I Do! I Do! - 1966 - Broadway Articles Page 17

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Happy Friday! Finish off your week by catching up on the latest Broadway news!

The title of Andy Statman's CD, inspired by Bill Monroe, may be Monroe Bus, but we are really on the 'Statman Bus' -- with the spirit of Bill Monroe riding shotgun. Be sure to buckle up -- with Statman at the wheel on musical highways, it's hard to keep the bus in a single lane. 

Grand Ole Opry Member, Jeannie Seely and special guest Tim Atwood brought the attendees at the weekly Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum Songwriter Sessions to their feet during the event on Saturday Feb. 23. Watch the live-stream video here.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! We're so close to Friday! Power through the rest of your week by catching up on the latest Broadway news!

Two works representing the sacred and the secular, and also representing the Los Angeles Master Chorale's past and present, will be performed in Walt Disney Concert on Sunday, March 17 at 7 PM. Maurice Duruflé's Requiem was written by the French composer in 1947 and has become one of the most-beloved choral compositions of the 20th century. The Requiem has been given storied performances by the Master Chorale since the 1960s. Dale Trumbore describes her work How to Go On as a “secular requiem” and the work — commissioned by the non-profit, Southern California-based Choral Arts Initiative — was premiered in July 2016 and subsequently saw Trumbore awarded the ASCAP Young Composers Award in 2017. The March 17 concert will be the Los Angeles Master Chorale's first performance of the work.

In 2019, Sierra Stages begins its second decade of presenting quality local theater in Grass Valley and Nevada City with three provocative shows: The legendary musical "Cabaret", the black comedy "Hand to God", and the intimate musical revue "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow: A Stephen Sondheim Evening".

As a self-proclaimed musical theater geek, I'll admit to some gaps in my geekdom and Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt's 1966 musical "I Do! I Do!" falls squarely into that gap. Before going to see the current production at Village Theatre I knew nothing about it. I don't even think I've heard the errant song from it off one of my many compilation albums. And now having seen it I'm more than happy to let it fall back into obscurity. With its paper thin, almost conflict free storyline, and songs that simply peter out into an air of forgetfulness, the only thing that saved the evening were the two people performing the show, Kendra Kassebaum and Peter Saide, but even they couldn't save this one.

The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum has announced Country music royalty and a fifty-one year member of the Grand Ole Opry, Jeannie Seely will be included in the opening of its first exhibition of 2019, American Currents: The Music of 2018, on Friday, March 8, 2019. The exhibit runs through Feb. 8, 2020.

ANIMUS is a theater piece that incorporates film (both pre-recorded as well as projected live) better than any I've seen before. In fact everything about the piece is thoughtfully created and exquisitely executed. Produced by a new company (called E/D), but not a new collaboration (Emily Michaels King and Debra Berger), it's inspired by the 1966 Ingmar Bergman film PERSONA and is in fact part of the Swedish filmmaker's jubilee celebration. I've not seen this film, but if it's as hauntingly beautiful and downright trippy as ANIMUS, I now want to. Presented as part of last year's Twin Cities Horror Festival, it's been expanded to 90 fully engrossing minutes. ANIMUS continues through December 22 only and should not be overlooked in this busy season both on and off stage.

Country music royalty and a fifty-one year member of the Grand Ole Opry, Jeannie Seely, took the stage on Friday, December 14 at Lipscomb University's Allen Arena for the Fifth Annual Nashville Senior Christmas ShinnDig for a very special performance of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and "I'll Be Home For Christmas." Seely also joined Tim Atwood on his performance of "Something About that Name". Performers in addition to Seely and Atwood included Kathie Lee Gifford, Charlie McCoy, Julie Roberts, Matt Bagher, Paul Allen Coon and Sarah Martin.

Growing up in a small Southern town with fewer than 1,000 people, the prevalent thoughts tend to be centered on how to get out of that stifling, archly conservative community, in order to search for the proverbial greener pastures and to find like-minded people who will make you feel more "at home" with yourself and in your own skin. While that may well be the honest-to-God true story of my youth, nonetheless it always startles me when my emotions are stirred up by a stage musical set in the years long before my birth, with a show that fairly reverberates with the heart and soul, memories and nostalgia usually associated with a trip back home.

This quote is the opening sentence from the author of the book and the words that inspired, created and catapulted The White Album -- a theatrical representation in full of Didion's autobiographical, literary essays of the same name published in 1979 but focused on the tumultuous period of time between 1966 (though it was officially started in 1968) and 1971, which had an engagement as part of BAM's Next Wave Festival November 28 - December 1, through collaborators between Lars Jan/Early Morning Opera, Mia Barron (who portrayed Didion herself), and multiple commissioners and supporters including Center Theatre Group, arts centers at CalArts, UCLA, Ohio State University and the UCross Foundation, amongst others.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers, announces the top ASCAP holiday songs of 2018. According to an ASCAP analysis of streaming and terrestrial radio data, the hit classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” written by ASCAP songwriter Walter Afanasieff and pop star Mariah Carey, holds the #1 song position for the second year in a row.

Twin Cities based artists, Emily Michaels King and Debra Berger announced today the debut of their performance duo E/D and the remount of their latest theatrical work, Animus, performing December 14 through December 22 at the Southern Theater. 

Just in time for the holidays comes a musical, spanning 1950 to 1966, about a mother of 12. "Raising Twelve on a Nickel and a Prayer" was written by playwright and Powerstories Theatre founder Fran Taylor Powers' in honor of her parents and to show that everyone has a dream.

CABARET is a 1966 musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff, based on John Van Druten's 1951 play I Am a Camera, which was adapted from the short novel Goodbye to Berlin (1939) by Christopher Isherwood. Set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis are rising to power, it focuses on the nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, and revolves around young American writer Cliff Bradshaw (John Fredrickson) and his relationship with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles (Logan-Rae). The musical was also made into a 1972 film.

PS CLASSICS, the label that celebrates the heritage of Broadway and American popular song, has released its groundbreaking new recording Philip Chaffin: Will He Like Me? today, Friday, November 9. The album is featured in The New York Times "2018 Holiday Gift Guide," which raves, "From 'When I Marry Mr. Snow' to 'I Got Lost in His Arms,' Chaffin tells a familiar story that has never sounded so new." 

Cabaret is a 1966 musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff. The original Broadway production became such a hit it inspired several productions and revivals in New York and premiered in London's West End in 1968. Cabaret, the film, was produced in 1972, directed by Bob Fosse, and starred Liza Minnelli, Michael York, and Joel Grey. The film is particularly known for Liza Minnelli's rendition of 'Cabaret', a song she would come to sing in concert halls worldwide. It became her trademark.

Brian May once said, 'I don't think anybody comes close to The Beatles' - but BEATLEMANIA ON TOUR certainly does an excellent job trying. With their mop-top haircuts, replica guitars and talented musical stylings, be prepared with BEATLEMANIA ON TOUR to clap your hands, rattle your jewelry, and get out of your seat for a memorable night with the fab four.

The Minty Organization for the Performing Arts, the non-profit which oversees The Minty Awards, has announced honorees for the 6th Minty Awards Dinner Gala to be held Thursday, January 17 at 7:00pm at Nicotra's Ballroom, The Hilton Garden Inn.

Nathan Lee Graham took to the stage at The Green Room 42 on October 11 with the flourish you would expect from this dramatic performer. Wearing a black brocade jacket with a long, fringed, gold metallic scarf over one shoulder, Graham staged ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL: A SONDHEIM SALON, an evening devoted to Stephen Sondheim.

PS CLASSICS will release the groundbreaking new recording Philip Chaffin: Will He Like Me? online and in stores November 9, 2018.

Jerry Herman's second great triumph following the success of Hello Dolly! was Mame in 1966 and a triumphant Broadway debut for Tony winning Angela Lansbury. Based on Patrick Dennis' memoir of his wildly eccentric aunt, the story lent itself beautifully to Herman's upbeat score. It is rarely revived, and thanks to the Musical Theatre Guild, who do fully staged readings of old or lesser known musicals, we got a lovely presentation on Sunday September 23 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale.