The Moment When 1999 - Articles Page 9.8

Broadway's longest running musical, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has a sequel and this week it is in Orlando. With music written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, one would hope that the mysteries from the original finally resolve themselves. With every fiber of my being, I wanted to like this show; however, this production left me shaking my head.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) rings in 2018 with the first staging of Harold Pinter's mysterious classic drama, The Birthday Party (January 10 February 4, 2018).

The talent in this production of Love Never Dies is unquestionably top-notch, and both of the leads truly seem to be pouring 110% of themselves into their performances - unquestionably focused and committed to each other, to the moment, and to the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Azuka Theatre kicks off their 18th season with the world premiere of The Gap by Emma Goidel. Rebecca Wright directs this dark comedy and mystery that centers around family secrets, performing, and sisterhood.

When playwright Tania Wisbar was growing up as a girl in America, her mother shared little about her past in wartime Germany, other than Tania came from a very well-placed and highly respected film family. With her parents divorced, there was not much else Tania knew about her family history, at least not until 1999 when a German professor visiting the U.S. brought Wisbar a 60-year-old document he had discovered in a Harvard University archive. In the 86-page manuscript, Wisbar's mother, Eva Kroy Wisbar, who was Jewish, detailed her forbidden marriage to a German film director as the Nazis were coming to power. The manuscript held answers to many of the questions the playwright's mother never answered before her 1984 death. Fifteen years later, that document inspired Wisbar's play, THE RED DRESS, its World Premiere now at the Odyssey Theatre through November 19.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's first Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical, IN THE HEIGHTS is now on stage in a brand new Broadway-caliber regional production presented by Musical Theatre West at the Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts in Long Beach through November 5. Told as a series of interweaving vignettes about the highs and lows---and the dreams and realities---of life in the Washington Height neighborhood of New York City, IN THE HEIGHTS offers audiences a very likable glimpse into a specific multi-generational Latinx experience that not only feels fresh and new but also feels remarkably relatable no matter what background you come from. Miranda---armed with first-hand knowledge of living in such an enclave and with the obvious imbedded DNA of a musical theatre aficionado---easily made the material both universally appealing and yet refreshingly unique. In its own way, seeing IN THE HEIGHTS now feels very much like looking back at an earlier piece of work from a now more evolved artist and seeing signs of the burgeoning genius still to come---and just how far that genius really grew.

Circle Players' 2017-18 season continues with the Nashville premiere of the Tim Larson-directed production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the epic musical based upon Victor Hugo's tale of hope, love and passion, which runs October 27-November 12 at the Z. Alexander Looby Theatre in Nashville.

Circle Players' 2017-18 season continues with the Nashville premiere of the Tim Larson-directed production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the epic musical based upon Victor Hugo's tale of hope, love and passion, which runs October 27-November 12 at the Z. Alexander Looby Theatre in Nashville.

The Original Cast Recording of SpongeBob SquarePants - The New Musical is out today, September 22, by Masterworks Broadway.

As the days become shorter and the crisp air signals the time when the Xmas sweaters are taken out of mothballs, it can only mean one thing. It's time for what has become a San Francisco tradition the annual production of The Golden Girls: The Christmas Episodes.

DANCING WITH THE STARS is gearing up to celebrate its 25th season, and the new celebrity cast are sparkling up their wardrobe, breaking in their dancing shoes and readying themselves for their first dance on the ballroom floor, as the season kicks off on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) presents the premiere of Burn All Night, running now through September 8, 2017 at at OBERON, 2 Arrow Street, Cambridge, MA.

The Original Cast Recording of SpongeBob SquarePants - The New Musical will be released September 22 by Masterworks Broadway. Available for preorder now, the album features a score of original songs unlike anything Broadway has ever heard and is produced by Scott Riesett and Tom Kitt, with executive producers Scott Farthing, Doug Cohn and Susan Vargo.

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts announces over 20 newly booked events to accompany the already-announced 2017-18 season. Highlights include internationally-acclaimed stars of rock, comedy, dance, and even politics as well as Tony Award-nominated Broadway titles. Tickets for these shows are on sale now to Kimmel Center members and will be available to the general public on September 9. Membership starts at $75 and guarantees access to the best seats.  The below shows are in addition to the previously announced lineup including over 40 shows.

Ever wonder how one-person musicals are born? In that case, read all about IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN, because this Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival selection is just that. With the lyricist, composer, music director and creator also being the sole actor on stage, Chris Alonzo is a bit of a multi-tasker.

Academy Award nominee Uma Thurman (Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, 'Imposters') will make her Broadway debut this fall in The Parisian Woman, the electrifying new power play by 'House of Cards' creator Beau Willimon (Farragut North, Ides of March), directed by Tony Award winner Pam MacKinnon (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Clybourne Park).

Set in three bedrooms, the same emotional world under three different roofs in time, Torn Apart (Dissolution) is an intimately powerful play. BJ McNeill bares an array of human feelings and cages them on the stage in singular snapshots of differently shared lives.

In celebration of London Pride 2017, which takes place Saturday 24 June- Sunday 9 July, 60 members of London Gay Men's Chorus joined the London cast of Disney's The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre. The two companies came together for the first time to sing the iconic hit from the production, Elton John's 'Circle of Life.' Watch footage of their collaboration below!

Featured performances for the month of July at City Winery Chicago, include political satirists The Capitol Steps on July 2, Dweezil Zappa, son of the late Frank Zappa, on July 7, R&B Grammy-nominated duo Les Nubians on July 10, British rockers The Graham Parker Duo on July 12, Country Music Association Musician of the Year Mac McAnally on July 19, stand-up comedian Sandra Bernhard (July 20-21) and more.

National Alliance for Musical Theatre (Betsy King Militello, Executive Director) is thrilled to announce the line-up of new musicals for their 29th Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, which takes place on Thursday, October 19 and Friday, October 20, 2017 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). The Festival will kick off on Wednesday, October 18 with its celebrated concert, The 46th Minute.

The National Forum of Music in Wroclaw, Poland, has announced that Giancarlo Guerrero is to be the Music Director of the Wroclaw Philharmonic starting in the 2017-18 season, succeeding Benjamin Shwartz. 

Hello, Dolly! is one of the most famous Broadway star vehicles, and no production has yet made that clearer than the one with Bette Midler's name floating high atop the marquee (and the 'sold out' sign). But what about the supporting ladies that fill the stage alongside the whirlwind Dolly Levi?

Today's subject Tina Ghandchilar is currently living her theatre life in the most stoked way possible. She is currently preparing to star as Florence in Chess at The Theatre Lab School for the Dramatic Arts, which, in my opinion, is the best arts in education institution in DC. The production runs from April 27th through May 6th.

The Revolution has gathered together to celebrate and pay tribute to their PRINCE. The band will set off on their first coast-to-coast foray in decades in response to the overwhelming reaction of February's surprise announcement of their reunion.