From the Second City - 1961 - Broadway Articles Page 9

Two theatre greats died in December 2018, both with history at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.  Dancer and teacher Blanche Lund died on December 1, 2018, and composer Galt MacDermot died on December 17, 2018. Because of the holidays the theatre did not have a chance to properly mark the passing of these remarkable people. We will do so now.

The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University announced today the appointment of Ruth Estevez as Senior Curator-at-Large. With extensive experience as a curator of contemporary art and performance, Estevez will organize exhibitions and programming, expand interdisciplinary research and scholarship, and advise the museum on key acquisitions. As Senior Curator-at-Large she will share expertise with Brandeis faculty, staff, and students.

The Country Music Association has announced its new international artist-focused touring series, aptly titled Introducing Nashville, which launches in March of 2019 in Australia and New Zealand featuring Brandy Clark, Devin Dawson, Lindsay Ell and Tenille Townes (Australia leg only) followed by an industry event in Tokyo, Japan including Frankie Ballard. Tickets for Australia and New Zealand are on sale here. 

Today the multi-Grammy Award winning pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader Eddie Palmieri released Mi Luz Mayor, his second salsa album of the year on his newly launched imprint Uprising Music (through Ropeadope). Recorded at the iconic Power Station at BerkleeNYC (formerly known as Avatar Studios), Mi Luz Mayor is a big band album 35+ of the best afro-cuban musicians in the mecca of salsa: New York City.

On December 7th the multi-Grammy Award winning pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader Eddie Palmieri will release Mi Luz Mayor, his second salsa album of the year on his newly launched imprint Uprising Music (through Ropeadope). Today, Palmieri releases the album's third single 'Mi Congo,' featuring Carlos Santana. Guitar World called the the collaboration 'lively, intricately beautiful,' while NPR's Felix Contreras said the song will 'change the perception of what you think an [81] year old should sound like. This is proof positive that we only get better with age.'

The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance, a program within the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts at Wayne State University, is thrilled to kick off our year-long 90 Years of Dance at Wayne celebration with the annual December Dance Concert, December 7 and 8 at Detroit's Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts.  This year's show promises diverse and moving works showcasing highlights of dance through the decades. Dance students have the pleasure of working with a variety of talented artists, including invited guests, esteemed faculty, and talented student choreographers.

Frances Smith Cohen has built an astounding career as a dancer, educator and director in Arizona for more than 60 years. That legacy is now being honored by Scottsdale Arts Education & Outreach with a special exhibition in the ArtReach Space at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts from Nov. 30 through Jan. 8.

The Stratford Festival lost one of its pioneers today. Douglas Rain died of natural causes early this morning at the age of 90 at St. Marys Memorial Hospital, just outside of Stratford, Ontario, the city in which he established his career, becoming one of the world's great classical actors.

Brighten up the holiday season with an array of CBS specials:

This week at an event honoring playwright, Tony Kushner, the Angels in America author who is penning the screenplay to Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story dropped some major details on the project,

The Marie-Josee Kravis Prize for New Music at the New York Philharmonic, which recognizes a composer for extraordinary artistic endeavor in the field of new music, has been awarded to South Korean composer Unsuk Chin. One of the world's largest new-music prizes, the Kravis Prize includes $200,000 and a commission to write a work for the New York Philharmonic. Ms. Chin's new orchestral work will receive its World Premiere by the Philharmonic in a future season. Funding for the Kravis Prize comes from a $10 million gift to the New York Philharmonic in 2009 by Henry R. Kravis in honor of his wife, Marie-Josee, for whom the Prize is named. Past Prize winners include Henri Dutilleux, Per Norgard, and Louis Andriessen.

DEAR EVAN HANSEN: THE NOVEL launches a book tour, with an event in Salt Lake City. 'We know the passionate love people in Salt Lake City have for musical theater,' said composer Justin Paul.

The legendary Rufus and Martha Wainwright Christmas show, "Noel Nights," is returning to New York City after a four-year hiatus. Featuring three generations of the Wainwright and McGarrigle families, along with many other special guests, this annual holiday extravaganza will bring the Christmas spirit to Town Hall on Sunday, December 16th.

The smash hit musical Dear Evan Hansen is bringing the laughter and the tears to cities all around the country starting this fall. Performances begin tonight, September 25, at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (September 25 - October 13, 2018), followed by engagements in Los Angeles (October 17 - November 25, 2018) and San Francisco (December 5 - December 30, 2018).

On December 7th the multi-Grammy Award winning pianist Eddie Palmieri will release Mi Luz Mayor, his second salsa album of the year on his newly launched imprint Uprising Music (through Ropeadope). Special guests on the album include Gilberto Santa Rosa, Herman Olivera, and Carlos Santana, who plays on the album's third track “Mi Congo.”

The Las Vegas Philharmonic opens its 20th anniversary season today, September 15, 2018 at 7:30 pm in Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts with a program celebrating the works of Bernstein, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky.  Music Director Donato Cabrera will host a pre-concert conversation in Reynolds Hall one hour prior to the performance (6:30 PM) for patrons who want to learn more about the history and meaning behind the music to be performed that evening.  Following the concert, the Philharmonic will celebrate its 20th anniversary at a special reception with wine, coffee and dessert on Reynolds Hall stage ($50 per person, tickets separate from concert).

Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) today announced a new initiative, a three-week, multi-disciplinary Bach Festival featuring 15 concerts across three venues in Manhattan, June 6-22, 2019. The programmatic centerpieces include performances by Paul Taylor Dance Company and the Goldberg Variations, which receives two interpretations - including the U.S. premiere of Bernard Labadie's orchestral setting - and provides the Festival theme: 'Transformation.'

Matthew Morrison couldn't be more 'Glee'-ful about launching Bay Area Cabaret's 15th Anniversary Season on Sept. 30 at the world-famous Venetian Room at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. 'I love places that have so much history,' says the Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee. Among the celebrated singers who've sung there: Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Marlene Dietrich, Peggy Lee and Tina Turner. And in 1961, Tony Bennett first performed 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco' there, which is especially apt since the Fairmont sits high upon Nob Hill, 'where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars.'

The Nashville Association of Talent Directors (NATD) has announced six highly-respected honorees who will be recognized at the 8th Annual NATD Honors Gala scheduled for November 7, 2018, at the Hermitage Hotel. Tickets for the gala can be purchased here.

Known for putting fans at the crossroads of fashion and pop culture, E!'s new Fashion Week exclusive docu-series 'Model Squad,' produced by Trooper Entertainment in association with Lionsgate and IMG, follows nine high-profile, in-demand supermodels in the make-or-break fashion industry. Launching in conjunction with the start of New York Fashion Week, where E! is the official multi-platform media partner of New York Fashion Week: The Shows, viewers will get an exclusive look behind the runway with a two-week premiere event beginning Today, September 4th through Friday, September 14th at 8 PM ET/PT.

Four of the Golden Ticket winners and other members of the cast of the spectacular new musical Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory have been announced today. Roald Dahl's delicious tale will be playing only in Sydney at Sydney's Capitol Theatre from 5 January 2019.

BroadwayWorld is sad to report that legendary playwright Neil Simon has died at 91. 

The Las Vegas Philharmonic opens its 20th anniversary season on Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 7:30 pm in Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts with a program celebrating the works of Bernstein, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky.  Music Director Donato Cabrera will host a pre-concert conversation in Reynolds Hall one hour prior to the performance (6:30 PM) for patrons who want to learn more about the history and meaning behind the music to be performed that evening.  Following the concert, the Philharmonic will celebrate its 20th anniversary at a special reception with wine, coffee and dessert on Reynolds Hall stage ($50 per person, tickets separate from concert).

Falling during the celebration of Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday, On Broadway & SVA Theatre Present a special screening of the Academy Award-winning movie musical WEST SIDE STORY (1961), followed by a conversation with the Oscar-winning star of the film, George Chakiris, on Monday, August 20th at 5:30pm.

If you have kids, or just a love of children's theater, you may have noticed that TheaterWorksUSA-and, yes, after a rebranding, that is how to write it-is not presenting its free summer theater in New York this year. The program has happened almost every year since 1989, but not this one.