Mary Gordon News

BroadwayWorld continues our exclusive content series, in collaboration with The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, which delves into the library's unparalleled archives, and resources. Below, check out a piece by Misy Singson, Theatre Division Administrator, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts on: Political Satires in The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts' Theatre on The Spitfire Grill.

NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire-iReach/ Thanks to an article published in The New Yorker on September 7, 2016, a little known book The Little Virtues, published in English in the late 1980s by literary powerhouse, Arcade Publishing (a division of Skyhorse Publishing Inc.), has rattled the Amazon bestsellers list, dropping below #100, seemingly out of nowhere. It now stands at #722 and is #3 in the category, Literature/ Fiction essays, and #7 in the category Biographies/ Memoirs.

Music Circus welcomed a "perfectly marvelous" Cabaret Tuesday evening, with sparkling costumes and a glittered stage. After an excited and pulsing opening, the suggestive Kit Kat Girls took a back seat. Subdued direction and lackluster choreography made the famous Kit Kat club more of an afterthought next to the subtle rise of Nazi Germany.

This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature stories in Raleigh, Sacramento, St. Louis and more. Check out our top 10 stories around our Broadway World below, which include MAMMA MIA! at The Muny, MARY POPPINS in Raleigh, and CABARET at California Music Circus, just to name a few.

The 66th Music Circus season continues with the multiple Tony Award-winning musical theatre classic CABARET. Performances began last night and will continue through Sunday, July 31 at the Wells Fargo Pavilion. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The 66th Music Circus season continues with the multiple Tony Award-winning musical theatre classic CABARET. Performances began last night and will continue through Sunday, July 31 at the Wells Fargo Pavilion.  BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The 66th Music Circus season continues with the multiple Tony Award-winning musical theatre classic CABARET. Performances are tonight, July 26 through Sunday, July 31 at the Wells Fargo Pavilion.

The 66th Music Circus season continues with the multiple Tony Award-winning musical theatre classic Cabaret. Performances are Tuesday, July 26 through Sunday, July 31 at the Wells Fargo Pavilion.

After auditioning performers in New York City, Los Angeles, and Sacramento, California Musical Theatre has confirmed casting for all six shows in the 66th Music Circus season. The stellar cast for the season is loaded with Broadway veterans--some of whom are making their Music Circus debuts--Tony nominees, and audience favorites from previous Music Circus productions.

After auditioning performers in New York City, Los Angeles, and Sacramento, California Musical Theatre has confirmed casting for all six shows in the 66th Music Circus season. The stellar cast for the season is loaded with Broadway veterans--some of whom are making their Music Circus debuts--Tony nominees, and audience favorites from previous Music Circus productions.

A musical about second chances is getting one of its own this summer when students from Drexel University's Westphal College of Media Arts & Design bring a theatrical stage reading of 'The Spitfire Grill' to Philadelphia.

Though that comedy device of rewritten song lyrics is (unfortunately) not utilized for the film's musical stage adaptation, still, much of the spirit and basic plot architecture of the original movie remains in SISTER ACT - THE MUSICAL, which features all-original songs by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater, as well as a book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner (with additional material contributed later by playwright Douglas Carter Beane). Currently, Musical Theatre West's admirable regional production of this Tony-nominated Broadway musical comedy is finishing out its final weekend of performances at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach through April 24. Goofy and full of cutesy charm MTW's regional production definitely brings in the (joyful) noise and the funk to Long Beach. So what makes the show enjoyable? Well... for lack of a better phrase... it's all about the nuns.

Sister Act the Musical started out in 2006 at the Pasadena Playhouse, premiered in London's West End in 2009 and then underwent serious revisions before coming to Broadway in 2011. I remember liking the first mounting in 2006 with many reservations. Since I loved the 1992 film so much, I didn't feel that the stage version was particularly faithful...no pun intended. Well, with all the 2011 changes, MTW's revival of the Broadway version is tops, a joyful, tuneful, splashy romp that never lets down, with a tremendous cast, stellar direction from Michael Matthews and soulful choreography from Daniel Smith. Douglas Carter Beane, who penned the screenplay To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar and the Tony nominated play The Little Dog Laughed, added new book material for the national tour, included here, and this contributes substantially to molding a sleek and unforgettable show.

Musical Theatre West (MTW) presents Sister Act, Broadway's feel-good musical comedy at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center April 8-24.  Based on the 1992 Whoopi Goldberg hit film, written by Joseph Howard, the five-time Tony nominated Broadway sensation features an award winning creative team with original score and music by composer Alan Menken (Disney's Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Newsies, Little Shop Of Horrors), lyrics by Glenn Slater (The Little Mermaid, Tangled), book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner (Cheers), additional book material by Douglas Carter Beane (Xanadu, The Little Dog Laughed ).  The reinvented musical adaptation is filled with heavenly music with a disco beat, outrageous dancing and a truly moving story that will have audiences dancing in the aisles!  Tickets are now on sale at www.musical.org or by calling (562) 856-1999, ext. 4.  Tickets start at $20.

Musical Theatre West's (MTW) Reiner Staged Reading Series (RRS) returns this season with an outstanding lineup of classic and forgotten Broadway gems, beginning with Pal Joey on Sunday, January 24, 7pm at the University Theatre at California State University, Long Beach (off 7th Street between East and West Campus Drive, Parking Lot 7).

Musical Theatre West (MTW) opens its 2015-2016 season with Lerner and Loewe's Tony Award-winning musical My Fair Lady, October 23 - November 8, 2015, at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center.  Tickets are now on sale, as well as season subscription packages (to include West Side Story, Sister Act, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) for subscription savings.   For tickets, go to www.musical.org or call (562) 856-1999, ext. 4.  Tickets start at $20.  BroadwayWorld brings you a first look below!

Fourth time's the charm for Musical Theatre West as the award-winning regional theater company opens its 63rd season with the 1956 Lerner and Loewe Broadway classic MY FAIR LADY. Retaining the effervescent wit and jubilant spirit of the original, MTW's irresistibly beguiling, top-notch local revival---now on stage at the Richard and Karen Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts in Long Beach, CA through November 8---is a thoroughly enjoyable production from start to finish. Filled with wit, charm, memorable tunes, and timeless, often uplifting humor, MY FAIR LADY is basically the comfort food of classic musicals... and MTW wisely sticks with this winning formula. After all... why mess with a near-perfect classic?

Called by many the perfect musical, My Fair Lady based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion has perhaps the wittiest and showiest debate between the sexes. Shaw despised marriage and loved to magnify human frailty, both female and male. And with Lerner and Loewe to create the book, music and lyrics, the result is a creation with music and story that flow together in ideal harmony. Even when it's at its abrasive best, it's funny; even when Professor Henry Higgins (Martin Kildare) is obnoxious, selfish and self-centered to the hilt, we cannot help but laugh with him...and love him. Despite what a man says about a woman, he cannot live without her, and vice versa. We were born to live in  a love/hate relationship, to be at each other's throats and in the next second, rolling around in the hay. It's all a part of life and Shaw, and Lerner and Loewe displayed the ups and downs of romantic living better than anyone else...period. Now in an absolutely loverly production at MTW, Long Beach, the show plays through November 8 only.

Musical Theatre West (MTW) opens its 2015-2016 season with Lerner and Loewe's Tony Award-winning musical MY FAIR LADY, October 23-November 8, 2015, at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. 

Musical Theatre West (MTW) opens its 2015-2016 season with Lerner and Loewe's Tony Award-winning musical My Fair Lady, October 23 - November 8, 2015, at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. Tickets are now on sale, as well as season subscription packages (to include West Side Story, Sister Act, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) for subscription savings. For tickets, go to www.musical.org or call (562) 856-1999, ext. 4. Tickets start at $20.