Friends Like These - 2005 - New York Articles Page 16

Disney's enduring classic The Little Mermaid is heading to the stage in Charleston, WV! The Charleston Light Opera Guild is excited to bring this fairy tale masterpiece to life at the Clay Center Theater. The hit musical, which debuted on Broadway in 2007, is based on the 1989 animated classic film and features music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater, and a book by Doug Wright. Children of all ages will be delighted as they watch the story of Ariel, Flounder, Ursula, Sebastian, and Prince Eric unfold by the talented professionals in the Charleston Light Opera Guild.

Fresh off the national tour of SOMETHING ROTTEN, multitalented performer David Rossetti has returned to Atlanta from New York to shake things up at Stage Door Players.

The following acts are performing at City Winery Chicago (1200 W. Randolph St) throughout the month.

MIGHTY REAL: A FABULOUS SYLVESTER MUSICAL, the hit musical celebration of the life and music of the original 1970s "Queen of Disco," Sylvester, returns to New York City August 11th, 2018. 

Ailey Extension invites dancers to find their summer groove with exciting workshops and master classes. In addition to its annual Summer Performance Workshop series, Ailey Extension will offer an Alonzo King LINES Ballet Master Class with Meredith Webster and a "Werk That Twerk" workshop with famed hip-hop instructor TweetBoogie. These opportunities allow students to refine their technique, boost stage presence, and perform movement highlighting their personal style while learning from some of New York City's top instructors at The Ailey Studios.

This world premiere drama examines the friendship of two remarkable women, one an ex-prisoner of the Heart Mountain Internment Camp, and the other, a Holocaust survivor. A supportive and transformative relationship between these best friends is tested when family and health issues change the routine. Scenes For A Green World explores the potential for redemption when reconnecting to one's early years can be both a curse and a blessing.  What can be nurtured to blossom out of the dark ground of the past to sustain the future for oneself and others?

Next month, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond.

The Bravo! Vail Music Festival has just commenced its 2018 season and already it is tempting patrons with the announcement that Chamber Orchestra Vienna – Berlin will make its North America debut at the distinguished summer classical music festival in 2019 alongside lauded violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. The performance also marks Anne-Sophie Mutter's Bravo! Vail debut. Bravo! Vail Artistic Director Anne-Marie McDermott made the announcement from stage to a thrilled audience of nearly 2,000 at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater. Specific details about the repertoire and concert date are not yet available. More information about Bravo! Vail can be found at www.bravovail.org.

National Alliance for Musical Theatre (Betsy King Militello, Executive Director) is thrilled to announce the line-up of new musicals for their 30th Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, which takes place on Thursday, October 25 and Friday, October 26, 2018 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). The Festival events will kick off on Monday, October 22 with Thank You, 30!, a gala event to celebrate the 30th Annual Festival.

Atlantic Theater Company (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Jeffory Lawson, Managing Director) will present Middle Eastern MixFest, a series of free readings co-curated by playwrights Mona Mansour and Heather Raffothat will run Wednesday, August 8th through Thursday, August 16th at Atlantic Stage 2 (330 West 16th Street).

This world premiere drama examines the friendship of two remarkable women, one an ex-prisoner of the Heart Mountain Internment Camp, and the other, a Holocaust survivor. A supportive and transformative relationship between these best friends is tested when family and health issues change the routine. Scenes For A Green World explores the potential for redemption when reconnecting to one's early years can be both a curse and a blessing. What can be nurtured to blossom out of the dark ground of the past to sustain the future for oneself and others?

REPRISE 2.0 (led by Producing Artistic Director Marcia Seligson), in association with the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television's Department of Theater (UCLA TFT) chaired by Brian Kite, presents its inaugural production of Sweet Charity.  Directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall with musical direction by Gerald Sternbach, the classic Broadway hit plays through July 1 at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. Take a look at photos from the show's opening night below!

While its original production, as most Broadway shows go, offered the expected big sets, first-rate costumes, and impressive production values, the 2015 Tony Award-winning revival production of THE COLOR PUPLE---currently slaying audiences for a week-long stop at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through June 24---is decidedly more subdued and scaled-down by comparison, allowing the songs, the story, and the cast performances to shine on their own merits instead. The resulting show is a powerful, uplifting one, bathed in a loving, spiritual embrace that shines a light on the struggles, the insecurities, the passions, and the tenacity of African-American women living in the early decades of the 20th Century. I can say without hesitation that this revival production is an excellent way to experience this beautiful, touching, and ultimately triumphant musical.

For more than a half-century, the embrace between Cuba and the United States has been subject to an odd dance of politics, including a still-standing embargo. Nevertheless, the bond between the two nations is deep and strong as ever, expressed most forcefully through the dance of culture-especially music. 

Three acts, three directors, three approaches to the same play script. Vermont Stage Company's annual season closer allows artists to play and experiment--this year, with Noel Coward's 1930 play Private Lives. Larry Connolly, Chris Caswell and Abbie Tykocki direct the three acts independent of one another with unique casting and directorial conceits.

Always highly polished, the Verve Jazz Ensemble's timeless straight-ahead jazz reaches for exuberance as well on LightGroove Media's July 20 release 'Connect the Dots.' The fifth album by the VJE, a modular New York-based ensemble led by drummer Josh Feldstein, features upbeat performances of band originals, standards, and lesser-known works by classic jazz composers-each characterized by the musicians' palpable delight in playing together.

Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport Avenue, is thrilled to announce that our homegrown production of AVENUE Q will be lovingly revived on the Mercury stage, from June 21st through September 9th, 2018. Press opening is Friday, June 29th at 8:00pm. After entertaining nearly 30,000 people over 169 performances and breaking all box office records for Mercury Theater Chicago, these sassy and lovable puppets are back for more fun and mischief.

Chrissy Metz, the Emmy Award and Golden Globe nominated star of the NBC drama This Is Us, will make her stage debut in Neil LaBute's critically acclaimed play Fat Pig at the Geffen Playhouse.

A&E Network presents a Biography(R) limited original series, 'Cultureshock.' The five-part documentary series takes an in-depth look at the untold stories behind watershed moments in pop culture that have had a lasting impact on our society. Produced by Meredith's Four M Studios in association with Entertainment Weekly, each episode of 'Cultureshock' will shed light on the untold stories behind the big, unforgettable moments, helmed by an acclaimed director with the full participation of key players from each story. The series premieres on Monday, June 25 at 9pm ET/PT with 'Michael Jackson's Final Curtain Call,' a profound look at Jackson's final days timed to the anniversary of the pop icon's untimely and devastating death.

Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece Long Day's Journey Into Night  comes to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts for a limited three-week engagement from Friday, June 8 through Sunday, July 1. Richard Eyre's acclaimed Bristol Old Vic production stars Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons(Brideshead Revisited, Reversal of Fortune,  'The Borgias') and Olivier Award winner and Oscar nominee Lesley Manville(Another Year,  'Harlots,' Phantom Thread). Matthew Beard (The Imitation Game, The Riot Club), Rory Keenan (BBC's 'War & Peace,' 'Peaky Blinders') and Jessica Regan (reprising the role as Cathleen from the 2016 Bristol Old Vic production) round out the ensemble cast.  

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.

This August, New York City will host the first ever Classical Bridge, an international music festival, academy and conference designed to build bridges through the music. Presented by New York Concert Artists & Associates (NYCA), the inaugural event runs August 4 - 11 at Merkin Concert Hall atKaufman Music Center (129 West 67th Street, between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave), Symphony Space (2537 Broadway, at 96th Street), and Steinway Hall (1133 Avenue of the Americas at 44th Street). For tickets. reservations and more information visit www.ClassicalBridge.org.

You don't want to miss the Metropolitan Performing Arts (MPA) lively youth production this May! Dear Edwina Jr is an uplifting musical about the pleasures of growing up. Thirteen-year-old Edwina Spoonapple is desperate to be part of the Kalamazoo Advice-a-palooza Festival.

Joanie Schultz, Artistic Director, today announced details of the Company's 2018-2019 Season.

Joanie Schultz, Artistic Director, today announced details of the Company's 2018-2019 Season.