Always You - 1920 - Broadway Articles Page 15

In a phone conversation, Maestro Keith Lockhart talks about Billy Porter, Leonard Nimoy and the upcoming Pops season

A decade or so from now, if you were to google 'Broadway shows that had a mediocre Broadway run but are regional theater crowdpleasers,' I'd be willing to bet that Catch Me if You Can would top the list. The musical, written by Hairspray's Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman with a book by Terrence McNally, played only 166 Broadway performances. Despite mixed reviews, the musical received 5 Tony nominations, including Best Musical. Norbert Leo Butz even took home the award for Best Actor in a Leading role (In other words, Butz beat out both leads from The Book of Mormon, and the Tony Awards reaction shot from Mormon's Josh Gad demands a YouTube detour before you continue reading).

When Mark Nadler last performed a solo show at 54 Below, it was a very personal musical exploration of Germany's Weimar Republic of the 1920s, a place and an atmosphere that was dark, dangerous and decadent. I'm a Stranger Here Myself was such a compelling tour de force that it was expanded into a highly praised off-Broadway piece that Nadler staged at the York Theatre last Spring. Nadler's new 54 Below effort, Runnin' Wild: Songs & Scandals of the Roaring Twenties, (which opened last Sunday, ran last night, and will also play on May 7 at 9:30pm and May 14 at 7pm) is like a playful and debauched sequel to Stranger, only in this show—which would be more aptly titled “Reckless Abandon”--Nadler is clearly a gleeful member of the club. To this passionate piano man, America's big cities in the pre-Depression era 1920s were happy, hungry, and hedonistic. There was always a party filled with sex, drugs and booze looking for a place to happen. And goodness knows, Mark Nadler wishes he'd been invited to every one of them. But since he was born too late, all he can do is serve as congenial host in re-creating the speakeasy ambiance and in this show he manages to accomplish that--only without the sex and drugs. Damn!

The Laguna Playhouse Executive and Artistic Directors, Karen Wood and Ann E. Wareham are thrilled to present screen legend Leslie Caron, in her first Southern California theatrical performance in over 25 years! SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS, written by Richard Alfieri, with choreography by Donna McKechnie (A Chorus Line) and directed by Michael Arabian (Waiting for Godot). SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS will also feature 6-time Ovation Award-winning actor David Engel. 'What an honor to have on our stage the incomparable Leslie Caron and the multi-talented David Engel,' remarks Wood. 'It's a dream cast and a dream come true. With Michael Arabian and Donna McKechnie directing and choreographing, this has to be one of the most anticipated productions in the Playhouse's storied history,' adds Wareham. SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS will begin previews tonight, April 26 and will open on Saturday, May 3 at 7:30pm and run through Sunday, June 8, 2014 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

OBERON, the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.)'s second stage and club theater venue, announces its May and June line up of exciting and original programming on the fringe of Harvard Square.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Derek Bermel and Music Director George Manahan, American Composers Orchestra's (ACO) 2014-2015 season strengthens the orchestra's commitment to serve as a catalyst for the creation of new orchestral music, providing unprecedented opportunities for American composers to create new work and for audiences to discover it. Now in its 11th year at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, Orchestra Underground continues as ACO's subversive and entrepreneurial redefinition of the orchestra as an elastic ensemble, and this year features the rarely performed orchestral music of pioneering composer and performer Meredith Monk, holder of the 2014-2015 Richard and Barbara Debs Composer's Chair at Carnegie Hall (Monk's Sphere, November 21). Orchestra Underground brings cabaret, pop, and jazz traditions into the concert hall in a program featuring Kurt Weill's cabaret cult classic The Seven Deadly Sins sung by Shara Worden (Sin & Songs, February 27). For the first time in several seasons, ACO returns to performing with full symphonic forces outside of Carnegie Hall - the orchestra's April concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center will showcase the New York premiere ofWynton Marsalis' Blues Symphony.

The Laguna Playhouse Executive and Artistic Directors, Karen Wood and Ann E. Wareham are thrilled to present screen legend Leslie Caron, in her first Southern California theatrical performance in over 25 years! SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS, written by Richard Alfieri, with choreography by Donna McKechnie (A Chorus Line) and directed by Michael Arabian (Waiting for Godot). SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS will also feature 6-time Ovation Award-winning actor David Engel. "What an honor to have on our stage the incomparable Leslie Caron and the multi-talented David Engel," remarks Wood. "It's a dream cast and a dream come true. With Michael Arabian and Donna McKechnie directing and choreographing, this has to be one of the most anticipated productions in the Playhouse's storied history,' adds Wareham. SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS will begin previews on Saturday, April 26 and will open on Saturday, May 3 at 7:30pm and run through Sunday, June 8, 2014 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

Stage legend Liza Minnelli posted the following statement on her Official Facebook page regarding the loss of the Hollywood star

Today, stars of stage and screen reacted to the passing of the stage and screen legend

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere of Tales from Red Vienna, the new play by David Grimm, directed by Kate Whoriskey, opened tonight, March 18 at MTC at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street). Let's see what the critics had to say...

The world premiere production of the brand new musical comedy Bullets Over Broadway, written by Woody Allen and based on the screenplay by Allen and Douglas McGrath for the 1994 film, will begin preview performances tomorrow, March 11 and officially open Thursday, April 10, 2014 at The St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street). The new musical will be directed and choreographed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman. Scroll down to learn more about the Bullets Over Broadway company, and watch interviews with the cast!

Today we are shining a spotlight on one of the most respected and revered stage and screen stars of the last several decades who is known the world over for not only his stirring and commanding dramatic performances and touching and rib-tickling comedies on film, but also for his iconic roles on the stage playing Shakespeare, performing in straight drama and also musicals - and, perhaps, beloved most of all for his essaying of Captain Von Trapp in the celebrated Robert Wise film adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Tony Award-winning THE SOUND OF MUSIC - the elegant, graceful and eminently gifted Christopher Plummer.

What a soothing, kind feeling the name of Liliom would bring to whoever hears such a name; surely the person who possesses it would not damn its beauty to the means of a harsh and indignant life. Alas, such a man who bears this name is apparently nothing more than a brute - a man whose soul is marred by his inability to express his true feelings because of the hubris ever-present in his heart. Yet, what authors, poets and the like have been telling their audiences for years on end is this brute of a man is not the monster he is depicted as. Beneath the exterior is a tortured being whose inner beauty is just as present as the fierceness from which he comes to define himself as a human being; unfortunately, though, it is not as prevalent and is thought not to exist at all. This tormented soul, hidden behind the appearance and demeanor of a fierce, angry man, is always so appealing because of its trials and tribulations; it is a person who is simultaneously allowed to live and be held back to the point of becoming a person that is hardly recognizable to the self. It is with this concept in mind that Beautiful Soup presents this gorgeous production of Liliom, a tale of one woman's undying love for a seemingly undeserving and hideous man whose reconciliation comes as a result of his wife's irrational yet beautifully inspiring sense of hope in the man that, beneath the rough and domineering exterior of the carousel barker, exists in the form of the gentle, loving Liliom who abandoned the man he was for the sake of loving, and being loved in return.

BroadwayWorld is thrilled to share with you the final installment of our interview series featuring the cast of Woodlawn Theatre's current production of Into the Woods.

Music has always played the role of Muse for me as a stage director. Occasionally, when I am stuck creatively or wanting to be around the actors in the rehearsal room or need to assistance in focusing, I will play the same piece of music over and over. I have meditated on Dvorak when considering the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West in Vita & Virginia, on Bach's cello concertos when considering Julius Caesar, on Bartok when constructing A Midsummer Night's Dream, Zoe Keating for The Tempest, Rachmaninoff for Hamlet, and many others.

BroadwayWorld is thrilled to share with you an interview series featuring the cast of Woodlawn Theatre's current production of Into the Woods.

BroadwayWorld is thrilled to share with you an interview series featuring the cast of Woodlawn Theatre's current production of Into the Woods.

The Dallas Opera has announced that, through the generosity of The Titus Family, a brand-new recital series has been created to showcase well-established singers in programs dedicated to preserving the fine art of “art song.” The series launch will take place tonight, January 4, 2014 in Dallas City Performance Hall (2520 Flora Street, Dallas) at 7:30 p.m.

Historic adaptation of PORGY AND BESS returns to National Theater.

THE LAND OF SMILES, Franz Lehar's great masterwork from the 1920's is Toronto Operetta Theatre's Holiday Production with performances at the St. Lawrence Centre today, Dec. 27, 28, 29 (mat), 31, 2013 and Jan 2, 3, 4, 5 (mat), 2014.

This holiday season, BroadwayWorld brings you a look at some of our favorite shows playing across the country. Take a break from the hustle and bustle and treat your family to some of our theatrical favorites, now playing nationwide.

It seems everything is coming up Jinkx lately. What with winning "RuPaul's Drag Race", a sold out run of his "Vaudevillians" show in New York, and his award winning performance of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" here in Seattle (click here for my review of last January's production), Jerick Hoffer (a.k.a. Jinkx Monsoon) has a lot to crow about. And now with three upcoming shows in December (including a remount of the aforementioned "Hedwig"), it seems Jinkx is taking over the Holidays as well. I recently had a conversation with Jerick in between his many rehearsals to see how his whirlwind life has been going since the win.

The holidays are upon us with plenty to celebrate at the Kimmel Center's campus of events and performances.

Ann Ciccolella (Artistic Director of Austin Shakespeare) welcomes everyone who is intrigued by refreshing their creative spirit to join her Artist's Way group from 12 noon-1 pm Wednesdays at THE HIDEOUT, 617 CONGRESS usually in the theater.

A Big Theorist takes issue with another Big Theorist's disagreement with a Mere Critic's comments on a Medium-Prestige Poet's poem about the impossibility of communication. It's lab time, with the blackboard covered with symbols and arrows.