Changes 1980 - Articles Page 4

Following an incredible journey with The Ferryman through to Broadway, Fra Fee returns to London for Translations this year.

Billed as the 'definitive 30th anniversary tour', Nick Winston's production of Fame - now playing at the Peacock Theatre - is celebrating the stage adaptation of the 1980 film. It's had seven West End productions in that time, and Winston wants to appeal to three decades' worth of fans who have encountered the story through film, television or theatre.

There's an unmistakeable sound of thunder emanating from the Ogunquit Playhouse these days, commencing with the rhythmic pounding of nearly two dozen pairs of feet, and ending in a crescendo of audience applause. It is not fulsome praise to give DirectorChoreographer Randy Skinner multiple huzzahs and many pats on the back for this fresh and exciting production of 42ND STREET the iconic show-biz musical about a small town girl who pursues her dream and takes Broadway by storm. From the grownups to the kids in the chorus, Tony Award-nominee Skinner seamlessly blends stage veterans and non-Equity performers into one sparkling, magical troupe that really knows how to put on a show.

The Specials were joined in Brooklyn on Friday night by some very special guests. Some teachers and parents from  Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Artist and activist Manuel Oliver, whose 17 year old son Joaquin was one of the 17 students murdered in the mass shooting last year, gave an impassioned speech to the crowd at Brooklyn Steel.  The band incorporated the Instrument of Hope, a trumpet crafted of bullet casings by survivors of the school shooting, into their sold out performance. The band flew Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students Sawyer Garrity and Andrea Pena, the writers of Shine, and their parents to Brooklyn to attend the concert and meet with the band prior to the show. 

The Specials were joined in Brooklyn on Friday night by some very special guests. Some teachers and parents from  Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Artist and activist Manuel Oliver, whose 17 year old son Joaquin was one of the 17 students murdered in the mass shooting last year, gave an impassioned speech to the crowd at Brooklyn Steel.  The band incorporated the Instrument of Hope, a trumpet crafted of bullet casings by survivors of the school shooting, into their sold out performance. The band flew Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students Sawyer Garrity and Andrea Pena, the writers of Shine, and their parents to Brooklyn to attend the concert and meet with the band prior to the show.

Based in Los Angeles, So Madonna is the Ultimate Tribute Act to 1980's Madonna! Focusing on the material girl's glory days ('83-'90), they dress up, celebrate, and make every day feel like a holiday, complete with iconic wardrobe changes, choreography, and memorable Madonna moments. Playing your favorites, from "Borderline" and "Burning Up" to "Like A Prayer" and "Vogue," they'll make you want to GET UP ON THE DANCE FLOOR!

The Central Park Five by Anthony Davis, a world premiere commissioned and presented by Long Beach Opera on June 15th, 22nd and 23rd, explores the interrogation and coerced confessions of five teenagers wrongly convicted of a crime in New York City in the 1980's. The opera details their stories, including the profound effect their unjust prison sentences had on their young lives.

REO Speedwagon, the iconic rock band behind hits like 'Can't Fight This Feeling,' 'Time For Me To Fly' and 'Roll With The Changes,' brings its classic songs and rock radio favorites to The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts on Thursday, October 3 at 8 pm, generously sponsored by Herb Chambers Toyota of Auburn. Tickets are on sale now.

Was the pairing of Iain Bell and Mark Campbell--respectively, composer and librettist of New York City Opera's (NYCO) world premiere STONEWALL--'love at first sight”? I asked them. We were at the workshop in New York earlier this month that allowed them and director Leonard Foglia to cross the t's and dot the i's (and hear their new work performed).

'This is a story of kings.' The opening line of playwright Ayad Akhtar's JUNK gives the audience an epic summary of what they're about to experience. Kings not determined by the biggest crown or most expansive army, but by the fullest pockets. Robert Merkin, played by Carlo Lorenzo Garcia, is one such king, though unconventional in that the lead character of Akhtar's longest work sees debt as an asset. Robert sits proudly on the cover Time Magazine, and he's ready to capitalize on his role as 'America's Alchemist'. Performer Garcia revels in all the teeth sucking, furtive gesticulating, and slick talking of a classic 1980's Wall Street yuppie.

Woof. This week is the biggest decluttering task I've attempted yet-throwing out my Evita CDs. I got 99 problems and Evita CDs are all of them. And that's not including the vinyl and the bootlegs on audio cassette. And the strange flash drives people handed me in dark bars muttering something about Elaine Paige and 'A New Argentina.'

A quarter of a century after it premiered in London, Kevin Elyot's MY NIGHT WITH REG holds an enduring relevance for all communities whilst also providing an insight into the fear that gripped the Gay community in the 1980's. 

In 1989, Jonathan Larson, a 29-year-old composer, began working on a musical adaptation of Puccini's La Boheme. Set amid the late 1980's, early 90's in New York City's East Village the musical would tell the story of a makeshift bohemian family of artists navigating poverty, homelessness, gay life, drug addiction and the AIDS epidemic.

Andrea Ganis has been promoted to the newly created position of President of Promotion for Atlantic Records, based at the company's New York headquarters. The announcement was made today by Atlantic Chairman & COO Julie Greenwald and Chairman & CEO Craig Kallman. In her new role, she will continue to oversee all promotion activities for Atlantic and its subsidiary labels, while serving on the company's senior leadership team. Ganis, who joined the Atlantic promotion team in 1980, was most recently Executive Vice President.

Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit announced today that it has received a $1 million grant that will fund two of their key programs - the Summer Camp and the Mosaic Experience Empowerment Program (MEEP).

ASPECTS OF LOVE, Andrew Lloyd Webber (Book & Music), Don Black (lyrics) and Charles Hart's (lyrics) 1980's story of various types of relationships is given the intimate small stage treatment at Hayes Theatre in Andrew J. Bevis' (Director) new production.

The Gateway theatre company's thrilling production of Flashdance, The Musical, is truly an electric way to end their busy Summer season. The sensational regional premiere, running through September 15th at the Patchogue Theatre, is excellently directed by Keith Andrews and boasts an absolutely superb cast. And though it is based on the famous 1983 movie, fans of the movie (like myself!) will notice several changes and will be pleasantly pleased in the stage incarnation.

Fall activities for the Centennial, which begins this month and extends through all of 2019, include a wide range of performances, film screenings, discussions, education initiatives, and new works by other artists in conversation with Cunningham's work.

The GRAMMY Museum® Grant Program announced today that $200,000 in grants will be awarded to 14 recipients in the United States and Canada to help facilitate a range of research on a variety of subjects, as well as support a number of archiving and preservation programs. Research projects include a study that will examine how rhythmic cues can improve movement for older adults and people with Parkinson's disease, and a study that will examine how neural integration through music enhances long-term memory, among others. Preservation and archiving initiatives will rescue and organize 400 hours of at-risk reel-to-reel tapes of Native Radio—Bay Area:1973–1978; preserve, digitize, and ensure public access to 316 rare interviews with performers, songwriters, and music executives from the Country Music Hall of Fame; and digitally restore rare kinescopes of the 1950s television series 'Stars Of Jazz' (KABC-TV, 1956-58); among others.

Interested in taking a trip back to the 1980's and having some fun this weekend?  All you need to do is grab a ticket to see the Tony nominated musical THE WEDDING SINGER presented by Dare to Defy productions this weekend only at The Victoria Theatre.

 A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed classical repertory theatre company, is bringing back its smash hit production of MICHAEL FRAYN's hilarious NOISES OFF from now until Saturday, May 26, 2018, reviving a critical and audience favorite for all to enjoy. Two performances on Saturday, May 26 were just added due to popular demand.

For over five plus decades Linda Lavin has enraptured audiences on stage, screen and television. She won the triple crown- Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for her heart -breaking performance in Neil Simon's 'Broadway Bound'. She is known to million of fans as 'Alice' on her 9 -year ground breaking TV Series for which she won two Golden Globes. Celebrated playwrights Nicky Silver, Donald Margulies, Richard Greenberg and Charles Busch have written memorable and award winning roles for her. This renaissance woman does everything.

New York City Gay Men's Chorus (NYCGMC) today announced they will honor the work of David Bowie in QUEER GENIUS: DAVID BOWIE AND BEYOND, a show that celebrates non-conformity and the right of every individual to be themselves in all their glory. The performance will take place on May 19 at 8pm at NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

This Sunday, April 22nd, will mark the cinematic release of the 2017 Stratford Festival production of TIMON OF ATHENS - One of Shakespeare's later plays, for which productions are not nearly as common as some of Shakespeare's other stories. Directed for the stage by Stephen Ouimette, and directed for the screen by Barry Avrich, TIMON OF ATHENS is a story of a man who gives generously but does not pay close enough attention to his own debt. When the collectors come calling, Timon's friends do not show up for him like he did for them. This betrayal drastically changes his worldview and sends him into a tragic, reclusive life. Joseph Ziegler, who portrayed Timon in the production, was kind enough to chat with Broadway World about bringing this play to the big screen.

Get ready, sports fans, for the most competitive season of “Dancing with the Stars” ever as the show fires up the scoreboard and welcomes 10 athletes to sparkle up their uniforms and lace up their dancing shoes as they ready themselves for their first dance on the ballroom floor, on the season premiere of “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes,”MONDAY, APRIL 30 (8:00-10:00 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network, streaming and on demand. This season's lineup of athletes includes three Olympic figure skaters, a former Los Angeles Lakers superstar, an Olympic gold medal-winning softball player, a Notre Dame women's basketball national championship hero, an American luger, a gold medal-winning Olympic snowboarder, a former World Series-winning Major League Baseball player and an NFL cornerback.