Just Say No - 1988 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 7

The Directors Guild of America  today announced the nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television, Commercials and Documentary for 2018.

It's wintertime West Michigan, but things are about to heat up downtown in DeVos Performance Hall. The Grand Rapids Symphony presents the rich and fiery flavor of Latinx music and dance in Rhythm of the Dance.

Well, it's that time of the year again--time for a look-back on what was worth making note of during the calendar year that's about to come to an end. It's from a totally personal, subjective point of view, of course, but frankly that's the way opera-lovers always seem to like it, n'est-ce pas? The productions worth noting come from places big, small and in-between, from composers old as the hills to freshly minted or somewhere in between (likewise the performers), from traditional or boldly modern to simply stand up and sing.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA first opened in London's West End in 1986 and later on Broadway in 1988. It continues to be among the most popular shows visitors have to see when in New York and continues to hold the record for the longest running show in Broadway history. As the show tours around North America, audiences are blown away by the talents of this amazing cast. As THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA makes it way to San Antonio, Texas, BWW had a chance to catch up with Susan Moniz who recently joined the cast and plays Madame Giry.

 Roy Clark, the legendary 'superpicker', GRAMMY, CMA and ACMaward winner, Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry member and co-host of the famed 'Hee Haw' television series, died today at the age of 85 due to complications from pneumonia at home in Tulsa, Okla.

In the immortal words of The Heathers, 'It's time to prove your not a loser anymore' and make sure you catch Heathers the Musical before it ends its smash hit London run! In celebration of Heathers the Musical's last four weeks in the West End, closing on 24 November, producers Bill Kenwright and Paul Taylor Mills are pleased to announce it's time for 'Big Fun' at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

Stephen Lawless will be directing the San Diego Opera's production of The Marriage of Figaro this week. I met with him in the opera company's rehearsal room recently to discuss that, how he came to be a director, and his views of a director's responsibilities.

It's the day of the show, y'all: The Nashville premiere of Mart Crowley's The Boys in the Band is tonight - at The Barbershop Theatre, 4003 Indiana Avenue in The Nations - and six of the actors portraying Crowley's now-iconic characters took time from tech week to answer questions about their processes and to offer their reasons for why you should come see the show.

Clarksville's Roxy Regional Theatre transports audiences back to Baltimore - the capital of big hair and the city of big dreams - in 1962 with their production of Hairspray, now onstage through September 29. This weekend (which features the company's annual fundraising gala on Saturday night) kicks off the second weekend of the show's multi-week run in Historic Downtown Clarksville.

BRIC is pleased to announce a free concert by Brooklyn afrobeat juggernaut Antibalas on October 13,co-presented by the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (DBP) at The Plaza at 300 Ashland, to kick off the 2018 BRIC JazzFest. The announcement completes the programming for the fourth edition of the celebrated Brooklyn jazz festival, called a "proudly eclectic gathering [that] remains unbounded by convention" (New Yorker), and continues a yearlong celebration to cap off four decades for the pioneering NYC arts-and-media organization and leading presenter of free cultural programming in Brooklyn.

It's not easy having a conversation with Joel Roster. He's got a lot to tell you, and as the Artistic Director of a new theater company approaching its sophomore production, his manic (and yet genuinely friendly) energy runneth over when the name Aaron Sorkin comes up.

My heart is full for many reasons, not the least of which is that I can say, henceforth, that the last production of Steel Magnolias that I reviewed - this one at The Larry Keeton Theatre in Donelson through Saturday, September 1 - was almost as good as that very first production I saw in Chicago in the summer of 1988. In fact, direct Donna Driver and her cast deliver a reading of Steel Magnolias that is as close to what Robert Harling wrote more than 30 years ago as any I've ever seen.

Heathers the Musical is bigger and better than ever before! A brand new song has been written into the show ahead of it's West End debut at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, along with multiple re-workings to the script.

BRIC has announced full programming for the 2018 BRIC JazzFest, the fourth annual edition of the celebrated Brooklyn jazz festival, whichcontinues a yearlong celebration to cap off four decades for the pioneering NYC arts-and-media organization and leading presenter of free cultural programming in Brooklyn. The multidisciplinary festival takes place over the course of a week (October 13-20) and thrives as what the New Yorker calls a "proudly eclectic gathering [that] remains unbounded by convention." This year's edition will feature film, dance, a panel discussion, workshops, and culminates with a three-night concert marathon, with performances occurring simultaneously throughout the various spaces comprising the dynamic BRIC House (647 Fulton Street, Brooklyn). For its 40th anniversary, BRIC has commissioned rising star trumpeter Keyon Harrold to write a new piece of music which will have its world premiere at the 2018 BRIC JazzFest.

Triumvirate Artists, a NYC-based production company that most recently created the Off-Broadway show "Delirium's Daughters," announces that Drama Desk and multiple Emmy Award-winning actor Christopher Lloyd will star as Ezra Pound in their upcoming play, "POUND." The show will debut as a limited engagement for 16 performances from October 4 to 28, 2018 at The Lion Theatre, located at 410 West 42nd Street, New York, NY.

The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles (SCLA) currently presents their new distinct take on Shakespeare's classic HENRY IV. Helmed by Tony Award-winning director Daniel Sullivan, SCLA has combined PART I and PART II into a single sitting of theatre, featuring the Los Angeles stage debut of Tom Hanks as Falstaff. We had the opportunity to chat with one of HENRY IV's most talented co-conspirators, actor Harry Groener who plays Northumberland and Justice Shallow.

Artistic Director Lee Mikeska Gardner embraces the mission of The Nora Theatre Company to "promote the feminine voice" with an all-male production of LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES, Christopher Hampton's 1985 adaptation from the novel by Choderlos de Laclos. Perhaps best known from the 1988 film DANGEROUS LIAISONS, which starred Glenn Close, John Malkovich, and Michelle Pfeiffer, the pre-French revolution era story is decadent, delicious, overflowing with sexual intrigue, and populated with characters who mostly get what they deserve. In Gardner's retelling, the audience gets what it deserves, a thoroughly entertaining, albeit mildly risque, evening at the theater.

Arden Theatre Company's production of Fun Home is moving, memorable and masterful. It is an emotionally resonant and profound story with exciting staging and production. The Arden's Fun Home is more than just an enjoyable night at the theatre; it is an impactful and relatable story about love, loss and finding meaning that will change the way audiences perceive theatre.

SOFT POWER, the first collective creation of Tony Award winners David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori, will world premiere at the Ahmanson under the auspices of Center Theatre Group, in association with East West Players and the Curran, opening May 16, 2018. We had the wonderful opportunity to chat with a frequent collaborator of both David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori, actor/singer Francis Jue who portrays DHH in SOFT POWER.

UMe is poised to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Poison's best-selling album, 1988's five-times-platinum Open Up And Say Ahh!, with a sensationally reproduced 180-gram reissue. The LP was pressed in two collectible color variants: red vinyl (available at select retailers) and a limited edition of 1,000 in green vinyl (available exclusively at The Sound Of Vinyl). Order Poison's Open Up And Say Ahh! here

TINA, a new musical based on the life of legendary artist Tina Turner just opened at the Aldwych Theatre and is currently booking to 20 October 2018. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd and written by Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, choreography is by Anthony Van Laast, with set and costume designs by Mark Thompson, musical supervision by Nicholas Skilbeck, lighting by Bruno Poet, sound by Nevin Steinberg, projection design by Jeff Sugg and orchestrations by Ethan Popp.

Two decades after it was previously performed at the National Theatre, Rodney Ackland's Absolute Hell returns to the very stage it played back then: the Lyttelton. With a career spanning over two decades too across stage and screen, Charles Edwards is no stranger to the National Theatre. Catching up during rehearsals, Charles spoke to us about his 'innate connection' to the play, and reveals the greatest challenge he's faced in his career (which came only last year).

Edward Albee's Three Tall Women. Three Tall Women starring two-time Academy Award-winner Glenda Jackson, Tony Award winner, three-time Emmy Award winner, and 2018 Academy Award nominee Laurie Metcalf, and Tony Award nominee Alison Pill opens tonight on Broadway!

As with the Broadway season's earlier pop concert extravaganza, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, this theatre critic readily admits to not exactly being an ideal arts journalist to authoritatively review the touring rock anthem/classical music fusion concert called Rocktopia that has made a stop at the Broadway Theatre. Though my knowledge of the highbrow oeuvre is perhaps slightly higher than a layperson's, my experience with classic rock power ballads rarely extends further than the snippets heard at baseball and hockey games or during the occasional car commercial.