Sage News

Cooking Channel celebrates home cooking and holiday fun in November with new series, season premieres and themed holiday specials!

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, announces five additional performances for the World Premiere of Bruce Graham's Funnyman, directed by BJ Jones.  Due to demand, the production has been extended through October 25, 2015, at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie. 

'Be our guest' at Hale Center Theater Orem's production of 'Beauty and the Beast Jr.'! Performed entirely by young actors, this production puts the famous Disney musical on an intimate center stage. 'Beauty and the Beast Jr.' tells the story of a prince transformed into a beast because of his selfishness. Beast must love and be loved in return by his twenty-first birthday for the spell to be broken, or else he will stay a beast forever. Will Beast ever be loved? Can the intelligent village girl Belle see through his rough appearance to his heart, or will Beast stay a monster forever? Come to Hale Center Theater Orem's production of 'Beauty and the Beast Jr.' to enjoy this 'tale as old as time' performed by a new generation of acting talent.

Following multiple sold out engagements, Charlie Rosen's Broadway Big Band returns to the intimate Manhattan venue 54 Below on Saturday August 22nd to continue an official residence for 2015. The 9:30 PM concert, helmed by director Max Friedman, features returning guest vocalists Gerard Canonico (Spring Awakening, American Idiot), Hannah Elless (Godspell, Steve Martin & Edie Brickell's Bright Star), Rebecca Naomi Jones (Hedwig and The Angry Inch, American Idiot), Janet Krupin (Bring It On, If/Then), Lauren 'LOLO' Pritchard (DCD2 Recording Artist, Spring Awakening), and Ciara Renee? (Big Fish, Pippin, The Hunchback of Notre Dame), plus the Broadway Big Band debuts of Nicholas Christopher (Motown The Musical, Whorl Inside A Loop) and Ben Platt (Pitch Perfect, The Book of Mormon, Dear Evan Hansen). Friedman and Rosen co-produce the series.

The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University announces Executive Director Brett Batterson has accepted the role of president and chief executive officer of the Memphis Development Foundation (MDF). The foundation operates The Orpheum, consisting of the Orpheum Theatre and the Halloran Centre for Performing Arts & Education.

Time for this week's sage advice from Hand to God's kind and even-tempered patron saint of self-control, Tyrone McHansely.

Broadway and TV actress/singer Megan Hilty performed a splashy show at Valley Performing Arts Center at CSUN, Northridge on Thursday, September 24 at 8 pm to a packed audience of her fans. Hilty is best remembered for playing Glinda in Wicked for four and a half years - she replaced Kristin Chenoweth on Broadway - and also for premiering the role of Doralee Rhodes, played in the film by Dolly Parton, in  the musical of 9 to 5 at the Ahmanson and on Broadway. She also starred in NBC's musical Smash as actress Ivy Lynn, who creates a Marilyn Monroe character for a fictional musical Bombshell, for two seasons on NBC to great acclaim.

NeekOn will feature Live Music, Dance (including a Persian Folklore Dance Flash Mob), Visual Arts, and Food from multiple cultures around the world. (Neek means kindness.)

Carnegie Hall today announced that pianist Paul Lewis, who was scheduled to perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 with Music Director Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday, October 20 at 8:00 p.m., must regrettably cancel his performances with the BSO and Mr. Nelsons in Boston and New York on his doctors' advice due to recovery from a recent surgery.

Men Are From Mars - Women Are From Venus LIVE!, the one-man fusion of theatre and stand-up starring Peter Story returns to the City Theatre from Friday, January 22 through Sunday, January 31. The show is a light-hearted theatrical comedy based on the New York Times #1 best-selling book by John Gray. Moving swiftly through a series of vignettes, the show covers everything from dating and marriage to the bedroom.

Natya Dance Theatre, Chicago's pre-eminent dance company dedicated to the dance-theatre art of Bharata Natyam, celebrates its 40th anniversary with the World Premiere of Varna – Colors of White, a full-evening work exploring universal emotions through words, music, dance and drama created by Founder and Artistic Director Hema Rajagopalan. Natya presents Varna – Colors of White at The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, 1306 S. Michigan Ave., in three performances only, Thursday – Saturday evenings, October 22-24, at 7:30 pm.

CHICAGO –September 21– Natya Dance Theatre, Chicago's pre-eminent dance company dedicated to the dance-theatre art of Bharata Natyam, celebrates its 40th anniversary with the World Premiere of Varna – Colors of White, a full-evening work exploring universal emotions through words, music, dance and drama created by Founder and Artistic Director Hema Rajagopalan. Natya presents Varna – Colors of White at The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, 1306 S. Michigan Ave., in three performances only, Thursday – Saturday evenings, October 22-24, at 7:30 pm.

Stephen Sondheim's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC elegantly opened the Irish Classical Theatre's 25th season.

The Omaha Community Playhouse opens its 2015-2016 season with MAN OF LA MANCHA, the multiple-Tony Award winning musical based on the novel Don Quixote. Written by Dale Wasserman with music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion, the story tells of Miguel de Cervantes and his imprisonment during the Spanish Inquisition. Cervantes enlists his fellow prisoners into the telling of Don Quixote, knight errant, and his escapades as he fights for valor. I caught the preview last night and I have to warn you-it would be a mistake to miss this one.

It's been an incredible year and six months or so for me since From Here To Eternity said goodbye to the Shaftesbury in London's glittering West End. My plan was to not be idle and dwell on what might have been.

54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Alexis Field in 'Tindering Across America' tonight, September 18th at 11:30pm. What happens when an actress on tour Tinders her way state-by-state through the dating world? Will Mister Right be waiting in Kentucky? Is romance in Chicago as deep as their pizza?

A radical new portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has been commissioned by Royal Northern Sinfonia, to reflect what they and their Music Director Lars Vogt see as the 'true' face of a composer we all think we know.  “Somehow we've come to think of his music as pretty, brilliant and maybe even a little two-dimensional,” says Vogt, lamenting what he calls the 'chocolate box' idea of Mozart, “But in fact the more you listen to him the more you realise that we've got him wrong. That music is often dramatic, daring, edgy and, yes, dark, and those qualities must have been there in the man.”

Bread Winners Association artist Kevin Gates has announced the release of his long awaited debut album 'ISLAH,' which is available for pre-order now (http://smarturl.it/KGIslah) and arrives at last on Friday, December 11th. The album release will follow an upcoming nationwide tour that kicks off November 12th in Orlando, FL. Tickets will go on sale this Friday, September 18 at http://www.kvngates.com/tour.

Volatility in the stock market and economic uncertainty is driving investors to seek alternatives to place their money. With low interest rates and market stability, many are turning to the consistency of real estate to diversify their investment portfolio. Understanding how to get started and what makes a good investment requires industry knowledge and strategic planning. Investor and Real Estate Specialist, Sonja Skye's new book, 'Stop Renting Start Saving' helps break down the process of getting into real estate as an investment and for the first time home buyer. Just as investment brokers help navigate the stock market, bonds and other investment avenues, real estate investment requires in-depth understanding the legal and financial landscape, and what makes a good investment. Stop Renting Start Saving reveals the world of investment and real estate methods that are used by successful investors and provides readers with key tools and tips on how to invest and rent-to-own in the housing market. 'Stop Renting Start Saving' is now available on Amazon.com. Media appearances, seminars and book signing events are planned throughout the Durham Region in September and October, and in the Greater Toronto Area in October. Visit http://renttoownwealth.ca/in-the-media for details. About the author - Rent-to-own professional, Sonja Skye leverages industry knowledge and a team of industry professionals to enable average people to achieve their dreams of becoming home owners and sage investors through her company Rent To Own Wealth. For more information about Sonja Skye or Rent To Own Wealth, contact Sonja at sonja@RentToOwnWealth.ca or visit http://renttoownwealth.ca

They're at it again! Melanie Brook, Anna Ty Bergman, and Kerri George are back with a new video on YouTube - this time mashing up what else, but Taylor Swift and Spring Awakening. Below, check out  their version of 'Mama Who Bore Me' and 'Bad Blood,' featuring Alexander Sage Oyen on the guitar.