The Time of Your Life 1939 - Articles Page 5

Dear Readers, you've often heard me extoll the prowess and brilliance of The Williams Project. Just last week I raved about how dedicated and tight their ensemble was when presenting the other show they have running in repertory, a?oeSmall Craft Warningsa??. But now that insanely talented ensemble has come in with William Saroyan's 1939 Pulitzer Prize winning drama a?oeThe Time of Your Lifea?? and taken things a step beyond simply performing the play, but deconstructing it with a rotating ensemble.

The final three cast members for the Spring 2020 UK Tour of Helen Forrester's By The Waters Of Liverpool have been revealed.

It's a marvelous production of a so-so musical.

Something old, something new…there's still plenty going on for fans of opera and classical vocal music in the Northeast now that summer is upon us. Here's a taste of what to look for.

Reaching for the American dream while adjusting to living under prejudice is exposed by Alfred Uhry's 'The Last Night of Ballyhoo' at South City Theatre. This Tony award winning play is a touching, relatable, and revealing look at the cost of acceptance. The story peels back the layers to expose the complicated dynamics of a Jewish American family living in Atlanta in the 1930's.

Best known for its productions of classical theater, Antaeus Theatre Company will try something different in 2019-20, kicking off the season at the Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center in Glendale with two new plays that will run in repertory this fall, then following up with two classical works in 2020.

Baby's touchy-feely storyline follows three unrelated couples as they anticipate the joy and the pain of parenting.

The Last Night of Ballyhoo was first performed at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre and found its way to the Broadway stage in 1997 at the Helen Hayes Theatre. Written by Alfred Uhry, The Last Night of Ballyhoo takes place in 1939 in the home of Adolph Freitag in Atlanta, Georgia. The play explores themes of identity, prejudice, and inter-Jewish racism through the lives of Adolph and his sister Beulah 'Boo' Levy, their sister-in-law Reba Freitag, cousins Lala Levy (Beulah's daughter) and Sunny Freitag (Reba's daughter), and two young men-Joe Farkas from New York and Peachy Weil of the Louisana Weils. Oyster Mill Playhouse takes on this deep yet humorous play through May 12th.

Today, April 15 (3pm EST), Pulitzer Prize Administrator Dana Canedy will announce the winners of the the 2019 Pulitzer Prizes, including the finalists and winners for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This announcement marks the 103rd year of the Prizes. For more information on this year's and all past years' winners and finalists, please visit http://www.Pulitzer.org.

It was just announced by Pulitzer Prize Administrator Dana Canedy that Jackie Sibblies Drury's Fairview has officially won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces today its 2019/20 Season-featuring an expansive line-up of plays, musicals, new work, and presentations from around the globe to engage one of the broadest audiences of any theater in America today.

Following on from its highly acclaimed run at the Liverpool Empire Theatre last autumn, By The Waters Of Liverpool is set to embark on a major UK tour in Spring 2020 it has been revealed today.

Theater J Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr and Managing Director Jojo Ruf announce the 2019-2020 season, welcoming home audiences to a beautiful and refreshed theater located in the newly renovated Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center on 16th Street. The season includes four plays and one musical, all being produced for the first time in DC, as well as the triumphant return of a recent Theater J hit. From an intoxicating new musical set in Tel Aviv based on the Song of Songs to the late-career masterpiece by multiple Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Albee, Theater J's season celebrates journeys of every kind with a provocative and ambitious slate of plays. Of the six shows, three have future runs: two in New York City and one at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

Had Lucy's family stayed in Trenton, history might have been very different, but the Garden State stayed peripherally involved the Queen of Comedy's life and work.

The 2019 season opens with THE GAME'S AFOOT by Ken Ludwig. It is December 1936 and Broadway star William Gillette, admired the world over for his leading role in the play Sherlock Holmes, has invited his fellow cast members to his Connecticut castle for a weekend of revelry. But when one of the guests is stabbed to death, the festivities in this isolated house of tricks and mirrors quickly turn dangerous. It is then up to Gillette himself, as he assumes the persona of his beloved Holmes, to track down the killer before the next victim appears. The danger and hilarity are non-stop. - March 22 - April 7

The greatest family musical of all time, The Wizard of Oz, travels over the rainbow to Palm Desert for five performances at the McCallum Theatre. Performances are Friday, January 25, at 8:00pm; Saturday, January 26, at 2:00pm and 8:00pm, and Sunday, January 27, at 2:00pm and 7:30pm. This magical production is a celebration of the 1939 MGM movie, and will be presented with breathtaking special effects that will sweep audiences away, from the moment the tornado twists its way into Kansas. Nick Pearson plays the Cowardly Lion in this iteration. I had the chance to chat with Nick about all things 'Oz' and his personal trajectory that led him over the rainbow. Here are a few excerpts from that conversation:

Curator and producer Peter Musante (Andrew Schneider's YOUARENOWHERE; Blue Man Group; Trusty Sidekick's Up and Away, a groundbreaking show for kids with autism, called 'immersive theater at its most thoughtful' by the New York Times) joins West Coast physical comedienne Summer Shapiro ('raises the craft of clowning to new levels'- NYTheatre.org) to conceive of a new immersive theater festival for the entire family, inspired by the community organizing principles of Jane Jacobs. With seven new works based on true events from Greenwich Village history, the festival brings together leading NYC experimental theatre artists, musicians, physical comedians and clowns for two programs, each consisting of an interactive pre-show and four short stories that bring the surrounding neighborhood to life. The event, recommended for ages 5 and up, is presented by New Ohio Theatre as part of its Theatre for Young Minds holiday series. The performances run from December 20 thru 31 at 154 Christopher Street, NYC. Tickets are $25 ($18 for groups of three or more with the code 'family') and can be purchased through OvationTix (https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/1001863) or by calling 866-811-4111.

The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture has announced its 2019 winter/spring season, a rich program of theater, film, music, poetry, art, and talk events featuring artists and thought leaders including Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter;Tony Award winner Lena Hall; Grammy Award-winning musician and recording artist Eileen Ivers; Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award nomineeAlexander Gemignani;and journalist and former Wall Street Journal columnist Sohrab Ahmari.

The historic Drexel Theatre today announced the lineup for its 2019 America's Greatest Films series, made possible through a generous gift from PNC Bank. Launched in 2017 as a thank you to the community, the series offers free screenings of some of the nation's most beloved classic films on the first Tuesday of each month with a pre-screening introduction and post-screening Q&A.

The Pasadena Playhouse announces that Simon Helberg will play George Bailey in its holiday production of It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play adapted from the film by Joe Landry, and directed by Cameron Watson, for 15 performances only December 12 to 23 (Press Opening: December 13, 8 p.m.).  Additional casting is still to be announced.

CABARET is a 1966 musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff, based on John Van Druten's 1951 play I Am a Camera, which was adapted from the short novel Goodbye to Berlin (1939) by Christopher Isherwood. Set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis are rising to power, it focuses on the nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, and revolves around young American writer Cliff Bradshaw (John Fredrickson) and his relationship with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles (Logan-Rae). The musical was also made into a 1972 film.

The Wizard of Oz has been delighting audiences since it first appeared as a 1939 movie starring Judy Garland as Dorothy. The story, first created by L. Frank Baum in 1900, has inspired a number of adaptations, and the most popular stage version frequently finds its way to the stage at high schools and community theatres. Even though many of you have probably seen The Wizard of Oz, you've likely never seen a production of it like the one that will open at The Eichelberger Performing Arts Center on November 16th. Why is this production so unique? Because it is being performed by actors from The Penguin Project of Gettysburg Community Theatre. This program gives youth with special needs an opportunity to perform with other youth, both with and without special needs, giving them a chance to focus on their abilities rather than their challenges. BroadwayWorld had an opportunity to hear from Gettysburg Community Theatre's Executive Director, Chad-Alan Carr, as well as from five of the actors who will be performing-Natalie Hurwitch and Maddie Greco, two of the peer mentors; Ella Scott, the actor playing Dorothy; Leah Watson, who portrays Glinda the Good Witch of the North; and TJ Williams, who plays the Wizard of Oz-about their experiences with this production of The Wizard of Oz.

The Pasadena Playhouse presents the largest holiday celebration in its history - the mainstage holiday production It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play for 15 performances only (December 12 to 23), performances of Bob Baker's Nutcracker in the Carrie Hamilton Theatre (November 24 to December 31); and the Playhouse District Association Tree Lighting Ceremony in the Playhouse Courtyard - an event that is free to the public on Friday, November 30 at 7:00pm. An additional free holiday concert will be held in the Playhouse Courtyard on December 14 at 6 p.m. in association with the Playhouse District Association.

The 2018 Parajanov-Vartanov Award went to Academy-award winner Susan Sarandon and American Mirror - Intimations of Immortality directed by Arthur Balder and produced by David Shara, premiered at DOC LA, Los Angeles Documentary Film Festival, presented by the Parajanov-Vartanov Institute.

The world premiere of the new stage play By The Waters Of Liverpool opened at the Liverpool Empire on Wednesday night. The play is the long-awaited sequel to Helen Forrester's much-loved Twopence To Cross The Mersey - it is the first time the book has been brought to life on stage.