According to the annual high school play survey conducted by the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), Beauty and the Beast; Almost, Maine; and Check Please clinched top billing for most produced musical, full-length play, and short play, respectively, during the 2017-18 school year.
ANNIE composer Charles Strouse and ANNIE lyricist (and director of the original 1977 Broadway production) Martin Charnin paid a visit backstage at Saturday night's performance of ANNIE at the Hollywood Bowl. Check out photos from the special visit below!
Dave, new musical, is now on stage at Arena Stage. By three-time Tony Award winner Thomas Meehan (Annie, Hairspray, The Producers), two-time Tony Award nominee Nell Benjamin (Mean Girls, Legally Blonde) and Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal, IfThen), Dave is inspired by the Academy Award-nominated American political comedy film. The world-premiere engagement is produced by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, The Donners' Company and Larger Than Life. Under the direction of Tony Award nominee Tina Landau, and with choreography by Tony Award nominee Sam Pinkleton and music direction by Rob Berman, Dave runs July 13-August 19, 2018 in the Kreeger Theater.
'Dave' is a really fun show with a strong cast. It's just the right kind of show we need in DC right now. While questions might emerge as to whether it can play elsewhere, I would suggest that no matter where you live, you may be eager to immerse yourself in a world of political optimism for a few hours.
From a Tony and Pulitzer Prize award-winning creative team comes the world-premiere musical comedy DAVE, adapted from the Oscar-nominated film. DAVE tells the story ofhigh school teacher (and presidential lookalike) DAVE Kovic, who is hired by the Secret Service as a stand-in for the Commander-in-Chief. When the President falls ill under less than 'presidential' circumstances, DAVE is thrust into the Oval Office to avoid a national scandal, and must find a way to gain the trust and love of the American people...and the First Lady.
Subscription packages, including DAVE, are currently available. Single tickets for DAVE go on sale March 28, 2018. Patrons may call the Arena Stage Sales Office at 202-488-3300or visit arenastage.org. DAVE runs July 13-August 19, 2018.
For complete 2018/19 Season details, visit: arenastage.org/shows-tickets/the-season/index-18-19.shtml.
Even if you have seen it before, I cannot stress enough how miraculous the current production of ANNIE is at the Hollywood Bowl, directed with creative ingenuity by Michael Arden. Featured in the cast of incredibly talented triple-threat (acting, singing, dancing) performers are Ana Gasteyer as the ruthless headmistress Miss Agatha Hannigan, David Alan Grier as the refined, generous billionaire Oliver 'Daddy' Warbucks, Lea Salonga as his dedicated and caring assistant Grace Farrell, with newcomer Kaylin Hedges as Annie, who won the role over hundreds of other young girls from across the country who submitted video auditions to win role. Miss Hedges is the cornerstone of the production and her soaring, pitch-perfect voice and effervescent stage presence setting the jubilant tone for the entire ensemble.
Quite possibly the most popular family-friendly stage musical of all time, ANNIE---the classic 1977 Tony Award winner for Best Musical based on Harold Gray's 'Little Orphan Annie' comic strip---seems like a no-brainer choice to appear as the annual all-star summer musical at the world-famous Hollywood Bowl. So it's actually not a surprise that this plucky, unabashedly charming production---now causing giddy bursts of laughter and collective choruses of 'awwww's' at Hollywood's iconic 18,000-seat outdoor arena for two more performances this weekend---is such a perfect fit. And judging by its marvelous opening night performance this past Friday, July 27, the production itself is sure to win over anyone in attendance of its remaining shows.
Arena Stage presents the world premiere of the new musical Dave. By three-time Tony Award winner Thomas Meehan (Annie, Hairspray, The Producers), two-time Tony Award nominee Nell Benjamin (Mean Girls, Legally Blonde) and Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal, If/Then), Dave is inspired by the Academy Award-nominated American political comedy film. The show celebrated its opening night this week, check out the stars celebrating below!
After their opening night was rained out on Friday, July 20th, the diverse and youthful cast of Hairspray at The Jenny Wiley Theatre, an outdoor amphitheatre in Prestonsburg, Kentucky--population 3,255 -- celebrated their work and art by transforming a local pizzeria into a piano bar and joyfully singing through a concert of the show for an enthusiastic local crowd. The second performance on Saturday, July 21st, made it to the end of Act 1... when another severe storm broke loose.
Pantochino Teen Theatre will present the Mel Brooks musical, "Young Frankenstein" for three performances August 10 - 12 at Milford Arts, the MAC on Railroad Avenue in Downtown Milford. The show features thirty local young actors, age 12 to 18 in a production sponsored by the Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation.
Tony nominees Christopher Sieber and Jennifer Simard star as the stoically affluent Daddy Warbucks and the deliciously wicked Miss Hannigan, respectively, in the Muny's centennial season production of Annie, running through July 25. Watch the cast sing We'd Like To Thank You, Herbert Hoover in the video below!
Tony nominees Christopher Sieber and Jennifer Simard star as the stoically affluent Daddy Warbucks and the deliciously wicked Miss Hannigan, respectively, in the Muny's centennial season production of Annie, running through July 25. Watch Simard sing the iconic hit 'Little Girls' in the video below!
The Hendersonville Performing Arts Company's Summer Enrichment Program presents ANNIE July 27th through August 5th with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:00 p.m. and on Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Based on the popular comic strip by Harold Gray, Annie has become a worldwide phenomenon and was the winner of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The beloved book and score by Tony Award winners, Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin, features some of the greatest musical theatre hits ever written, including 'Tomorrow.'
You'd better gussy yourself up and get over to The Muny this week for the seven-time Tony Award-winning musical, Annie. This family show has it all - hope, heart, and a heaping helping of humanity, and Peyton Ella shines in the title role like the superstar she is.
Today's subject Rob Berman is currently living his Theatre Life as the Musical Director for the world premiere of Dave at Arena Stage. The production, based on the 1993 film and directed by Tina Landau, runs through August 19th in Arena Stage's Kreeger Theatre space.