Wig Out! 2008 - Articles Page 25.8

The John W. Engeman Theater presents ELF. Performances began on Thursday, November 15 and run through Sunday, December 30, 2018. Check out photos of the cast celebrating opening night below!

The Tony Award-winning Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical runs live on stage at the Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction, VT November 14 - January 1. For tickets and information, call (802) 296-7000 or visit northernstage.org. Tickets start at $19 for students and $34 for adults. Nearly half of all available tickets for this production are already sold and Northern Stage anticipates many sold out performances. Early ticket purchasing is highly recommended.

THE PROM is now in performances at Broadway's Longacre Theatre and officially opens on Thursday, November 15, 2018. Check out all new photos below!

Theatre UCF's production of Hot Mikado brings a unique design concept to the show and to the company: Japanese anime. Based on The Mikado, a comedic 1880s operetta which follows young lovers living in a fictional Japanese town where acts as small as flirting are a capital crime, Hot Mikado sets the original story and lyrics to a jazz-infused score with big, flashy dance numbers. A self-professed lover of 'all things Japanese,' director Earl D. Weaver brings Theatre UCF's upcoming production into the world of anime, using manga comics, kawaii culture and J-pop music videos as inspiration for the over-the-top designs. Check out the cast in the video below! Hot Mikado is typically set in a 1940s Chicago-style night club, fitting for the jazz, swing and blues music that drives the show. In looking to bring new life to the material, Weaver turned to the design team and said, 'What if this were set in a club where it's Japanese anime night?' The team immediately jumped on this idea and the designers got to work creating a distinctive design. As the team began to explore the style of Japanese culture, the visual concept for the show began to take form. 'It started with looking at silhouettes of traditional Japanese architecture but we began thinking about more modern landscapes,' says Marian Jones, scenic designer for the show. 'To represent the lighthearted nature of the club, we took inspiration from the iconic style of kawaii culture.' Kawaii is the culture of cuteness in Japan, best known by global audiences in pop culture phenomena like Hello Kitty or Pokemon. Maddie Walker, a junior in the musical theatre program, plays 'super sweet, but a little bit sassy' club headliner, Yum-Yum. She describes one of her eccentric costumes, designed by UCF costume and makeup professor, Huaixiang Tan, as an homage to the world of Hello Kitty and other beloved cat characters in Japanese culture. 'Each of us wears an enormous, colorful pigtail wig topped with a cat bow,' says Walker. 'The costumes also nod to traditional Japanese style with Kimono-inspired outfits that are cut to give them a fun and flirty anime look.' Weaver explains that Hot Mikado sets the mood from the start, with the first time audience members see the anime-inspired set and the beautiful costumes. The jazz arrangements provide 'that big band sound,' instantly fusing Japanese art and culture with 1940s' American music. These elements come together to tell The Mikado's familiar themes: insane politicians, social class divides and forbidden romance. 'Most of all its just a fun time at the club,' says Weaver. 'The music is outrageously fantastic and there are a lot of funny moments in it.' Walker's hopes for the audience? 'You'll walk out being blown away with the concept with the show. It is so unexpected, fun and silly that you just have to come and experience it for yourself!' A post-show reception will immediately follow the October 11 performance. Please join us for a post-show panel discussion and talkback with members of the cast and crew following the performance on Sunday, October 14. A hilarious update of Gilbert and Sullivan's perennial classic, Hot Mikado combines Japanese design with popular American song and dance. In a land where laws sentence people to death for almost any indiscretion, jazz, blues and gospel are spoken fluently. $20 standard, $10 UCF ID Main Stage, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando 407-823-1500 http://www.theatre.ucf.edu boxoffice@ucf.edu

Stop in the Name of Love! Diana Ross and The Supremes were checking out the vinyl at Britain's oldest record shop The Diskery ahead of the first ever National Album Day (Saturday 13 October)

Mysterious Canadian glam-rocker Art d'Ecco is proud to release his debut full length Trespasser today on Paper Bag Records. Art has also shared a video for album standout 'Mary,' which stars Emilie Underhill as the titular Mary and was directed by Kira Clavell. The video is now available to stream or embed HERE. Hear Trespasser in full HERE.

Mysterious Canadian glam-rocker Art d'Ecco has shared a new video for 'Who Is It Now?' from his debut album Trespasser (October 12, Paper Bag Records). The video, which stars Mike Lipka and was directed by Matt Eastman, is now available to stream or embed HERE. The audio-only version of the song can be found HERE.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company announced today it will produce the world premiere of MS. BLAKK FOR PRESIDENT co-written by ensemble members Tina Landau (SpongeBob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical) and Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight, Academy Award) as the sixth production in the 2018/19 season. Conceived by Tina Landau, she also directs this true and untold Chicago story that will star Tarell Alvin McCraney in the lead role. Previews begin May 23, 2019 (opening is June 3 at 7pm) and the production runs through July 14, 2019 in the Upstairs Theatre, 1650 N Halsted St. Press Performances are Monday, June 3 at 7pm and Wednesday, June 5 at 7:30pm. Single tickets ($20-$94) go on sale at a later date at 312-335-1650 or steppenwolf.org. Members have pre-sale ticket access.

In the midst of what has proved to be an extraordinary week for the company, Maine State Music Theatre fans turned out in a capacity crowd at the Curtis Memorial Library's final Peek Behind the Curtain panel to celebrate the concluding events of this Diamond Jubilee season. In the Brunswick season's penultimate week, MSMT presented nine performances of its smash hit, Singin' in the Rain, as well as two sold-out gala 60th anniversary concerts and a free Concert on the Mall that drew close to 2500 people. The panel, moderated by BWW's Carla Maria Verdino-Sullwold, featured Nicolas Dromard, Kate Fahrner, Brian Shepard, and Kim Sava, the stars of the production, two returning stars closely associated with MSMT's history, Sue Cella and K.K. Preece, as well as Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark. The resulting discussion, which focused on the joyful new staging by Marc Robin of Singin' in the Rain and the special anniversary events, was filled with warmth, laughter, and substance.

Ted Swindley's hit musical Always...Patsy Cline closes out the 2018 mainstage season at the Sharon Playhouse in Sharon, CT.

An inventive costume, makeup, and wig design highlights Moorpark College's production of 'Clue: The Musical,' playing through August 5 at the school's black box theatre.

The John W. Engeman Theater presents Newsies. Performances began on Thursday, July 19 at 8:00pm and run through Sunday, September 2, 2018. Check out photos from the cast's opening night party below!

Stratford Ontario has caught ROCKY HORROR fever with the hit production at the Stratford Festival's Avon Theatre, and BWW had the chance to chat with the performers, the director, and audience members from all walks of life to find out just what magic is at work here!

Broadway in the Finger Lakes is at it again in bringing a new and creative musical to audiences at Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, a theatrical gem located in Auburn's beautiful Emerson Park. The new musical Anne of Green Gables: A new Folk Rock Musical comes to the theatre directly from four sold out performances in Broadway in the Finger Lakes' 2017 theatre series, The PiTCH. The production is modern and creative and the show is truly something special.

Not only was the premise intriguing, then, but the treatment, and particularly the talent Stillpointe brought to this performance, seemed quite promising. As hard as it often was to work out exactly what was being said and sung, the characters certainly had the capacity to intrigue us.

Premiere of documentary play about the former First Lady takes us back to those saner days of yesteryear, when a Republican forced from office in ignominy was replaced by a decent man who tried to heal the nation. Betty Ford may have been her husband's greatest asset in the two short years they resided in the White House, but her impact rippled through the country for much longer.

Trotting out its third different opening scene, GREASE still doesn't have its artistic act together, but it still delivers mindless, guilty, and politically incorrect pleasures in abundance - with double scoops of sock hop nostalgia.

The set is a decaying plantation. But instead of a delicate Southern belle, the leading 'lady' is a burly man in a towering platinum wig, dressed in pastel pink. Yes, you have entered the tilted world of 'Hush Up, Sweet Charlotte' at The Laboratory Theater.

The Muny announced today its full cast, design and production team for the theatre's centennial season production of The Wiz, June 19 - 25. 

Vineyard Theatre announces the second extension of the world-premiere production of THE BEAST IN THE JUNGLE.  This original dance play by legendary composer and four-time Tony Award winner John Kander, Tony-nominated playwright David Thompson, and five-time Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman will extend until through Sunday, June 24.

The Muny announced today its full cast, design and production teams for the theatre's centennial season production of Annie, July 18 -25. 

Hold on to your lashes ladies and strap that wig down with a babushka, because @TheBiancadelRio is back and strutting with the Soviets in Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate! @RuPaul eat your heart out! #biancadelrio #rupauldragrace #hurricanebiancafromrussiawithhate #drag #lgbtq #fierce

BroadwayWorld has a first look at Vineyard Theatre's world-premiere of THE BEAST IN THE JUNGLE, check them out below! 

Once again, Dear Readers, we've ventured into the realm of one of my favorites. We recently had my all-time number one in town, but I'd have to say Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's "Hairspray", is certainly in the top five with its infectious and rousing score and incredible book from Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan. I've seen countless productions including the original cast and even had the honor of being in the show. And now Village Theatre has thrown their wig in the ring with their own production and I have to say in some ways it surpasses all those others. With its Beat, Power, and Humor it's a true show triple threat.

OBERON, the American Repertory Theater's (A.R.T.) second stage and club-theater venue on the fringe of Harvard Square, announces events to be presented at OBERON during May and June 2018-including OBERON Presents, Glowberon, usual suspects, and more.