Have a Nice Day - 2018 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 18

Since becoming a critic at Broadwayworld.com, I normally attend a play on opening night. Baltimore Center Stage has always had a tradition of presenting a 'Meet the Actor's Night' one day after opening. My wife and I loved to attend these because they are uniformly informative, educational, and fun. Normally audiences hear about an actor's past work, how long is the rehearsal process, how was it like to work with the director, is this your first time in Baltimore, what is like to work at Baltimore Center Stage.

Fittingly, Palm Canyon Theatre has opened their 2018/2019 season with the classic Oklahoma!, deemed by many to be the foundation of the modern musical theatre. Originally appearing on Broadway in 1943, it is the first collaboration of Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II, was a blockbuster hit in its original run, and has been filmed, revived, toured, and produced time and again in schools and theatres around the world. However, it's been quite a spell since it has been available to local theatregoers. PCT's production, under the direction of Derik Shopinski, is reverent to the original work, blessed with some amazing voices, boisterously staged, and absolutely delighted the audience on its opening weekend.

More GREASE homage than a blood-sucking WEST SIDE STORY, BLOOD ROCK: THE MUSICAL pits two gangs of vampires against each other in a modern-day fight for survival. This entertaining, light romp receives its transfusion of wonderfulness from the amazing vocals and harmonies of the large talented cast singing the very credible lyrics of Michael Berns. Everyone has their moments to shine under Gary Thomas' able direction.

Jamie Lloyd is marking the 10th anniversary of Harold Pinter's death in remarkable style with his Pinter at the Pinter season, staging all the great man's 20 short plays, plus some sketches and poetry – grouped into seven productions – at the theatre which now bears his name.

The Nap celebrates its opening night tonight at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street)!

It's the day of the show, y'all: The Nashville premiere of Mart Crowley's The Boys in the Band is tonight - at The Barbershop Theatre, 4003 Indiana Avenue in The Nations - and six of the actors portraying Crowley's now-iconic characters took time from tech week to answer questions about their processes and to offer their reasons for why you should come see the show.

Magnet Theater presents The Tenth Annual New York Musical Improv Festival from October 18-21, 2018 at 254 W. 29th Street, ground floor (between 7th and 8th Avenues), NYC. Most tickets are $5-$15 and feature performances by two to four different musical improv acts per show. Festival Workshops are also being offered to people of all levels of experience! 

Fats Domino once sang, 'I found my thrill, on Blueberry Hill.' He might have been channeling little Sal, the central character in Robert McCloskey's 1948 picture book, Blueberries for Sal. The book which in its almost 70 year existence, has been cited in many best of lists and was an award a Caldecott Honor in 1949. And finally, Adventure Theatre MTC has turned it into a delightful stage adaptation which is now playing through October 21, 2018 at Glen Echo Park.

It's a good thing that Jennifer Simard looks great in pink... Following a triumphant run as the hilarious Ernestina in Hello, Dolly!, the Tony nominee has just taken over not one, but three roles in Mean Girls on Broadway- Mrs. Heron, Ms. Norbury and Mrs. George.

As part of its Developmental Reading Series, The York Theatre Company presents two-time Emmy Award Winner Sally Struthers and Head Over Heels Star Bonnie Milligan in Staged Readings of New Musical Oh My God...Broadway!!

Good morning BroadwayWorld! Today's top stories: get a first look at Jessica Vosk and Ryan McCartan in Wicked, and more!

Billy Crystal's new play 'Have a Nice Day' will hold a live reading at the Minetta Lane Theater next month, according to The New York Times.

Written and performed by Jane Watt, Gate 64 is making its way to New York after highly successful seasons at Sydney Comedy Festival and Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Following the announcement of their Opening Night Film, Yen Tan's award-winning AIDS drama 1985, NewFest today announced the full lineup of their 30th annual celebration of the year's best LGBT films from around the world. The program of more than 140 narrative features, documentaries, episodic series and shorts runs from October 24-30 at the SVA Theatre, Cinépolis Chelsea, and The LGBT Community Center in New York City.

As WICKED continues to entertain audiences all over the world, it has proven that WICKED has true staying power. It's full of entertainment from start to finish and everywhere in between. WICKED is beloved and enjoyed by all ages and many who are happy to see it again and again. It will be in San Antonio, Texas at the Majestic Theatre from September 26 - October 14, 2018. BWW SA recently caught up with San Antonio native Andy Richardson who has recently joined the cast of WICKED and is very excited to make his debut on the stage of the Majestic Theatre; a theater he enjoyed as a child and a theater that helped spark his dream to perform someday.

Today, The Thursday Five(+1) shines the spotlight on four members of the Chaffin's Barn cast of Newsies - David Ridley, Samantha Blake, Natalie Rankin and Kayla Petrille - who took time out from their rigorous regimen of rehearsals to tell our readers more about themselves and to offer their own suggestions for why you should come see their show, which runs through October 22.

A chat with Kevin Hafso Koppman as he takes the family name 'Frankenstein' in the Mel Brooks musical YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN at San Diego Musical Theatre

Teen angst is not something to ignore. Often times, it is the only semblance of emotion that youths exhibit in hopes of finding comfort from others and answers from themselves. Just as these emotions are real, so too is the music that exemplifies these feelings. The combination of these ideas leads us to such musical performances as Green Day's American Idiot at Town Hall Arts Center.

The internationally acclaimed Broadway @ concert series hosted and music directed by Sirius XM Radio Star Seth Rudetsky is finally landing smack dab in the middle of Broadway itself this fall.

Late 2018 will mark the 40th anniversary of Bauhaus. To celebrate, Beggars Arkive is reissuing records from the band's catalog on limited edition colored vinyl. In The Flat Field and Mask will be released on October 26th. November 23rd will bring The Sky's Gone Out and Press The Eject And Give Me The Tape, which is being pressed in the US for the first time and is exclusive to US Record Store Day Black Vinyl retailers. Also on this date, Leaving Records (a partner of Stones Throw Records) will release the band's first recording ever, The Bela Session including three previously unreleased tracks and a remastered version of 'Bela Lugosi's Dead.' For details, please visit http://www.stonesthrow.com/news/2018/09/bauhaus. On December 7th, the Arkive series concludes with releases of Burning From The Inside and Crackle.

Jewish Life Television (JLTV) will broadcast Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur services held at Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre, coast-to-coast on the Eve of Yom Kippur (Kol Nidre), Tuesday, September 18, 2018 (5779) from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. ET and 9:00 - 11:00 p.m. ET and on Yom Kippur, Wednesday, September 19, 2017 (5779) from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. ET and 1:00 - 3:00 p.m., Rabbi David Baron of the Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre announced today. The services will also be broadcast coast to coast via DIRECTV, Comcast, Spectrum and other video providers, as well as on the ARMED FORCES NETWORK, reaching 177 military bases and embassies globally. The broadcasts will also be webcast continuously throughout the days on September 18th and 19th on www.bhtota.org

I had the pleasure of being invited to attend the premiere of The Great Canadian Theatre Company's production of Kate Hennig's The Virgin Trial, directed by Eric Coates. Although this production is the sequel to Hennig's The Last Wife, the play stands on its own so no prior knowledge is needed. The play is set in modern times, but the characters and events are from the Tudor era. English history buffs will particularly enjoy the story as it is partially based on factual events with some speculation thrown in, which makes for a fascinating crime drama.

This holiday season, Goodman Theatre presents The Santaland Diaries-David Sedaris' "vivid, hilarious portrait of family Christmas with his deft combination of wicked humor and scalpel-sharp observation" (Chicago Magazine).

The traditional Christmas staple of Charles Dickens' much loved A Christmas Carol, returns this festive season to the West End stage starring Simon Callow, running at the Arts Theatre for a strictly limited season from 8 December to 12 January.