Scott Smith News

SHOWTIME has released the premiere episode of its new docu-series LOVE FRAUD early for free online sampling

Fresh off the heels of being named MusicRow’s 2020 Independent Artist of the Year, country music duo Smith & Wesley is set to release its third studio album, Greetings from the Land of Y’all, on Friday, September 18 via BFD / Audium Nashville.

The now-dormant African American Repertory Theatre reached the heights with its 2011 production of August Wilson's 'Jitney'.

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity at UNC-Chapel Hill donated $17,600 on April 6 to a local nonprofit in order to help feed children in Orange County who normally depend on the breakfast and lunch offered at school for regular meals. Vance Brice, President of the UNC Delta Kappa Epsilon, Beta Chapter, said: 'Many children living in Chapel Hill and Carrboro rely on the breakfast and lunch provided by their public schools. As schools in the area have closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, local communities have struggled to provide these kids with meals and nutrition. This donation represents something we can do to help other members of our community who are affected by this unprecedented crisis.' Following UNC-Chapel Hill's indefinite closure on March 20 due to COVID-19, Mr. Brice and the fraternity's treasurer, Chris Vaughan, determined that $17,600 would be left over from each brother's dues which covered meals for the remainder of the spring semester. Rather than allocate refunds or issue credit for the upcoming fall semester, DKE's members and their parents agreed to donate those funds to TABLE, a local charity suggested to them by Meg Miller, the fraternity's longtime house manager. TABLE is a nonprofit organization based in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area that provides hunger relief and nutrition education services to children living in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and neighboring communities within Orange County. Ashton Tippins, TABLE's executive director, said: 'TABLE is so grateful to DKE for their contribution to help us feed Orange County kids. As a result of DKE's donation, we will be able to provide 8,800 meals and snacks to the roughly 600 hundred children we serve weekly.' Scott Smith, DKE's academic advisor and alumni board president, added: 'I am proud of the example the UNC-DKE leadership and active members are setting. Showing compassion for others who may be less fortunate is more important than asking for a refund. This donation goes to show that fraternities like DKE at UNC can lead by example in our community. I hope their contribution to TABLE will challenge others in the UNC Greek system and throughout the country to consider doing more of the same.' To learn more about TABLE and their relief efforts throughout Orange County click here. For any additional information regarding UNC-Chapel Hill's response to COVID-19, please visit www.unc.edu/coronavirus. Picture Above: DKE's treasurer, Chris Vaughan (left), and president, Vance Brice (middle), meet with a TABLE employee at the nonprofit's headquarters in Carrboro. Note, they are practicing social distancing. Delta Kappa Epsilon is the oldest fraternity at UNC-Chapel Hill, formed on April 5, 1851. It is also the Beta Chapter, the ninth oldest DKE chapter in the United States. For more information about DKE or about the chapter's donation to TABLE, please contact Mr. Brice at vbrice99@live.unc.edu or 919-457-3704.

Influential Athens, GA math-rock quartet We Versus The Shark (mems. Double Ferrari, Bit Brigade, Sunwatchers, Man... Or Astroman?, Modern Nature) are excited to announce Goodbye Guitar, their first album since 2008 (due June 19 via Ernest Jenning Record Co.). To ring in the announcement, the group has shared new track 'Righteous Vibes' via NPR Music, who called Goodbye Guitar 'a lot more of a fist-pumping, wham-bam rock and roll record than expected.'

Due to public health and safety concerns, last night's Broadway opening of SIX was sadly cancelled, as are performances through to 12 April. But we know the Queens will be back reigning over Broadway soon - and in the meantime, here's an incredible student performance to enjoy. Check out the video below!

The Renaissance Theatre will present Broadway's biggest celebration of the music of the '80s on March 7-8 and 14-15, 2020 with its production of Rock of Ages. Rock of Ages is part of the Richland Bank Broadway Series.

SHOWTIME has released the trailer and key art for the upcoming docu-series LOVE FRAUD, premiering on Friday, May 8 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The series marks the first foray into episodic television for Emmy winners and Academy Award(R) nominees Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. LOVE FRAUD had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January, the first time in the festival's history a television series screened on opening night.

Wayne Reid and Judge Charles D. Gill today announced, “Death by Cop: A Call for Unity!” that will seek to connect a community of readers with a message of positivity and togetherness. Reid, a self-published author, intends to open a positive dialogue around police and community relations by trying to remove the color of skin as basis for this topical conversation. This book will attempt to transform the conversation around law enforcement relations and bring the world closer through reading and discovery.

Today, SHOWTIME Documentary Films announced upcoming titles from its 2020 slate from preeminent documentarians, including LOVE FRAUD from Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, THE TRADE from Matthew Heineman, THE LONGEST WAR from Greg Barker, Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, KINGDOM OF SILENCE from Alex Gibney, Rick Rowley and Lawrence Wright, and THE KINGMAKER from Lauren Greenfield. The announcement was made today by Gary Levine, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc., at the Television Critics Association's Winter Press Tour.

Works selected across the Indie Episodic, Shorts and Special Events sections of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival were announced today, underlining Sundance Institute's commitment to showcasing bold independent storytelling regardless of form, format or length.

Rachel Izen is to make history as the first actres in the UK to play Ebenezer Scrooge in a new adaptation of 'A Christmas Carol'.

The Renaissance Theatre will present its third production in the 2019-2020 Richland Bank Broadway Series with a fully staged production of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder on November 16-17 and 23-24, 2019.

Dezart Performs 2019/2020 season launch party gives insight into the company.

The Blue Hill Troupe, New York City's only philanthropic musical theater group, will kick off its 96th season with The Mystery of Edwin Drood, a crowd-pleasing interactive whodunita?'based on Charles Dickens's final, unfinished novela?'that invites the audience to help solve a hilariously madcap murder mystery. One audience member in particular may have a distinct advantage: the show's composer, lyricist, and book writer, Rupert Holmes (honored with Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score of a Musical when the show premiered on Broadway in 1985), who will attend the show at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 9, and give a talk-back following the performance.

The only other musical written by Rent composer Jonathan Larson, tick, tick...Boom!, opens at the Bridge House Theatre this evening. The show is semi-autobiographical, based on Larson's own career. Set in 1990s New York, it follows the complex life of Jon, a 'promising' young composer, approaching 30 and with no idea where his life and career are heading. This thought-provoking yet funny show is packed with great songs, and is just as relevant today.

Dezart Performs presents SQUEEZE MY CANS: Cathy Schenkelberg's acclaimed one-woman show chronicling her journey into-and-out-of Scientology for tow performances only, October 7 and 8.. A benefit for Dezart Performs and the Scott Smith Scholarship Fund, the performances will take place in a special one-time partnership at the Desert Rose Playhouse.

Prepare yourself for a slice of musical theatre heaven with an entire evening of Jerry Herman music and lyrics.  SHOWTUNE  delivers everything that its title promises and then some!  No lyric is left unsung in this top-notch retrospective of Herman's phenomenal career in songwriting. Familiar tunes from such illustrious titles as 'Hello Dolly!', 'Mame' and 'La Cage Aux Folles' will be stuck in your head long after this charming show ends. 

On Monday, June 10 nearly 250 people gathered at the Tribeca Rooftop for the HB Studio Gala celebrating the centennial of its long-time master teacher, the two-time Tony Award winning actress Uta Hagen, whose 100th birthday is Wednesday, June 12.