This vibrant, world-premiere musical charts the incomparable life of Donna Summer - the undisputed Queen of Disco. Playhouse Director Emeritus Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Who's Tommy) directs this musical extravaganza, featuring more than 20 of Summer's classic hits and electric dance in a tribute to the voice of a generation.
Laguna Playhouse Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham is thrilled to announce the second show in the Laguna Playhouse 2016-2017 season, BILLY & RAY, written by Mike Bencivenga and directed by Michael Matthews. "Old Hollywood comes to Laguna Beach in this comedy about the making one of the most iconic films of the 1940s. I have been wanting director Michael Matthews to direct at the Playhouse for so long and think this is the perfect show for his unique vision. Our audiences and subscribers are in for a hilarious and wild ride," says Wareham. BILLY & RAY will begin previews on Wednesday, October 5; will open on Sunday, October 9 and will run through Sunday, October 30, 2016 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.
On Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 7:30pm the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys and Orchestra of St. Luke's present Haydn's The Creation oratorio in the opening concert of the 2016/17 season. Displaying Haydn's unfussy optimism, The Creation features some of the most memorable and life-enhancing music ever written. Soloists include soprano Ellie Dehn who sings the parts of Gabriel and Eve. Versatile tenor Thomas Cooley sings Uriel and bass Craig Phillips sings the parts of Raphael and Adam.
On Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 7:30pm the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys and Orchestra of St. Luke's present Haydn's The Creation oratorio in the opening concert of the 2016/17 season. Displaying Haydn's unfussy optimism, The Creation features some of the most memorable and life-enhancing music ever written. Soloists include soprano Ellie Dehn who sings the parts of Gabriel and Eve. Versatile tenor Thomas Cooley sings Uriel and bass Craig Phillips sings the parts of Raphael and Adam.
The Public Theater announced complete casting today for the New York Premiere of PARTY PEOPLE by UNIVERSES (Steven Sapp, Mildred Ruiz-Sapp, and William Ruiz a.k.a Ninja. Developed and directed by Liesl Tommy with choreography by Millicent Johnnie, PARTY PEOPLE begins performances on Tuesday, November 1 and runs through Sunday, December 4, with an official press opening on Tuesday, November 15.
San Francisco Opera presents the world premiere of Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng's Dream of the Red Chamber, with a libretto by the composer and David Henry Hwang, in six performances from September 10-29, 2016. Commissioned by San Francisco Opera, the work is a co-production with the Hong Kong Arts Festival and will be performed March 17-18, 2017 at the Grand Theatre in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre as part of its 45th annual festival. Based on one of the quintessential works of world literature, Sheng and Hwang's opera explores the characters at the heart of Chinese author Cao Xueqin's 18th-century novel and communicates their story as a vivid musical and theatrical experience.
San Francisco Opera presents the world premiere of Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng's Dream of the Red Chamber, with a libretto by the composer and David Henry Hwang, in six performances from tonight, September 10, through September 29, 2016.
Today's big news: Jessica Vosk and Kristen Martin join the WICKED tour today, Cirque du Soleil's AVATAR-inspired show TORUK begins in NYC, and WAITRESS' Jessie Mueller & Jenna Ushkowitz will take part in a talkback tonight!
41 days ago Haydn's Die Schöpfung was performed at the Großes Festspielhaus, opening the Ouverture spirituelle and thus the 2016 Salzburg Festival.
The reputable Duncan Theatre has announced their 2016/17season with prominent artists MOMIX, tribute artists such as Stayin' Alive to the extraordinary Drumline LIVE, the mesmerizing Pants Down Circus: Rock and the underwear performing Skivvies and many more! The intimate Duncan Theatre with the 700 seat and 122 seat Stage West Theatre performing arts venues will be exploding with dance, concerts, family shows, classical music as well as a spectacular cinema live stage show on the Lake Worth campus of Palm Beach State College.
'It's the music and the storytelling; the storytelling walks a fine line between being universal and silly. There is a lot of humor and a lot of warmth and so many relationships you can connect with. All that coupled with joyful, upbeat, recognizable music - those crazy tunes by those inspired creators - make for magic.' Leading lady Lauren Mufson is explaining what she believes to be the enduring appeal of the joyous ABBA musical, Mamma Mia! In which she is currently playing Donna Sheridan, a role she performed on Broadway and national tour. She is joined by a panel of other artists - actors Ian Knauer (Sam Carmichael), Mylinda Hull (Rosie), Chelsea Williams (Sophie) and stage manager Mark Johnson - all involved with the stunning revival that opened to rave reviews at Maine State Music Theatre on August 11th for the last in the Peek Behind the Curtain series of interviews by Broadway World's Carla Maia Verdino-Sullwold, held at Brunswick's Curtis Memorial Library on August 17th.
After a nationwide search, Sarasota Opera is proud to announce that composer/librettist Rachel J. Peters has been commissioned to compose Sarasota Youth Opera's next world premiere. Ms. Peter's opera, Rootabaga Country, which is being written now and will have its premiere in November 2017, was selected over 12 other submissions. This will be the sixth opera commissioned by the Sarasota Youth Opera program.
San Francisco Opera presents the world premiere of Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng's Dream of the Red Chamber, with a libretto by the composer and David Henry Hwang, in six performances from September 10-29, 2016.
'We are excited to have the audience open its eyes to some sunshine. [Artistic Director] Curt Dale Clark and I were just saying this morning that this has been an intense season so far, and Fiddler on the Roof and Evita cannot let in much sun. But we stream that light in Mamma Mia, and we hope it will provide a chance to breathe in the joy of the Greek Isles. If we do it right, we will all feel an uplift.'
Director/choreographer Mark Martino is waxing eloquent about his latest project and one which constitutes his Maine State Music Theatre debut: a new production of the 2001 Broadway smash it musical Mamma Mia, based on the songs of ABBA. Martino has what he calls 'a very short history' with the show, having mounted a production for the first time in June of this year at the Theatre Aspen. 'The two will be staged very differently,' he explains. 'Aspen is a 200-seat thrust stage, and here they have a 600-seat proscenium theatre. The Pickard Theater gives me an opportunity to expand the show. Our cast at MSMT is about one third larger than in Colorado - some twenty-seven actors - which is even a bit larger than the twenty-four in the original Broadway production. The production values are going to be large and lavish, and the cast has a huge amount of energy, so for me it is an opportunity to revisit the show and make different pictures and entirely different choreography.'
Bringing artists from around the world, and from most every genre, the Harris Center for the Arts at Folsom Lake College will offer upwards of four hundred performances in its 2016/2017 Season.
Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced today the three exciting new productions that will comprise the company's 2017 Summer Festival, which will build on the company's commitment to producing masterpieces from the operatic cannon, important American works, and works in which dance plays an integral role.
From 'Defying Gravity' to a year in space without gravity, Mayo Performing Arts Center's 2016-2017 season is definitely going to new heights.
Just four years into its existence, On Site Opera (OSO) has established itself as one of New York City's most imaginative, nimble opera companies by doing more than simply staging musically and dramatically rich works outside of the opera house.
Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer and Managing Director Maggie Boland announce the full lineup for Signature Theatre's 2016/17 season, including the previously announced production of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's FREAKY FRIDAY.
Toronto – The Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, Canada's premier training program for young opera professionals, welcomes seven outstanding new artists for the 2016/2017 season: sopranos Danika Lorènand Samantha Pickett, mezzo-sopranos Emily D'Angelo, Lauren Eberwein and Megan Quick, baritone Bruno Roy, and pianist Stéphane Mayer. The seven artists join the Ensemble Studio in August 2016 and become part of an illustrious program that, since its inception in 1980, has launched the careers of over 215 Canadian singers, opera coaches, mainstage directors and conductors.
In what has become an annual ritual, a total of 36 established and emerging composers, lyricists, and librettists will converge on the Goodspeed campus from mid-January through mid-February 2016 to participate in the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing 19 new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration. BroadwayWorld is excited to report that Goodspeed has announced its 2016 participants. Scroll down for details!
Each year some two dozen young theatre professionals make their way to Brunswick, Maine, to take part in a dynamic summer program that is both educational and experiential. They come to fill performance, production, and administrative internships at one of New England's leading regional theatres. Maine State Music Theatre is an Equity summer company with more than a half century of storied history of bringing first-class Broadway shows to midcoast Maine and beyond. And at the heart of this ensemble are the talented, aspiring, and inspiring young actors and technicians who come to learn, to absorb, and to contribute to the magic of their chosen profession.
According to TMZ, theatre veteran and disco legend Donna Summer passed away this morning, May 17 in Florida after a battle with cancer. She was 63 years old.
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