Mary Ann News

Let your imagination set sail! Audiences of all ages are invited to 'walk the plank' at Arden Theatre Company this spring as they present a unique twist on the swashbuckling tale TREASURE ISLAND. Single tickets for the production, which runs April 3 through June 2 on Arden's Arcadia Stage, are currently on sale.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) announced today the winners of the 31st annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers Concert of Arias, which took place in the Cullen Theater of the Wortham Theater Center. This is the third year the Concert of Arias was streamed live on Facebook, and the second for livestreaming on YouTube. The livestream was hosted by HGO Studio alumna Andrea Carroll. She is currently performing in The Pearl Fishers as Le la and placed first in the 2012 Concert of Arias. The winners were announced during the second portion of the program.

The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) continued to strengthen and expand its exhibitions and educational programming, bilingual offerings, and curatorial team in 2018 with the appointment of new leadership across departments, the development of expanded education initiatives, and the acquisition of major works across its collections. In support of the DMA's commitment to engaging the community through programs anchored by its collections, three new curators and a new director of education joined the Museum in 2018, and the Museum expanded its off-site and bilingual program offerings. The Museum also added significant works to its collection, including 13 year-end gifts of 512 works of art in contemporary art, sculpture, photography, and the decorative arts. 

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater presents the world premiere of Kenneth Lin's timely cautionary tale of capitalism run amok, Kleptocracy. Inspired by the power struggle between the richest of the Oligarchs and an ambitious Vladimir Putin after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Lin (House of Cards) explores U.S. - Russia relations then and now. Directed by Jackson Gay, and by special arrangement with Robert Ahrens, Mickey Liddell and Michael Mills, Kleptocracy runs January 18 - February 24, 2019 in the Kreeger Theater.

The Gift Theatre is pleased to launch its 18th season with a revival of John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning drama DOUBT: A PARABLE, presented as a part of Steppenwolf's LookOut Series.

Online auditions are now open for Triple Arts, the 3-week musical theatre intensive designed by Artistic Directors Terrence Mann and Charlotte d'Amboise to give aspiring performers at any level the opportunity to work one-on-one with top industry professionals.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present its 2019-20 season with a broad repertoire of operas in productions that have never been seen by Houston audiences. The 65th season will open October 18, 2019, with Verdi's classic Rigoletto. Tomer Zvulun returns to direct the season opener after successfully opening the 2018-19 season with his production of The Flying Dutchman. American baritone Brian Mulligan sings his first Rigoletto leading an outstanding cast filled with renowned HGO Studio alumni, including Mexican tenor Arturo Chacon-Cruz as the Duke of Mantua and Armenian soprano Mane Galoyan as Gilda. Paired with Rigoletto is the North American  premiere of the dramatic oratorio Saul in a much-lauded and imaginative production by Barrie Kosky. Christopher Purves returns to the title role after his celebrated performance at the Glyndebourne Festival and is joined by countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen and Korean soprano Pureum Jo, both HGO Studio alumni.

For the first time in the 19-year history of Light of Day WinterFest, the "main event" of the 10-day, three-state festival, the star-studded "Bob's Birthday Bash," long SOLD OUT, will be broadcast LIVE via fiber optic cable during LIGHT OF DAY WINTERFEST '19.

Based on the iconic 60's TV comedy, seven castaways, shipwrecked on a remote Pacific island, build huts and begin to explore their surroundings. They discover strange hieroglyphics in a spooky cave, which speak of an ancient legend. The weather gets rough, Gilligan foils the best-laid of the castaway's rescue plans, romance develops, and the castaways have an out-of-this-world encounter! It's fun, wacky, and entertaining.

The Muny announced today the appointment of new officers and directors to their Board of Directors. Since the institution's beginning over a century ago, The Muny's Board of Directors have played an integral part in furthering The Muny's mission of producing exceptional musical theatre that is accessible to all.

Audiences at The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre will once again have the chance to see some of their favorite characters come to life on the stage as the theatre sets sail for laughter as it presents the area premiere of Gilligan's Island - The Musical.

The Gift Theatre is pleased to launch its 18th season with a revival of John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning drama DOUBT: A PARABLE, presented as a part of Steppenwolf's LookOut Series. Directed by Ensemble Member John Gawlik and featuring an all-ensemble cast, DOUBT will play February 27 - March 31, 2019 at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre, 1700 N. Halsted St. in Chicago.

Over the past hundred years the theater community has celebrated some of the most notable events in Broadway's history at the Friars Club.   Last night the Barrington Stage Co. the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, Ma. under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd held their New York City Benefit in the legendary building where so many legends of the theater community have socialized and entertained each other.   John Rando the famed director was celebrated for his extraordinary talent and his contributions to BSC.  John has directed two of the most popular musicals in BSC history, The Pirates of Penzance and On the Town, which transferred to Broadway and received four Tony Award nominations, including Best Director.  At BSC John also directed The Royal Family of Broadway and Guys and Dolls and on Broadway, he won a Tony Award for his direction of Urinetown, The Musical.  

The Broadway at Birdland concert series was proud to present Aladdin star Telly Leung in a new concert, "Sing Happy," on Monday, November 11.

The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance, a program within the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts at Wayne State University, is thrilled to kick off our year-long 90 Years of Dance at Wayne celebration with the annual December Dance Concert, December 7 and 8 at Detroit's Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts.  This year's show promises diverse and moving works showcasing highlights of dance through the decades. Dance students have the pleasure of working with a variety of talented artists, including invited guests, esteemed faculty, and talented student choreographers.

On Saturday, November 3, over 300 people gathered for the Auditorium Theatre's 2018 Annual Fall Gala, raising over $355,000 for the theatre's local, national, and international programming; community outreach efforts; and the continued restoration of the 129-year-old theatre. The Gala was chaired by Lou & Jill Raizin and Lew Collens & Lee Ayers. 

A documentary that takes a unique approach to the iconic comedy show 'Gilligan's Island,' THE GILLIGAN MANIFESTO, will open in Beverly Hills' Music Hall Theater on November 16th and on the 23rd in New York at the Cinema Village. All screenings are free for Academy members.

Steppenwolf's LookOut Series has announced their Winter 2018-2019 lineup, giving audiences plenty of reasons to escape the cold with performances from hot, new acts and the return of LookOut favorites. Warm up with a drink at Front Bar and stay for an unforgettable night of live performance in Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre. Since its inception, the LookOut series has featured the work of more than 1,000 artists from across Chicago, the country and the world in more than 300 performances.

TELLY LEUNG - currently starring as the title role in Disney's Aladdin on Broadway - will release a new digital single, an updated version of the holiday classic "All I Want for Christmas Is You" to benefit ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty) from Yellow Sound Label on Friday, November 30. The song is arranged by Lynne Shankel.