Playbill News

When you hear the title A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, it is hard to not instantly recall the timeless story of Ebenezer Scrooge and the Christmas Spirits that visit him to try and turn him from his wretched ways. However, sitting in the audience of the sold out opening show for South Bend Civic Theatre's A Christmas Carol, I realized that I would not be watching that classic Christmas story with a 'South Bend adaptation' that was touted to patrons. Rather, don't expect the original story to take place in South Bend, but instead become a story within a story about… South Bend? Confusing, right? I know I was confused for the better portion of the show because while I'm sure there were good intentions, the pieces just did not come together to make a cohesive and understandable performance.

A huge congrats to BC/EFA, which just announced GYPSY OF THE YEAR's outstanding grand total of $4,786,239 after six weeks of fundraising efforts! Broadway's BOOK OF MORMON brought in the top funds, and KINKY BOOTS took 'Best Presentation' at the event.

Marin Theatre Company continues its 49th Season with August Wilson's GEM OF THE OCEAN. Set in 1904 Pittsburgh, Gem marks the beginning of Wilson's ten-play century cycle dramatizing the African American experience during the 20th century; an unprecedented series that includes the Pulitzer Prize winning Fences and The Piano Lesson.

The 27th annual edition of the Gypsy of the Year competition will feature special performances from 14 Broadway and Off-Broadway shows today, December 7 (4:30 PM) and tomorrow, December 8 (2 PM) at the New Amsterdam Theatre (214 West 42nd Street, NYC). Gypsy of the Year (#gypsyoftheyear) celebrates six weeks of intensive fundraising by Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring productions.

JERSEY BOYS is like a bag of potato chips. Once you savor that addictive first taste, you can't enough. JERSEY BOYS is back in town and even if you have seen it numerous times, you don't want to pass this show up. These songs are timeless. The story is timeless. This is the show that never loses its appeal.

Kelley Curran and Thomas Jay Ryan have been selected to receive the 2015 Joe A. Callaway Award presented by the Actors Equity Foundation.

The 27th annual edition of the Gypsy of the Year competition will feature special performances from 14 Broadway and Off-Broadway shows on Monday, December 7 (4:30 PM) and Tuesday, December 8 (2 PM) at the New Amsterdam Theatre (214 West 42nd Street, NYC), BroadwayWorld has confirmed. Gypsy of the Year (#gypsyoftheyear) celebrates six weeks of intensive fundraising by Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring productions.

Andy Grotelueschen has received the annual St. Clair Bayfield Award presented by the Actors Equity Foundation for his performance as Launce in the Fiasco Theater's production of Two Gentlemen of Verona. The announcement was made by Arne Gundersen, President of the Foundation, and Joan Glazer, Managing Director.

The Probability of Possible Probabilities

Twyla Tharp, the award-winning choreographer who has rightfully become a dance legend in her own time, capped her multi-city 50th Anniversary Tour with performances from November 17th to 22nd 2015 at the Koch Theater in Lincoln Center, presented by The Joyce Theater. Yet perhaps precisely because the run has been so eagerly anticipated by those of us who have followed Tharp's evolution during a stellar career that spans half a century, the double bill of premieres she created for the tour was not entirely satisfying.

You can be certain that during this time of year, I'm making my way to various and sundry theaters to witness the latest Christmaslike offerings from companies large and small, but after last season's A Country Christmas, Carol - playwright/actress Lydia Bushfield's uniquely fun take on the Charles Dickens classic about the coldly restrained Ebenezer Scrooge and that whiny little cuss Tiny Tim - her newest show, now onstage at Nashville's Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, seemed mighty promising to kick off my season with raucous laughter and bemused sentiment.

BroadwayWorld has teamed up with renowned caricature artist Ken Fallin, a life-long theater enthusiast, who has drawn many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions.

In what has become an annual ritual, a total of 36 established and emerging composers, lyricists, and librettists will converge on the Goodspeed campus from mid-January through mid-February 2016 to participate in the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing 19 new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration. BroadwayWorld is excited to report that Goodspeed has announced its 2016 participants. Scroll down for details!

Feinstein's/54 Below, "Broadway's Supper Club", presents JAY ALAN ZIMMERMAN'S NAUGHTY & NICE HOLIDAY SONGBOOK on Thursday, December 17th, 9:30pm.

BroadwayWorld has teamed up with renowned caricature artist Ken Fallin, a life-long theater enthusiast, who has drawn many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) celebrates the 2015 holiday season with a wide variety of concert programming, from the traditional annual performances of Handel's Messiah with the Concert Artists of Baltimore to a one-of-a-kind experience that pairs world-class acrobats and gymnasts with music by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, in an exciting program titled Cirque de la Symphonie.

Thirty-six new works will debut in Dance Innovations: Strong/Light, a choreographic showcase of York University's Department of Dance, running November 26 to 28. York's rising young dance artists step into the spotlight with three distinctive programs of original choreography, presented in the McLean Performance Studio, 244 Accolade East Building on York's Keele campus.

Tony Award-winning Broadway starlet Annaleigh Ashford -- currently receiving raves in SYLVIA, and also celebrated for her work on stage in YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, KINKY BOOTS, RENT, WICKED and LEGALLY BLONDE, as well as on the hit Showtime television series MASTERS OF SEX - celebrates the release of her debut album a LIVE recording of her critically acclaimed cabaret show LOST IN THE STARS, which debuted last December at 54 Below and has since traveled to select cities across the country.

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a dash of Monty Python and you have San Jose Stage Company's production of The 39 Steps, a high-speed, hilarious spoof of the silver-screen classic in what the New York Times says is "Theatre at its finest! ... Absurdly enjoyable!"  

The winner of the 2015 Rob Guest Endowment Award was announced last night at a glamorous Grand Final Concert at the Sydney Lyric Theatre. Competing against five other outstanding Semi-Finalists with his performance of Goodbye and Memphis Lives in Me, Daniel Assetta took out the prestigious award after being chosen by an expert panel of judges, which included Kelley Abbey, Peter Casey and Gale Edwards.