Magic on Broadway - 1996 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 11

After 144 performances of seven different productions presented over 55 days, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival concluded the 27th season with its rotating repertory of Shakespeare in Love and King Richard II; and its "Extreme Shakespeare," production of All's Well That Ends Well.

The Flea Theater presents the World Premiere of SCRAPS written by Geraldine Inoa, a writer on The Walking Dead and the inaugural recipient of The Shonda Rhimes Unsung Voices Playwriting Commission. It is directed by Flea Artistic Director Niegel Smith. Now in previews, opening night is slated for Thursday, August 30.

This year, a living legend of musical theatre turns 90: Lyricist-bookwriter Tom Jones (who also, under a stage name) appeared in the original company of his most famous and wildly successful record-breaking musical, The Fantasticks. His collaborator, composer Harvey Schmidt, just recently passed away. The production's record-breaking run closed, on January 13, 2002, after 17,162 performances. Their shows also include 110 in the Shade, I Do! I Do!, Philemon, Celebration and many more. And celebration is what it's about when Broadway veterans Carole Demas, who originated the role of Sandy in Grease, and Sarah Rice, who originated the role of Johanna in Sweeney Todd, return to celebrate Jones & Schmidt. Demas and Rice have based the show on their 50 years of work and personal relationships with Tom and Harvey. With very special guest Broadway's Hal Robinson who is also a Fantasticks alumni.

Today, The Pokémon Company International announced that it is once again partnering with Fathom Events to bring a new animated film, Pokémon the Movie: The Power of Us, to select cinemas in multiple territories as a limited theatrical release. Participating locations in the US will show the event on November 24, 26, and 28, as well as December 1. The agreement with Fathom Events, the recognized leader in event cinema distribution, follows a successful cinema event collaboration last year that showcased Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! and garnered strong attendance worldwide.

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.

When Joanna Demafelis' indebted family needed money to fix their typhoon-battered home, she followed in the footsteps of millions of other Filipinos and left to find work overseas. And like far too many Filipinos, her journey ended in tragedy.

Interrobang Theatre Project is pleased to announce its ninth season, featuring three knockout dramas presented at its new resident home, Rivendell Theatre, 5779 N. Ridge Ave. in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood. This season, Interrobang explores "identity/crisis," with three plays featuring characters on the edge of something new, battling old demons and making room for fresh starts.

The Varietease Cabaret presents accomplished variety arts entertainers in a format echoing that of the American vaudeville houses of yesteryear. Fitted with a live band, master of ceremonies, and some of the most entertaining variety entertainers in the business, no two evenings are ever alike. Many of our artists have spent years gracing the stages of Cirque du Soleil, Ringling Brothers, and the big tops and variety arts houses of Europe.

Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center will present an all new production of the Tony Award-winning musical Ragtime, live on stage for six performances only, June 15 through June 24 on the Main Stage Theater.

The 2018-2019 season includes six Broadway shows, headlined by the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Blockbuster Beautiful – The Carole King Musical. Also coming as part of the Haverland Carter Broadway in New Mexico series are Finding Neverland, The Sound of Music, Kinky Boots, and the newly-restaged Cats. RENT 20THANNIVERSARY TOUR will also tour to Popejoy as a Broadway Extra.

Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center will present an all new production of the Tony Award-winning musical Ragtime, live on stage for six performances only, June 15 through June 24 on the Main Stage Theater.

RAGTIME is such an underrated piece of art. Although written in 1996 and staged for Broadway in 1998, it is almost prophetic in its reflection of the social unrest, racism and immigration sanctions prevalent in our world today. Based on the 1975 novel by E. L. Doctorow, with a book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, RAGTIME is as relevant today as it was when first conceived. Its timelessness is a credit to its brilliant and perceptive writing, albeit a sad commentary of our present society which has not learned from its past and has not progressed much in civility or compassion.

Goodman Theatre announces the cast and creative team for the Chicago premiere of Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by Niegel Smith. Parks, in her "finest work yet" (New York Times), serves up "an American story as much about our present as it is about our past" (Los Angeles Times). Filled with wit, poetry and original music composed by Grammy Award winner Justin Ellington and performed on stage nightly by Chicago native blues musician Melody Angel, the production follows Hero (Kamal Angelo Bolden), a Texas slave, who faces a simple yet monumental choice: join his master in the Confederate army to win his freedom-or remain enslaved at the plantation. Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) appears May 25 - June 24, 2018 (opening night is June 4 at 7pm) in Goodman Theatre's 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre. The estimated run time is 2 hours and 30 minutes. Tickets ($10 - $40; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Father , by phone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 N. Dearborn). The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation is the Major Production Sponsor and American Airlines is the Contributing Sponsor.

Broadway Sacramento announced the 2018 - 19 Broadway On Tour season at the Community Center Theater, sponsored by Wells Fargo, featuring four shows not previously presented in the series and three that are favorites of Broadway Sacramento audiences. The season features Sacramento premieres of On Your Feet!, Waitress, Aladdin, and The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical. Returning shows are a newly-updated Stomp, which was presented twice before by Broadway On Tour; the new Lincoln Center Theater production of Falsettos, which was presented once before; and the brand new revival of Cats, which has previously been presented twice each by Broadway On Tour and Broadway At Music Circus.

The 2018-2019 season includes six Broadway shows, headlined by the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Blockbuster Beautiful - The Carole King Musical. Also coming as part of the Haverland Carter Broadway in New Mexico series are Finding Neverland, The Sound of Music, Kinky Boots, and the newly-restaged Cats. RENT 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR will also tour to Popejoy as a Broadway Extra.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents the Tony Award-winning musical The Bridges of Madison County, based on the 1992 bestselling novel by Robert James Waller about love both lost and found. Set amidst the cornfields of Iowa in 1965, this passionate musical follows the unexpected affair of a devoted Italian-born housewife and a roving National Geographic photographer set over four sensual, heart-stirring days. Brilliantly adapted by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Marsha Norman ('night Mother, The Secret Garden, The Color Purple) with music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade), it captured the 2014 Tony Award for Best Musical Score. The Bridges of Madison County, directed by TheatreWorks Artistic Director and founder Robert Kelley will be presented April 4 - 29, 2018 (opening night: April 7) at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. For tickets ($40-$100) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

NBC's live concert staging of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR aired this past Easter Sunday. Largely sung from the perspective of Judas, listeners join THE JOURNEY through final week in the life Jesus Christ, from Palm Sunday to the arrest and crucifixion. Performed live on a set of exposed scaffolding in Brooklyn's Marcy Armory, this live musical gave cause to all of its televised musical predecessors. Masterworks Broadway released the live recording of the vivacious television event digitally on April 6th, with a physical version to follow on April 20.

TILTED WINDMILLS THEATRICALS (John Arthur Pinckard & David Carpenter) will present OVERHEARD AT JOE'S - the interactive, improvisational, theatre experience set in your local bar, created by Christian Kelty - at McHale's Bar and Grill (251 West 51st Street) starting on Sunday, April 22. Every performance includes a special musical guest; Michelle Shocked, the Grammy Award-nominated singer/songwriter, will be featured through Tuesday, May 1.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents the Tony Award-winning musical The Bridges of Madison County, based on the 1992 bestselling novel by Robert James Waller about love both lost and found. Set amidst the cornfields of Iowa in 1965, this passionate musical follows the unexpected affair of a devoted Italian-born housewife and a roving National Geographic photographer set over four sensual, heart-stirring days. Brilliantly adapted by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Marsha Norman ('night Mother, The Secret Garden, The Color Purple) with music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade), it captured the 2014 Tony Award for Best Musical Score. The Bridges of Madison County, directed by TheatreWorks Artistic Director and founder Robert Kelley will be presented April 4 - 29, 2018 (opening night: April 7) at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. For tickets ($40-$100) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

It's Episode #79 and we are seizing the day and sitting down with Tony Award winning Lighting Designer Jeff Croiter. Jeff has a wide ranging career and we're talking about all sorts of projects. Cory and Jeff discuss his recent design of the Big Apple Circus and how one goes about lighting jugglers, horses and the Flying Wallendas as well as his new relationship with Penn & Teller and what goes into lighting two of the most famous magicians in the world. He also discusses the prominent role lighting played in "Bandstand" and how he got 75 old fresnels to change color all night long and of course we're talking about the genesis of his design for "Peter and the Starcatcher" and how it has become a genre of design in itself.

Read below for BroadwayWorld's listings of shows in Chicago from Monday, March 26, 2018 to Monday, April 02, 2018 including local shows, regional productions and tours. Looking for a fun, inspiring or moving night at the theatre? Click on a show below for tickets, show information, articles, videos, photos & more... Want to browse all shows in Chicago?

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and The Shubert Organization are pleased to announce the 2018/19 Broadway Philadelphia season, featuring an outstanding lineup of highly-anticipated Broadway shows, including the Philadelphia premiere of Hamilton. The monumental upcoming season boasts a prodigious collection of award-winning productions which have garnered a collective 47 Tony® Awards and 25 Drama Desk Awards - the highest number of shows holding awards to ever grace one Broadway Philadelphia season!

The San Diego Opera's production of Daniel Catan's Florencia en el Amazonas was premiered Saturday at San Diego's Civic Center. Much has been made of the influence the magical realism of Nobel-Prize winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez had on Marcela Fuentes-Berain's libretto, but most of the magic is in Catan's music. In this production, the voices and staging added another helping of enchantment. What little magical realism there is in the libretto, compared to Marquez's inventive, often disorienting novels, was largely lost in the mix.

MCC Theater is thrilled to announce four new productions for its 32nd Season in the Theater's new, permanent home. The season includes an exciting mix of world and New York premieres from artists both familiar and new to MCC audiences-each fulfilling MCC's longtime commitment to bold, risk-taking works from the most vital voices working in theater today.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents the Tony Award-winning musical The Bridges of Madison County, based on the 1992 bestselling novel by Robert James Waller about love both lost and found. Set amidst the cornfields of Iowa in 1965, this passionate musical follows the unexpected affair of a devoted Italian-born housewife and a roving National Geographic photographer set over four sensual, heart-stirring days. Brilliantly adapted by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Marsha Norman ('night Mother, The Secret Garden, The Color Purple) with music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade), it captured the 2014 Tony Award for Best Musical Score. The Bridges of Madison County, directed by TheatreWorks Artistic Director and founder Robert Kelley will be presented April 4 - 29, 2018 (opening night: April 7) at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. For tickets ($40-$100) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.