Family Performing Arts Space (West 46th Street) April 19-21, 2022.

Ground Floor Theatre has announced the cast for the Austin premiere of Dot written by award-winning actor, director and playwright Colman Domingo running May 13–28, 2022. Directed by Lisa B. Thompson, this twisted and hilarious new play grapples unflinchingly with aging parents, midlife crisis, and the heart of a West Philly neighborhood.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is thrilled to present two performances as part of its upcoming Family Series. Every year, the Center brings the best of professional youth performances to Orange County through the Family Series.