As You Like It - 1950 - Broadway Articles Page 18

Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer) today announced the second year of The Eric H. Weinberger Award for Emerging Librettists, a juried cash and production grant to be given annually to support the early work and career of a deserving musical theatre librettist. The Award commemorates the life and work of playwright/librettist Eric H. Weinberger (1950-2017), who was a Drama Desk Award nominee for Best Book of a Musical (Wanda's World, and the playwright/librettist of Class Mothers '68, that earned Pricilla Lopez a Drama Desk Award nomination.

James Gelmi, the Bar Director for Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen in downtown Morristown, NJ is being featured as Broadwayworld's 'Master Mixoligist.'

On December 4, 1956, four recording legends dropped by Sam Phillips' famously small Sun Records Studios for various reasons, completely unplanned and coincidental. Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash had both been under contract for some time to Phillips, though Cash's contract would be up soon and he wouldn't be renewing. Jerry Lee Lewis had just signed, and Elvis Presley had long since been sold to RCA. Never one to let an opportunity pass him by, Phillips got the four stars to record an impromptu jam session, and a musical legend was born.

Elvis may have left the building but that doesn't mean his spirit doesn't live on.  Nowhere is that more apparent than in the 1950's fun musical ALL SHOOK UP by San Diego Musical Theatre now playing through September 1st.

Dot Time Records is proud to announce the September 27th release of Armstrong in Europe. Part of Dot Time's Legacy Series, and the fourth Armstrong release, Armstrong in Europe features the audio from two recordings of quintessential European performances by the great Louis Armstrong which were recovered from the archives of the Louis Armstrong House Museum.  Tracks 1-9 on the CD release of Armstrong in Europe feature the audio from a 1948 performance recorded from Louis Armstrong and His All Stars' run at the Nice Opera House in Paris.  This historical concert marked Armstrong's performance at the first ever Nice International Jazz Festival.  Tracks 10-16 feature the audio from a Titania Palast, Berlin recording of Louis and his All Stars which was initially broadcasted on RIAS (Radio in the American Sector).  Accompanying this CD and digital release will be a stunning vinyl package of Armstrong in Germany released on the same date.  The Nice Opera House performance features a 46 year old Louis Armstrong in his musical prime, with Jack Teagarden on trombone and vocals, Barney Bigardon clarinet, Earl “Fatha” Hines on piano, Arvell Shaw on bass, and Sid Catlett on drums.  Armstrong's band in 1952, features Trummy Young on trombone, Bob McCracken on clarinet and vocals, Marty Napoleon on piano, Arvell Shaw on bass, Cozy Cole on drums and Velma Middleton on vocals.  Both European performances demonstrate Armstrong's stunning musicality, expert showmanship and ferocious leadership.

Shakespeare & Company presents MacArthur a?oeGeniusa?? Award recipient Suzan-Lori Parks' pulitzer prize-winning play, Topdog/Underdog directed by the distinguished Regge Life, who helmed the Company's acclaimed razor sharp comedy God of Carnage in 2017.

The classics are my favorite, and Broadway at Music Circus' fresh take on Guys and Dolls is no exception. When it opened on Broadway in 1950, it won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. With three more Broadway revivals, it has cemented itself as a staple of American musicals. It is based on the short stories of Damon Runyon, an American author and reporter who favored tales about the seedier happenings of Broadway.

OVID.tv, the leading streaming service for documentary and art-house films, announced its line-up of 24 films joining its growing library of films in August 2019, most of which are not available on any other platform.

FX has set the extraordinary ensemble cast that will star with Chris Rock in the fourth installment of the Golden Globe(R) and Emmy(R) Award winning limited series Fargo, it was announced today by Gina Balian and Nick Grad, Presidents, Original Programming, FX Entertainment.

The impetus behind ROCK AND ROLL MAN: THE ALAN FREED STORY was not the Freed family. Gary Kupper was approached by Larry Marshak, with whom he had worked for many years, about a third party's desire to do a story about Alan Freed as a 'jukebox musical'. The intention was that Kupper might be able to write a couple of songs for the piece. Kupper realized that Freed's story is a classic one. A rise and fall and then redemption story that can't be told as a jukebox musical because Alan Freed wasn't a singer. He feels that a jukebox musical would have cheated the story. This is the story of this man, and the story of Rock-and-Roll. That notion gave birth to the 'book musical'. In 2011, Kupper started writing original songs and sometime later, the team started writing the script. Freed's son, Lance, stepped-in and helped to secure the rights to the Rock-and-Roll classics. They have combined the music of the era with storytelling. They admit it's both risky and tricky and has never really been done to the extent that it is in this show. Thirty to thirty-five original songs were written, most of which were thrown out. A little more than a dozen are in the current iteration of the show.

For his starring role in Netflix's groundbreaking first original series, 'Lilyhammer,' actormusician Steven Van Zandt explored uncharted waters as a New York mobster who flees to Norway under the witness protection program. In addition to acting in, co-writing and co-producing the acclaimed show as well as directing the final episode, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer also scored the music for most of the three seasons, where just like his character, the musician best known as Little Steven of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and an accomplished solo artist who helped pioneer the rock-meets-soul sound, also delved into some terrain foreign to him: the worlds of New York jazz and Norwegian folk music.

With a youthful, multi-racial cast of 30, the Guthrie's current production of GUYS AND DOLLS bolsters its reputation as a theater that can mount classics with flair, fidelity, and design excellence. The lyrics crackle, as ever, the singing soars, the casting features multiple body types and skin tones, and the design pops.

As Little Steven gets ready to embark on his North American Summer Of Sorcery tour in support of the recently released new album, the ever-prolific Rock and Roll Hall Of Famer is excited to share two more songs from his forthcoming score for 'Lilyhammer,' Netflix's first-ever series that actormusician Steven Van Zandt starred in, co-wrote and co-produced from 2012-2014. The swinging jazz tune, 'Lilyhammer Nocturne (Theme From Lilyhammer),' and the bluesy rocker 'Espresso Martini,' showcase the diversity and eclecticism found on the two corresponding volumes of the 'Lilyhammer' score which will be released for the first time on July 12 via Wicked CoolUMe as two separate albums: Volume 1: Jazz and Volume 2: Folk, Rock, Rio, Bits And Pieces. 

THE DUPLEX presents Amy Jo Jackson in "The Brass Menagerie" on July 25th, 2019 at 9:30pm. Actor, kabarettist and proud recipient of the 2019 Denovan Fellowship in Cabaret, Amy Jo Jackson stars as the Women of Tennessee Williams in a show conceived of and crafted specifically for The Duplex Cabaret stage.

The Gallery at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street, NYC) presents 'Entanglements by Alex Harsley.' The photo exhibition launches with an opening reception in the Gallery and a talkback with the artist on the stage of the Loreto Theater on Thursday, July 11 at 6PM.

The National Theatre has announced 15 productions of new plays and fresh adaptations by leading writers.

With Pride Week approaching, Birmingham Festival Theatre is on time with offering an emotional and striking production of Robert Anderson's 1953 drama 'Tea and Sympathy.' Set at an all boys' school in the early 1950's, the show tackles the fear, insecurity and the eventual anger that people under persecution face. The teenage boys attending the school are written with an amped jocular rambunctiousness. The carnal behavior lurking behind the boy's clean crisp khaki's and sweater vests is a starter kit for toxic masculinity.

Poet Langston Hughes questions in 1951 through his poem "Harlem;" What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" The legendary poem inspired Lorraine Hansbury to write the award winning drama A Raisin in the Sun eight years later. In 1959, Hansberry became the first African American women to have her play produced at New York's Barrymore Broadway theater in an era when women in general, regardless of ethnicity, were published. Opening in '59 with a primarily African American cast, the play heralded a dramatic change for theater audience in years to come. At Anoka's Main Stage Theater, Lyric Arts presents an outstanding revised thirteenth anniversary production of the play directed by Austene Van, which features a stellar cast, two tiered set designed by Peter Lerohl and lighting designed by Matt McNabb.

Opening week at the Stratford Festival came to a close on Saturday evening with director Antoni Cimolino's production of Shakespeare's THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR. Reimagined to take place in the early 1950's, this production is outrageously funny, with charming and distinctive performances by all involved.

The always working French Stewart, a most recognizable face from television, will next be seen on the theatrical boards of the Laguna Playhouse, co-starring with his wife Vanessa Claire Stewart in Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize-winning HARVEY, opening June 2, 2019. French plays the pivotal role of Elwood P. Dowd who befriends the titular Harvey, a six-foot-and-a-half tall rabbit. French graciously made some time available to answer a few of my inquiring queries.

Today, Graveyard Club share their new single “William” from the forthcoming album Goodnight Paradise, out June 28th (Pre-Order). Debuted via Consequence of Sound's “Origins” feature, the band describe how the single was inspired by, among other things, Ben E. King's classic “Stand By Me”, the St. Paul, MN neighborhood of “Cathedral Hill”, and author Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine.

City Theatre's Artistic Director, Margaret Ledford, was a joy to interview- as intelligent as she was funny. We talk all things SUMMER SHORTS. City Theatre and the Adrienne Arsht Center present Summer Shorts 2019, May 30 - June 23, at Carnival Studio Theater. The summer theater season starts with a fresh batch of City Theatre's SHORTS at the Arsht Center!

Flat Rock Playhouse continues the 2019 Season with summer blockbuster musical and Broadway classic, South Pacific. Known for its glorious score by Rodgers and Hammerstein, the show transports audiences to the Pacific Islands in World War II as young couples struggle with the dynamics of love, war, and faith. Yet, South Pacific also showcases a vibrant, delightful comedic side found in the business of everyday life: raising children, relationship squabbles, and workplace gossip.

For his starring role in Netflix's groundbreaking first original series, Lilyhammer, actor/musician Steven Van Zandt explored uncharted waters as a New York mobster who flees to Norway under the witness protection program. In addition to acting in, co-writing and co-producing the acclaimed show, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer also scored the music for most of the three seasons, where just like his character, the musician best known as Little Steven of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and an accomplished solo artist who helped pioneer the rock-meets-soul sound, also delved into some terrain foreign to him: the worlds of New York jazz and Norwegian folk music.