Rubicon Theatre Artistic Director Karyl Lynn Burns today announced that London-based director Katharine Farmer will helm the company's next two productions, a two-piano version of South Pacific (Dec. 5 - 23, 2018) which concludes Rubicon's 20th Anniversary Season, and Heisenberg (Jan. 30 - Feb. 17, 2019), a co-production with Laguna Playhouse, where the show runs Mar. 27 to Apr. 14, 2019).
The Britannia Awards were held on Friday night, and usually funny-man Jim Carrey was not joking around.
Rubicon Theatre Artistic Director Karyl Lynn Burns today announced that London-based director Katharine Farmer will helm the company's next two productions, a two-piano version of South Pacific(Dec. 5 - 23, 2018) which concludes Rubicon's 20th Anniversary Season, and Heisenberg (Jan. 30 - Feb. 17, 2019), a co-production with Laguna Playhouse, where the show runs Mar. 27 to Apr. 14, 2019).
The San Diego Opera's production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro featured expressive singing, clever attractive sets, beautiful costumes, and strong comedic and dramatic acting. The work is generally called a comic opera, but as director Stephen Lawless pointed out during my interview with him, 'There are tears behind the laughter.' The difficult political and social issues hiding behind laughter came from the Beaumarchais play on which the opera was based, and Mozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte had to make light of them or risk censorship. The play's depiction of royal abuses probably contributed to the start of the French Revolution. Napoleon went so far as to say the it was, 'the Revolution already put into action.'
Phoenix Theatre's production of FUN HOME, directed by Robert Kolby Harper, is perfect in every respect. Superb performances by Rusty Ferracane, Elyse Wolf, Becca Ayers, Olivia Fearey. Runs through December 2nd.
The Woman Who Went to Space as a Man - Part fact, part fever dream, and part musical, this captivating new work opens with Alice B. Sheldon - better known to sci-fi aficionados as author James Tiptree, Jr. - contemplating suicide. Dodging in and out of reality, the play, with a bold musical score from award-winning world music artist Yuval Ron, investigates gender, longing and creativity as self-exploration through one of the science fiction world's greatest literary tricksters.
The Woman Who Went to Space as a Man - Part fact, part fever dream, and part musical, this captivating new work opens with Alice B. Sheldon - better known to sci-fi aficionados as author James Tiptree, Jr. - contemplating suicide. Dodging in and out of reality, the play, with a bold musical score from award-winning world music artist Yuval Ron, investigates gender, longing and creativity as self-exploration through one of the science fiction world's greatest literary tricksters. Sheldon was most notable for breaking down the barriers between writing perceived as inherently 'male' or 'female,' as it was not publicly known until 1977 that Tiptree was, in fact, a woman. Inspired by the biography 'James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon' by Julie Phillips along with 'With Delicate Mad Hands' by James Tiptree, Jr., The Woman Who Went to Space as a Man, is a co-production from Son of Semele Ensemble and opens on October 27 at Son of Semele Theater in Los Angeles.
This year sees the 40th anniversary of John Williams' first concert with the London Symphony Orchestra, which was performed at the Royal Albert Hall in February 1978. Friday's concert would have heralded Williams' return to perform in London for the first time in over 20 years, though this was sadly prevented by illness. One of Williams' long-time colleagues Dirk Brosse instead took up the conductor's baton, and the event became a big celebration of and expression of love for a composer whose career has spanned six decades, finding a place in millions of people's hearts thanks to his legendary film and television scores.
Jenna Gavigan made her Broadway debut in the 2003 revival of Gypsy starring Bernadette Peters as the Hollywood Blonde and understudy for June. This month, she debuts in the literary world with her middle-grade novel LULU THE BROADWAY MOUSE, certain to charm the hearts of theatre lovers new and old. This will make an excellent gift this holiday season!
The Stella Adler Studio of Acting's Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater will present The Whale, the critically acclaimed play by award winning playwright Samuel D. Hunter. The Whale runs from November 14-30, 2018.
Cate Caplin has produced, directed and choreographed over 200 productions and her work has been seen on television, in films, music videos, commercials and in theatrical venues world wide from the Paris Opera House to the Broadway Stage. She is a 34 times Regional and International Theatrical Ballroom Dance Champion, is a published writer and has been the recipient of a Garland Award, a Women In Theatre Red Carpet Award, multiple LA Stage Alliance Ovation, Eddon and Scenie Awards and was honored to receive an Award of Excellence from the LA Film Commission for her work as a Writer, Director, Choreographer and Producer.
At the outset, it must be said that the Garden Theatre did all it could... It's just that THE BIRDS is a bust, and no one - not even Hitchcock - could save it.
Avignon's Opéra Confluence is a challenging space, located some kilometers outside the town center near the TGV train station. It was recently constructed as a temporary theatre space while the city 19th century opera house undergoes significant restoration. The interior of the space resembles an exposed wood warehouse with red chairs. At the far end of the theatre, rather than the proscenium filling out the audience view, a yawning black screen fills the space, with the center third cut out for the performance. This scenic letterbox effect, coupled with the added distance made by the pit orchestra, makes dramatic intimacy and scenic delicacy difficult. Opéra Grand Avignon's production of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, under the stage direction of Stephan Grögler, turned what is at times a distant screen, into an enchanting diorama in which Grögler sure-footedly welcomes the enchanting tonal and aesthetic contradictions of the 18th century opera.
As all Long Islanders know, Billy Joel IS the King of Long Island. Occupying the throne as Queen is Pat Benatar. Sorry Mariah, but as it was experienced on October 12, 2018 at the Tilles Center, Benatar hit the stage with her best shot, fired away and knocked all competition for the title. I don't understand how in the h-e-double hockey sticks both Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yet; to say that this is an injustice is putting it lightly. #wakeuprockhall
Award-winning artists' collective Rogue Artists Ensemble takes over West Hollywood's Plummer Park through a commission from The City of West Hollywood's Arts Division for a site-specific immersive theater experience with Señor Plummer's Final Fiesta, celebrating the life of Eugene Plummer, a champion of community in early Los Angeles and a prominent figure in what is now West Hollywood. Closing November 18, Señor Plummer's Final Fiesta stirs up a merry band of ghosts and shadows who sweep you into a past filled with wild west duels, pirates, land-grabs, violent mobs, shark-riding, romances, epic court battles, and, of course, fiestas!
Broadway in Richmond at the Altria Theater opens its 2018-2019 season with a phenomenal bang. Boublil and Schonberg's Les Miserables returns to Richmond through October 28. Fans old and new will enjoy this garden-fresh, pitch-perfect duplication of the 2014 Broadway revival directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell. Tickets can be purchased here.
On the heels of the release of his first solo album, Contrabandista, on Decca Classics, Mexican tenor Javier Camarena's “infectious” voice (New Yorker) and “brightly eloquent” performances (LA Times) take him to New York and across Europe this season. Already considered the pre-eminent Mozart and bel canto specialist of his generation, Camarena has just completed a run as Arturo in Bellini's I Puritani in Barcelona, followed yesterday by the Tucker Gala at Carnegie Hall, and is currently starting rehearsals for the role of Nadir in Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles at the Metropolitan Opera. The tenor returns to the Met stage in February as Tonio in Donizetti's La fille du régiment, and again, in the same production, later in the spring at London's Royal Opera House; sings Ernesto in the same composer's Don Pasquale at the Opéra de Paris and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Bayerische Staatsoper; and reprises Les pêcheurs at Spain's Ópera de Bilbao. In December and January, during a rare lull in his production schedule, Camarena keeps busy with concerts and recitals in Spain, Switzerland, the U.S. and Mexico.
Lonesome is the perch where this avid music fan must critique a genre consumed by a devout subculture. Musical taste is a subjective value, which ought to render all taste buds sacrosanct and perhaps left alone. The task is more involved when said genre becomes a basis for an international musical.
Cal State Fullerton's Fall musical is the warm-hearted family play "Children of Eden" featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, (creator of the Tony-Award winning "Wicked," "Pippin" and "Godspell") with a book by John Caird. The production is directed by professional director and actor Rufus Bonds, Jr. with musical direction by David Lamoureaux and choreography by William F. Lett, running October 26-November 11 in the Little Theatre on campus. "Children of Eden" is a musical telling of the inspirational stories of "Adam and Eve," "Noah and the Ark" and other stories from the "Book of Genesis."
A 'Forbes' headline from last week read: "Ford Prepares for Mass Layoffs After Losing $1 Billion to Trump's Trade Tariffs, Report Says." In fact, Ford is planning to restructure its company to the tune of $25.5 billion, which could cost as many as 24,000 people their jobs. Seemingly ripped from the headlines, Dominique Morisseau's play SKELETON CREW, which opened at PlayMakers earlier this month, is set in a Detroit auto plant on the verge of shutting down amidst the recession in 2008. Already having lost half its crew, the plant is struggling to keep operations afloat. Morisseau examines the plight of four workers and their intertwined relationships.
Videos
