Is Life Worth Living? - 2009 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 9

Admirably directed by 3-D Theatricals co-founder and resident artistic director TJ Dawson, this ambitiously impressive regional revival of RAGTIME: THE MUSICAL, continues through October 26 at its home-base at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton before moving north for its set of performances at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, November 1-9. A stunning, beautifully-rendered production enhanced by a supremely talented cast and Broadway-caliber production values, this rarely-produced musical is a Southern California must-see!

The new Broadway revival of On The Town, directed by John Rando (Tony Award for Urinetown) and choreographed by Joshua Bergasse (Emmy Award winner for 'Smash') officially opens tonight, October 16, 2014 at Broadway's Lyric Theatre. Let's see what the critics had to say...

For your viewing pleasure, I had a conversation with Broadway actress and singer Krysta Rodriguez about her upcoming masterclasses with Straight From New York. Without even seeming to try, she gave an illuminating, dare I say, instructive interview.

Film will Focus on her Mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and her Creation of the Special Olympics ESPN Films announced today that award-winning journalist, author and philanthropist Maria Shriver will executive produce a 30 for 30 Short film with ESPN Films

WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin today announced the directors for the remainder of the Company's 2014-2015 Main Stage season at the Addison Theatre Centre.

The Dallas Opera's explosive second production of the 2014-2015 "Heights of Passion" Season is SALOME by Richard Strauss (whose libretto was based on Hedwig Lachmann's German translation of Oscar Wilde's play). SALOME, generally regarded as one of the masterpieces of the Late Romantic Era, opens on Thursday, October 30, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. in theMargot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center located in the Dallas Arts District.

Feinstein's at the Nikko is proud to announce the upcoming lineup for November 2014. Performers include Tony Award winning actress and singer Betty Buckley; Tony Award winner Laura Benanti; jazz legend Freddy Cole; acclaimed performance artist Jeffrey Johnson; star of stage and screen Telly Leung; Award-winning cabaret singer -- and Bay Area native -- Carly Ozard. Additional performers for November 2014 will be announced at a later date.

The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) today announced the participants of the third cycle of the BAM Professional Development Program (BAM PDP), led by BAM and the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the University of Maryland. The companies for this session represent mixed disciplines ranging from dance to theater to opera. Chosen by a BAM-convened panel, the organizations taking part in this session are Encompass New Opera Theatre, Satellite Collective, Summation Dance, and Treehouse Shakers. As with the previous sessions, the DeVos Institute extended invitations to a group of organizations to apply for the training portion of the BAM PDP-expanding the program's reach beyond Brooklyn-based companies. These additional organizations taking part in the program areBalletNext, Beth Morrison Projects, S? Percussion, and Zvi Dance.

Dixon Place (Ellie Covan, Artistic Director) presents the 23rd Annual HOT!, the NYC Celebration of Queer Culture. The world's longest-running LGBTQ Performance Festival, HOT! offers theater, music, dance, puppetry, performance art and homoeroticism for the whole family! HOT! is the pioneering festival of queer performance and culture - and the oldest annual festival of its kind in the world. Dixon Place is proud the HOT! serves as the model for other queer festivals across the globe and has become a performance destination for emerging talent in the LGBTQ community. This year's HOT!, featuring hundreds of participating artists presenting their newest creations, will run July 5th through August 2nd at Dixon Place, located at 161A Chrystie Street in New York City.

When Margaret Whiting died on January 10, 2011, the news was like a dagger into the heart of the New York cabaret community. Whiting was a beloved singer for almost seven decades, who seemingly delivered every American popular song ever written, conquered almost every musical art form--from Big Band to Country to Musicals to Cabaret, from radio to the recording studio. On top of all that, Whiting worked with and mentored many New York cabaret musical directors and performers, including the late Mary Cleere Haran and K.T. Sullivan, who along with Whiting's daughter Deborah, hosted a 90th birthday Whiting tribute show on Monday night at Carnegie Hall's elegant Weill Recital Hall. Presented by The Mabel Mercer Foundation, for which Sullivan is Artistic Director, It Might As Well Be Spring! A Celebration in Song of the Life of Margaret Whiting was an almost three-hour concert featuring two All-Star teams worth of cabaret stars spanning a few generations.

Profiles Theatre announces the Midwest premiere of Annapurna by Sharr White, opening at The Alley Stage, 4147 N. Broadway on June 12, 2014. Annapurna, directed by Profiles ensemble member Eric Burgher and featuring ensemble member Darrell W. Cox with guest artist Lia D. Mortensen, runs June 13, 2014 - July 20, 2014.

Newnan Theatre Company is offering three exciting youth productions this summer: Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew," Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach," and a much newer play, "Avenue Q," by Jeff Whitty, Robert Lopez, and Jeff Marx.

Multi-faceted guitar virtuoso and 2013-14 LABA fellow Nadav Lev brings forth a diverse selection of pieces for guitar and various ensembles, all written for him by some of the most prominent young composers to emerge from Israel.

Breaking Glass Pictures and QC Cinema are proud to present the award-winning documentary Breaking Through on DVD.

Dixon Place (Ellie Covan, Artistic Director) presents the 23rd Annual HOT!, the NYC Celebration of Queer Culture. The world's longest-running LGBTQ Performance Festival, HOT! offers theater, music, dance, puppetry, performance art and homoeroticism for the whole family! HOT! is the pioneering festival of queer performance and culture - and the oldest annual festival of its kind in the world. Dixon Place is proud the HOT! serves as the model for other queer festivals across the globe and has become a performance destination for emerging talent in the LGBTQ community. This year's HOT!, featuring hundreds of participating artists presenting their newest creations, will run July 5th through August 2nd at Dixon Place, located at 161A Chrystie Street in New York City.

The organization myFace recently reached out to us to share a personal response to the musical Violet by journalist and blogger Jeryl Brunner.

Breaking Glass Pictures and QC Cinema are proud to present the award-winning documentary Breaking Through on DVD

Fort Worth Opera (FWOpera) revealed today the names of the eight composer and librettist teams from the Americas whose works have been selected for participation in the second season of the company's critically-acclaimed, annual new works program, Frontiers, taking place tonight and tomorrow, May 8 - 9, 2014, during the last week of the 2014 Opera Festival.

Bay Street Theatre is pleased to announce its upcoming Summer Kids Theater Camps in August. The camp is for ages 7-9 or 9-12 as listed in the schedule. The camps will be at the Southampton Arts Center and Studio 3 in Bridgehampton and run 9:30 am - 12:30 pm each day of the 5-day camps.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre welcomes back Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner for the West Coast premiere of his latest play, The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, an epic tale of love, family, sex, money, and politics. Kushner reunites with one of his favorite collaborators, Michael Leibert Artistic Director Tony Taccone, to bring this sweeping drama to the Roda Theatre. With his trademark mix of soaring intellect and searing emotion, the legendary writer unfurls a poignant story about an Italian family in Brooklyn. When retired longshoreman Gus Marcantonio decides to die, his kids come home with a raucous parade of lovers and spouses to find that even the house keeps secrets. A portrait of a dysfunctional family filled with weighty dialogue, humor, and passion, Kushner's four-act play previews Friday, May 16, opens on Wednesday, May 21, and runs through Sunday, June 29, 2014.

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts presents the West Coast premiere of A Coffin in Egypt, a new chamber opera in one act, based on the play, A Coffin in Egypt by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Horton Foote, for three performances only tonight, April 23 and April 25 and 27 in the Bram Goldsmith Theater.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its May 2014 schedule, featuring Steve Kuhn Trio, Joey DeFrancesco Organ Quartet, Karrin Allyson, BOSSABRASIL Festival, and more.

Guy Fieri heats up Food Network's primetime lineup with the season two premiere of Guy's Grocery Games on Sunday, May 11th at 8pm, as four talented chefs compete in cooking challenges inspired by obstacles that home shoppers face in the supermarket aisles every day.

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts presents the West Coast premiere of A Coffin in Egypt, a new chamber opera in one act, based on the play, A Coffin in Egypt by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Horton Foote, for three performances only April 23, 25 and 27 in the Bram Goldsmith Theater. A Coffin in Egypt stars mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, one of opera's most beloved figures, whose formidable bravura has won her wide acclaim. Ricky Ian Gordon, the composer, has also composed The Grapes of Wrath, Rappahannock County, and Orpheus and Euridice. Leonard Foglia, librettist and director, directed Master Class on Broadway and Jake Heggie's Opera Last Acts.

The Dallas Opera Guild is proud to present the 26th Annual "Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition," an on-stage showcase for talented young opera singers with Texas connections today, March 15, 2014 in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center, 2403 Flora Street, Dallas, TX 75201.