William Finn News

Porchlight Music Theatre has announced its 26th season that includes the 2020 - 2021 Mainstage, Porchlight Revisits and New Faces Sing Broadway series. Porchlight's Mainstage and Porchlight Revisits return to the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street with its annual fundraising concert Chicago Sings Andrew Lloyd Webber launching the season taking place at the Museum of Contemporary Arts, 220. E. Chicago Ave.

The Regional Emmy-Award Winning musical theatre training organization, Young Artists of America (YAA), is now welcoming 4th and 5th grade students into their Summer Performing Arts Intensives. Previously, the program, known to many as the premiere training ground for dedicated musical theatre students in the Mid-Atlantic, was only open to students in middle school and high school. Starting in June of 2020, elementary school students (ages 9+) will be welcomed into the new daytime program, Kids Academy, an introduction to musical theatre led by the region's top teaching artists.

Andrew Leeds, a Groundlings main company member, follows in the long line of his talented Groundlings cohorts in landing an episodic gig. Andrew plays David, the brother of the titular Zoey in NBC's new Sunday night hit Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. Actor/singer/writer Andrew agreed to parcel out some time from his multi-tasking to answer a few of my inquiring enquiries.           

This August, The Studio Theatre Tierra del Sol (806 San Marino Drive, The Villages, FL) will present its annual Summer Song Cycle, Elegies from August 13th through August 22nd, 2020. Written by Tony Award-winning composer William Finn, this 5-person show is inspired by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Elegies is a heartfelt collection of songs about the deaths of various people Finn has known, including some of his closest friends and family members. This work is a commentary on the rewards and woes of being part of a family, a group of friends, and a society in good times and bad. Although the show is all about death and dying, it's no sad trip down memory lane. Never morbid, Elegies is touching, funny, and ultimately buoyant; floating on the spirits of those who inhabit its songs.

From the Tony Award-winning author William Finn and James Lapine comes an energetic, sardonic, and comical musical. Gordon collapses into his lunch and awakes in the hospital, surrounded by his nearest and dearest. When what was thought to be a life-threatening neurological disorder turns out to be treatable, Gordon is grateful for a second chance to create his own art.

Sometimes in life, you feel like everything is under control, you're a normal person who has their life together, and you're going to be okay. OTHER TIMES...

Following the official release of his “I KNOW MORE NOW” CD on February 21, award-winning actor and cabaret singer BRIAN De LORENZO will dazzle Greater Boston audiences with music from his new album and some past favorites, at a concert on Wednesday, March 18 at Harvard Square's OBERON, 2 Arrow Street, Cambridge. Doors open at 7:00 PM and the concert begins at 7:30 PM. Admission is $22 plus a $3 ticket fee. For tickets, visit here or call (617) 547-8300.

Pear Theatre announces its 19th season, full of reimagined classics and intriguing new works. All performances are held at the Pear Theatre's performance space at 1110 La Avenida St., Mountain View. Each show offers a preview performance on the first Thursday, followed by Press/Opening Night on Friday. For subscriptions and individual tickets the public may visit www.thepear.org or call (650) 254-1148.

The bottom line is: 'Spelling Bee' is a feel-good musical comedy that could fall flat if not cast right. The Skylight has gathered a group of top-tier performers and behind-the-scenes superstars to ensure the show soars. Can you spell a?oedoldrumsa??? This is your answer to them.

The beloved musical A Little Night Music is getting a new Los Angeles production with an eye-catching cast, including Tony Award winner, Daisy Eagan, as Petra and NBC's Hairspray Live! star, Garrett Clayton, as Henrik.

Curtain Players presents the popular musical Falsettos. Falsettos is the tale of Marvin, who leaves his wife and young son to live with another man. His ex-wife marries his psychiatrist, and Marvin ends up alone. Two years later, Marvin is reunited with his lover on the eve of his son's bar mitzvah. Winner! 1992 Tony® Award, Best Book of a Musical, William Finn & James Lapine Winner! 1992 Tony® Award, Best Score of a Musical, William Finn. A beautiful reminder that love can tell a million stories. Performances run February 7th through the 23rd, 2020 at Curtain Players, 5691 Harlem Road, Galena, Ohio 43021. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit: http://curtainplayers.org

Broadway ladies united last weekend for the world premiere of Award-winning composer Carmel Dean's Well-Behaved Women. The cast included: LaChanze, Liz Callaway, Natascia Diaz, Melissa Rose Hirsh, Bonnie Milligan, Katie Thompson, Kuhoo Verma, Sasha Allen, Andréa Burns,Hannah Elless and Barbara Walsh.

'This season captures the beautiful complexity and comedic potential of the human condition.'

BoHo Theatre has announced its 16th season, featuring fresh looks at a pair of classic stories. BoHo's 2020 season will feature the musical FALSETTOS by William Finn and James Lapine, followed by Jeffrey Hatcher's new adaptation of Frederick Knott's riveting thriller WAIT UNTIL DARK. BoHo will also continue its partnership with Northwestern University's Next Step Program by staging a reading of a new play by student Nate Hollander.

Broadway Tonight, the performing arts series at the University of Central Oklahoma, recently welcomed Tony Award winner Faith Prince to its historic Mitchell Hall stage. Ms. Prince has earned her status as a living legend and one of Broadway's preeminent Divas. In this lovely, intimate concert, audiences were treated not only to Ms. Prince's signature zaniness and piercing belt, but also her warm soprano and magnetic stillness.

Rep Stage, the professional regional theatre in residence at Howard Community College, has announced its 2020a?'2021 season that will launch with the popular musical a?oeFalsettos,a?? followed by a regional premiere production by Jen Silverman, a world premiere by playwright and actor Dane Figueroa Edidi, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning a?oeSeascapea?? by Edward Albee. 

Season three at the Wayward Artist kicks off 2020 exploring the idea of identity. After grounding the inaugural season in faith and exploring the meaning of family in season two, The Wayward Artist reflects on its first two seasons and explores the identity of the company as well as the intricacies of human identity in season three. Through stories of diversity, culture, adolescence, existential searching, and social media, season three stands by and pushes the boundaries of the company's mission. 

In what has become an annual ritual, a total of 40 established and emerging composers, lyricists, and librettists will converge on the Goodspeed campus from mid-January through mid-February 2020 to participate in the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing 15 new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration.

Skylight Music Theatre today announced the cast and creative team for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, running February 7-23, 2020 in Skylight's beautiful Cabot Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway, in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward.

Jay a?oeThe Sporta?? Jackson dreams of being the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, but in the racially segregated world of boxing in 1905, the odds are stacked against him. When a crooked boxing promoter hatches a plan for a?oethe fight of the century,a?? a?oeThe Sporta?? might land a place in the ring with the reigning white heavyweight champion. Inspired by the real-life experiences of Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight world champion, The Royale is an a?oearresting productiona??.a stylized blow by blow of a fight that still rages today.a?? (The Washington Post).