Leave It to Me! - 2001 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 19

Back at the Delacorte for his fifth Shakespeare in the Park, the TV star talks about playing the fool, getting typecast and living in L.A. and Italy.

Joe's Pub at the Public has announced its upcoming performances, today, June 11 through the 22nd. Scroll down for the lineup!

Joe's Pub at the Public has announced its upcoming performances, June 11 through the 22nd. Scroll down for the lineup!

'Butler,' the World Premiere play by Richard W. Strand will be on stage at New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch from June 12th through July 13th. BWW had an opportunity to interview playwright Richard W. Strand.

San Francisco Playhouse (Artistic Director Bill English & Producing Director Susi Damilano) concludes its provocative eleventh season with Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and James Lapine (book). The production runs June 24th to September 6th, 2014, with an official opening set for June 28.

Joe's Pub at The Public is known for the most eclectic and diverse programming in New York City. Coming up at the Pub is a slate of extraordinary women performers and artists that span the gambit of genre and style - from the irreverent and explosive alt-cabaret star Bridget Everett to the visionary jazz vocalist and composer Kavita Shah to the prolific and singular singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier. See below for a full list of their leading ladies through June 2014.

The New York Philharmonic will conclude its 2013-14 subscription season with the final program in The Beethoven Piano Concertos: A Philharmonic Festival, when Music Director Alan Gilbert conducts Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor, featuring The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence Yefim Bronfman as soloist, and Beethoven's Triple Concerto, with Mr. Bronfman, Principal Cello Carter Brey, and Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow in his final appearances before concluding his 34-year tenure, Wednesday, June 18, 2014, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, June 19 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, June 20 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, June 21 at 8:00 p.m.

I was just a little more than a year into my new side career as a cabaret show reviewer when I first saw a Karen Oberlin show. It was Valentine's Day night 2012 and Oberlin—with guitarist Sean Harkness and guest violinist Aaron Weinstein—would be performing her romance-laced set, Stringing Along With Love, at the Metropolitan Room. At the time, all I knew about Oberlin was that she was considered among New York's best female cabaret singers, and I hadn't researched her performing history pre-show. About a third of the way into her set I leaned over to my wife (it was Valentine's Day after all) and whispered, “You know, she has a real Doris Day quality in her voice and in the way she delivers some lyrics.” This immediately ratcheted up my appreciation for Oberlin since there are four passions I inherited from my Dad—baseball, reading the morning papers, sports writing and Doris Day (well, also Sophia Loren, but that's for another column). Since Dad had grown up during the prime of the Big Band Era of the 1940s, I heard the sultry sounds of a young Doris Day singing songs like “Sentimental Journey” on the family stereo more than a few times. Once I saw Day's strikingly adorable blondness on a record cover and her rocking body in one of her films, I knew what Dad was talking about. As popular, famous, and near iconic as Doris Day became, in my book, as a singer and screen beauty she's always been vastly underrated. Little did I know that Karen Oberlin had been doing a Doris Day tribute show so since 2001 at places like Firebird, Iridium, and the late Danny's Skylight Room, and produced a CD, Secret Love: The Music of Doris Day, in 2002. Karen Oberlin had instantly become my secret love.

Nonesuch Records will release Natalie Merchant's new self-titled album today, May 6, 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.

2014 MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabaret Artists) Award winner Rev. Yolanda appeared at Outright Vermont's 25th Anniversary Silver Celebration on April 11th in Williston, Vermont. New York audiences recognize Yolanda from her cabaret show, REV. YOLANDA'S OLD TIME GOSPEL HOUR, while Vermonters may know her from the public access television show she co-hosted with Cherie Tartt from the mid-'90s through 2001, or from her band, Yolanda & the Plastic Family.

Joe's Pub at the Public has announced an exciting lineup of performances now through April 27. Check out the full schedule and details below!

Ocean State Theatre Company (OSTC) has announced that its second full season in their new state-of-the-art theatre located at 1245 Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick, will open with Lerner and Loewe's stunning Broadway classic, My Fair Lady.

Notwithstanding the pall of despondency hovering over San Diego Opera, to be in the presence of Ferruccio Furlanetto's greatness for one amazing hour while he imparted his wisdom was an overwhelming experience.

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.

When a group of people commits to intentionally listening to God and radically obeying His word, it's no surprise that an incredible story unfolds. Now, in the upcoming book PASSION & PURPOSE: Believing the Church Can Still Change the World (Clear Day Publishers), Jimmy Seibert, Senior Pastor of Antioch Community Church and President of Antioch Ministries International, tells the firsthand account of a church that is cultivating a global impact. With an intentional focus on intimacy with Jesus, discipleship, church planting and evangelism, Antioch Ministries International has become one of the fastest growing evangelical movements in the country as well as a common case study among students of church planting and mission work.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today Patrice Chéreau: The Love That Dares (February 28-March 5), a nine-film series celebrating the prolific post-New Wave and award-winning filmmaker whose body of work spanned over 30 years

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) announced today that Joseph Young has been named the new ASO Assistant Conductor and Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra (ASYO) Music Director. Mr. Young, most recently the Resident Conductor of the Phoenix Symphony, will begin his new post on June 1, 2014. His initial contract is for one year, with the opportunity for an extension.

Winter usually isn't the busiest time of year for incoming Broadway shows, but that doesn't mean that there is any lack of fresh talent making their debuts! The Broadway Winter has arrived, and while a solid number of new faces are treading the boards, dozens more are on their way in the coming months. Meet all of Broadway's newest stars below!

The quintessential portrait of maniacal ambition and lust for power is on stage in William Shakespeare's epic history play Richard III at Folger Theatre. Robert Richmond

The New York Festival of Song marks its ninth annual co-presentation with Juilliard's Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts with a program celebrating the longtime partnership between P.G. Wodehouse and composer Jerome Kern: THE LAND WHERE THE GOOD SONGS GO, to be performed tonight, January 15, 2014 at 8:00PM in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at The Juilliard School.

'How is it possible that one minute I'm a wife, and the next I'm a discard?'-Changing Spaces, Nancy King Nancy King's new novel, 'Changing Spaces,' focuses on a runaway soon-to-be-divorced Midwestern wife who gets a 'makeover' in New Mexico. King explained in a recent phone interview that the plot was sparked by her encounters with three mature women on the brink of divorce: 'First there was a woman at a party who said to me, 'That was before I lost my life...' referring to her divorce. Her husband of 40 years had left her to marry a younger woman. A week later, another friend showed up in tears because her husband wanted out of their 40-year marriage so he could marry his secretary.' By the time she read an Op-Ed about a woman who had written a book about the joys of being a stay-at-home-wife, and whose husband now wanted out after 40 years, Nancy King knew she was on to something. Into this familiar scenario, King injected a 'What if?' What if a Midwestern 60-year old woman woke up as she always did, made love with her husband of 40 years, and several hours later, learned her husband had fallen for a younger woman and wanted a divorce-and what if she hit the road and ended up in the healing bear-hug that is Santa Fe, New Mexico? 'Hey, ya got the Santa Fe idea. No need to be who you were. Be who you want to be.' -Changing Spaces, Nancy King In 2001, King moved from the East Coast 'and never looked back.' The decision to leave friends and job would have been bold for anyone, but since 1985, King has been living with a rare form of leukemia known as Hairy Cell. 'When I realized I had a chronic disease with no cure, I made the decision that it was not going to run or ruin my life. I focus on what I can do; not what I lost or what I used to be able to do. Even when I don't feel well, I force myself to walk or hike or play tennis because I always feel better afterward.' The unsinkable Nancy King has trekked Thailand, hiked the Grand Canyon, and 'run people 50 years her junior into the ground,' according to one friend. 'She overcame the odds of a disastrous diagnosis.' 'Laura tried on outfit after outfit, hoping toalter her personality from the outside in.She practiced taking bigger steps...' -Changing Spaces, Nancy King Why Santa Fe? King didn't even take a moment to reply: 'The nature around Santa Fe is spectacular. Many people find it has a magical energy that renews and regenerates. Even those born in New Mexico talk about this area's special energy, nature, culture.' According to King, newcomers often experience difficulties at first. 'It's as if Santa Fe were trying to spit them out. Those who manage to survive their initial problems often experience personal transformations that they couldn't have articulated before coming.' Nancy King also authored the novels, Morning Light, A Woman Walking and The Stones Speak, which was optioned for a film and won first place in the New Mexico Presswomen's Communications Contest. She has facilitated international arts-based healing workshops, which she detailed in her non-fiction book, Dancing with Wonder: Self-Discovery through Stories. 'One theme that runs throughout my writing is an exploration of the need to reconnect with the disconnected Self after trauma,' King said. 'I'm interested in what happens when characters realize their old lives and ways no longer serve them.' What helps the most when living with illness or a life out of balance? 'Having a sense of humor about every aspect of life. And good friends.' Just as in 'Changing Spaces' where Santa Fe women form a circle of care around the stranger in their midst, King's friends have seen her through the best and the worst. 'When a nurse expressed concern that I don't have family here to support me while I undergo treatments, I told her. 'Don't worry. My friends are the best support network in the world.' This book is available in all formats from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Plain View Press and Nancy King's website (nancykingstories) where you can also read reviews, excerpts from all her fiction and nonfiction books, as well as check out her workshops and public appearance calendar. 'Changing Spaces' will have its New Mexico launch in Santa Fe at Collected Works (Feb. 7 at 6pm); Albuquerque at Bookworks (Feb. 11 at 7pm); and Taos at Moby Dickens (April 19 at 2pm). Nancy King will talk on the 'Healing Effects of New Mexico on Trauma' and sign her book. ISBN: 978-1-891386-43-5-51895 Paperback and all e-book formats Pages: 256 Price: $15.50 Release Date: Jan. 1, 2014 Publisher: Plain View Press

Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) presents The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith by Angelo Parra and directed by Joe Brancato, January 9- February 2, continuing the theater's 35th season with the soulful blues. The play will be performed in the recently-renovated Nancy L. Donahue Theatre, located at 50 East Merrimack Street in historic downtown Lowell. Tickets range from $60 - $20 and are on sale now through www.mrt.org or by calling 978-654-4678.

The quintessential portrait of maniacal ambition and lust for power is on stage in William Shakespeare's epic history play Richard III at Folger Theatre. Robert Richmond

The New York Festival of Song marks its ninth annual co-presentation with Juilliard's Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts with a program celebrating the longtime partnership between P.G. Wodehouse and composer Jerome Kern: THE LAND WHERE THE GOOD SONGS GO, to be performed on Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 8:00PM in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at The Juilliard School.