Melody Butiu News

Opening on August 7th at the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival (FLMTF) is Rodger's and Hammerstein's legendary musical, South Pacific. The show runs through August 28 at the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in Emerson Park.

The heat is on because the national tour of Miss Saigon opened this week at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre!

To close out its 55th season, Orange County's Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory is mounting David Henry Hwang's intriguing and mysterious play M. BUTTERFLY, using the playwright's much more layered and riveting 2017 Broadway revival as its source material. Marked assuredly by powerful, gripping performances, this admirable OC staging---directed with clarifying precision by Desdemona Chiang that continues through June 8 in Costa Mesa---keeps you at the edge of your seat, as it unpacks a story filled with wobbly uncertainties and vague declarations. A beautifully complex production that echoes sentiments of gender conformity/fluidity crossed with geopolitical issues that still resonate in today's ever-changing world, M. BUTTERFLY---particularly with this strong new update instituted by the original playwright himself---is definitely worth seeing.

In playwright Kevin Artigue's riveting and thought-provoking new two-person play SHEEPDOG---which finishes up its World Premiere run at Orange County's South Coast Repertory through May 5, 2019 as part of the theater's annual Pacific Playwrights Festival---the ripped-from-the-headlines plot point that finds a young black man being fatally shot by a white police officer becomes an added layer of troubling complication to an already shaky relationship between two genuinely good, aspirational people who are deeply in love---who also happen to be an interracial couple both employed as police officers. A love story rattled by external forces, the play posits the question of whether it is even possible for two people---or at least these two specific people---to carry on a successful romantic relationship while having this specific kind of a job and also while each identifies with one of two separate communities with a long tragic history between them. SHEEPDOG tackles the subject with grace and open-mindedness and therefore makes it one of the most powerful and provocative new plays to come out this season.

David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly, a tale of obsession, perception and the allure of fantasy, will conclude South Coast Repertory's 2018-19 season. Hwang's break-out hit-a Tony Award-winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist-is about more than steamy seduction and fantasy; inspired by a true account, it's a compelling story of espionage, East-West relations and betrayal. Desdemona Chiang, in her SCR debut, directs the show on the Segerstrom Stage, May 11-June 8. Tickets are available online at www.scr.org.

From Mo Willems, the author of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale and the Elephant and Piggie books, comes a tale that transforms naked mole-rats into something cute and fun (and funny).

In some ways, history is all we have in terms of building a brighter future. At times, we either forget that history, or we never learn about such events that would lead us to make more informed decisions. Remembering historical events clearly isn't the most sought after activity to spend your time. Thus enters the world of theater, where people come to delve into stories and as an added bonus walk out after the show a little more educated than they were walking in. Such was the case for myself in taking in DCPA's production of Vietgone.

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) presents the Theater Company's production of the 'raucous, immensely moving comedy' (The New York Times) Vietgone by Qui Nguyen.

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is proud to announce full casting and creative team for the Theater Company's production of the "raucous, immensely moving comedy" (The New York Times) Vietgone by Qui Nguyen.

The cast and creative team of Jennifer Barclay's award-winning and critically-acclaimed play Ripe Frenzy, show their solidarity with millions of Americans to fight for a country where every person can live a life free from gun violence.

Jennifer Barclay's RIPE FRENZY is produced by Greenway Arts Alliance (Whitney Weston and Pierson Blaetz, Co-Founders and Co-Artistic Directors) at Greenway Court Theatre (544 N. Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles), as part of a National New Play Network (NNPN) Rolling World Premiere with partnering theaters New Repertory Theatre in Boston and Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta. Winner of the 2016 NNPN Smith Prize for Political Theatre, RIPE FRENZY is directed by Ovation Award-nominee Alana Dietze (Dry Land at the Echo Theater Company and Kirk Douglas Theatre) and projection designs by Obie Award-winner Jared Mezzocchi (Vietgoneat Manhattan Theatre Club). Performances will play May 17 through June 17, 2018; with the press opening on Saturday, May 19.

The 28th Annual LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement throughout Los Angeles, were presented on Monday, January 29, at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown LA.

The 28th Annual LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement throughout Los Angeles, were presented on Monday, January 29, at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown LA.

Presenters have been announced for the 28th Annual LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards on Monday, January 29, at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Red carpet arrivals will begin at 6pm and the ceremony, hosted by Kirsten Vangsness, is set to begin at 7:30pm.

Legendary American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim's masterwork Merrily We Roll Along is revisited in a new production under the direction of Tony Award nominee Michael Arden (Spring Awakening) set for the Bram Goldsmith Theater stage at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts from November 23 through December 18.  BroadwayWorld has an exclusive look below! 

Legendary American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim's masterwork Merrily We Roll Along is revisited in a new production under the direction of Tony Award nominee Michael Arden (Spring Awakening) set for the Bram Goldsmith Theater stage at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts from tonight, November 23, through December 18.

Legendary American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim's masterwork Merrily We Roll Along is revisited in a new production under the direction of Tony Award nominee Michael Arden (Spring Awakening) set for the Bram Goldsmith Theater stage at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts from November 23 through December 18.

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE opens the Huntington Theatre Company's 2016-2017 season. Directed by Artistic Director Peter DuBois, with Music Direction by Eric Stern, it features a large and talented ensemble with a mix of Boston theater artists and those with Broadway credits. Jenni Barber is a delight as Dot/Marie, but Adam Chanler-Berat does not match her intensity as George. The production looks great, sounds good, but feels less filling than a Sondheim show should.

The Huntington Theatre Company will open its 2016-2017 season with the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Sunday in the Park with George, Stephen Sondheim's stunning masterpiece about love, inspiration, and "the art of making art." Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois (A Little Night Music) will direct. Performances will run September 9 - October 16, 2016 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre. Tickets are now on sale to the general public.

Artists at Play hosts its annual Summer Salon at the Armory Center for the Arts today, May 28. The Summer Salon includes a champagne brunch and a special presentation of DINNER WITH FRIENDS by Donald Margulies, directed by Artists at Play founding member, Peter J. Kuo. All proceeds from the Summer Salon go towards Artists at Play's world premiere this fall of The Two Kids that Blow Shit Up by Carla Ching. To make a reservation, contact AAP.BoxOffice@gmail.com.