Getting Out - 1979 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 12

While there are always rumors of closings and real estate transactions happening willy-nilly, Chaffin's Barn continues to thrive and to entertain and to give both audiences and theater folk an opportunity to get to know one another better and to be transported and transformed via the magic of live theater. I hope that Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre remains a vital part of Music City long after I've been reassigned to review shows in the afterlife.

The Lincoln Center Theater production of the Tony Award-winning musical Falsettos officially opens tonight at the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street).  William Finn and James Lapine's beloved musical  is the story of the charming, neurotic Marvin, who struggles to find an unconventional and loving extended family after leaving his wife and son for his lover Whizzer.

Obie-Awarding director Robert Allan Ackerman has worked the boards all around the globe bringing out outstanding performances from both stellar legends and before-they-were-known newbies. Robert's latest production BLOOD, which he wrote as well, had its world premiere earlier this year, also at The Complex.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston announces the cast & creative team for COMPANY, with Music and Lyrics by STEPHEN SONDHEIM and Book by GEORGE FURTH. Directed by Spiro Veloudos with music director Catherine Stornetta and choreography & musical staging by Rachel Bertone, COMPANY will run September 2 - October 9, 2016.

New Jersey Repertory Company, located at 179 Broadway in Long Branch, is proud to announce the New Jersey premiere of IAGO by James McLure.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston announces the cast & creative team for COMPANY, with Music and Lyrics by STEPHEN SONDHEIM and Book by GEORGE FURTH. Directed by Spiro Veloudos with music director Catherine Stornetta and choreography & musical staging by Rachel Bertone, COMPANY will run September 2 - October 9, 2016.

Custom Made Theatre Company opens its 18th season in San Francisco with Chess, the legendary rock opera from Tim Rice ("Evita","Jesus Christ Superstar") and Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, members of the celebrated pop group, ABBA. Set towards the end of the cold war, Chess uses politics and sport as metaphor for a love triangle between an enfant-terrible American superstar (loosely modeled on Bobby Fisher), his Hungarian-born lover/second, and a Soviet player looking to start a new life.  

The 27th annual Bard Music Festival - an exploration of 'Puccini and His World' - opens this Today, August 5 with Weekend One: Puccini and Italian Musical Culture.

The 27th annual Bard Music Festival - an exploration of 'Puccini and His World' - opens this Friday, August 5 with Weekend One: Puccini and Italian Musical Culture.

The 1979 Off-Broadway musical was the first collaboration from Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is pleased to announce the August, and September lineup for the 2016 Comedy Club.

Directing Kids and Teens sounds like a very difficult job, but for these 4 directors, the task is very easy. Cheryl Baxter-Ratliff  (Los Angeles), Joel & Christine Seger (Massachusetts), and Kelley Manson (Massachusetts) have had their fair share of young adult productions to be proud of.  No matter what coast they are from, they all can agree that kids and teens are "sponges" that can soak up information and that they do not have any bad habits they need to break on stage. They also talk about their beginnings in directing kids and teens, memorable moments thus far in their directing, and more. Read my Q&A below to see what they said. 

New Jersey Repertory Company, located at 179 Broadway in Long Branch, is proud to announce the New Jersey premiere of IAGO by James McLure.

"I haven't specifically counted," the dynamic actress sitting opposite me replies. "Somewhere between 1000-2000 performances, I think. I've done the role with Theodore Bikel and Harvey Fierstein, on both national tours, and in regional and stock houses all over the country." Susan Cella is speaking of her signature portrayal of Golde, the vehicle which has brought her to the latest stop in her artistic journey, Maine State Music Theatre in a new production of the Bock-Harnick musical, Fiddler on the Roof, that opens July 20.

Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, announces a one-week extension to Company, featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth. The production is directed by William Brown. Company features original orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, Orchestral Reductions by Ian Weinberger, music direction by Tom Vendafreddo and choreography by Brock Clawson. The show, originally slated to run through July 31, 2016, will add an additional week, through August 7, in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe.

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts has announced the July, August, and September lineup for the 2016 Comedy Club. Monday nights at 8 pm. All dates are available online at www.baystreet.org or calling the Box Office at 631-725-9500. All comedy performances are suggested for ages 17 and up. Comedy Club is sponsored by Saunders & Associates and The Friars Foundation. Media sponsor is Beach Magazine.

Raquel Cion's critically acclaimed cabaret show Me and Mr Jones: My Intimate Relationship with David Bowie, has it's final performance of the current run at The Slipper Room on Sunday (May 15) at 8 pm. Cion has been working throughout NYC as an actor, director, and singer for the past 20 years, and has won accolades for her evocative performances. Since she was a teenager, Cion has had a deep, abiding, reverential love for the musician David Bowie, which she incandescently brings to light in this show, as much a one-woman Off-Broadway presentation with a band as a cabaret show. I recently met with Cion at the Chocolate Room in Brooklyn, and true to form, Cion ordered a vanilla milkshake, laughing at her tendency to swim against the current. We discussed her creative and emotional process for initially creating the Bowie show, and then changing the show on the fly after her beloved Bowie died this past January at 69.

In the Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical about community and family in a Dominican-American neighborhood in New York City, has a multi-layered meaning for its talented cast. The production, which is currently being presented at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, features veteran television actor Juan Carlos Cantu, returning to the stage after more than 30 years, to act besides his two daughters, Tatiana and Sandra. All three play major roles in the show, bringing the three together on stage for the first time. (Our review is in this week's Moorpark Acorn. http://www.mpacorn.com/news/2016-05-06/On_The_Town/Cast_takes_musical_to_the_highest_level.html) We visited with the girls and their proud father before a Sunday matinee performance.

From earthquakes to tidal waves to shark attacks, it wasn't safe to go to the movies that decade.

We continue our series on Austin theatres and producers with David Blackburn and the award winning Austin Theatre Project. In just four short years, Austin Theatre Project has become a company known for new and edgy musical productions. We sat down with him to learn a little more about both him and Austin Theatre Project.

Broadway's new musical comedy DISASTER!, directed by Jack Plotnick with a book by three-time Emmy Award nominee and Grammy Award nominee Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick, officially opens tonight, March 8, 2016, for a limited engagement through Sunday, July 3, 2016. Let's see what the critics had to say...

Seattle Women's Chorus (SWC) takes audiences on a hilarious romp back in time to the trials and trails of summer camp adventures.

Actors Theatre of Louisville Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein are delighted to announce the three ten-minute plays chosen to be performed during the 40th Humana Festival of New American Plays.

Seattle Women's Chorus (SWC) takes audiences on a hilarious romp back in time to the trials and trails of summer camp adventures.