Nelson News

Netflix has released the trailer for Holiday Rush, starring Romany Malco, Sonequa Martin-Green, Deon Cole, Amarr M. Wooten, La La Anthony, Andrea-Marie Alphonse, Selena-Marie Alphonse, Alysia Livingston, Deysha Nelson, Roscoe Orman, Malika Samuel, with Tamala Jones and Darlene Love.

a?oeThe 53rd Annual CMA Awardsa?? has announced additional performers and presenters to its previously announced lineup. Joe Walsh joins Dierks Bentley alongside Sheryl Crow, Chris Janson and John Osborne for a special performance honoring Kris Kristofferson, the 2019 CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

The Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation has announced the next group of guests confirmed for their popular “Live at the Lortel” podcast focused on Off-Broadway. Each taping lasts about 60 minutes – with 45 minutes of moderated conversation with host Eric Ostrow and 15 minutes for audience questions. The next round of tapings will all take place on Monday, December 2, at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. As always, tickets are free to the public and can be reserved by visiting www.liveatthelortel.com.

Transporting you to the 1950s with close-knit harmonies and pitch perfect renditions, FOREVER PLAID is a gentle jukebox musical perfect for some doo-wop nostalgia. Consisting of four members and giving off The Four Seasons feelings in some respects, this production has a loose storyline and is more focused on showing off the vocal and stage talents of the quartet; of which there is plenty.

The incredible cast has been announced for Little Miss Burden, a moving coming-of-age tale of growing up in a wheelchair in the '90s. Saida Ahmed (My Favourite, AppleCart Theatre; The Glass Menagerie, Arcola Theatre; Medusa, Fusion Theatre) takes the role of Little Miss. Michelle Tiwo (Ackee and Saltfish, BBC 3; Parakeet, Boundless/Boom Shakalaka Productions; And The Rest of Me Floats, Bush Theatre) is Big Sis and Ani Nelson (The Trick, Bush Theatre; Abigail's Party, Hull Truck Theatre; Roadkill, Channel 4) rounds off the cast as Little Sis.

London-based amateur theatre company, KDC Theatre, will be kick-starting their Autumn season with John Ford's controversial love story, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, at the White Bear Theatre from Tuesday 19th - Saturday 23rd November.

For her 4th CD release, vocalist/violinist Calabria Foti wanted to do an album like her vocal heroes did back in the day; that is, with a big orchestra and legendary arrangers on the podium in an iconic Hollywood recording studio. Ms. Foti says, “This is the most expansive project I have ever done, and at the same time, it's the most intimate and personal. I recorded at Capitol Records with a full orchestra, singing some of the most endearing, sentimental songs ever written, all for my loved ones. This album is a full-production tear-jerker!”

On December 7 and 8, Purchase Opera, and its Director Jacque Trussel, will present a visionary interpretation of Dido and Aeneas, a monumental opera composed in 1689. Inspired by Virgil's epic Latin poem The Aeneid, this production is set in modern corporate America where the coldness of mergers and acquisitions takes a life and death toll on its protagonists and their struggles for love in the face betrayal.

Everyman Theatre continues its 2019/2020 season with Agatha Christie's famous whodunita?"the literary, cinematic, and now theatrical classic, Murder on the Orient Express. Everyman's production, directed by Founding Artistic Director Vincent M. Lancisi and adapted by noted playwright Ken Ludwig (Lend Me A Tenor, Crazy For You), runs December 3, 2019, through January 5, 2020.

MerleFest, presented by Window World, is proud to announce the initial lineup for MerleFest 2020, which will be held April 23-26. The annual homecoming of musicians and music fans returns to the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. “For over 30 years, one of the major factors that has built and sustained MerleFest has been the quality of the artists and performances that our guests see over the 4-day festival,” says Ted Hagaman, Festival Director. “People truly feel that the festival is a great value and that is why music fans and families return year after year. We feel that the 2020 lineup again reflects the diversity and quality of performers, and we look forward to another successful festival in April.” The complete lineup for MerleFest 2020 will be announced over the next few months. 

Waitress has announced its next Cast Album Karaoke Night will take place on 19 November, hosted by cast members Sandra Marvin who plays Becky and Kelly Agbowu who plays Nurse Norma. Audience members who want the opportunity to sing live on the West End stage just need to sign up before that evening's show to be in with a chance to sing one minute of any song from the musical at the Adelphi, accompanied by the show's musical director Katharine Woolley.

Based on a film by the late Adriene Shelly. Waitress began its pre-Broadway run in 2015 at the ART ( American Repertory Theatre). Having it's Broadway opening when it opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on August 15, 2016. The score includes numbers such as Opening Up, When He Sees Me and She Used to Be Mine; it appeals to those who like classic show tunes, and those who prefer pop. With music from seven time Grammy® nominee, Sara Barellies, a book by acclaimed screenwriter Jessie Nelson, and choreography originally by Lorin Latarrom, but recreated for this tour by Abbey O'Brien.

Nashville recording artist LynnMarie brings her latest solo work as a a?oeBest Ofa?? performance to the United Solo Theatre Festival. There's an Accordion in My Closet is the follow-up work to her award-winning play Wrap Your Heart Around It, which was awarded a?oeBest New Productiona?? in 2013.

Who would guess that what has been described as a sleepy little cowtown is actually a hotbed of young musical talent? The latest to join Sacramento's rank of up-and-coming people-to-watch is Sam C. Jones, a transplant from Virginia who landed on the west coast in 2016 and has quickly made a name for himself in the world of local professional theatre. He has recently returned to his passion of songwriting and will be releasing an album of original work later this winter. Broadway World Sacramento spoke to Sam about the King, country music, and what gets his creative juices flowing.

King Center has announced nine new shows for its 2020 season. See the new lineup below:

The Waukesha Civic Theatre presents Elf The Musical, running December 6-22, 2019. As a young orphan, Buddy finds himself mistakenly taken to the North Pole. Raised as an elf, Buddy has no idea who he truly is until his human size and lack of elf-abilities force him to face the truth. This realization sends Buddy on the holiday adventure of a lifetime, traveling to New York City to find his family, himself, and the true meaning of Christmas.

Midsommer Flight's popular perennial intimate production of Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT, performed alley style amid the flowers of the Lincoln Park Conservatory's beautiful Show House Room, will return with a new cast for its fifth year. Performances will be December 5 a?" 22, 2019. Midsommer Flight company member Dylan S. Roberts, who earned raves for his staging of the company's 2017 production, will return to helm the 2019 edition.

AMERICAN BUFFALO today announced a special pre-sale for fans of Darren Criss. Tickets will be available beginning Friday, November 15, 2019 at 10am EST and run through Sunday, November 17, 2019 at 5pm EST. To sign up for access to the pre-sale, please visit http://darrencriss.me/BuffaloBway or text a?oeBUFFALOa?? to 415.675.8068.

Commencing on the fullish moon of December 11th in the glow of a candlelit room, The Secret Society of The Sisterhood invites some of the most prolific, iconic and diverse women of our generation to come together in front of an intimate audience, and share personal stories surrounding the topic of the evening.

Tis' the season that many theaters turn to Dickensian fare, but at Marriott Theatre, young Oliver Twist rather than Tiny Tim takes the stage. Nick Bowling directs Lionel Bart's OLIVER!, the 1960 musical based on Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. With music direction by Ryan T. Nelson and choreography by Brenda Didier, a talented cast of child and adult actors delivers Bart's eminently hummable, if not groundbreaking, tunes. Though certain aspects of the material are irremediably dated, this is an entertaining revival of a (mostly) family-friendly show.