Let there be laughter! The first five books of the Old Testament get a good-natured ribbing in this hysterical tribute to all of those ordinary, everyday people who didn't make it into the Bible.
Unremarkable though they may be, these hardy Biblical bystanders somehow survive calamity after calamity in outrageous fashion, inventing some useful and practical devices along the way (including the Life Saver--the candy, that is), escaping enslavement in ancient Egypt and helping a young man named Cain find his redemption.
Franco Zeffirelli's glittering production of Puccini's Turandot returns on October 28 with Maria Guleghina in the title role and Marcello Giordani as Calàf, both singing these demanding roles for the first time in their Met careers. Marina Poplavskaya and Samuel Ramey make company role debuts as Liù and Timur respectively, and conductor Andris Nelsons makes his Met debut.
Producer Jeffrey Finn announced today that the upcoming, first-ever Broadway production of OLEANNA, the provocative drama by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles, has instituted a special post-show series for audiences during previews.
THE WIZARD OF OZ 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition will be released September 29, 2009 in Blu-Ray and DVD formats.
Bartlett Sher?s hit production of Rossini?s comic masterpiece, Il Barbiere di Siviglia (?The Barber of Seville?), returns to the Met stage on October 3. Joyce DiDonato stars in the role of Rosina, with Barry Banks in his first Met performances as Count Almaviva and Rodion Pogossov in his company role debut as Figaro. John Del Carlo sings the role of Dr. Bartolo, and Orlin Anastassov makes his Met role debut as Don Basilio. Maurizio Benini conducts.
Producer Jeffrey Finn announced today that the upcoming, first-ever Broadway production of OLEANNA, the provocative drama by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles, has instituted a special post-show series for audiences during previews.
Karen Finley Premieres THE JACKIE LOOK, Site-specific production begins September 19 at Country Club
Michael Riedel reports in his Broadway Matinee column in the The New York Post today that while 'SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off The Dark' may have hit a snag on the road to Broadway, a friendly 'superhero' is trying to 'swing' in to get things rolling again.
Karen Finley Premieres THE JACKIE LOOK, Site-specific production begins September 19 at Country Club
Dancap Productions Inc. has announced the Canadian Premiere of THE TOXIC AVENGER, an eco-monster musical comedy based on the 1984 Lloyd Kaufman classic cult film. The Canadian production will take place at The Music Hall (998 seats) on Danforth Avenue, currently undergoing renovations to accommodate the show. Mamma Mia star and Tony Award nominee Louise Pitre will star in the production.
She was the most beautiful woman in the ancient world, and the most reviled. A pragmatic ruler who believed in keeping both friends and enemies within arm's length, yet she was hated by her subjects who felt she gave away too much and scarified her country's national identity.
THE WIZARD OF OZ 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition will be released September 29, 2009 in Blu-Ray and DVD formats.
The Old Vic today announced two new productions beginning in September with Trevor Nunn returning to direct Inherit the Wind, starring Kevin Spacey.
She was the most beautiful woman in the ancient world, and the most reviled. A pragmatic ruler who believed in keeping both friends and enemies within arm's length, yet she was hated by her subjects who felt she gave away too much and scarified her country's national identity.
Producers Stephen Eich and Don Foster announced casting today for the world premiere of Mark Roberts? Rantoul and Die, A Romantic Comedy Wrapped in Razor Wire at The Lillian Theater (1076 Lillian Way) in Hollywood. The new play stars Paul Dillon (originated the title role in Tracy Letts? Killer Joe) as Gary, Cynthia Ettinger (Actors? Gang?s I am not a racist, but . . .) as Debbie, Rich Hutchman (Buzzworks Theatre Company?s Invasion of the Minnesota Normals) as Rallis and Lisa Rothschiller (Chicago?s Defiant Theatre Company?s Action Movie: The Play) as Callie. Two-time Tony award-nominee Erin Quigley (costume designs for The Grapes of Wrath and The Songs of Jacob Zulu) is set to direct. Preview performances begin May 14, 2009.
James Spader star of the big screen hits 'Pretty in Pink' and 'Less Than Zero' and the small screen Emmy winning favorites 'The Practice' and 'Boston Legal.' will make his Broadway debut this fall in the new play David Mamet play, RACE.
New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' continues its eighteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre with the St. Louis premiere of the outrageous sci-fi, rock and roll musical, Bob Carlton's RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET, running April 30-May 23, 2009, at New Line's new home, the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly the old CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend.
New Line Theatre, 'the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre,' continues its eighteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre with the St. Louis premiere of the outrageous sci-fi, rock and roll musical, Bob Carlton's RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET, running April 30-May 23, 2009, at New Line's new home, the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly the old CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend.
Producers Stephen Eich and Don Foster announced casting today for the world premiere of Mark Roberts? Rantoul and Die, A Romantic Comedy Wrapped in Razor Wire at The Lillian Theater (1076 Lillian Way) in Hollywood. The new play stars Paul Dillon (originated the title role in Tracy Letts? Killer Joe) as Gary, Cynthia Ettinger (Actors? Gang?s I am not a racist, but . . .) as Debbie, Rich Hutchman (Buzzworks Theatre Company?s Invasion of the Minnesota Normals) as Rallis and Lisa Rothschiller (Chicago?s Defiant Theatre Company?s Action Movie: The Play) as Callie. Two-time Tony award-nominee Erin Quigley (costume designs for The Grapes of Wrath and The Songs of Jacob Zulu) is set to direct. Preview performances begin May 14, 2009.
Lawrence Edelson, Producing Artistic Director of ALT, has announced that the company has commissioned The Golden Ticket, a new opera based on Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In his announcement, Edelson explained that all of Dahl's beloved characters find a unique voice in this exciting new opera. 'If thoughts of Augustus Gloop being swept away in the Chocolate River, Violet Beauregarde inflating like a giant blueberry, Mike Teavee being demagnified into the tele-dimension, and Veruca Salt being thrown down the rubbish shoot by a gang of nut-inspecting squirrels sound like your idea of a fun night at the opera - or better yet, unlike any night at the opera or theater you've ever experienced - The Golden Ticket is....just the ticket!'
Tony Award nominated actress (for Mamma Mia) Louise Pitre has been cast to play Rose in the concert production of Gypsy at the Talk Is Free Theater in Barrie, Ontario.
The new season at TIFT will begin on October 22 with the premiere of A Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich and Ivan Nikiforovich Had a Fight, followed by the concert production of Gypsy from November 25 and 26th. Next up is Assassins at the Downtown Theater Jan 21-30.
On March 12, 2009 at 7:00 p.m., The Collegiate Chorale appears with The New York City Opera Orchestra at the newly renovated Alice Tully Hall in a performance of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin's 1945 Broadway operetta The Firebrand of Florence. The performance, led by guest conductor Ted Sperling, stars baritone Nathan Gunn, soprano Anna Christy, baritone Terrence Mann, and soprano Victoria Clark. Krysty Swann, David Pittu and Patrick Goss complete the cast, and narration will be provided by Stage Director Roger Rees.
Boasting a score by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and a book by playwright and screenwriter Edwin Justus Mayer, The Firebrand of Florence had a short run on Broadway in 1945. The work was subsequently not heard for over a half-century until three presentations - Ohio Light Opera (1999), the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London (2000) and the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna (2000) - shed new light on the relatively obscure work. The performances were not only accepted, but widely acclaimed, thus giving hope for a new life in a new century. Variety's theater critic Steven Suskin says 'I have long believed that Firebrand in concert should be a dazzling delight.'
Benvenuto Cellini, the great Florentine artist, is sentenced to hang, but he is pardoned when the duke realizes that he has not completed a previously commissioned sculpture. Freed, he is able to turn his attention to his favorite model (and object of his affections), Angela. The Duke also is interested in Angela. In a typical operetta plot, Cellini swashbuckles around the stage, keeping the Duke away from Angela, keeping himself away from the Duchess, and escaping yet another death sentence by fleeing to Paris, as the end of the show recapitulates the beginning.
Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) has announced that Marsha Stephanie Blake, Chad L. Coleman, Michael Cummings, Aunjanue Ellis, Danai Gurira, Andre Holland, Arliss Howard, Ernie Hudson, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Amari Rose Leigh and Roger Robinson will be featured in the cast of its upcoming production of August Wilson's JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE, to be directed by Bartlett Sher. The production, which will be presented on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44 Street) while LCT's award winning production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific continues its run at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, begins performances Thursday, March 19 at 8pm and opens on Thursday, April 16 at 6:45pm.
Lawrence Edelson, Producing Artistic Director of ALT, has announced that the company has commissioned The Golden Ticket, a new opera based on Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In his announcement, Edelson explained that all of Dahl's beloved characters find a unique voice in this exciting new opera. 'If thoughts of Augustus Gloop being swept away in the Chocolate River, Violet Beauregarde inflating like a giant blueberry, Mike Teavee being demagnified into the tele-dimension, and Veruca Salt being thrown down the rubbish shoot by a gang of nut-inspecting squirrels sound like your idea of a fun night at the opera - or better yet, unlike any night at the opera or theater you've ever experienced - The Golden Ticket is....just the ticket!'
On March 12, 2009 at 7:00 p.m., The Collegiate Chorale appears with The New York City Opera Orchestra at the newly renovated Alice Tully Hall in a performance of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin's 1945 Broadway operetta The Firebrand of Florence. The performance, led by guest conductor Ted Sperling, stars baritone Nathan Gunn, soprano Anna Christy, baritone Terrence Mann, and soprano Victoria Clark. Krysty Swann, David Pittu and Patrick Goss complete the cast, and narration will be provided by Stage Director Roger Rees.
Boasting a score by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and a book by playwright and screenwriter Edwin Justus Mayer, The Firebrand of Florence had a short run on Broadway in 1945. The work was subsequently not heard for over a half-century until three presentations - Ohio Light Opera (1999), the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London (2000) and the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna (2000) - shed new light on the relatively obscure work. The performances were not only accepted, but widely acclaimed, thus giving hope for a new life in a new century. Variety's theater critic Steven Suskin says 'I have long believed that Firebrand in concert should be a dazzling delight.'
Benvenuto Cellini, the great Florentine artist, is sentenced to hang, but he is pardoned when the duke realizes that he has not completed a previously commissioned sculpture. Freed, he is able to turn his attention to his favorite model (and object of his affections), Angela. The Duke also is interested in Angela. In a typical operetta plot, Cellini swashbuckles around the stage, keeping the Duke away from Angela, keeping himself away from the Duchess, and escaping yet another death sentence by fleeing to Paris, as the end of the show recapitulates the beginning.
The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) welcomes Tony Award-winning actor and singer Mandy Patinkin back to The Public for a two-week concert series in the Anspacher Theater in honor of the 20th Anniversary of his first concert at The Public. For the first time, Patinkin will present three of his most popular concerts, Mamaloshen, Celebrating Sondheim, and Dress Casual, in repertory with Paul Ford on piano, December 8 through December 21. All profits from Patinkin's concerts go to The Public Theater just as they did 20 years ago when he first performed here. Tickets for this limited engagement are available by calling (212) 967-7555 or visiting www.publictheater.org.
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