Usher News

The Dramatists Guild Fund and Program Chairs Michael Korie, Laurence O'Keefe, and Diana Son have announced the 2016-2017 class of DG Fellows James Christy, Khiyon Hursey, Patricia Ione Lloyd, Michael R. Jackson, C.A. Johnson, David Mallamud, Zoey Martinson, Madeline Myers, Nicole Pandolfo, and Len Schiff.

Theater For The Mind, Radio Play, Audio Drama, Audio Theater - call it what you will but writer, director, producer Kevin Herren is creating some outstanding new Audio Theater programs. These are not ordinary Audiobooks. These stories are fully dramatized with music and sound effects for a truly immersive experience. Titles include classic literature favorites A Christmas Carol, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Fall of the House of Usher and the children's Biblical Audio Theater series - In The Beginning featuring stories from the Bible.

American Lyric Theater (ALT) - founded by Lawrence Edelson in 2005 to build a new body of operatic repertoire by nurturing composers and librettists and providing an incubator for their collaborations - announces its 2016-2017 Season. The season begins with the InsightALT series, providing an insider's look at how new operas are made, featuring concert readings of operas in development at ALT, including The Halloween Tree, The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing, and Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant. The season concludes with the return of the critically acclaimed ALT Alumni: Composers & Librettists in Concert, celebrating the success of prominent alumni of American Lyric Theater's innovative Composer Librettist Development Program. Tickets are available at www.altnyc.org.

Singer, songwriter, and trumpet virtuoso Spencer Ludwig has released his new single 'Diggy' via Warner Bros. Records. The track was produced by fellow Warner Bros. Records artist RedOne (Nicki Minaj, Usher).

The cast, creative team, and crew of 14 LEANDRO ROAD, Theater House of Black's Filipino theatrical adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Fall of the House of Usher,' recently invited a select group of media outlets to one of their rehearsals.

The Centenary Stage Company (CSC) has the perfect opportunity for theatre, music and dance lovers who would like to enjoy great entertainment on a limited budget.  CSC is once again seeking volunteer ushers for upcoming performances  in the new Lackland Center, which will include the performances of  CSC's Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily, Don Quioxote by the NJ Ballet, the Fringe Series with The Other Mozart, Hard Travelin' with Woody Guthrie and Kick - a Rockette's Story, the annual holiday musical, Mary Poppins, as well as  15 other events throughout the 2016-17 professional season.

On the heels of joining Playwrights Horizons Resident Company Program, Musical Theatre Factory (MTF), under the direction of Founding Artistic Director Shakina Nayfack, has announced its first full season of programming since its founding in January 2014.

His day job is as associate justice of the Second District, Division Six of the California Courts of Appeal, but Steve Perren's passion for the stage has seen him appear in a variety of shows in Ventura County over the years. He played founding father Roger Sherman in Cabrillo Music Theatre's 2012 production of 1776 and has also appeared in numerous operettas staged by the Ventura County Gilbert and Sullivan Repertoire Company. In Panic! Productions' Parade, currently playing at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts, Perren is ideally suited for the part of Judge Leonard S. Roan, who presides over the trial of accused child murderer Leo Frank. Parade deals with the real-life arrest and trial of Frank (played by Joshua Finkel), a Georgia factory superintendent who was accused of murdering 13-year-old factory worker Mary Phagan in 1913. We sat down with Steve during a break in rehearsals for the show, and talked about his unique perspective as an actor who also shares the occupation of the character he portrays.

ABC announced its lineup of exceptional talent to be seen at the opening of the Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American History and Culture. Stars will include Mary J. Blige, Jamie Foxx, Dave Grohl with Trouble Funk, Usher, Christina Aguilera, Common, NeYo, Patti Austin, The Alvin Ailey Dancers, Gary Clark Jr., Gladys Knight and The Howard Gospel Choir.

WE tv introduces a new set of elite, high powered female entertainment attorneys with the premiere of MONEY. POWER. RESPECT on Thursday, October 13th at 10 p.m. ET/ PT.

Celebrate New Year's Eve at Feinstein's/54 Below as two of our most popular stars return to help usher in the new year! December 31, 2016 will have a very special lineup.

The Second City, Chicago's legendary sketch and improv comedy theater, returns to The Cape Playhouse with 'Free Speech! (While Supplies Last)' an irreverent look at America's electoral insanity.

Rapper/singer Tinie Tempah has scored seven No. 1 singles in his native UK, including his latest, 'Girls Like,' featuring singer Zara Larsson.

Dracula has risen from the dead and is more frightening as ever... in the best possible way!

Written by Alan Ball, who created 'Six Feet Under' and won an Oscar for the 'American Beauty' screenplay, the 1993 work is set at a society wedding in Knoxville, Tenn.During an ostentatious wedding reception at a Knoxville, Tennessee, estate, five reluctant, identically clad bridesmaids hide out in an upstairs bedroom, each with her own reason to avoid the proceedings below. They are Frances, a painfully sweet but sheltered fundamentalist; Mindy, the cheerful, wise-cracking lesbian sister of the groom; Georgeanne, whose heartbreak over her own failed marriage triggers outrageous behavior; Meredith, the bride's younger sister whose precocious rebelliousness masks a dark secret; and Trisha, a jaded beauty whose die-hard cynicism about men is called into question when she meets Tripp, a charming bad-boy usher to whom there is more than meets the eye. As the afternoon wears on, these five very different women joyously discover a common bond in wickedly funny, irreverent and touching ways.

'Heavy Is the Torch' (published by Balboa Press) is a true story that chronicles a woman's journey through the hardship of unrequited love, ultimately leading her to a spiritual awakening and the discovery of an ancient twin flame connection.

The Fifth Annual Australians in Film Awards (AiF) will take place on Wednesday, October 19, 2016 in Los Angeles.

Unbound Productions Executive Director Jonathan Josephson, Artistic Director Paul Millet, and Producing Artistic Director Jeff G. Rack have announced the plays that will be included in WICKED LIT 2016, the company's 8th annual immersive theatre event that will for the 7th year take place at Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena, California.

SiriusXM recently welcomed the return of The Barbra Streisand Channel, an exclusive channel featuring the works of Grammy, Oscar, Emmy and Tony award-winning artist Barbra Streisand, on September 6, featuring an exclusive 'Town Hall' special with the legend, hosted by actor and ENCORE collaborator Patrick Wilson, on September 7.