What We Wanted 2017 - Articles Page 13

Told entirely from the perspective of a dog, The Noises is a visceral new play about fear, courage, the nature of violence and what we're prepared to do for the ones we love. This new show, longlisted for the 2017 Bruntwood Prize for Playwrighting, will receive its world premiere at The Old Red Lion this April, starring Amy McAllister (Call the Midwife, Scorch). The Noises is a mother and daughter collaboration between TS Eliot Award shortlisted poet and playwright Jacqueline Saphra and director-dramaturg Tamar Saphra, and is a poetic and sensory piece with sound design from Tom Parkinson (I'm A Phoenix, Bitch; Super Duper Close Up). The sound is another character in the play, and the audience hear the world as Luna hears it.

The Broad Stage presents the return of The 7 Fingers with REVERSIBLE for three performances only, February 15 - 17. The 7 Fingers, who performed Cuisine & Confessions at The Broad Stage in 2017, are the best in contemporary circus performers. The Boston Globe calls REVERSIBLE, "hypnotically beautiful..on both an aesthetic and emotional level." REVERSIBLE is also performing February 1-2 at Irvine Barclay Theatre.

'19: The Musical' is the brainchild of Through the 4th Wall co-founders, Jennifer Schwed and Doug Bradshaw. Both DC natives, Schwed and Bradshaw conceived the idea of a musical about the passage of the 19th Amendment back in 2016, and have been overseeing workshops and concert performances for a little over a year, with an eye toward a full production in time for the Amendment's centennial in 2020.

Providence-based alternative pop/hip hop project Toad and The Stooligans have released a new single, titled 'Trap Song,' out on all digital platforms NOW. Along with the music video, the group continues to explore a multitude of influences in 'Trap Song,' including elements of rock, funk, and jazz. What's perhaps most intriguing about both the band and 'Trap Song' is the seamlessness of their sound; although inspired by a wide range of genres, the Stooligans still sound polished. Their unique mesh of styles is ultimately what defines their brand, and 'Trap Song' is the perfect representation of their collective persona.

The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University presents the first major retrospective of eminent American artist, curator, and teacher Howardena Pindell, who for nearly five decades has explored the intersection of art and activism. 

Singer/Songwriter Joseph Lorenzo Wise goes nostalgic this Thanksgiving with the release of his new single 'My Prayer'. Wise performs The Platters hit for the Holidays and says 'It's just the right song for this year. I wanted to do a song that took people back to a time when holding hands at a Drive-In Movie theater or strolling down the Boardwalk with your sweetheart was the feeling of the day. When Love was in the air and Romance was on the waves. What we have to day is just a mess, we need to look back to more pleasant times'.

Sloucher began with Jay Clancy (Makeup Monsters, Cayucas, Hibou), a drummer looking to try his chops at writing his own songs. After trying his hand as a solo act, Clancy sought a more familiar format - he started a band. Clancy wrote the material that would become Sloucher's 2016 debut EP, Certainty, and recruited a couple friends to help flesh out recordings - drummer Jack Hamrick and former The Globes guitarist Kyle Musselwhite. Two years later, the band's reputation and sound have only grown - the band itself has quite literally grown, adding bassist Lance Umble (Telekinesis, Cumulus, Bod). They've landed opening slots for acts like Angel Olsen and Guided By Voices and opened the main stage at the 2017 Sasquatch! Music Festival. Those two years later, they're releasing what they're heralding as their first truly collaborative record, Be True, on November 16 via Swoon Records.

What happens when a group of talented Chicago musicians, actors, improvisers, stand-ups, songwriters, and DJs collaborate on a web series? You get "STUDIO B," the three-episode workplace comedy of a struggling Chicago recording studio trying to make a comeback along with supporting its bizarre clientele. STUDIO B can best be described as "30 Rock" meets Spinal Tap coupled with original music by composer Julie B. Nichols. Each episode follows a different musical act entering the studio to record what they hope will be their break-through hit, while the studio staff hopes it will keep them afloat. The first season of STUDIO B will be released Monday, Oct. 22 at 10 p.m. and will be available on www.studiobseries.com, as well as on Vimeo, YouTube, and Instagram TV. The creators of STUDIO B are hosting a public launch party the date of the release (Monday, Oct. 22 from 5 - 10 p.m.) at The Joinery, 2533 W. Homer Street in Logan Square, for fans and supporters to gather and watch the series. The screening will begin at 7 p.m. that night. To RSVP for the launch party, please email studiobseries@gmail.com or register at studiobseries.com.

Come and see the culmination of our Classics-in-Action horror trilogy and our first-ever performance in repertory! Just in time for Halloween, take your pick from our adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker's Dracula, or Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. With our customary fidelity to the text, immersive staging, high-energy tone-shifting performances, and custom cocktail pairings, join us as we explore Poe's lonesome paranoia, Stoker's deadly seductive hunt, and Shelley's arrogant despair in this unique theatrical event. The productions contain some scary content, but are appropriate for all ages. Each ticket includes a custom drink for our 21+ guests. Running time for each show is approximately an hour. The Horror Rep runs from October 18th to November 10th at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop.

Brought together by a Juilliard School/Sibelius Academy collaboration in 2017, young musicians form a new force for music and cultural diplomacy

Taped during the 2017 London engagement, the Christopher Wheeldon directed and choreographed Tony-winning musical AN AMERICAN IN PARIS comes to movie theaters in the United States on September 20 and 23. The live capture, distributed by Trafalgar Releasing, features the original Broadway stars in the critically acclaimed musical, which is inspired by the Oscar-winning 1951 MGM film of the same title. To get the scoop on the musical and the film, we chatted with Wheeldon about it.

Zimbabwe-born British artist KWAYE has shared the beautifully-choreographed video for his latest song, 'What Have You Done,' out now on Mind of a Genius / Warner Bros. Records. The Femi Ladi-directed video premiered via Complex and touches on KWAYE's feelings of self-discovery.

Amidst going from to city to city by 'carriage' and sprinkling magic across the country, Laura Osnes took time to talk about the beginnings of BPP, what she's most excited for about the Cincinnati concert on September 16, favorite Disney princesses, and more in the interview below!

A new podcast dedicated to Canadian musical theatre, Tits and Teeth Podcast, has hit the airwaves. Hosted by Canadian show girls Jennifer Thiessen and Kyla Musselman, the podcast brings dressing room banter to the outside world. The pair conceived the idea while performing in the 2017 North American Tour of Saturday Night Fever. 'We decided it was important to open up conversations about the crazy, unconventional lifestyle that artists have. The highs and the lows, we wanted to know about it all from others out there, living and working in the musical theatre business like us' says Thiessen. 'And what better way to get to the bottom of any issue than with a strong cocktail in hand?!' Light-hearted and funny, they chat to an all star line up of Canada's finest musical theatre workers, all whist sipping their guests' favourite cocktail!

What do you get what you cross two solution-minded musical theatre lovers with a need to create and a love of collaboration? Husband-and-wife team Luke and Blythe Kirkwood are the prime example of artists that saw a need in the Houston theatre world, and took it upon themselves to fill it. After noticing the wealth of musicals that rarely get to be produced because of their technical challenges or size, the Kirkwoods found a way to bring Houston audiences their favorite musicals in a different form of performance. The result was Summer Sing-Thru Series: a one-night-only concert event that brings all the musical wonder of your beloved Broadway soundtracks to life, with full orchestration by both professionals and high school to college-aged students.

On Sunday three songs from FREEDOM RIDERS: The Civil Rights Musical were released in a compilation album that the show creators, Richard Allen and Taran Gray, named 'The John Lewis Chronicles'. The three choices from the musical are all songs that the character John Lewis sings in the show. The recordings are sung by Anthony Chatmon II who recently played John Lewis in the 2017 New York Musical Festival production of FREEDOM RIDERS: The Civil Rights Musical.

Off Broadway play, AFTERGLOW, written and directed by S. Asher Gelman, will have performed 467 performances to nearly 25,000 audience members when it ends its successful run on August 12, 2017. In an effort to make sure that everyone has a chance to see it, the show will offer ten "Pay What You Wish" tickets at each performance

INSITU Site-Specific Dance Festival, named by the New York Times as one of '15 Summer Dance Festivals, Portland to Vail' to see this summer, announces four audience movement workshops. Festival attendees are encouraged to participate in four short, fun workshops, guided by 2017 INSITU festival choreographers at the end of three performance sequences at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on August 4 and 5, 2018 in all four parks. 'We wanted festival goers to experience the choreographic process firsthand at this year's festival,' says Svea Schneider, founder and artistic director of INSITU. 'Participants will experience four unique ways of creating a dance work through these guided experiences.'

On August 10, the Mississippi-bred singer & guitarist Jason Eady returns with a new album I Travel On. The album is his first to be recorded with his ace touring band who have been relentlessly touring behind Eady's critically acclaimed self-titled album that was released in 2017. GRAMMY-nominated musicians Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley accompanied Eady, his bandmates and wife Courtney Patton to round out the lineup that would execute the live, single-take sessions.

The following presentation of From Classroom to Stage is presented by Carnegie Mellon University, the first, exclusive higher education partner of the Tony Awards. For more information about Carnegie Mellon University, their performing arts curriculum, and spotlights of their multiple Tony Award winning alumni, visit cmu.edu/tony-awards today.

Visionary Canadian director Robert Lepage teams up with Guillaume Cote, Principal Dancer and Choreographer at the National Ballet of Canada to present FRAME BY FRAME. We spoke to Second Soloist Jack Bertinshaw, playing filmmaker Norman McLaren, about his life as a professional dancer, the unique challenges in bringing a man's life to life on the stage, and the incredible three-year collaborative process to prepare FRAME BY FRAME for its world premiere.

"Country crooners, '80s hitmakers and man's best friend are among the headlining talent Poway OnStage have lined-up for their 2018/19 Professional Performance Series. This season we are delighted to welcome old friends and new talents to the Poway stage," says Poway OnStage President and CEO Michael Rennie.  "Returning Poway OnStage alum include perennial Poway favorites and equal opportunity offenders The Capitol Steps, guitar masters the Romeros; and celebrity talents from Dancing with the Stars and American Idol performing the all-new Motown with a Twist."  

New Jersey rock band Gatherers is thrilled to share their brand new album We Are Alive Beyond Repair, streaming in full now via Bring The Noise, here: http://bit.ly/2H7oh0E. We Are Alive Beyond Repair will be released this Friday, June 1st, via Equal Vision Records. For more information or to pre-order the album, please visit: gatherers.lnk.to/alive.

The New England Foundation for the Arts' Creative City program announces The Way We Live Now (2018), a civic dialogue project on opioids, chronic pain, trauma, and hope by artists Maia Dolphin-Krute (writer) and Jesse Erin Posner (director). The performance takes place Today, May 16, at 6pm at Fenway Health (1340 Boylston Street, 9th Floor, Boston) and is free and open to the public with RSVP at https://thewaywelivenow.wixsite.com/project/events.