Matt Martin News

Founded in 2015, the Cloris Awards celebrate excellence in theatre in Greater Des Moines. The annual awards program brings together the theatre community and the public to celebrate their work and enhance the visibility of locally-produced theatre. The 2017-2018 season featured 43 productions by 12 participating companies.

Williamstown Theatre Festival (Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director) has announced details about additional programming and events for the 2018 summer season.

The Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Programs end their 2017-18 season with two plays in rep, Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl, and Prowess by Ike Holter. Eurydice, directed by Addie Gorlin ('19), tackles grief and growing up through the lens of the reimagined Greek myth, and will be performed May 4-19, 2018. Prowess, directed by Ken-Matt Martin ('19) explores accountability in a world of vigilante justice, and can be seen May 5-20, 2018. All performances take place on the same set at the Pell Chafee Performance Center, 87 Empire Street, Providence. Tickets are on sale now at Trinity Rep's box office, by phone (401) 351-4242, or online at www.TrinityRep.com.

Charting the rise of Cilla Black's pop career is tough ask for a musical. She may have been an entertainer of superlative quality, but she lacks the back catalogue that is the engine room of similar jukebox style shows.

Singing and dancing through 100 years of Sherman Family music; and you already know all of the songs by heart! A compelling musical stage show for all the family, celebrating the life and music of multi-award-winning Disney songwriters The Sherman Brothers (Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Jungle Book, Winnie the Pooh), Tin Pan Alley songwriter Al Sherman (writer for artists including Frank Sinatra, Billie Holliday and Ella Fitzgerald), and present-day composer, Robert J. Sherman. Come with us on a journey through the songbook of your childhood!

CILLA - THE MUSICAL is the spectacular and heart-warming musical adaptation of the critically acclaimed hit ITV television series by Bafta-Award winner Jeff Pope (The Moorside, Philomena, From The Cradle To The Grave, Mrs Biggs and the acclaimed Little Boy Blue which had ITV audiences glued to their screens). It tells the extraordinary story of the ordinary girl from Liverpool whose teenage dreams of stardom lead her to becoming one of Britain's best-loved entertainers of all time.

Due to overwhelming demand, a further 12 dates have been announced for the second UK & Ireland Tour of the Tony, Olivier and Grammy Award-winning musical JERSEY BOYS, taking the tour through to March 2019.

Brown University and Trinity Rep announce a change of leadership of their Masters of Fine Arts Programs in Acting and Directing. Earlier this month, Trinity Rep acting company member and Brown/Trinity Rep faculty member Angela Brazil assumed the role of Director of Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Programs in Acting and Directing. Trinity Rep associate director and former Brown/Trinity Rep Head of Directing Brian Mertes assumed the role of Director of Graduate Studies for the MFA Programs in Acting and Directing. Trinity Rep acting company member and former Director of Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Programs Stephen Berenson will continue to serve the school as the Founding Director of the programs.

Three years after Jeff Pope's acclaimed television miniseries Cilla was broadcast on ITV, he has now adapted her story for a new touring musical.

CILLA - THE MUSICAL, written by BAFTA Award-winning Jeff Pope and directed by Bill Kenwright and Bob Tomson, just opened in Liverpool for a run through 16 September before heading out on tour. BroadwayWorld has photos of the cast in action, plus the opening festivities below!

Everybody cut loose because Footloose: The Musical is dancing in to Chester's Storyhouse next week on its first visit to the city and marking the first visiting production and the start of the new season.

Following an acclaimed 2016 UK Tour, worldwide smash hit musical Footloose: The Musical will burst back onto the stage in 2017, opening the inaugural touring season at Storyhouse, Chester's brand new £37m theatre, cinema and library, from 5 September for one week only.

Everybody cut loose because Footloose: The Musical is dancing in to Chester's Storyhouse next week on its first visit to the city and marking the first visiting production and the start of the new season.

Redemption is on the mind in Pyramid Theatre Company's The Amen Corner, the classic James Baldwin show that completes Pyramid's summer season. Baldwin's play often rests on questions concerning redemption, sacrifice, and spirituality making the show a fitting choice for Pyramid after two successful seasons in Des Moines. While this production is able to bring spirit and liveliness through its passionate performances, often times the delivery gets lost in Baldwin's layered script and comes across as plain confusing.

In times of great distress, fear can make people do terrible things. It can push wives to turn on husbands, mothers to turn on children, and neighbors to turn on neighbors. This idea surrounds Mississippi Goddamn, a new play by Jonathan Norton that received its first official staging at Pyramid Theatre Company last night. Norton's new play is a force to be reckoned with, as he looks into the fear and actions of one family living next to Civil Rights Activist Medgar Evers while investigating what acts of betrayal lie under one household. Although Mississippi Goddamn could benefit from slightly tightening technical and delivery aspects, Norton's story and sincere performances from the entire cast drive the idea of fear and betrayal home to create a wonderfully tense and exciting performance.

With a burst of passionate tango and an iconic 'click click', everyone's favourite kooky family has taken up residence at the Birmingham Hippodrome this week, the latest tour venue hosting the UK premiere of The Addams Family musical. A cult fan favourite, thanks to the wildly popular Nineties movies, The Addams Family step into the footlights for the first time.

Since its first publication as a comic strip in 1938, The Addams Family has seen many incarnations, but did not become a musical until it launched on Broadway in 2010. Now the quirky comedy based on Jersey Boys writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice's book, combined with Tony Award nominated Andrew Lippa's brilliantly crafted music and lyrics, sees its UK premiere.

Following an acclaimed 2016 UK Tour, worldwide smash hit musical Footloose: The Musical will burst back onto the stage in 2017, opening the inaugural touring season at Storyhouse, Chester's brand new £37m theatre, cinema and library, from 5 September for one week only.

Samantha Womack, Les Dennis and Carrie Hope Fletcher star in The Addams Family, coming to The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, next month.

Carrie Hope Fletcher has starred in numerous musicals, including Les Miserables, Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and has also published two books. She's currently playing Wednesday Addams in the UK premiere of Andrew Lippa, Marshall Brickman and Rice Elice's musical The Addams Family, which has just begun its nationwide tour.