Mark Wilson News

The Illusionists a?' Magic Of The Holidays will return to Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre (250 W. 52nd Street) for a record fifth holiday season, playing from Friday, November 29, 2019 through Sunday, January 5, 2020.

The 22nd edition of the fiercely independent film festival, Dances With Films (DWF) concluded on Sunday evening (June 23) with a closing night celebration at the TCL Chinese Theaters in Hollywood where the excitement was electric throughout the arena. 

Multi-award winning writer and performer Emma Mary Hall presents the Australian Premiere of her third work, World Problems, at fortyfivedownstairs from 12-24 March.

Red Stitch Actors' Theatre celebrates the 25th anniversary of Michael Gow's tightly wound, masterful play Sweet Phoebe.

The world masters of magic are returning to Sydney with their spectacular production, The Illusionists: Direct From Broadway, materialising in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall for a strictly limited season from 19 to 29 December 2018.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra performs a free outdoor concert of Broadway songs, opera overtures and more at Ocean County College in Toms River on Tuesday, June 26, at 8 pm. This event is sponsored by JCP&L/FirstEnergy Foundation and PNC Bank and presented in partnership with Ocean County College.

State Theatre New Jersey presents The Illusionists on Wednesday, January 24, 2018 at 8pm and Thursday, January 25, 2018 at 8pm. Tickets range from $35-$98. The Illusionists is produced by Simon Painter, Tim Lawson, and MagicSpace Entertainment. Conceived by Painter, the show's creative team also includes executive producer Lawson, director Neil Dorward, and creative director Jim Millan.

Somewhere within this exhausting exercise of cliches there is a joke about mustiness overtaking MUST.

Luna Stage has a very special benefit event to open the 2017-18 season: 'Songs From The 88' an interactive concert featuring songs, poems and monologues from reg e gaines and Calvin Gaines' new musical, The 88.

Arts Centre Melbourne's Gallery 1 will be transformed into The Kiln, a space for artists and arts workers to gather this winter from June to August for a program of discussions, masterclasses, networking events, residencies, readings, forums and training. 

Following its critically acclaimed debut season at HotHouse Theatre, new Australian play, This is Eden written and performed by Emily Goddard and directed by Susie Dee makes its Melbourne premiere at fortyfivedownstairs from 27 April to 7 May 2017 for a strictly limited season.

Mark Wilson Stockman confesses that he used to feel like God had given up on him. Then an awakening led him to see how God has been there for him all along and that God has done far more things than the author gave him credit for. As Stockman shares his story of seeing God's love in action in his life, and through studying the Scriptures, he urges readers and points them to the one and only God who will enable his children to run 'The Second Mile' (published by WestBow Press).

Playwright Alfred Uhry's Pulizter Prize winning work, DRIVING MISS DAISY, is the latest offering by The New Jewish Theatre, and it's an excellent production. Over the years this play has provided a lot of famous actors and actresses with the opportunity to bring these wonderful characters to life, and of course, there's a very well known film version as well. But forget all that and just enjoy the intimacy and immediacy of live theatre. This is a delightful 90 minute show, and I highly recommend it.

Residents from all neighborhoods will be asked to reflect on 'what it means to be a St. Louisan today' as part of the sixth annual 2017 Shakespeare in the Streets: ONE CITY, underwritten by PNC Arts Alive, Sept. 15-17, in downtown St. Louis. The specific location will be announced at a later date. 

Local beer, donuts, bowling and the Bard will all come together as Shakespeare in the Streets heads to Maplewood this week (Sept. 16-18). This year's production, "Remember Me," will feature a mash-up of "Hamlet," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and "Macbeth," with a little "Romeo & Juliet" thrown in. All performances will begin at 8 p.m. on Sutton Boulevard, between Hazel and Marietta streets. 

In View From Up Here, the new exhibition at the Anchorage Museum in Alaska, conceptual artist John Grade explores sculptural forms based on Japanese fishing floats. For the past century, floats made of thick, hand-blown glass have traveled to the Arctic coast from Asian waters, buoyed by harsh, ocean currents. They can get trapped in sea ice for decades, ultimately washing up on the Alaskan shoreline -- often in pristine condition. Grade created his own versions of blown glass forms, many of which are encased in a wood exoskeleton inspired by other organic, ocean bound elements.  

Although activism is still alive and well, one wonders if future generations will be moved to make change due to their increased isolationism. We live in a world where people feel more and more entitled, and have been raised to expect instant gratification. People who make a stand are becoming rarer and rarer to find. Maybe that's why a play like Tammy Ryan's MOLLY'S HAMMER (based on the book Hammer of Justice by Liane Ellison Norman) is so important. The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis has, again, put together an outstanding production that will make you ponder weighty issues that still exist, but that have been replaced by a fear of terrorism that can arrive so suddenly and unexpectedly that we feel helpless against it. Maybe that's why you should take a young adult with you to experience this story. Nuclear weapons are still a threat to our continued existence on this planet, and we must never forget that we have a duty as citizens of the world to speak out and act out against tyranny. This excellent show takes us back to 1980, when a Pittsburgh housewife took just such a stand.

Once again, the art of magic is alive and thriving at the Harris Center for the Arts.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis concludes its 2015-2016 Studio Theatre series with Molly's Hammer by Tammy Ryan, based on the book Hammer of Justice by Liane Ellison Norman and directed by Seth Gordon.