Free to Be... You and Me - 2002 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 13

The Flat Rock Playhouse continues the 2018 season with the highly anticipated blockbuster musical, Mamma Mia! This spirited jukebox musical featuring the music of the hit Swedish pop group, ABBA, tells the story of a daughter's search to find her father before her upcoming wedding. The soon-to-be bride, Sophie, decides to take matters into her own hands when her independent mother, Donna, refuses to talk about her past, including the identity of Sophie's father. While Donna, the former lead singer of the 1970's pop group, Donna and the Dynamos, helps Sophie get ready for the wedding, Sophie secretly invites three men who could be her father to the wedding. When the three could-be fathers arrive, things might not be as clear-cut as Sophie thought. Guided by the fabulous music of ABBA, Mamma Mia stands out as a worldwide phenomenon that has audiences singing along and dancing the night away.

'Mamma Mia' brings touching ballads, tight harmonies and rocking dance numbers. The entire cast is beaming with much joy and pride in what they are doing up on stage. It's impressive production with vibrant energy. Audience erupts into cheers and applause during each of the chart topping hits by ABBA. Looking around the audience you can see faces enjoying the production and the memories in the music.

I'm not sure how veteran musical theater director Todd Pearthee did it but the Modell Lyric has announced their inaugural Music Theatre Summer Camp for students in grades 9 to 12 from the Baltimore metropolitan community with Pearthree directing the musical GODSPELL. Mandee Ferrier Roberts is the Musical Director and dance instruction is being provided by the Ballet Theatre of Maryland and CJay Philip.

Pittsburgh CLO will fill the Benedum Center with magic and wonder fit for all ages with Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, July 27 - August 5. Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST ran for a staggering 13 years and over 5,000 performances on Broadway. Now, Pittsburgh CLO brings this treasured story to life for a new generation, continuing the organization's commitment to providing young patrons the opportunity to enjoy live musical theater at home in Pittsburgh. Tickets are now available by phone at 412-456-6666, online at pittsburghCLO.org or by visiting the Box Office at Theater Square. Select half-price tickets for children 3-14 are sponsored by Giant Eagle, offering an affordable option for families to enjoy this timeless tale together.

After a successful run in Central Park, playing to over 4,000 people, performances resume on Wednesday, June 27 in Rockefeller Park/Battery Park City for New York Classical Theatre's critically acclaimed production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by the company's Founding Artistic Director Stephen Burdman. The production will play this week through June 30, before continuing on to The Battery, Carl Schurz Park, and Brooklyn Bridge Park for performances through July 29. There is no ticketing, and all performances are free and open to the public. Performance schedule can be found at newyorkclassical.org.   

This year's Wawa Welcome America festival, a weeklong July 4 celebration, will honor the 40th anniversary of The Philly POPS and its contributions to the community through its music education program and concert series honoring the military, veterans, and first responders.

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and Joe's Pub at The Public join forces once again for the Kimmel Center Theater Residency. Under the tutelage of Jay Wahl, Producing Artistic Director of the Kimmel Center, and Shanta Thake, Director of Joe's Pub, the program serves as an incubator for artists and their collaborators to create and develop music and theater projects. The program will be held in the Kimmel Center's SEI Innovation Studio (300 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA) from June 18-30 with Public Readings, free and open to the public, on June 29 and 30. Readings will be followed by Q&A sessions with the artists.

St. Ann's Warehouse will present the U.S. Premiere of The Jungle, the immensely acclaimed Good Chance Theatre co-production with the National Theatre and Young Vic. Currently opening a five-month run at London's Playhouse Theatre on the West End, The Jungle comes to St. Ann's beginning December 4, 2018.

Free For All, one of the capital's cherished annual traditions, will return this summer to Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC), offering two weeks of free performances of the Company's 2016 production of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. Directed by STC Associate Artistic Director Alan Paul, whose hit production of Camelot has extended through July 8 due to popular demand, the production will run at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F St NW) from August 21-September 2, providing more than 12,000 people the chance to see the play free of charge.

A new play by Martin Crimp (Attempts on Her Life, In the Republic of Happiness). Directed by Katie Mitchell (Waves, Cleansed) with a cast including Cate Blanchett, who makes her National Theatre debut alongside Stephen Dillane returning to the National Theatre for the first time since The Coast of Utopia in 2002.

This year's Wawa Welcome America festival, a weeklong July 4 celebration, will honor the 40th anniversary of The Philly POPS and its contributions to the community through its music education program and concert series honoring the military, veterans, and first responders.

Nelly, Joe Nichols, David Nail, Jana Kramer and Parmalee have all been added to the lineup of the First Annual TAILGATE FEST (LATailgateFest.com) headlined by country music super star Toby Keith, taking place Saturday, September 1, 2018 (Labor Day Weekend) on the outdoor grounds of the Forum in Los Angeles (Inglewood). As a one-day country music and tailgating extravaganza, TAILGATE FEST caters to the fans who show up hours before to turn the preshow into the party. It brings the stage outside to the tailgate. No packing up the party to head inside, no need to stop that game of cornhole, no need to stuff all your belongings in your pockets to last you the evening. Fans will fire up those barbeques, crack open those coolers, play games and tailgate in the hot California sun while they listen to their favorite country stars from their own tailgate as TAILGATE FEST brings the stage to the tailgaters!

Ars Nova, 'one of the most adventurous Off-Broadway companies' (New York Times), under the leadership of Founding Artistic Director Jason Eagan and Managing Director Renee Blinkwolt, is pleased to announce programming for its 2018-2019 season, which marks a rich expansion of the non-profit's unique role as both an exciting hub for new talent and a hands-on producer of genre-bending Off-Broadway productions.

Chaos reigns supreme in this hilarious reinvention of the classic American family drama. When Isaac returns home from Afghanistan to help take care of his ailing father, he discovers a household in revolt. His mother, Paige, has been liberated from an oppressive marriage, and with the help of her newly "out" transgender teen is passionately dismantling the patriarchy. But in Taylor Mac's shocking and subversive comedy, even the most radical changes can't always free you from the past.

Gorgeous melodies and a tender love story take center stage in Eagle Theatre's upcoming production of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years, opening June 1st, 2018.

JAG Productions (Vermont's one and only award-winning, professional African-American Theatre company!), will present, the profound jazz musical, Lady Day  Emerson's Bar & Grill by Lanie Robertson. The show will be run from May 24th-May 27th at the Engine Room in White River Junction, May 31st-June 3rd at The Grange Theater in Pomfret and June 7-10 at Main Street Landing's Black Box Theater in Burlington, VT. Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill will be directed by JAG Productions' Founder & Producing Artistic Director, Jarvis Antonio Green.

New York Classical Theatre (Stephen Burdman, Artistic Director), New York City's only all-free professional Off-Broadway theatre company, is pleased to announce a new production of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to celebrate its 19th Anniversary Season. The production, directed by Mr. Burdman, is the company's first staging of Shakespeare's tale of star-crossed lovers, and will be presented in five New York City parks - Central Park, Rockefeller Park/Battery Park City, The Battery, Carl Schurz Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park - with performances from June 5 through July 29 at 7:00 PM. There is no ticketing, and all performances are free and open to the public. New York Classical Theatre also invites audiences to experience unique behind-the-scenes access to open rehearsals on selected dates for each of the five park stagings. 

Norah Jones first emerged on the world stage with the 2002 release of Come Away With Me, her self-described “moody little record” that introduced a singular new voice and grew into a global phenomenon, sweeping the 2003 GRAMMY Awards and signalling a paradigm shift away from the prevailing pop music of the time. Since then, Jones has sold nearly 50 million albums worldwide and become a 9-time GRAMMY-winner. She has released a series of critically acclaimed and commercially successful solo albums, as well as albums with her collective bands The Little Willies and Puss N Boots. Her music weaves a rich tapestry that combines the threads of several bedrock styles of American music: country, folk, rock, soul and jazz, frequently transcending genres. Jones has collaborated with artists as diverse as Willie Nelson, Outkast, Herbie Hancock, Foo Fighters, and Danger Mouse, and been described as “pop music's mistress of alchemy…” (The Independent).

Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA; Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director), an award-winning company presenting Shakespeare alongside other classic and contemporary drama at Polonsky Shakespeare Center, Downtown Brooklyn, is pleased to announce its 2018-19 season-the 39th since its founding in 1979.

Victory Gardens Theater concludes its 43rd season with Mies Julie, written by Yael Farber, directed by Dexter Bullard, and adapted from August Strindberg's Miss Julie. Mies Julie runs May 25 - June 24, 2018, with the press performance on Friday, June 1, 2018 at 7:30pm at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

Award-winning pioneer playwright Qui Nguyen brilliantly chronicles the love story of his parents' meeting in an Arkansas refugee center after fleeing Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975. It's a buddy story, an all-American romance, and a motorcycle road-trip adventure that reexamines how we think about the heroes and victims of the Vietnam War. Vietgone skips through time and roams the globe with snarky humor, hip-hop, and lots of sex. It's one ironic, foul-mouthed, bad-ass new play.

Now celebrating the 23rd anniversary in Houston and the 26th season since its inception in Brussels, Belgium, Dance Salad Festival promises another gathering of world-class performers. Famous in their own countries, classical, modern and contemporary dance companies/dancers share the Dance Salad Festival stage to form a mix of movement and compelling choreography.

It's in the spirit of the arts as a conduit for education that I found myself drawn to the theater for young audiences, with a particular interest in the work of Atty. Vincent Tañada and the Philippine Stagers Foundation (PSF). Tañada's work--as it relates to the current demands for the arts in schools--will be my main focus of this discussion.

The League of Professional Theatre Women (Kelli Lynn Harrison & Lisa Rothe, Co-Presidents), an organization which has been leading the gender parity conversation and championing women in the professional theatre for over 35 years, will present the final Oral History event of their 2017-18 season with two-time Tony Award winner Chita Rivera.