Sage News

This week over at the Theatre Institute at Sage, we staged Backbeard's big visit to the tailor shop, where two ostentatious tailors are given the fashion challenge of their lives -- Backbeard, who has been restricted by the Pirate Council to wearing only clothing without color, needs new clothes after his pants rip during his birthday fight. The tailors give him just that, and they send the colorfully-clad pirate on his way with a little pink pig to replace his missing parrot. Challenge accepted and conquered.

Famke Janssen's possible spin-off series character, Scottie, arrives on THE BLACKLIST. Why was her company after Liz Keen, and are they responsible for her death? And how is she managing to ignore Raymond Reddington?

Due to overwhelming demand, Chance Theater is delighted to present an encore presentation of Fancy Nancy, The Musical as part of its second Theater for Young Audiences Series.

ESPN and ABC will combine to televise six 2016 NBA Playoffs' Western and Eastern Conference Semifinals games this week. The Miami Heat and Dwyane Wade will visit the Toronto Raptors and Kyle Lowry for Round 2 / Game 2 on Thursday, May 5 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Kerry Butler (Disaster!), Lilli Cooper (Spongebob), Meghann Fahy (Next to Normal), Eric Michael Gillett (Kiss Me, Kate), Jillian Gottlieb (Unlock'd), F. Michael Haynie (Wicked, Dogfight), Ryann Redmond (If/Then, Bring It On), Conor Ryan (John & Jen), Allie Trimm (13, Bye, Bye Birdie), and Hannah Zazzaro complete the lineup for the 7th edition of Cutting-Edge Composers at Feinstein's/54 Below on May 10, 2016.

This year's creator/performer line up features Rachelle Elie in her original musical comedy solo extravaganza Shit I'm In Love With You Again, local comedian and actor Daniel Stolfitraces his comedy roots in Finding Funny, life coach and sage advisor Darlene Chrissley shares her life philosophies in In Chaos I Trust, storytelling favourite and Canadian Screen Award-winner Rob Norman's I Like You, Do You Like Me? reveals his past and asks the audience to consider their own histories. Improv superstar Natasha Boomer shares exactly what it feels like when you go from guru to corporate liability in All Fired Up, Richard Lett's Sober But Never Clean follows his 30 year career as a comedian, poet, singer-songwriter and more, through the depths of addiction and back again and Broadway veteran Bill Bowers breaks his silence about growing up gay in Montana, studying with Marcel Marceau and life on the Great White Way in It Goes Without Saying. Four SOULO Theatre alumni each present an original autobiographical ten minute show in the second SOULO Salon: Nicola Elbro returns to the SOULO Festival in #grateful, Morgan Joy presents her puppet dramedy The Life Boat, Amish Patel talks eating disorders and comedy in Fat Shamed By My Mom and Silvi Santososhares songs and stories of life as a new immigrant in Bedazzled.

In the continuation of creating products on American true-to-life modern day cultural icons St. Louis based publisher Really Big Coloring Books, Inc. releases factual 'unauthorized biography' on Donald J. Trump. The book, The Real Man Donald J. Trump - 'Making America Great Again', is accompanied with a new CD-song 'Upgrade America' written and performed by The Color Tones. The St. Louis four member band has a combined 50+ years of experience in the creation, design and performance of music. For a full version of the song please contact the coloring book company and an MP3 will be emailed immediately.

Madhava Natural Sweeteners is a pioneer in the natural sweeteners industry and has continued to evolve since its inception over 43 years ago. Madhava recently announced the debut of 3 new product lines: Organic Cassava, Kids Organic Honey Water and Organic Honey Pairings.

It's officially grilling season and with it comes the annual warnings of the dangers and hazards of grilling. The warnings range from charring and burning meat to the threat of metal grill brush bristles. Safe and healthy grilling is simple and easy according to the experts at GrillGrate LLC. "The grill is not to blame, and meat is not the enemy!"states Brad Barrett, President of GrillGrate LLC - makers of the patented GrillGrate grilling system. "Grilling is an exceptionally healthy way to cook, but unfortunately it has been falsely demonized."

Attention festival-goers: Save the date! Raue Center For The Arts is excited to announce the first annual Williams Street Fest! The festival will take place from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on June 4, 2016.

Next week, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

The Arizona Opera Board of Directors has announced the appointment of its new President and General Director, Joseph Specter.  

This May, Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. Scroll down for the full lineup!

The 2016 NBA Playoffs will continue on ESPN with three Game 6s on Friday, April 29. Starting at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Toronto Raptors (leading 3-2) and DeMar DeRozan will visit the Indiana Pacers and Paul George.

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents the 7th edition of Cutting-Edge Composers. Cutting-Edge Composers is a concert series that strives to create greater exposure for up-and-coming songwriters by providing them with venues, publicity, Broadway performers, and musicians to best showcase their material. Cutting-Edge Composers is directed and produced by Laura Pietropinto, co-produced by Allie Glickman, and features musical direction by Benjamin Rauhala and orchestrations by Rauhala and Julie McBride.

According to page 136, paragraph four, subsection C of the Pirate Handbook, on a pirate's 'older-than-ninth birthday,' his trusty crew must grant him a fight! That is exactly what happened this week at the Theatre Institute at Sage in our staging of Backbeard's own birthday fight, an exciting 10-pirate quarrel with the hairiest pirate who ever lived at the center of it all.

The Palmer House, a Hilton Hotel, has announcde dinner, dancing and all-star performances with The Birth of the Great American Songbook, Saturday, May 21, in the legendary Empire Room, on the lobby level of the Palmer House, 17 E. Monroe St.

We've just finished our first week of music rehearsals for Backbeard at the Theatre Institute at Sage! Because Backbeard has been workshopped with our department a couple of times now, most of the cast is already very familiar with the music, so the trajectory of our music rehearsals was naturally a bit different than it would have been if we were rehearsing a licensed show. The familiarity that the cast has with the material already allows for the polishing of the music earlier in the rehearsal process than is standard, and this musical stability will assist with the fluidity of rehearsal once staging begins.

Next week, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

How many of these great songs do you know from underappreciated musicals?