Prince Hal News

Today we are taking a listen to Stephen Sondheim's musicals of the 1980s, each a striking artistic achievement attempting to do something never done before in Broadway history and improving the very genre of musical theatre itself with his work on these three very different shows. MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE and INTO THE WOODS...

As part of their upcoming productions of Leonard Bernstein's madcap musical On The Town and his mid-career masterpiece Candide, The 5th Avenue Theatre announced that they will be sponsoring a series of Show Talks during the runs of both shows, focusing on the life, music and influence of the conductor, composer and 20th-century Renaissance man.

Today we are taking a look at the extended streak of genius exhibited by Stephen Sondheim, along with director/producer Hal Prince, following the resounding success of COMPANY in 1970. Throughout the rest of the 70s they would continue to change the form of theatre itself with four momentous musicals tackling every topic from aging showgirls singing one last tune to Ingmar Bergman sunsets and a topic for a concept musical no less epic than the westernization of Japan in the wake of Commodore Perry - plus, who could forget the remorseful Barber and his knife (or should that be “wife“?). Without question, these are four richly-encrusted crowning achievements of a legendary career and these musical jewels are still sparkling and shining, as glistening and beautiful as ever dazzling us and enticing us to inspect them closer...

Today, we are taking a listen to ANYONE CAN WHISTLE and COMPANY, two of the most genre-bending and revolutionary musicals of the latter twentieth century, both boasting Sondheim's strongest songs of the sixties. These recordings contain some of the most legendary and illustrious Broadway casts of all time and include the names Angela Lansbury, Lee Remick, Bernadette Peters, Elaine Stritch, Raul Esparza, Dean Jones, Larry Kert and Jane Krakowski, just to name a few...

Finishing up their 19th season, the Seattle Shakespeare Company is presenting one of William Shakespeare's most beloved histories (at least it's one of my personal favorites), "Henry V". But this time they have traded in their tunics and swords for uniforms and guns by transplanting it to 1962. And while the show is a solid one I question the decision to retell it in this era.

Cornelia Street Cafe (29 Cornelia Street between West 4th and Bleecker, Greenwich Village) announces their weekend line-up featuring Jesse Stacken Trio tonight, German Jazz Group Ingrid Laubrock's Anti-House on Saturday, and Michael Bates' Outside Sources +1 on Sunday. The Cafe also features the Spoken Word each weekend night at 6:00pm. Poet Cynthia Cruz, Son of Pony, will lead the Open Mic on Friday; Greek-American Writers Association on Saturday and celebrating their 5th Anniversary Shakepeare Anyone!

As part of their upcoming productions of Leonard Bernstein's madcap musical On The Town and his mid-career masterpiece Candide, The 5th Avenue Theatre announced that they will be sponsoring a series of Show Talks during the runs of both shows, focusing on the life, music and influence of the conductor, composer and 20th-century Renaissance man.

This week, in honor of the first Broadway revival of the Neil Simon/Hal David/Burt Bacharach musical PROMISES, PROMISES starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth, it seems to be a particularly apropos time to go all the way back to an early Spring day of nearly fifty years ago: April 21, 1968, and that year's Tony Award telecast...

The Walnut Street Theatre's 2009-2010 Independence Studio on 3 season concludes with an all-new production of Eric Rockwell and Joanne Bogart's genre-hopping tribute to some of Broadway's greatest: The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!).

As part of their upcoming productions of Leonard Bernstein's madcap musical On The Town and his mid-career masterpiece Candide, The 5th Avenue Theatre announced that they will be sponsoring a series of Show Talks during the runs of both shows, focusing on the life, music and influence of the conductor, composer and 20th-century Renaissance man.

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have Alfred Hitchcock's THE 39 STEPS. This 2 time Tony and Drama Desk Award winner will end its run at the DuPont Theatre on April 11, 2010.

Hal Prince is currently taking on a new challenge very different from many of the shows he has worked on in the past. In the process of bringing PARADISE found to an eventual home on Broadway, Prince understands he may have to compete against several of his own shows.

Dallas Theater Center Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty announced today the company's 2010-11 season slated for the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre at the AT&T Performing Arts Center and the historic Kalita Humphreys Theater. DTC's 52nd season will include two classics never seen before at DTC, a wildly funny comedy, two musicals, a world premiere, and two grand dames of theater.

The UK Independent is reporting Kim Cattrall and Matthew Macfayden will team up with Gillian Anderson to star in the UK's Channel 4 four-part mini-series Any Human Heart. The series is an adaptation of William Boyd's best-selling novel and will premiere later this year.

Henry IV, Part I plays at the Lantern Theater Company now through May 2nd. Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I, opens with political drama as the recently crowned King Henry finds himself in a world of governmental trouble. But he has other problems on his mind as his son, Prince Hal, takes to frequenting taverns with a sordid company of thieves, drunkards and whores. Hal's friend, the incredibly portly Sir. John Falstaff, is a scoundrel, but also an incredibly humorous man who fills a sort of fatherly role. Prince Hal finds his loyalty divided between his father and Falstaff, a tug of war made all the more interesting due to the casting of one actor in both roles. When King Henry's enemies declare war, Hal must make a choice to assume his responsibilities as heir apparent before civil war claims England.

Lantern Theater Company concludes its 2009/10 mainstage season with the rarely performed Henry IV, Part I. In the tradition of the Lantern's darkly comic, Barrymore Award-winning production of Richard III, this gripping, ripping plot from William Shakespeare's history canon features a cast of local actors and battles royale that will transport you to another time and place. Previews began April 1, opening night is Wednesday, April 7 at 7pm, and the closing performance is May 2, 2010.

Rehearsals begin yesterday, Monday, April 5 for the World Premiere production of PARADISE FOUND, a new musical under the combined direction of Theater legend and 21-time Tony Award winner Harold Prince (the original productions of Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, The Phantom of the Opera, Company, Follies, Evita) and 5-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (Crazy For You, Show Boat, The Producers, Contact). This is their first collaboration since the landmark, Tony Award-winning revival of Show Boat. Following the New York rehearsal period, the production will open at London's acclaimed Menier Chocolate Factory with performances running May 19 through June 26. BroadwayWorld was on hand to capture the introductory event!

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have Alfred Hitchcock's THE 39 STEPS. This 2 time Tony and Drama Desk Award winner railroads its way into the DuPont Theatre for an exclusive area run Tuesday, April 6 - Sunday, April 11, 2010.

Lantern Theater Company concludes its 2009/10 mainstage season with the rarely performed Henry IV, Part I. In the tradition of the Lantern's darkly comic, Barrymore Award-winning production of Richard III, this gripping, ripping plot from William Shakespeare's history canon features a cast of local actors and battles royale that will transport you to another time and place. Previews begin April 1, opening night is Wednesday, April 7 at 7pm, and the closing performance is May 2, 2010.

Rehearsals begin today, Monday, April 5 for the World Premiere production of PARADISE FOUND, a new musical under the combined direction of Theater legend and 21-time Tony Award winner Harold Prince (the original productions of Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, The Phantom of the Opera, Company, Follies, Evita) and 5-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (Crazy For You, Show Boat, The Producers, Contact). This is their first collaboration since the landmark, Tony Award-winning revival of Show Boat. Following the New York rehearsal period, the production will open at London's acclaimed Menier Chocolate Factory with performances running May 19 through June 26.