Have a Nice Life - 2006 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 16

This season features a slew of stars originating roles, and plenty more making an existing one their own -- but regardless of the breadth of their repertoire, these divas prove they're the top when it comes to getting away with murder in 1920s Chicago, or running a derelict orphanage -- all while hitting their marks night after night.

The State Opera of South Australia are restaging the 1997 production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. It was last seen here in 2006 and so popular is this production that it is back again.

Musical macabre and mayhem will take to stage at Segerstrom Hall as founding father of modern horror rock music, Alice Cooper, makes his Segerstrom Center debut tonight, November 26 at 7:30 p.m. as part of his Raise the Dead tour.

Joe's Pub at The Public welcomes the faithful and the faithless this holiday season with a winter program that includes Yiddish lullabies, kvetching, yuletide cheer, anti-consumerist sermons, sports, jazz, storytelling and of course Sandra Bernhard's hilarious and entertaining end-of-year free for all.

What's in a name? A rose by any other name...well, you know the rest. A name can, in truth, mean everything or it can mean nothing at all. For some people, their name is everything, their entire identity. For something like a play, for example, a name or title can be a little perplexing. Counter-Productions Theatre Company's current play, Nico Was a Fashion Model sounds a bit like it might be a reality show. But to let the unusual name dissuade you from seeing it would be a mistake. This is a fine production of a thought-provoking play populated by three stellar young actors.

To celebrate the publication of The Untold Stories of Broadway on November 12 by Dress Circle Publishing, Jennifer Ashley Tepper will be sharing three short excerpts about each of the Broadway theaters featured in the book-countdown style! Today: The Winter Garden Theatre!

Joe's Pub at The Public welcomes the faithful and the faithless this holiday season with a winter program that includes Yiddish lullabies, kvetching, yuletide cheer, anti-consumerist sermons, sports, jazz, storytelling and of course Sandra Bernhard's hilarious and entertaining end-of-year free for all.

Stephen Fry, who is making his Broadway acting debut as Malvolio in the critically acclaimed Shakespeare's Globe production of TWELFTH NIGHT, will be a guest on 'The Colbert Report' on Thursday, October 24. 'The Colbert Report' airs at 11:30 PM ET on Comedy Central, 10:30 PM Central.

The Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts has announced its 2013-14 schedule. Check out highlights below!

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Sting's 'The Last Ship' and the Broadway In Chicago spring season, 'Oz' in 3D, updates on TV's 'The Sound Of Music' and 'Glee,' plus Groff at Ravinia, 'Lanyard Skynerd' at Martyrs, a road trip 'Ragtime' and more!

Musical macabre and mayhem will take to stage at Segerstrom Hall as founding father of modern horror rock music, Alice Cooper, makes his Segerstrom Center debut on Tuesday, November 26 at 7:30 p.m. as part of his Raise the Dead tour.

Gadfly Productions, will start previews of C.J. Thom's world premiere, FRANKLIN STEIN, a very dark comedy of corporate horror, tonight, August 28th. The production will have its official opening on Sunday, September 1st and run until September 16th at the The Connelly Theatre, 220 East 4th Street in Manhattan.

The Dallas Opera is happy to present three weekends of family-friendly programming guaranteed to introduce you and your loved ones to the big, beautiful world of opera. The Dallas Opera Educational/Family Series, part of The Perot Foundation Education and Community Outreach Programs, is presented by Texas Instruments and made possible with additional support from Lockheed Martin.

Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino has announced the 2014 season, in which, through the prism of a dozen plays, the Stratford Festival will explore the theme of Madness: Minds Pushed to the Edge.

Yoshi's San Francisco announces updated calendar for club and restaurant through September 15, plus new shows through December 2013. Details below!

Gadfly Productions, will start previews of C.J. Thom's world premiere, FRANKLIN STEIN, a very dark comedy of corporate horror, Wednesday, August 28th. The production will have its official opening on Sunday, September 1st and run until September 16th at the The Connelly Theatre, 220 East 4th Street in Manhattan.

Hi there BWW readers!

With the International Al Jolson Society's 17th Annual Long Island Festival just three weeks away (On August 17, from 9am to 4:30pm, at Oceanside Knights of Columbus, 2985 Kenneth Place, Oceanside, NY 11572.), BroadwayWorld.com Cabaret Review/Columnist and passionate Al Jolson fan Stephen Hanks fantasizes about what it might be like to have a conversation with 'The World's Greatest Entertainer,' 53 years after he died. You ain't read nothin' yet.

In August 2008, Book Author and Talk Radio Host Alan Roger Currie was invited to be a dating and relationships expert on the 'Relationships 101' segment of the national morning television talk show, 'The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet' ('Mike and Juliet,' which previously aired on the FOX Network, was canceled in June 2009). Currie said he was excited to express some thoughts and opinions related to today's dating scene in front of a national television audience, but he was disappointed that he was never asked a question related to his popular self-help book for single heterosexual men entitled, 'Mode One: Let the Women Know What You're REALLY Thinking.' 'I thought I would be asked at least one question related to the contents of my 'Mode One' book, but I guess that was not in the plans of the show's producers,' said Currie, who in addition to being a book author and public speaker, is also a professional dating coach and advisor as well as the Host of a popular talk radio show on the BlogTalkRadio Internet Radio Network entitled, 'Upfront & Straightforward with Alan Roger Currie' This weekend, Currie will once again be in Manhattan, but this time he will not be speaking in front of a national television audience. Instead, he will be the headline speaker for a weekend conference for single men known as 'The Direct Dating Summit' (DDS). The DDS has sponsored weekend conferences in Berlin (Germany), Las Vegas, London (England), and Melbourne (Australia). The weekend conference is designed to help single heterosexual men improve upon the weaknesses in their interpersonal communication skills with women, and gain the opportunity to interact with a number of different professional dating coaches, attraction and seduction gurus, personal stylists and lifestyle coaches, and other men's self-improvement speakers. A few of the speakers are known as 'Pick Up Artists,' but Currie frowns on that term. 'I am not a Pick Up Artist, never have been, and I will never refer to myself as such,' said Currie, who conducts personal consultation sessions with men in up to twenty-five different countries via email, Skype, and telephone. 'I describe a 'pick up artist' as a man who employs psychological gimmicks, pleasant lies, and manipulative 'head games' in order to persuade naive and unsuspecting women into having sex with him,' added Currie, who was born and raised in Gary, Indiana and is an alumnus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Currie's book, 'Mode One,' is designed to help men overcome their fear of being rejected by women and their fear of receiving harsh criticisms and insults for letting women know what is really on their mind. 'The vast majority of single men in society are extremely dishonest and disingenuous with women in their first few conversations with them. The most prominent thoughts on most men's minds with women is having sex with them, but many men feel that if they mention anything to do with sex in their first conversation with a woman, that they will be perceived as 'rude' or 'disrespectful.' I explain in detail in my books why I totally disagree with that belief.' Currie has written and published three additional books since the release of 'Mode One' in 2006, including 'Oooooh . . . Say it Again: Mastering the Fine Art of Verbal Seduction and Aural Sex' (2011) and 'The Possibility of Sex: How Naive and Lustful Men are Manipulated by Women Regularly' (2012). Currie has received thousands of testimonials from men in a number of different countries all over the world who have shared with him how his books have helped them transform their lives for the better, and helped them significantly improve their interpersonal communication skills with women of interest. 'A number of men have referred to me as the 'father they never had' or the 'big brother' they never had. Comments like those are very flattering to me and highly appreciated. My number one mission in life is help all of the 'frustrated nice guys' of the world who are trying their best to avoid having the women they are acquainted with place them in the dreaded 'friend zone' and continue to treat them more like a 'platonic play brother' than a potential romantic partner.' The fifth Direct Dating Summit Weekend Conference for Men will be held in Manhattan on Saturday, July 27 and Sunday, July 28, 2013. More information about the event can be found by visiting http://directdatingsummit.com/nyc/ Currie's books can be found on Amazon.com (www.amazon.com/Alan-Roger-Currie/e/B002BLQ9Q0/) and BarnesAndNoble.com

Our Broadway at the Bass season, nicknamed "I Love Broadway!," will feature the regional premiere of I Love Lucy Live on Stage, a time warp that puts you in the audience, circa 1952, during the taping of two of the sitcom's most well-known episodes. Other powerhouses for the Broadway season include the Bass Hall debut of the Tony Award-winning hit Jersey Boys; Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical; Stomp; American Idiot; the first national tours ofGhost The Musical and Nice Work if You Can Get It; Menopause The Musical; and the return of the Blue Man Group.

Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch has announced the company's 2013-2014 season. Eight new works enter Houston Ballet's repertoire, including world premieres by James Kudelka, Garrett Smith and Melissa Hough in September 2013; the North American premiere of David Bintley's Aladdin in February 2014; company premieres of Jiri Kylian's Sechs Tanze, Christopher Bruce's Intimate Pages and Stanton Welch's Of Blessed Memory as well as a world premiere A Young Person's Guide to Orchestra by Mr. Welch in March 2014.

Enrollment applications are being accepted now for Segerstrom Center's Six Days of Broadway summer musical theater camp, which returns to the Center's campus June 24 through July 7. Students will participate in week-long intensives that feature classes in musical performance, monologue interpretation, audition technique, scene work, dance and more. Tony Award nominee and Broadway/film star Erin Dilly returns to lead the program along with Broadway veterans Stephen Buntrock, Danny Gurwin, Hank Stratton and other guest instructors.

Dallas Theater Center presents the world premiere of Fly, a new musical based on J.M. Barrie's novel, Peter Pan. Three-time Tony Award-winning producer Jeffrey Seller (Rent, Avenue Q, In the Heights) makes his directorial debut with this production.

The Theresa Rebeck fable about the woman in black who turns lives upside down is on stage again, with some tweaks from the playwright.

Today we are talking to a spectacularly talented composer/lyricist noted for his incredibly impressive and accomplished oeuvre thus far, having collectively composed more than twenty full-length musicals, operas and specialty performance pieces - Michael John LaChiusa. Discussing his vast array of projects from BUZZSAW BERKELEY to FIRST LADY SUITE, HELLO AGAIN and THE PETRIFIED PRINCE Off-Broadway through to his double-header in the 1999-2000 millennial season with MARIE CHRISTINE and THE WILD PARTY both on Broadway to his Off-Broadway, regional and international successes since, ranging from LITTLE FISH to another two-show-season in 2006 with BERNARDA ALBA and SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE as well as THE HIGHEST YELLOW and the recent Americana-themed epic musical pseudo-trilogy of LOS otros, QUEEN OF THE MIST and GIANT. Additionally, LaChiusa touches upon some of his lesser-known work, such as his musical revue HOTEL C'EST L'AMOUR, various operatic pieces, additional material he provided for pieces such as THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS and his previous and upcoming solo musicals for continuing collaborator Audra McDonald, such as SEND (who are you? i love you) and MARLENE DIETRICH'S ABCs OF LOVE. Most importantly, LaChiusa takes us behind the scenes of the sparkling new deluxe cast album for GIANT, starring Brian D'Arcy James, and discusses the themes, ideas and adaptation of the Edna Ferber novel itself in a fascinating and revealing analysis of the vast, enveloping and vivid score he has composed for GIANT. Also, LaChiusa offers the 411 on this year's Tony Awards specialty song composed for host Neil Patrick Harris and some starry cohorts (Megan Hilty, Laura Benanti and Andrew Rannells), as well as previous Tony show one-offs penned for Hugh Jackman and others. Plus, LaChiusa clues us in on his upcoming projects - including FIRST DAUGHTER SUITE - and much, much more in this career-spanning conversations with one of modern musical theatre's most daring and prolific artists.