Berlin - 1931 - Broadway Articles Page 8

'What good is sitting alone in your room, come hear the music play!"

A new production of Rossini's Guillaume Tell, the composer's final opera, will open at the Met on October 18 in the first company performances of the ambitious historical epic in more than 80 years-and its first-ever Met performances in its original French. The new staging is directed by Pierre Audi, the incoming Artistic Director of the Park Avenue Armory and conducted by Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi. Rossini's opera tells the story of a Swiss revolutionary on a quest for freedom. Its famous "William Tell Overture" is one of the best-known and most performed pieces in the standard classical repertory, though the opera, which makes considerable demands on its stars, orchestra, and chorus, has rarely been presented in modern times. Gerald Finley will star in the title role, which he has made a specialty of in recent seasons, with Marina Rebeka as the Princess Mathilde;  Bryan Hymel as her suitor Arnold; Maria Zifchak as Tell's wife Hedwige; Janai Brugger as their son Jemmy; Italian bass Marco Spotti in his Met debut as Walter Furst; Kwangchul Youn as Arnold's father Melcthal; and John Relyea as Gesler. 

A new production of Rossini's Guillaume Tell, the composer's final opera, will open at the Met on October 18 in the first company performances of the ambitious historical epic in more than 80 years-and its first-ever Met performances in its original French. The new staging is directed by Pierre Audi, the incoming Artistic Director of the Park Avenue Armory and conducted by Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi. Rossini's opera tells the story of a Swiss revolutionary on a quest for freedom. Its famous "William Tell Overture" is one of the best-known and most performed pieces in the standard classical repertory, though the opera, which makes considerable demands on its stars, orchestra, and chorus, has rarely been presented in modern times. Gerald Finley will star in the title role, which he has made a specialty of in recent seasons, with Marina Rebeka as the Princess Mathilde;  Bryan Hymel as her suitor Arnold; Maria Zifchak as Tell's wife Hedwige; Janai Brugger as their son Jemmy; Italian bass Marco Spotti in his Met debut as Walter Furst; Kwangchul Youn as Arnold's father Melcthal; and John Relyea as Gesler. 

For their 2016-2017 season, American Classics takes a novel approach, drawing all three programs on great literature.  They open with Shakespeare in Song, in honor of the 400th anniversary of his death, with songs from The Boys From Syracuse (Rodgers & Hart, based on The Comedy of Errors), Kiss Me Kate (Cole Porter, based on The Taming of the Shrew), West Side Story (Bernstein and Sondheim, based on Romeo and Juliet), The Lion King (Tim Rice and Sir Elton John, based on Hamlet), and some unusual songs from drawn from Shakespeare.  Caroline Musica, Cynthia Mork, Eric Bronner make up the quartet of singers, with Bradford Conner presiding at the keyboard.  

San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock today announced the casting and schedule for the Company's summer 2018 presentations of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). The four-opera cycle of Das Rheingold,Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung-widely considered the greatest and most ambitious work ever conceived for the lyric stage-will be presented in three complete cycles from June 12 through July 1, 2018. 

Opening October 19, 2016, the exhibition Max Beckmann in New York at The Metropolitan Museum of Art will put a spotlight on the artist's special connection with New York City. It will feature 14 paintings that Beckmann created while living in New York from 1949 to 1950, as well as 25 works, dating from 1920 to 1948, from New York collections. The exhibition assembles several groups of iconic works, including self-portraits; mythical, expressionist interiors; robust, colorful portraits of women and performers; landscapes; and triptychs. 

Set in 1931 Berlin, Cabaret primarily takes place amid the nightlife of the seedy Kit Kat Klub. Life there revolves around the 19-year-old English cabaret performer, Sally Bowles and her relationship with the young American writer, Cliff Bradshaw. Overseeing the action is the mysterious Master of Ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub, which serves as a metaphor for ominous political developments in Germany as the Nazis rise to power. Director Alan Demovsky encourages the audience to ask questions: "Why have so many versions of this story been told for almost 100 years? Is it truly a cautionary tale? Can this happen again? Is it perpetually happening?"

I grew up looking forward to the weekend, because that's when channel 30 would broadcast 'Chiller Theater', providing a burgeoning horror fan like myself with the chance to view all the creepy classics that sprang from the loins of Universal Studios during the 1930's and 40's. I was a preteen when YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN played at the Westport cinema for a year! Yeah, movies used to actually do that. So, it was a genuine treat to see one of my favorite monsters lovingly parodied by Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder. And, it was with much anticipation that I looked forward to seeing the musical version of this beloved comedy from my childhood on the grand stage of The Muny. I think it's an extremely entertaining show, filled with a plethora of familiar gags, as well as some outstanding performances. This well cast and delightfully staged production is full of gorgeously spooky scenery and fun musical numbers, and I highly recommend that everyone catch this particular presentation, because it's far and away more humorous and spirited than the touring show that came through several years ago.

SoLuna Studio will produce the musical CABARET as a part their professional mainstage season, with performances running July 15th-31st.  Audiences will 'come to the Cabaret' and be guests of the Kit Kat Club during this immersive, interactive production. Performances will be held on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm. All tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Group rates are also available. For more information about the show and tickets, please visit SoLuna Studio's website at www.solunastudiony.com.

Utah Repertory Theater Company presents the award-winning musical 'Cabaret' August 26 - September 11, 2016 at the Sorenson Unity Center Black Box Theater. Tickets are available online at www.utahrep.org.

San Francisco's Orpheum Theatre plays host to the provocative and still darkly daring, Cabaret now through July 17. Set in 1931 Berlin, on the cusp of all that was to come with the rise of the Nazis, the Kander and Ebb musical revolves around the Kit Kat Club and its cast of characters who are determined to ignore the outside world. 'We have no troubles here! Here, life is beautiful,' shouts the garishly made-up emcee. He and the club's performers do their best to convince us that indeed, 'life is a cabaret' and, for a moment in time, it seems to be true. Yet they set aside the warning signs at their own peril. Coming directly from Broadway and originally directed by Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall, SHNSF's Cabaret is a spectacular sleight of hand, giving us sinfully sexy performances even as the real depravity lies in wait like spider outside the doors of the Kit Kat Club.

San Francisco's Orpheum Theatre plays host to the provocative and still darkly daring, Cabaret now through July 17. Set in 1931 Berlin, on the cusp of all that was to come with the rise of the Nazis, the Kander and Ebb musical revolves around the Kit Kat Club and its cast of characters who are determined to ignore the outside world. 'We have no troubles here! Here, life is beautiful,' shouts the garishly made-up emcee. He and the club's performers do their best to convince us that indeed, 'life is a cabaret' and, for a moment in time, it seems to be true. Yet they set aside the warning signs at their own peril. Coming directly from Broadway and originally directed by Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall, SHNSF's Cabaret is a spectacular sleight of hand, giving us sinfully sexy performances even as the real depravity lies in wait like spider outside the doors of the Kit Kat Club.

Based on Ben Hecht's books A Guide For the Bedevilled and A Child Of the Century, in which Hecht confronts his own identity as an American Jew in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust, THE BEN HECHT SHOW begins today, June 10 and continues through July 17, 2016 at Piven Theatre at Noyes Cultural Center, 927 Noyes St. in Evanston. Tickets are currently available at grippostagecompany.com. The press opening is Tuesday, June 14 at 8 pm.

Portland Ovations announced their 2016-17 season at Portland's Masonic Temple on Wednesday night to a crowd of just over 150 Members and guests at its Annual Preview Party. Attendees enjoyed food and cocktails before being treated to a special glimpse of the new season, composed of over 30 performances at five different venues, and opening with Tony and Emmy Award-winning chanteuse Kristin Chenoweth on September 29th at Merrill Auditorium.

Legendary newsman Morley Safer has passed away at the age of 84, just one week after announcing his retirement from CBS's long-running news show 60 MINUTES. 

Based on John Van Druten's play I Am a Camera which was adapted from Christopher Isherwood's short story Goodbye to Berlin, Cabaret is based in the nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub as the Nazis were rising to power in Berlin back in 1931. The action is overseen by a Master of Ceremonies with the club serving as a metaphor for some of the ominous political developments in late Weimar Germany. The story revolves around 19-year-old English cabaret performer Sally Bowles and her relationship with the young American writer Clifford Bradshaw. A sub-plot involves a doomed romance between German boarding house owner Fraulein Schneider and her suitor Herr Schultz.

With a career spanning seventy years in the theatre, Lucille Lortel's life mission was to help nurture emerging innovative playwrights.

Rebecca LaChance surprised the 800 attendees of the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts preview on March 30 at the Southern Theatre. LaChance, who performed 'Beautiful' and '(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,' is expected to play the title role in BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL when the national tour has a six-day stopover in June, 2017 in Columbus.

Based on Christopher Isherwood's novella Goodbye to Berlin (1939) and the subsequent 1951 play by John Van Druten entitled I Am a Camera, CABARET is a musical by John Kander and Fred Ebb with a book by Joe Masteroff that opened on Broadway in 1966. The production was a hit that was subsequently made into the 1972 film by Bob Fosse. In 1993, Sam Mendes re-imagined the material for a new production in London's West End. Mendes' conception was very different from any previous revival. This production was the basis for Roundabout Theatre Company's 1998 and subsequent 2014 revivals, the latter of which is the version currently on tour and being presented at Bass Concert Hall by Lexus Broadway In Austin.

Broadway has given the world some of it's greatest songs, but the Broadway beginnings of some classics aren't known to all.

Today in 1998, the second Broadway revival of Caberat opened at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre (then called the KIt Kat Klub), where it ran for 2377 performances. Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions. Set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis are rising to power, it focuses on nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub and revolves around the 19-year-old English cabaret performer Sally Bowles and her relationship with the young American writer Cliff Bradshaw. Overseeing the action is the Master of Ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub which serves as a constant metaphor for the tenuous and threatening state of late Weimar Germany throughout the show.

The fascinating life of Chicago newspaperman turned legendary playwright, screenwriter and novelist Ben Hecht takes center stage in Grippo Stage Company's world premiere of THE BEN HECHT SHOW, written and performed by James Sherman and directed by Dennis Za?ek.

The colorful Tony-award winning musical 'Cabaret' opens tonight, Feb. 18, at the Berry College E.H. Young Theatre.

The colorful Tony-award winning musical 'Cabaret' opens Feb. 18 at the Berry College E.H. Young Theatre. This year's musical produced by the Berry College Theatre Company is directed by Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre Hannah Hammond.