Passion 1997 West End — Photo Coverage
Schmidt Vocal Arts Will Present Fifth Annual National High School Vocal Competition
by A.A. Cristi - May 14, 2026
Schmidt Vocal Arts announced 58 teen singers advancing to the semifinals of its fifth annual National Vocal Competition, held in partnership with Sarasota Opera at the Sarasota Opera House in Florida.
Danse Danse Will Perform HAMLET by Robert Lepage and Guillaume Côté in Montreal
by Stephi Wild - Apr 15, 2026
Ex Machina and Côté Danse's HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK returns to Montreal's Salle Ludger-Duvernay, Monument-National, with nine performers interpreting Shakespeare through dance, set design, and an original score.
Famulari Brothers to Screen Debut Film BEST MAN at LIMEHOF
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Apr 3, 2026
The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame will screen Beest Man in April, a debut feature by Stony Brook brothers Ryan and Anthony Famulari, at LIMEHOF in Stony Brook.
LOVE STRUCK To Play Odyssey Theatre In Los Angeles
by A.A. Cristi - Mar 31, 2026
Macha Theatre/Films will present LOVE STRUCK at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles as a visiting production. The play, written by Odalys Nanin and Marie Barrientos, will run April 24 through May 3.
Connecticut Virtuosi Will Embark on Tour With CARMEN
by Stephi Wild - Mar 24, 2026
Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, under the artistic direction of Maestro Adrian Sylveen, announced its four-city Virtuosi OPERA tour of Bizet's Passionate opera Carmen.
Lineup Set For 54th Annual Stanford Jazz Festival at Stanford University
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Mar 9, 2026
The Stanford Jazz Workshop has announced the 54th annual Stanford Jazz Festival at Stanford University. This year's festival will feature a diverse lineup including jazz legends and contemporary artists across various genres.
HAMILTON Will Hold First Relaxed Performance in the UK
by Stephi Wild - Feb 27, 2026
Go Live Theatre, in partnership with HAMILTON, will present the first relaxed performance in the UK on April 29, 2026, at Victoria Palace Theatre, enhancing accessibility.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to Conclude National Tour at NJPAC in 2026
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Feb 25, 2026
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will conclude its 20-city U.S. tour with performances at New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. The event marks the inaugural season under new Artistic Director Alicia Graf Mack.
Go Live Theatre Will Host WEST END MEMORIES With Rosalyn Wilder and Patricia Hodge
by Stephi Wild - Feb 17, 2026
Go Live Theatre announced a special event West End Memories - Rosalyn Wilder in conversation with Patricia Hodge taking place on Monday 9 March 2026 at 7pm at The Theatre at the Hippodrome Casino.
Tony Award-Winning Producers Launch New Full-Service Producing Office
by A.A. Cristi - Feb 2, 2026
Tony Award-winning producers Hal Luftig, Cathy Dantchik and Kevin Connor proudly announce the launch of HALCYON THEATRICALS, a new full-service producing and consulting theatrical company, named for the mythic halcyon bird who could calm the seas and create a time of success, prosperity and harmony.
CHICAGO to Host Post-Show Talkback with Whitney Leavitt and Dylan Mulvaney
by A.A. Cristi - Jan 27, 2026
CHICAGO will present a special post-show talkback featuring Whitney Leavitt and Dylan Mulvaney, offering audiences a unique opportunity to engage with the stars.
Photos: CHICAGO Celebrates 29th Year with Kate Baldwin and Alex Newell Debuts
by Bruce Glikas - Nov 19, 2025
You can now check out photos from Chicago on Broadway's 29th anniversary performance! This evening’s performance also welcomed Tony Award winner Alex Newell.
Photos: Alex Newell & Kate Baldwin Get Ready to Join CHICAGO
by Bruce Glikas - Nov 6, 2025
Broadway’s long-running hit Chicago is getting ready to welcome two new stars to the Ambassador Theatre this fall. Two-time Tony Award nominee Kate Baldwin steps into the role of Roxie Hart beginning Monday, November 10, 2025. One week later, Tony Award winner Alex Newell joins the cast as Matron “Mama” Morton on Monday, November 17. They just met the press ahead of their Chicago debuts and you can check out photos below.
Photos: Inside New Albany High School Theatre Department’s SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
by Jerri Shafer - Jul 22, 2025
This summer’s installment of Shakespeare Under the Stars, Shakespeare in Love marked Elliott Lemberg’s 50th production as head of the New Albany High School Theatre Department! For Mr. Lemberg, 50 productions also highlight 18 years of commitment to his students and their education.
Photos: COLLECTED STORIES Starring Grace Kiley and Christina Toth
by A.A. Cristi - May 9, 2025
Donald Margulies' Collected Stories, featuring acclaimed performers Grace Kiley and Christina Toth (Orange Is the New Black) is now playing at The East Village Basement. See photos of the production.
Review: THE LION KING Reigns Supreme at Dr. Phillips Center For The Performing Arts
by Albert Gutierrez - Apr 25, 2025
Life's greatest tragedy is the passage of time. It is a lesson we all must learn eventually. Within the proverbial circle of life, there is only a beginning and an end that occurs in the immediacy of our own lifetime. Yet, the cyclical nature of birth, death, and rebirth ensures that our spirit will carry on in legacy rather than in flesh. If we are loved, then we are remembered. And if we are remembered, then we live forever. Disney’s The Lion King transposes this message from screen to stage through an international collaboration of talent that supercedes the strength of the 1994 animated film from which it came.
Photos: Go Inside THE OLIVIER AWARDS 2023 WITH MASTERCARD NOMINEES' CELEBRATION
by Blair Ingenthron - Mar 19, 2023
On Friday 17 March, the Olivier Awards 2023 with Mastercard hosted their Nominees’ Celebration, in partnership with Cunard at The Londoner hotel, the world's first super boutique hotel in the heart of London's theatre district. Notable nominees such as Rose Ayling-Ellis, Beverley Knight, Rob Madge, Rafe Spall and Giles Terera were in attendance, among many of the other nominated theatre makers. Check out the photos here!
BWW Interview: Alisa Dupuy of The Ladies of History Historical Productions
by Donna Marie Nowak - Jan 21, 2022
Alisa Dupuy of The Ladies of History Historical Productions is a woman of a thousand faces (and voices) and keeps audiences enthralled with her one-woman enactments.
Photo Flash: First Look at THE RED SHOES at Sadler's Wells
by Stephi Wild - Dec 12, 2019
New Adventures has announced that Adam Cooper and Ashley Shaw will star in the return of Matthew Bourne's double Olivier award-winning, smash hit production of 'THE RED SHOES'. a seven-week Christmas season at Sadler's Wells, London, from Tuesday 3 December to Sunday 19 January 2020.
Photo Flash: Check Out Photos From the Fred Ebb Award Presentation
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Dec 4, 2019
The Fred Ebb Foundation (Mitchell S. Bernard, Trustee) in association with the Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) presented the fifteenth annual Fred Ebb Award for aspiring musical theatre songwriters to Angela Sclafani & Benjamin Velez. The award, named in honor of the late award-winning lyricist Fred Ebb, was presented by Kate Baldwin on Monday, December 2nd from 6-8pm at a by-invitation-only ceremony in the Penthouse Lounge of The American Airlines Theater.
BWW Review: ANASTASIA National Tour Impresses All Ages at Gammage Auditorium
by Tim Shawver - Nov 2, 2019
The first clue that ANASTASIA was going to be different than what I expected was a note on the title page reading, “Inspired by the Twentieth Century Fox Motion Pictures.” Plural? A savvy journalist, I quickly asked Siri to bring up the imdb page for “Anastasia”. Turns out Fox made ANASTASIA twice, the 1997 animated movie and a 1957 film that scored Ingrid Bergman's second Oscar and marked Helen Hayes' transition to the big screen. And it turns out the musical version has more in common with LES MISERABLES and RAGTIME than BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Gone is the hell-wizard Rasputin, his talking fruit bat sidekick, and the singing demon caterpillars. At intermission, I asked my third grade niece, Adalyn, how she was liking it. “It's awesome…it's real people, like no Beast or anything. No animals.” We decide that Disney staged musicals are great but more it's more impressive when you can achieve the magic without a story that departs from reality. ANASTASIA is historical fiction hypothetical. It poses a “what if…?” that a daughter of the last czar of Russia (The Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna) escaped when the czar's family was executed in 1918. Rumors persisted for decades that Anastasia did, in fact, escape. In 2007, DNA testing confirmed the remains of all four Grand Duchesses were in the Imperial grave. In this version, Terrence McNalley's book follows Anastasia's rediscovery of her identity after surviving the attack on her family and sustaining some plot enabling amnesia. Renamed “Anya” she grows up and makes a life in post-Revolution Russia. Anastasia's grandmother, the Dowager Empress (in a staggeringly moving performance by Joy Franz) has fled to France and offered a cash reward for anyone escorting the rumored alive Anastasia to Paris. The wily duo Vlad (Edward Staudenmayer) and Dmitry (Jake Levy) pull a My Fair Lady style makeover on Anya to collect the Dowager's prize. They are pursued by Gleb (Jason Michael Evans). A Soviet officer drawn to Anya romantically but tasked with finding and eliminating the last Romanov. Anya's memory becomes somewhat coaxed back, but the Dowager has stopped seeing Anastasia claimants after too much heart-break from countless frauds. It sounds dark, but with high-tech digital scenery and inspired performances across the cast it is delightful. Stephen Flaherty (Music) and Lynn Ahrens (Lyrics), responsible for bringing us RAGTIME, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, LUCKY STIFF, as well as the Oscar nominated songs carried over from the animated film. ANASTASIA is a perfect context for this pair. “Stay, I Pray You” (my favorite song of the evening) is evocative of RAGTIME's “New Music”. The two songs literally race my heart in a strangely specific way. My real test of a National Tour at Gammage is how fast I get the music playing in my car on the way home. At ANASTASIA I was already finding, “Stay, I Pray You” walking through the parking lot. The rest of the score is similarly haunting. Lila Coogan, as Anya/Anastasia, powers through the score with nuance, clarity, and Passion. Tari Kelly, as Countess Lily, and Stadenmayer (Vlad) were Adalyn's favorite performances and I have to agree. This incredibly gifted pair take the “triple threat” designation (singer, dancer, actor) and go quadruple with the addition of flawless comic timing. The choreography by Peggy Hickey is masterful. It somehow combines inventive and traditional throughout and the ten-minute slice of “Swan Lake” infused into “Quartet at the Ballet” is the highlight of the second act. It's a fun-size version that gets an under-represented art form onto the plate. This kind of trope often means the plot putting the plot on hold. But here, it is the connective tissue between Anya, Dmitry, the Dowager, and Gleb as they each bring us up to speed heading into the show's climax. Ultimately, the show's success comes from applying a higher artistic standard to the “previously-animated-film-now-theatrically-staged” genre. It cashes in on the name draw of the 1997 film then gives the viewer something much more enriched than what they think they are coming to see.
BWW Feature: SON OF THE WIND Has its World Premiere on September 14 at The John Anson Ford Theatre - An All-Female Production of India's Ancient Epic, The RAMAYANA
by Valerie-Jean Miller - Sep 12, 2019
Speaking with Seibi Lee and Rachna Nivas (of the Leela Dance Collective) Performing in the Los Angeles Premiere of 'Son of the Wind' An All-Female Production of India's Ancient Epic, the Ramayana I had the great pleasure to speak with both Seibi Lee and Rachna Nivas, of the Leela Dance Collective, both directors, performers and disciples of the art form of Kathak, (pronounced Ka'ta'k'); both choreographers, followers, leaders, teachers; devoted, focused, grateful, studied and deeply, intelligently guided artists. In the truest sense. I could go on, but I must write about the performance they are to give on September 14th, 2019 at The John Anson Ford Theatre, World Premiering the Indian saga 'Son of The Wind,' a full-length telling of a story through dance, emotions, traditions, belief, wisdom, beauty, ancestry, soul-searching, the tempered future, and perfected performance. I am so excited to witness this amazing piece of theatre.
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