Something You Did 2008 - Articles Page 4.2

In this interview, I get to discover more about the uber talented Ann Hampton Callaway.

Glenn played Dawn Pinket in the original Broadway production of Waitress (2016). Other theatre credits include: Love's Labour's Lost (2013, Delacorte Theatre); Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (La Jolla Playhouse, 2012); and Spring Awakening (National Tour, 2008-2010).

Today, we're getting to know Broadway favorite Dana Steingold, with whom you can book a shoutout on Stage Door today! Did you know that Dana loves Bernadette Peters, can't wait to see Six, and so much more!

Four decades later and in the middle of a show business shut down, Brandy's Piano Bar is still offering live entertainment ... and some great hot toddies.

They say you should write about what you know, and Jessica Hendy did just that. Well look at her now.

Talking to Khori Dastoor, General Director of Opera San José brings to mind that old quote from Elizabeth Taylor when she was faced with unimaginable adversity, “Now is the time for guts and guile.” Just one year into her tenure as GD, Dastoor is faced with an almost impossible situation due to the Covid pandemic. Out of all the arts, opera, the artform which she has made her life’s work, arguably has the biggest challenges. After all, the act of singing operatically produces enormous amounts of aerosols, the core audience is older and thus especially at risk for Covid, and the population at large may not consider opera to be essential to their lives. Since creating new works is practically impossible, many GD’s are offering a sort of greatest hits of former glories, video snippets from past years that were already in the can. Or maybe something like a “reading” of an old holiday chestnut like Der Rosenkavalier, presented Brady-Bunch style on Zoom. So what does Dastoor do instead? She goes bravely programs a brand-new, beautifully-produced production of Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers, starring no less than world-renowned opera star Susan Graham, alongside two of Opera San José’s super-talented Resident Artists, soprano Maya Kherani and baritone Efraín Solis. This immensely moving chamber work is based on an unpublished play by Terrance  McNally, adapted by librettist Gene Scheer, and tells the story of a family struggling to connect during the early years of the AIDS pandemic. The work premiered in 2008, yet somehow feels more relevant than ever, given the parallels with what we’re all going through today, as evidenced by McNally’s death from Covid earlier this year. The opera is currently available for streaming through the end of December. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit operasj.org. BroadwayWorld spoke with Dastoor shortly after the filming of Three Decembers had been completed. Dastoor was remarkably open and forthcoming about the challenges of the opera world right now, even as her passion for growing the artform burns stronger than ever. We talked about how she managed to produce Three Decembers during Covid, her successful earlier career as a lyric soprano, and the imperative to keep the arts alive during these difficult times. Her responses to my questions were invariably thoughtful, often surprising and not without humor. And, as a rare woman of color leading an opera company, her understanding of the need to open up her artform runs deep. Above all, though, she is just plain fun to talk to - effortlessly engaging, whip-smart, emotionally transparent, and without an ounce of pretension.

While performing arts organizations around the world are dusting off existing productions of the usual chestnuts during the month of December, Opera San José is taking a more audacious approach with its holiday programming. They are presenting a new, fully-staged production of Jake Heggie’s immensely moving chamber opera, Three Decembers, featuring world-renowned mezzo-soprano Susan Graham in the central role, alongside celebrated Opera San José Resident Artists soprano Maya Kherani and baritone Efraín Solís. Based on the unpublished play Some Christmas Letters by Tony-winning playwright Terrance McNally, Three Decembers follows the story of a famous actress, Madeline Mitchell, and her two adult children, Beatrice and Charlie over three decades (1986, 1996, and 2006). With a witty and touching libretto by Gene Scheer and a soaring musical score by Jake Heggie, Three Decembers is a 90-minute fullhearted American opera about family – the ones we are born into and those we create. The world-class digital production is offered via on-demand streaming through December 31, 2020. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit operasj.org or call (408) 437-4450. BroadwayWorld speaks with charismatic baritone Efraín Solís, who plays son Charlie.

Six online concerts will replace 20 show in person... but you know with Urban Stages involved, the shows will be good.

Although the show only ran for 105 performances at the Bernard B. Jacobs theater in 2008, the legacy of the show still lives on today. Enough so, that Netflix is in the process of adapting the show for the screen.

An enchanted evening it sure was for those lucky enough to get to see the revival of South Pacific at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center. Chocked full of A-List Broadway performers included the talents of Kelli O’Hara, Matthew Morrison, Danny Burstein, Liz McCartney and the golden voiced baritone making his Broadway debut, Paulo Szot.

Renée Fleming's long and distinguished career includes performing in some of the world's most famous opera houses, performing on Broadway, and being heard on many recordings singing everything from arias to showtunes. Tonight Ms. Fleming will add another honor to her canon as she and Vanessa Williams will become the first artists to perform a live indoor concert onstage at Kennedy Center's Opera House. The evening is entitled A Time to Sing: An Evening with Renée Fleming and Vanessa Williams. While the audience will be very minimal in person, you can watch the concert in your very own living room by purchasing a ticket for the livestream. Click here for details.

Stacy Sullivan is well known in the Cabaret Community for being the very epitome of warmth and friendship. She always greets her friends and fans with a big smile, a hug and a a?oeHow are you?a?? Unfailingly classy, well dressed and always stunning, Stacy creates very interesting cabaret shows that tend to focus on one artists - a?oeIt's A Good Day, A Tribute To Miss Peggy Leea??, a?oeOn The Air - Songs For Marian McPartlanda?? and one that I was luckily in attendance for on opening night, a?oeA Night at the Troubadour: Presenting Elton John and David Acklesa??.  

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

The Invigorated Ingenue brought Joan Darragh back to the cabaret stage and community, where she belongs. Isolation has brought her talents as motivator and baker to the social media. Here, the Ingenue talks with Stephen Mosher about life before and after her return to the stage.

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.

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best TV episodes from the 1950's to 2020; see if your favorites made the list!

Theater companies all over the world are rising to the challenge of staying connected to their audiences and continuing to serve them while in-person performances are suspended for an indefinite period. San Franciso's storied Magic Theatre has come up with a creative solution by instituting 'Far Apart Art,' a podcast series composed of brief, daily audio journals from a host of Magic's family of playwrights. BroadwayWorld recently spoke with Loretta Greco, Magic's Artistic Director, about 'Far Apart Art' and how she and Magic are weathering the pandemic.

What started out as a fun project during the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic quarantine on our private Facebook group evolved into something emotional, nostalgic, and uniquely unifying amidst a very dark and isolated period in humanity. Now, more than a decade after their closing night, 44 cast members of the Broadway revival of 'A Chorus Line' share what brought them all together 'again'. It was... 5, 6, 7, 8.

Canadian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Royal Wood will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 1 at Enlow Recital Hall on Kean University's East Campus. Wood's beautiful melodies and soulful vocals are an ode to the classic styles of both Tin Pan Alley and Laurel Canyon. Since being named Songwriter of the Year by iTunes in 2008, Wood has continued to evolve and hone his musical craft, maintaining an unmistakable identity while uncovering and reinventing his sound.

The time is 2008, the place Detroit...this and more sets the stage for a hard hitting, knockout Tour de Force that chills you to the bone. Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew is a searing, eye opening look into the workforce division between blue-collar and white-collar and what might happen when the division of power crosses the line. I think director L. Peter Callender sums it up best in his director's notes by saying, 'Dominique Morisseau's 'Detroit Project' plays: DETROIT '67, PARADISE BLUE, and SKELETON CREW, not unlike August Wilson's 'Century Cycle' or Shakespeare's History plays, offer a sharply focused, raw, sometimes harsh, always heart-wrenching, beautifully penned look at the rigors of survival when driven souls must make high stakes, life or death choices. Dreams, hope, despair, mystery and secrets all fill the hearts and minds of her characters in the poetic and humorous Skeleton Crew.' The tight knit ensemble of four of the finest actors to hit the stage in some time do Morisseau's words justice and do so with gusto. From the moment the music is heard, to the first words spoke you are gripping on every breathtaking moment in this top-notch performance, that left you winded and exaspirated in all the best ways possible. The chill left down my spine from this show still lingers even days later.

Manhattan musical duo Michael Garin and Mardie Millit have been known to stir up delicious musical mayhem wherever they go. Michael is a Drama Desk Award-winning composer/lyricist (for Song of Singapore) and Emerson College dropout who has made a living entertaining New Yorkers, playing the piano and singing at the Monkey Bar, the Rainbow Room, the VIP room at Limelight, and the Williamstown Theater Festival, to name a few. Mardie has a degree in Classical Voice from The Ohio State University and spent many years playing roles like Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and Maria in The Sound of Music in regional theatres around the country before embarking on a cabaret career. They met each other at Jim Caruso's Cast Party at Birdland in 2005 and began performing together soon after, most notably on Sunday nights at the legendary Elaine's, from 2008 until its closing in 2011.

This week I wanted to give you some ideas for your next movie night. We all love musicals and understand that hunting for bootleg copies of your favorite Broadway show is bad, so what do we do when we want to watch a show but can't make it to the theater? Movie musicals!!! I'm going to tell you five of my personal favorites to watch when I'm having a movie night, and I think you'll enjoy them if you haven't seen them already!

In 2008, I was one of the few who was privileged enough to see a?oeGlory Daysa?? open (and close) on Broadway. So, when I saw that the show was in our area I made it a priority to attend. My anticipation for what I had hoped to witness did not go unfilled as Rise Above Performing Arts delivered a passionate rendition of this much maligned musical.

This week we're spotlighting Nadia DiGiallonardo is currently the music director for the Broadway production of Waitress at the Brooks Atkinson Theater, where she can be found playing and conducting Sara Bareilles' score most nights. She is also the music supervisor for the national tour and international companies of Waitress.