Pump Boys and Dinettes News

Today's top stories: Presley Ryan is Beetlejuice's new Lydia, and more!

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III brings Surviving Twin a scripted, one man show to The Ridgefield Playhouse on Thursday, March 5th at 8pm, in an evening of music and memories many years in the making. This 'posthumous collaboration' with his writer father, explores the question: What lives on between father and son? This event is part of the Doyle Coffin Architecture Singer Songwriter Series and Northern Trust Broadway & Cabaret Series with support from Teed & Brown. Visit TerraSole (3 Big Shop Lane, Ridgefield) for dinner before the show and get a free glass of house wine or dessert with your entrée when you present your tickets! Media partner for this event is WSHU - Connecticut Public Radio.

The Chicagoland premiere of Almost Heaven: John Denver's America opened Sunday night February 16 to an enthusiastic crowd. Theatre at the Center Artistic Director Linda Fortunato cast Shannon McEldowney, Steven Romero Schaeffer, Andrew Mueller, Sara Geist and Tommy Malouf in the musical revue Almost Heaven: John Denver's America to kick off its 30th Anniversary Season. The cast was joined on stage by musicians William Underwood, Malcolm Ruhl and Alison Tatum. Fortunato is the director and William Underwood is the music director. The now Jeff Recommended production continues through March 22.

Primal Forces will present an outrageous new comedy A Funny Thing Happened...on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City, written by Halley Feiffer, runs February 7 through March 1 at The Sol Theater in Boca Raton. Tickets are $40-$45; Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 8pm and Sunday matinees are at 2pm. For more information www.primalforces.com or call 866-811-4111.

Primal Forces will present an outrageous new comedy. A Funny Thing Happened...on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City, written by Halley Feiffer, runs February 7 through March 1 at The Sol Theater in Boca Raton.

In a place somewhere between Frog Level and Smyrna, NC, lies the Double Cupp Diner and Pump Boys Filling Station. Go on in and grab yourself a piece of pie! Rhetta and Prudie will take good care of you while Jim, L.M., Jackson, and Eddie top off your car. If you're lucky, you may even bear witness to some of the toe-tapping tunes they belt out. Though it's a lesser-known show, Pump Boys and Dinettes was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical and four Drama Desk Awards in 1982. It's more concert than musical, but the country/rock/blues score promises to give you a surprisingly entertaining hour and a half full of corny jokes and energetic performances.

Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater are kicking off the new year with a star-studded January schedule! At Birdland Jazz Club, catch the Legendary Count Basie Orchestra, under the direction of Scotty Barhart and special guest vocalist Carmen Bradford; Karrin Allyson as she pays tribute to Mose Allison; and the Hot Sardines, among others!

The American Traditions Vocal Competition (ATC) is slated to present another Seasonal Salon Soirée concert at 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 26 at the home of Dan Rizzo and Silvio Trioni in downtown Savannah. The concert will feature original songs and stories by singer-songwriter, composer, and Tony-nominee Jim Wann, with special guest and Savannah guitar virtuoso Bill Smith.

Due to popular demand, Firebrand Theatre has announced a second extension of its hit revival of ALWAYS... PATSY CLINE, now playing through Saturday, January 25, 2020 at The Den Theatre's Janet Bookspan Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago.

Broadway cellist Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf (Bridges of Madison County, A Little Night Music) will host an evening that explores beautiful melodies from Broadway and beyond. With Scots-born guitarist Steve Gibb, Mairi will also celebrate Robert Burns Night by weaving in some of Scotland's most beloved melodies, and inviting her guests to perform their own versions of Burns' timeless poetry. 

Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Michael Stotts- Managing Director), recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award, begins the new year with the world premiere Unmasked: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and written with Richard Curtis. Unmasked: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber begins performances Thursday, January 30, 2020, and will continue through Sunday, March 1, 2020 at Paper Mill Playhouse (22 Brookside Drive, Millburn, NJ). JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the major sponsor of Unmasked: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Paper Mill Playhouse's 2019-2020 season is proudly sponsored by Investors Bank. Opening Night is Sunday evening, February 9, 2020 at 7:00pm.

The ribbit-ing return of Ensemble Theatre's first commissioned family-friendly musical, The Frog Princess, leaps to the stage December 4, 2019-January 4, 2020. This musical spin on the beloved classic Russian fairy tale celebrates the beauty within each of us and receives a contemporary twist by local creative team Joseph McDonough (playwright) and David Kisor (composer and lyricist). This year's production is the first time it will have appeared on the ETC stage in twelve years. With a revitalized script, intricate costumes, and a lavish set, The Frog Princess is holiday fun for the entire family! Directed by D. Lynn Meyers.

Irving Berlin's White Christmas opened Sunday night November 17 to a packed house at Theatre at the Center in Munster.  The cast gave a thrilling performance for an audience that was teeming with the holiday spirit.  Theatre at the Center Artistic Director Linda Fortunato directed and choreographed the show. 

Who would guess that what has been described as a sleepy little cowtown is actually a hotbed of young musical talent? The latest to join Sacramento's rank of up-and-coming people-to-watch is Sam C. Jones, a transplant from Virginia who landed on the west coast in 2016 and has quickly made a name for himself in the world of local professional theatre. He has recently returned to his passion of songwriting and will be releasing an album of original work later this winter. Broadway World Sacramento spoke to Sam about the King, country music, and what gets his creative juices flowing.

The ribbit-ing return of Ensemble Theatre's first commissioned family-friendly musical, The Frog Princess, leaps to the stage December 4, 2019-January 4, 2020. This musical spin on the beloved classic Russian fairy tale celebrates the beauty within each of us and receives a contemporary twist by local creative team Joseph McDonough (playwright) and David Kisor (composer and lyricist). This year's production is the first time it will have appeared on the ETC stage in twelve years. With an revitalized script, intricate costumes, and a lavish set, The Frog Princess is holiday fun for the entire family! Directed by D. Lynn Meyers.

Edmund Bagnell, 1st Violinist & vocalist of the internationally acclaimed group Well-Strung, will star in the New York premiere of He Plays The Violin at Feinstein's/54 Below on Nov. 25 at 9:30 PM. The show is being developed by New Works Provincetown at The Art House this fall and includes a brand new song written for Mr. Bagnell by Scott Frankel (Grey Gardens & War Paint). Through stories and song, the evening celebrates all things music, from classical to standards and from pop to Broadway, and of course with a good dose of fiddle thrown in. This piece shows a different side of Edmund Bagnell in this personal and uplifting journey through music, and is written by and starring Edmund Bagnell, conceived by Mark Cortale, music directed by Matt Aument and directed by Michael Schiralli.

According to the New York Times, Lear deBessonet, current Resident Director of City Center Encores! will officially succeed Jack Viertel as the new artistic director in 2021.  DeBessonet joined the Encores! team in January 2019 following Viertel's announcement of his retirement in July. 

Laguna Playhouse announces the final cast and creative team to join acclaimed film, TV and theatre veterans Frances Fisher (a?oeTitanic,a?? Native Gardens, Barbeque), as a?oeQueen Eleanora?? and Gregory Harrison (a?oeTrapper John, M.D.,a?? Broadway's Chicago, Steel Pier), as a?oeKing Henry IIa?? in THE LION IN WINTER

Hailed as 'the best party in town,' by New York's Cabaret Scenes Magazine, The Nitz/ Howe Experience marked a major milestone in September, 2019. Celebrating its 20th year anniversary, with over 1200 shows at their home base of Chicago's Davenport's, it became the longest running cabaret show in the country.

Laguna Playhouse Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham and Executive Director Ellen Richard are thrilled to announce that acclaimed film, TV and theatre veterans Frances Fisher (a?oeTitanic,a?? Native Gardens, Barbeque), will star as a?oeQueen Eleanora?? and Gregory Harrison (a?oeTrapper John, M.D.,a?? Broadway'sChicago, Steel Pier), will star as a?oeKing Henry IIa?? in its upcoming production of THE LION IN WINTER, written by James Goldman and directed by Sheldon Epps.