People Are Wrong! - 2004 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 9

Nashville theater has always been progressive. There have always been people and companies focused on the cutting edge, delivering productions that challenge and compel their audiences to think and to consider where they are now and where they will go in the future, and there is no question that such forward-thinking creative types will continue to wield influence in the theater community for as long as theater is to be created here, there and everywhere.

The Palace Theater is observing its 15th performance season this year since re-opening in 2004 and the programming reflects this milestone worthy of celebration.

Part awkward teen drama, part eerie sci-fi, Be More Chill with music and lyrics by Joe Iconis and book by Joe Tracz, based on the 2004 young adult novel by Ned Vizzini, is one of the coolest, freshest comedic musicals in years. It already classifies as a cult favorite, and even though it's currently playing on Broadway, you can (and should) be among the first to see New Line Theatre's production through June 22!

The Hollywood Museum made history this week by unveiling three exhibits simultaneously, including THE BATMAN 80TH ANNIVERSARY, THE CATWOMEN, THE BIONIC WOMAN AND & THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN EXHIBITS.

British actor and 2018 Strictly star Charles Venn is to join the cast of SOMNIUM: A Dancer's Dream, the explosive dance show starring World Latin Showdance Champions and Strictly professionals Neil and Katya Jones which comes to Sadler's Wells in London for a limited season from 20 - 22 June 2019. Charles will be taking on the role of Richard Porter, Neil and Katya's former dance coach who narrates the show's story of how a boy from Britain and a girl from Russia met, fell in love and overcame the odds to become dance stars.

The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County and The House Theatre of Chicago are proud to present UNITED FLIGHT 232. Playing May 4-May 19, 2019 in the intimate Carnival Studio Theater (Ziff Ballet Opera House), UNITED FLIGHT 232 closes Center's 2018-2019 Theater Up Close Series. Based on the true story of fatal United Flight 232 and adapted from the critically acclaimed book, Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival by Laurence Gonzales, this award-winning play depicts the power of the human spirit to defy unimaginable obstacles and transcend tragedy.

Due to popular demand, the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T) has added an additional week of performances to the run of its world premiere production of We Live in Cairo written by brothers Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour. The production, currently in rehearsal under the direction of Obie Award winner Taibi Magar, will now close Sunday, June 23.

The UK tour of the hilarious parody musical Friendsical written by Miranda Larson, opens at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham on 15 July 2019 followed by a nationwide tour visiting: Darlington, Derry, Newcastle, Kingston, Malvern, Blackpool, Chelmsford, Southampton and Croydon. Friendsical will have a full run at the Edinburgh Festival from 1 - 25 August as part of the Assembly Festival programme in the Music Hall of The Assembly Rooms.

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus and Executive Producer Diane Borger, announces the cast and creative team for the world premiere of We Live in Cairo written by brothers Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour. Now in rehearsal under the direction of Obie Award winner Taibi Magar, We Live in Cairo begins previews Tuesday, May 14; opens Wednesday, May 22; and closes Sunday, June 16, 2019 at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, MA.

Lewis University's Philip Lynch Theatre (PLT) will present Peter and the Starcatcher a play by Rick Elice (Jersey Boys and Addams Family) based on the 2004 novel by humorist Dave Barry and suspense writer Ridley Pearson. Elice's play, Peter and the Starcatcher, received nine 2012 Tony Award nominations (including two for Elice) and won five Tonys.

Tom Lowe is a pop singer/composer who recently released a short video entitled 'Polanco'. It's enchanting to watch this little miraculous film about a small Mexican city and what goes on in one of its popular bars. The story is based on a real life incident in which Lowe was robbed in the back of a taxi in Mexico City. His disgust of the people eventually turned to respect and love when many came forward, helped him to survive and to produce his video. The full story is at the next to last link at the bottom of our interview and is an exciting and humanely worthwhile read. Lowe, born in England and with a multi-cultural background both here and abroad, discusses 'Polanco'and also his fascinating career thus far as an international pop singer and musical theatre actor.

When composer/lyricist Joe Iconis and bookwriter Joe Tracz's hard-rocking, super-charged and very well written science fiction musical comedy Be More Chill ended its month-long premiere engagement at Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey less than four years ago, the thought of a Broadway production may have seemed as far-fetched and phantasmagoric as the plot of its source material, Ned Vizzini's same-named 2004 novel.

The Harlem Repertory Theatre's chamber version of the musical Sweet Charity unabashedly ventures into Bob Fosse's adult-themed musical drama about women who make their living in the sex trade. HRT's company of seven talented actor/singers/dancers tell the tale of the abusive (emotionally and physically) cycle in which our star, Charity Hope Valentine, finds herself inextricably trapped. She falls in love with the same wrong man over and over again. The current #MeToo movement inspired HRT's AUDELCO award-winning director and choreographer, Keith Lee Grant, to take on the challenge of mounting this production of Sweet Charity. The #MeToo era has thankfully forced the way we perceive the treatment of women as depicted in this musical from the late 1960s. Charity's desperate yet ever hopeful search for love is in stark contrast to the vicious cycles of abuse that are the 'accepted' realities of her workplace.

The Holmdel Theatre Company (HTC) is excited to continue its tradition of bringing unexpected, classic pieces to their theatre with their upcoming production of Life Is a Dream. Originally penned by Pedro Calderon de la Barca in 1635, Life Is a Dream is a Spanish-language play commonly hailed as the prime example of theatre and drama during the Spanish Baroque period. The adaptation being produced is by Diane Dowling,

How exactly did Peter Pan and his band of lost boys get to Never-Neverland? And how did Peter become the boy who never grew up? The Pennington Players will provide the answers in the Tony Award-winning "Peter and the Starcatcher," coming to Mercer County Community College's (MCCC's) Kelsey Theatre Fridays, March 8 and 15 at 8 p.m.; Saturdays, March 9 and 16 at 8 p.m.; and Sundays, March 10 and 17 at 2 p.m.

Never has the relationship between Iago and Roderigo in Shakespeare's OTHELLO stolen the show like it does in the current A Noise Within production, directed by Jessica Kubzansky. With an outwardly nonchalant Michael Manuel as the revenge seeking villain, and Jeremy Rabb, an actor who knows comedy like the back of his hand, as his unsuspecting lackey, the situational humor in Shakespeare's tragedy comes front and center. That's right, humor.

Today's subject disproves the theory that you can't be good at everything. Kevin Laughon is the Production Associate at Theater J, but his long career of working in the theatre has taken him on both sides of the footlights.

The Castillo Theatre (Dan Friedman, artistic director; John Rankin, associate managing director) is proud to announce that it will produce a revival of the 1991 play by Fred Newman, Billie, Malcolm & Yusuf, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Yusuf Hawkins' murder in 1989.  Billie, Malcolm & Yusuf will be directed by award-winning director, Gabrielle Kurlander.  The production includes blues and rap music. The Castillo Theatre is located at 543 West 42nd Street in Manhattan. Performances are between February 15 and March 17, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2:00 p.m.

The critically-acclaimed Langhorne Players, who perform at the historic Spring Garden Mill in Tyler State Park in Newtown, have announced the five shows comprising their upcoming seventy-second season.

As 2018 comes to a close, we are reflecting on those we have lost in the Broadway and theatre communities throughout the year.

It's the night before Christmas, and everyone has heard the story of Santa Claus. But as all women know, it's the women who decorate the house, buy the presents and add the father's name to the gift tag. Are things any different at the North Pole? It's 2018, and women's truths are coming out! Mrs. Claus' knows the true story of Christmas Eve...

Eclipse Theatre Company announces 2019 season will feature the comedic works of playwright Christopher Durang

Twenty years ago last month in a small college town in Wyoming, a young gay man was brutally beaten and tied to a fence post, left to die. The name Matthew Shepard has become synonymous with gay rights and in particular with the national hate crime legislation that bears his name, passed into law 11 years after his murder. Unfortunately Matthew's story is not unique, but for some reason it capture the nation, and he became a symbol for a larger movement toward equality and justice. Much has changed for the better in the last 20 years, including the hate crime legislation and the repeal of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' and the Defense of Marriage Act. But hate crimes still happen, against members of the LGBTQ community, against Jews, against people of color, against immigrants. As demonstrated by this sad fact, along with the current White House resident's threat against the very existence of our transgender citizens, the good work being done in Matthew's name is far from over. This Tuesday offers a great opportunity to continue that work by voting for equality, for compassion, for humanity, for the environment, for justice. Thanks to Uprising Theatre Company for sharing the spirit of Matthew Shepard by presenting THE LARAMIE CYCLE at this moment in time.

On this Seas 2 premiere episode of BroadwayWorld's theatre business podcast, 'The OHenry Report,' Broadway producer and investor Oliver Henry Roth goes inside the mechanics of closing a Broadway show with veteran theatrical general manager, Daniel Kuney. The Oliver chats with four-time Tony-winning producer Kevin McCollum about how the decision to close a show works on his level, but also what goes into the decision to reverse course and push back an announced closing date, as he did with Broadway's 'The Play that Goes Wrong.'