Sessions - 2009 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 16

It is no surprise that Scott Bradlee's inspired and wonderfully genre-crossing creation, Postmodern Jukebox---which recently just finished up its third wildly-received appearance at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa---still garners near sold-out concerts attended by rabid, frenzied fans whose screams of delight are more akin to stadium acts like Shawn Mendes or Taylor Swift. The group's latest concert tour entitled 'Welcome to the Twenties 2.0' is their take on a Jazz-Age revival timed, appropriately enough, as another 20's decade enters into our lives. The concert, thanks to the group's talent and their enthusiastic audience, turned their Costa Mesa stop at the otherwise fancy-pants Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall into a genuine party atmosphere that welcomed everyone of various backgrounds and ages. And hearing Mario Jose's live cover of Radiohead's 'Creep' is worth the price of admission alone.

Drummer Dave Schoepke will be releasing his first solo drum album titled “Drums On Low” on July 15, 2019. Schoepke is an accomplished North American drummer, who has had the pleasure of working with the legendary Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre. Dave toured with Martin's band in 2017 and in 2018 for the “Cruise To The Edge” Tour. He's also been the primary drummer for The Willy Porter Band since 2002, and has loved every second of his time with the band. Dave has toured with Willy Porter on a number of occasions over the years, and has numerous television and radio appearances on his record. The amazing part is that Dave is able to do all of this, and still has time to devote to his own band Tweed. Tweed has been a mainstay touring in Europe for the last few years along with a number of other blues and soul groups. 

Shelton Theater proudly hosts the premiere of Three Egos and a Mormon, a raucous new perspective on performance, the art of acting and the inescapability of ego written and directed by award-winning actor, director and writer, Will Marchetti.

Netflix showcased a slate of upcoming live action series and films at Netflix Originals Festival held in Tokyo, Japan on 25 June. Since launch in September 2015, Netflix has been growing its library of locally produced stories. Today, an ensemble of cast and creators from Japanese original series and film joined over 280 media attendees in the event which featured 30 upcoming original titles from both Japan and beyond.

The Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras (MCO)'s innovative Monteverdi Apprentices Programme offers emergent young string players the opportunity to perform, tour, and train with the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique (ORR) and John Eliot Gardiner next season. Up to eight successful applicants will be fully integrated into the period-instrument orchestra's 2019-20 schedule, performing alongside the ORR in concerts at home and on tour in a wide range of repertoire, as well as receiving dedicated coaching, workshops, and mentorship. As a primary focus of the yearlong program, the young apprentices will perform complete Beethoven symphonic cycles with Gardiner and the orchestra at prominent destinations, including London's Barbican Hall and Barcelona's Palau de la Musica. After completing the program, the apprentices will be considered for further professional engagements with the ORR. The orchestra is accepting applications until July 29; click here for more information.

San Francisco Ballet (SF Ballet) announces ten promotions, three new Company members, and five apprentices for the 2020 Repertory Season.

The Asian American Arts Alliance announces the launch of a new initiative to support Asian Americans pursuing careers in the arts. Table Dish, A4's new professional development series, will bring experts in specific disciplines together with aspiring professionals in a roundtable setting to answer questions, provide advice, and create networking and mentoring opportunities.

Scottish rock mainstays We Were Promised Jetpacks have announced the 10th anniversary edition of their acclaimed debut album These Four Walls. Long a sought after collector's item, We Were Promised Jetpacks' debut LP, These Four Walls, had a scant US vinyl release that appeared only as imports in 2009. Now the album, full of explosive energy and knife-edge tension, packed with a bounty of fans' live favorites and unreleased tracks including demos, acoustic sessions (including a cover of 'Modern Leper' by fellow Scots and good friends Frightened Rabbit) and live tracks from a very early gig at Barfly in Glasgow will be released via FatCat. The bonus tracks will only be available on the limited editon gold vinyl release on FatCat (pre-order). The band also announced a North American summer tour in support of their upcoming release. All shows are listed below.

After hearing the fan reception when she covered “Old Town Road” on her 2019 tour, country pop singer/songwriter, Jessie James Decker, releases her highly anticipated cover of the unstoppable hit, “Old Town Road'.

Arts Midwest (Minneapolis, MN) announced Tennessee Shakespeare Company (TSC) is one of 40 national recipients of $1 million in Shakespeare in American Communities: Schools grants to nonprofit, professional theatre companies from 25 states and the District of Columbia.  Arts Midwest also announced TSC is one of the first seven grantees in an initiative to expand the National Endowment for the Arts' long-standing Shakespeare in American Communities program into the juvenile justice system.  Shakespeare in American Communities: Juvenile Justice will provide $170,000 in federal funds specifically earmarked for programming for young people in the U.S. criminal justice system over the next year. 

'It is my belief that the spirit of man is eternal, and free to communicate with the living,' claimed photographer William H. Mumler (1832-1884).  He also claimed he could take pictures of ghosts with his camera. Mary Todd Lincoln was among the many who flocked to his studio to have pictures taken just to see who would be in the photo. Mumler's photo of Mrs. Lincoln shows the ghost of her husband standing above her, his hand on her shoulder.

Palm Beach Symphony announced today that Gerard Schwarz has accepted the position of artistic and music director beginning with the 2019-2020 season, the orchestra's 46th year. Schwarz succeeds Ramon Tebar, who held the position since 2009.

The International Contemporary Ensemble announces six composers chosen to be the first ICEcommons Artists-in-Residence: Helga Arias, Kate Gentile, Murat olak, Ylva Lund Bergner, Fernanda Navarro, and Bergr n Sn bj rnsd ttir. Represented by a diversity of backgrounds and musical styles, the cohort was selected by a panel of ICE musicians and outside experts who, over the course of six weeks, became familiar with more than 700 composers who submitted their creative work for consideration via a new call for scores on the ICEcommons web portal.

Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF) announces today the film lineup for its 22nd edition: THE GATHERING. Over the course of the 10-day festival, BFF presents film programs at Wythe Hotel, nearby returning venue Windmill Studios in Greenpoint and five additional screening venues throughout Brooklyn. To open the festival on Friday, May 31st will be the World Premiere of Claudia Myer's Above the Shadows starring Olivia Thirlby, Alan Ritchson, Jim Gaffigan and Megan Fox.

London “tropical punk” four-piece, THE SKINTS, are pleased to announce the release of their highly-anticipated fourth album Swimming Lessons, released today via Easy Star/Mr. Bongo. Drawing on influences as sprawling as Bad Brains, Popcaan, No Doubt, Alton Ellis, Wiley, and Weezer, Swimming Lessons deals with crushing heartbreak, the impending doom of Brexit and the current political climate, all the while surviving as independent musicians navigating the weird world of 2019. All of these are proverbial “swimming lessons” life throws at us. In addition to the release of Swimming Lessons, The Skints will be hitting the road on a 13-date west coast US tour From May 23 - June 8. 

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra's 2019-2020 season, the 14th under the baton of Chief Conductor, Vasily Petrenko, and the Orchestra's 179th season since its founding in 1840, features compelling music from across the repertoire.

National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays, announces the continuation of its 83rd Rolling World Premiere (RWP): Wolf at the Door by Marisela Treviño Orta. With a successful run at New Jersey Repertory Company (Long Branch) and its second production wrapping up at Kitchen Dog Theater this weekend, (Dallas, TX), the play arrives this week at Milagro (May 2-25) before wrapping up its Roll at Halcyon Theatre (2019 Dates TBA in Chicago).

Red Bull Theater Founding Artistic Director, Jim Bredeson - Red Bull Managing Director, and the Board of Trustees of Red Bull Theater are pleased to announce that the Eleventh Annual Running of the Red Bulls Gala Benefit on Monday June 3rd, at 6pm, will celebrate the company's 16th Season and honor director Daniel Sullivan, actor Condola Rashad, and the American Theatre Wing with the 2019 Matador Awards for Excellence in Classical Theater. Proceeds from the evening support all of Red Bull Theater's programs including its Off-Broadway productions of The White Devil and Mac Beth, Revelation Readings series, and its Shakespeare in Schools initiative.

"There's probably no frame wide enough to encompass the creative output of the pianist Vijay Iyer," The New York Times observed. His Ph.D. in cognitive science from UC Berkeley is just the start. He's been recognized as a bona fide "genius" by DownBeat magazine and was named by GQ India as one of the 50 most influential Indians. The jazz pianist is also a prolific recording artist and his quintet will play the final Jazz Club performances of The Soraya's 2018/19 season on May 10 and 11.

Miami City Ballet announces the addition of ten talented dancers to the Company roster for the 2019-20 season as well as four promotions, resulting in Miami City Ballet's biggest roster with 53 dancers.

Today, country pop singer/songwriter, Jessie James Decker celebrates her 30th birthday by dropping her latest single, “Roots and Wings” available everywhere NOW for digital download and streaming via all participating retailers HERE. The lyric video for “Roots and Wings” is also now available and can be viewed HERE.

Families are invited to experience an array of engaging and ambitious theatrical adventures and interactive experiences from Australia and beyond as part of Arts Centre Melbourne's 2019 Winter/Spring Families program from June November 2019. This season presents entertaining, inclusive and culturally diverse works spanning dance, music, puppetry and theatre. Young people and their families can enjoy an interstellar adventure designed for children with disabilities, an international dance work inspired by a computer game, an intercultural b*boy battle, hip hop fairy-tale, graphic novel brought to life, quirky puppetry and an indigenous history lesson with a twist.

When a family of shepherds in the suburbs of Corinth learns their adopted son Oedipus has ascended the throne of Thebes, they plan a bender to end all benders. But who's on cleanup after the party's over? Equal parts irreverent comedy and emotional journey into family dysfunction, Dionysus Was Such A Nice Man by Kate Tarker examines with horror and humor the lasting effects of personal trauma. The first ever World Premiere commissioned for Wilma's HotHouse, this searing new play directed by French physical theater master Dominique Serrand runs April 23 - May 12 at The Wilma Theater.

Peck and Louise Pitre play Marie  - young and adult, respectively. We sat down with Pitre to talk about creating the role of Adult Marie in the 5th Avenue Theatre production during early previews.

The Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) is proud to announce Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-nominated director, producer, screenwriter and activist Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids,” Freaks and Geeks, The Office), and Sarah Barnett, President, Entertainment Networks, for AMC Networks as keynotes within the Festival's 40th Anniversary Summit Series, a premium speaker lineup featuring the boldest voices and the world's most influential media leaders. TheFestival will take place June 9-12, 2019 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada.