A 24-Decade History of Popular Music - 2016 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 1

Vangeline will perform her Butoh dance work MAN WOMAN at the Schwarzman Centre in Oxford, followed by a discussion on gender and Butoh history with Dr Baldock.

54 Below will host a lineup of performers including Britani Bateman with Lagoona Bloo, Claybourne Elder, Charles Busch, Ute Lemper, Linda Eder, Orfeh, and Jeanna de Waal, alongside a Frank Sinatra tribute concert and other cabaret acts.

The Actors' Gang in Culver City will present an eight-show season featuring THE WOMEN OF LOCKERBIE, THE EXONERATED, new works, and family-friendly programming.

FRIGID New York will present its 29th season, including the Days of the Dead Festival, Gotham Storytelling Festival, and The Fire This Time Festival, with performances at UNDER St. Marks.

Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater in New York revealed a monthlong slate of jazz performances, including Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes, Monty Alexander, and the MIKI YAMANAKA TRIO.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra will open single ticket sales for its upcoming subscription season, featuring Andris Nelsons' final season as music director and guest artist Yo-Yo Ma.

The Tanglewood Music Center kicked off its 2026 season with the first TMCO concert and its annual Opening Exercises convocation in Ozawa Hall. This summer's cohort includes 122 Fellows from 24 states and 11 nations.

Celebrated organist, conductor, broadcaster and social media phenomenon Anna Lapwood has announced her first-ever UK arena tour, taking place in November 2026, with dates at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena, Glasgow’s OVO Hydro and Manchester’s Co-op Live.

Much has been written about the proliferation of pop singer-songwriters writing new musicals for Broadway and off-Broadway. Less covered is the trend of pop singers performing on Broadway, which has made for a number of memorable appearances in current and recent seasons. 

NJPAC revealed the lineup for the 15th annual TD James Moody Jazz Festival in Newark, featuring an Ben Vereen 80th birthday celebration, and performances by Gregory Porter, Charles Lloyd, and Christian McBride.

Friendship is nearly always a side element in musicals. From the comic sidekick of the leading character to the backup pals who provide background vocals, friends are part of the fabric of many shows—but rarely are they the main event. 

In April, 54 Below will present some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond, including Marilyn Maye, Claybourne Elder and many more. 

LA Phil President & CEO Kim Noltemy has unveiled the 2026/27 LA Phil season at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The season features figures including Esa-Pekka Salonen, who takes up his newly established role of Creative Director.

There is a version of this story that would have gone very differently. A talented violinist from Belarus finishes conservatory, wins some competitions, sends out recordings, and waits. Maybe a label picks him up. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe he spends the next decade playing regional venues, genuinely skilled, but known only to a small professional circle. That version was completely possible. It just isn't what happened.

The LA Phil has revealed the 2026 Hollywood Bowl summer season with performances at the world-renowned amphitheater in the Hollywood Hills from June to September 2026.

Join Robin Ince and Professor Jen Gupta for an evening of music and astrophysics with THE EXOPLANETS at Hackney Empire. Learn more about the event here!

Miss Saigon will play a strictly limited West End season in 2027, more than a decade since Miss Saigon last performed in London, at that same theatre.

The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin have unveiled the 2026–27 season—Nézet-Séguin’s 15th as music and artistic director—full of epic musical events, bold artistic experiences, and new musical journeys.

SFJAZZ will present a diverse lineup of jazz performances in February 2026, featuring renowned artists and ensembles. The month-long event will take place at the iconic SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco.

During and prior to the Golden Age of Broadway, songs regularly premiered on stage and then charted, spending time on the radio and becoming popular worldwide. In the 1960s, Broadway songs and popular music diverged, and work from musicals was no longer synonymous with chart hits. There have certainly been a good share of exceptions since that decade, as Broadway has evolved to mirror popular, current music genres. Several of the songs that have broken through to the Billboard charts can be heard on Broadway! 

It wasn’t until later on in theatre history that revivals began including shows that weren’t initially well received or financially successful in their initial engagements. As musical theatre continued to evolve, and more shows entered the canon, a consensus began to grow about shows being worthy of additional exploration even if they hadn’t been hits the first time around. What about musicals that had been ahead of their time, musicals that had fallen prey to circumstances, early works by writers who became successful later on, and of course, shows that found an audience after closing via their cast recordings?

The San Francisco Giants organization has acquired the historic Curran from Shorenstein Hays in a private transaction.

54 BELOW will celebrate the happiest time of the year with an incredible lineup of performances by Tony winner Christine Ebersole with Billy Stritch, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” star Darius de Haas, and more.

Hadestown, the winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards including Best New Musical and the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, will return by popular demand to the Marcus Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee for three performances only and we've got all the details on how to get the best priced tickets. .

While different tryout theaters have different relationships to the development of new shows, it’s worth looking at both which commercial rental theaters and which non-profit theaters have had the most Best Musical Tony Award winners come from their stages.