How I Got to Broadway - Off-Broadway Articles Page 12

Lerner and Loewe created MY FAIR LADY from Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion". Rodgers and Hammerstein adapted the 1909 Ferenc Molnar play "Liliom" and transplanted the setting from Budapest to the coast of Maine in CAROUSEL. That's generally how musicals are birthed. Not so with THE DROWSY CHAPERONE, which makes its nascency the more intriguing and Broadway fanciful.

I spoke recently with Elaine Alvarez who will be singing the lead role this weekend in the San Diego Opera's production of Florencia en el Amazonas by Mexican composer Daniel Catan and librettist Marcela Fuentes-Berain. Alvarez told me that when she got a call from the San Diego Opera's General Director David Bennett, 'I was at a train station in France, and it was cold. I started jumping up and down! And he was like, 'Do you think you're going to be ready to sing this? Is this in line now with where your voice is.' And I'm like, a hundred percent! Yes! Yes! Yes!' Spanish was her first language, Florencia appealed to her Latin heritage, and she knew her voice was ready. She'd sung Beatrice in Catan's earlier opera Rappaccini's Daughter and was delighted with the opportunity to make her San Diego debut with another of his works.

Academy Award-nominee, Angela Bassett will join Kathleen Battle as a guest narrator in Battle's program Underground Railroad: A Spiritual Journey accompanied by pianist Joel Martin and the LA-based choir, The Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) on Thursday, March 29 at 8:00pm.

American soprano Kathleen Battle's luminous voice has been called by The Washington Post "...without qualification, one of the very few most beautiful in the world."  Yet beyond the glory of her singing, in a career filled with countless accolades, honors and major milestones, what has perhaps distinguished her most is her almost magical ability to create an unwavering emotional bond between herself, her music and her audience.  On Thursday, March 29 at 8pm, that special bond will be on full display when Ms. Battle makes her debut at The Soraya with Kathleen Battle: Underground Railroad-A Spiritual Journey accompanied by pianist Joel Martin and the LA-based choir, The Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers.

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, William Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) today announced the complete cast for the fourth show of its 2017-18 season: the World Premiere production of Transfers, written by MCC Theater's Youth Company Playwriting Lab Director and Obie Award winner Lucy Thurber, and directed by Jackson Gay.

Daniel Evans and Rachel Tackley said: 'We're enormously grateful for the warm welcome extended to us by our local community and those visiting from further afield during our first season, which welcomed Chichester's largest-ever Festival audience.

Ryan Koerber who plays Bobby in National Tour of A Chorus Line gives us the inside scoop of what we can expect from this traveling revival of the iconic show!

It was announced today that the hilarious new Broadway musical comedy THE PROM will star Tony Award Nominee Brooks Ashmanskas (Something Rotten!), Tony Award Winner Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone), two-time Tony Award Nominee Christopher Sieber (Shrek the Musical), Caitlin Kinnunen (Bridges of Madison County), Isabelle McCalla (Aladdin), Michael Potts (Jitney), Angie Schworer (The Producers), Courtenay Collins (Broadway Debut) and Josh Lamon (Groundhog Day) and will officially open on Broadway on Thursday, November 15, 2018 at a Shubert theater to be announced.

Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter, producer and actress Lari White Cannon who made her Broadway debut in the Johnny Cash musical review Ring of Fire died early this morning in Nashville after a battle with peritoneal cancer. She was 52 years old.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) announces the cast and creative team for Hamlet, directed by STC Artistic Director Michael Kahn and featuring acclaimed actor Michael Urie as the tortured Danish prince. Shakespeare's most celebrated tragedy will run January 16-February 25, 2018 at Sidney Harman Hall.

The Muny announced today the directors, choreographers and music directors for The Muny's 2018 centennial season, which opens on June 11 with the first production in the world of Jerome Robbins' Broadway since it's Tony - award winning Broadway and national tour productions.

The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) will present its Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence to Tina Fey and Robert Carlock at the 70th Annual Writers Guild Awards ceremony at New York's Edison Ballroom on February 11, 2018.

Today, December 12, 2017, Broadway Dreams will honor Tony and Grammy Award-winner Heather Headley in celebration of 20 years since her Broadway debut in Disney's landmark musical The Lion King. The tenth annual Broadway Dreams Supper will take place at The Plaza. Mark Brandon at Binder Casting part of RWS Entertainment Group took a moment to reflect back on how Heather got her start in the industry:

City Winery has announced its December lineup of musical acts. See the full list below!

The Chase Brock Experience, the Brooklyn-based contemporary dance company now celebrating its 10th season, is excited to begin performances for their two-week engagement, tonight, Monday, November 27. The engagement is set to run through December 9, at Theatre Row's Clurman Theatre (located at 412 W 42nd Street). All tickets are $29.00 and can be purchased on-line at Telecharge.com, by phone at 212-239-6200 or at the Theatre Row Box Office. A special student rate of $19.00 is available at the box office with a valid student ID.

Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre NBT welcomes Roscoe Orman (Sesame Street, The Night Of) in Nambi E. Kelley's play 'Blood,' the first I AM SOUL PLAYWRIGHTS RESIDENT workshop. The show is directed by Elizabeth Van Dyke.

Kitchen Theatre Company continues its 2017-2018 Season with the regional premiere of Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe, a funny and moving new play about the lengths to which we will go for those we love.

Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig's boots are made for running... on Broadway.

Originally from Leduc, Alberta, just 15 minutes south of Edmonton, Hal Wesley Rogers first discovered his passion for acting after seeing the Citadel Theatre's 2006 production of Peter Pan. Rogers, now based in Vancouver, returns to his home province for the Pre-Broadway Canadian Premiere of Hadestown. The Citadel's Sydnee Bryant (fun fact: they went to the same high school!) spoke with Rogers about his role as a Worker and what it's like to appear on the Citadel stage for the first time.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) announces the cast and creative team for Hamlet, directed by STC Artistic Director Michael Kahn and featuring acclaimed actor Michael Urie as the tortured Danish prince. Shakespeare's most celebrated tragedy will run January 16-February 25, 2018 at Sidney Harman Hall.

About ten-and-a-half years ago, Paper Mill Playhouse was in such financial trouble it was on the verge of closing. This season the 2016 Regional Theatre Tony-winning theater is hosting two world premiere musicals and two east coast premieres. How did the turnaround happen?

Kitchen Theatre Company continues its 2017-2018 Season with the regional premiere of Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe, a funny and moving new play about the lengths to which we will go for those we love.

The Chase Brock Experience Celebrates 10th Anniversary With Exciting New York Season

Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre NBT announced today that Roscoe Orman (Sesame Street, The Night Of) will star in Nambi E. Kelley's play 'Blood,' the first I AM SOUL PLAYWRIGHTS RESIDENT workshop. The show will be directed by Elizabeth Van Dyke.