Soft Power 2019 - Articles Page 11

Carole Shorenstein Hays announced today that Book Passage at the Curran will welcome Eric Idle-best known for his unforgettable roles in Monty Python-on Tuesday, October 9 at 7 p.m. The event is part of Curran's popular SHOW & TELL series, featuring provocative, topical and entertaining one-night-only events. Sharing stories from his newest book "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography" (out October 2018), Idle will reflect on the meaning of his own life and share his remarkable, absurdly funny journey from his childhood spent in a charity boarding school to his successful career in radio, comedy, television, theater, and film. Tickets for the Eric Idle SHOW & TELL event are $45-$95 and include an autographed copy of the book. Tickets will be available beginning Wednesday, August 1, by visiting SFCURRAN.com.

I want to stretch my technical and artistic capabilities as far as they will go. It's wonderful for me to play around with different emotional journeys

From August 27 to September 4, August Strindberg Rep will perform Strindberg's 'Creditors' in a new translation by Robert Greer as part of the Dream Up Festival at Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave.  This masterpiece from Strindberg's naturalist period is rarely excelled in its unity of construction, dramatic tension and acute psychological analysis, but it is far less performed and anthologized than 'The Father' or 'Miss Julie.' During an afternoon in a lounge at a seaside resort, a revenge is played out as a credulous artist has his mind poisoned against his wife by her former husband. Translator Robert Greer directs.

What a night! There was an electrifying enthusiasm in the air at the sold-out opening night of the 15th NOW Festival last week, as three distinct and inspiring performances launched the 3-weeks of premieres. 

The Tank (Meghan Finn and Rosalind Grush, Artistic Directors) will present their third annual Lady Fest, featuring new work by some of the most exciting lady-identified artists in New York City, in celebration of womanhood and the female voice, in all its glory.

What a night! There was an electrifying enthusiasm in the air at the sold-out opening night of the 15th NOW Festival last week, as three distinct and inspiring performances launched the 3-weeks of premieres. 

Nickelodeon's Reimagined RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES Bows 9/17

How many people would go to the theater to watch American Ballet Theatre's La Bayadere three time within 45 days? Either they are dance professionals themselves, someone with a lot of time on their hands, or perhaps they're just crazy? I happen to be the crazy one.

For many San Diegans, their ability to understand and appreciate the wonders of the Bard during our Summer Shakespeare Festival has increased exponentially since they joined The Old Globe for Thinking Shakespeare Live!, a 90-minute exploration of the language of Shakespeare led by the Globe's Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and assisted by three professional classical actors. This special free program celebrates TCG's newly released revised edition of Edelstein's book Thinking Shakespeare: A How-To Guide for Student Actors, Directors, and Anyone Else Who Wants to Feel More Comfortable with the Bard.

McAninch Arts Center, located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage (COD), presents the 2018 Lakeside Pavilion Free Outdoor Summer Series. Programming runs July 12-Aug.10 and includes a Thursday evening Family Movie Series, the Thursday evening WDCB Live Jazz Concert Series and a Friday evening Pop Music Series. One of the highlights of the Friday evening series promises to be the July 20 New Philharmonic pops concert, which will be broadcast on Facebook Live for the second year in a row.

Singapore got a dose of Hakuna Matata as the international tour of The Lion King makes its stop and opened in the lion city on Friday (29 June). This is the second time The Lion King is in Singapore, the first was in 2011 where it became the longest-running musical in Singapore's theatrical entertainment history playing to over 300,000 people during its eight-month season at Marina Bay Sands.

 City Parks Foundation's SummerStage is kicking off July with a full week of shows taking place all across New York City. For the most up-to-date scheduling and lineup for all SummerStage programming, visit www.SummerStage.org for all festival information. 

The world premiere of 'Soft Power' by David Henry Hwang (play and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music and additional lyrics) will open at the Ahmanson Theatre on Wednesday, May 16. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the new production, check out the photos below!

The Old Globe will once again share some of its favorite Shakespearean cinema as a complement to its stage productions with the return of Free Monday Night Film Screenings, presented in conjunction with the 2018 Summer Shakespeare Festival. Curated by the Globe's Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and introduced by KPBS's "Cinema Junkie" Beth Accomando, the films include Fred Wilcox's Forbidden Planet on July 9, Ralph Fiennes's Coriolanus on July 16, Orson Welles's Othello on July 30, and Ian McKellen's Richard III on August 27. Admission is free. Seating for each film is first-come, first-served and by general admission. The line begins one hour before each screening.

Creators Carly Brooke Feinman and Cassie Willson are thrilled to announce the casting for their original musical If Sand Were Stone, making its Off-Broadway debut this July as part of the 2018 New York Musical Festival's (NYMF) Next Link Project. Featuring original music by Ms. Willson and original book & lyrics by Ms. Feinman, If Sand Were Stone will play a 5-performance run at The Acorn Theatre at Theatre Row beginning July 18, 2018.

San Francisco Opera's presentation of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) opens tonight with the first of three complete cycles, each presented over the course of one week as the composer originally intended, from June 12 through July 1 at the War Memorial Opera House. Encompassing four operas-Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung-and more than 17 hours, Wagner's Ring is one of the most ambitious works of music, theater and stagecraft ever created.

REDCAT, CalArts' downtown center for contemporary arts, presents the 15th annual New Original Works (NOW) Festival, a three-week celebration of Los Angeles' vibrant community of artists creating new contemporary performance work, July 19 to August 4, 2018. Patrons can see all three weekends with a $40 festival pass. Individual programs are priced at $20.

Admirably directed and choreographed by Richard J. Hinds, La Mirada Theatre's NEWSIES aims to be an amiable hybrid between the popularly-received original show and a new iteration that feels fresh for us Fansies forever obsessed with the earlier Disney-backed production that played Broadway and went on tour for a few years. Filled with high-energy music and dancing and a lively, eager-to-please spirit embedded in its DNA, this brand-new Southern California regional theater production of NEWSIES---which continues performances at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts through June 24---is a wonderfully caffeinated jolt of a stage show, highlighted by a remarkably talented and athletically-blessed ensemble that leaps and belts one show stopping number after another. What a treat for every Fansie!

Check out an in-depth with one of the stars of the new musical Soft Power. Alyse Alan Louis portrays former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in the new play with a musical. See what she does to become Hillary below!

Principal Pops Conductor Michael Feinstein opens the 2018 Pasadena POPS Sierra Summer Concert Series on Saturday, June 23rd with That's Entertainment: Gershwin to Sondheim. The POPS season opener will cover the gamut of the Great American Songbook from jazz standards to Broadway hits, and vintage charts that can't be heard anywhere else. Hear your Broadway favorites from Porgy and Bess and An American in Paris to Company and Follies, plus popular standards and vintage archival surprises with Nice Work if You Can Get It, S'Wonderful, and Being Alive just to name a few.

What made the Hot List? Check out these productions for a look at the vast creativity of theatre makers in action in Los Angeles: FOREVER BOUND at Atwater Village Theatre, PLUNGE: Part 1 of The Ballad of Bimini Baths Trilogy at Son of Semele, SOFT POWER downtown at the Ahmanson, VIOLET at Actors Co-op, THE GIANT VOID IN MY SOUL from Ammunition Theatre Company,  WOOD BOY DOG FISH at Garry Marshall Theatre, and Antaeus Theatre Company's NATIVE SON in Glendale. Reviews by BWW Sr. Editor Ellen Dostal, LADCC.

McAninch Arts Center, located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage (COD), presents the 2018 Lakeside Pavilion Free Outdoor Summer Series. Programming runs July 12-Aug.10 and includes a Thursday evening Family Movie Series, the Thursday evening WDCB Live Jazz Concert Series and a Friday evening Pop Music Series. One of the highlights of the Friday evening series promises to be the July 20 New Philharmonic pops concert, which will be broadcast on Facebook Live for the second year in a row. New for this season: To help insure everyone's safety in light of the growing popularity of the series, seating for films and evening concerts will begin at 6 p.m. No admittance will be allowed prior to 6 p.m. for sound check and security reasons.  Admission to Lakeside Pavilion Summer Series events and parking is always free.

McAninch Arts Center, located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage (COD), presents the 2018 Lakeside Pavilion Free Outdoor Summer Series. Programming runs July 12-Aug.10 and includes a Thursday evening Family Movie Series, the Thursday evening WDCB Live Jazz Concert Series and a Friday evening Pop Music Series. One of the highlights of the Friday evening series promises to be the July 20 New Philharmonic pops concert, which will be simulcast on Facebook Live for the second year in a row. New for this season: To help insure everyone's safety in light of the growing popularity of the series, seating for films and evening concerts will begin at 6 p.m. No admittance will be allowed prior to 6 p.m. for sound check and security reasons.  Admission to Lakeside Pavilion Summer Series events and parking is always free.

The world premiere of 'Soft Power' by David Henry Hwang (play and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori opened last night at the Ahmanson Theatre. Check out footage from the show's opening night below!