Cassie and the Lights 2024 - Articles Page 4

Reviews are in for the second year of the national tour of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Revival of Hello, Dolly!, starring Carolee Carmello in the iconic title role. 

Roundabout Theatre Company has announced the company and design team for the new Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' Tony Award-winning play The Rose Tattoo.

ANASTASIA rolls into town this week with Tari Kelly, an East High School alum, who began her career here in Madison on the well-worn stages of community theatre.

From 2016, Almeida Young Company have been steadily producing plays working with two groups of young actors. They're This summer their participants aged 14-18 are presenting Molly Taylor's The Wave and the older group (18-25) are staging Nina Segal's (This Isn't) A True Story.

Bay Area Musicals has announced the full cast and creative team for the final production of the Company's 2018-2019 season, the international smash hit HAIRSPRAY (Winner of 8 Tony Awards including "Best Musical"). Based on the 1988 John Waters film, HAIRSPRAY features music by Mark Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman & Mark Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan.

With Joseph, which opened last night at Franklin's Jamison Theater inside The Factory at Franklin, further establishes its brand: presenting exceptional musical theater with production qualities that might rival Broadway, performed by a cast (a dreamcast, if you will) made up of actors from Nashville, New York and various and sundry points in between. The show's title role is entrusted to New York-based Jesse Michels, who oozes great charm and is fairly dripping in sex appeal which ensures the audience is riveted to his performance - but it's his gorgeous baritenor and prominent stage presence that makes certain this production of Joseph is so appealing and we daresay noteworthy.

RDAY NIGHT FEVER is playing at Sydney Lyric Theatre through June 2, 2019.

With the Notre Dame Cathedral still in the news after a nearly catastrophic fire so recently it seemed strange coincidence to attend a production of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. It certainly brought home for me the majesty of the medieval church but it also lent a small glimpse into the immense scope of Hugo's work. Kaitlin Hopkins takes the medieval setting and recreates it in a high concept artwork in black, white, tones of gray and slashes of crimson. The effect is a feast for the senses.

Studio C Performing Arts will present Disney's hit musical FREAKY FRIDAY for a special seven performance limited engagement at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza-Scherr Forum, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd., in Thousand Oaks from May 2-19, 2019. Performances are at 7 pm Thursday, 8 pm Friday, and 2 pm on Sunday. Tickets for the family-friendly musical FREAKY FRIDAY are $32-$42 and can be ordered by calling (800) 745-3000 or online at http://www.civicartsplaza.com/shows. Special group rates are available.

Studio C Performing Arts will present Disney's hit musical FREAKY FRIDAY for a special seven performance limited engagement at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza-Scherr Forum, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd., in Thousand Oaks from May 2-19, 2019. Performances are at 7 pm Thursday, 8 pm Friday, and 2 pm on Sunday. Tickets for the family-friendly musical FREAKY FRIDAY are $32-$42 and can be ordered by calling (800) 745-3000 or online at http://www.civicartsplaza.com/shows. Special group rates are available.

It's an unique experience to be a reviewer. We're tasked with having an understanding of theatre and performance and to be able to express what we experience at a variety of different shows to an audience of readers who may have seen the show or may be deciding whether or not to see the show. As a reviewer for many community theatres in the area, I see my role as many-faceted. On one hand, I'm a reviewer, and a review, to be a true review, necessarily includes some level of critique. I feel a responsibility to my readers to give them an idea of what they might expect if they see the show. On the other hand, as a supporter of the arts and a frequent director and performer myself, my personal goal is to promote the arts, to promote the theatres in our area, to lift up the many volunteers who do such amazing work. So, I try to frame my writing from these various points of view.

Theatre Bay Area, the third-largest regional theatre service organization in North America, announced the finalists for the 2018 TBA Awards. The fifth annual TBA Awards Celebration will be held on Monday, Nov. 5 at the Herbst Theatre (401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco). Tickets for the public go on sale Friday, September 28, 2018, through City Box Office.

Stephen Karam's The Humans won numerous awards during its off-Broadway and 2016 Broadway run, picking up four wins out of six nominations at the Tony Awards. Now the New York cast and director, Joe Mantello, have transferred over to the Hampstead Theatre for its autumn term.

This year PBH Free Fringe is pleased to announce a special roster of rotating shows in a venue offering full disabled access.

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.

RMI Recordings in conjunction with Hollywood Records and Disney Music Group have signed the first artist to their label, UK sensations Max & Harvey. The duo's refreshingly fun and authentic sound has connected with fans across the globe from day one. The 15-year-old Berkshire-based twins got their start two years ago, posting covers of their favorite songs, as well as their own original songs, on their social media platforms. Now, with a social media following of over 6 million, the brothers are working with top writing teams in the UK and the US on new music. They have independently released several songs, including “Stuck On The Ceiling” and “One More Day In Love,” which they co-wrote. 

Unhappiness in rural Dublin-- Not an altogether unlikely topic for a play. But when Buffalo's Irish Classical Theatre included Conor McPherson's THE NIGHT ALIVE as part of their season of comedies, I wondered how it fit the bill. Happily the play about unhappiness somehow morphs from dark comedy to a classic film noir script and ticks all the boxes for a riveting production.

The national tour of the classic musical A Chorus Line is entertaining audiences at The Oncenter Crouse Hinds theatre in Syracuse, New York. The production - restaged by Baayork Lee based on Michael Bennett's original direction and choreography - is 'One Singular Sensation.' With masterful music by Marvin Hamlisch, unique lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a flawless book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, it is no wonder that the original production received nine Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize in 1976.

The Sydney Theatre Company and Global Creatures' production of Muriel's Wedding The Musical opened this weekend in Sydney. The production, a theatrical version of PJ Hogan's iconic hit film, updated to today by the writer himself, features original music by Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall alongside those beloved ABBA numbers. The musical is exclusive to Sydney, playing at Roslyn Packer Theatre with previews from 6 November, opening on Saturday 18 November 2017. Let's see what the critics had to say!

"Appropriate," the 2014 Obie Award winner for Best New American Play, will be staged at Westport Country Playhouse, from August 15 through September 2. The story of family secrets is written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, 2016 MacArthur Genius Grant Recipient, and directed by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director.

'Appropriate,' the 2014 Obie Award winner for Best New American Play, is being staged at Westport Country Playhouse, now through September 2. The story of family secrets is written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, 2016 MacArthur Genius Grant Recipient, and directed by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Every so often, a show comes along that strikes a chord in the most difficult audience to please: actors. As people of show business, we as actors find ourselves in a difficult position when going to see a show that is not ours; we are critical, we are hopeful, we are looking to be impressed. Often times, we are pleasantly amused and surprised by other works of theatre, but rarely do we find a show that speaks to us as clearly as A CHORUS LINE. The mere title of the show aims itself directly at actors themselves, and has prided itself on representing the trials and tribulations of show business for several decades. Central PA's most recent incarnation, presented by Susquehanna Stage Company, invokes just the same feelings that inspire each and every actor to push just a little bit harder to reach their goals.

"Appropriate," the 2014 Obie Award winner for Best New American Play, will be staged at Westport Country Playhouse, from August 15 through September 2. The story of family secrets is written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, 2016 MacArthur Genius Grant Recipient, and directed by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director.

'Oh the thinks you can think if you're willing to try.' So says the beloved Dr. Seuss, entertainer of children and their families (and a slew of grown-ups, too) for decades.

Corkscrew Theater Festival presents the world premiere of All of My Blood by Robert Zander Norman, directed by Taylor Haven Holt. Running tonight, August 11, through August 20, All of My Blood is a comic, contemporary take on a werewolf story, focusing on the challenges a woman faces in communicating with her boyfriend and his friends after deciding she has been 'turned.'