Co-Optimists - 1924 - West End Articles Page 16

Behind the curtain of the big top, no one is laughing harder than the saddest clown of them all. Philadelphia Artists' Collective, in partnership with Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, presents the Philadelphia premiere of He Who Gets Slapped, from March 30 to April 16, 2016, at Broad Street Ministry (315 S. Broad Street).

42nd Street Moon concludes its 23rd season with Frank Loesser's glorious Napa Valley romance, the Tony Award-winning THE MOST HAPPY FELLA. This masterpiece with book, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser (Guys and Dolls, How to Succeed in Business …, Where's Charley?) is an unconventional and sweepingly romantic love story set in the vineyards of Napa Valley. Considered one of Loesser's greatest works, the stunning score includes "The Most Happy Fella," "Standing on the Corner," "Joey, Joey, Joey," "Rosabella," "Big D," "My Heart Is So Full of You" and "Song of a Summer Night." Directed by Cindy Goldfield, with musical direction by Dave Dobrusky, THE MOST HAPPY FELLA will run April 27 - May 17, 2016 (Press opening: Saturday, April 30) at the Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson Street, San Francisco. For tickets ($25-$75) or more information, the public may call (415) 255-8207 or visit www.42ndstmoon.org. 

Catalina Bar & Grill will present singer ALEXIS GERSHWIN, the niece of the iconic American composer and lyricist, GEORGE & IRA GERSHWIN, in a 75-minute musical journey and salute to her uncle's music in a show entitled 'GERSHWIN SINGS GERSHWIN,' backed by The Gershwin Singers & Band, under the musical direction of Steven Applegate, to be presented One Night Only on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 8:30 p.m. at Catalina Bar & Grill; 6725 West Sunset Boulevard (just east of North Highland Avenue); Los Angeles, CA 90028. There is $20 Cover Charge, plus dinner or a two-drink minimum per person. Valet Parking is available.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Disney Channel is getting ready to return to East High one more time. A nationwide casting search has begin for a planned Disney Channel Original Movie, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 4, that will continue the story of the global sensation HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL - and introduce new East High Wildcats and their cross-town school rivals, the West High Knights.

The Old Globe welcomes Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, making his musical directing debut with RAIN, a sumptuous world premiere musical by one of the most significant teams working in theatre today: composer and lyricist Michael John LaChiusa (The Wild Party, Giant) and book writer Sybille Pearson (Giant). Based on the short story by Somerset Maugham, RAIN will play March 24 - May 1, 2016 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Previews run March 24 - 31. Opening night is Friday, April 1 at 8:00 p.m. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the stars in character, plus the full company, below!

-This summer marks another historic milestone for the annual Bard SummerScape festival. For the first time since its founding, this season's focus is on the music and culture of Italy, with seven weeks of music, opera, theater, dance, film, and cabaret keyed to the theme of the 27th Bard Music Festival, "Puccini and His World." This intensive examination of the life and times of Giacomo Puccini opens a window onto Italy's rich musical heritage from Palestrina to Menotti, by way of the most popular and successful - yet, paradoxically, frequently critically underrated - opera composer of all time. Complementing the music festival, some of the Tuscan master's most compelling compatriots provide other key SummerScape highlights.

This summer marks another historic milestone for the annual Bard SummerScape festival. For the first time since its founding, this season's focus is on the music and culture of Italy, with seven weeks of music, opera,theater, dance, film, and cabaret keyed to the theme of the 27th Bard Music Festival, "Puccini and His World." This intensive examination of the life and times of Giacomo Puccini opens a window onto Italy's rich musical heritage from Palestrina to Menotti, by way of the most popular and successful - yet, paradoxically, frequently critically underrated - opera composer of all time. Complementing the music festival, some of the Tuscan master's most compelling compatriots provide other key SummerScape highlights. These include a rare, fully staged production of Iris, a forerunner of Madama Butterfly by Puccini's close contemporary Pietro Mascagni; the world premiere of Demolishing Everything with Amazing Speed, four newly unearthed puppet plays from leading Italian Futurist Fortunato Depero, as reimagined by Dan Hurlin;the world premiere of Fantasque, a new ballet set to the music of Respighi and Rossini by John Heginbotham and Amy Trompetter; a film series on "Puccini and the Operatic Impulse in Cinema"; and the return of Bard's authentic and sensationally popularSpiegeltent,hosted by the inimitable Mx. Justin Vivian Bond. Taking place between July 1 and August 14 in the Frank Gehry-designed Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts and other venues on Bard College's stunning Hudson River campus, SummerScape's 2016 offerings provide new opportunities to discover that, as Time Out New York puts it, "the experience of entering the Fisher Center and encountering something totally new is unforgettable and enriching." Tickets go on sale on Monday, February 15; click here for more information.

Be prepared to be entertained by April Showers, the current reigning Miss Hollywood Burlesque at BOOBS, BOOKS AND BURLESQUE on Tuesday, March 8, 2016, at the Culver Hotel in downtown Culver City. Showers is the recipient of several awards including Most Classic and Best Singer. Funny, glamorous and classy, she is noted to be one of the best burlesque performers in Los Angeles. Also entertaining will be Maxi Millions, a multi-award winning burlesque performer known for her classic bump 'n grind style and high glamour taste. She is co-producer of Spellbound Burlesque and has performed on stages all over the U.S.

San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley and Music Director Nicola Luisotti today announced the Company's 2016–17 Season repertory and roster of international guest artists, conductors and creative teams scheduled to appear at the War Memorial Opera House, as well as initial programming for SF Opera Lab 2017 presentations at the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera's Taube Atrium Theater. The Company's 94th Season will also mark Matthew Shilvock's inaugural year as San Francisco Opera's new general director, succeeding his mentor and internationally respected impresario, David Gockley, who will step down on July 31, 2016.

WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director and Loop Executive Producer Terry Martin today announced the line-up for the 2016 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival, February 25 - March 6, 2016, at the Addison Theatre Centre. Six world premieres highlight this year's diverse Festival as well as 2 one-woman cabarets, 4 dance works, 1 circus act, 3 solo shows, 1 musical reading, 2 play readings, 9 theatre productions, 1 interdisciplinary piece, 1 spoken word performance, a 24-hour play festival, and many returning favorites. The Festival is made possible, in part, through the generous support of The Town of Addison and the Texas Commission on the Arts as well as media sponsors, TheaterJones.com and the Dallas Observer. The Festival is produced by Terry Martin and Kelsey Leigh Ervi.

WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director and Loop Executive Producer Terry Martin today announced the line-up for the 2016 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival, February 25 - March 6, 2016, at the Addison Theatre Centre.

The three-time Emmy Award-winning All-Star Orchestra, under the direction of renowned conductor Gerard Schwarz, returns to public television with a new season of four episodes featuring Mr. Schwarz's 'all-star' team of top orchestral musicians, including prominent principal players from over 30 major U.S. orchestras

Greg Mohr and Scott Weiner -- co-owners of The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group -- will open their second location of Roots Handmade Pizza to the public at 11am on Saturday, December 19 at 2200 W Lawrence Ave in Lincoln Square.   The Roots location in Lincoln Square will be open Sundays thru Fridays from 11am until 2am and on Saturdays from 11am until 3am. Delivery and carryout will begin at a later date. The Lincoln Square Roots phone number is 773-433-5959 and the website is http://www.rootspizza.com.

 Dan Visconti, the California Symphony's Young American Composer in Residence through 2017, has been awarded the prestigious Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundationcommission by the Library of Congress. Visconti was recognized and commissioned for his concerto for guitar and orchestra, Living Language. Living Language will be given its world premiere by the California Symphony, which co-commissioned the work, and Music Director Donato Cabrera with Grammy-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux, on May 6 at the Lincoln Theater at the Napa Valley Performing Arts Center in Yountville and May 8 at its home in the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.

Westport Country Playhouse will present a Script in Hand playreading of DRACULA, the mystery-thriller about a young woman falling victim to a vampire, on Monday, November 16, at 7 p.m.  Director is Anne Keefe, Playhouse associate artist and curator of the playreading series. The play is dramatized by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, from the novel by Bram Stoker.

Tchaikovsky's soulful Symphony No. 4 portrays his battle against fate, the cold-hearted power he believed ruled his life. Guest pianist Haochen Zhang, co-winner of the Gold Medal at the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition, will expertly undertake the consummate challenges of the Prokofiev piano concerto, and Maestro Milanov will bring to vivid life the heartless seducer of Strauss' tone poem Don Juan.

As the days grow shorter and lower temperatures bring a nip to the air, Hedgerow Theatre's annual autumn thriller will also deliver chills up the spine as it present the classic Dracula from tonight, October 22 through November 22.

In a one-of-a-kind concert created especially for Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC), the world's most seasoned Gershwin interpreter, Peter Nero, will perform Gershwin's timeless works from Broadway and film on Saturday, November 14 at 8pm. This two-part program will be a special evening dedicated to the work Gershwin composed in Los Angeles after relocating from New York. 

The director and designers behind Rubicon Theatre Company's acclaimed environmental productions ofFiddler on the Roof and Man of La Mancha have reunited on the two-piano chamber version of the legendary Lerner and Loewe's classic My Fair Lady. Based on George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, the musical tells the story of Professor Henry Higgins, an arrogant and attractive phonetician who makes a wager that he can transform a 'deliciously low' Cockney flower-seller (Eliza Doolittle) into an elegant lady by teaching her to speak more beautifully. The magnificent score includes 'I Could Have Danced All Night,' 'On the Street Where You Live,' 'Wouldn't It Be Loverly,' and 'I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face.' For Rubicon's production, Director James O'Neil returns to the source material to explore the Shavian themes of class struggle, social reform and women's rights.

As the days grow shorter and lower temperatures bring a nip to the air, Hedgerow Theatre's annual autumn thriller will also deliver chills up the spine as it present the classic Dracula from October 22 through November 22.

Tchaikovsky's soulful Symphony No. 4 portrays his battle against fate, the cold-hearted power he believed ruled his life. Guest pianist Haochen Zhang, co-winner of the Gold Medal at the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition, will expertly undertake the consummate challenges of the Prokofiev piano concerto, and Maestro Milanov will bring to vivid life the heartless seducer of Strauss' tone poem Don Juan.

Fred Winship, long time theatre reviewer for UPI, died peacefully at 90 in his apartment on E. 57th Street in NYC on September 3, 2015. No cause of death was given; it was probably a sudden heart attack. He was writing a review of a play he had just seen when he died.

After highly successful productions of Brian Friel's Philadelphia, Here I Come, A Night with Lady G ( three short plays by Lady Augusta Gregory), and last Spring's The Shadow of a Gunman, The Irish Heritage Theatre in a landmark collaboration with Plays and Players Theatre is turning its attention to Sean O'Casey's second play in his Dublin Trilogy, Juno and the Paycock.

NBCSN will present an international rugby showdown in primetime today, Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET, when the USA Eagles host the Qantas Wallabies at historic Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill.

Bailey Nolan (Ann Liv Young Dance Company) mounts a one-woman cabaret with a cast of ten, re-imagining 'Dumbo' as the tale of a gender-free outcast. Relayed through a series of vignettes told from the vantage point of Dumbo's mother (a retired showgirl played by Nolan herself), the extravaganza features fearless performers from her collective BabySkinGlove, including Charley Parden, Viva Soudan, Nessa Norich, Ellen Robin Rosenberg and Wesley Flash. With a pop music soundtrack that includes Mariah Carey, Johnny Cash, Florence and the Machine, Aerosmith and Joni Mitchell, Nolan and companions bridge the gap between unabashed self-indulgence and delicate nostalgia. The tale is told in two acts with a whirlwind of lightly choreographed emotions as explored on the laps of the audience.