Me and My Girl - 1987 - US Tour Articles Page 18

One of the fastest selling shows in London West End, 'Dirty Dancing,' makes its Manila premiere on Thursday, July 4 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Accomplished musician, lead singer and songwriter of the iconic band Foreigner, LOU GRAMM is ready to tell his story. In JUKE BOX HERO: MY FIVE DECADES IN ROCK 'N' ROLL, due out May 1 from Triumph Books, GRAMM details his rise from humble, working-class roots in Rochester, N.Y. to become one of rock 'n' roll's most distinctive and popular voices.

Ron Eldard (Justified, ER), Freddy Rodriguez (Rico in Six Feet Under) and Bill Smitrovich (Drew Thatcher in Life Goes On) are set to appear in American Buffalo, a revival of David Mamet's American classic.

Smokey Joe's Cafe is a compelling rock 'n' roll musical revue that encompasses the timeless songs of the inventors of this music genre, Leiber and Stoller. Featuring nearly 40 of the greatest songs ever recorded including hits as: On Broadway, Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock, Stand By Me, Spanish Harlem, Love Potion #9, and Young Blood, Yakety Yak, I'm A Woman. Smokey Joe's Cafe transforms classic pop music into compelling musical theatre and each song is a trip down the corridors of American culture.

Chris Larkin joins David Bark-Jones, Maureen Beattie, Simon Bubb, Danielle Flett, Geoffrey Freshwater, Neil Pearson, Thomasin Rand and Sasha Waddell in the UK tour of Michael Frayn's multi- award-winning backstage comedy Noises Off, directed by Lindsay Posner. Following its acclaimed run at The Old Vic and then at the Novello Theatre in the West End, Noises Off will tour theatres across the UK and Ireland from tonight, 27 March 2013. New dates have also been confirmed, which include Birmingham New Alexandra Theatre, Cardiff's Wales Millennium Centre, Glasgow King's Theatre and the Wycombe Swan.

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) announced today complete details for FAR FROM HEAVEN, a new musical with book by Tony Award winner and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Richard Greenberg (Take Me Out, Three Days of Rain, the current Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Assembled Parties both now on Broadway), music by Tony Award nominee Scott Frankel (Grey Gardens at PH and on Broadway, Finding Neverland) and lyrics by Tony Award nominee Michael Korie (Grey Gardens at PH and on Broadway, The Grapes of Wrath, Finding Neverland). The musical is choreographed by Alex Sanchez (Giant, Fiorello!) and directed by three-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif (Grey Gardens at PH and on Broadway; Rent, Next to Normal, Giant). The musical is based on the Focus Features/Vulcan Productions motion picture Far From Heaven, written and directed by Todd Haynes. FAR FROM HEAVEN will now begin previews Wednesday evening, May 8 at 8PM with an Opening Night set for Sunday, June 2 at 7PM. The limited engagement subscription run will play through Sunday, June 30 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street). Headlining the cast is the previously-announced four-time Tony Award nominee Kelli O'Hara (nominated for her acclaimed performances in The Light in the Piazza, The Pajama Game, South Pacific and the current Nice Work If You Can Get It). One of Broadway's leading musical stars, she returns to Playwrights Horizons for the first time since starring in the World Premiere of the new musical My Life with Albertine in 2003. She will reunite with co-star Steven Pasquale (The Spitfire Grill at PH; reasons to be pretty on Broadway; The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide… at The Public; Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle nominations for A Man of No Importance at Lincoln Center; The Grapes of Wrath at Carnegie Hall, star of the NBC series 'Do No Harm'). Ms. O'Hara and Mr. Pasquale created their respective roles in FAR FROM HEAVEN for the musical's Preview Production run at Williamstown Theatre Festival last summer. In addition to Ms. O'Hara and Mr. Pasquale, the full cast of FAR FROM HEAVEN will feature J.B. Adams (Parade, Beauty & the Beast, Me & My Girl on Broadway; Annie Warbucks Off-Broadway; the film Far From Heaven), Marinda Anderson (From the Inside, Out at NY Fringe Festival; Freedom Train for TheatreWorks USA), Olivier Award nominee Nancy Anderson (Wonderful Town, A Class Act on Broadway; Kiss Me, Kate in London; Yank! Off-Broadway), Elainey Bass (Radio City Christmas Spectacular), Obie Award winner Quincy Tyler Bernstine (In the Next Room… on Broadway; Ruined at MTC), Justin Scott Brown (Les Miserables, Spring Awakening national tours), Obie Award winner Alma Cuervo (PH's The Heidi Chronicles and Isn't It Romantic?; Titanic, Cabaret, Women on the Verge… on Broadway; Road Show at The Public; Wicked national tour), Korey Jackson (Wild with Happy at The Public; 'Homeland'), Isaiah Johnson (Peter and the Starcatcher; The Merchant of Venice on Broadway), Jake Lucas (Newsies), James Moye (Million Dollar Quartet, Ragtime, White Christmas, on Broadway; Happiness Off-Broadway), Julianna Rigoglioso (Pippi Longstocking Off-Broadway; Mary Poppins national tour, The Smurfs), Sarah Jane Shanks (Wicked, Promises Promises, Shrek, Wonderful Town, The Apple Tree on Broadway), Tess Soltau (The Addams Family on Broadway; Into the Woods for The Public/Shakespeare in the Park), Mary Stout (Cather County at PH; Jane Eyre, Beauty & the Beast, Me & My Girl on Broadway) and Victor Wallace (Mamma Mia! on Broadway, Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera national tours). FAR FROM HEAVEN will feature scenic design by Tony Award nominee Allen Moyer, costume design by five-time Tony Award winner Catherine Zuber, lighting design by Tony Award winner Kenneth Posner, sound design by Nevin Steinberg, projection design by Peter Nigrini and orchestrations by Tony Award winner Bruce Coughlin. Musical Director is Lawrence Yurman and Production Stage Manager is Judith Schoenfeld. Cathy Whitaker (Ms. O'Hara) seems to be the picture-perfect wife and mother in 1957 suburban Connecticut. But roiling beneath the surface, secret longings and forbidden desires cause her world to unravel, with incendiary consequences. With a lush score that is both jazz-inflected and hauntingly lyrical, FAR FROM HEAVEN is a powerful story of romance, betrayal and intolerance, as a woman grapples with her identity in a society on the verge of upheaval. FAR FROM HEAVEN was commissioned, developed, and produced through the Playwrights Horizons Musicals in Partnership Initiative, with leadership support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Through this initiative, the musical had a Preview Production run at the Williamstown Theatre Festival last summer, also featuring Ms. O'Hara, Mr. Pasquale, Mr. Adams, Ms. Bernstine and Ms. Stout. The program allows Playwrights Horizons to develop new works of musical theater, each in partnership with a Regional theater - wholly within the not-for-profit system. This seven-year program aims to commission at least four new works of musical theater and develop and produce three or four full-scale productions. Each of the three musicals will be produced at both one specific Regional partner and at Playwrights Horizons. Generous support for FAR FROM HEAVEN was also provided by The Laurents / Hatcher Foundation, Stacey & Eric Mindich Fund for New Musicals at Playwrights Horizons, Daniel & Joanne Smith, Cathy & Stephen Weinroth, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Tobin Theatre Arts Fund, Thomas & Patricia Barron, Bruce Horten, Rosalee A. & Bruce Lovett, Larry Tatelbaum, Elroy and Terry Krumholz Foundation, and Nancy Roistacher & Wayne P. Merkelson. The original 2002 film, which stars Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert and Patricia Clarkson, earned over 100 awards, honors and nominations. It was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Actress (Ms. Moore), Best Original Screenplay (Todd Haynes), Best Cinematography (Edward Lachman) and Best Original Score (Elmer Bernstein), and was named one of the 10 Best Movies of the Decade by Entertainment Weekly. It was also named Best Film of the Year by the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, Independent Spirit Awards and the Village Voice, among many others. Far From Heaven also earned 4 Golden Globe nominations including Best Screenplay, a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and a bevy of additional awards for leading actress Julianne Moore, including one from the National Board of Review Award and nominations from the Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes. With FAR FROM HEAVEN, Playwrights Horizons continues its commitment to developing unique and ground-breaking new musicals, including Grey Gardens, James Joyce's The Dead, Floyd Collins, Assassins, Once on This Island and Sunday in the Park with George. FAR FROM HEAVEN reunites the theater company with Mr. Frankel, Mr. Korie and Mr. Greif, the composer, lyricist and director of Grey Gardens, which was one of Playwrights Horizons' most heralded original musicals. The project also marks the long-awaited return to the theater company of Mr. Greenberg, who was last represented there in 1987 with his play The Maderati. The performance schedule for FAR FROM HEAVEN will be Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7PM, Thursdays and Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2:30 PM & 8PM and Sundays at 2:30 PM & 7:30 PM. Both the Wednesday, May 8 and Tuesday, May 28 evening performances have 8PM curtains and the Sunday, June 2 matinee has an early 2PM curtain. Beginning the week of April 8, single tickets, starting at $80, may be purchased online via www.TicketCentral.com, by phone at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily), via Facebook at www.Facebook.com/PlaywrightsHorizons or in person at the Ticket Central Box Office, 416 West 42nd Street (between Ninth & Tenth Avenues). A ticketing initiative created as part of Playwrights Horizons' Arts Access program, LIVEforFIVE makes available $5 tickets for the first preview performance of each Playwrights Horizons production through a lottery via the company's website. The LIVEforFIVE lottery for FAR FROM HEAVEN will be for tickets to the first preview on Wednesday, May 8 at 8PM. Details for the lottery are as follows: beginning Wednesday, May 1 at 12 Noon, theatergoers can enter the lottery by filling out an entry form at www.PlaywrightsHorizons.org. Entries will be accepted until Monday, May 6 at 12 Noon. Winners of the lottery will be notified via email no later than 3PM on Monday, May 6 with instructions on how to book their $5 tickets. Unclaimed tickets will be offered via email to a limited standby list starting at 12 Noon on Tuesday, May 7 on a first-come, first-served basis. One or two tickets may be purchased for $5 each. A limited number of tickets will be available for Mainstage shows via the lottery. Reflecting Playwrights Horizons' ongoing commitment to making its productions more affordable to younger audiences, the theater company will offer HOTtix, $25 rush tickets, subject to availability, day of performance only, starting one hour before showtime to patrons aged 30 and under. Proof of age required. One ticket per person, per purchase. Cash only. LIVEforFIVE and HOTtix are two of Playwrights Horizons' popular Arts Access initiatives, which allow the institution to reach out to those who may not be able to afford the cost of a full-price theater ticket. This program is supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and The McGraw-Hill Companies. A special open captioned performance of FAR FROM HEAVEN for theatergoers who are deaf and hard of hearing will be held on the Saturday, June 8 matinee at 2:30 PM. Funding for this program is provided, in part, by the Theodore H. Barth Foundation, and TDF and TAP Plus, which is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Ron Eldard (Justified, ER), Freddy Rodriguez (Rico in Six Feet Under) and Bill Smitrovich (Drew Thatcher in Life Goes On) are set to appear in American Buffalo, a revival of David Mamet's American classic.

St. Ann's Warehouse welcomes back Kneehigh and director Emma Rice for the New York premiere of The Wild Bride. In this adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale 'The Girl Without Hands,' narrated by Satan himself, a father accidentally sells his daughter to the Devil. When our heroine cleverly escapes, a lyrical love story laced with devilish humor unfolds. The production features a bluegrass score by longtime Kneehigh composer Stu Barker, performed by live musicians and the cast.

The next chapter in TV One's highly successful R&B Divas reality franchise unfolds with new series R&B DIVAS: LA. The series, following the lives and careers of Kelly Price, Chante Moore, Lil' Mo, Claudette Ortiz, Michel'le and Dawn Robinson, will begin production this month in Los Angeles with an anticipated premiere on TV One in Q3 2013.

At last year's Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) Awards, two of the big winners were T. Oliver Reid (photo left) for Male Debut and Eric Michael Gillett for Major Artist, Male (and both could very likely be MAC nominees again this year). Almost a year later, two of New York cabaret's leading men performed new shows one night apart at 54 Below; Reid on February 6 with Drop Me Off in Harlem, and Gillett the next night with Careless Rhapsody: An Evening Dedicated to the Lyrics of Lorenz Hart. Ironically, what the shows had in common--besides being a fairly good fit of material to singer--was that the majority of their sets featured songs written in the 1930s but in very different styles. With Reid it was the jazz, swing and blues of Harlem; with Gillette it was the romantic Broadway musical sensibility of Hart's lyrics (paired with the timeless melodies of Richard Rodgers). While neither Reid's 'Harlem,' nor Gillett's 'Hart' were stirring or spectacular shows, they were both solid and entertaining enough that both could be nominated for BroadwayWorld.com Awards in 2013.

Smokey Joe's Cafe is a compelling rock 'n' roll musical revue that encompasses the timeless songs of the inventors of this music genre, Leiber and Stoller. Featuring nearly 40 of the greatest songs ever recorded including hits as: On Broadway, Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock, Stand By Me, Spanish Harlem, Love Potion #9, and Young Blood, Yakety Yak, I'm A Woman. Smokey Joe's Cafe transforms classic pop music into compelling musical theatre and each song is a trip down the corridors of American culture.

St. Ann's Warehouse welcomes back Kneehigh and director Emma Rice for the New York premiere of The Wild Bride. In this adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale 'The Girl Without Hands,' narrated by Satan himself, a father accidentally sells his daughter to the Devil. When our heroine cleverly escapes, a lyrical love story laced with devilish humor unfolds. The production features a bluegrass score by longtime Kneehigh composer Stu Barker, performed by live musicians and the cast.

Smokey Joe's Café is a compelling rock 'n' roll musical revue that encompasses the timeless songs of the inventors of this music genre, Leiber and Stoller. Featuring nearly 40 of the greatest songs ever recorded including hits as: On Broadway, Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock, Stand By Me, Spanish Harlem, Love Potion #9, and Young Blood, Yakety Yak, I'm A Woman. Smokey Joe's Café transforms classic pop music into compelling musical theatre and each song is a trip down the corridors of American culture.

Casting is announced for the UK tour of Michael Frayn's multi-award-winning backstage comedy Noises Off. Following its acclaimed run at The Old Vic and then at the Novello Theatre in the West End, Noises Off will tour theatres across the UK and Ireland from 27 March 2013.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center has announced that Academy Award-winner Barbra Streisand, the first American woman artist to receive credit as writer, director, producer and star of a major feature film, YENTL, will be honored at the 40th Annual Chaplin Award Gala held at Lincoln Center on the evening of Monday, April 22, 2013.

Below, THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS director Peter Lord who was nominated for a Best Animated Feature Film Academy Award this morning reacts to the news.

Directors Guild of America President Taylor Hackford today announced the DGA's nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television and Commercials for the year 2012.

The blockbuster musical WICKED has achieved an unprecedented Broadway milestone as it enters its 10th Anniversary year, becoming the first Broadway musical ever to remain the highest grossing production for a record-breaking nine consecutive years. Since opening in 2004, its first full year at the Gershwin Theatre, WICKED has remained at the top of the Broadway grosses.

In the crisp, morning hours on December 27, 2012 I got the chance to speak with Lara Teeter, who will be playing Cap'n Andy in the upcoming production of SHOW BOAT at Houston Grand Opera. The celebrated actor had a plethora of interesting and scholarly items to discuss about SHOW BOAT, and the character of Cap'n Andy. We also had a good time discussing his career as an actor, director, choreographer, and teacher.

Actor and author Arthur Wooten has penned a fictional memoir of a Broadway actress struck by a mysterious disease in his new novel DIZZY.

The New Yorker has just announced that after twenty years as the publication's chief theatre critic, John Lahr will give up regular reviewing to focus on the profiles he also contributes to the magazine, as well as book projects.

Laurence Connor and James Powell's direction of the current tour is energetic and lively from opening to close. There are cleverly paid notes of homage to Trevor Nunn and John Caird's original direction of the piece. Yet, the team really takes advantage of being able to breathe new life into the show, almost completely restaging every scene. Likewise, they have taken the opportunity to present a grittier and more realistic LES MISERABLES.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), under the Artistic Direction of Diane Paulus has announced the complete cast for its February 2013 production of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, to be directed by Tony Award-winning director John Tiffany. Multiple Tony and Emmy Award winner Cherry Jones returns to the A.R.T. to play Amanda Wingfield, and will be joined by Zachary Quinto as Tom, Celia Keenan-Bolger as Laura, and Brian J. Smith as the Gentleman Caller. The Tony Award-winning design team includes set and costumes by Bob Crowley, lighting by Natasha Katz, and sound by Clive Goodwin.

2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the iconic James Bond film franchise, and in conjunction with EON Productions and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Capitol/EMI is proud to join the world's celebration of 007. BEST OF BOND...JAMES BOND, a new commemorative collection of the legendary films' digitally remastered music, will be released in two configurations today, October 9th (October 8th outside of North America).

2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the iconic James Bond film franchise, and in conjunction with EON Productions and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Capitol/EMI is proud to join the world's celebration of 007. BEST OF BOND...JAMES BOND, a new commemorative collection of the legendary films' digitally remastered music, will be released in two configurations on October 9th (October 8th outside of North America).