McDonald News

Comedy Kitchen is where Celebrity Chefs and Comics take on a role reversal challenge, where the Chef is cutting up the audience from the stage and the Comic is slicin' and dicin' in the kitchen - who will win the night!

Broadway legend Patti LuPone wows theatergoers with her dazzling DON'T MONKEY WITH BROADWAY cabaret act at BYU's de Jong Concert Hall. The opportunity to experience the world of an authentic Broadway star in a Utah seat is a rare privilege. And Audra McDonald and Bernadette Peters are set to perform at UVU's Noorda Center for the Performing Arts in the next few months.

Over the next six months Ailey II is traveling around the globe inspiring audiences in more than 30 cities. The tour will take the acclaimed 12-member ensemble of rising stars across the U.S. from Towson, MD to Atlanta, GA to St. Louis, MO. Ailey II will also reach international audiences in Germany, France, and Italy before returning home for its annual New York season, taking place March 25 a?" April 5, 2020 at Ailey Citigroup Theater. Ailey II, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's junior company that serves as a bridge between The Ailey School and the professional dance world, is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country's best young dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today's most promising emerging choreographers.

Beloved Los Angeles band that dog. -- comprised of guitarist/vocalist Anna Waronker, drummer Tony Maxwell, and bassist/vocalist Rachel Haden -- will release their first new album in twenty-two years on October 4th, 2019 via UMe. Today, the band has released a mini-documentary on the making of the album's title-track 'Old LP,' which features the band recording the song with guest vocalist Maya Rudolph.

Star of stage and screen Audra McDonald will launch Music Worcester's 161st Season on October 2nd at Mechanics Hall in downtown Worcester with an evening entitled a?oeSongs from the American Music Theater.a??

It was exactly ten years ago I first saw Stephen Temperley's SOUVENIR at Baltimore Center Stage which starred Tony Award winner, Judy Kaye. I could not imagine seeing a better version of it ever. But, I was wrong. The Rep Stage version is just plain spectacular and the two actors who perform here, Grace Bauer and Alan Naylor are just plain marvelous.

a??a??a??a??a??a??a??Beck Center for the Arts' annual Spotlight Gala will have guests celebrating 50 years of dance programming and it will be held in the new event space, RedSpace. The benefit will take place on Saturday, November 2, 2019 at 6 p.m. This year our honorees are Lynda Sackett, founder of the dance program and outreach, teacher for over 50 years; Melanie Szucs, Associate Director of Dance, faculty member for over 35 years; and Betty Kemper, advocate and champion of our dance program. These committed individuals have made their mark here at Beck Center for years in the dance departmenta?"what a tribute to a program that is going strong and still growing today! Melanie, who has kept the department on their toes for 35 years, will choreograph and produce the evening's entertainment, which proves to be a step ahead.

Akie Kotabe, star of Emmy Winning series Man in the High Castle, joins Tunji Lucas, Stanley J Browne, Alana Maria, Naomi McDonald and Mac McDonald - best known for his role as Captain Hollister in Red Dwarf - in a reading of Oren Safdie's latest play Color Blind at the Potemkin Theatre.

The Gamm Education Department presents Judy Moody & Stink: The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt by Megan McDonald, adapted by Allison Gregory. Local actor, musician and playwright Dave Rabinow will direct adult actors in a variety of roles in this exciting stage adaptation based on the beloved, award-winning book series. This rollicking play for young audiences and their families finds Judy and Stink in a race to win the 'Pirate Challenge,' and give Judy more than a boring T-shirt to represent her amazing summer vacation.

For more than 40 years, George Winston has inspired fans and musicians alike with his singular solo acoustic piano songs. Now touring in support of his 2019 release and 15th solo piano album, Restless Wind, Winston repurposes for the modern listener stunningly relevant works by musical greats such as Sam Cooke, The Doors, Stephen Stills, George and Ira Gershwin, Country Joe McDonald, and more. Restless Wind captures Winston's incomparable melodic language where piano textures and tones set the stage for vivid renderings of classic compositions.

Last night, Monday, September 9, 2019, The Players honored Tony Award-nominated composer and writer Joe Iconis (Be More Chill) with a Pipe Night, a club tradition that has celebrated significant cultural figures for over a century.

Producer Mark Cortale has announced that his internationally acclaimed Broadway concert series, hosted and music directed by Sirius XM Radio star Seth Rudetsky, will return to NOCCA's Lupin Hall for its eighth consecutive season. Beth Leavel, Audra McDonald with Will Swenson, and Liz Callaway with Bryan Batt will share the marquee in 2019-20. 

Turn back the hands of time for an intimate evening with legendary jazz songstress Billie Holiday when International City Theatre presents an acclaimed musical portrait of one of the greatest jazz and blues vocalists of all time. With Karole Foreman(ICT's award-winning production of Fences) in the title role, music direction by Stephan Terry and Ebony Rep producing artistic director Wren T. Brown at the helm, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill by Lanie Robertson gets a three-week run Oct. 18 through Nov. 3.

Jason Robert Brown (Parade, The Last Five Years) introduces his song, “Wondering”, covered by Tony Awards honorees, Broadway Inspirational Voices

Signature Theatre continues its commitment to new work and developing local talent by presenting the fifth season of SigWorks: Monday Night New Play Reading Series. This season Signature is proud to present four plays a?" Strange Men by Will Snider, Ay Gerald! by Vaughn Ryan Midder, The Story of Walter by Audrey Cefaly, and At the Full Yum by Rahima Rice.

Los Angeles-based rockers The Growlers drop their new track 'Try Hard Fool' today, the third single from their anticipated upcoming LP Natural Affair. Hot off their recent European tour - which included a stand-out set at the Green Man Festival in the UK - the band's winning new fans worldwide with their 80s-infused take on that all-American sound of raw, rumbling garage rock. Previous singles 'Foghorn Town' and 'Natural Affair' quickly went into heavy rotation on SiriusXMU, snagging positions on LA's KCRW Top 10 and Spotify's New Music Friday playlist, not to mention the band's overall performance across platforms, with 200 million Spotify plays, 1.2 million monthly listeners, and 75 million YouTube streams. 

The Compass Performing Arts Center's begins a new era of diverse programming and the building of a forum for local creative-class individuals, musicians and performance groups to present their artistry. Additionally, the Compass Performing Arts Center is opening the Compass Art Gallery for local and region artists to display their works. Located in a historically creative performance space known as the Theatreloft, Compass Performing Arts Center address is 545 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo NY 14222.

Utahn Jeff Whiting, with major Broadway credentials, is back in the state to lead the Broadway-bound original musical FLY MORE THAN YOU FALL at Utah Valley University, quickly becoming a sought-out actor-training university with its many direct ties to Broadway professionals.

The Noorda Center for the Performing Arts at Utah Valley University today announced the full New York-based creative team for the pre-Broadway production of new musical a Fly More Than You Fall.

America's adored World-Folk music group, Rising Appalachia, have already had a career-defining year and it's the start of September. Sisters Leah Song and Chloe Smith have led the band to new heights in 2019; releasing their much-anticipated LP Leylines which was met with high praise from fans and critics alike. Today, the band released the official video for the song “Cuckoo” via Billboard Magazine, who called the song a “perception changer” that “channels their southern roots.” Next week, the band will showcase at AMERICANAFEST in Nashville, TN before kicking off a two month Leylines release tour in Telluride, CO on Sept. 2o.