William Finn News

Do I have to spell it out for you? This show is fun!

Today we are talking to a versatile stage and screen actress who has scored in a number of unique roles on Broadway and around the country in addition to making a recent mark with her work on the Broadway-themed web series IT COULD BE WORSE - the passionate and compelling Alison Fraser. Discussing her vast resume and some of her most fondly remembered performances to date, Fraser opens up about her remarkable career thus far - including her work originating parts in IN TROUSERS, MARCH OF THE FALSETTOS, THE SECRET GARDEN, ROMANCE/ROMANCE, GUNMETAL BLUES, THE DIVINE SISTER and more - and looks ahead to her most recent projects, current, upcoming and beyond. Most importantly, Fraser details the finer points of LOVE THERAPY, the new Wendy Beckett play she stars in Off-Broadway and outlines her continuing collaboration onstage with the playwright, having previously starred in CHARITY CASE, as well as what we can expect from the realistic new drama, opening April 29. Additionally, Fraser sheds some light on her recent work in the world premiere of the Tennessee Williams play IN MASKS OUTRAGEOUS AND AUSTERE and how that led to her new solo revue, THE TENNESSEE WILLIAMS SONGBOOK. Plus, memories of appearing in GYPSY on Broadway with Patti LuPone and working with Arthur Laurents on that as well as his own final play, cameoing on SMASH, reflections on her memorable musical partnerships with husband Rusty Magee and noted FALSETTOS songwriter William Finn, as well as thoughts on the contemporary theatre scene and her various theatre-related web projects, favorite recent shows and much, much more!

Falsettos is a Tony Award winning musical which explores complicated issues surrounding family and love amidst the backdrop of the emergence of the HIV/AIDS crisis in New York City. It is the latest offering in Acting Up Stage's exciting season, and opens tonight at Daniel's Spectrum (formerly the Regent Park Arts Centre). BWW sat down and spoke with the three ladies of the production, Sara-Jeanne Hosie, Glynis Ranney and Sarah Gibbons about what the experience has been like so far, and about how relevant they feel the material is today:

Portland Center Stage (PCS) is pleased to announce that Broadway's Andrew Samonskywill now star in the upcoming world-premiere production of the new musical Somewhere in Time, based on the novel by renowned authorRichard Matheson (I Am Legend, What Dreams May Come) and the subsequent hit film starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour and Christopher Plummer.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, has announced it has received a $10,000 National Fund grant from the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT), for its Musical Theatre Lab world premiere production of the musical, Southern Comfort, July 19 - August 10.

Student-Run Musical Theater Group at Shepherd University to Perform 'Hillarious and Heartwarming Musical' April 18-21

Following the model of the original Broadway production, four people were pulled from the Theatre Palisades audience and asked to participate in the contest. These visiting spellers were thrown into the mix, led into musical numbers by the cast, and asked to spell words until disqualified and sent back to their seats.

After riveting audiences with an emotionally raw and intellectual inaugural production of Stephen Sondheim's ASSASSINS, MJR Theatricals/Music Box Musicals is serving up a wondrously side-splitting, laugh-a-minute presentation of the Tony-award winning musical THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE. The clever and hilarious musical is based on Rebecca Feldman's C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E improvisation performed by The Farm, with music and lyrics by William Finn and a book by Rachel Sheinkin. It treats the audience as if they are really at the fictional spelling bee, and the cast gleefully breaks the fourth wall to interact with members of the audience. The musical follows six quirky kids (played by adults) through the spelling bee, and introduces the audience to three adults that are just as peculiar as the kids.

Now in its 15th season, Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook celebrates the best in American singing and songwriting with a new chapter in the Songbook story: 'American Songbook in the Penthouse,' a series of weekend-only performances by performers and composers presented in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, an intimate yet elegant venue that brings artists closer to the audience in a cabaret-style setting. The second weekend of Kaplan Penthouse performances, the sixth week of American Songbook 2013, runs April 5-6, 2013. April 5th belongs to Cristin Milioti, who was nominated for a Tony Award in 2012 for her lead role in the musical Once.

Spinning Tree Theatre presents the Kansas City premiere of Hello Again, with words and music by Michael John LaChiusa, suggested by the play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler. The production is directed by Michael Grayman and Andy Parkhurst.

American Stage Theatre Company opens the 28th annual American Stage in the Park with the musical production of THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, running April 24, 2013 and closing May 26, 2013. THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE is a musical comedy sure to get the audience laughing. This production was conceived by Rebecca Feldman with music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin and additional material by Jay Reiss. The core of this play centers on a fictional spelling bee set in a geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley High School with six young people in the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves. These kids eventually learn that winning isn't everything and that losing doesn't necessarily make you a loser. THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE is a hilarious tale of overachievers' angst chronicling the experience of six adolescent outsiders vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime. The show's Tony Award winning creative team has created the unlikeliest of hit musicals about the unlikeliest of heroes: a quirky yet charming cast of outsiders for whom a spelling bee is the one place where they can stand out and fit in at the same time.

It's April 1st. Do you know when your Spring is coming? During another longggggg New York winter, the good news is that there were a ton of warming cabaret shows. The bad news is that there were so many, even during this seemingly endless winter our intrepid reviewer Stephen Hanks didn't have enough time to review them all right after the performances. So in what is becoming a seasonal ritual, here he offers yet another compilation of 13 'catch-up' cabaret show reviews.

Now in its 15th season, Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook celebrates the best in American singing and songwriting with a new chapter in the Songbook story: 'American Songbook in the Penthouse,' a series of weekend-only performances by performers and composers presented in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, an intimate yet elegant venue that brings artists closer to the audience in a cabaret-style setting. 'American Songbook in the Penthouse' embraces adventuresome performers and celebrates composers and lyricists, both newer and veteran. With a seating capacity of just 225, the Kaplan Penthouse allows acoustic performers to be heard the way they intend - near to the audience and without elaborate amplification. The size of the space also allows performers to interact with their audience to make them an integral part of their performance, something difficult to do in a larger, more formal venue.

Acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons has announced initial details for its 2013 special online Auction in connection with its annual Spring Gala. Bidding for the auction, which will feature an eclectic array of items and unique opportunities, begins Friday March 29 at 10AM at www.biddingforgood/playwrightshorizons. Online bidding will continue through Monday, April 15 at 8PM.

Playwrights Horizons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, has announced the sixth and final production of its 2013/2014 Season.

The Lyric Theatre and Curtain Call Productions will be presenting William Finn's A New Brain, a musical by the Tony award-winning team behind 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and the Falsettos trilogy, starring Broadway Veteran Anna McNeely at the Lyric's Flagler Center, for four performances only, tonight, March 22nd- 24th.

Moonbox Productions and Director Allison Olivia Choat have reverted to the familiar terrain of musical theater with this intimate, sung-through look into the heart and mind (er, brain) of Tony Award-winning composer William Finn (FALSETTOS, THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE) who grew up in Natick, Massachusetts. The cast of ten is bursting with new talent alongside three actors who have been in previous Moonbox shows, all of whom have incredible vocal chops.

When FALSETTOS opened on Broadway in 1992, the theater world knew it was experiencing something brand new in musical theater. Everything about FALSETTOS breaks the mold of the Broadway musical.

Wayside Theatre Artistic Director, Warner Crocker, announced the cast and schedule for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the last show of Wayside's 51st Season. This show was conceived by Rebecca Feldman, with music and lyrics by William Finn, book by Rachel Sheinkin, and additional material by Jay Reiss. This production is sponsored by WVPT - Your Source for PBS and More and TV3-Winchester.

The long anticipated cast recording of the Drama Desk award-winning SEE ROCK CITY & OTHER DESTINATIONS has been recorded by Yellow Sound Label, produced by Michael Croiter, to be released in digital and CD formats today, March 19, 2013.