A Little Like Magic - 1986 - Broadway Articles Page 8

Dallas Theater Center heads back to the Kalita Humphreys Theater with The Book Club Play by Karen Zacarias. Meredith McDonough, who previously worked on the new hit musical Fly By Night, returns to make her DTC directorial debut in this comedy about books and the people who love them. The Book Club Play begins previews tonight, January 1, 2015 with a Pay-What-You-Can performance and runs through Sunday, February 1.

Dallas Theater Center heads back to the Kalita Humphreys Theater with The Book Club Play by Karen Zacarias. Meredith McDonough, who previously worked on the new hit musical Fly By Night, returns to make her DTC directorial debut in this comedy about books and the people who love them. The Book Club Play begins previews on Thursday, January 1, 2015 with a Pay-What-You-Can performance and runs through Sunday, February 1.

Today's spotlight falls upon Chambers Stevens, who defines the word "multi-hyphenate." (Seriously, look in a dictionary-they still make dictionaries, don't they?-and you'll find his headshot next to the word.) He is an actor-director-playwright-acting coach-producer-consultant-husband-and-father. And in 2012, he was recognized as a First Night Honoree for the role he has played in the development of theater in Tennessee.

Arcadia Performing Arts Foundation presents its second season at the Arcadia Performing Arts Center -- Three Dog Night on Saturday, January 10 at 8 pm; The Four Tops on Saturday, February 21 at 8 pm; Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on Friday, March 27 at 8 pm; The Muppet Movie Sing-a-Long on Saturday, May 16 at 2 pm and Dick Fox Doo Wop Extravaganza on Saturday, June 6 at 7 pm. This four concert season, and the additional attraction The Muppet Movie Sing-A-Long, is presented by the Arcadia Performing Arts Foundation and is a means of raising funds to support arts in the schools and maintain this new, state-of-the-art facility.

The historic reunion---formatted as part talk-show, part concert---featured not only its creators Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine waxing nostalgic about the making of this beloved show, but also had several members of the Original Broadway cast including Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, Chip Zien, Robert Westenberg, Kim Crosby, Danielle Ferland, and Ben Wright---all performing together on the same stage for the first time in years. Humorist and CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Mo Rocca served as the evening's wry, very amiable host and moderator. The results? Mind-blowingly awesome... not only for the incredible musical performances given by the reunited cast, but also for all the dishy, humorous, and, at times, emotionally-tinged inside info shared by the musical's genius collaborators.

Sting's THE LAST SHIP marks The Police lead singer's Broadway debut tonight, but he's far from the first music industry transplant on the Great White Way. Scroll down to learn more about some of the greatest music stars turned Broadway composers, and be sure to tell us your favorite (or any we left out) in the comments below!

The star-studded Broadway production of the backstage comedy IT'S ONLY A PLAY, by four-time Tony Award winner Terrence McNally, opens tonight, October 9, 2014, at Broadway's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street). Let's see what the critics had to say...

Sir Howard Stringer, Chair of the American Film Institute's Board of Trustees, announced today the Board's decision to honor Steve Martin with the 43rd AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film.

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.

Little Shop of Horrors at the Sioux Empire Community Theatre will have you bopping in your seats and singing all the way home.

This September and October 54 BELOW presents a lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54thStreet. For a detailed schedule of upcoming performances at 54 Below and to purchase tickets, visit www.54Below.com.

The 'Alley Theatre @ UH' season begins with Betty Buckley, Hallie Foote, Annalee Jefferies and Veanne Cox in award-winning Texas playwright Horton Foote's The Old Friends, a Southwestern premiere.

Today we shine a special spotlight on one of the most popular and prolific comedians and actors of our age in honor of his unexpected passing this week, Robin Williams.

From September 4-14, 2014, Houston Ballet launches its 45th season with the company premiere of John Neumeier's three-act ballet A Midsummer Night's Dream. The ballet is based on Shakespeare's lighthearted play of the same name and follows the hijinks and hilarity that ensues when a well-intentioned plan with a love potion goes awry. Created in 1977, A Midsummer Night's Dream has served as Mr. Neumeier's calling card, being seen as one of his most joyous and popular creations. Houston Ballet is the first American ballet company to perform the famous work and it is the first piece by Mr. Neumeier to enter the Houston Ballet repertoire.

The 'Alley Theatre @ UH' season begins with Betty Buckley, Hallie Foote, Annalee Jefferies and Veanne Cox in award-winning Texas playwright Horton Foote's The Old Friends, a Southwestern premiere.

Dixon Place (Ellie Covan, Artistic Director) presents the 23rd Annual HOT!, the NYC Celebration of Queer Culture. The world's longest-running LGBTQ Performance Festival, HOT! offers theater, music, dance, puppetry, performance art and homoeroticism for the whole family! HOT! is the pioneering festival of queer performance and culture - and the oldest annual festival of its kind in the world. Dixon Place is proud the HOT! serves as the model for other queer festivals across the globe and has become a performance destination for emerging talent in the LGBTQ community. This year's HOT!, featuring hundreds of participating artists presenting their newest creations, will run July 5th through August 2nd at Dixon Place, located at 161A Chrystie Street in New York City.

The Deer Valley Music Festival, summer home of Utah Symphony | Utah Opera, opens their eleventh season with a holiday bang this year and two special Fourth of July concerts at the Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater.

This summer, it's 'almost like being in love!' Goodman Theatre produces the first large-scale, professional revival of Brigadoon -- Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick's Loewe's legendary musical of Broadway's Golden Age -- in more than three decades. Under director/choreographer Rachel Rockwell, a company of 28 actors, dancers and singers breathe new life into the enchanting tale of an 18th century Scottish village that appears every century for one day only -- and the complications that arise when it's discovered by two 20th century Americans. With adapter Brian Hill, Rockwell revisits the libretto for this production, while music director Roberta Duchak and an orchestra of 13 use new orchestrations to enhance Loewe's lilting score.

The Deer Valley Music Festival, summer home of Utah Symphony | Utah Opera, opens their eleventh season with a holiday bang this year and two special Fourth of July concerts at the Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater.

The great thing about the Twin Cities theater community is that not only can you see big lavish productions at the Orpheum, Ordway, or Guthrie, but you can also see small low-tech productions in odd or tiny spaces that will surprise and delight you every bit as much as those big productions, or even moreso. 7th House Theater Collective's 7-person stripped-down version of the cult horror movie turned off-Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors is just such a show.

This summer, it's "almost like being in love!" Goodman Theatre produces the first large-scale, professional revival of Brigadoon -- Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick's Loewe's legendary musical of Broadway's Golden Age -- in more than three decades. Under director/choreographer Rachel Rockwell, a company of 28 actors, dancers and singers breathe new life into the enchanting tale of an 18th century Scottish village that appears every century for one day only -- and the complications that arise when it's discovered by two 20th century Americans. With adapter Brian Hill, Rockwell revisits the libretto for this production, while music director Roberta Duchak and an orchestra of 13 use new orchestrations to enhance Loewe's lilting score.

Dixon Place (Ellie Covan, Artistic Director) presents the 23rd Annual HOT!, the NYC Celebration of Queer Culture. The world's longest-running LGBTQ Performance Festival, HOT! offers theater, music, dance, puppetry, performance art and homoeroticism for the whole family! HOT! is the pioneering festival of queer performance and culture - and the oldest annual festival of its kind in the world. Dixon Place is proud the HOT! serves as the model for other queer festivals across the globe and has become a performance destination for emerging talent in the LGBTQ community. This year's HOT!, featuring hundreds of participating artists presenting their newest creations, will run July 5th through August 2nd at Dixon Place, located at 161A Chrystie Street in New York City.

Closing Aurora Theatre Company's 22nd season is David Mamet's powerful, fast-paced drama AMERICAN BUFFALO. Tony-nominated director Barbara Damashek, who helmed Aurora Theatre Company's acclaimed productions of Fat Pig and Private Jokes, Public Places, returns to direct AMERICAN BUFFALO, featuring James Carpenter (John Gabriel Borkman, The Master Builder, The Birthday Party, The Homecoming), Paul Vincent O'Connor (Death Defying Acts, National Tour August: Osage County), and Rafael Jordan. AMERICAN BUFFALO plays June 13 through July 13 at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. For tickets ($32-60) and information the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org. For mature audiences.

Bursting with magic, wit and whimsy, INTO THE WOODS---the sprightly Tony Award-winning musical that features music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine---is currently on stage at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton through May 18. Produced by OC's Ovation Award-winning 3-D Theatricals, this sardonic, often funny, metaphor-heavy dark musical comedy disguised as a family-friendly play is indeed an enjoyable, funny romp, marred only slightly by the theater's ever pesky sound system that renders many of the show's rapid-fire lyrics all but decipherable as the too-loud (albeit hard-working) orchestra drowns out the characters' voices. Still, this trip is worth the journey.

Opera Colorado announced today that it will present Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly(November 2014), W.A. Mozart's The Magic Flute (May 2015), Giuseppe Verdi's Aida (November 2015), and the world premiere of Lori Laitman's The Scarlet Letter (May 2016) starring Elizabeth Futral as Hester Prynne. A vital presence in Denver's cultural ecology, Opera Colorado is the Rocky Mountain region's preeminent grand opera company. The Opera's programming includes mainstage productions, artist development initiatives, and education and community engagement programming.