Just Say No - 1988 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 15

The Moody Blues will embark on their first cross-Canadian Fall tour in more than a decade, playing in 16 markets around the country. The Canadian tour titled 'Precious Cargo' will begin on September 15 in Halifax, NS and will continue through October 8 in Victoria, BC (see tour dates below). The band will be touring in support of their new upcoming Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) greatest hits collection which will be released in two editions on July 19, as part of their highly successful Icon series.

An actor's actor Gary Cole, who made a big splash as Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald in TV's Mow Fatal Vision in 1984 and has never stopped working since, will soon open at the Geffen in Tracy Letts' new play Superior Donuts. Whether it be drama like In the Line of Fire on screen, the TV series Midnight Caller (1988-91) or Letts' August Osage County on stage, or comedy as in the theatrical film The Brady Bunch, Cole is comfortable in every medium and makes the work look easy. Usually cast as a psycho or abusive husband, in Donuts he plays the aging Chicago shop owner, a role which brings him closer to his roots there. He was an original member of the Steppenwolf Theatre, along with John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf and Gary Sinise. In our chat, Cole talks about the play, his favorite roles and the process of acting.

Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center announces the ninth season of its international dance series. Six companies representing the United States, Scotland, France, Switzerland and Russia will participate in 22 performances at the Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Ahmanson Theatre, in a season that is not only culturally diverse, but also boasts a residency by Diavolo Dance Theater, a Music Center co-commission with Penn State and a part of Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980, an initiative of the Getty in collaboration with more than 60 cultural institutions across Southern California.

Joe's Pub at The Public Theater debuted in October 1998 and has quickly became one of New York City's most celebrated and in-demand showcase venues for live music and performance.

Staging one of the theatre's most unique and unclassifiable pieces, Brecht & Weill's THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS for the New York City Ballet, starting May 11 and running through May 16, is just the latest act in a career made up of anomalies, seemingly built upon always attempting to do the impossible - from her Broadway debut, trying to bring balletic bravado to Trevor Nunn's terminally troubled 1988 musical CHESS (a project begun under the guidance of Michael Bennett before his death), up through the trying-but-Tony-winning TITANIC in 1997 and, this century, SWING! starring Ann Hampton Callaway and Laura Benanti and a succession of successful regional ballets and theatre pieces - the gifted and dynamic director/choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett continues to challenge herself, her peers and audiences with each of her audacious new endeavors. THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS, starring two-time Tony-winning Broadway legend Patti LuPone as Anna I, is a particularly problematic play - or is it a musical? Or, is it a ballet? A song-spiel? - and in this revealing and engaging discussion, Ms. Taylor-Corbett and I attempt to deduce the themes, analyze the structure and look back at the authors' lives to gain insight into the perplexing America painted by Brecht and Weill in the forty-minute-long theatrical experiment. Also, in this complete conversation, Lynne and I take a look back at her long and varied career and she generously shares her thoughts on where the place of dance is in the twenty-first century, the exhilaration of working with a theatre artist like Patti LuPone, her own inspirations and formative experiences in the theatre, the legacy of Michael Powell and THE RED SHOES, the theatre versus the dance world, her son Shaun's career, and much, much more! Further information on THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS - including tickets - is available here.

I entered the Golden Theatre in 2011 to see the revival of The Normal Heart on Broadway. But when the lights went down, it was 1982 and I was witnessing the start of the fight to eradicate the disease we now recognize as AIDS. The next morning the show was still with me; that made my next event all the more poignant: the annual BC/EFA Easter Bonnet Celebration, which celebrates six weeks of intense fundraising by the New York theatrical community, all of which goes to Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS.

Joe's Pub at The Public Theater debuted in October 1998 and has quickly became one of New York City's most celebrated and in-demand showcase venues for live music and performance.

On this very day in 1943, Michael DiFiglia was born in Buffalo, New York, and the world of Broadway would simply never be the same. Cutting his teeth with the accomplished choreography for A JOYFUL NOISE, PROMISES, PROMISES, SEESAW and COCO was merely the beginning of a career that would virtually rewrite and revolutionize the ways and means by which a director could yield ultimate control over a project. With COMPANY and FOLLIES, the later co-directing with Hal Prince, Bennett solidified himself as one of the most talented and brilliant choreographers of his generation and, shortly thereafter, proved with A CHORUS LINE that he was a master theatrical engineer with few, if any, peers. Worldwide success, Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize were just the gravy. Who else but Michael Bennett would then, or ever, receive - or should I say, earn - the credit "Entire Production Conceived, Produced and Directed by," besides him? While BALLROOM failed to live up to A CHORUS LINE in mostly every way, he soon after reinvented the wheel yet again with DREAMGIRLS in 1981. We never got to see his productions of CHESS and SCANDAL, both of which he was in the latter stages of developing at the time of his death in 1988. Broadway has never been the same since he's been gone. So, today, on the day following a glittering new production of COMPANY at Lincoln Center - with the complete dance sequence "Tick Tock" fully restored, now with five dancers - we take a tip of the top hat to the tops in taps, temerity and truthfulness onstage - the one and only Michael Bennett.

Universally hailed as the reigning King of the Blues, the legendary B.B. King will perform three UK concerts in Manchester, Edinburgh and London in June 2011.

Highline Ballroom located at 431 West 16th Street between 9th Avenue and 10th Avenue is pleased to announce it's upcoming shows. Tickets may be purchased through Ticketweb, online at ticketweb.com or at the Highline Box Office from noon until doors close at 866-468-7619.

TheatreWorks New Milford is proud to christen its 44th Season of live theatre in New Milford with the darkly comic, terse, and off-beat TALK RADIO by Eric Bogosian.

Piven Theatre Workshop extends its 2009-10 season with the Chicago premiere of Sarah Ruhl's adaptation of Chekov's Three Sisters, directed by Artistic Director Emeritus Joyce Piven. The production will run October 16 - November 21, 2010 at Piven Theatre Workshop, 927 Noyes Street

This month, Broadway World is showcasing actor and recording artist Justin Guarini, who is making his Broadway debut as Carlos in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, based on the 1988 film of the same title.

Based on Pedro Almodóvar's internationally acclaimed 1988 film, WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN is set in late 20th-century Madrid and tells the story of the intertwining lives of a group of women whose relationships with men lead to a tumultuous 48 hours of love, confusion and passion and now it's come to Broadway!

Short stay at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre ends Sunday, Nov. 7, 2010

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) will begin previews for AFTER TE REVOLUTION on Thursday, October 21 at 7:30 PM. With an Opening Night set for November 10, the limited engagement will play through Sunday, November 28 at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street). AFTER THE REVOLUTION will be the second production of the theater company's 40th Anniversary Season.

Highline Ballroom is located at 431 West 16th Street between 9th Avenue and 10th Avenue.

Piven Theatre Workshop extends its 2009-10 season with the Chicago premiere of Sarah Ruhl's adaptation of Chekov's Three Sisters, directed by Artistic Director Emeritus Joyce Piven. The production will run October 16 - November 21, 2010 at Piven Theatre Workshop, 927 Noyes Street

Piven Theatre Workshop extends its 2009-10 season with the Chicago premiere of Sarah Ruhl's adaptation of Chekov's Three Sisters, directed by Artistic Director Emeritus Joyce Piven. The production will run October 16 - November 21, 2010 at Piven Theatre Workshop, 927 Noyes Street

Piven Theatre Workshop extends its 2009-10 season with the Chicago premiere of Sarah Ruhl's adaptation of Chekov's Three Sisters, directed by Artistic Director Emeritus Joyce Piven. The production will run October 16 - November 21, 2010 at Piven Theatre Workshop, 927 Noyes Street

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced complete casting for the New York premiere of AFTER THE REVOLUTION, a new play by Amy Herzog (Missed Connections, 508 at Ars Nova, Hungry at EST). Directed by Carolyn Cantor (Essential Self-Defense at PH, Pumpgirl, Orange Water Flower), the production will begin previews Thursday, October 21 at 7:30 PM. With an Opening Night set for Tuesday, November 9 at 7PM, the limited engagement will play through Sunday, November 28 at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street). AFTER THE REVOLUTION will be the second production of the theater company's 40th Anniversary Season.

Piven Theatre Workshop extends its 2009-10 season with the Chicago premiere of Sarah Ruhl's adaptation of Chekov's Three Sisters, directed by Artistic Director Emeritus Joyce Piven. The production will run October 16 - November 21, 2010 at Piven Theatre Workshop, 927 Noyes Street

The Neo-Futurarium - where awesomely awful films live to see another day. Superheroes, Canadian pop stars, racist Arizonans, parasites, Vikings, sea serpents, and ponies make appearances in Film Fest IX: The Perils of the Neo-Futurarium runs July 1 through August 5, Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. at 5153 N. Ashland.

The Neo-Futurarium - where awesomely awful films live to see another day. Superheroes, Canadian pop stars, racist Arizonans, parasites, Vikings, sea serpents, and ponies make appearances in Film Fest IX: The Perils of the Neo-Futurarium runs July 1 through August 5, Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. at 5153 N. Ashland.

It's that time of the year again for the recognition of some amazing up and coming talent on the theatre scene, specifically, the 20th Annual Kleban Awards. The Kleban Foundation is pleased to announce that the 20th Annual Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theater lyricist has gone to Peter Mills and the award for the most promising musical theater librettist has gone to Barry Wyner. The 2010 awards will be presented on June 21, 2010, in a private ceremony (by invitation only) at ASCAP.