So This is Love - 1928 - West End Articles Page 18

The Summer Season at the Finborough Theatre continues with rediscoveries of EVENTS WHILE GUARDING THE BOFORS GUN and MERRIE ENGLAND. Commemorating the tenth anniversary of the death of playwright John McGrath, and unseen in a professional production in London since 1966, John McGrath's Events While Guarding The Bofors Gun opens at the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre for a limited four-week season from Tuesday, 22 May 2012 directed by Robert Hastie. Merrie England plays at the Finborough Theatre for a limited run of nine Sunday and Monday evening performances and Tuesday matinees, opening tonight, 27 May 2012.

It's officially summer come June and this summer season promises to be an active one at the Frist Center. Next month kicks off with the opening of Metamorphoses: Drawings by Erin Anfinson, Kristi Hargrove, Mark Hosford, and Chris Scarborough in the Conte Community Arts Gallery, and is shortly followed by the opening of Constable: Oil Sketches from the Victoria and Albert Museum on June 22. The Frist has collaborated with Watkins College on an quilting workshop with edgy quilter Ben Venom and the second installment of Frist Fridays on June 29th features Sam Bush with special guest Lera Lynn.

The Summer Season at the Finborough Theatre continues with rediscoveries of EVENTS WHILE GUARDING THE BOFORS GUN and MERRIE ENGLAND. Commemorating the tenth anniversary of the death of playwright John McGrath, and unseen in a professional production in London since 1966, John McGrath's Events While Guarding The Bofors Gun opens at the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre for a limited four-week season from tonight, 22 May 2012 directed by Robert Hastie. Merrie England plays at the Finborough Theatre for a limited run of nine Sunday and Monday evening performances and Tuesday matinees, opening on Sunday, 27 May 2012.

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE is truly a gay, show-within-a-show romp for the ages. At first I was like 'What gay holy hell is this?!'

The Summer Season at the Finborough Theatre continues with rediscoveries of EVENTS WHILE GUARDING THE BOFORS GUN and MERRIE ENGLAND. Commemorating the tenth anniversary of the death of playwright John McGrath, and unseen in a professional production in London since 1966, John McGrath's Events While Guarding The Bofors Gun opens at the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre for a limited four-week season from Tuesday, 22 May 2012 directed by Robert Hastie. Merrie England plays at the Finborough Theatre for a limited run of nine Sunday and Monday evening performances and Tuesday matinees, opening on Sunday, 27 May 2012.

Berkshire Theatre Group and Artistic Director/CEO, Kate Maguire have just announced programming for Summer 2012. BTG's Summer of 2012 boasts a full assortment of theatrical productions, concerts, comedy, Friday Series play readings, Musical Mondays, Made in the Berkshires and more.

Artistic Director Chay Yew and Executive Director Jan Kallish announce the 2012-2013 Victory Gardens season. The season will include Equivocation by Bill Cain, directed by Sean Graney; Failure: A Love Story by Phillip Dawkins, directed by Seth Bockley; Disconnect by Anupama Chandrasekhar, directed by Dexter Bullard; The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter, directed by Joanie Schultz; and Chicago is Burning by Marcus Gardley, directed by Chay Yew.

New York Theatre Ballet's (NYTB) Signatures 12 presents the world premiere of Gemma Bond's Run Loose, the U.S. premiere of Antonia Franceschi's City Scenes, Richard Alston's A Rugged Flourish as well as new productions of three classic works, Merce Cunningham's Septet, Jose Limon's The Moor's Pavane, and James Waring's An Eccentric Beauty Revisited--all on March 9 and 10 at New York City's Florence Gould Hall. NYTB Artistic Director Diana Byer commented, "We love the old and are interested in the new, performing them together creates a greater context for understanding both."

New York Theatre Ballet's (NYTB) Signatures 12 presents the world premiere of Gemma Bond's Run Loose, the U.S. premiere of Antonia Franceschi's City Scenes, Richard Alston's A Rugged Flourish as well as new productions of three classic works, Merce Cunningham's Septet, Jose Limon's The Moor's Pavane, and James Waring's An Eccentric Beauty Revisited--all on March 9 and 10 at New York City's Florence Gould Hall. NYTB Artistic Director Diana Byer commented, "We love the old and are interested in the new, performing them together creates a greater context for understanding both."

Headlining the most successful entertainment of all time, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Michael Crawford was actually not the first name the creative team considered for the gothic musical undertaking during its creation in the mid-1980s, believe it or not. Steve Harley famously recorded the original single of the title song with composer Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber's muse Sarah Brightman and subsequently starred in the grandiose Ken Russell fever dream music video. While the public and critics alike assumed Harley's bid for the lead role in the gestating show was all but guaranteed after the video debut, it was not meant to be. Master director Hal Prince had his sights set on a British stage and screen star who had made a name with American audiences decades before in the troubled film versions of two Broadway hits - A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM and HELLO, DOLLY! - as well as made a name for himself the world over in the British sitcom SOME MOTHERS DO 'AVE 'EM. Crawford had also cemented his place in the musical theatre with his roles in FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON and BILLY, but it was PHANTOM that would catapult him into the ranks of iconic musical megastar. So, today, let us take a look at what made Michael Crawford's performance in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA so unforgettable as we celebrate this week's US release of the simply spectacular DVD/Blu-ray of the 25th anniversary production mounted late last year at the Royal Albert Hall starring Ramim Karimloo and Sierra Boggess, loving assembled and presented by original lead producer Cameron Mackintosh and featuring a grand finale complete with original PHANTOM cast-members Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, among a host of other glories.

BroadwayWorld.com has learned details about a recent reading of the Guthrie Theatre's upcoming production of ROMAN HOLIDAY in Minneapolis. Starring in the reading, directed by John Miller-Stephany were Laura Osnes as Princess Ann and John Behlmann as Joe Bradley. They rest of the reading cast featured many of the area's top local talent. We're told that the reading went quite well, and that the song choices, which of course include some of Porter's biggest hits like 'Easy to Love,' 'Begin the Beguine,' 'Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye' and 'Riding High' also included many rarely heard gems that 'fit perfectly into the story.' Also in attendance for the staged reading were book writer Paul Blake and other members of the creative team.

After nearly 100 productions of the play around the world, including two by the Royal Court Theatre in London, Soho Rep and The Play Company, in association with John Adrian Selzer, will present the New York premiere February 1-26, 2012.

Signature Theatre Company (Founding Artistic Director James Houghton; Executive Director Erika Mallin), announced today seven productions for its inaugural 2012 season at Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street near 10th Avenue), the company's new Frank Gehry-designed permanent home opening in February 2012. Signature Center will allow the Company to expand its programming, introduce new initiatives, and build audiences. Featuring three intimate theatres, a studio theatre, rehearsal studio and a shared lobby with café and bookstore, Signature Center will be both a theatre community hub and a neighborhood destination.

The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) 2011-12 season opens with a new revival of the dazzling George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart 1930 comedy Once in a Lifetime, which has been called 'a delicious Hollywood send up' (The New York Times) and 'a tinseltown satire [with] bite' (Newsday).

With its many supporting roles for older performers, one of the great pleasures of productions of Follies is the opportunity to see some of the theatre's senior members making a triumphant return to the Broadway stage.

The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) 2011-12 season opens with a new revival of the dazzling George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart 1930 comedy Once in a Lifetime, which has been called 'a delicious Hollywood send up' (The New York Times) and 'a tinseltown satire [with] bite' (Newsday).

The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) 2011-12 season opens with a new revival of the dazzling George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart 1930 comedy Once in a Lifetime, which has been called 'a delicious Hollywood send up' (The New York Times) and 'a tinseltown satire [with] bite' (Newsday).

Classical virtuosity and wit are the hallmarks of 3e étage, a contemporary ballet ensemble formed by and featuring dancers and soloists of the legendary Paris Opera Ballet.

I'm reminded of the old joke: It's only funny till someone gets hurt; then it's hilarious. Jacobean audiences liked the stage littered with corpses at the end; we settle for one or two corpses and people's lives shattered. And that this show certainly delivers. There may not be much depth to it, much in the way of a philosophical point, but it's absorbing to see.

Executive Producer Lou Spisto today announced that The Old Globe will produce the World Premieres of four new plays and musicals in its 2011-12 Winter Season. The season will feature the World Premiere musicals Some Lovers by music legend Burt Bacharach and Tony Award winner Steven Sater and Nobody Loves You by Gaby Alter and Itamar Moses, as well as the West Coast Premiere of John Kander and Fred Ebb's The Scottsboro Boys, recently nominated for 12 Tony Awards including Best Musical, directed and choreographed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman. The two plays receiving World Premiere productions are Somewhere by Globe Playwright-in-Residence Matthew Lopez and The Recommendation by Jonathan Caren. The new season also includes revivals of Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show and the Eugene O'Neill classic Anna Christie directed by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner David Auburn. Special events include the World Premiere of Odyssey by Todd Almond, a music theater event conceived and directed by Lear deBessonet celebrating the Globe's 75th Anniversary, The Old Globe/University of San Diego Graduate Theatre Program production of Twelfth Night and Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, which returns for its 14th consecutive year.

Hal Linden, the Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor, who became a household name with his portrayal of police precinct captain Barney Miller in the hit television series, realizes a lifelong dream this Tuesday, April 26, with the release of his first CD, It's Never Too Late.

Actor/singer/musician/author Hershey Felder's multi Award winning depiction of composer George Gershwin in George Gershwin Alone is now on stage at the Pasadena Playhouse for a limited run through May 8 celebrating a ten year anniversary. Felder fills the space with his virtuoso musicianship and creates such an extraordinary stir and love affair with his public that he is becoming almost as popular as the legendary composer himself.

TimeLine Theatre Company presents The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, directed by TimeLine Associate Artistic Director Nick Bowling, April 16 - June 12, 2011 (previews April 12 through April 15) at TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago. Press Opening performances are Saturday, April 16 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 17 at 2 p.m.

As the Artistic Director of The Spirit of Broadway Theater, it is my job to find the very best in new musicals - not just in craft and construction, but also musicals that continue to redefine what musical theater can be. It is always a challenge and it is never easy.

As we move beyond the tomfoolery of April 1 and into beautiful springtime weather here on the California Central Coast, I certainly hope your plans in the weeks ahead include attending a play or 2 (or 3?) at one of the several live performance and theatre establishments in our area!