The 25th Anniversary of the Toronto Fringe Festival wrapped up an incredible ten days in our glorious city this past Sunday night, marking a record year in terms of opening 4 day profit despite challenges such as flooding and power outages cancelling shows and closing down theatres. The city came alive with 148 shows performing in venues across the city, selling 57,182 tickets and returning $433,027 to artists. In addition, there were 200 completely sold-out performances, and many shows which were incredibly close. The joy of Fringing is the hidden gems that you discover, and I'm pleased to report I discovered two this year in Bremen Rock Musical and We Are the Bomb. In addition, there are many excellent shows headed uptown for Best of Fringe which begins in 2 days!
As a way of celebrating the summertime festivities on Buffalo's beautiful Canalside, American Repertory Theater of WNY invites supporters of creative young minds to attend the second Young Playwrights Festival at Canalside, July 19th, 20th and 21st.
Travel into the magical musical world of Dr. Seuss and see the author's cherished characters bounce from the page to the stage. Stagecrafters Youth Theatre presents Seussical Jr. July 18th through 21st at the Baldwin Theatre, 415 S. Lafayette in downtown Royal Oak.
On the next episode of ABC's ROOKIE BLUE titled "The Kids Are Not Alright", Andy is ready to get away for a much-needed long weekend when she and Gail discover a teenage boy bound and gagged in the trunk of a car. Get a sneak peek below!
Royal Porcupine Productions first Fringe outing certainly captures the spirit of what a Fringe show should be; an absurdist comedy with a drag-king performance of a famous Saint in a life or death situation chatting it up with two actors decked out as full beak-and-feather birds performed by an emerging company and written by a recent Tony nominee.
On the next episode of ABC's ROOKIE BLUE titled "Different, Not Better", Andy and Officer Marlo Cruz, Swarek's new girlfriend, butt heads on their first patrol together. Get a sneak peek below!
The First Lady of Country Music, Loretta Lynn, joined by country legend Randy Travis, and Holly Williams, daughter and granddaughter of Hank Williams Jr. and Sr., are the first nationally known music artists to bring an old-school country twang to downtown Aurora's new RiverEdge Park, Saturday, June 29.
Victory Gardens and the One-Minute Play Festival (OMPF) present the Third Annual Chicago One-Minute Play Festival, an evening of micro-plays by sixty of Chicago's top playwrights, directed by ten Chicago directors. OMPF benefits the Miller Match campaign and will be presented for two performances only, today, June 17 and Tuesday, June 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park.
Third Rail Repertory Theatre's Mentorship Company presents Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom by Jennifer Haley, directed by Ryan Mooney with designs by Kaye Blankenship. The final production in Third Rail's inaugural Mentorship Class will run tonight, June 15 - 23, 2013.
The North Shore Arts Angels will welcome this evening, June 15th, scores of alumni from North Shore High School, reuniting to dust off their vocal chords for the 'Viking Masquers 50th Anniversary Gala,' a one night only fundraising event celebrating 50 years of musical theater on the North Shore stage.
Royal Porcupine Productions first Fringe outing certainly captures the spirit of what a Fringe show should be; an absurdist comedy with a drag-king performance of a famous Saint in a life or death situation chatting it up with two actors decked out as full beak-and-feather birds performed by an emerging company and written by a recent Tony nominee.
Third Rail Repertory Theatre's Mentorship Company presents Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom by Jennifer Haley, directed by Ryan Mooney with designs by Kaye Blankenship. The final production in Third Rail's inaugural Mentorship Class will run June 15 - 23, 2013.
Originally on Broadway in 1951 Lerner & Lowe's Paint Your Wagon was one of their less successful shows, which chronologically came right before their mega-hit My Fair Lady. As with most Lerner & Lowe, it's the place and characters that Lerner had such a talent for depicting. In Paint Your Wagon it's the Old West circa 1852 during the days of the Gold Rush when men sought their dreams via the move west. David Rambo rewrote the book and presented a new version in 2004 at the Geffen and in 2007 in Salt Lake City - a totally revised, trimmed down and slicker rendition of the original, critiqued as harsh and cold, a downer, in spite of its beautiful music. The 1969 movie starring Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin, needless to say, was a bomb with a terrible script and bad rendition of the music due to the fact that none of the actors could sing. For her last hurrah, Marsha Moode, who is sadly forced to close Downey Civic Light Opera after 27 years, has chosen to dust off the original 1951 show, altering its ending for the better and presenting it with a wonderful cast led by the remarkable Richard Gould as Ben Rumson.
Dubbed the season of 'ART Inside the Box', the company has moved from Bittner Hall into the basement of 16 Linwood location and has converted it into a black box theater performance space. ART/WNY decision to move from Bittner Hall into this space allows the company more flexibility with productions scheduled for the 2013-14 season as well as allows ART/WNY more of a permenent presences in the space. 'We can build, create and light environments without the overhanging pressure to tear it down and reset the whole thing, from platforms to light grid, for each production.' Added Executive/Artistic Director Matthew LaChiusa. 'That's going to add to the production values of each piece as well as make it more of a engaging experience for patrons.'
The North Shore Arts Angels are pleased to announce that 'Saturday Night Live' cast member Kate McKinnon will be appearing in the upcoming ',' a one night only fund raising event celebrating one half a century of her school's drama troupe. McKinnon will be joining over 140 other alumni from North Shore High School on stage to celebrate five decades of Masquers history and raise funds to revive the district's now defunct Summer Theater Workshop on June 15.
