Plenty News

Until February 2nd, you catch the 2016 Broadway hit A Bronx Tale at Detroit's Fisher Theatre. Based on the play of the same name, A Bronx Tale features a book by Chazz Palminteri, lyrics by Glenn Slater, and music by Alan Menken.

Two prolific writers who put the a?oeGreata?? in a?oeThe Great American Songbooka?? were celebrated and explored in the same week at Manhattan's 92nd Street Y. In different presentations, there were embraces of the legacies of lyricist E.Y. (a?oeYipa??) Harburg and composer/lyricist Cole Porter.

The Canadian Opera Company's remount of THE BARBER OF SEVILLE, last performed in 2015, is a visually striking and pitch-perfect adaptation of one of opera's most well-known works. With staging by Spanish theatre troupe Els Comediants, director Joan Font beautifully blends 19th century sensibilities, modern architecture, and clownish costumes for an opera experience that defies any one genre.

How do you put a new spin on the world's longest-running play? At Court Theatre, director Sean Graney takes on this challenge with Agatha Christie's classic murder mystery, THE MOUSETRAP. Running continuously in London's West End since 1952, the original production currently clocks in at over 28,000 performancesa?'certainly a jewel in the crown of one of the world's most successful mystery writers. While the London production has only updated its set design twice since its premiere, here in Chicago, Graney and team breathe fresh life into the popular mystery with fascinating designs, hilarious character actors and an honest approach to Christie's insightful exploration of human nature.

The Marriott Theatre opens its 45th season with director Scott Weinstein's staging of GREASE, the 1971 musical that was born in Chicago and became a Broadway hit, a famous film and a perennial favorite of theaters across the country. With book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, the show follows sheltered Sandy Dumbrowski (Leryn Turlington) as she navigates social life at Rydell High School, where she's the new girl in the class of 1959. Befriended by a world-wise clique called the Pink Ladies, Sandy soon discovers that her boyfriend of the previous summer, Danny Zuko (Jimmy Nicholas) also attends Rydell and is the leader of a leather-clad gang of a?oegreasers.a?? Can innocent Sandy and tough-guy Danny rekindle their summer romance in the complicated social scene of Rydell High?

Churchill's take on love and on information seems a bit chilly. There may be a lot of both love and information out there, she appears to intimate, but it's not usually of very good quality. Much of Churchill's frostiness is, however, presented with a comic touch, emphasized by Dierdre McAllister's direction, by the energetic and youthful ensemble, and by the audience, which seemed to be goading on the performers with constant and frequently loud laughter.

Already in previews, Heidi Schreck's 2019 Tony-nominated Best Play and Pulitzer Prize finalist WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME has been extended twice at the Mark Taper Forum through February 28, 2020. Maria Dizzia assumes the role of Heidi in this national tour, with original Broadway cast members Mike Iveson and Rosdely Ciprian rounding out the cast. (Jocelyn Shek will alternate the role of debater with Rosdely.) I had the opportunity to ask a few CONSTITUTIONal questions of Mike.

Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's boom was the most produced American play of 2010. 10 years later, Wellesley Repertory Theatre has brought it back, directed by artistic director, Marta Rainer, armed with the proverbial program note toting its enduring relevance. In a way, it seems to wittily comment on the 'New Play' format that still plagues us. It gives us the Annie Baker-esque satisfaction of seeing things really happen on stage. Right at top of show, one character bangs on a timpani. We see the drum reverberate and hear the sound ringing off of the walls. Another character immediately tells her scene partner to take his shirt off. We watch him do so, and then we see him fumble to awkwardly remove his jeans, turning them inside-out in the process. Is that a real fire extinguisher? Is that a real first-aid kit? Cool.

The February lineup of acts performing at City Winery Chicago (1200 W. Randolph St) has been announced. See full details below!

There are as many forms of entertainments as there are concepts. Expressing one's point of view can be difficult and when you put nine people in the same room and ask them to brainstorm for the next best idea for a film script, there are bound to be way too many or too few concepts that work. Playwright Annie Baker has penned her most recent play, THE ANTIPODES, using this idea as a construct for a present day 'theatre of the absurd' that hasn't been seen Ionesco's THE BALD SOPRANO. Happily Buffalo's Road Less Traveled Productions is presenting Baker's play in a knockout evening of theatre with some of the best ensemble acting you will ever encounter.

I have been a lifelong fan of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. So, I approached Ghostlight Records' LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (The New Off-Broadway Cast Album) with equal amounts of excitement and trepidation. Would it live up to the joys of the distinctive treasures that are the Original Off-Broadway Cast Album, the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, and the 2003 New Broadway Revival recordings? Luckily, it does. So, to quote Audrey II, a?oeGo git it!a??

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and what better way to celebrate than to take that special someone in your life on a date to the theatre! San Antonio offers a wide variety of shows playing this Valentine's Day weekend, so find a show and grab that special someone or a group of friends and enjoy the intimate magic that only happens when enjoying a live performance.

Uncle Vanya opened last night in the West End at the Harold Pinter Theatre! Toby Jones (The Birthday Party, Don't Forget the Driver, Detectorists) stars in the title role of Vanya alongside Richard Armitage (The Crucible, Berlin Station, The Hobbit) as Astrov. Rosalind Eleazar (The Personal History of David Copperfield, Deep Water, The Starry Messenger) plays Yelena, with Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education, Downstate) as Sonya, the Emmy Award-winning Anna Calder-Marshall (LOVE, Evening at the Talk House, Male of the Species) as Nana, the Olivier and Tony-award nominated Dearbhla Molloy (The Ferryman, Dancing at Lughnasa, Juno and the Paycock) as Grandmaman, Peter Wight (The Birthday Party, Hamlet, The Red Lion) as Telegin and Olivier Award-nominated Ciarán Hinds (Translations, Game of Thrones, Girl from the North Country) as Professor Serebryakov.

The previously announced Neil Diamond musical is inching its way closer to Broadway!

Wright State University's Department of Theater, Dance, and Motion Pictures proudly presents the Emerging Choreographers Concert 2020. The upperclassmen dance majors of the Wright State University Dance Ensemble (WSUDE) have been tirelessly working on their new works premiering this February 14th- and February 15th at 8pm and Sunday February 16th at 2pm in Dance Space 170 in the Creative Arts Center. Five seniors: Courtney Anderson, Kennedi Jones, Hannah Neff, Jacob Shade, and Mikaela Sobolik, will be premiering their senior choreographic works. Eleven juniors will also be showcasing their pieces. 

Grab your sexy heels and see KINKY BOOTS: Outstanding newcomers and perennial favorites get their kicks on at Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia, Maryland. Mark Minnick directs an unconventionally heartwarming story exploring relationships not often spotlighted in theatric productions. DeCarlo Raspberry dazzles as Lola, and Matt Hirsch masters Charlie Price in Toby's intimate dinner theater setting, creating an evening jam-packed with sparkle, surprise and songs by Cyndi Lauper.

It is Victorian London, 1888. Dr Henry Jekyll, a brilliant and respected scientist - shy and unassuming - is content with his reputation as a moral, upright citizen. Or so it would seem. Frustrated by his dull normalcy and intrigued by the notion of the a?oedual nature of mana??, Jekyll secretly creates a formula to unleash his hidden, bestial nature. Edward Hyde is born! The brutish, magnetic Hyde indulges in drink and debauchery while Jekyll's life of propriety continues a?" until Hyde's passions begin to turn up a body count.

In a unique cabaret show, songstress Jay Power turns her soulful, Jazz-trained voice to songs a?" and accompanying social ideals - from yesteryear.

Children's YouTube sensation Blippi presents the first-ever tour across North America, with a date at DPAC in Durham, NC on February 20, 2020. Blippi Live! is set to bring the vivacious, energetic, and educational children's character from the screen to the stage for an all-ages extravaganza of fun, dancing, singing and meeting amazing new friends onstage.

Ovation TV, America's only arts network, has acquired the U.S. broadcast rights for the second season of the Julia Stiles-led drama series Riviera (10 x 60') from Sky Studios. The arts network also signed a deal for the first season of Hooten & the Lady (8 x 60'), which will debut on Ovation's AVOD travel and culture channel JOURNY. The announcement was made today by Scott Woodward, EVP Programming and Production, Ovation.