My Vaudeville Man! 2008 - Articles Page 8

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, as well as, it's first move from its historical address, BOB BAKER'S NUTCRACKER will play at the Pasadena Playhouse's Carrie Hamilton Theatre from November 24 through December 30, 2018. Who better to learn about the Bob Baker Marionette Theater than from its current director, the late Bob Baker's right-hand man Alex Evans? I got the chance to pull some interesting facts of the Theater from Alex.

"What could be better than a play that asks you to shout? Well, one that asks you to sing. All this fun is part of an updated version of "The Brave Little Tailor"...My son also thought of another reason that Seven in One Blow is the greatest play ever: the actors pass out candy at the end."-The New York Times

To Dad With Love: A Tribute to Buddy Ebsenwritten & performed by Kiki EbsenTheatre West12, 13, 14 ONLYCLOSED A one person show in honor of a parent is from experience full of  vengeful loathing or in reverse complete adulation. My father raped and abused me as a girl; I cannot bear the torment any longer...or   My father led an exemplary life; it is not easy to live up to his high standards. Many fall in the middle...my dad did have his flaws but persevered with stamina and an unforgettably joyous spirit. The latter is the case with Buddy Ebsen. His daughter Kiki Ebsen looks back fondly and peppers her fascinating anecdotes  with the music of her father's era, as well as a myriad of photos and film clips from his checkered film career and more successful TV shows. To Dad with Love, A Tribute to Buddy Ebsen played Theatre West this past weekend to packed enthusiastic houses.

Charlie Stemp will return to the London Palladium to play The Prince in this year's Pantomime, Snow White at the London Palladium along with Danielle Hope who will play the title role of Snow White. They join the previously announced Dawn French as The Wicked Queen, Julian Clary as The Man in The Mirror, Paul Zerdin as Muddles, Nigel Havers as The Understudy, Gary Wilmot as Mrs Crumble with Vincent and Flavia as The King and The Queen for this strictly limited 5 week run.

With the world premiere double-bill of Nick Dear's Hogarth's Progress currently playing at Rose Theatre Kingston as part of its 10th anniversary season, the company today announces its Spring 2019 season. This will be the first season presented in the venue's newly reconfigured auditorium, with developments taking place in January 2019 following a capital fundraising programme.

Linda Thompson's career began in the much beloved late '60s/early '70s British folk-rock scene, when she went by the name Linda Peters. At first, she was mostly a session singer and a part of a short-lived duo with Paul McNeill with whom she released two singles, in 1968 and 1969. McNeill happened to be friends with Sandy Denny, and soon so was Linda. She became one of the “supergroup” of musician friends related to Fairport Convention for the 1972 The Bunch album, a side project of sorts that highlighted rock hits of the '50s. The album's single featured Linda and Sandy covering the Everly Brothers' “When Will I Be Loved.” Also in 1972 Linda married Richard Thompson; she and Sandy can be found in the credits for his solo debut, Henry the Human Fly. Beginning in 1974, albums started appearing by Richard & Linda Thompson, winding up with 1982's classic Shoot Out the Lights — which also signaled the end of their marriage.

Underscore Theatre Company is pleased to announce its full 2018-19 Season, featuring two fully-produced musicals, plus the 5th annual CHICAGO MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL.

The Waterville Opera House (WOH) is delighted to announce its 2018-2019 theatrical season, which once again brings two amazing musicals and three entertaining plays to its historic, 116 year-old theatre in downtown Waterville. New this season is the Opera House Theatre Season Pass, offering theatre lovers a new way to experience the excitement of the performing arts in this beautiful theatre. The 2018-2019 season will open in September with Things My Mother Taught Me, and will run through June.

Director Mitchell Butel has gathered a wonderful group of women, and one man, to deliver a captivating expression of the life of Fanny Brice in FUNNY GIRL THE MUSICAL, presented in concert with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra

George M. Cohan has been attributed to being the father of the American Musical, whose works are the very roots of Broadway and musical theater that we know today. Without his numerous contributions to the American theater, Broadway as we all know it probably wouldn't even exist. This is the idea that's drummed rather loudly and patriotically by the ending of YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, the 2004 stage musical now in the midst of its Southern California regional premiere via Musical Theatre West. A fairly entertaining, if inescapably old-fashioned jukebox musical that paints rather broad strokes rather than giving a deep dive into Cohan's life story, this new production continues performances at the Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts in Long Beach through July 22, 2018.

The success of the 'Nunsense' franchise may be a bizarre fluke, but there's no denying the charm of Gregg Brandt's production.

Truth is an illusion. Experience is subjective. And proof is in the eye of the beholder. We at The Brick believe only what we feel like believing and likely not even that. All news is fake news. Except for the news that proves my point. Join us for performances and art works full of hot takes, half-truths and exaggerations for you to believe, ignore and distrust at your pleasure.  All spectators will receive ten million dollars.

DECADES Network, the multicast TV network from Weigel Broadcasting Co. and CBS Television Stations, proudly presents the television premiere of 'Wait For Your Laugh' the untold story of fame, love, tragedy and 90 years of American show business through the eyes of the woman who did it all Rose Marie. 'Wait For Your Laugh' will have its television premiere on Tuesday, May 1 at 9:00 PM ET on DECADES, alongside episodes of Marie's performance in 'The Doris Day Show' and a guest role on 'Gunsmoke'.

you are my sunshine - a new play with folk songs …based on a true story by Kelli Kerslake Colaco is a multi-decade (1927-1956) character study of a man of mythic American proportions whose passions and demons lead to tragedy. Narrated in Woody Guthrie-style folk songs - accompanied by Bay Area music favorites Chris Haugen (guitar) and Trevor Marcom (vocals/guitar), the fact-inspired ensemble drama focuses on the search for truth behind a dark family legend vis-a-vis an ancestor and the women and children in his life.

Ride the Cylcone, this season's dark and hilarious co-production between The 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT - A Contemporary Theatre, is now in preview performances and has its official opening night this Thursday, March 22 at ACT - A Contemporary Theatre. The award-winning director and choreographer Rachel Rockwell has continued to refine and explore the world of Ride the Cyclone with its writers Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond, returning to direct after working on its two previous U.S. productions in Chicago and Off Broadway. This co-production, which is the eighth collaboration between The 5th and ACT, will showcase new developments to the script and score. At least one third of the script has been newly created for this production, which is in addition to countless small but crucial tweaks and refinements. These new developments have continued to define and shape the world that the Saint Cassian High School Chamber Choir inhabits onstage.

Show Boat was first performed on Broadway in 1927 at the Ziegfield Theatre. The musical is based on a novel by Edna Ferber. Show boats, boats that traveled up and down rivers to perform at different towns along the river, are a real part of Americana from the 1800s and early 1900s, but they went out of fashion with the growth of the film industry. Ferber actually spent several days on a show boat in 1924 where she compiled research for her book. At the time, the most popular performing arts pieces were light comedies by vaudeville writers. Show Boat broke the mold with its focus on historical accuracy, realism, and foray into social issues. Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre will be bringing Show Boat to Central PA, and Broadway World had the opportunity to interview Kira Galindo, who will be performing the role of Julie.

Co-Artistic Directors of Morphic Graffiti, Luke Fredericks and Stewart Charlesworth, today announce full casting for their new adaptation of William Wycherley's restoration comedy The Country Wife. Fredericks directs theatre veteran Richard Clews whose credits include King Lear, (Chichester Festival Theatre) and extensive work for the RSC and Shakespeare's Globe, Sarah Lam (Chimerica, Almeida Theatre / Harold Pinter Theatre, Lucky Man, No Problem!) and Sam Graham (Spooks, Kingdom, Footballer's Wives) who join the previously announced 'Bright Young Things' - EastEnders' Eddie Eyre, Call the Midwife's Leo Staar, West End stars Siubhan Harrison and Nancy Sullivan along with Daniel Cane, Mabel Clements and Joshua Hill completing the full company. Thrust into the excesses and seductions of late 1920s London: a city exploding with a heavy mix of jazz, gin and scandalous affairs, the production opens at Southwark Playhouse on 4 April, with previews from 28 March, and runs until 21 April.

Frontier Comedy are thrilled to announce that accomplished comedian, author, screenwriter and television presenter David Baddiel will bring his acclaimed, Olivier-nominated one-man stage show My Family: Not The Sitcom to Australia in September following a UK tour, a sold-out run in London and two critically-acclaimed West End runs.

Vaudeville, burlesque and television variety shows may be dead, but Ted Pappas uses the classic Sondheim musical to exhume the bodies and bring them roaring back to life.

After a successful run in his one-man show 'I NEVER PROMISED YOU ... ROSE GARDEN', Patrick Rinn returns to The Triad Theater as Rose Garden in the first of his Vaudeville series titled, Rose Garden's Valentine Varieties.

With growing Birmingham audiences looking for new and fun ways to laugh and be entertained, it looks like 'Nick & Jacob: A Two-Man Variety Show' is the right show at the right time.

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE is a parody of 20's musicals with a book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. It is a show within a show told by a middle-aged, asocial Broadway musical fan, known only as Man in Chair (Scott Shipman). Seeking to cure his 'non-specific sadness', he listens to a rare recording of the fictitious 1928 musical comedy, The Drowsy Chaperone. As he listens to this cast recording, the characters appear in his crowded, tiny apartment, and it is transformed into an impressive Broadway set with footlights, period furniture, painted backdrops, shiny drapes and glitzy costumes. Man in Chair provides a running commentary throughout the show from the stage, and although he is onstage with the characters, he is invisible to the players. THE DROWSY CHAPERONE debuted in 1998 in Toronto and opened on Broadway in 2006. The show won five Tony Awards and seven Drama Desk Awards. It is a loving valentine to a time when shows had only the barest of plots serving to showcase the songs.

Olivia Jacobs is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Tall Stories, a registered charity internationally recognised for their high-quality family theatre. Olivia has directed shows in the West End, on Broadway, and at the Sydney Opera House, including multiple tours of The Gruffalo. This year, the company celebrates their 20th anniversary and presents a new show called Wilde Creatures that combines several of Oscar Wilde's fairy stories as part of Dominic Dromgoole's year-long Oscar Wilde celebration at the Vaudeville Theatre.

They say communication is the key to a successful relationship. They also say there's such a thing as overdoing it.

Standing room only crowds gathered for a series of star studded Los Angeles premieres of 'WAIT FOR YOUR LAUGH' about the legendary ROSE MARIE, who has had the longest active career in history. A trail blazer for both children and women with entertainment roots that has spanned Vaudeville, Radio, Film, Vegas, Broadway, as well as both Daytime and Primetime Television.