From Door to Door - 2004 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 18

Jocelyn Bioh's hit MCC production of SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY lands in Los Angeles at the Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre running September 2 through September 30, before encoring back in New York City at the Lucille Lortel Theatre October 16 through November 25. We had the opportunity to chat with Mirirai Sithole, one of the original cast members who's making the trek between coasts.

Award winning Jamaican actress Dianne Dixon will appear onstage at The Public Theater for the first time in a staged reading of Canadian playwright Trey Anthony's family drama How Black Mothers Say I Love You, under the direction of Tony Award winner Kenny Leon.

After opening its first permanent home in November 2017 and presenting an inaugural season that included a "tantalizing production" of Pay No Attention to the Girl, a New York Times critic's pick, Target Margin Theater (Founding Artistic Director David Herskovits, Associate Artistic Director Moe Yousuf) is pleased to announce its second season at The Doxsee. The 2018-2019 season continues Target Margin's multi-year focus on The One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of Silk Road, MENA (Middle Eastern / North African), and South Asian stories, and includes a new presenting series.

This September, Milagro is thrilled to announce the second season of INGENIO, a New Works Project funded once again by the National New Play Network (NNPN).

It may not have the romantic sweep of 'Some Enchanted Evening' or the driving intensity of 'Don't Rain On My Parade,' but so far, the best new theatre song of this young season is a finely-crafted emotional shut-down carrying the unlikely title 'Michael In The Bathroom.'

Built in 1913 as the flagship for the big time vaudeville circuit run by E.F. Albee and Martin Beck, manager of the Western Vaudeville Managers Association, the Palace was the perfect showplace for the biggest of big time vaudeville during the last two decades of its existence.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre today announced final casting for A Doll's House, Part 2, written by Lucas Hnath and directed by Les Waters, which begins previews on Thursday, September 6 and runs through Sunday, October 21. Individual tickets begin at $30 ($15 if you're under 35) and can be purchased online at berkeleyrep.org or by phone at 510 647-2949 beginning August 12, 2018. Subscription tickets are available now. Press night of this first show of Berkeley Rep's 50th anniversary season will be on Thursday, September 13.

AstonRep Theatre Company, under the new artistic leadership of Derek Bertelsen and Sara Pavlak McGuire, is thrilled to announce its 2018-19 Season, kicking off this fall with Martin McDonagh's dark comedy THE LONESOME WEST directed by Company Member Dana Anderson. This winter, the season continues with AstonRep's 10th ANNUAL WRITERS' SERIES, a daylong festival of workshops from talented local and regional writers. The season concludes next summer with Rebecca Gilman's drama THE CROWN YOU'RE IN WITH, directed by Co-Artistic Director Derek Bertelsen. 

AVENUE Q became an overnight sensation on Broadway in July 2003 following a sold-out engagement and was extended four times after being presented Off-Broadway by Vineyard Theatre and The New Group. Since it roared into the spotlight - with its singular cast of people and puppets including Princeton, Kate Monster, Rod, Nicky, Trekkie, Christmas Eve, Gary Coleman and Lucy T. Slut - opening on Broadway on July 31, 2003, AVENUE Q has given over 6,000 performances, running seven years on Broadway before transferring to New World Stages in 2009, where it continues to play to large and happy houses.

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. 

George M. Cohan has been attributed to being the father of the American Musical, whose works are the very roots of Broadway and musical theater that we know today. Without his numerous contributions to the American theater, Broadway as we all know it probably wouldn't even exist. This is the idea that's drummed rather loudly and patriotically by the ending of YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, the 2004 stage musical now in the midst of its Southern California regional premiere via Musical Theatre West. A fairly entertaining, if inescapably old-fashioned jukebox musical that paints rather broad strokes rather than giving a deep dive into Cohan's life story, this new production continues performances at the Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts in Long Beach through July 22, 2018.

Summer would not be complete without seeing at least one Shakespeare play outdoors somewhere in Los Angeles. This year I decided to spend a bewitching night in Griffith Park, selecting to see my favorite Bard comedy, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, presented by the Independent Shakespeare Company (ISC) celebrating the 15th anniversary season of free Shakespeare in Los Angeles City Parks. In 2010, ISC moved free Shakespeare in Barnsdall Park to Griffith Park, the second largest city park in California. The growth in attendance has been extraordinary, certainly due in part to the quality of the productions. So grab a blanket or a lawn chair, pack a picnic, and take a short hike into Griffith Park to a land of wonder and imagination thanks to the Independent Shakespeare Company's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM - and bring the kids!

In support of their forthcoming new album, British music legends Soft Machine will embark on their first North American tour since 1974 in October 2018, followed by the second North-American leg of the tour in January/February 2019. In concert, their set list will include material from all parts of the band's repertoire from 1970 onwards, but this is emphatically not a nostalgia act resting on its laurels. Last weekend Soft Machine played their first two shows in North America since 1974 (it was in 1974 they toured USA and Canada during the Bundles/Allan Holdsworth era). Both shows, at the Montreal Jazz Festival and Quebec City, were exceptionally well received by the enthusiastic audience and local press.

McDaniel College offers a variety of art, music, theatre, literary, film and other events during the fall of 2018. 

STEW & THE NEGRO PROBLEM - the powerhouse indie rock band fronted by longtime collaborators Stew and Heidi Rodewald - will perform a one-night-only concert at THE TOTAL BENT/NATIVE SONG DOUBLE RECORD RELEASE PARTY, featuring selections from the duo's two most recent recordings, on Monday, June 18 at Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker St.) in Manhattan.  Doors open at 7 pm for the concert beginning at 8 pm.

Penny Van Horn, Board Chair of The Solti Foundation U.S. and Elizabeth Buccheri, Artistic and Awards Committee Chair, today announced the names of the eight recipients of the 2018 Solti Foundation Career Assistance Awards. The young conductors hold positions throughout the United States, with posts in Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York.

There's a lot that's new in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, Maryland this summer! To make it easy for area residents and vacationers to be in the know, Visit Annapolis & Anne Arundel County (VAAAC) has compiled a sampling of some of the latest attractions and experiences that beckon travelers in the months ahead. For a complete listing, visit the VAAAC website.

Every year a group of performers take their final bows in their last performance as theatre students. This moment marks a turning point in any student's experience, encouraging reflection and subsequent planning for the next step in their careers. The BWW Montreal Emerging Talent, Student Edition aims to highlight students who are up-and-coming talents in the Montreal performing arts community. They are accomplished performers who have distinguished themselves with their work ethic, character, and talent and aim to pursue a career in the performing arts after graduation. This week we are highlighting Elijah Stefanesa and Jasmine Winter, two graduating Theatre students from the Professional Theatre Program at Dawson College.

Penny Van Horn, Board Chair of The Solti Foundation U.S. and Elizabeth Buccheri, Artistic and Awards Committee Chair, announced today the Foundation's ninth grant, The Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, to Roderick Cox, Associate Conductor of the 114-year old Minnesota Orchestra. The $30,000 grant is the largest grant awarded to young American conductors in the United States.

Karamu House, the oldest multicultural performing arts center in the country, closes it's 102nd consecutive season with the Tony Award-winning musical Passing Strange. Karamu House President and CEO, Tony F. Sias notes, 'this is a piece that is important and relevant, and speaks to and engages our millennial and 'genZ' generations.' With book and lyrics written by Tony Award-winning singer-songwriter Stew, and music composed by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, the production opened on May 10 and will run through June 3, 2018 in Karamu's Arena Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents the World Premiere production of Lost Girl by Kimberly Belflower performed by the 2017/18 Professional Training Institute (PTI) ensemble this July 19-22, 2018 in the Stiemke Studio.  PTI is an advanced actor-training program for students in 8th-12th grade who may have an interest in pursuing a career as a professional theater artist.   The 2017/18 PTI ensemble features sixteen students hailing from fourteen different high schools who received free training from some of the top theater professionals in the world, culminating in this capstone performance  of Lost Girl where they will be employed as paid, professional actors.

CMT Mainstage, featuring local performers ages 14-20, presents the 2004 Tony Triple Crown (Best Score, Best Book, Best Musical) laugh-out-loud musical, Avenue Q, May 11-20.

The Woman Who Went to Space as a Man - Part fact, part fever dream, and part musical, this captivating new work opens with Alice B. Sheldon - better known to sci-fi aficionados as author James Tiptree, Jr. - contemplating suicide. Dodging in and out of reality, the play, with a bold musical score from award-winning world music artist Yuval Ron, investigates gender, longing and creativity as self-exploration through one of Science Fiction world's greatest literary tricksters.

 Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI®), the global leader in music rights management, held its 34th annual Film, TV & Visual Media Awards last night at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The private ceremony was hosted by Vice President Creative - Film, TV & Visual Media, Doreen Ringer-Ross and BMI President and CEO Mike O'Neill, who honored prolific composer John Williams with the John Williams Award for his incomparable status as one of the greatest film and television composers of our time.

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.