Playing with Fire - 1981 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 3

Andrew Lloyd Webber's timeless classic, CATS, hit the big screen this week! Reviews are rolling in for the highly-anticipated adaptation - let's see what the critics are saying!

The Old Globe's 2020 Summer Season brings to Balboa Park an extraordinarily talented group of artists who will delight audiences with their unique takes on four great works of theatre. The season incudes a classic American musical, a new adaptation of a 20th century thriller, and two of Shakespeare's masterworks on our outdoor stage.

Sam Bush to perform at the Boulder Theater on Sunday, March 1, 2020. Tickets on sale at 10AM Friday, November 22nd HERE.

There's blood on my program. At first, I thought it was a printing design, but upon further inspection, I realized that, yes, I have blood stains on my program. Normally, I would be concerned, but given that the first three rows at the Moonlight Players Theatre have been designated 'Splatter Zone,' I didn't think much more of it from the safety of my seventh-row seat. Having played out to sold out crowds in its first and second weeks, Moonlight Players' EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL will end its run this coming post-Halloween weekend. But fear not, Deadites, for you can also catch Ash Williams and his boomstick on a special Halloween performance as well. The hugely-popular Off-Broadway musical condenses Sam Raimi's Evil Dead trilogy into a two-act musical that celebrates the films' subversive comedy take on 1980s gore. And it does so with a gusto and a panache that knows just how ridiculous and trope-heavy the source material is.

Today the 2019 nominees were announced for Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards, now in its 39th year, for Best Comedy Show and Best Newcomer.

Arthur Adams has had a musical career that would make even the hardest blues cynic smile. Beginning as a solo artist in the '60s and '70s, Adams quickly made a name for himself as both an exceedingly talented songwriter as well as a riveting performer. His list of collaborators includes such luminaries as B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt (on her Grammy award-winning album Nick Of Time), Nina Simone, Keb' Mo', Dr. John, Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, and many others. In recent years, he has teamed with Los Angeles indie label Cleopatra Records for reissues of his early albums as well as 2017's Look What The Blues Has Done For Me and a special guest appearance this year on the new Mitch Ryder album Detroit Breakout! And on July 19, Adams will release his newest effort Here To Make You Feel Good, which will be available on CD and digital everywhere!

So what does a theatre company do to keep its momentum and even up the ante after a 60th anniversary season that broke all records? Why not hire three choreographers, fourteen virtuoso singer-dancers, and an eleven-piece big band orchestra, to mount the largest dance show in its history that celebrates the music of one of America's immortal musical geniuses, Duke Ellington? That is precisely what Maine State Music Theatre has done in its 2019 season opener with its sensational all-singing, all-dancing, visually opulent extravaganza, SOPHISTICATED LADIES, that is currently blowing the roof off the Pickard with its high-octane visceral energy, heady joy, and pure lyrical magic.

What makes a Broadway theatre? Technically any venue with 500 seats or more, located along Broadway in New York City's Theatre District is a Broadway theatre, and the art that is produced in these special places is widely considered the highest form of theatrical entertainment in the world. Today, forty-one theatres are technically Broadway houses, each with their own rich history. Below, we're giving you the scoop on the life of every one of them!

Theatrical Outfit, Atlanta's second-oldest professional theatre, proudly announces its 2019-2020 Season, which also marks the final season under the leadership of Artistic Director Tom Key. The season promises to be a powerful representation of the kind of work Key loves to produce at the theatre's home in the heart of downtown Atlanta:

The University of Washington's Meany Center for the Performing Arts, under the leadership of Executive and Artistic Director Michelle Witt, announces its 2019/20 Season with a lineup of 23 adventurous and visionary artists from around the globe. One of the nation's leading university presenters, Meany Center brings artists of exceptional artistry and diverse perspectives to Seattle, providing extraordinary performances and unique learning experiences to both community and campus. The 2019/20 Season explores the theme of empathy in the arts and celebrates the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven, an artist whose life and work resonates with the season's theme. The new season will also feature work by two Creative Research Fellows participating in the UW's Creative Fellowships Initiative, choreographer Brian Brooks and performance artist Daniel Alexander Jones.

Birdland will kick-off their exciting month of programming with the following acts

This week's decluttering is only freeing up a tiny bit of space in my collection, but it represents an enormous place in my heart. The only version of The Wiz I have on CD is the AMAZING/IF YOU DON'T KNOW IT, YOU'RE NOT A REAL BROADWAY FAN original cast album starring Stephanie Mills. I do have the movie soundtrack in my iTunes and the soundtrack of 'The Wiz Live!' is on Apple Music, so let's dive in.

Thirty-three nonfiction works from seventeen countries comprise the latest Sundance Institute Documentary Fund and Stories of Change Grantees, announced today. 81% of the supported projects have at least one woman producer or director; 48% originate from outside the US.

There was only one prize-winning teenager carrying stones big enough to say thanks, but no thanks to Roy Acuff.  Only one son of Kentucky finding a light of inspiration from Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys and catching a fire from Bob Marley and The Wailers.  Only one progressive hippie allying with like-minded conspirators, rolling out the newgrass revolution, and then leaving the genre's torch-bearing band behind as it reached its commercial peak.  There is only one consensus pick of peers and predecessors, of the traditionalists, the rebels, and the next gen devotees. Music's ultimate inside outsider. Or is it outside insider? There is only one Sam Bush.

Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) announces the naming of its Studio 4B for the great American entertainer, actor, singer, and comedian Danny Kaye (1911-1987) and his wife Sylvia Fine Kaye (1913-1991), an accomplished lyricist, composer, and producer who mostly collaborated with her husband, writing material that he performed. The dedication completes the naming of all of BAC's studios and theaters for gifted artists, friends and/or mentors to Founder and Artistic Director Mikhail Baryshnikov-a roster that includes philanthropist Howard Gilman; artists Jerome Robbins, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Rudolf Nureyev; and BAC's founding managing director emerita, Christina Sterner.

Birdland will kick-off their exciting month of programming with the following acts:

July is back to back action with a parade of local and national acts at Blue Note Hawaii. The "Concert King of the Philippines" Martin Nievera returns by popular demand for a three-night series, legendary folk artist Bruce Cockburn performs for two nights only and the Blue Note Comedy series explodes with superstar Marlon Wayans for two shows only. Other national acts include Alex Bugnon and Karla Bonoff.

Thirteen new independent feature projects from the U.S., Cuba, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, and Palestine have been selected for the 2018 Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Labs. At the Directors Lab (May 28-June 21), filmmakers will rehearse, shoot and edit key scenes from their scripts, working closely with industry advisors, actors, and production crews to help drive creative growth via an immersive and hands-on experience at the Sundance Resort in Utah. The Screenwriters Lab from June 23-28  fosters a similar environment of dynamic inspiration as participants focus on the art and craft of screenplay writing with one-on-one support from Institute advisors . Overseen by Feature Film Program Founding Director Michelle Satter and Labs Director Ilyse McKimmie, the Labs begin a year-round continuum of customized support for Fellows, which can include creative mentorship, granting, and guidance from industry professionals. 

Patterns in a Chromatic Field is a late work (1981) by Morton Feldman (1926-1987), an 80-minute odyssey for cello and piano exploring different degrees of stasis and patterns of harmony and color. Patterns in a Chromatic Field reflects Feldman's lifelong fascination with the Abstract Expressionist painters: “My compositions are not really 'compositions' at all,” Feldman said. “One might call them time canvasses in which I more or less prime the canvas with an overall hue of music.”

Louise Jameson played the iconic role of assistant Leela in Doctor Who in the Seventies opposite Tom Baker. She later starred in Tenko, Bergerac and EastEnders. In a 40-year career, her first love, the theatre, has seen her work with the National Theatre and RSC, amongst others. Now she stars in Philip Ridley's modern classic, Vincent River, currently playing at Park Theatre.

GFour Productions, winners of fifty-six Drama Desk and forty-four Tony Awards, are proudly bringing the international hit show Menopause The Musical to the Aronoff Center's intimate Jarson-Kaplan Theater from March 22-31 for twelve performances (see performance schedule below). The show is part of Cincinnati Arts Association's 2017-18 Presenting Season.

The Wallis will be the place for jazz lovers this month when the performing arts center, in conjunction with the Arturo Sandoval Institute, present a special four-night musical celebration curated by the dynamic American jazz legend Arturo Sandoval from Today, January 25 through Sunday, January 28. Sandoval shines a spotlight on his legacy, as well as up-and-coming musicians, in an exciting jazz series featuring a Master Class, sponsored by the Arturo Sandoval Institute; two extraordinary nights of emerging jazz artists, whom Sandoval proudly calls the Young Lions; and an unforgettable concert of his own with special guests.

Sundance Film Festival: Juries, Awards Night Host Announced

The Wallis will be the place for jazz lovers this month when the performing arts center, in conjunction with the Arturo Sandoval Institute, present a special four-night musical celebration curated by the dynamic American jazz legend Arturo Sandoval from Thursday, January 25 through Sunday, January 28. Sandoval shines a spotlight on his legacy, as well as up-and-coming musicians, in an exciting jazz series featuring a Master Class, sponsored by the Arturo Sandoval Institute; two extraordinary nights of emerging jazz artists, whom Sandoval proudly calls the Young Lions; and an unforgettable concert of his own with special guests.

Roundabout Theatre Company, in association with Staci Levine, has announced the Broadway return of beloved stage and screen star John Lithgow in John Lithgow: Stories by Heart, directed by Daniel Sullivan.