The Los Altos Stage Company (LASC) announces its first-ever co-production and collaborative project with the Los Altos Youth Theatre (LAYT),
Dear Bookworks Bookworm,
I read a book this month that I had every intention of liking, but didn't. It had a story line that interested me but the characters were one dimensional and flat and the writing that was not worth writing home about. Rather than review a book that disappoints, I decided to review a movie that I had just seen with Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche, Words and Pictures. This is a movie well worth the ticket price. It is always a pleasure seeing a movie where actors do what they should be doing best, acting and where writers are doing what they should be doing best, writing.
Gregory Maguire was just a kid when The Wizard of Oz film came out, but every year, he and his family would cuddle up in front of their black-and-white television to watch the annual television broadcast of their favorite musical movie. It wasn't until years later that that same enchanted, young boy would grow up to author the untold story of the witches of Oz: Wicked.
The Los Altos Stage Company (LASC) announces its first-ever co-production and collaborative project with the Los Altos Youth Theatre (LAYT),
This April, teen performers came from throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey to participate in a rigorous audition for the much-anticipated Bucks County Playhouse Youth Company. For the first time, the Playhouse proudly offers a free, intensive, six-week musical theatre training program for young actors, culminating in two weeks of performances of Disney's Beauty and the Beast Jr. on the legendary stage at Bucks County Playhouse July 28th through August 9th.
Producers of the upcoming Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman's Pulitzer Prize winning play You Can't Take It With You announce that tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, June 11, 2014, and will be available by calling (212) 239-6200 or by visiting Telecharge.com.
New American Folk Theatre begins its 2014 season with Dark of the Moon by Howard Richardson and William Berney. The play, directed by Anthony Whitaker and Jamal Howard, runs June 7 through June 29 (previews tonight, June 6) at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60622.
Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Chuck Tobin today announced casting for the production of the new Mel Brooks Broadway Young Frankenstein (June 17 - 28, 2014). Young Frankenstein features a book by three-time Tony Award-winner Mel Brooks and three-time Tony Award-winner Thomas Meehan and music and lyrics by Brooks.
To commemorate one of America's most iconic film heroes, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will introduce a comprehensive new DVD set -- John Wayne: The Epic Collection -- today, May 20.
LOS ANGELES, May 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ Anne Steinberg recently published the kindle version of Manroot, a paranormal romance novel, on Amazon. Manroot is the evocative and stirring story of a lonely town in Missouri, and a young woman named Katherine who discovers a mystical side to herself that she'd never known existed.In the spring of 1939, Katherine Sheahan and her father, Jesse, are looking for work in the isolated tourist town of Castlewood. Jesse gets a job as handyman and Katherine as a maid at a small hotel. Jesse drinks and neglects his work and eventually disappears, abandoning his daughter. Frieda Broom, the hotel Manager, takes Katherine under her wing, and teaches her about ginseng, the manroot, and other secrets of the foothills. Katherine discovers that she is a natural healer and has the ability to communicate with spirits, a gift she inherited from her Navajo Indian mother.
If you are even a semi-regular reader of this column of reviews, you know that about every three or four months, I post a compilation of observations of shows from the previous quarter of the year. This cabaret critiquing mash up happens for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I admittedly see too many cabaret shows for the amount of time I have to promptly review them (and then, of course, the usual writer's procrastination sets in). So I have to prioritize the timeliness of the reviews based on the prestige of the performer, the length of a show run, the strength (or lack thereof) of the performance, etc. The quality of the shows in these compilations—which can range from a half dozen to a dozen reviews in one shot—are usually a mixed bag of outright raves, qualified positives, and constructive pans (I'm not a fan of the word “negative” in the reviewer lexicon). With that in mind here are a collection of cabaret show reviews going back to the start of a very harsh winter.
New American Folk Theatre begins its 2014 season with Dark of the Moon by Howard Richardson and William Berney. The play, directed by Anthony Whitaker and Jamal Howard, runs June 7 through June 29 (previews June 6) at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60622. Press Opening Performances are June 7 at 7:30 p.m. and June 8 at 6 p.m. To purchase tickets, visit newamericanfolktheatre.org or darkofthemoon.brownpapertickets.com
Pacific Symphony's critically-acclaimed American Composers Festival (ACF) continues for the 14th year with 'From Screen to Score: New Concert Music by Famous Film Composers'-who happen to be four of today's biggest Hollywood heavy-hitters: John Williams ('Star Wars,' 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' 'E.T., the Extra Terrestrial'), Howard Shore ('Lord of the Rings,' 'The Hobbit,' 'Hugo'), James Horner ('Titanic,' 'Star Trek,' 'Apollo 13') and Elliot Goldenthal ('Alien 3,' 'Batman Forever' and 'Batman and Robin'). Together, these iconic composers boast 11 Oscars and countless billions of box office dollars. They also hold the ironic position of simultaneously being the most-heard orchestral composers ever (the soundtrack for 'Titanic' sold 30 million copies), yet their music is the least performed.
In celebration of the anniversaries of the 1939-40 and 1964-65 New York World's Fairs-both of which took place in Queens-Museum of the Moving Image will present an exhibit of films that were made for the fairs and which reflect post-World War II-era optimism and focus on American industry as central themes. The exhibit, The World Comes to Queens: Films from the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs, featuring excerpts from six films, opens today and will be on view through August 31 in the Museum's Video Screening Amphitheater.
According to the New York Times, James Earl Jones will return to Broadway later this year- this time in the Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy You Can't Take It With You. The play will open at a Shubert theatre on September 28, 2014, with previews beginning in August. Scott Ellis is set to direct the revival.
Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS) leads celebration of Marian Anderson on 75th anniversary of her Lincoln Memorial concert Soprano Jessye Norman, composer Ysaye Barnwell, opera singer Soloman Howard and vocalist Annisse Murillo (respectively an alumnus and current member of WPAS's Children of the Gospel), and an extraordinary 300-voice choir led by WPAS Gospel choir Artistic Director Stanley Thurston are just some of the talented artists who will join together under the banner of the Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS) for Of Thee We Sing: The Marian Anderson 75th Anniversary Celebration.
The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Hold onto your hats! Shows beginning in late April include 'Avenue Q,' 'Ragtime,' 'Juno,' 'Hey! Dancin'! Hey! Musical!,' 'How To Succeed...,' 'Hair,' 'The Sound Of Music,' 'Motown' and 'The Wizard Of Oz!' AMAZING! Plus news from The Second City, the Goodman, that JCS arena tour, a 2015 'Little Shop' and the return of the Mormons! Whew!
Pacific Symphony's critically-acclaimed American Composers Festival (ACF) continues for the 14th year with "From Screen to Score: New Concert Music by Famous Film Composers"-who happen to be four of today's biggest Hollywood heavy-hitters: John Williams ("Star Wars," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "E.T., the Extra Terrestrial"), Howard Shore ("Lord of the Rings," "The Hobbit," "Hugo"), James Horner ("Titanic," "Star Trek," "Apollo 13") and Elliot Goldenthal ("Alien 3," "Batman Forever" and "Batman and Robin"). Together, these iconic composers boast 11 Oscars and countless billions of box office dollars. They also hold the ironic position of simultaneously being the most-heard orchestral composers ever (the soundtrack for "Titanic" sold 30 million copies), yet their music is the least performed.
Today, stars of stage and screen reacted to the passing of the stage and screen legend
Performance-only tickets are now on sale to the general public for ACT TWO: A SWELL PARTY WITH MOSS HART AND FRIENDS, An Evening of Songs Sketches, Scenes and More Celebrating the Genius of Moss Hart, Monday April 21 at 8pm at the Vivian Beaumont Theater (150 West 65 Street). Performers scheduled to appear in the entertainment, which will serve as the centerpiece of Lincoln Center Theater's Annual Benefit and which will be directed by Bartlett Sher, are Victoria Clark, Stephen Colbert, David Garrison, Malcolm Gets, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Byron Jennings, Kelli O'Hara, Steven Pasquale, and Lewis J. Stadlen.
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents The Wizard of Oz with live orchestral accompaniment on April 26 and 27 in Newark and New Brunswick. Conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos returns to lead the NJSO in Harold Arlen's full film score as the movie screens above the stage in the Orchestra's third NJSO POPS program of the season.
Sung in English, this short, lively one act work is an ideal introduction to opera, with its tuneful melodies and comic subject matter.
To commemorate one of America's most iconic film heroes, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will introduce a comprehensive new DVD set -- John Wayne: The Epic Collection -- on May 20.
Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS) leads celebration of Marian Anderson on 75th anniversary of her Lincoln Memorial concert Soprano Jessye Norman, composer Ysaye Barnwell, opera singer Soloman Howard and vocalist Annisse Murillo (respectively an alumnus and current member of WPAS's Children of the Gospel), and an extraordinary 300-voice choir led by WPAS Gospel choir Artistic Director Stanley Thurston are just some of the talented artists who will join together under the banner of the Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS) for Of Thee We Sing: The Marian Anderson 75th Anniversary Celebration.
The 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival will honor legendary actor, filmmaker and humanitarian Jerry Lewis with a multi-tiered celebration of his remarkable career.
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