Let the Right One In 2014 - Articles Page 12

While certainly far from a perfect show (both in staging and execution), the bus-and-truck version of BULLETS OVER BROADWAY - THE MUSICAL---the quirky and highly-amusing stage musical adaptation of the 1994 big screen comedy penned by Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath---is nonetheless a supremely fun and engaging stage iteration had me in stitches for much of its two hilarious acts, which have been enhanced by lots of silly, old-fashioned antics and an array of surprisingly top-notch musical/acting performances from a solid, mostly young cast. I can honestly say that this production---now finishing up its Los Angeles premiere performances at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood through January 24---is quite possibly the most enjoyable non-equity first national tour I've watched in a long, long time---a wonderful surprise considering such enterprises have a long, contentious history of enticing lots of industry controversy and skepticism even before the curtain goes up.

 Every season must reflect the mission of the company and for the past 13 years, Sean Murray has crafted uniquely Cygnet seasons that reflect the commitment to 'startle the soul, embrace diversity and ignite debate.' This year is no exception. The seven productions in Season 14 range from the traditional to the avant-garde and include two musical theatre classics, a two-show repertory by a Pulitzer prize-winning playwright, the return of a holiday favorite and two contemporary works sure to shock and amaze.

Jenna Ortega ('Jane The Virgin' and “Elena of Avalor”) stars as inventive tween Harley Diaz, the middle child in a bustling household of nine, in the engaging, single-camera comedy series 'Stuck in the Middle.'

Roundabout Theatre Company's Noises Off officially opens tonight, January 14, 2016. This is a limited engagement through Sunday, March 6, 2016, on Broadway at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway. Scroll down to learn more about the cast and watch interviews with the company!

St. Ann's Warehouse will continue the inaugural season in its new waterfront theater with the American Premiere of Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy and writer-director Enda Walsh's thrilling new opera The Last Hotel, in a Landmark Productions / Wide Open Opera production. Singers Claudia Boyle, Robin Adams and Katherine Manley, actor Mikel Murfi, and an ensemble of New York's finest contemporary players, conducted alternately by André de Ridder and Alan Pierson, will deliver this “searingly powerful new chamber work” (The Guardian). Presented by St. Ann's Warehouse and co-presented withPROTOTYPE: Opera/Theatre/Now andIrish Arts Center, The Last Hotel comes to New York after tremendously acclaimed engagements at the Edinburgh International Festival, the Dublin Theatre Festival and the Royal Opera House in London.

BULLETS OVER BROADWAY became a screwball Broadway musical comedy in 2014, written by Woody Allen (adapted from his film) and directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman. The production, which consists of songs adapted from those popular in the Roaring Twenties, was nominated for six Tony awards. The BULLETS national tour will stop at Riverside's Fox Performing Arts Center for one show on the evening of Wednesday, January 27, 2016. BWW spoke to Jemma Jane, who plays Olive.

Simon Stokes, Artistic Director of Theatre Royal Plymouth, today announces an exciting season of new plays at the Theatre Royal Plymouth.

St. Ann's Warehouse will continue the inaugural season in its new waterfront theater with the American Premiere of Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy and writer-director Enda Walsh's thrilling new opera The Last Hotel, in a Landmark Productions / Wide Open Opera production. Singers Claudia Boyle, Robin Adams and Katherine Manley, actor Mikel Murfi, and an ensemble of New York's finest contemporary players, conducted alternately by André de Ridder and Alan Pierson, will deliver this “searingly powerful new chamber work” (The Guardian). Presented by St. Ann's Warehouse and co-presented withPROTOTYPE: Opera/Theatre/Now andIrish Arts Center, The Last Hotel comes to New York after tremendously acclaimed engagements at the Edinburgh International Festival, the Dublin Theatre Festival and the Royal Opera House in London.

The holidays are a time when families come together around some of their most beloved traditions. From caroling on Christmas Eve, to hot chocolate around the tree, to snuggling under a blanket to watch your favorite Christmas movie, there is something reassuring about our favorite holiday traditions. This week, one of those treasured traditions sets up shop at Orlando's Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, as DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! THE MUSICAL comes to town for 10 shows this week. Running from tonight through Sunday, December 13th this vibrant stage show tells the cherished story of how a loner with a heart 'two sizes too small' finds the joy in Christmas and community.

Can YOU feel a brand new day? We're gearing up to ease on down the road with powerhouse newcomer Shanice Williams and the rest of the gang from Oz, when THE WIZ LIVE! premieres Thursday, December 3, at 8pm on NBC.  Of course, as was the case in 2013's THE SOUND OF MUSIC LIVE! and last year's PETER PAN LIVE!, the cast is certainly not short on big-name talent — and most come with Broadway or theatrical credits, no less. As if you didn't already know, be sure to look out for Queen Latifah (of 2002's CHICAGO and 2007's HAIRSPRAY), Elijah Kelley (also of 2007's HAIRSPRAY), Uzo Aduba (of CORAM BOY and 2011's GODSPELL), and David Alan Grier (2012's PORGY AND BESS). 

Find out what it's like to play a pop music legend on Broadway from the boys who did it.

Julie Branam has the distinction of being the first Rockette ever to have directed and choreographed the Radio City Christmas Spectacular in New York City. For the past 28 years, Julie has had a successful career performing as a Rockette as well as holding other various positions at the Music Hall.

'[Thank you] to an incredible cast of British and American actors who make the Atlantic look like a little creek you can just kind of pop across,' said Dame Helen Mirren upon receiving her 2015 Tony Award. The stage and screen star reprised her critically-acclaimed performance in THE AUDIENCE after a West End run in 2013, and she was just one of many to 'pop across' an ocean for a stab at Broadway.  An unprecedented amount of British talent took over Broadway last year, bringing us such productions as THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, WOLF HALL: PARTS 1 & 2, and SKYLIGHT.   It doesn't seem like the trend is ending anytime soon. This fall, Broadway will welcome a slew of British actors- some of whom will be making their US stage debuts in incoming productions. And it's not just performers. We're getting some complete British imports in shows like A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE and KING CHARLES III. Below, we're taking a moment to shine a spotlight on this season's British imports.

United Scenic Artists Local 829 is trying to stir its members and constituents to let the New York Times know their latest practices in crediting theatre are not acceptable.

CHARLES BUSCH, author and star of such plays as Psycho Beach Party, Times Square Angel, The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset, You Should Be So Lucky, Shanghai Moon and The Divine Sister brings his iconic Cabaret stylings to The COPA Palm Springs for two 'sure to be sell-out' performances, October 16 and 17 at 8:00 pm. His most recent plays are Judith of Bethulia, produced at Theater for the New City in 2012 and The Tribute Artist, which reunited him with Julie Halston, produced by Primary Stages Theatre Company in 2014. In 2003, Mr. Busch received a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement as both performer and playwright and was honored with a star on the Playwrights Walk outside the Lucille Lortel Theatre. I had the chance to catch up with Mr. Busch as he was preparing fort his cabaret performances this week in San Diego and Palm Springs. Here are a few excerpts from that conversation:

The cast recording of Tori Amos and Samuel Adamson's musical THE LIGHT PRINCESS, which originally premiered in 2013 at the National Theatre in London, was released last week. But Amos has even bigger plans for the show.

The new St. Ann's Warehouse was unveiled in a ceremony this morning! The $31.6 million, 25,000 sf. theater, at the breathtaking site of the pre-Civil War Tobacco Warehouse under the Brooklyn Bridge, will make Brooklyn Bridge Park a home for culture for future generations.

Ever since the success of Disney's The Lion King, Disney Theatricals have been trying to catch lightning in a bottle a second time. After the original production of Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID closed on Broadway in 2009 (after a run of 685 performances), it underwent two years of intensive work to fine-tune and re-think the production. In 2014, Theatre Under The Stars produced this current revised version which includes new scenery and new costumes as well as flying.

David Hasselhoff visited Jersey Boys at the Piccadilly Theatre in London on Friday 28 August and popped backstage to meet the cast afterwards. Check out the phtoos below!

Two mainstage shows gone.  Even with weeks of fully well lived days, if I blink my eye then the summer will be completely over.  This really occurred to me this past weekend when the curtain came down on our Fantastical Family Night Concert.  That event not only marked the end of our second (out of four) scheduled Broadway Under the Stars concert series, but it also was the end of a very special week working with over 50 students at our Transcendence Kid's Camp.  Major kudos go out to all of the performers hired on the Fantastical Family Night contract.  These performers do the most work in the shortest amount of time in the season.  But honestly, I think it's also the most rewarding show too.  

Neil Murray and Graham McLaren believe in the concept of a National Theatre that 'reaches all of the country'.

Author Rayme Michaels is pleased to announce the promotion of his urban comedy drama, 'Screw the Devil's Daiquiri.' When womanizer, and possible schizophrenic, John Hazel, is suddenly offered a serious job promotion by the CEO of his company, David Wall, under the condition that John help him kill his wife, John finds himself between a rock and a hard place when Mr. Wall's wife, Victoria Wall, asks John to do the same for her. John, an office temp, photographer and university teaching assistant of philosophy, has more than enough on his post-traumatic, hyperactive mind, without something as absurd as this weighing down on him, not to mention that he is haunted-well, annoyed more than anything-by either the spirits or imaginary spirits of Giovanni Boccaccio, Francois Rabelais and a she-devil named Sabrina. Influences such as these do not help with John's very prurient but fascinating mind, which his psychologist tries as best as she knows how to get to the bottom of. His life-long existential crisis, having two hit men on his back, a bad-to-the-bone best friend named Alex, and a manic, sex-crazed, power-hungry, confrontational co-worker named Jackie, who happens to be Mr. Wall's mistress, certainly do not help matters either. Life does not seem to want to let up on John. Will he make it through this very bizarre time of tribulation, or will he end up behind bars, stone-cold dead, or simply cracking under the weight of it all? 'Screw the Devil's Daiquiri' is available in both print and ebook formats. Book Details: 'Screw the Devil's Daiquiri' By Rayme Michaels Publisher: Melange Books Published: November 2014 ISBN: 978-1612359311 ASIN: B00LBBLZCE Pages: 224 Genre: Urban Comedy, Drama About The Author: After high school, Rayme Michaels studied Theater Arts Performance and Radio Broadcasting in college, and then, in his undergrad, majored in Philosophy with a minor in Psychology. He then went on to get a Master's Degree in Comparative Philosophy while working as a teaching assistant. Screw the Devil's Daiquiri is his first full-length novel, but it is his third book, his other two being novellas released in 2012. His first book was a quirky relationship/sex comedy entitled Incorrigibility. His second one is a dark, gory, romantic vampire thriller called Red Love, which won Honorable Mention right at the top of the list for General Fiction in the 2014 London Book Festival. He became a bookworm at the age of eight and has been influenced by, and continues to enjoy, a wide variety of writers that range from the solemn to the satirical, the serious to the jovial, both in fiction and non-fiction, contemporary and old. This invariably comes out in his writing, since his literary interests are very broad. As an existential thinker, he is fascinated by the human mind and the human predicament, yet, as a Rabelaisian human being, laughter and joy are the reasons he gets up in the morning. Well...that and sex, of course. Oh, and his first name is pronounced with two syllables, by the way. The 'e' is not silent. For review copies, author interviews, or more information, please contact: Rayme Michaels Email: theray_81 (at) hotmail.com Website: http://melange-books.com/authors/raymemichaels/screwthedevil.html Blog: http://www.rayme-michaels.blogspot.com Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Rayme Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rayme_Michaels Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rayme-Michaels/1654482248109702 PR by BookBuzz.net

It's another busy weekend of new shows opening and many others continuing to delight audiences, with ACT 1's Dog Sees God and Street Theatre Company's Dogfight both opening tonight, while two shows that opened yesterday will continue to treat audiences to some especially wonderful music. Plus, there's a whole slate of shows being performed at Crossville's Cumberland County Playhouse, a revival of Osborne & Epplers' Southern Fried Nuptials down in Woodbury at the Arts Center of Cannon County, and John Chaffin's Cliffhanger enters its final weekend at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre. Go to the theater, young man (and woman) and let yourself be transported to a whole new world of magic and enchantment!

Inspired by BroadwayWorld.com's Friday Six, welcome to BroadwayWorld Nashville's latest installment of The Friday Five: five questions designed to help you learn more about the talented people you'll find onstage throughout the Volunteer state. Today, we introduce two actors from Street Theatre Company's production of Dogfight - one of the most eagerly anticipated new musicals we've heard about in the past 25-plus years of covering Nashville/Tennessee theatre - and, judging from their answers to our five questions and our new 'bonus round' question, Audrey Johnson and Jens Jacobson are two names we think you'll be talking about in the coming months

The 2014-2015 season has been jam-packed with exciting entertainment, fabulous stars and unforgettable nights that only live theatre can provide and this week one of the oldest awards institutions held their annual star-studded celebration honoring the best, brightest and, in many cases, newest top talent to appear on the scene this year, the 2015 Theatre World Awards. Standing out out from the pack of similar events around this time of year, the Theatre World Awards is voted on by a committee of top theatre professionals and this year's show was again directed by Barry Keating and hosted by Peter Filicia. The 71st presentation of the awards - and, yes, it is older than the Tony Awards and the Drama Desk Awards - was marked by a sensational ceremony at the Lyric Theatre on Broadway, home of the rapturously received revival of ON THE TOWN, and I was lucky enough to get a fly-on-the-wall view of not only the big awards show itself, but the rehearsal, as well - and chat with some of the starry attendees and winners, as well. Here are some of the standout moments in an unforgettable evening.