Are You There? - 1913 - West End Articles Page 8

StoryCorps, the non-profit that collects, shares, and preserves the stories of people of all backgrounds, will celebrate the lives it has documented, and people and partners that have helped the organization to do so, in its annual gala, tonight, October 25, at Capitale in New York City.

Though the classical music season is still young, it'll be tough for anything that lies ahead to compete with Friday night's performance at Carnegie Hall by Martha Argerich, who seemed to be having the time of her life, while showing total skill and control. The audience was hers from the get-go, stomping and whistling before she even sat down at the keyboard--as if they were at Madison Square Garden rather than this sometimes-demure palace of classical music.

StoryCorps, the non-profit that collects, shares, and preserves the stories of people of all backgrounds, will celebrate the lives it has documented, and people and partners that have helped the organization to do so, in its annual gala, Wednesday, October 25, at Capitale in New York City.

1917. In a remote English village there are rumours of an enchanted wood. One of the inhabitants - a mysterious old man - invites eight strangers to stay. They all have something in common. When, one evening, the wood miraculously appears the guests feel compelled to enter. What happens there has the power to change their lives forever…

It is nearly impossible not to be emotionally affected by the events depicted in PARADE, the stirring, Tony Award-winning 1998 musical inspired by shocking actual events surrounding the trial of a man accused of raping and murdering a 13-year-old girl. It's certainly a heavy, morose subject to wrap an entire musical around, which is probably why PARADE is so rarely produced, despite its high-caliber book by Alfred Uhry and gorgeous music by Jason Robert Brown. But when the material is executed with emotional heft and interesting staging---as it mostly is in Chance Theater's latest production---the results can be powerful, gut-wrenching, and, most importantly, thought-provoking.

Chilling, breathtaking, and astonishing are just some of the words that come to mind after seeing the latest production playing at The Merry- Go- Round Playhouse. Under the meticulous and masterful direction of Brett Smock, Parade is stunning audiences at the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival.

Damien Ryan's adaptation of Edmond Rostand's classic romantic comedy, CYRANO DE BERGERAC returns to Sydney for an encore season, 4 years after it won the 2013 Sydney Theatre Award for Best Independent Production, Best Director and Best Actor. With a few cast changes due to availability, most notably Director and Adaptor Damien Ryan stepping into the central role, this fabulous work is set to delight audiences again.

JAPAN CUTS, North America's premiere showcase for new Japanese cinema, returns for its 11th installment July 13-23 to serve up a slice of the best and boldest films from Japan never before seen in NYC with special guest filmmakers and stars, post-screening Q&As, parties and more. Boasting a thrilling slate of epic blockbusters, shoestring independents, radical documentaries, mind-bending avant-garde, newly-restored classics and breathtaking animation, Japan Society's renowned summer film festival promises a bounty of cinematic discoveries for film fans and pop culture enthusiasts alike.

The Mountain Play Association, the San Francisco Bay Area's most magical outdoor theater experience, will present the timeless classic Disney's Beauty and the Beast directed by Jay Manley for their 104th season. Based on the French fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST tells the story of a monstrous prince and a young woman who fall in love. Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST will take place every Sunday from May 21 to June 18, 2017.

On May 26 and 27 at 7:30 PM, Maestro Thierry Fischer leads the Utah Symphony and guest violinist Simone Porter in the final Masterworks performance of the 2016-17 season featuring Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring." Also on the concert repertoire are works by Tchaikovsky and Varese.

 The Mountain Play Association, the San Francisco Bay Area's most magical outdoor theater experience, will present the timeless classic Disney's Beauty and the Beast directed by Jay Manley for their 104th season. Based on the French fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST tells the story of a monstrous prince and a young woman who fall in love. Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST will take place every Sunday from May 21 to June 18, 2017.

At first it was unconscious, then by design: the 34th season of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Long Island's longest-running classical music festival, has something of a water theme.

To celebrate the 100th Anniversary of New York State signing of woman's suffrage into law, three years before the US passed the 19th Amendment, Hangar Theatre, Kitchen Theatre Company, Civic Ensemble and Cherry Arts are collaborating on a two-night theater event: Four Plays - 100 Years. Performances will be at Kitchen Theatre Company on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 16 and 17 at 7:30pm.

Nearly a hundred years after Aline Barnsdall first envisioned an artist colony on Olive Hill in the middle of Hollywood, the public will have a rare opportunity to experience her dream come to life. Beginning May 6th, Hollyhock House, in partnership with Circle X Theatre Co. and J.U.S.T. Toys Productions, presents the Maria Irene Fornes play FEFU AND HER FRIENDS staged as an immersive theatrical event inside Hollyhock House. It is a first for this historical beauty and an exciting project that unites the past and present in more ways than one.

Co-directed with precision by Christina A. Coakley and Susan Marie Rhea, Keegan's PARADE keeps the staging simple and imaginative, cutting away clutter and using only the barest of props and scenic elements to help the story unfold. No one who has seen previous Keegan musicals, such as HAIR, CABARET, or AMERICAN IDIOT could be surprised by the quality of this rendering of PARADE; I fully expect this production to be recognized multiple times when the next round of Helen Hayes Awards comes around.

Though all of Harvey Granat's midday events are illuminating and entertaining, his most recent SONGS AND STORIES on March 16 at 92Y could've easily continued at least another half hour buoyed by audience enthusiasm. The event's special guests, author/producer/journalist Will Friedwald (who has his own 92Y series), and President of Jimmy Van Heusen's catalog, his great nephew, Brook Babcock, were both knowledgeable, engaging raconteurs. It was also a great pleasure to watch the two men join infectiously enjoying the afternoon.

Old School Square is presenting 13 outstanding shows and concerts in April. Tickets for all of them are available for online purchase now at www.OldSchoolSquare.org.

New York Theatre Ballet (NYTB) returns to New York Live Arts with its new Uptown/Downtown/Dance series from March 1-4, 2017 at 7:30pm with an additional 2pm matinee on Saturday.

Two classic Puccini operas and a hidden opera gem make up Welsh National Opera's Love's Poisoned Chalice season, taking audiences on a journey of love, passion, heartbreak and tragedy through some of opera's greatest tear jerking music.

New York Theatre Ballet (NYTB) returns to New York Live Arts with its new Uptown/Downtown/Dance series from March 1-4, 2017 at 7:30pm with an additional 2pm matinee on Saturday.

New York Theatre Ballet (NYTB) returns to New York Live Arts with its new Uptown/Downtown/Dance series from March 1-4, 2017 at 7:30pm with an additional 2pm matinee on Saturday. This year's program features a revival of Nijinsky's L'Apres-Midi d'un Faune staged by the 98-year-old Ann Hutchinson Guest, a new and as-of-yet untitled pas de trois by Pam Tanowitz, Frederick Ashton's La Chatte métamorphoses en femme, and Antonia Franceschi's She Holds Out Her Hand which premiered at Danspace in Fall 2016. All pieces will be performed to live music. A post-show celebration with wine, hors d'oeuvres, and music will be held after the opening night performance for which tickets are $75. Tickets for the performances are $30 ($15 for Students & Seniors) and can be purchased at http://newyorklivearts.org/event/spring-concerts/.

The Dallas Opera is proud to announce its ambitious 2017-2018 Season, "Motives Unmasked!" consisting of five entertaining and varied mainstage productions, including a dazzling U.S. premiere and a new Dallas Opera production of a very early opera by Viennese wunderkind Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

The brilliant theatricality of Kneehigh, the innovative United Kingdom-based theater company, will be on display at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts once again when 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips has its Los Angeles premiere.  Based on the beloved book by War Horse author Michael Morpurgo, 946 explores everything we thought we knew about the D-Day landings in this tender musical tale of love and war. Adapted by Morpurgo and Emma Rice, who also directs, 946 is a Kneehigh production presented in association with Birmingham Repertory and Berkeley Repertory Theatres. Performances begin February 9 with the opening on February 10.

The Chamber Music Society of Detroit will feature the Pacifica Quartet and pianist Christopher O'Riley, artists known for their exuberant performance style and bold, wide-ranging repertoire, in three concerts in different combinations over a single weekend. 

TITANIC should not be missed but must close January 29, 2017.