Motley News

Running as part of the already announced exciting autumn season Pleasance now announces their Best of Edinburgh Season with true crime sensations, award nominated shows, original musicals for children and frenzied cabarets. Pleasance's 2019 Edinburgh programme saw over 560,000 festival goers enjoying 5,534 performances of 277 productions and this Best of Edinburgh season offers London audiences a slice of some of the action.

Out of 18 entries, Jim Moss' THE COW SAYS, Brick Brickel's FOR THE LOVE OF MARY, and Deb Bostock-Kelley's ONCE UPON UHHH...stand out.

The Shaw has once again programmed a play known by few. After their success at rediscovering Mae West's SEX this season, I was hoping that THE LADYKILLERS would produce yet another unearthed gem. This comedy, mostly unknown outside of the UK, was briefly revived on the West End in 2011,but it's humor may best be served in a different era.

Avast, ye mateys! Set sail on a high-seas adventure with a motley crew of bumbling pirates as the fearsome Captain Braid Beard lands at a quiet family vacation spot in search of an expert digger to join the crew.

WORDS Actors Co-op Theatre Company presents a staged reading of Tony Muscio's Words directed by David Atkinson, performed by Joe Barone, Townsend Coleman and Selah Victor. After rejecting young Tom Mitchell's request to be his assistant, curmudgeonly writer Donald Steinman finds that his film producer daughter has hired him anyway. The motley pair struggles to find common ground as they work on Steinman's latest screenplay, a feature about John D. Rockefeller. As they battle the stalled-out project, they find that the power of words extends far beyond the page. Saturday, August 31st at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, September 1st at 2:30 p.m. Talk back with the playwright, cast and director to follow the show. *

RIGHTEOUS AMONG US Actors Co-op Theatre Company presents a staged reading of Amy Tofte's Righteous Among Us, directed by: Heather Chesley, performed by Kay Bess, Deborah Marlowe & Kimi Walker. A researcher at a civil rights museum collects oral histories from the ancestors of those who saved Jews during the Holocaust and of those who were saved.  When she uncovers one hero family's legend is a lie, she must not only break the news to all involved and shatter the myth.  but also come to terms with her own need to find heroes and good intentions among regular people. Saturday, August 24th, 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, August 25th 2:30 p.m. Talk back with playwright, cast and director to follow the show. Suggested Donation $10. Free to 2019-2020 Season Subscribers.Information/Tickets https://www.actorsco-op.org/original-works-seriesActors Co-op David Schall

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducted an evening of music where emotion overrode pristine beauty.

A warmly poignant glimpse into the shared connections of a motley group of workers who spend their nights working in a big box superstore, IN THE AISLES, quietly celebrates the beauty in the day-to-day and the collective pride people take in their jobs with a well-crafted cinematic recipe of drama, romance, dark humor and nuance.

Daveed Diggs and Wyatt Russell have joined Showtime's limited series drama set in pre-Civil War America, Good Lord Bird, according to The Hollywood Reporter. They join a cast that includes Ethan Hawke and Joshua Johnson-Lionel.

Aurora Theatre Company opens its dynamic 28th season with the Bay Area Premiere of Ike Holter's  EXIT STRATEGY. Aurora's new Artistic Director Josh Costello will direct this powerful examination of the Chicago public school system. 

If it's possible to be nostalgic for a time and place in which you've never lived, you will experience that feeling in A Bronx Tale.

The genesis of September Mourning started in a dark New York basement, where a young girl discovered her father's old comic book collection and quickly became enraptured by the stories, especially the characters and arcs in the Batman series.  'Those resonated with me the most' says band leader and creative driving force Emily Lazar(AKA September). 'The Killing Joke' is still my favorite comic book'.   The stories and characters helped turn Lazar into a life-long artist across several mediums – including ballet, story-telling, visual art, and music.  She has combined those various talents into a living and breathing, graphic-novel-come-to-life with her band of Reapers in September Mourning.   With the release of their new single and video 'Unholy',  they continue to forge ahead with their aural and visual extravaganza.

GRAMMY Award-winning artist Young Thug and chart-topping rapper Machine Gun Kelly announced they are joining forces for a tour across North America this fall. Special guests Polo G, YBN Nahmir, KILLY and Strick will join on select dates. Please see itinerary below.  

Evolving artists with differing amounts of stage experience formed a variably green, prepared and overworked ensemble in this summer showcase of the Royal Opera's young roster singers.

There's an old saying from W.C. Fields that says 'Never work with animals or children'. This quote is often assumed to mean that a performer should avoid this, as children and animals can be quite unpredictable and/or unreliable. But based on what I saw on stage during Goodspeed Musicals' latest production of the new musical BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE, I think W.C. Fields may have issued this warning because said animals and children just might steal the show right out from under you. In its second production of the season, Goodspeed has opted to mount a relatively new work and introduce audiences to the heartwarming story of two 'Strays', a girl and her dog, on the very same stage where another girl and her dog (ANNIE) premiered 43 years ago. The result? A touching musical that delivers an important message delivered by a strong cast led (yes, led) by an extremely loveable (and talented) canine.

Drummer Jordan Cannata (Adrenaline Mob, Stereo Satellite), who recently toured with Doro Pesch of Warlock, is currently on a European tour with Dark Sky Choir. Jordan, who is represented by Rock'D Management Group and Grand Slam Productions along with Stereo Satellite, will release their debut album later this year.

A visibly emotional Shah, on the occasion of customary lighting the lamp ceremony was also seen along with other theatre stalwarts such as Akash Khurana, Meera Khurana, Benjamin Gilani, Kunal Kapoor, Jairaj Patil, and Manhar Gadhia.