Paul Kolnik News

A look inside rehearsals for the dynamic new performance piece!

The Broadway League has awarded the coveted New York Education Grants to the Broadway productions of Constellations, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and The King and I. Each production received a $5,000 grant towards its 2015 educational and engagement initiatives. The grants aid the growth and development of theatre education in the city in an effort to encourage Broadway productions to create more opportunities for young people.

Lincoln Center Theater's THE KING AND I, which features a cast led by Kelli O'Hara (as Anna Leonowens) and Ken Watanabe (as the King of Siam), is directed by Bartlett Sher, is currently in previews ahead of an official opening night on Thursday, April 16 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater (150 West 65 Street). Below, BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the pair in costume!

Blue Man Group's unique brand of humor now comes with a millennial message

The former pop star and Broadway headliner brings her tribute to female singer-songwriters to 54 Below.

New York City Ballet's 'All Balanchine III, Hear the Dance: Italy' features a perfect pairing of pieces that brim with Balanchine's incomparable sense of showmanship. Ballet is an art form, but Mr. B knew that it can also serve as sheer entertainment without losing integrity. Beyond that, he was a master of making us 'see the music, hear the dance', as he put it. This double bill, with works set to scores by great Italian composers, does precisely that.

I've never been a fan of Peter Martins' choreography so I was surprised to find myself moved by the "balcony pas de deux" in Romeo + Juliet, his adaptation for the New York City Ballet of Shakespeare's tragic tale about star-crossed lovers. Sterling Hyltin as Juliet and Robert Fairchild as Romeo, returning to the roles they originated when the ballet had its premiere in 2007, used the beautiful but difficult intertwinings and lifts to convey their youthful passion in a way that was entirely believable to me.

In a word - an Ailey experience is nothing shy of transformational. If ever given the opportunity to take in an Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performance, a few things are definitely bound to happen. You will be forever changed. Your views and ideologies will be questioned. Your biases and prejudices will be challenged and you will most definitely leave the theatre wanting to experience it again and again and again.

As a part of its Hear the Dance program for the Winter 2015 season, the New York City Ballet presented two pieces featuring compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. They were choreographed by the Company's most renowned choreographers, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. With minimal set and costume designs, the evening allowed for music and dance to take flight, leaving the audience at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in awe as they watched Bach's music come to life in a pure dance experience.

In the first week of New York City Ballet's return to the Koch Theater after Nutcracker season, I was excited to attend the January 21st performance featuring Russian composers.

The New York City Ballet presents a World Premiere by NYCB Soloist and Resident Choreographer Justin Peck, which will premiere as part of the Company's annual New Combinations Evening on Wednesday, February 4. Set to Aaron Copland's symphonic score, Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo, the work will feature costumes co-designed by Reid Bartelme, Harriet Jung, and Peck with lighting by Brandon Stirling Baker.

The windy city blew into the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts with gale force on Tuesday night as the Theater League presented the opening of Chicago the Musical. Barry and Fran Weissler present the Tony Award winning musical with book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Fred Ebb. David Bushman recreates the original choreography and David Hyslop recreates the original production direction of the musical originally choreographed and directed by Fosse.

Whether or not you are a sports fan for either of the professional Nashville sports teams, I'd like to be the first to prepare you for a possible sighting of a man or two performing off-Broadway with blue paint on their faces. However, these blue men aren't playing by the same rules. Let me just state the obvious, the Tennessee Titans have absolutely nothing on the Blue Man Group (BMG) returning to Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center with a new theatrical touring production. For this week only, the entirely new, high-impact visual performance will wow Nashvillians like never before in Andrew Jackson Hall. Here at BroadwayWorld Nashville, we had the chance to interview not one but two touring Blue Man professionals.

After the 1954 New York City Ballet premiere of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, the production reigned supreme as the gold standard for the holiday classic even though William Christensen's excellent 1944 version was the first one ever staged in this country. By now, however, countless superb iterations of the ballet have spawned from coast to coast as well as in Alaska and Hawaii. Many of them, in my opinion, are better than Mr. B's. That may be why the matinee I saw on December 27th 2014 at the Koch Theater in Lincoln Center seemed like an obligatory musty relic that had been dragged out of the attic for yet another season.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts just wrapped up the world premiere musical production Little Dancer in November, and according to the New York Times, the show will continue life on the west coast.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is now onstage at New York City Center through January 4th. Artistic Director Robert Battle presents an exciting and versatile series of performances to metropolitan area audiences.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, recognized as a vital 'American Cultural Ambassador' to the world and New York City Center's Principal Dance Company, returns to the New York City Center stage for the 43rd consecutive year from tonight, December 3, 2014 - January 4, 2015. The Company will present 39 performances during an exciting annual season that has become a joyous holiday tradition.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents the world premiere musical production Little Dancer in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater through today, November 30, 2014.

New York City Ballet will open its 60th anniversary season of George Balanchine's The NutcrackerTM, today, November 28 at 8 p.m. at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The 2014-15 season of the holiday classic, sponsored for a third year by The Travelers Companies, Inc., will include 47 performances through Saturday, January 3, 2015.

Inspired by Edgar Degas' famous sculpture of a 14 year-old dancer, 'Little Dancer' is one of those kinds of musicals that you don't see much anymore. It's also the kind of musical that we desperately need on Broadway today.