The Play's the Thing Revival 1995 - Articles Page 3.4

This week marks a very important event for DC area arts education. On June thirteenth, The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts (TTL) held its very first class and co-founders Deb Gottesman, Buzz Mauro and Michael Rodgers never looked back. The organization has changed locations a few times over the years but the quality of the work that Theatre Lab’s instructors and administration have given to hundreds and hundreds of students has always remained at the top of its game.

Will Geer’s Theatricum presents the world premiere of the “all new” revival of Oscar-winning playwright Ernest Thompson’s The West Side Waltz beginning June 25, 2022. Mary Jo DuPrey directs the cast of Ellen Geer, Melora Marshall, Willow Geer, Miguel Pérez and Charles Lin. I was most fortunate to have the playwright make some time to answer my queries.

Which Best Musical and Best Play nominees will win a Tony Award? BroadwayWorld has rounded up the winners of the Tony Awards, the Drama Desk Awards, the Drama League Awards and the Outer Critics Circle Awards for the last fifty years to compare winners year by year.

The one-time Funny Girl is looking back at her personal experience playing Fanny Brice, as well as the original Funny Lady herself.

This week I saw productions of two decades-old musicals, each written by one of theatre's great composer/lyricists, which, in their original productions, ran a combined total of nine performances on Broadway.

Emmy Award winning screen writer and director Todd Robinson is known for his work on White Squall, Lonely Hearts, The Last Full Measure and more. But a little known fact about Robinson is that he was the college roommate and best friend of Jonathan Larson.

THE DJANGO, downtown Manhattan’s premier jazz club, is commemorating Women’s History Month by hosting more than 20 leading female jazz artists on its stage during March.

The Broadway World Cabaret Award winner for Best Spoken Word show is back with a new format that is working for hostess Leola... and she is working for it, too.

This landmark play in Anglo-Irish drama gets a superb revival in a space that could have been designed exactly for its claustrophobic tale of familial obligations and missed opportunities

When the Charlatans started out, there were countless bands “similar” to them, but they immediately catapulted to the forefront of the Madchester scene, standing alongside such icons as The Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays.

The novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire was published in 1995, and was further cemented into the fabric of our culture when it was made into a global phenomenon of a musical in 2003. A 25th anniversary edition of the novel is being released by HarperCollins on October 13th.

In response to Covid-19, Diversionary's annual Spark New Play Festival will be performed as audiocasts and offered exclusively on the Diversionary website. Readings of four fascinating contemporary works by exceptional playwrights never before performed in San Diego will be offered in audiocast form over a two month period. All audiocast readings are offered free to the public. 

Happy Gay Pride! BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest LGBTQ songs and anthems from 1920-2020. See if your favorite songs or artists made the grade!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest scenes in cinema from 1901 to 2020. See if your favorite movie moments made the list!

Last night, The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues released a surprise-pivot for Round Six -The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Musicals was released on IGTV @24hourplays and at https://24hourplays.com/viral-monologues/.

The Beatles! Rihanna! Michael Jackson! Johnny Cash! Kanye West! The Rolling Stones! Aretha Franklin! Bob Dylan! Miles Davis! Nirvana! BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the greatest albums from the rock and rap era (1950-2020); see if your favorites made the grade!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the greatest theatrical works (non-musical) from 1920-2020; see if your favorites made the list!

Disney's The Lion King, currently playing through Sunday, December 1st at DeVos Hall. Making its Grand Rapids debut, after playing Detroit, Kalamazoo, and East Lansing in the past, Disney's The Lion King finally comes to Grand Rapids! Taking 17 full semi trailers to travel into town, It's full of the Lion King classic musical numbers and characters you know and love from the movie, and some new Musical numbers as well. They include the opening musical number a?oeCircle of Life', a?oeJust Can't Wait to Be Kinga??, to the always funny and humorous 'Hakuna Matataa?? and the moving a?oeCan You Feel the Love Tonighta??. These songs will be sure to have you singing along, having some goosebumps, and possibly some tears.

From November 21st-24th, Judson Theatre Company will be presenting a production of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution at the Bradshaw Performing Arts Center. I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing actor Alan Campbell, who will be starring in the role of Sir Wilford Robarts.

Zoe Kazan's latest play, After the Blast, is set to take the Black Box Stage as part of the new Firestone Theatre season.

When it opened on Broadway in 2006, The Drowsy Chaperone boasted an all-star cast and garnered five Tony Awards, including Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score. You can expect that same quality in Broadway at Music Circus' third production of the summer, with Lynne Wintersteller returning to Sacramento in the title role. Lynne was last seen here in 2017 as Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! and as Mother Superior in Sister Act, where she solidified her place as Music Circus royalty and left audiences anticipating her return. We are now lucky enough to witness that event and Lynne was generous enough to speak with Broadway World Sacramento about her newest role and what we can expect from her in the future.

The 72nd Annual Tony Awards are this Sunday June 10th at 8/9c hosted by Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles. It's the biggest award show of the Broadway season and it closes out a long awards season for Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals and plays. We can't help but wonder what chances this year's Best Musical and Best Play nominees have of taking home the ultimate prize...

Two years ago, lying on a couch in the #9 Lounge at the Evening Star Cafe in Alexandria, VA, I was eulogized. I had watched other audience members receive secret family recipes, help rehearse a marriage proposal, even destroy a speed limit sign with a hammer. But the card I drew was Death. So, naturally, I was eulogized in front of the rest of the audience. The thing my funeral had in common with all these other short vignettes was the sense that, without my involvement, none of this could happen. I mattered. When it was done, I opened my eyes, took the flower offered to me, and found my seat. The oration was by Quill Nebeker, my Medium for the evening.

When it comes to developing a loyal fan base, Troubadour Theater Company has found the secret: do outstanding work, stay true to your aesthetic, and give the people what they want - a great time at the theater. Artistic Director Matt Walker started the troupe and, with the help of longtime friend and foil, Beth Kennedy, continues to lead his merry band into the great theatrical unknown. Next up for the company is JULIUS WEEZER, which combines Shakespeare's JULIUS CAESAR and the music of Weezer to tell its tale of political intrigue Troubie style. Today, they talk about what it's like putting together a new show and why they keep on coming back for more.

Paul Rush is the artistic director of Sixty-six Theater Co. located inside the Strasberg Institute in Hollywood. This past weekend April 26 - 28 he opened a new play in the Marilyn Monroe Theater of the Institute entitled My Thing of Love. In our chat Rush talks about the play, the Sixty-six Theater Co. and why he started it three years ago. Tell us about Sixty-six Theater Co. and its mission. It was founded by myself and two of my friends (Maggie Cleary and Coleman Kelly) while we, new to LA, were in that typical Hollywood routine of asking people to look at us, and we got kind of tired of just humbly asking to be looked at. We thought we weren't giving to the community. We wanted to really create thought-provoking theatre with an intention of giving to our audience. Do you always do first-run shows?