A Think Piece 1982 - Articles Page 3

Amidst the global movements for social change, I've loved seeing resources for supporting BIPOC theatre artists.

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest protest songs from 1939-2020. See if your favorite songs or artists made the list!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest Motown songs from 1960-1994. See if your favorite songs or artists made the list!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest Beatles songs, including some of the fab four's solo works. They're all here: 'Twist and Shout,' 'In My Life,' 'Helter Skelter,' 'Imagine,' 'Something,' 'Maybe I'm Amazed,' 'Let It Be.' See if your favorites made the grade!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best musical theatre characters from 1940-2020; see if your favorites are on our list of the best characters from Broadway musicals.

We asked our staff and critics around the country what their favorite films are - if you're in need of something to watch, check out some of their suggestions below!

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

How do we make a list of the 101 greatest show tunes from the past 100 years? Well, we did the near-impossible task.  Check out our full list here! 

On February 15, Port Jefferson's Theatre Three premiered their production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and it couldn't have opened at a better time. We are currently living in very trying times, and this production is the right remedy that will definitely get your spirits up.

UCO presents the gorgeous, sexy NINE at Mitchell Hall Theatre. The story of one man and the women who love him is based on Federico Fellini's life and adapted from his movie 8 1/2. This dark and alluring show won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1982.

In a place somewhere between Frog Level and Smyrna, NC, lies the Double Cupp Diner and Pump Boys Filling Station. Go on in and grab yourself a piece of pie! Rhetta and Prudie will take good care of you while Jim, L.M., Jackson, and Eddie top off your car. If you're lucky, you may even bear witness to some of the toe-tapping tunes they belt out. Though it's a lesser-known show, Pump Boys and Dinettes was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical and four Drama Desk Awards in 1982. It's more concert than musical, but the country/rock/blues score promises to give you a surprisingly entertaining hour and a half full of corny jokes and energetic performances.

One of the most interesting cabaret performers in town, Joanne Halev debuted her first club act in 2018 to great response, and part of it is because she is SO interesting a?? and so is her former career. Stephen Mosher talks with Joanne about transitioning from perfume to performing.

UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) presents Pam Tanowitz/Brice Marden/Kaija Saariaho's Four Quartets on Saturday, February 15 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, February 16, at 3 p.m. at Royce Hall. Tickets starting at $28 are available now at cap.ucla.edu, 310-825-2101, and Royce Hall box office.

We need to appreciate, be proud of and understand our history, to make sense of it, and Coming Clean is a part of that. It's set in a time where 'gay bashing' was commonplace, the AIDS epidemic hadn't even happened, and the only place for gay men to find love and affection was in more dangerous places.

As Little Steven looks back on his early solo career with the upcoming boxed set, RockNRoll Rebel – The Early Work, the creatively restless Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is simultaneously looking forward with a slew of new releases including a theatrical, Gene Kelly-inspired video for his song “Love Again” from his latest album, Summer Of Sorcery, and an exuberant live performance of Bruce Springsteen's “Tucson Train.” Leading up to the December 6 release of the boxed set, Little Steven aka Steven Van Zandt has been steadily releasing digital deluxe editions of the albums included over the last few weeks and today has made available his 1989 album, Revolution, which includes two rare mixes of the title track. 

First recorded in 1969, JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT with music and lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, finally opened Off-Broadway in November 1981 and then moved to The Great White Way in January 1982 where the production received six Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical, Book and Score. This ever-popular musical based on the a?oeCoat of Many Colorsa?? story from the Bible's Book of Genesis failed to win even one Tony, but has gone on to be one of the most popular, family-friendly stories with actors of all ages involved in the big-scale production performed around the world. Now being presented as the 40th production by The Aerospace Players, directed by John Woodcock and Angela Asch (who also choreographed the show), the dedicated (and all volunteer) cast features stand-out performances by many in the leading roles who make the story as fun to watch as it is entertaining.

WA Opera are bringing Stephen Sondheim's much-loved musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of  Fleet Street to His Majesty's Theatre this July, and we caught up with opera star Antoinette Halloran, who joins the cast as the infamous Mrs. Lovett. Read on to find out her take on this twisted tale of blood and revenge. 

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG is a farce about a whodunnit that keeps going in spite of itself. It begins at 'funny,' blazes past 'hilarious' and 'side-splitting' straight to 'uproarious,' then ramps it up in Act II. The award-winning script includes slapstick, repetition, mispronunciation, callbacks, prop comedy, crowding, unexpected entrances, pantomime, reversals, costume malfunctions, role switching, overacting, inappropriateness and an astonishing number and variety of spit-takes. The eight cast members are in every way awe-inspiring and terrific. Get it right and go to THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG. Being left out of the fun would be an awful shame.

Back in 1986, The Actors' Gang presented VIOLENCE: THE MISADVENTURES OF SPIKE SPANGLE, FARMER, originally written and directed by the group's Artistic Director Tim Robbins, which offered a no-holds barred satire of militarism and media manipulation. An updated version written by Robbins and Adam Simon, directed by Bob Turton, has re-invaded The Actors' Gang through June 22, 2019 in Culver City. The political and social satire tells the story of Spike Spangle, a down on his luck farmer who gets sucked into a whirlwind of celebrity and patriotism, fueled by his need for more money. During his journey, Spike joins Superman on billionaire Max Enormous' Celebrity Space Shuttle, and a nefarious plot twist leads to the deification of Spike Spangle as an American hero.

Now Nottage and director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon are speaking up about their feelings in the New York Times. 'You can't watch the documentary without being profoundly disturbed by it, but again, we're not judge and jury,' says Wheeldon. 'In our process, we're facing it pretty much head on, but we're also studying the many facets of Michael Jackson.'

My first visit to Desert Ensemble Theatre proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Their presentation of two one-act plays -- Graceland and Asleep on the Wind - harkened back to a purity of theatre which was so exciting to me in my college days. By stripping away full sets in favor of a few strategic prop pieces in front of black drapes, all of the focus was on the actors and the words they were speaking, and director Rosemary Mallett certainly found actors who skillfully rose to the challenge.

I thought throwing out my Annie CDs would be easy--I thought I only had one! Obviously that would be the indispensable Original Broadway Cast Recording with Dorothy Loudon and Andrea McArdle. How wrong I was! I knew that, as a kid, I had the tape of the 1982 movie soundtrack with Carol Burnett and Aileen Quinn (and an all-star supporting cast!), but I didn't remember buying it on CD. And when the hell did I get the CD of the 1999 TV version (with Kathy Bates and an all-star cast)? And, oh yeah... I forgot about this studio album from the 90s with studio cast queen Kim Criswell--I think I bought back in the day somehow convincing myself Ruthie Henshall was playing Annie. (Spoiler alert: She plays Grace.) Oh, and I do remember this '30thAnniversary' deluxe production with Chicago area diva (and original star of the sequel, Annie Warbucks) Alene Robertson as Miss Hannigan plus a lot of bonus material. To add insult to injury, I also have a Blu-Ray of the recent Hollywood remake with Cameron Diaz. I don't even have a Blu-Ray player! This thing is definitely going into the trash along with all the audio, but I will listen to a few tracks online for my edification.

Following last year's momentous 50th anniversary celebrations, The Isle of Wight Festival today announces the first artists for the 2019 event, which kicks off the British festival season on  13th - 16th June.

Theatre for a New Audience presents About Alice, the world premiere of a new play by Calvin Trillin, inspired by his 2007 memoir of the same name. The production, directed by Leonard Foglia, plays January 8-February 3, 2019 at Polonsky Shakespeare Center (262 Ashland Place, Brooklyn). 

Theatre for a New Audience presents About Alice, the world premiere of a new play by Calvin Trillin, inspired by his 2007 memoir of the same name. The production, directed by Leonard Foglia, plays January 8-February 3, 2019 at Polonsky Shakespeare Center (262 Ashland Place, Brooklyn).