Allow me if you will a little indulgence as I set the scene. The year is 2020, the Global Pandemic that has riddled the world, and the country as we know it to shutter/ shelter in place.
Like many Performing Arts Organizations, the folks at freeFall Theatre, known for their motto “Just escape awhile...” and their inventive way of producing live theatre, was struggling to find the best outlet to keep producing, while safely doing so for both performers and patrons alike.
Producing Artistic Director Eric Davis and Director Matthew McGee began discussions about how to safely produce a Christmas Show that was full on Christmas versus just taking place around Christmas. In the past freeFall has produced works such as Peter & The Starcatcher, and The Lion in Winter that work for Christmas shows, but are not necessarily Christmas shows. They have also in the past produced A Christmas Carol, but being inventive, Eric Davis and company wanted to shake things up a little, and if any theatre is well known for doing just that, its freeFall. So you can say the show itself was born out of a challenge, and freeFall delivered ten-fold. The Night Before was such a hit, freeFall decided to bring it back this season for the second year in a row, with some new adaptations and new characters.
The 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy Fat Ham by James Ijames will make its Broadway premiere in 2023. The Public’s Associate Artistic Director and Resident Director Saheem Ali returns to direct the complete original Off-Broadway cast, including Nikki Crawford as “Tedra,” Chris Herbie Holland as “Tio,” Billy Eugene Jones as “Rev” and “Pap,” Adrianna Mitchell as “Opal,” Calvin Leon Smith as “Larry,” Marcel Spears as “Juicy,” and Benja Kay Thomas as “Rabby.”
ARTHUR CIRCLE MUSIC will present Stirrings Still, an intimate set of duets for voice and guitar, scheduled for release January 24, 2023 on CD, digital download, and streaming, with a vinyl edition to follow in June 2023.
Since forming six years ago, Manchester five-piece Sylvette have built a cult fan base around the country with their dynamic blend of emotive art-rock and Kafkaesque lyrics. Describing themselves as “Björk meets Black Midi, Nine Inch Nails and Black Country New Road”, the band’s name is inspired by the enchanting muse.
The first live standings have been announced for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Dayton Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.
The Royal Albert Hall and Goalhanger Podcasts have announced a special end-of-year round-up live show with #1 ranked UK podcast The Rest is Politics on 13 December.
Studio Grand Central has announced its Ha-Ha-Holiday Cabaret. Local favorite Sydney Reddish, last seen in the smash hit Haunted Cabaret as well as Jobsite Theatre's production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile, joins our own Anthony Gervais accompanied by Chris Kinney for some classic holiday standards ranging from the naughty to the nice.
New to St John's Smith Square for 2022, the Belle Epoque Festival is a tantalising peek into a musical world turning its back on heavy symphonic styles. Over four days, the festival will celebrate the gorgeous music of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
Pompano Beach Arts will welcome Tony Award winning singer-songwriter Levi Kreis, who will be bringing his popular Home for the Holidays concert to the Pompano Beach Cultural Center on Tuesday, December 6, 2022.
There’s always something to do at freeFall! This holiday season features a remount of last year’s smash hit holiday musical from the minds of Matthew McGee and Michael Raabe. The Night Before plays freeFall November 25 through December 24. See photos from the production.
The Town Hall has announced that stage and screen star Nathan Lane will moderate a special evening with Hollywood icon Steve Martin and artist Harry Bliss, as they reflect on their new book Number One Is Walking - My Life In the Movies and Other Diversions (Celadon Books). The live evening will take place on November 15 at 8pm at The Town Hall.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has announced the full cast and creative team for the World Premiere commissioned musical The Day You Begin.
Live Arts Theater's 2022/23 Transformations Season journeys forward with the award-winning musical VIOLET. This soaring musical pilgrimage features music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics and book by Brian Crawley. VIOLET will have 12 performances in the Gibson Theater, November 18 through December 10, 2022.
Casting has been announced for Bad Victims, a new play from award-nominated playwright Joanna Pickering at The Courtyard Theatre, directed by Erica Gould.
Castle Hill Players will complete their sensational season of plays with perhaps the funniest and wittiest of all. Hollywood superstar Steve Martin's sparkling comedy “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” will run from 18 Nov to 10 Dec at the Pavilion Theatre, Castle Hill.
Cygnet Theatre announces its return to in-person readings for The Bill and Judy Garrett Finish Line Commission in 2022. In partnership with the UCSD MFA Playwriting Program, the commission supports Cygnet's commitment to new theatrical works, written by groundbreaking local playwrights as well as nationally recognized playwrights.
Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board has announced a new installation that celebrates the diverse artists within Montgomery County at the region's premiere shopping destination, King of Prussia Mall.
PostClassical Ensemble (PCE) will kick off their 2022-23 season on November 9 at 7:30pm with Paris at Midnight: Jazz and Surrealism in the 1920s. The performance, which will feature guest-curator Harry Cooper (Senior Curator at the National Gallery of Art), will take place at The Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater, as will the rest of their exciting season.
'Genius: MLK/X,' produced by 20th Television, Imagine Television and Undisputed Cinema: Kelvin Harrison Jr. ('The Trial of the Chicago 7') as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Aaron Pierre ('The Underground Railroad') as Malcolm X, Weruche Opia ('I May Destroy You') as Coretta Scott King, and Jayme Lawson ('The Batman') as Betty Shabazz.
