It's a Wonderful Life - 2004 - London Articles Page 3

If True Love and a great friendship are to your liking, 'Come On In' and meet Sally and Carter.

San Francisco Opera presents Benjamin Britten's masterpiece of law and order on the high seas, Billy Budd, in six performances at the War Memorial Opera House September 7a?"22. Based on the unfinished novella by Herman Melville and set to a libretto by E.M. Forster and Eric Crozier, Billy Budd returns to the Company's repertory after a 15-year absence in the a?oepowerfula?? (New York Times) staging by Tony Award-winning director Michael Grandage. Lawrence Renes conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and an all-male cast of 75 artists, including 44 men from the San Francisco Opera Chorus prepared by Chorus Director Ian Robertson and 8 boys from the Ragazzi Boys Chorus. The performances coincide with the Melville bicentennial and the 100th anniversary of the posthumous discovery of the American author's unfinished manuscript of Billy Budd.

 In addition to its popular Broadway Series, Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora, presents internationally known comedians, music stars, dance events and family shows, and on most Mondays, screens a classic movie for just $1.

The Palace Theater is observing its 15th performance season this year since re-opening in 2004 and the programming reflects this milestone worthy of celebration.

David Hare's award-winning play roars to life in a provocative new site-specific staging performed in The Vaults, London's alternative subterranean venue beneath Waterloo Station, running from Friday 13 September - Sunday 17 November, with a press night on Thursday 19 September. This first revival of The Permanent Way since its award-winning run in York and then at the National Theatre in 2003 will be directed by Alexander Lass, nominated for Best Director at the 2017 Stage Debut awards, and whose credits include Associate Director on Shakespeare in Love at the Theatre Royal Bath and on tour, and on No Man's Land in the West End. Casting to be announced.

Main Street Theater (MST) soon opens the ultimate British farce, Alan Ayckbourn's brilliantly constructed Relatively Speaking. 'It's just so, so funny,' shares director Rebecca Greene Udden.

National New Play Network, the alliance of professional theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays, held its annual benefit Monday night at The Vineyard's Dimson Theatre in New York City. In addition to a staged reading of Audrey Cefaly's Alabaster, Charly Evon Simpson's Jump was celebrated as the inaugural recipient of The David Goldman Fund for New American Plays. 

The Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center Foundation will honor Pegasus Transit and David Ralphe with this year's Pillar of the Arts Awards at the Spotlight Awards Ceremony during a dinner and auction event to be held Saturday, May 11 at the Wood Ranch Country Club. Ralphe and Pegasus Transit are being honored for their extraordinary support of the arts in our community. Joining them will be Artists of the Year Keenon Hooks and Andrew Allen, Young Artist of the Year Lucas Panczel, Volunteer of the Year Sharon Gibson, and Educator of the Year Melissa Albertson. Tickets are available to the public by visiting www.simispotlight.com.

Main Street Theater (MST) soon opens the ultimate British farce, Alan Ayckbourn's brilliantly constructed Relatively Speaking.

Finding Neverland is an imaginative look at the creative inspirations writer James Barrie molded into the magical world of Peter' Pans adventures. The play is full of heart and childlike wonder. It's not a children's show but it is one that children and adults will definitely enjoy.

As its first production as part of the award-winning Penguin Project, with a huge cast of 68 members, New Tampa Players will bring Aladdin Jr. to stage at University Area CDC on April 5-7.

The McCallum Theatre presents Dave Koz & Friends 'Christmas Tour 2018' today, December 18, at 8:00pm as part of the Fitz's Jazz Cafe at the McCallum series. A holiday tradition returns to the McCallum as Dave Koz and Friends Christmas Tour 2018 brings together a magical combination of musicians to celebrate this special season. Celebrated saxophonist Koz will be joined by special guests Mindi Abair, Jonathan Butler and Keiko Matsui performing their hits and jamming on fresh, lively arrangements of seasonal favorites in a high-energy show for the entire family. 

The McCallum Theatre presents Dave Koz & Friends 'Christmas Tour 2018' on Tuesday, December 18, at 8:00pm as part of the Fitz's Jazz Cafe at the McCallum series. A holiday tradition returns to the McCallum as Dave Koz and Friends Christmas Tour 2018 brings together a magical combination of musicians to celebrate this special season. Celebrated saxophonist Koz will be joined by special guests Mindi Abair, Jonathan Butler and Keiko Matsui performing their hits and jamming on fresh, lively arrangements of seasonal favorites in a high-energy show for the entire family. 

San Francisco Opera presents the West Coast premiere of It's a Wonderful Life by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer in nine holiday-season performances from November 17 through December 9. The two-act work, a co-commission and co-production between San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, is based in part on Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life and The Greatest Gift, a story by Philip Van Doren Stern.

Mile Square Theatre, Hudson County's leading professional theatre, continues its 2018 season with Christopher Durang's hilarious comedy about love, life and family, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Durang drops a mixed bag of Chekhovian characters in contemporary Bucks County in this comic tour-de-force. Relentlessly silly and smart, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike deservedly won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play.

Mile Square Theatre, Hudson County's leading professional theatre, continues its 2018 season with Christopher Durang's hilarious comedy about love, life and family, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Durang drops a mixed bag of Chekhovian characters in contemporary Bucks County in this comic tour-de-force. Relentlessly silly and smart, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike deservedly won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play.

It may not have the romantic sweep of 'Some Enchanted Evening' or the driving intensity of 'Don't Rain On My Parade,' but so far, the best new theatre song of this young season is a finely-crafted emotional shut-down carrying the unlikely title 'Michael In The Bathroom.'

WONDERboom needs no introduction - after 22 years, nine albums, multiple awards and a lifetime of experiences behind them, they are still going strong as one of South Africa's most legendary rock bands. Best-known for their fundamental rock sound, the band has surprised listeners over the years by experimenting with different genres, ranging from funk through to punk and even afro-dance, but it is their live performances that continue to captivate audiences. Now, fans can look forward to a surprise hat-trick from the band – a brand new single, music video and South African tour!

After 14 years performing together, five full-length studio albums, and countless sold-out shows around the globe, there aren't many items left on a band's bucket list. For Alter Bridge, one of the remaining list items was crossed off in October 2017 when the band performed two sold-out shows at London's iconic Royal Albert Hall backed by the 52-piece Parallax Orchestra led by conductor Simon Dobson. Those career-defining shows were captured and combined in the upcoming Napalm Records worldwide release Live At The Royal Albert Hall on September 7th.

George M. Cohan has been attributed to being the father of the American Musical, whose works are the very roots of Broadway and musical theater that we know today. Without his numerous contributions to the American theater, Broadway as we all know it probably wouldn't even exist. This is the idea that's drummed rather loudly and patriotically by the ending of YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, the 2004 stage musical now in the midst of its Southern California regional premiere via Musical Theatre West. A fairly entertaining, if inescapably old-fashioned jukebox musical that paints rather broad strokes rather than giving a deep dive into Cohan's life story, this new production continues performances at the Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts in Long Beach through July 22, 2018.

Summer would not be complete without seeing at least one Shakespeare play outdoors somewhere in Los Angeles. This year I decided to spend a bewitching night in Griffith Park, selecting to see my favorite Bard comedy, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, presented by the Independent Shakespeare Company (ISC) celebrating the 15th anniversary season of free Shakespeare in Los Angeles City Parks. In 2010, ISC moved free Shakespeare in Barnsdall Park to Griffith Park, the second largest city park in California. The growth in attendance has been extraordinary, certainly due in part to the quality of the productions. So grab a blanket or a lawn chair, pack a picnic, and take a short hike into Griffith Park to a land of wonder and imagination thanks to the Independent Shakespeare Company's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM - and bring the kids!

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey continues their season with the Main Stage production of 'Titus Andronicus' from July 18 to August 5.Broadwayworld.com had the pleasure of interviewing Benjamin Eakeley who plays Saturninus in the show.

While its original production, as most Broadway shows go, offered the expected big sets, first-rate costumes, and impressive production values, the 2015 Tony Award-winning revival production of THE COLOR PUPLE---currently slaying audiences for a week-long stop at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through June 24---is decidedly more subdued and scaled-down by comparison, allowing the songs, the story, and the cast performances to shine on their own merits instead. The resulting show is a powerful, uplifting one, bathed in a loving, spiritual embrace that shines a light on the struggles, the insecurities, the passions, and the tenacity of African-American women living in the early decades of the 20th Century. I can say without hesitation that this revival production is an excellent way to experience this beautiful, touching, and ultimately triumphant musical.

Free For All, one of the capital's cherished annual traditions, will return this summer to Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC), offering two weeks of free performances of the Company's 2016 production of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. Directed by STC Associate Artistic Director Alan Paul, whose hit production of Camelot has extended through July 8 due to popular demand, the production will run at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F St NW) from August 21-September 2, providing more than 12,000 people the chance to see the play free of charge.