Michael Grief News

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director, Ellen Richard, Executive Director) continues this summer's Second Stage Theatre Uptown Series with the world premiere of Lila Rose Kaplan's Wildflower. Directed by Giovanna Sardelli, Wildflower features Nadia Bowers, Ron Cephas Jones, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Jake O'Connor and Renée Felice Smith. Previews begin Monday, July 13 and opening night is Monday, July 27 at 7:00pm.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director, Ellen Richard, Executive Director) continues this summer's Second Stage Theatre Uptown Series with the world premiere of Lila Rose Kaplan's Wildflower. Directed by Giovanna Sardelli, Wildflower features Nadia Bowers, Ron Cephas Jones, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Jake O'Connor and Renée Felice Smith. Previews begin Monday, July 13 and opening night is Monday, July 27 at 7:00pm.

Today's Broadway Blogs on BroadwayWorld.com from Saturday, May 16, 2009.

It's a funny thing with musicals about women with psychiatric disorders; they seem to be more accessible when focused on the way loved ones try and achieve some kind of normalcy while dealing with the problem, rather than being about the disorder itself. Back in the autumn of '05, Off-Broadway's Transport Group premiered nor'mal:, Yvonne Adrian, Cheryl Stein and Tom Kochan exceptional musical about a family's attempt to stay functional while dealing with the teenage daughter's anorexia. Just a few weeks earlier the New York Musical Theatre Festival featured Feeling Electric, composer Tom Kitt and bookwriter/lyricist Brian Yorky's hard driving tale of a suburban mom being treated for clinical depression.

The role of the wily Tartuffe will be tackled by English actor Richard Crawford. He will also double as Madame Perenlle, the benefactor's aged mother. Mr. Crawford Trained at Ecole Jacques Lecoq and Rose Bruford College. He has appeared in productions at the La Jolla Playhouse and other prominent regional theatres. Richard served as lead clown in 'Slava's Snowshow' at the Union Square Theater and has directed clown work for Cirque du Soleil's 'Dralion' and 'Petrushka' at Carnegie Hall. In addition to performing he teaches Lecoq technique at S.U.N.Y Purchase.

Morgan Karr's concert, entitled 'An Awfully Big Adventure,' will be presented March 24th at the legendary showcase venue for live music. Show time is 11:30pm. Special guests will be announced at a later date. Charity Wicks (Spring Awakening, In the Heights, Stephen Schwartz's S?ance on a Wet Afternoon) will music direct. Karr will take the audience on his 'awfully big adventure' with a throwback to his Nashville upbringing, featuring a mix of country, R&B, and Broadway tunes.

Ghostlight Records is proud to announce that it will record the Cast Album of the critically acclaimed new musical NEXT TO NORMAL. Recording dates are set for February 11th and 12th in New York City, with a release date this spring to be announced soon. Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records President Kurt Deutsch and Grammy Award-winner Joel Moss will produce the album. NEXT TO NORMAL has been described as a contemporary musical that explores how one suburban household copes with crisis. With provocative lyrics and an electrifying score of more than 30 original songs, NEXT TO NORMAL shows how far two parents will go to keep themselves sane and their family's world intact.

Ghostlight Records is proud to announce that it will record the Cast Album of the critically acclaimed new musical NEXT TO NORMAL. Recording dates are set for February 11th and 12th in New York City, with a release date this spring to be announced soon. Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records President Kurt Deutsch and Grammy Award-winner Joel Moss will produce the album. NEXT TO NORMAL has been described as a contemporary musical that explores how one suburban household copes with crisis. With provocative lyrics and an electrifying score of more than 30 original songs, NEXT TO NORMAL shows how far two parents will go to keep themselves sane and their family's world intact.

Tom Kitt (composer) and Brian Yorkey's (Book writer and lyricist) rock musical Next to Normal closed on January 18th at Arena Stage in Washington, DC but, the show's fans have reason to rejoice with the news that Sh-K-Boom Records will be recording the cast this February for release on CD. Kitt and Yorkey's musical which focuses on a family in crisis follows a high-profile Off-Broadway run at Second Stage Theatre. The collaborators include Kitt, Yorkey, director Michael Grief, and choreographer Sergio A.Trujillo. Next to Normal chronicles the story of a mentally unstable mother and the waves she creates in the lives of her husband and daughter and stars Tony Award nominee Alice Ripley (Side Show), who returns to the project as mom Diana.

A musical about depression? Yes. You'll not only enjoy it, you may even learn something.

A musical about depression? Yes. You'll not only enjoy it, you may even learn something.

Tom Kitt (composer) and Brian Yorkey's (Book writer and lyricist) rock musical Next To Normal opened December 10th at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. BroadwayWorld took in a preview performance to bring you exclusive photos of the Arena Stage run!

Tom Kitt (composer) and Brian Yorkey's (Book writer and lyricist) rock musical Next to Normal opens December 10 at Arena Stage in Washington, DC.

News from Broadway and theater in the Baltimore/Washington area

Theater news from Broadway and the Baltimore/Washington area.

If you're feeling nostalgic for those sweet innocent days when guys could continually act like self-centered jerks and intelligent, attractive women would sleep with them anyway, a trip to Second Stage's funny and energetic revival of Howard Korder's Boy's Life is certainly in order.

The 'Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award' was presented to Tony Kushner at a ceremony on Tuesday, October 21, at 620 Loft & Garden at Rockefeller Center. The honor comes with a cash prize of $200,000, making this by far the largest award ever created to honor and encourage artistic achievement in the American theater. Mr. Kushner was also presented with 'The Mimi,' a statue designed by Tony Award-nominated scenic designer and architect David Rockwell.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Mara Manus) 2008 Summer Gala honored Public Theater Board Member David Rockwell for his outstanding leadership and commitment to the institution for the past 20 years.

Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway production of Christopher Hampton's Les Liaisons Dangereuses officially opened Thursday, May 1st. Laura Linney as 'La Marquise de Merteuil' and Ben Daniels as 'Le Vicomte de Valmont' star in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, directed by Rufus Norris at the American Airlines Theatre.

Friday, April 25th THE AFTER PARTY welcomed RENT's Merle Dandridge and WICKED's Brad Bass and Ben Cameron. THE AFTER PARTY - EVERY FRIDAY @ 10:30 PM Hang out for our weekly showbiz soiree, THE AFTER PARTY. Come and relax with a cocktail as some of New York's most talented performers grace the stage at this social schmoozefest. Or better yet, come up on stage & sing yourself. Iron lunged hosts Brandon Cutrell & Alysha Umphress keep things hopping, with piano man Ray Fellman at the keys and Lisa Asher behind the bar (her pour is as ferocious as her belt). Located just blocks from the Great White Way, you never know who might drop by.