Best Friends - 1989 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 15

Judith Mitchell was hired as development director for the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in 1989, when the 10.5-acre parcel at the corner of Okeechobee Blvd. and Tamarind Ave.

How do we make a list of the 101 greatest show tunes from the past 100 years? Well, we did the near-impossible task.  Check out our full list here! 

Harriet (Karen Marie Black) is a highrise uptown girl and Janie (Sara James) who is unmotivated and heavy on the chutzpah. These two young women are facing a dilemma in trying to find and fit all of their life expectations into a self-imposed small box labeled 'you can have it all' in the romantic comedy 'Isn't It Romantic' at Homewood Theatre.

Trinity Rep continues its 2019-20 Season with Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Sweat by Lynn Nottage. This Broadway hit is the story of the unintended consequences of community without opportunity. It is set during the Great Recession and in the years leading up to it in Reading, Pennsylvania, while friends try to stay afloat as their industrial jobs begin to disappear. This relevant and timely topic shines a light on American workers that are often forgotten.

America's obsession with the Mafia began long ago, after the Great Depression plunged many into poverty and the world saw how the a?oefamilya?? took care of its own. Popular movies like a?oeThe Godfathera?? and a?oeScarfacea?? further solidified our collective fascination with all things mob-related. In 1989, a little-known actor named Chazz Palminteri introduced his one-man play about his own experience with a Mafia boss in the Bronx. Many years later, that play blossomed into a movie and then a musical on Broadway and, now, a national tour that stops in Sacramento beginning March 3. A Bronx Tale tells the story of young Calogero and his gangster mentor, Sonny. Jeff Brooks, who plays the role of Sonny on the tour, recently spoke with Broadway World Sacramento about racial tensions, his Mafia roles, and the beauty of an open bar.

PAWS/LA, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit agency serving people and pets in need, will present a one night only benefit event - Barrett Foa Has Friends! - on Monday, February 24, at 8pm. This very special evening of cabaret at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood will feature performances by Foa and some of his most talented friends, including Broadway favorites Alex Ellis, Carly Hughes, Chris Mann, and Adam Pascal. Also, music group The Levenbirds have been set to make a special appearance. Musical director is Doug Peck, Andrew Carlberg is producer, and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the presenting sponsor.

The Orleans Showroom will bring celebrated entertainers to The Orleans Hotel and Casino in March, including the First Ladies of Disco featuring Martha Wash, Linda Clifford and Norma Jean Wright (formerly of Chic), southern rock band 38 Special, R&B and funk group Ohio Players and Grammy Award-winning country band Diamond Rio. March entertainment will also feature free live entertainment at Bourbon Street Lounge, Prime Rib Loft and Bailiwick All American Pub + Eatery throughout the month.

PAWS/LA, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit agency serving people and pets in need, has announced a one night only benefit event a?" Barrett Foa Has Friends! a?" on Monday, February 24, at 8pm. This very special evening of cabaret at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood will feature performances by Foa and some of his most talented friends, including Broadway favorites Laura Bell Bundy, Alex Ellis, Carly Hughes, Chris Mann, and Adam Pascal, with more to be announced. Musical director is Doug Peck, Andrew Carlberg is producer, and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the presenting sponsor.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) will present the workshop How to Write a Musical That Works Part Two: Conflicts & Obstacles on Sunday February 23, 2020 from 10am to 6pm at Studios 150, 150 W. 46th Street, 7th floor, NYC. Submission deadline is Wednesday 2/12. E-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com or register online at https://truonline.org/events/feedback-workshop2-2020/.

Next week, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

New Yiddish Rep will present 'The Whore from Ohio' by Hanoch Levin, Israel's foremost playwright, at Theater for the New City February 19 to 23, performed in Yiddish with projected surtitles. This black comedy, which deals memorably with ultimate questions of fantasy, lust and mortality, is one Levin's most famous plays. It is translated into Yiddish from the original Hebrew by Eli Rosen. Gara Sandler directs.

From January 17 to 26, 2020, New Yiddish Rep will present a Yiddish language version of 'The Labor of Life' by Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin, translated by Eli Rosen, directed by Gera Sandler, at New Yiddish Rep's Cyrus and Rose Feldman Studio Theater, 315 W. 39 Street, 9th floor. This comedy, originally written in Hebrew, will be performed in Yiddish with projected English surtitles. It is a funny and very sad play of the missed opportunities, compromises and disillusionments demanded by the 'labor of life.' Originally presented at Israel's HaBima in June, 1989, it stands out among contemporary writings for its sardonic resonance to Israelis and Jews worldwide.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, has announced the 2020 TCG Gala: Our Stories will be held on Monday, February 3, 2020 at The Edison Ballroom (240 W 47th Street). The Gala will honor the National Black Theatre Festival of Winston-Salem and David Henry Hwang and will include festive performances, inspiring speakers, and a celebratory dinner with theatre leaders, celebrities, and enthusiasts. A 6:00pm cocktail reception will be followed by a 7:00pm seated dinner, with entertainment beginning at 7:20pm. Additional programming will be announced soon.

On the third anniversary of the fire that nearly destroyed the historic cinema, Sag Harbor Cinema and Bay Street Theater team up to usher in the Holidays and celebrate the unique and festive spirit that is the Village of Sag Harbor. Bay Street throws open its doors for hot cider, mulled wine, and a visit from Santa at 6 pm, followed at 7 pm by a free screening of Giuseppe Tornatore's Academy Award winning film Cinema Paradiso.   At the conclusion of the screening, Hollywood screenwriter and local resident Bill Collage will discuss the film with SHC's Artistic Director Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan.

A holiday tradition returns as the McCallum Theatre welcomes the Dave Koz and Friends Christmas Tour 2019 at 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, December 18. The show is made possible through the generosity of Wayne and Rachelle Prim. Since the beginning of his career, Koz has been all about dodging expectations and traditions. His brand-new holiday album, Gifts of the Season, is his seventh holiday release, and features the very same guests with him on this year's Christmas tour.

A McCallum Theatre holiday tradition, Colors of Christmas, returns on Friday, December 13, at 8:00pm with a new lineup of stars presenting a fantastic evening of holiday music and classics, backed up by a 12-piece band. This year's Colors of Christmas stars are Peabo Bryson, Oleta Adams, Ben Vereen and Jody Watley.

I LOVE LUCY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, a new one-hour special featuring two back-to-back colorized episodes of the classic series, will be broadcast Friday, Dec. 20 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Yara Arts Group will offer the American debut of its new work 'Opera GAZ,' December 19, 20 and 22 at La MaMa, 66 East 4th Street. This opera was created by director Virlana Tkacz, who heads Yara Arts Group in New York, and the composers Roman Grygoriv and Illia Razumeiko. It features the performers of Nova Opera in Kyiv. Live performances and traditional instruments are combined with electronic music to present the story of an explosion at a futuristic gas factory that produces all the energy for the industrial world. The visually striking production is sung in English, Ukrainian and German but is universally accessible.

Cyrille Aimee: A Sondheim Adventure, Brandon Goldberg Trio, Sheila Jordan Birthday Celebration and more announced for the week of November 18-November 24 at Birdland Jazz Club. 

In his Broadway debut in 1988, BD Wong won his Tony Award (Best Featured Actor in a Play) for his ground-breaking role of Song Liling in David Henry Hwang's M. BUTTERFLY. Over the last year, in between shooting his two television series (as Whiterose on Mr. Robot, and as Awkwafina's father in Comedy Central's Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens), BD has managed to star in two theatrical productions of Lauren Yee's THE GREAT LEAP (in New York and in San Francisco), and now will be directing THE GREAT LEAP at the Pasadena Playhouse, which begins previews today November 6, 2019.

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 1989 Velvet revolution the Czech Centre brings to London a portrait of the first post-1989 Czech president presented as a modern-day musical in a multi-award- winning production from the cult Prague Theatre on the Balustrade. The play follows the life of Vaclav Havel, playwright of the Theatre of the Absurd, who thanks to the absurdity of real life becomes the first Czech president. 

Laguna Playhouse announces the final cast and creative team to join acclaimed film, TV and theatre veterans Frances Fisher (a?oeTitanic,a?? Native Gardens, Barbeque), as a?oeQueen Eleanora?? and Gregory Harrison (a?oeTrapper John, M.D.,a?? Broadway's Chicago, Steel Pier), as a?oeKing Henry IIa?? in THE LION IN WINTER

Stagecrafters proudly presents Noises Off, onstage at the Baldwin Theatre from Friday, November 8, through Sunday, November 24, 2019.

ARBORS RECORDS is celebrating the music of iconic composer Frederick Loewe this fall with two new albums of songs from the legendary musicals of Lerner & Loewe performed by an astonishing array of jazz heavyweights.  Counterpoint Lerner & Loewe features Dick Hyman on piano and Ken Peplowski on clarinet and tenor sax.  Adrian Cunningham & His Friends Play Lerner & Loewe features bandleader and saxophonist/clarinetist/flautist Adrian Cunningham with Fred Hersch on piano, John Hébert on bass and Eric McPherson on drums, with guest stars Randy Brecker on trumpet and Wycliffe Gordon on trombone.  Both albums are available on streaming platforms, download and CD wherever music is sold today, Friday, October 11.