Simmons News

WE tv announced today Growing Up Hip Hop: New York as the latest series in the expanding and hit WE tv franchise that reveals the perks and perils of being born into a rap dynasty.

The Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts announced today the recipients of the 2019 Artist Project Grants, marking the fourth year of the organization's successful initiative. The grants reflect artist Mike Kelley's longstanding commitment to inventive and groundbreaking work and support dynamic collaborations in any medium between artists and Los Angeles nonprofit organizations-including projects by under-recognized artists or those that have proven difficult to undertake or fund due to their content, complexity, or other factors.

Building on the previous success of the “Summer Fun & Games” brand, The ABC Television Network is expanding its slate of game shows to three nights, adding four new exciting series to the upcoming schedule. In addition to bringing back the iconic “Press Your Luck” and “Card Sharks” to TV, ABC will launch two new alternative shows – “Holey Moley,” an epic mini-golf competition featuring NBA superstar Stephen Curry as resident golf pro; and “Family Food Fight,” hosted by renowned restaurateur and New York Times best-selling cookbook author Ayesha Curry. All of these shows are part of the summer premiere dates schedule announced today by the network.

During an interview with Busy Tonight, Mandy Moore revealed that she and host Busy Phillips are both up for the role of Adelaide in the a movie musical version of Guys and Dolls. However, Moore went on to say that the casting directors of the film are only casting male leads first before considering any female roles.

THE GREEN ROOM 42 Broadway's newest intimate concert venue will present the original music of singer-songwriter Anthony Nunziata on Monday, April 15 at 7:00 PM. Performers will include Tony Award and Emmy Award-winner Lillias White, J. Harrison Ghee (Lola in Kinky Boots), Kissy Simmons (Nala in The Lion King), Natalie Weiss (Everyday Rapture), Marissa Rosen (The Rocky Horror Show), and 16 year-old pop singer Caroline Cohen, in addition to other surprise guests.

Musical Theatre Guild, the winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in the theatre, will conclude their 23rd Anniversary season with SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, the Pulitzer Prize winning musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. The one-night-only concert will take place at Glendale's historic Alex Theatre on Sunday, May 5, 2019 at 7:00 PM.

For its 36th season, Pacific Theatre presents seven plays exploring the questions that power our internal worlds: how do we hold space and identity in a world suddenly transformed? What does it mean to protect a child? Where do we find dignity and freedom as we age? Can a cruel person truly change and be forgiven?

From award-winning author and director John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shrill) Anthem is an edgy anthology series produced by TOPIC (Missing Richard Simmons) that tells a unique American story through a distinct musical voice.

Lily Verlaine and Jasper McCann return to the Triple Door for their 11th season with their adaptation of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland", "Through the Looking Glass, The Burlesque Alice in Wonderland". And while "Wonderland" might seem a perfect setting for a Burlesque show, since the whole thing can be looked at as a giant drug trip, any adaptation should use more than just the characters and name as a backdrop. Unfortunately, that's not the case here as the evening is simply a series of numbers, strung together with the loosest of Wonderland threads holding it together, and so much thrown at the audience in order to obscure the downfalls of the show that it really only serves to spotlight the downfalls.

Emmy-nominated daytime talk show “Pickler & Ben” is serving up the star power during May Sweeps. Their Nashville set will welcome country music superstars Blake Shelton, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire and Rascal Flatts.  They will also be joined by BRAVO reality powerhouse Kim Zolciak-Biermann, author Rachel Hollis and award-winning actresses Kristen Bell, Rita Wilson and Chrissy Metz.

Internationally acclaimed children's author Christopher Paul Curtis will pay a return visit to Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S. Racine Ave. in Chicago's West Loop, on Saturday and Sunday, April 13 and 14, for public book signings and to celebrate CCT's world premiere adaptation of his Newbery Medal-winning book, The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963.

In Elevate: A Triple Bill of Female Choreographers three seasoned choreographers from NYC, NJ/NYC, and Pittsburgh come together to explore female empowerment in a compelling evening-length triple bill performance presented as part of a 3-city tour. In this production, three distinct powerhouses, Heather Bryce (Bryce Dance Company, NYC), Erin Carlisle Norton (The Moving Architects, NJ/NYC), and Shana Simmons (Shana Simmons Dance, PA) elevate each other and their collective voices by bringing the strength, individuality, and power of the female voice into the spotlight. This triple bill is a unique opportunity to see how three unique voices interpret fearless femininity. Performances are April 17-18, 2019 at Actors Fund Arts Center (Brooklyn), April 19-20, 2019 at The Dance Complex (Boston), and May 4, 2019 at Point Park University's George Rowland White Performance Center (Pittsburgh).

Calling all ladies!!!! Ladies Night Out Comedy Tour featuring ADELE GIVENS, SHERRI SHEPHERD, LONI LOVE, KIM WHITLEY, and hosted by Bravo's leading lady NENE LEAKES makes a stop at Kings Theatre on Saturday, July 13, 2019 at 8PM.   

It's the best and fullest version of Into the Woods I've ever seen.

EMP Label Group has released the new Ron Keel Band album FIGHT LIKE A BAND, which hit stores 3/1 via their EMP Outlaw imprint. The collection features 11 brand-new songs and fresh recordings of Keel classics.

It was announced from the stage at WonderCon that “Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” will return for its sixth season with a special episode directed by Clark Gregg, FRIDAY, MAY 10 (8:00-9:00 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network, streaming and on demand.

Following the sell-out success of The Great Christmas Feast, The Lost Estate today announces its latest experience, The Lost Love Speakeasy. Written by award-winning playwright Juliet Gilkes Romero and set within an illicit world built by designers Abby and Alice, it is a Jazz Age tale that sweeps audiences from the African American fishing villages of South Carolina to the glittering lights of Broadway. Woven into the story are classic songs from the era arranged by Steffan Rees, and decadent plates from Temper Restaurants' Executive Chef Neil Rankin each inspired by this epic journey.

The Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival is the premier American showcase for vocal harmony music. The annual national competition draws from hundreds of vocal groups from around the country with regional competitions in eight cities, including New York City. The winning group from each festival is flown to perform in front of celebrity judges and a sold out house of enthusiastic a cappella fans at the National Finals. http://harmony-sweepstakes.com/newyork/

From the moment you set foot inside the theater at 12th Ave Arts to catch Washington Ensemble Theatre's current production of Charise Castro Smith's "Feather's and Teeth" you'll be struck with two things. First, the desperately trying to be idyllic 1970's family home that's slightly off kilter from the brilliant set by Pete Rush, and second, the earworm of Nancy Sinatra's insistent "It's Such a Pretty World Today" boring its way into your head thanks to the pitch perfect sound design from Maggie L. Rogers, both setting a delightfully askew tone for what's about to happen. And both setting up the fantastic journey with a fantastic design team and fantastic actors and fantastic staging making for a … say it with me … a wonderfully creepy show. (I told you things were a little off, right? Don't expect the expected.)

Chicago Children's Theatre's 13th season finale is the world premiere of The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963, a civil rights era family drama based on the groundbreaking young adult novel by Christopher Paul Curtis about the 1963 Birmingham church bombing.