Uncle Sam News

For the past few weeks I've been enjoying Gotham's slight theatrical lull that began just before Christmas and seems to have ended with the inauguration. Oh, it's not that nothing has been opening, but the relative scarcity of new Broadway shows and high-profile Off-Broadway productions has given me more time than usual to check out the goings-on Off-Off Broadway. While figuring out what could fit into my schedule, a recent column by my friend and esteemed colleague Peter Filichia, singing enthusiastic praise for The Roundtable Ensemble's Equity showcase of Linda Escalera Baggs' tense and heart-ripping drama, Silent Heroes, sent me scrambling through old emails to see who to contact for press tickets. Alas, as I'm writing these words there are only three performances remaining for this excellent production (Friday at 8, Saturday at 3 and 8), but at the recession-friendly price of only $18, this very well acted and conversation-stimulating 90 minutes is well worth squeezing into your weekend.

BROADWAY BARES 19.0: 'CLICK IT!' was an astounding success raising $808,819 to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Both performances of BROADWAY BARES sold out faster than any previous edition with all 5,902 available tickets being sold by Friday, June 19th.

Independence Day 2009 offers a night of laughs in Las Vegas, as four of comedy's brightest talents come to the Orleans Arena in Uncle Sam's Comedy Jam with Mike Epps and More! Joining Epps are Arnez J, Earthquake and Leslie Jones for a hilarious one-night event on July 4 at 9 p.m.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced casting for the Shakespeare in the Park production of Euripides' THE BACCHAE, directed by JoAnne Akalaitis with original music by Philip Glass and translated by Nicholas Rudall. THE BACCHAE will run August 11-August 30 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park with an official press opening on Monday, August 24 at 8 p.m. Bank of America returns as lead sponsor of Shakespeare in the Park 2009.

Jenna gives a rundown of where she's been and who she's seen in the world of cabaret in the past week. The past week's events include Shannon Brown's 'Moonshine Martinis', a terrific Metrojam, and yet another great Cast Party!

EMERGING ARTISTS THEATRE, Paul Adams, Artistic Director, and Derek Jamison, Associate Artistic Director, present the Illuminating Artists- New Works Series, for three weeks at TADA Theatre. Performances begin Monday, April 27, 2009, and continue through Sunday, May 17, 2009.

EMERGING ARTISTS THEATRE, Paul Adams, Artistic Director, and Derek Jamison, Associate Artistic Director, present the Illuminating Artists- New Works Series, for three weeks at TADA Theatre. Performances begin Monday, April 27, 2009, and continue through Sunday, May 17, 2009.

UC Berkeley's Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) continues its 2008-09 Main Stage season with Georges Feydeau's Sauce for the Goose (Le Dindon), directed by Christopher Herold. The period production features scenic design by Giulio Perrone, costume design by Wendy Sparks, lighting design by David K.H. Elliott, and a cast of student actors from UC Berkeley. Sauce for the Goose will be performed in English (translation by Kenneth McLeish), with weekend performances from Friday, March 6 through Sunday, March 15 at the Zellerbach Playhouse on the UC Berkeley campus.

The Phoenix Theatre of Indianapolis will begin its 2008-2009 season with political plays featuring ripped-from-the-headlines content, and will continue the season with the first Indianapolis production of a work by popular Irish playwright Conor McPherson, a world premiere 'mock operetta' by Jack O'Hara, and a Spanish-language production as well as the regional premieres of a number of plays.

Broadway's cuddliest friends kicked off a new year with the 12th annual BROADWAY BEARS auction on Sunday, February 15, 2009 at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill (237 West 42 St.), in support of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. BroadwayWorld's cameras joined the fun and the caught bidding of the bears!

Today's Broadway Blogs on BroadwayWorld.com from Friday, January 23, 2009.

UC Berkeley's Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) continues its 2008-09 Main Stage season with Georges Feydeau's Sauce for the Goose (Le Dindon), directed by Christopher Herold. The period production features scenic design by Giulio Perrone, costume design by Wendy Sparks, lighting design by David K.H. Elliott, and a cast of student actors from UC Berkeley. Sauce for the Goose will be performed in English (translation by Kenneth McLeish), with weekend performances from Friday, March 6 through Sunday, March 15 at the Zellerbach Playhouse on the UC Berkeley campus.

The 82nd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade took place yesterday in Manhattan, Broadway favorites such as Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth joined in on the fun, BroadwayWorld took a break from the turkey and stuffing and captured all the Thanksgiving action with our cameras!

Fresh on the heels of its 18 Ovation Award nominations (the most by any Southern California theatre company), Cabrillo Music Theatre continues the 2008-2009 season with the West Coast Premiere of the new musical sensation, BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO, featuring a book by Erik Jackson and Ben H. Winters, and lyrics by Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield and Cody Philip.

Ghostlight Records is proud to announce the October 27th release of a Collector's Edition double-CD of 'Reefer Madness', featuring both the Movie Soundtrack, and the original Los Angeles Cast Recording. The double-CD contains new Author Notes, written by By Kevin Murphy & Dan Studney, and also features a 'flipover booklet', which contains artwork and lyrics for both CDs. Murphy & Studney commented: 'This double CD of 'Reefer Madness' marks the culmination of a 10 year journey for us. It began in 1997, during a road trip back from San Francisco, where we got the idea that it might be fun to write a musical about singing, dancing potheads. Being in San Francisco can give you ideas like that.'

The Bay Area's award-winning Rough and Tumble presents Len Jenkin's adaptation of Voltaire's sardonically satiric masterpiece Candide.

VOTE! A New Musical about high school election espionage & the pursuit of a real dream that 'counts' received a private, industry-only reading in Manhattan with Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Seussical, Spelling Bee) and Haviland Stillwell (Les Miserables, Fiddler on the Roof) starring.

REVIEW: Joan Ackermann's play opened this weekend at Fells Point Corner Theatre.

La Jolla Playhouse's Broadway-bound world premiere musical adaptation of the Universal Pictures John Waters cult classic film Cry-Baby began performances November 6; Opening Night scheduled for November 18, with performances through December 16. Mark Brokaw directs.

Williamstown Theatre Festival announces additional casting and directors for the upcoming season.