Robert Fisher News

Porchlight Music Theatre's final production in its 2018 - 2019 'lost' musicals in staged concert series is Porchlight Revisits Minnie's Boys,  with book by Groucho Marx's son Arthur Marx and Robert Fisher, music by Larry Grossman and lyrics by Hal Hackady with direction and choreography by Christopher Pazdernik and musical direction by Christie Chiles Twille.  Porchlight Revisits Minnie's Boys is presented for three performances Wednesday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, March 23 at 2 p.m. and  7:30 p.m. at The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street.

Musical Theatre Guild revived an oldie but not so goodie last Sunday at the Alex Theatre. 'Minnie's Boys' purported to be modeled on 'Gypsy,' using a meddlesome, domineering mother to get her progeny, the four Marx Brothers, into show business. Unfortunately, a tepid book and uneven score made this a flop in 1970 and it doesn't fare much better today, despite the valiant efforts of the MTG cast.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” (edited by John Ottman, ACE) and “The Favourite” (edited by Yorgos Mavropsaridis, ACE) won Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) and Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy) respectively at the 69th Annual ACE Eddie Awards tonight where trophies were handed out recognizing the best editing of 2018 in 11 categories of film, television and documentaries.  The black-tie ceremony was held in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel with over 1000 in attendance to celebrate.  President of American Cinema Editors, Stephen Rivkin, ACE, presided over the evening's festivities with comedian Tom Kenny serving as the evening's host.

The 2019 ACE Eddie Awards were announced yesterday. The top prizes were awarded to Bohemian Rhapsody and The Favorite, for Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic and Comedy, respectively).

American Cinema Editors (ACE), the honorary society of the world's top film editors, today announced nominations for the 69th Annual ACE Eddie Awards recognizing outstanding editing in 11 categories of film, television and documentaries. Winners will be revealed during ACE's annual black-tie awards ceremony on Friday, Feb. 1 in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel and will be presided over by ACE President, Stephen Rivkin, ACE.  Final ballots open Jan. 11 and close on Jan. 21.  More information on the ACE Eddie Awards is available on the ACE website.

MONROE, a world premiere production, directed by Lara Toner Haddock, is the latest play by Lisa B. Thompson. The script is a heart warming and funny look at a Southern family. What makes it a remarkable evening of theatre is that it also shows how racial terror affects the minds and lives of these African Americans and their great strength that allows them to maintain their faith in a better tomorrow.Thompson has created some wonderful characters in this new play and shows that she has a deft hand at creating dialogue that leaps off the page. There's great wit here as well as heart. The scenes between the three women in the cast are absolutely delightful and the three actresses wring every possible laugh out of the audience with ease. MONROE reveals Thompson be a writer of great range as this new work is worlds away from her award winning play Underground, which won the 2017 Austin Critics' Table David Mark Cohen New Play Award.

Who hasn't been to one of the Broadway musical gems that play out in the open air amphitheatre during these blistering hot Austin summers? A gift to the community, the Zilker Summer Musical has been part of Austin for sixty years now. Always free to the public, this year's offering is ALL SHOOK UP, a jukebox musical from 2004 setting Elvis Presley's music to a book by Joe DiPietro. The story is based on William Shakespeare's 1602 play Twelfth Night. Since 1959, audiences have placed their blankets and lawn chairs under the stars at the Beverly S. Sheffield Zilker Hillside Theater to be treated to such Broadway hits as Hairspray, The Sound of Music, The Music Man, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Oklahoma, The Unsinkable Molly Brown and L'il Abner to name just a few. Shows that, in many cases, no other theatre in town would produce. BroadwayWorld recently had the opportunity to sit down with J. Robert Moore, the Artistic Director of Zilker Theatre Productions to talk about the Zilker musical as well as the organization.

Musical Theatre Guild, the winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in the theatre, has announced an exciting quartet of shows for their 23rd season of Broadway in Concert musicals.  The MTG 2018-2019 season includes: MAME, ZORBA, MINNIE'S BOYS and SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. 

Michael Weber, artistic director of Porchlight Music Theatre, is proud to announce Porchlight Music Theatre's 24th season that includes the 2018 - 2019 Mainstage, Porchlight Revisits and New Faces Sing Broadway seasons. Porchlight's Mainstage and Porchlight Revisits return to the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street.

Multiple GRAMMY® Award winner Jason Mraz has today announced plans for a North American summer tour, joined by his SuperBand and featuring special guest Brett Dennen. 'GOOD VIBES' begins Friday, July 27th at Cleveland, OH's Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica and then continues through early September (see attached itinerary). Fan pre-sales begin Wednesday, February 14th with all remaining tickets released to the general public on Friday, February 16th. For complete details, and ticket information, please visit jasonmraz.com/tour.

Jason Mraz Announces GOOD VIBES North American Summer Tour

Yale Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of FIELD GUIDE created by Rude Mechs, inspired by the novel The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, January 26 February 17, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street). Opening Night is Thursday, February 1.

Multiple GRAMMY Award winner Jason Mraz has announced plans for a 17-city live tour. The dates dubbed An Evening With Jason Mraz, Solo Acoustic begin Thursday, March 8th at Raleigh, NC's Raleigh Memorial Auditorium

Multiple Grammy Award- winner Jason Mraz has announced plans for a 17-city live tour which includes a stop at Walton Arts Center on Friday, March 30, 2018.

Multiple Grammy Award winner Jason Mraz has announced plans for a 17-city live tour. The dates dubbed An Evening With Jason Mraz, Solo Acoustic begin Thursday, March 8, in Raleigh, N.C. and then continue through the month. The tour will play the Peace Center on Saturday, March 10, at 8 p.m.

RIDING THE COMET by Mark Violi is an official selection of the 2017 New York Theater Festival Summerfest. to be presented in August 2017. At its premiere in 2011, Comet thrilled audiences and critics alike.

RIDING THE COMET by Mark Violi is an official selection of the 2017 New York Theater Festival Summerfest. to be presented in August 2017. At its premiere in 2011, Comet thrilled audiences and critics alike.

THR3E ZISTERS by Baltimore-based playwright Lola Pierson was conceived and directed by Yury Urnov of D.C.'s Woolly Mammoth and was first mounted by Salvage Vanguard Theatre in 2015. That smash hit is currently receiving a remount at The Off Center. The original production won 4 Austin Critics Table Awards including Best Production of a Comedy. The show is part modern adaption of Chekhov's Three Sisters and part critique of Chekhov's work along with fresh literal translations of the original Russian text. It is also a bold criticism of the intrinsic conflicts of producing classical theatre in contemporary times. For good measure, THR3E ZISTERS spends a little time analyzing the transitioning roles of gender and performance in contemporary culture.

In the 1930's Tanglewood was just an idea in the minds of some Massachusetts music lovers, while at the same time in Nazi Germany some great composers were being banned by people who had no love of music or humanity. 

FIELD GUIDE, a work-in-progress by Rude Mechs, is currently in a second draft performance at the Off Center. Rude Mechs creates new works collaboratively, and with FIELD GUIDE they are actively engaging their audience to get feed back on what works and what doesn't in order to help shape the piece. FIELD GUIDE, commissioned by the Yale Repertory Theatre, is a mash-up of Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, stand-up comedy, dance and some frankly uncomfortable direct audience addressing confessions. How much of the direct confessions are fact or fiction we'll never really know. What we do know is this is an excitingly different evening of pure theatricality… an evening that you, as an audience member, are being asked to help define. Along the way during your 90 minute journey the Mechs cover topics from the longest Russian novel written such as intellectualism, spiritualism, sensuality and hedonism. While it is ostensibly an adaptation of The Brothers Karamazov, it really just uses the characters in the briefest Cliff Notes sense. This approach allows the performers to riff on the underlying themes present. There is even an unaccredited moment by Tom Lehrer when Robert S. Fisher performs 'They're Rioting in Africa'. What you are treated to is highly experimental in nature and at moments what ensues is truly magical.