Ovation News

Celebrated cabaret singer Sue Matsuki celebrates 33 years on the Don't Tell Mama stage.

3,042 young adults died tragically in 2007 alone from gunfire in the United States according to Children's Defense, a non-profit dedicated to building safer communities with a small yet mighty focus on the crisis of gun violence in America. If that statistic alone doesn't scare you, maybe this will: in a recent 2019 article from the Associated Press, it states here in Wichita, violent crime rates are now twice the national average with gun shootings doubling in the past five years since 2014. The Wichita Police Department recognize shootings have become problematic and are now participating in initiatives such as citizen patrol to help out the understaffed branch keep crime low and accountability high. Bearing this in mind, Wichita Community Theatre opens their 2019-2020 season with the musical Blood Brothers, a show filled with a variety of themes but particularly gun violence being the most shocking and prevalent topic presented. The production runs at 258 N. Fountain from September 4-15, Wednesday through Saturday and is sponsored by KMUW Wichita 89.1.

Ovation TV, America's only arts network, has announced the latest host and guest of the new season of Inside the Actors Studio. The upcoming episode will feature Pedro Pascal (Wonder Woman 1984, The Mandalorian) interviewing four-time Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse, At Eternity's Gate) and will air on Sunday, October 27 at 10pm ET / 7pm PT.

IAMA Theatre Company has invited six up-and-coming Los Angeles playwrights to participate in its newly minted a?oeUnder 30 Playwrights Lab.a?? The inaugural group includesLaura Donney, Max Friedlich, Ken Greller, Madeline Hendricks, Nicholas Pilapil and Adriana Santos, each of whom will be in residence at IAMA for the entire 2019-20 season.

It's nothing short of spectacular.

Feinstein's at Vitello's newest monthly series, mostly NEW musicals, returns Monday, 10.7.19 with selections from musicals by acclaimed composer and recording artist Kevin Ray, featuring a starry cast from LA and Broadway! Tickets are available now at www.feinsteinsatvitellos.com.

Rubicon Theatre Company presents an updated limited-engagement encore run of last year's World Premiere of I DIG ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC directed by James O'Neil. This year's production features an all new cast starring Yvette Cason, Harley Jay, Beau Moore, Charlotte Morris and Scott Anthony. I Dig Rock and Roll Music begins previews on September 11, will have its press opening on Saturday September 14 at 7 p.m., and performances will continue September 15 through September 29 at Rubicon Theatre, 1006 E. Main Street in Ventura's Downtown Cultural District.

The Kansas City Actors Theatre continues to provide Kansas City with some of the best dramas to appear in local theater with the opening of a?oeMASTER HAROLDa??a??AND THE BOYS Saturday night, at the City Stage in Union Station. Directed by Gary Heisserer the play runs through September 29.

Atlas Performing Arts Center announces its annual fundraising Gala to be held on Thursday, October 3, 2019, at 7 PM. The evening begins with cocktails, a live musical performance from the virtuosic guitarist, Matthew Mills, and culminates with exciting entertainment from Wammie Award-winning artists AZTEC SUN and A-Squad Entertainment.

You can't beat City Halla?? but you can try. The Fountain Theatre presents the Los Angeles premiere of the fearless, hilarious Pulitzer Prize, New York Drama Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel award-winning comedy-drama, Between Riverside and Crazy byStephen Adly Guirgis.Guillermo Cienfuegos directs for an Oct. 19 opening, with performances continuing through Dec. 15. Pay-what-you-want previews begin Oct. 16.

On October 10, the newly-established Athens Philharmonic performs a special concert under the direction of Yiannis Hadjiloizou The Philharmonic is joined by the NY Choral Society and soloists Larisa Martínez and Daveda Karanas. Additionally, the concert program includes works by Mr. Hadjiloizou himself, as well as one by his father, composer Michael Hadjiloizou.

When you see Halloween decorations lining the aisles of every store, you may groan -- autumn has hardly begun! But at the Walnut Street Theatre, spooky season is in full swing, and you won't be sorry for it.

A Noise Within (ANW) presents the first chronological chapter in Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson's American Century Cycle, Gem of the Ocean, directed by Gregg T. Daniel. Daniel previously directed ANW's Ovation Award and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award-nominated production of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun for the theatre's 2017-2018 season.

The Drama League has announced its 2019 Fall Series, including new play readings, open rehearsals, master workshops and conversations with America's leading stage directors, to be held at The Drama League Theater Center

Two love stories. Two suicides. Padua Playwrights presents theNYC premiere of Mayakovsky and Stalin, written and directed by legendary poet/playwrightMurray Mednick (Theatre Genesis) opening at theCherry Lane Theatre for a four-week run beginningOct. 17.

Due to scheduling issues, Lillias White will no longer be able to perform in I DIG ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC for this limited run at the Rubicon Theatre; and Yvette Cason (Broadway credits include Play On!, for which she also won an Ovation Award and Dreamgirls. Her regional credits include Blues in the Night at the Wallis and Shout Sister Shout at the Pasadena Playhouse), will now perform with the production through closing.

Single tickets for most individual shows performing at Popejoy Hall this season will go on sale Friday, September 27, 2019 at 10am. Tickets will be available for all Ovation Series productions, except The Book of Mormon. Currently, tickets are available to Swan Lake and Jesus Christ Superstar.

Profoundly moving and endlessly poignant a?' yet somehow laugh out loud funny at times it is most unexpected a?' Dear Evan Hansen, the Tony Award-winning musical that sharply reflects society's fascination with popularity and a?oefitting ina?? with a decidedly contemporary flavor, has settled into Andrew Jackson Hall at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center for an eight-performance run that heralds the start of the 2019-20 Broadway at TPAC series. And judging from the audience's response on opening night (along with the extended standing ovation that greeted the show's eight-member cast at the end of their performance), it's a particularly auspicious start to what promises to be a particularly impressive season.

Patti LuPone, the multiple Tony, Grammy, and Olivier Award winner, will be on hand for the Broadway Back to Schoolgala honoring her good friends Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman

Ventriloquist, comedian and winner of America's Got Talent 2015, Paul Zerdin, is back with a brand-new show - Paul Zerdin's Puppet Party, at the Pavilion Theatre on Wednesday 16 October 2019 at 7:30pm.