Motley News

Maria-Christina Oliveras takes us through her involvement with the world premiere musical KISS MY AZTEC!

Get ready to 'welcome home' the veterans as the Broadway musical, Bandstand, hits Granada Theater Nov. 19-20.

Three Brothers Theatre is pleased to announce casting and creatives for their 2019 season musical, SPRING AWAKENING. SPRING AWAKENING features music by Duncan Sheik, book & lyrics by Steven Sater, based on the play by Frank Wedekind, and directed by Marie Tredway*.

Chicago Dance Crash and Artistic Director Jessica Deahr are proud to present Lil Pine Nut: The Learning Curve of Pinocchio, fit for all ages, playing at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Ave., August 23-31. Opening Night is Friday, August 23 at 8pm. Lil Pine Nut is choreographed by Deahr and company Rehearsal Director KC Bevis with additional choreography by Dionna PridGeon and Jim Morrow. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm. There is one matinee on Sunday August 25 at 3pm. Tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for children 12 and under and may be purchased at www.chicagodancecrash.com.

Presented by Celebration, The Los Angeles Intimate Theatre Premiere of "The Producers" opened Friday, June 28, 2019 at the Lex Theatre in Hollywood to a sold-out crowd and garnered a deserved standing ovation at curtain. It's RuPaul meets Mel Brooks in this delicious rendition of a show that's been recreated a gazillion times, but I assure you, never quite like this! From top to bottom, the entire production was first class, perfectly cast with triple-threaters, going all out in production values as well. The original book, by Mel Brooks, Direction and Choreography by Susan Stroman, Music by Thomas Meehan and Lyrics by Mel Brooks has been united with the Artistic Direction of Michael A. Shepperd, Produced by Andrew Carlberg and Rebecca Eisenberg, Michael Matthews, Director, Musical Direction by Anthony Zediker and fabulous Choreography by Janet Roston.  And What a Team!    

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

40 years and 42 productions later Motley productions showcases some of the finest in Indian theatre

The idea of Motley was born in a small coffee house in Lucknow in 1978 when Naseeruddin Shah & Benjamin Gilani decided to produce plays that they were curious about. They decided to go with Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, though they had no clue as to how to go about it. Godot was in rehearsal for nearly a year and finally opened on July 29th at the newly inaugurated Prithvi Theatre, under the banner of Majma, Om Puri's fledgling company. This was because we hadn't yet found a name for the group but by the next show we had decided on MOTLEY; only thing is that the next show was performed only a year and four months later!

All the innuendo, misunderstandings, mistaken identity and farce of the popular TV comedy series Are You Being Served? are being brought to stage in all their original glory at Stirling Theatre.

It was a hot summer night on July 19th, 2009, at the BB&T Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey, when 14-year-old Jason Hartless stepped out on stage to kick off the opening night of Mötley Crüe's “Crüe Fest 2” Tour as the hired drummer for one of Motley Crue's supporting acts. Everything changed when the 14-year-old Jason Hartless received a call explaining that a band scheduled to tour on the Crue Fest 2 Tour needed a drummer to crisscross the United States until Labor Day weekend. Without hesitation Jason jumped at the opportunity. This was the summer that Jason was transitioning from junior high to high school, it would also be his first year of marching band camp and drumline. So the choice was go to band camp or tour all summer with Motley Crue. It was not a hard decision.

A perfect remedy for the summertime blahs.

The 2019 season gets underway with the Broadway At Music Circus premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical comedy Shrek the Musical. Sure to delight the entire family, the musical comedy, which Variety calls 'a gently subversive fairytale with a contemporary edge, conjuring genuine enchantment and brimming with heart and irreverent charm,' runs Tuesday, June 11 through Sunday, June 16 at the Wells Fargo Pavilion. Check out photos of the cast in action!

After taking London's West End by storm, comedy thriller The Ladykillers makes its North American premiere under the direction of Artistic Director Tim Carroll. The Shaw Festival's production of Graham Linehan's stage adaptation - based on one of the best-loved British films of all time - begins previews tomorrow at the Festival Theatre.

The 2019 season gets underway with the Broadway At Music Circus premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical comedy Shrek the Musical. Sure to delight the entire family, the musical comedy, which Variety calls "a gently subversive fairytale with a contemporary edge, conjuring genuine enchantment and brimming with heart and irreverent charm," runs Tuesday, June 11 through Sunday, June 16 at the Wells Fargo Pavilion.

The Opera Theatre of St. Louis continues its 44th festival season of world class opera with a magnificent production of Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto. OTSL presented a splendid Rigoletto fourteen years ago, but this production is, I think, even better. It's the best Rigoletto your ever likely to see.

A Red Orchid Theatre announces the addition of eight new members to the Artistic Ensemble: Karen Aldridge, Myron Elliott-Cisneros, Levi Holloway, Travis A. Knight, Jess McLeod, Sadieh Rifai, Grant Sabin, and Steve Schine. A Red Orchid also welcomes two Resident Stage Managers Stephanie Heller and Christa van Baale.

The Signature Theatre production of Octet, a world premiere chamber choir musical by three-time Tony Award nominee Dave Malloy (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812)and directed by Annie Tippe (Ghost Quartet), opened last night, May 19, in The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues). Octet will now play through June 23, 2019.

Filmmaker Albert Hughes (Alpha, Menace II Society) is joining as executive producer and will make his television directorial debut helming multiple episodes of the new SHOWTIME limited series THE GOOD LORD BIRD from Blumhouse Television, based on the National Book Award-winning novel The Good Lord Bird by bestselling author James McBride. Oscar®, Golden Globe® and Tony® nominee Ethan Hawke will star as 19th-century abolitionist John Brown and is co-writing and executive producing with award-winning author and producer Mark Richard (The Ice at the Bottom of the World and Hell on Wheels).

It's a fun-house mirror of Americana arcana, reminding us that the reason blood is thicker than water is because it's larded with toxic sentiment

Previous Fringe award winners team up for this year's Hollywood Fringe to create the First official Bouffon/Clown troupe "MIL GRUS"  led by world renowned physical theater artist Dean Evans of "Honeybuns" fame. Be prepared as, motley crew of miscreants who have crawled out of the gutter to make you question reality. This timeless satire features improvised feats of physical and existential comedy that defy explanation and provoke unfettered, eery glee. Come see what's behind the curtain, starting June 9, 2019 at The Mccadden Place Theatre.