Changes - 1980 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 11

'Distant Observer: Tokyo/New York Correspondence' is a collaboration between Japanese playwright/director Takeshi Kawamura and American playwright/director John Jesurun. The project is conceived as a play written and directed in collaborative partnership by both artists. Written in sequential chapters by each playwright, it combines two noted and formative artists of the same generation, both with distinct voices and significant work, in a deep creative conversation across cultures. Its plot follows a supposed murderer who reinvents himself, and is reinvented by circumstance, in a series of adventures in the Suicide Forest of Japan.  La MaMa will present the play's world premiere, directed by Jesurun, March 16 to April 1 in its Ellen Stewart Theatre, 66 East Fourth Street.

Denver Center for the Performing Arts Broadway proudly announces the 2018/19 season, kicking off with the national tour launch of the 2017 Tony & Grammy-winning Best Musical, DEAR EVAN HANSEN, at The Buell Theatre September 25 through October 13, 2018. Joining DEAR EVAN HANSEN is the 2017 Tony Award-winning Best Musical Revival, HELLO, DOLLY!, starring Broadway legend Betty Buckley, and the first national tours of COME FROM AWAY, A BRONX TALE, THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, ROALD DAHL'S CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY and ANASTASIA. Also, as part of the season, DCPA Cabaret will produce XANADU.

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.

Against a backdrop of bitter intolerance and terrible violence in the Indian state of Assam in the 1980's, filmmaker Bidyut Kotoky's semi-autobiographical tale, Rainbow Fields (Xhoixobote Dhemalite), is told through the eyes of children impacted by events they don't fully understand. The children's playtime games lead to an incident that changes them forever, and years later as adults they must grapple with coming to terms with what happened, and with themselves. First rate acting, notably by Victor Banerjee (A Passage to India) and by the child actors, plus the rich cinematography, add to the depth of the film. For those who are familiar with, and especially for those who are unfamiliar with, this period of Indian history, this arresting film is a must-see.

Two of the most successful and critically acclaimed rock bands REO Speedwagon and Chicago - who have sold 140 million records combined - announced today a co-headline North American summer tour kicking off June 13, 2018 in Concord, CA. The 30+ date tour, promoted by Live Nation, will take the multi-platinum selling groups through major cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Toronto, Atlanta and Nashville for a night of unforgettable live music. The tour will conclude August 12 in Detroit, MI.

Bridgeport High School will be presenting the three-time Tony award winning Broadway Musical Barnum in the Bridgeport High School Theatre. With music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Michael Stewart and a book by Mark Bramble, this musical will transport you to the circus as you learn about the life of famed showman P.T. Barnum.

Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA will officially close on January 28, 2018, after the presentation throughout Southern California of hundreds of concurrent exhibitions, programs, and events about Latin American and Latino art. With the support of $16.3 million in grants from the Getty Foundation, and five years of research and planning, more than 70 cultural institutions ranging from small community-based centers to the region's largest museums participated in this unprecedented, four-month-long exploration of the rich past and vital present of Latin American and Latino art.

The Pretenders come to the Peace Center on Wednesday, March 28, at 7:30 p.m., with special guest Lowlight. The Pretenders became New Wave legends with chart-topping hits like Back on the Chain Gang, I'll Stand By You and Don't Get Me Wrong. Now, nearly four decades from their 1980 debut album, Chrissie Hynde's beautifully distinctive voice is perhaps more emotional and aggressive than at any other time in her career.

Cortland Repertory Theatre is announcing a full line-up of shows and events for the winter and spring at their downtown performing arts facility, located at 24 Port Watson Street in historic downtown Cortland. Admission prices vary per event. Starting in January, a series of monthly TRIVIA NIGHTS are planned for the third Today of the first four months of the year. At 7:00 PM on January 18, February 15, March 15 and April 19, trivia buffs in teams of up to 4 people will be challenged to six rounds of five questions in a wide range of topics. This fund raiser for the CRT Youth Programs encourages friendly competition between families, friends and businesses, with prizes for each round and one evening Grand Prize, including CRT tickets. Admission is $5.00 per person and a beer/wine cash bar will be available.

Cortland Repertory Theatre is announcing a full line-up of shows and events for the winter and spring at their downtown performing arts facility, located at 24 Port Watson Street in historic downtown Cortland. Admission prices vary per event. Starting in January, a series of monthly TRIVIA NIGHTS are planned for the third Thursday of the first four months of the year. At 7:00 PM on January 18, February 15, March 15 and April 19, trivia buffs in teams of up to 4 people will be challenged to six rounds of five questions in a wide range of topics. This fund raiser for the CRT Youth Programs encourages friendly competition between families, friends and businesses, with prizes for each round and one evening Grand Prize, including CRT tickets. Admission is $5.00 per person and a beer/wine cash bar will be available.

Performance Space 122, the birthplace of contemporary performance as it is known today, returns to its legendary home in the East Village, under the leadership of new Executive Artistic Director Jenny Schlenzka, after nearly six years presenting new works in partnership with venues across New York City. The institution will welcome the public to its newly renovated, column-free facilities at 150 1st Avenue - custom-designed by Deborah Berke Partners for interdisciplinary performance - with its 2018 Coil Festival (January 10 February 4, 2018).

HOLY CROSS SUCKS! is Rob Nash's solo show that is a combination of four earlier separate plays: Freshman Year Sucks!, Sophomore Slump, Junior Blues and Senioritis. All of these earlier plays made their premiere at The Vortex between 1997 and 2000. HOLY CROSS SUCKS! played Off-Broadway in New York in 2005 where it was the recipient of a top ten award from Time Out New York magazine. Based on Nash's time at a Jesuit high school in Texas, HOLY CROSS SUCKS! is a hilarious and heartwarming look back at the 1980's. By combining the four earlier plays into one work, Nash has created a touchingly funny coming of age story of three friends that is rich in detail and made even more memorable by Nash's lightning fast character changes. Nash plays a grand total of 29 characters in the course of two hours making each character distinctly different all the way down to body language in a performance that is frankly remarkable.

After a nationwide digital casting call, 11-year-old Andy Walken, from Seattle, WA, has been cast in the role of 'Ralphie Parker,' the lead character in FOX's live musical event, A CHRISTMAS STORY LIVE! In a special edition of 'Debut of the Month', Walken speaks with BWW about making his musical television debut!

Performance Space 122, the birthplace of contemporary performance as it is known today, returns to its legendary home in the East Village, under the leadership of new Executive Artistic Director Jenny Schlenzka, after nearly six years presenting new works in partnership with venues across New York City. The institution will welcome the public to its newly renovated, column-free facilities at 150 1st Avenue - custom-designed by Deborah Berke Partners for interdisciplinary performance - with its 2018 Coil Festival (January 10 February 4, 2018).

Returning to the COC stage after an absence of nearly 40 years is Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio (Die Entf hrung aus dem Serail) in a new COC production from Lebanese-Canadian Wajdi Mouawad, a playwright and director whose work is internationally recognized for its moral impulse. His reinterpretation of Mozart's opera a piece about relations between Enlightenment-era Europeans and Muslim Turks was first presented in 2016 at Op ra de Lyon, where the New York Times suggested Mouawad's artistic vision could be an example of opera becoming an agent of change. Seven performances take place at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on February 7, 13, 16, 18, 22, and 24, 2018.

Sundance Institute showcases bold, independent storytelling at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, beginning with today's announcement of feature films selected across all categories. The Festival hosts screenings in Park City, Salt Lake City and at Sundance Mountain Resort, from January 18 28.

The Los Angeles City College (LACC) Theatre Academy and Kritzerland Entertainment present the world premiere of LEVI!, a classic fit new musical based on the life of Levi Strauss. The production opens tonight, November 17, at LACC'S Camino Theatre. The production will continue through December 2, 2017.

Sydney Theatre Company brings Anton Chekhov's much-loved tragi-comedy back to the mainstage with Andrew Upton's adaptation of THREE SISTERS, directed by Kip Williams.

The Los Angeles City College (LACC) Theatre Academy and Kritzerland Entertainment present the world premiere of LEVI!, a classic fit new musical based on the life of Levi Strauss with a book by legendary cult Film Writer/Director Larry Cohen and Janelle Webb Cohen; and music and lyrics written by Disney's most celebrated Oscar-winning Composers Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman.

Performance Space 122, the birthplace of contemporary performance as it is known today, returns to its legendary home in the East Village, under the leadership of new Executive Artistic Director Jenny Schlenzka, after nearly six years presenting new works in partnership with venues across New York City.

Robert Harling's STEEL MAGNOLIAS is a 1987 comedy drama about the bond amongst a group of Southern women in northwest Louisiana and is based on his experience with his sister's death. The title suggests that while women may be as delicate as magnolias they are also as tough as steel. The magnolia also specifically refers to a magnolia tree they are arguing about as the play begins.

November programming has been announced at City Winery Chicago. Highlights of the month include multi-night runs from Jazz vocalist (and Chicago transplant) Lizz Wright (Nov. 1-2), Herb Alpert of Tijuana Brass with his wife, Grammy-winning singer Lani Hall, (Nov. 6-7), and four shows over two days with saxophonist Kurt Elling (Nov. 25-26) plus a benefit for Merit School of Music with Nico Segal (previously known as Donnie Trumpet from the Chance the Rapper-affiliated band, The Social Experiment) and The JuJu Exchange (Nov. 28) and much more.

There is always a risk in seemingly simple dramatic two-handers. Where there are no visual tricks, no impressive set changes or sparkling costumes, the whole play relies on the chemistry and repartee between the two actors. Robin Lefevre's excellent revival of Tom Kempinski's Duet For One needs no trickery to make its simple structure incredibly compelling.

The Los Angeles City College (LACC) Theatre Academy and Kritzerland Entertainment present the world premiere of LEVI!, a classic fit new musical based on the life of Levi Strauss, with a book by legendary cult film writer/director Larry Cohen and Janelle Webb Cohen, and music and lyrics written by Disney's most celebrated Oscar-winning composers Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman (Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang, Charlotte's Web, The Aristocats, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and more).

Get deep into the play making process with AC Smith and Ron Parson