Almost Like Being In Love - 2001 - London Articles Page 13

One of the most talented musicians to join the Ventura County musical theater scene in the past few years has been Cassie Nickols. Most audiences haven't seen Cassie before because she has spent most of her time behind the scenes, working first as a rehearsal pianist and then as assistant musical director. But in Cabrillo Music Theatre's current production of Damn Yankees, which begins this evening at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, Cassie will be up front, baton in hand, leading the orchestra and the performers on stage as a full-fledged music director. It's been a long road for Cassie, a gifted musician who spent years studying her craft in college before joining the local musical theatre scene. We talked to Cassie about her thoughts behind making this key transition from performer to leader.

Just when you think you are Sleeping Beautied out, along comes another production. This one however, is being produced on the other side of the world by the Australian Ballet. That's a long way to travel to see something you've already encountered in 500 other productions. On the other hand, why not? I'd never been to Australia and needed a vacation. So a 27-hour flight didn't seem to faze me. Plus, I would see a company that was almost totally unknown to me. I'd seen them on You Tube and was highly impressed. I missed them in New York, so this would be my chance not only to see the company, but Australia! Of course, there were other reasons. Like a great love I had in college 40 years before and had left because he wanted me to move to Melbourne with him. And I was going to meet him again! So if you combine the meeting of a past love and a new Sleeping Beauty, the combination was almost irresistible, at least to me. (I'm told that my brain works in peculiar ways, and this was definitely one of them!) So I booked a flight and in two days I was transported to one of the loveliest cities imaginable. And I could have been there 40 years earlier!

Performers Jim Caruso and Billy Stritch will be premiering their brand new show, "The Sinatra Century," on the Main Stage at Rose Theatre in Brampton, Ontario on Thursday, October 15 at 8pm.

The new St. Ann's Warehouse was unveiled in a ceremony this morning! The $31.6 million, 25,000 sf. theater, at the breathtaking site of the pre-Civil War Tobacco Warehouse under the Brooklyn Bridge, will make Brooklyn Bridge Park a home for culture for future generations.

You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN is theatrical proof of how this age-old formula can work wonders. With syrupy and infectious melodies, stunning choreography and visually-stunning sets, this monumentally theatrical homage to the most beloved classics in the Nacio Brown and Arthur Freed canon perfectly fits the bill for a 'Mary J. Blige Pre-Approved' musical- it is uncomplicated, lavish technicolor entertainment--without the drama.

OKLAHOMA, THE KING AND I, THE PAJAMA GAME, HELLO, DOLLY!, ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, BARNUM, THE SECRET GARDEN, THE WHO'S TOMMY, THE PRODUCERS; some of the most iconic shows in Broadway history have opened at 246 W. 44th Street, The St. James Theatre. On September 13th, at 7:00 and 9:30pm at 54 Below, 'The Ensemblist,' the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out, will pull back the curtain of this beloved theatre district landmark.

Today, I am kicking off the series with “Five Things About the JERSEY BOYS Movie,” a film that I failed to see in the theater because all of the horrendous reviews Clint Eastwood's direction received. Released in June 2014, the movie tells the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Based on the Tony and Grammy winning musical of the same name, the film adaptation went through a number of iterations during development. Initially Tony-winning playwright, and TV and movie scribe John Logan was to pen the screenplay and Jon Favreau (of ELF, IRON MAN, and SWINGERS fame) was slated to direct.

Just in time for the opening production of the Houston Ballet 2015-2016 season, the sensuous romance MANON, BroadwayWorld.com releases its discussion with Stanton Welch. In the interview, Welch talks family, career, and love. Family, career, and love at the Houston Ballet, of course.

Though most of us think of Gyllenhaal as the kid from the 1999 film OCTOBER SKY who grew up to receive an Oscar nomination for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and has of late sported a rockin' beard, many people may not know that he has also graced both the London and Broadway stages. With these credits under his belt, might a Broadway musical be Gyllenhaal's next venture?

Composer Paola Prestini, the Creative and Executive Director of National Sawdust (NS), today announced programming for the non-profit's inaugural fall season in its new home-a $16 million, 13,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art chamber hall in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The performance and recording venue, designed by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Bureau V in the shell of century-old former sawdust factory, will provide composers and musicians a setting in which they can flourish, and a place where they are given commissioning support, mentoring and other critical resources essential to create, and then share, their work. For audiences-serious fans and casual listeners alike-the venue will be a place to discover genre-spanning music at accessible ticket prices.

Returning Favorites Include Billy Stritch & Jim Caruso, Nicole Henry, Nicolas King, Aaron Weinstein & Bucky Pizzarelli, The Four Freshmen and Tommy Tune

More than music, the anti-establishment movement of Punk crashed onto the scene in the mid-to-late 1970s and spread like wildfire around the world. But it all started in Cleveland, Ohio. The films in AMERICAN PUNK celebrate the sub-culture with insightful rockumentaries of the early Punk scene and narratives made in the height of its popularity.

Directed by Leigh Silverman and choreographed by Sonya Tayeh, THE WILD PARTY will run tonight, July 15, through July 18 at New York City Center.

HERE announces its 2015-2016 producing season, featuring three HERE Resident Artist productions, an Artistic Director production, the fourth annual PROTOTYPE: Opera/Theatre/Now festival and HERE's yearly CULTUREMART festival, which gives audiences a first look at new work in process from artists in the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP).  The multidisciplinary works in HERE's 2015-2016 season represent the culmination of commissions and developmental residencies of up to three years through HARP, and/or the Dream Music Puppetry Program.

BroadwayWorld has learned John Ellison Conlee, Tony nominee for THE FULL MONTY, has had to depart Encores! Off-Center's upcoming production of Andrew Lippa's THE WILD PARTY due to a scheduling conflict. Ryan Andes, who last starred on TV in PETER PAN LIVE! and in Broadway's BIG FISH, steps in.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: The Films of Pedro Costa, from July 17-23. The series precedes the opening of the Portuguese auteur's long-awaited, "hauntingly beautiful" (Variety) new film, Horse Money, which played last fall at the 52nd New York Film Festival and opens theatrically at the Film Society on July 18.

Enjoy Shakespeare under the stars at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's Outdoor Stage production of Love's Labour's Lost. The enormously popular summer venue, located on the campus of the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morris Township, will host the show beginning on June 17th and continuing through July 26th.

April 29, 2015 - Richmond, Virginia Join everyone's favorite "Wascally Wabbit" and his friends Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Pepe Le Pew, Tweety, Sylvester and more today, May 16 at 6:00 p.m. at Richmond CenterStage's Altria Theater. Bugs Bunny at the Symphony II celebrates the world's favorite classic Looney Tunes, projected on the big screen, while the Richmond Symphony performs their exhilarating, original Carl Stalling scores live.

Entering its seventh season in 2015-16, CONTACT!, the Philharmonic's new-music series, will extend its reach across New York City through a new partnership with National Sawdust (formerly Original Music Workshop), a new, non-profit, state-of-the-art music venue opening in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in October 2015.

Today, May 4th, 2015 My Morning Jacket are set to return with their seventh full-length album, The Waterfall via ATO Records/Capitol Records.

April 29, 2015 – Richmond, Virginia Join everyone's favorite “Wascally Wabbit” and his friends Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Pepe Le Pew, Tweety, Sylvester and more on Saturday, May 16 at 6:00 p.m. at Richmond CenterStage's Altria Theater. Bugs Bunny at the Symphony II celebrates the world's favorite classic Looney Tunes, projected on the big screen, while the Richmond Symphony performs their exhilarating, original Carl Stalling scores live.

On Monday March 30 actor/singer Kevin Earley brought his show On the Record to a packed house of adoring fans at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal in NoHo, and it proved nothing short of a triumph. Earley's tenor is no stranger to these parts, as the Chicago born spent a lot of time from 2001 onward playing supporting and lead singing roles on legitimate stages in and around Los Angeles, such as his award-winning Rutledge in 1776, Terry Conner in Side Show, as well as leads in Can-Can and No Strings. He has also appeared on Broadway in Les Miserables, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Death Takes a Holiday and A Tale of Two Cities.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to speak with Broadway legend, Rachel York, just minutes before her final rehearsal for THE KING AND I at Music Hall at Fair Park. Having personally seen Ms. York perform onstage in several Broadway shows, as well as the filmed productions of KISS ME KATE and VICTOR/VICTORIA, it was a joy to hear her behind-the-scenes stories and personal experiences.

On May 4th, 2015 My Morning Jacket are set to return with their seventh full-length album, The Waterfall via ATO Records/Capitol Records.

The 20th Anniversary of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, the Film Society of Lincoln Center and UniFrance films' celebrated annual showcase of the best in contemporary French film, sweeps across screens at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the IFC Center, and BAMcinematek, March 6-15.