Is there life after high school? - 2001 - London Fringe Articles Page 10

Looking into the future, you'll find a number of new productions on tap for your entertainment pleasure, thanks to the efforts of theater companies all over Middle Tennessee. Here's our calendar for October 1, 2018, to help you plot your course through the end of the year...

GHOSTLIGHT RECORDS has announced the release of How We React and How We Recover, the new album from three-time Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown, on physical CD online and in stores today, Friday, September 28.

The Barbican today launches Life Rewired, an arts and learning season running throughout 2019 exploring what it means to be human in the face of technological and scientific forces that are dizzying in their speed, scale and complexity.

The Actors' Gang Theater will begin previews of The Madwoman of Chaillot today, September 27th and run through Saturday, November 10th with an official press opening on Saturday, October 6th.

After a group of actors with Atlanta's award winning comedy troupe Sketchworks Comedy saw a recent production of GREASE, they decided to take the beloved musical and poke fun at some of the more polarizing story elements in the classic show. VAPE, a musical parody of GREASE, represents the nostalgia of the classic with a hilariously updated storyline and lyrics.

What if God turned out to be a Puerto Rican steam bath attendant, assisted by a butler named Gottlieb? Renowned stand up comedian and actor Paul Rodriguez stars in a revival of Steambath, the 1970 off Broadway hit comedy by Bruce Jay Friedman that also became a PBS television special. Odyssey Theatre Ensemble artistic director Ron Sossi directs for an Oct. 20 opening at West L.A.'s Odyssey Theatre, where performances will continue through Dec. 16.

The Actors' Gang announced today that the stage adaptation of Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dalton Trumbo's war novel, Johnny Got His Gun, written by Bradley Rand Smith and directed by Tim Robbins, will kick off The Actors' Gang 2018/19 Season from Saturday, October 6th to Saturday, November 10th, 2018. The press opening is Saturday, October 13.

Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) today announced a new initiative, a three-week, multi-disciplinary Bach Festival featuring 15 concerts across three venues in Manhattan, June 6-22, 2019. The programmatic centerpieces include performances by Paul Taylor Dance Company and the Goldberg Variations, which receives two interpretations - including the U.S. premiere of Bernard Labadie's orchestral setting - and provides the Festival theme: 'Transformation.'

Ted Sperling, Artistic Director of MasterVoices, announced details of the acclaimed ensemble's 77th season, celebrating the power of the human voice to unite, inspire and connect since 1941. The upcoming season will be framed by two major musical events, the New York premiere of a multi-media version of Handel's oratorioIsrael in Egypt performed at Carnegie Hall, and a new adaptation of the Kurt Weill-Ira Gershwin-Moss Hart avant-garde musical, Lady in the Dark, starring Victoria Clark at New York City Center. Lady in the Dark has not been seen in New York since it was presented at New York City Center in 1994 as part of the inaugural Encores! season.

San Jose Stage Artistic Director Randall King announced the company's 36th Season line up. 'Looking toward our 36th Season we will continue our mission of producing powerful, provocative, and profound work that illuminates the human condition. We are excited to bring you an explosively charged  season with award-winning works by theatre's most masterful playwrights - Martin McDonagh, Stephen Adly Guirgis, and Tennessee Williams - including two Pulitzer Prize-winning dramas, an Obie Award-winning satirical comedy and a newly commissioned world premiere by Luis Valdez.'  

Grammy-winning country music artist Lee Greenwood, along with his iconic and patriotic hit song 'God Bless the USA,' will be featured on the latest edition of NPR's American Anthem series. Greenwood's interview with NPR's Don Gonyea will air on Tuesday, September 11 at 5:50 & 7:50 am ET / 6:50 & 8:50 am CT, during NPR's Morning Edition.

The Cultural Services of the French Embassy and Albertine Books,the dynamic bookshop and cultural center operated by the French Embassy in New York, today announce prominent American and Russian journalist, professor, and author Masha Gessen as the curator of the fifth annual Festival Albertine, which is themed 'Reimagining Democracy' and takes place October 30 - November 3, 2018. Informed by experience as a witness to affronts to democracy today, Gessen has often urged people to open their eyes to such challenges, and to use their imagination to picture what is further at stake. Many thinkers from France, America, and across the Francophone world are similarly united by a pressing concern over surging demagoguery and democracy's fragility.

The Actors' Gang Theater will begin previews of The Madwoman of Chaillot on Thursday, September 27th and run through Saturday, November 10th with an official press opening on Saturday, October 6th.

Many of my readers know my connection with MAMMA MIA! on Broadway (see my bio below). When I saw many months ago that Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia would be presenting it (the professional regional premiere) I knew it would be a money maker and knew, after seeing many Toby productions, it would be done well. Well, not only have they done well, this edition of MAMMA MIA! is just plain superb.

Freeform announces its programming schedule for August 2018, which includes the season two premiere of the Freeform comedy “Alone Together” and the summer finales of the critically acclaimed series “Marvel's Cloak & Dagger” and “The Bold Type.”

Pittsburgh CLO will fill the Benedum Center with magic and wonder fit for all ages with Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, July 27 - August 5. Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST ran for a staggering 13 years and over 5,000 performances on Broadway. Now, Pittsburgh CLO brings this treasured story to life for a new generation, continuing the organization's commitment to providing young patrons the opportunity to enjoy live musical theater at home in Pittsburgh. Tickets are now available by phone at 412-456-6666, online at pittsburghCLO.org or by visiting the Box Office at Theater Square. Select half-price tickets for children 3-14 are sponsored by Giant Eagle, offering an affordable option for families to enjoy this timeless tale together.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced the selection of four Honorees who will receive the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements, and a special Honors distinction for a work of art and its co-creators. Recipients to be honored at the 41st annual national celebration of the arts are: singer and actress Cher, composer and pianist Philip Glass, Country music entertainer Reba McEntire, and jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter. This year, the co-creators of Hamilton-writer and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, and music director Alex Lacamoire-will receive a unique Kennedy Center Honors as trailblazing creators of a transformative work that defies category.

Just over a month ago, Orin Wolf was celebrating a whooping ten Tony wins for his little musical that could- The Band's Visit. As the big winner at the 72nd Annual Tony Awards on June 10, the new show not only swept the ceremony, but it found a place in history with some of Broadway's most awarded musicals- a producer's dream.

Pittsburgh CLO will fill the Benedum Center with magic and wonder fit for all ages with Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, July 27 - August 5. Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST ran for a staggering 13 years and over 5,000 performances on Broadway. Now, Pittsburgh CLO brings this treasured story to life for a new generation, continuing the organization's commitment to providing young patrons the opportunity to enjoy live musical theater at home in Pittsburgh. Tickets are now available by phone at 412-456-6666, online at pittsburghCLO.org or by visiting the Box Office at Theater Square. Select half-price tickets for children 3-14 are sponsored by Giant Eagle, offering an affordable option for families to enjoy this timeless tale together.

Featuring shows from around the world and shows from around the corner, the 2018-19 Season of Performing Arts at the Harris Center for the Arts are now on sale.

Steppenwolf for Young Adults (SYA) announces the full casting for its first show of the 2018/19 season, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. This Tony Award-winning play is adapted by Simon Stephens, based on the book by Mark Haddon and directed by Steppenwolf Artistic Producer Jonathan Berry.

After a successful run in Central Park, playing to over 4,000 people, performances resume on Wednesday, June 27 in Rockefeller Park/Battery Park City for New York Classical Theatre's critically acclaimed production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by the company's Founding Artistic Director Stephen Burdman. The production will play this week through June 30, before continuing on to The Battery, Carl Schurz Park, and Brooklyn Bridge Park for performances through July 29. There is no ticketing, and all performances are free and open to the public. Performance schedule can be found at newyorkclassical.org.   

How We React and How We Recover, the new album from three-time Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown, will be released by Ghostlight Records this month. His first solo recording in over a decade is a politically-charged, far-reaching rumination on love, family and music. The album will be available in digital and streaming formats on Friday, June 29, with a physical CD planned for later this year. The release will coincide with New York City Center's Encores! Off-Center production of Brown's landmark New York debut show Songs for a New World, which runs from June 27-30.