Michael Williams News

Woody Allen's film is promising source material for a musical. This is what we got.

Ahead of celebrating Shakespeare400, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre announce their full casting for Henry V.

Bringing musical comedy back with a bang! Tickets are on sale now for the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC)'s engagement of BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, May 31 - June 5, 2016. In Providence, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY is a part of the Encore Series and is sponsored by Coastway Community Bank.

The national tour of the new musical comedy BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, written by Woody Allen and based on the screenplay by Allen and Douglas McGrath (Beautiful) for the 1994 film, will play in Memphis beginning Monday, May 16 and running through Sunday, May 22.

Internationally renowned, multi award-winning writer David Hare will join Julian Burnside to talk politics, public institutions, art and the writing life on Sunday 1 May at Southbank Theatre. 

(Un)Lucky In Love, a heroic romantic musical comedy by award-winning writers Crystal Skillman & Bobby Cronin, will receive a developmental reading this week with a starry cast led by Ali Stroker (Spring Awakening, 'Glee') in a role that would be a first in Broadway musical theatre history -- a lead character who is disabled played by a disabled actor.

?Broadway In Chicago has announced that individual tickets for the Chicago premiere of BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, written by Woody Allen and based on the screenplay by Allen and Douglas McGrath (Beautiful) for the 1994 film, will go on sale on Friday, February 19.  The staged production of this worldwide smash-hit film will play the newly named The PrivateBank Theatre (18 W. Monroe) April 19 through May 1, 2016.

The main, if invisible, character might be a large white bunny, but rabbit food is definitely not center stage on the menu for Possum Point Player's presentation of the classic comedy, HARVEY. Freshly prepared in the Possums kitchen, a hearty winter dinner of soup, salad, Chicken Harve entree and apple crisp dessert is served up for the final weekend, Feb. 5, 6, and 7.

Let me start by saying that I've never seen the original movie of "Bullets Over Broadway" all the way through. I'm just not a Woody Allen fan. So a musical interpretation of it didn't exactly thrill me. So what about the current production turned me around? Was it the story? It's cute but nothing life changing. Was it the music? All the songs are minor adaptations of old standards from the 1920's and 30's so not really. No, it was the cast currently playing at the Paramount that took this fun show and amped it up to zany hilarity and made it an absolute delight.

BULLETS OVER BROADWAY's national tour tour shot over to the Fox Performing Arts Center (PAC) in Riverside for a single performance on January 27th, after a run at the Pantages. The top-notch cast delivered a hilarious night of theatre at the Fox, with fabulous dancing and singing.

Siblings often have spats, but when one claims a tall, invisible rabbit is his best friend, it can truly tax the family ties. Just how far a sister will go to keep her brother and his big eared white friend out of the public eye is the plot of the American comedy classic "Harvey." Presented as Possum Point Players' winter dinner theatre, "Harvey" opens Friday, Jan. 29.

While certainly far from a perfect show (both in staging and execution), the bus-and-truck version of BULLETS OVER BROADWAY - THE MUSICAL---the quirky and highly-amusing stage musical adaptation of the 1994 big screen comedy penned by Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath---is nonetheless a supremely fun and engaging stage iteration had me in stitches for much of its two hilarious acts, which have been enhanced by lots of silly, old-fashioned antics and an array of surprisingly top-notch musical/acting performances from a solid, mostly young cast. I can honestly say that this production---now finishing up its Los Angeles premiere performances at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood through January 24---is quite possibly the most enjoyable non-equity first national tour I've watched in a long, long time---a wonderful surprise considering such enterprises have a long, contentious history of enticing lots of industry controversy and skepticism even before the curtain goes up.

Start your New Year off right with the Pasadena Symphony and Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas McGegan as he delivers Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, the 'Emperor, tonight, January 9th at Ambassador Auditorium.

If your brother's best friend is a tall, invisible rabbit, is that any reason to have him confined at Chumley's Rest sanitarium? In Possum Point Players' winter dinner theatre production of the classic comedy 'Harvey,' Elwood Dowd's sister Veta tries that. However, not even an invisible and somewhat magic rabbit could have predicted the chain of events that Veta sets off as she attempts to have him locked up, hopefully along with Harvey.

As Helen Sinclair (Emma Stratton) holds her hand over playwright David Shayne's (Michael Williams) mouth (picture above), fans of the 1994 film Bullets Over Broadway are bound to chuckle as they remember the famously unforgettable line spoken by the movie's Helen Sinclair Oscar winner Dianne Weist, 'Don't speak!' Weist, Jennifer Tilly as Olive and Chaz Palminteri as Cheech stole the brilliant film, so when I heard a couple of years ago that they were rehashing this for a Broadway musical, my reaction was 'Sacrilege! Why? Don't tamper with perfection!' Well, they didn't listen to me, obviously, as the musical went forward, and for some sketchy reasons, was a flop on Broadway. Let me tell you, as reluctant as I was to see the musical now onstage at the Pantages through January 24, I am glad I did, for it is actually quite good, with mostly sparkling performances, ingenious choreography recreated from Susan Stroman's original, fabulous costumes by William Ivey Long...and it's faithful to the film. No one dared to touch Woody Allen's uncannily sharp plot, dialogue and laugh lines. Yes, it could have an original score, but what is accomplished with the old standards aiding in moving the story forward, kind of like in Mamma Mia, works damn well. It's fun, ear and eye-filling entertainment!

Start your New Year off right with the Pasadena Symphony and Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas McGegan as he delivers Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, the 'Emperor, on January 9th at Ambassador Auditorium.

Voting is fully underway for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Birmingham Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 11. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

Cape Town Opera hopes to provide a feast for opera lovers with its 2016 season, which was recently announced in the Mother City. The company's young international opera stars have joined forces with a new team of award-winning creative minds to make next year a memorable one for grand opera.

Producers have announced that Mark Stuart Dance Theatre's critically acclaimed new dance musical, Standard Time, will extend its limited engagement at The Duke on 42nd Street (229 W 42nd Street) in NYC two additional weeks, now through Sunday, December 20, 2015. The new dance musical, which Dance Magazine called "Spectacular," features direction and choreography by award-winning choreographer Mark Stuart (Women on the Verge..., The Bandstand). Standard Time began performances Sunday, November 15, 2015. To purchase tickets, please visit: www.standardtimetix.org

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Birmingham Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.