Conductor Bramwell Tovey began the evening by saying, 'in light of the way things are… I want to give you permission to laugh.' It didn't take very long before the audience was in stitches with laughter. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra performed Leonard Bernstein's CANDIDE last weekend, accompanied by some of the country's greatest classical voices - Judith Forst and Tracy Dahl - and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. The evening was a spectacular display of fine music, drama, and comedy.
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey begins its 56th season with its first Main Stage production, Tartuffe. Artistic Director Bonnie J. Monte will direct this masterful French comedy that hasn't been seen on STNJ's stage since 2001. Renowned translator Richard Wilbur brings Moliere's witty words to brilliant life for English-speaking audiences. Veteran company member Brent Harris will play the title role and will be joined by STNJ favorites Patrick Toon and Victoria Mack, as well as two-time Tony Award nominee, Vivian Reed. Performances begin May 16.
Georgia Shreve, the New York based composer and writer, is sitting in the living room at her piano, a Steinway classic grand in walnut, of her Upper East Side home closely scrutinizing a score she is working on of her latest orchestration. Georgia works best in daylight amply provided by three walls of high windows. The muted tones of cream and celadon in the room provide a serene backdrop to work in.
Blackfriars Repertory Theatre celebrates their 20th anniversary with a new production of N. Richard Nash's The Rainmaker, co-producing with The Storm Theatre Company, opening April 27, 2018 in the Black Box Theater at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture.
The upcoming April 26 concert by American Modern Ensemble represents two firsts: it is the ensemble's first concert at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall (or any of the Carnegie halls) in its 13-year history, and it is the first program devoted completely to the vocal works of composer and AME founder Robert Paterson (and the second all-Paterson program). About the program, which features six works for voice and piano, including three world premieres, Paterson says, "The texts are wildly diverse, and include poems constructed from reCAPTCHA texts (those texts you type online to prove that you're human), songs about the life of baseball catcher Mike Piazza, online dating, and settings of poems by W. H. Auden, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Richard Wilbur, William Carlos Williams, Sara Teasdale, David Cote (my collaborator on the opera Three Way), and others."
2018 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs will acknowledge thissignificant anniversary by participating in the global celebrations to honour Bernstein's legacy, with two planned performances of the choral masterpiece, Candide (1956) on Saturday 29th September and Sunday 30th September 2018 at the Sydney Opera House.
On January 27, 2018, Los Angeles Opera presented the Bernstein work at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with a cast that included Emmy-winning television star Kelsey Grammer. He is best remembered for his two-decade-long portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the situation comedies Cheers, Wings, and Frasier. As Voltaire and Pangloss, Grammer had a huge speaking role that he acquitted with a commanding personality and considerable wit. Surprisingly, he sang quite well, too.
From the moment the amazing James Conlon-conducted orchestra began their crisp, lively 'Overture' to 'Quartet Finale,' the close of Act One; this remarkable production of CANDIDE entranced the Dorothy Chandler audience. Then after a short intermission, these talented performers and musicians had the audience right back in the palms of their skilled hands, beyond the tears-inducing finale 'Make Our Garden Grow,' to the extended and most deserved standing ovation for the cast, orchestra, and creatives.
92Y announces Ted Chapin, President & Chief Creative Officer of Rodgers & Hammerstein, will serve in the newly created role of Producer of Lyrics & Lyricists, beginning next season. For nearly five decades, L&L has been at the forefront of exploring and sharing the best of the American Songbook, and this opens a new chapter.
The Storm Theatre Company, under the Artistic Direction of Peter Dobbins, will present THE FIGHT, a timely and relevant new play about the battles of modern feminism, written by Jonathan Leaf and directed by Mr. Dobbins, tonight, October 26th, through November 18th at Grand Hall (440 Grand Street).
AP has just reported that Richard Wilbur, poet, lyricist and translator, has died at age 96. Wilbur was best known to the theatre community as the lyricist behind Leonard Bernstein's CANDIDE. His work on the 1956 musical earned him a Tony Nomination.
Leonard Bernstein was arguably one of the most versatile musicians the world has ever known. If you are a lover of classical music, you know that his recordings and compositions were the stuff legend is made of; and if you are a musical theatre geek, you know that Bernstein wrote some of the most innovative and genre-merging theatrical scores that still have not been topped to this day.
The Storm Theatre Company, under the Artistic Direction of Peter Dobbins, will present THE FIGHT, a timely and relevant new play about the battles of modern feminism, written by Jonathan Leaf and directed by Mr. Dobbins, October 26th through November 18th at Grand Hall (440 Grand Street).
Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He took piano lessons as a boy and attended the Garrison and Boston Latin Schools. At Harvard University, he studied with Walter Piston, Edward Burlingame-Hill, and A. Tillman Merritt, among others. Before graduating in 1939, he made an unofficial conducting debut with his own incidental music to 'The Birds,' and directed and performed in Marc Blitzstein's 'The Cradle Will Rock.' Then at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, he studied piano with Isabella Vengerova, conducting with Fritz Reiner, and orchestration with Randall Thompson.
'The Bungler' is now onstage at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (STNJ) through July 30th. This Moliere comedy, translated by Richard Wilbur, enjoys wonderful direction by Brian Crowe and features a cast that capture their roles. It is a perfect summer production, an appealing, laugh-out-loud show for people of all ages.
Continuing its acclaimed 55th season, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will begin performances of The Bungler on July 5. Translated by Richard Wilbur, Moliere's giddy, side-splitting romp will be directed by STNJ's Brian B. Crowe. The play highlights Moliere at his frothiest and silliest as it follows the hilarious adventures of a clueless young lover and his clever servant attempting to help him win the heart and hand of a beautiful gypsy girl.
92Y announces Ted Chapin, President & Chief Creative Officer of Rodgers & Hammerstein, will serve in the newly created role of Producer of Lyrics & Lyricists, beginning next season. For nearly five decades, L&L has been at the forefront of exploring and sharing the best of the American Songbook, and this opens a new chapter.
Continuing its acclaimed 55th season, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will begin performances of The Bungler on July 5. Translated by Richard Wilbur, Moliere's giddy, side-splitting romp will be directed by STNJ's Brian B. Crowe. The play highlights Moliere at his frothiest and silliest as it follows the hilarious adventures of a clueless young lover and his clever servant attempting to help him win the heart and hand of a beautiful gypsy girl.
