Ragtime - 1997 - Los Angeles Articles Page 8

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.

Based on the 1997 animated film 'Anastasia', Anastasia the New Broadway Musical, bowing on broadway in 2017, is an entertaining whirlwind of sight and sound. It will make you laugh and cry. You will undoubtedly leave the theatre with a lasting impression of grande theatricality and how it weaves its magic into our humdrum lives. Plus, it is based on fact. Currently onstage at the Hollywood Pantages until October 27 only, this Anastasia has the makings of a great big hit.

Long Island's newest year-round professional theatrical venue, The Argyle Theatre presents the hit Broadway musical The Full Monty with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and book by Terrence McNally, based on the 1997 film of the same name. Performances began September 12, 2019 for a limited engagement through Sunday afternoon, October 20, 2019 at The Argyle Theatre (34 West Main Street, Babylon, Long Island). Opening Night is Saturday evening, September 14, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. The Full Monty is sponsored by The Post Office Café (Babylon). Presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).

Long Island's newest year-round professional theatrical venue, The Argyle Theatre presents the hit Broadway musical The Full Monty with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and book by Terrence McNally, based on the 1997 film of the same name. Performances began September 12, 2019 for a limited engagement through Sunday afternoon, October 20, 2019 at The Argyle Theatre (34 West Main Street, Babylon, Long Island). Opening Night is Saturday evening, September 14, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. The Full Monty is sponsored by The Post Office Café (Babylon). Presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).

The Argyle Theatre presents the hit Broadway musical The Full Monty with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and book by Terrence McNally, based on the 1997 film of the same name.

This Month, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

The Argyle Theatre presents the hit Broadway musical The Full Monty with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and book by Terrence McNally, based on the 1997 film of the same name.

Veteran Punk Rocker, Eddie Star, roars back on to the music scene as the Creative Director for the new O-Broadway musical, 'Rockquiem for a Wrestler.' The musical, inspired by the life of legendary wrestler Ivan Kolo? (The Russian Bear), was written by Actor, Singer, Writer, and Director Philip Paul Kelly (Elf the Musical, Ragtime on Ellis Island, Titanic the Musical).

The organizers of TEDxBroadway announce today five additional speakers who will take the stage when the popular event returns to New World Stages on Tuesday, September 24, 2019 to explore a?oeWhat's the BEST Broadway can be?a??

Multi-award winning Foothill Music Theatre presents Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical from the creators of The Sound of Music and South Pacific, legendary songwriting team Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.

The 72nd Annual Tony Awards are this Sunday June 10th at 8/9c hosted by Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles. It's the biggest award show of the Broadway season and it closes out a long awards season for Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals and plays. We can't help but wonder what chances this year's Best Musical and Best Play nominees have of taking home the ultimate prize...

The stars were on their feet (toes, taps and standing ovations) on a warm Sunday night, May 19th, for the Chita Rivera Awards a?" an annual ceremony recognizing the very best in dance on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in film that honors icons and trailblazers while also nurturing future generations simultaneously. It could have been dubbed a?oeChita Rivera's Dance Salona?? for the presenters, attendees and honorees read like a Who's Who of Chita's friends, fans and fellow Fosse favorites, including hosts Ben Vereen and Anne Reinking.

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!

Crossroads Theatre Company and New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) are presenting a co-production of Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies at NJPAC, 1 Center Street in Newark, Thursday, March 21 - Sunday, March 24, 2019. Click here to purchase tickets.

Due to popular demand, Haven Theatre, in association with About Face Theatre, announces one additional week of performances of is hit Midwest premiere musical THE TOTAL BENT

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) presents Mandy Patinkin in Concert: Diaries on Friday, November 8th at 8 P.M.

The League of Professional Theatre Women (Kelli Lynn Harrison and Catherine Porter, Co-Presidents), an organization which has been leading the gender parity conversation and championing women in the professional theatre for over 35 years, will present the 2019 Theatre Women Awards at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012) on Monday, March 25 at 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm). For more information on the 2019 TheatreWomen Awards, and to purchase tickets, please visit www.theatrewomen.org.

How do you scale down an epic musical like RAGTIME for a smaller stage and a different time? When it opened at the Shubert Theatre in Century City in 1997, the cast numbered nearly fifty, the same as it would for its Broadway debut later that year. The stage was enormous and the production filled every inch of it. I still remember how the sheer volume of the choral numbers gave me chills.

Theatre enthusiasts packed the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts last night to hear Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley and Executive Director Phil Santora of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley reveal the lineup for the company's 50th season, which launches this summer. Kelley's 50th and final season as Artistic Director of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley includes triumphant returns of TheatreWorks favorites, bold premieres developed at the company's annual New Works Festival, and celebrated works from the nation's leading playwrights.

Haven Theatre, in association with About Face Theatre, presents the Midwest premiere of THE TOTAL BENT, a dynamic new rock show about fathers, sons, social upheaval and the choice between salvation and selling out.

Manhattan Concert Productions (MCP) has just announced lead casting for their concert performance of Frank Wildhorn and Nan Knighton's musical comedy The Scarlet Pimpernel. One of today's greatest leading men, Tony Yazbeck, will star as Percy Blakeney at David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center on February 18, 2019 at 8:00 pm.

The League of Professional Theatre Women (Kelli Lynn Harrison and Catherine Porter, Co-Presidents), an organization which has been leading the gender parity conversation and championing women in the professional theatre for over 35 years, will present the 2019 Theatre Women Awards at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012) on Monday, March 25 at 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm). For more information on the 2019 Theatre Women Awards, and to purchase tickets, please visit www.theatrewomen.org. 

Haven Theatre, in association with About Face Theatre, presents the Midwest premiere of THE TOTAL BENT, a dynamic new rock show about fathers, sons, social upheaval and the choice between salvation and selling out.

It's time to run through your scales, get opinions on audition songs and sing out with one of Broadway's best, Ron Bohmer!

The lucky winner and their guest will have a theater experience unlike any other! You and your guest will receive 2 orchestra seats to the national tour of 9 time Tony-winning The Book of Mormon! After the show, you and your lucky guest will receive a private exclusive backstage tour led by The Book of Mormon star and Broadway favorite Ron Bohmer ('Price's Dad' in The Book of Mormon).