Having Wonderful Time - 1937 - Broadway Articles Page 2

CANTON, OHIO (January 26, 2016) – The Canton Symphony Orchestra (CSO) will celebrate the exuberance of youth and the future generation of music makers at its MasterWorks concert, titled “Young at Heart”, on February 14, 2016 at 7:30pm at Umstattd Performing Arts Hall adjacent to the Zimmermann Symphony Center (2331 17th Street NW, Canton).  The performance, sponsored in part by FreshMark, has many layers of youthful involvement on the program.

Star of Downton Abbey and regular on the West End and Broadway stage, Julian Ovenden has signed a new record deal with East West Records (home to artists including Alexander Armstrong, Hugh Laurie, Simply Red and The Corrs).

In the American theatrical cannon, there is perhaps no play more beloved than George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's Pulitzer Prize-winning YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU. The cherished comedy has been one of the most enduring works on American stages since its debut in 1937, and Church Street's Mad Cow Theatre Company has brought a charming production to Orlando through October 25th. Directed by David Russell, the original madcap family comedy still carries as many life lessons as it did nearly 80 years ago, all the while providing a laugh a minute. While there is a layer of subtext seemingly missing from this production, it is nonetheless thrilling to see such an incredibly talented cast dive head first into these delightfully bonkers characters.

Pearl (www.PearlTheShow.com), a new American-Chinese dance-theatre spectacular, inspired by the life of Pearl S. Buck, the first woman to win both the Nobel and the Pulitzer Prizes, will have its world premiere at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for 4 performances only, August 27-30th. The story, focusing on the substantial influence Pearl had on both Chinese and Western cultures, will be brought to life through new choreography by Daniel Ezralow (Ezralow Dance Company, MOMIX, Sochi Olympics Opening Ceremony, Academy Awards), a new score composed by Jun Miyake (collaborations with Robert Wilson, Pina Bausch, David Byrne and Oliver Stone) dazzling visuals and a company of 30 American and Chinese dancers.

Ray Lawler's play, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, was first performed in 1955, and is considered an Australian classic.

In recognition of her outstanding lifetime contribution to American culture, Martina Arroyo will be one of five recipients of this year's Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday, December 8 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Seated with President and Mrs. Obama, as well as with her fellow Honorees (actress Shirley MacLaine and musicians Herbie Hancock, Billy Joel, and Carlos Santana), the pre-eminent American soprano will be saluted with performances and tributes during the star-studded gala celebration that will be broadcast nationwide as a two-hour prime time special on CBS-TV (Dec 29 at 9pm, EST). The honor is a fitting one, for Arroyo has devoted herself to opera over the course of a decades-long career. Since retiring from the stage, where her voice was heralded by the New York Times as "among the most glorious in the world," the Harlem-born soprano has continued to serve the art form through the Martina Arroyo Foundation, the non-profit cultural organization she established ten years ago to provide new generations of talented young singers with the tools to pursue careers in opera and prepare them for the stage.

BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre site on the Internet, is excited to announce a new feature to its comprehensive regional coverage - the Featured Regional Theater of the Week! Each week, BWW will introduce its readers to a regional theater located in one of our (over 130!) coverage cities. By exploring these different venues, their history and showcasing the production seasons, BWW continues its commitment to expand our presence in communities and cities across the United States. This Week's Featured Regional Theater: Mesa Encore Theatre in Mesa, AZ

I suppose the problem with being the greatest Broadway comic actor of your generation is that once the label sticks you rarely get the opportunity to prove that you can also turn in great dramatic performances.  (Conversely, not since Garbo laughed has anyone been surprised to see a great dramatic actor excel in a comic part.)  In Douglas Carter Beane's ambitious, provocative and lovely protest drama/romantic comedy, The Nance, Nathan Lane finally gets to originate the kind of role that highlights what makes him a genuine stage star.  He sings, he says funny lines, he plays love scenes… but most of all he perceptively plays a strikingly original character in what will most likely be considered, up to this point, the best stage performance of his career.

Strike up the (big) band for a one-of-a-kind concert experience as Pacific Symphony Pops celebrates the greatest team of collaborators in American music history: George and Ira Gershwin. 'The Gershwins: Here to Stay' is a unique multimedia event that illuminates the lives and music of the composer and his lyricist brother with home movies, original photos and rare audio and video footage.

Strike up the (big) band for a one-of-a-kind concert experience as Pacific Symphony Pops celebrates the greatest team of collaborators in American music history: George and Ira Gershwin. 'The Gershwins: Here to Stay' is a unique multimedia event that illuminates the lives and music of the composer and his lyricist brother with home movies, original photos and rare audio and video footage.

Today we are talking to a charismatic leading man who has made quite a mark on Broadway over the last few seasons, having participated in the original Broadways casts of Kander & Ebb's THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS (for which he received a Tony nomination for Best Actor), Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT (as Favorite Son) and, most recently, the rapturously-received revival of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY & BESS (as Jake), which won the 2012 Tony Award for Best Revival - the multi-talented Joshua Henry. Discussing the creation, casting, rehearsal and reception of each of the aforementioned musicals, as well as working with his collaborators on said projects - John Kander, Susan Stroman, Billie Joe Armstrong, Tom Kitt, Michael Mayer, Audra McDonald, Norm Lewis, Diane Paulus and more included - Henry illustrates the process of bringing the three wildly different entities to the stage and how he shaped his disparate characters within them. Additionally, Henry also discusses his role in the original production of Lin-Manuel Miranda's IN THE HEIGHTS and that Tony-winning Best Musical's inception and legacy. Plus, Henry expounds on his new self-composed family-friendly musical, AMIGO DUENDE, directed by Luis Salgado, which begins performances October 5 at El Musio Del Barrio and also shares the inspiration behind it. All of that, first news on his starring role in COTTON CLUB PARADE at City Center (co-starring GLEE's Amber Riley), sharing the screen with Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson and the Fab Four in SEX & THE CITY: THE MOVIE, his role in the recent MOTOWN workshop (as Marvin Gaye), future plans and much, much more!

Sixty-eight years after its premiere, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams has withstood the tides of change and is sweeping Performance Network Theatre into its 2012-2013 Great American Theatre Season with preview performances tonight, September 27 - October 4 and an opening champagne reception on October 5 followed by performances through October 28.

Sixty-eight years after its premiere, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams has withstood the tides of change and is sweeping Performance Network Theatre into its 2012-2013 Great American Theatre Season with preview performances September 27 - October 4 and an opening champagne reception on October 5 followed by performances through October 28.

People's Light & Theatre presents John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, running through March 25, 2012 on the Main Stage.

Roundabout Theatre Company in association with Don Gregory, has announced the full company for the new Broadway production of Mary Chase's Harvey starring Jim Parsons (Elwood P. Dowd), Jessica Hecht (Veta Louise Simmons), Charles Kimbrough (William R. Chumley, M.D.), Larry Bryggman (Judge Omar Gaffney), Carol Kane (Betty Chumley), Peter Benson (E.J. Lofgren), Tracee Chimo (Myrtle Mae Simmons), Holley Fain (Ruth Kelly, R.N.), Angela Paton (Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet), Rich Sommer (Duane Wilson), Morgan Spector (Lyman Sanderson, M.D.) and directed by Scott Ellis.

People's Light & Theatre will present John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, running February 15 - March 25, 2012 on the Main Stage.

Roundabout Theatre Company in association with Don Gregory, announced that Jim Parsons (Elwood P. Dowd), Jessica Hecht (Veta Louise Simmons) and Charles Kimbrough (William R. Chumley, M.D.) starring in a new Broadway production of the Pulitzer Prize winning comedy Harvey by Mary Chase and directed by Scott Ellis.

Roundabout Theatre Company announced the full company of the new musical Death Takes A Holiday, with a book by Peter Stone & Thomas Meehan, music & lyrics by Maury Yeston, directed by Doug Hughes. The cast will include Linda Balgord (Contessa Danielli), Matt Cavenaugh (Eric Fenton), Mara Davi (Alice), Joy Hermalyn (Cora), Jay Jaski (Lorenzo), Simon Jones (Dr. Dario Albione), Rebecca Luker (Duchess Lamberti), Patricia Noonan (Sophia), Julian Ovenden (Prince Sirki / Death), Jill Paice (Grazia), Michael Siberry (Duke Lamberti), Alexandra Socha (Daisy Fenton), Don Stephenson (Fidele), Max Von Essen (Corrado Montelli).

The biggest Broadway event of 1937 was undoubtedly the gala opening night of I'd Rather Be Right.  Not only did the new musical boast a score by Richard Rodger and Lorenz Hart and a book by George S. Kaufman (who also directed) and Moss Hart (the pair had just won that year's Pulitzer for You Can't Take It With You), but the star was no less than the grand old man of Broadway - who many will argue invented the book song and dance musical comedy as we know it today - George M. Cohan, playing the role of then-President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  Never before and never since has a sitting U.S. president been the leading character in a Broadway musical.

Los Angeles' Reprise Theatre Company today announced it's 2010-2011 season, which features three classic American musicals at UCLA's Freud Playhouse: 'They're Playing Our Song' (September 28 to October 10, 2010), with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager and book by Neil Simon, and starring Jason Alexander, the company's Artistic Director; Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's 'Gigi' (February 15 to 27, 2011); and Cole Porter's 'Kiss Me, Kate' (May 10 to 22, 2011), with book by Samuel and Bella Spewack.

Find out what happens after 'happily ever after' when Pittsburgh CLO presents Into the Woods. Once Upon a Time, a Baker and his wife embarked on a quest to break a witch's spell. On their journey 'into the woods' they cross paths with Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Cinderella and a host of other hysterically flawed fairy tale characters.

Find out what happens after 'happily ever after' when Pittsburgh CLO presents Into the Woods. Once Upon a Time, a Baker and his wife embarked on a quest to break a witch's spell. On their journey 'into the woods' they cross paths with Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Cinderella and a host of other hysterically flawed fairy tale characters.

Find out what happens after 'happily ever after' when Pittsburgh CLO presents Into the Woods. Once Upon a Time, a Baker and his wife embarked on a quest to break a witch's spell. On their journey 'into the woods' they cross paths with Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Cinderella and a host of other hysterically flawed fairy tale characters.

Bruce F. Winston remembers his 'musical theatre mentor' Harold Rome, the composer/lyricist of Call Me Mister, Fanny, I Can Get It for You Wholesale and more