Dead Serious - 2019 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 9

The west coast premiere of Brian Letscher's SMART LOVE rivetingly posits a truly sci-fi event as a real-life situation in which you're forced to come face-to-face with some serious moral dilemmas. Anchoring this strong cast of four, Melissa Weber Bales totally inhabits the fairly recently widowed Sandy, who's freshly found a new zest for life in Vic (a most memorable Scott Conte in the show's smallest part).

The Donmar Warehouse today announces the extension, due to exceptional demand, for Lynette Linton's acclaimed production of Sweat by Lynn Nottage. The production will now be booking for performances until Saturday 2 February 2019.

BWW reviewer, Peter Nason, celebrates 2018 with his choices for the best in local theatre (Tampa, St. Pete and Sarasota) that the past year had to offer.

Following the success of The New York Times critic's pick The Tricky Part by Martin Moran, The Barrow Group, under the leadership of Co-Artistic Directors Seth Barrish and Lee Brock and Executive Director Robert Serrell, continues its 2018-2019 season with the world premiere of AWAKE, written and directed by K. Lorrel Manning.

A new stage musical, Punk Rock Girl, is in development featuring a score of popular songs written and made famous by female artists and female-fronted bands including Pat Benatar, Bikini Kill, Blondie, Echosmith, Avril Lavigne, Pink, TraLaLa, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and more, and also featuring the title song by The Dead Milkmen.

After his hit production of King Charles III, David Muse returns to Shakespeare Theatre Company to direct Shakespeare's Richard the Third, a mesmerizing chronicle of the megalomaniac's rampage to the throne. The production will play at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW) from February 5-March 10, 2019.

Washington National Opera (WNO) presents the seventh season of its acclaimed American Opera Initiative (AOI) with four world premieres from January 11-13, 2019, in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. A comprehensive commissioning program that originates and develops new works, the American Opera Initiative provides rare opportunities for emerging composers and librettists to partner and write for the opera stage. The Initiative encourages and ensures the future of contemporary American opera through development, mentorship, and performance, with works based on American themes and stories. Since its inception, the annual program has commissioned 28 chamber operas, with some going on to future productions around the country; notables include this summer's successful production by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis of An American Soldier, an AOI commission in 2014, and Opera Omaha's and Miller Theater's recent productions of AOI's 2018 commission, Proving Up.

The BRIT Awards 2019 with Mastercard have announced that Sam Fender is the winner of their 2019 Critics' Choice Award. Past winners include Adele, Florence + The Machine, and Sam Smith. Sam was nominated alongside Lewis Capaldi and Mahalia.

New Jersey Repertory Company, located at 179 Broadway in Long Branch, is proud to present the world premiere of E.M. Lewis' Apple Season from January 10 - February 10, 2019.

Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre is delighted to announce its 2019 line-up of plays - five magnificent and audacious stage works for audiences to savor between April and October.  It includes two world premieres, a Victorian comedy, an American classic and an astounding musical about The Shaggs.

Mark your calendars as Lifetime presents an all-star slate of biopics featuring remarkable women with incredible stories - Nellie Bly, Victoria Gotti and Olivia Newton-John - along with two new intense thrillers inspired by true stories for its winter 2019 movie slate. Headlined by Christina Ricci, Judith Light, Marcia Gay Harden, Kellie Martin, Victoria Gotti and Delta Goodrem, Lifetime will feature five weeks of premieres every Saturday at 8pm PT/ET, beginning January 19.

Set to open at the Atrium in Rancho Mirage on January 23 and run through February 17, 2019, White is a funny, 90-minute play that draws on both life and art to examine issues of racism, sexism, gender and identity - a perfect fit for CVRep's 2018/19 seasonal theme of 'a handful of isms.'

Playwrights Horizons continues its 2018-2019 season with the world premiere of Larissa Fasthorse's The Thanksgiving Play, which officially opened last night in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Playwrights Horizons (416 West 42nd Street). Let's see what the critics are saying...

The new musical comedy Beetlejuice will open on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre (1634 Broadway) on April 25, 2019, but first the musical has its world premiere at The National Theatre in Washington D.C., and officially opened yesterday. 

American Composers Orchestra (ACO) will open its 2018-2019 season with a concert honoring Phenomenal Women presented by Carnegie Hall in Zankel Hall on Friday, November 2, 2018 at 7:30pm. The performance, conducted by ACO Music Director George Manahan, will feature the world premiere of Valerie Coleman's Phenomenal Women performed by the Imani Winds with ACO; as well as the world premiere of Alex Temple's Three Principles of Noir with singer Meaghan Burke, director Amber Treadway, and costumes by Storm Garner. Grammy and Grawemeyer Award-winning composer Joan Tower's Chamber Dance from 2006, which treats the orchestra as a chamber ensemble, completes the program.

American Composers Orchestra (ACO) will open its 2018-2019 season with a concert honoring Phenomenal Women presented by Carnegie Hall in Zankel Hall on Friday, November 2, 2018 at 7:30pm. The performance, conducted by ACO Music Director George Manahan, will feature the world premiere of Valerie Coleman's Phenomenal Women performed by the Imani Winds with ACO; as well as the world premiere of Alex Temple's Three Principles of Noir with singer Meaghan Burke, director Amber Treadway, and costumes by Storm Garner. Grammy and Grawemeyer Award-winning composer Joan Tower's Chamber Dance from 2006, which treats the orchestra as a chamber ensemble, completes the program.

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Founding Artistic Director Steven Maler, announced the cast of the first production of its 2018-19 Season: Universe Rushing Apart: Blue Kettle & Here We Go, two one-act plays by Caryl Churchill, directed by Bryn Boice. The production runs November 7-18 at the Black Box Theater, Sorenson Center for the Arts at Babson College in Wellesley.

The collaboration of Opera Chaotique and the Merlin Puppet Theatre Company brings FROGS, running at the Greek National Opera from Oct. 13, 2018, to May 4, 2019.

As a part of Disney's new streaming service, Disney has announced plans for its High School Musical TV series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Disney's unnamed subscription service is expected to launch in late 2019. 

Washington National Opera (WNO) presents the seventh season of its acclaimed American Opera Initiative (AOI) with four world premieres from January 11-13, 2019, in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. A comprehensive commissioning program that originates and develops new works, the American Opera Initiative provides rare opportunities for emerging composers and librettists to partner and write for the opera stage. The Initiative encourages and ensures the future of contemporary American opera through development, mentorship, and performance, with works based on American themes and stories. Since its inception, the annual program has commissioned 28 chamber operas, with some going on to future productions around the country; notables include this summer's successful production by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis of An American Soldier, an AOI commission in 2014, and Opera Omaha's and Miller Theater's new productions of AOI's 2018 commission, Proving Up.

Last week, ATP made the announcement that they would be replacing the fifth show in the season, Without Rule of Law (WROL) with a show by another Canadian writer, Mark Crawford and his new work The New Canadian Curling Club.

For its 29th season of making theatre on the edge, Avant Bard proudly announces three mainstage productions featuring classic comedies by Shakespeare and Moliere newly adapted for now, plus a contemporary classic by Suzan-Lori Parks. In keeping with the company's core commitment to affordability and access to timeless classics, Avant Bard also announces a new policy making Pay What You Will tickets available for every performance.