Rose Caiola News

The Drama League has announced performers and appearances slated for the 2022 Fall gala, “Embrace The Season: A Drama League Celebration.” Held on Monday, October 17 at 6:00 PM at City Winery, the gala will feature a dazzling array of exclusive cast performances and appearances from musicals and plays on stage this season.

The Drama League has announced the 2022 Fall Gala, “Embrace The Season: A Drama League Celebration.” The Gala, presented with a spirit of uplifting and amplifying the New York theater community as it returns to a post-pandemic vitality, will be held on Monday, October 17 at 6:00PM at City Winery.

Opening in September 2022, The School at MMAC is a new pilot training program for High School students to explore a multidisciplinary dance curriculum, as well as voice and acting, during the school day.

 Circuit Playhouse, Inc., the organization that includes The Circuit Playhouse, TheatreWorks @ the Square, and Playhouse on the Square will celebrate 55 years of professional live theatre in Memphis’ Performing Arts District – Overton Square.

Constantine Maroulis and George Wendt are set to star in an Industry Presentation of Rock and Roll Man: The Alan Freed Story on Thursday, March 3 and Friday, March 4. It features music and lyrics by Gary Kupper, a book by Gary Kupper, Larry Marshak and Rose Caiola, choreography by Warren Adams, and direction by Randal Myler and Warren Adams.

The “Spotlight on Plays” series will conclude on Thursday, June 17 with Sarah Ruhl’s Dear Elizabeth starring Academy Award winners Kevin Kline and Meryl Streep with stage directions voiced by Polly Noonan.  Dear Elizabeth will premiere on Thursday, June 17 at 8PM EST/5PM PST and will be available for a limited time only.

The “Spotlight on Plays” series has announced Emmy Award winner Eric McCormack and Brandon Burton will join previously announced star Mary-Louise Parker in Paula Vogel’s The Baltimore Waltz, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz.  The Baltimore Waltz will premiere on Thursday, April 29 at 8PM EST/5PM PST and will be available for a limited time only.

The spring “Spotlight on Plays” series will soon welcome six celebrated, award-winning actresses. Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn & SAG nominee Carla Gugino will star in Watch on the Rhine, Emmy Award winner Kathryn Hahn will star in The Sisters Rosenweig, Tony Award winner Audra McDonald will star in Ohio State Murders, Tony Award winner Mary-Louise Parker will star in The Baltimore Waltz and Academy Award winner Meryl Streep will star in Dear Elizabeth.

Watch the trailer and find out how to watch the first two plays in the spring “Spotlight on Plays” series which will premiere with Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play on Thursday, March 25 and Pearl Cleage’s Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous on Thursday, April 9.

Jeffrey Richards has just announced Broadway’s Best Shows, a home for entertaining, engaging content, long form features and exclusive access to Broadway’s Best, will continue its “Spotlight on Plays” series this spring on Thursday, March 25, 2021 to benefit The Actors Fund.

The Circuit Playhouse, Inc., parent company to The Circuit Playhouse, TheatreWorks at the Square, and Playhouse on the Square have announced their 2020-2021 Season.

The Summer Festival, August 8-18, 2019, is the culmination of 5 weeks of preparation by Young Company students and their professional Directors, Music Directors, Choreographers, Stage Managers, and Design Teams. Performed by actors in grades 4-12, The Young Company Summer Festival includes 6 fully staged productions: family friendly Freckleface Strawberry The Musical, hilarious murder mystery Curtains, and the toe tapping classic Singin' in the Rain. High School Students continue the fun with the madcap musical farce Lucky Stiff, as well as musical satire How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and finally the action-packed adventures of She Kills Monsters.

The impetus behind ROCK AND ROLL MAN: THE ALAN FREED STORY was not the Freed family. Gary Kupper was approached by Larry Marshak, with whom he had worked for many years, about a third party's desire to do a story about Alan Freed as a 'jukebox musical'. The intention was that Kupper might be able to write a couple of songs for the piece. Kupper realized that Freed's story is a classic one. A rise and fall and then redemption story that can't be told as a jukebox musical because Alan Freed wasn't a singer. He feels that a jukebox musical would have cheated the story. This is the story of this man, and the story of Rock-and-Roll. That notion gave birth to the 'book musical'. In 2011, Kupper started writing original songs and sometime later, the team started writing the script. Freed's son, Lance, stepped-in and helped to secure the rights to the Rock-and-Roll classics. They have combined the music of the era with storytelling. They admit it's both risky and tricky and has never really been done to the extent that it is in this show. Thirty to thirty-five original songs were written, most of which were thrown out. A little more than a dozen are in the current iteration of the show.

There is a lot to like packed into this production directed by Randal Myler. The action is well paced and well-staged. The use of turntables, tiering, and scrims are particularly effective elements of the scenic design by Tim Mackabee. The choreography by Brian Reeder, and costumes designed by Leon Dobkowski present a feast for the eyes. The entire 19-members of the cast deliver in acting, singing, and dancing. It would be an oversight not to call out the performance of Richard Crandle. His portrayal of Little Richard is brassy, sassy, and all kinds of Woooooooo. The audience is noticeably energized when Crandle is on stage and few wish he would 'shet-up' as if that were even remotely possible.

The Berkshire Theatre Group cast of Rock and Roll Man: The Alan Freed Story had their first read through earlier this week in New York City! Rock and Roll Man is being presented by Berkshire Theatre Group, in association with five-time Tony Award-Winning Caiola Productions (Once on this Island, Dear Evan Hansen, The Color Purple, All The Way, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf). Rock and Roll Man has a book by Gary Kupper, Larry Marshak and Rose Caiola, with original music and lyrics by Gary Kupper.

RODGERS + HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA, the 2013 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical from the creators of The King & I and The Sound of Music, will play Playhouse Square's Connor Palace for a limited engagement January 15 - 20, 2019 as a Huntington Featured Performance. Show times are Today - Friday at 7:30PM, Saturday at 1:30 and 7:30PM, and Sunday at 1:00 and 6:30PM. Tickets for CINDERELLA are available at the Playhouse Square Ticket Office (1519 Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland), by visiting playhousesquare.org, or by calling 216-241-6000. Group orders may be placed by calling 216-640-8600.

RODGERS + HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA, the 2013 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical from the creators of THE KING & I and THE SOUND OF MUSIC, will play the Washington Pavilion for a limited engagement on January 9 and 10, 2019.

Berkshire Theatre Group (Kate Maguire, Artistic Director/CEO) in association with five-time Tony Award-winning Caiola Productions (Once on this Island, Dear Evan Hansen, The Color Purple, All The Way, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf) presents Rock and Roll Man: The Alan Freed Story, directed by Tony Award-nominee Randal Myler (It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues) at The Colonial Theatre as part of their 2019 Summer Season. The production is in development for a Broadway run and a national tour.

RODGERS + HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA, the 2013 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical from the creators of The King & I and The Sound of Music, will play Playhouse Square's Connor Palace for a limited engagement January 15 - 20, 2019 as a Huntington Featured Performance. Show times are Tuesday - Friday at 7:30PM, Saturday at 1:30 and 7:30PM, and Sunday at 1:00 and 6:30PM. Tickets for CINDERELLA are available at the Playhouse Square Ticket Office (1519 Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland), by visiting playhousesquare.org, or by calling 216-241-6000. Group orders may be placed by calling 216-640-8600.