W. May News

We've had a couple of challenging days, but we've also witnessed some breakthroughs among the cast. Acting is difficult, especially for students used to vocations in which there is one correct answer. It's easy to tell people they are singing the wrong notes; it's harder to tell them their intent isn't showing and expect them to fix it. It's also hard to remain alert and in character for nine hours on the eighth consecutive day of rehearsal.

Fraking Trip is a brand new performance written, directed and choreographed by Lucile  Frak Graciano, the 2017 winner of NY's Got Talent.

Give me a good old fashioned play with a good old fashioned structure; a beginning, a middle and an end. Or if not, if you insist on a slice of life play, at least have something interesting to say about said life. Instead, what Will Eno's play, "The Realistic Jones", the current offering from New Century Theatre Company, gives us is an hour and 40 minutes of somewhat clever dialog from some stuck, sad people that I wouldn't want to spend 5 minutes with let alone an entire play.

SMUT: An Unseemly Story (The Greening of Mrs. Donaldson) by Alan Bennett Word for Word's first production of the 2017 Season, running May 13 - Jun 11  (previews May 10-12) with a press night on May 13 in the Z Below Theater in San Francisco. Alan Bennett is one of England's finest and wittiest writers who explores the uncomfortable and tragicomic gap between people's public appearance and their private desires in this tender and surprising story. Bennett is known for authoring a range of plays and screenplays including the plays: The History Boys (Tony 2006), Kafka's Dick, The Wind in The Willows,The Madness of George III and for film: The Lady in

Get ready for justice, Sherwood Forest-style! Adventure awaits as Robin, Marian, and com- pany return to cross swords and match wits with the nefarious Sheriff of Nottingham and the evil Prince John in this hilarious, heist-lled, original adaptation! This original production was a smash hit when it rst landed on NWCT's stage as a world premiere in 2011. This slapstick production feature a hilarious script by Portland native James Moore, and is lled to the brim with both swordplay and wordplay. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in costume below!

Amidst heightened fears and and raised tensions of every sort following the presidential race of 2016, many people have begun searching for methods of greater engagement in our political process. From widespread protests to internet campaigns designed to motivate citizens toward unity and equality, if we have gained nothing else from this election, it has proven to be an effective motivator toward a greater understanding of the nuances of the political system and a movement toward more focused grassroots efforts.

This week's issue of The Village Voice contains a piece 'No Sleep Till 2020' which features the responses of prominent NY artists and activists including Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Tony Kushner, as they plot their next steps following the results of the presidential election.

Damian Buhagiar's credits include the UK tour of Jersey Boys and Bugsy Malone at Lyric Hammersmith. He's now returned to the West End production of In the Heights in the role of Sonny, which he originated at Southwark Playhouse in 2014, in time for the show's first birthday at King's Cross this Friday.

Bergen County Players, the New Jersey Association of Community Theater's "2015 Community Theater of the Year", is proud to announce its 84th consecutive season, running from September 2016 to June 2017. From an entertaining musical to hilarious comedies to intense dramas, BCP has garnered a reputation for outstanding quality productions at affordable prices. As audiences have been anxiously anticipating, the new season kicks off with the Tony Award winning musical, Cabaret. Donors who make a tax-deductible contribution of $85 now have early access for tickets to Cabaret and the rest of the 2016-17 season by ordering online at www.bcplayers.org. Ticket sales to non-donors will begin on August 10th via online or by phone at 201-261-4200. The box office, located at the Little Firehouse Theatre, 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell, NJ, will then open on Thursday, August 18th for walk up and phone sales. Special discounts for groups of 20 or more are also available by calling the box office number (extension 6) or by emailing groups@bcplayers.org.

Mark DeGarmo Dance held their festive Award Ceremony and Celebration on November 13 at The Clemente, to honor Oleg Briansky and Mireille Briane with the 2015 'Educational Visionary' Lifetime Achievement Award for their work as 'visionaries who have promoted innovation in education through the arts.'

Carnegie Hall today announced that Mercedes T. Bass has been elected as Acting Chairman of Carnegie Hall's Board of Trustees.

New York Philharmonic Board Chairman Oscar Straus Schafer and his wife, Didi, are making the largest gift to the New York Philharmonic from an individual donor in the organization's history. The $25 million gift includes $20 million to help build the Philharmonic's endowment as well as the renovation of its concert home. The Schafers are also continuing their support of the Philharmonic's free Concerts in the Parks series with an additional commitment of $5 million.

A critical smash on Broadway and in London, the two-time Tony Award® winning hit musical AMERICAN IDIOT tells the story of three lifelong friends, forced to choose between their dreams and the safety of suburbia.

Anna Greenfield is an emerging American playwright. Her play ALL GIRLS garnered a lot of recognition during its initial New York City run produced by Horse Trade Theater Group at New York City's Kraine Theater. The play is described as being "a hyper real and sometimes surreal play about three teenage girls and one colossally scary mother. Trembling on the brink of womanhood, the girls act out with one another and their families in the most outrageous ways imaginable." In the height of technical rehearsals, I digitally conversed with playwright Anna Greenfield, Susannah Eig (Morgan), Victoria Villarreal (Claude), Amy Michele Mire (Jenny), Kim Tobin (Mrs. Gray), and director Julia Traber about the upcoming Houston regional premiere of ALL GIRLS.

Tonight at 11 p.m. PST, on KX 93.5 FM Radio, spiritual mentor Greg Friedman, host of Inner Journey Radio Program from Laguna Beach, CA will have a meeting of the minds with award-winning spiritual author and shamanic explorer Matthew J Pallamary to discuss how ancient spiritual practices can help the American public cope with fear, anger, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in today's society. Click here at KX 93.5 Radio FM at 11 p.m., then click 'Listen Live' at the top of the page.

On Saturday night, 4/20/13 at 11 p.m. PST, on KX 93.5 FM Radio, spiritual mentor Greg Friedman, host of Inner Journey Radio Program from Laguna Beach, CA will have a meeting of the minds with award-winning spiritual author and shamanic explorer Matthew J Pallamary to discuss how ancient spiritual practices can help the American public cope with fear, anger, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in today's society. Click here at KX 93.5 Radio FM at 11 p.m. 4/20, then click "Listen Live" at the top of the page.

The celebrated musical RODGERS + HAMMERSTEIN'S Cinderella, originally written for television in 1957 by the legendary musical theatre duo Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, will open tonight, March 3, at the Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway at 53rd Street).

Soulpepper Theatre vet Gregory Prest sat down with BWW before a rehearsal to talk about his character in 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead', his time at Soulpepper so far, and being an actor.