Something Different - 1983 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 5

In 1983, Sally Ride, or as proclaimed in the play, “She should be called Dr. Ride,” an Astrophysicist became the first and youngest American woman in Space aboard the Orbiter Challenger. Liza Birkenmeier’s play is not about Sally Ride, even though her name is mentioned throughout the 85 minutes. However, under the veil of the ’80s in St. Louis, Missouri we meet four women living out their lives and by a matter of opinion telling stories that boldly go where none of them have gone before so to speak. At its heart, Birkenmeier’s script is compelling, enlightening, and stunning from top to bottom, a true marvel of live theatre. In her script, we get to meet characters that are not as often displayed on-stage, and that is what makes this show so endearing. Being that this show is set in the 80’s smartphones, and other things like social media, don’t exist yet; which renders the compelling humanity shown throughout the script. It’s a breath of fresh air as we learn of these women, and how they may or may not enjoy their current way of life, and yet so different in a matter of opinions and lifestyle they are all one and the same.

Multi-awarded cabaret singer Jeff Harnar will make his Feinstein’s at Vitello’s debut with his cabaret act I KNOW THINGS NOW: JEFF HARNAR SINGS SONDHEIM September 30, 2021. With a lengthy resume as an opening act. Jeff has played some of the biggest venues, including Carnegie Hall, all over the world. Had the chance to find out what THINGS Jeff KNOWS NOW.

Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical has officially returned from the Upside Down with its off-Broadway premiere at The Players Theatre (115 MacDougal St.), ahead of an official Opening Night set for Wednesday, August 11th, with the strictly limited engagement set to run through Sunday, September 5th. Before you take your own trip to the Upside Down, learn more about the show from writer and producer Jonathan Hogue.

Paula Poundstone, whose razor-sharp improv skills have delighted comedy audiences for nearly 40 years, brings her acclaimed one-woman show to the A.J. Fletcher Opera Theater at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts on October 21.

Also available is a vinyl reissue of the original 13-track album, featuring freshly remastered favorites like “American Music” and the band’s inspired cover of Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me.”

PTP/NYC (Potomac Theatre Project), in association with Middlebury College, will open its summer program tonight, as part of its 34th year, running July 9 - August 16, 2021.

Each show premieres virtually on Friday at 7:30pm ET (July 9, July 23 & August 13). After the Friday premiere the stream will be available On Demand for four days - then disappears. Reservations are required to receive a link and password.

The 60th anniversary production of Beckett's masterwork Happy Days, newly opened at west London's Riverside Studios, is indistinguishable from the keen eye of its director, Trevor Nunn, who across more than six decades has contributed many of the most significant (not to mention quite a few of the best) productions in my experience. We look back at a seismic career and select five productions for the ages.

Hale Barns Carnival returns for 2021 – and the hugely popular festival is bigger than ever with a brilliant line-up over three unmissable nights.

Earlier this month, Dress Circle Publishing released THE UNTOLD STORIES OF BROADWAY, VOLUME 4, the latest in a series by acclaimed historian and producer Jennifer Ashley Tepper. Can't wait to get your hands on it? While you're waiting for your copy, let BroadwayWorld hold you over with a special sneak peek from a chapter all about the Minskoff Theatre.

This week, I was so sick I couldn’t get out of bed. What’s a neurotic theatre kid to do? Watch every Tony Awards that I could find, of course. Shout out to MsPoochSmooch.

Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre remembers and celebrates one of their founding members MICHAEL JONES, who passed away a year ago. An Emmy winner and recipient of the Oklahoma Governor’s Arts Award, Michael was a co-founder and Artistic Associate at OKC Rep. While Michael was a pillar of the OKC theatre community, he also worked all over the country. Michael touched the lives and hearts of so many he worked with. The OKC theatre community remembers Michael Jones.

Broadway might be dark, but that doesn't mean that theatre isn't happening everywhere! Below, check out where you can get your daily fix of Broadway this weekend, February 13-14, 2020.

It's hard to believe, but the ever-youthful, trailblazing actor/writer/comedian Marga Gomez is now well into the fourth decade of her remarkable career. Known for her funny and touching solo theater pieces as well as her uproarious standup comedy, Gomez recently revived her hit play Not Getting Any Younger for the MarshStream International Solo Fest where it won the award for Best Solo Show. In the play, Gomez weaves commentary through hilarious surreal life vignettes like little Marga visiting the worst amusement park ever with her showgirl mom in tow, and adult Marga trying to get a senior discount at Forever 21. In a swift 55 minutes, Gomez looks back on how even an outspoken lesbian can find herself in the closet for women of a certain age. Luckily for viewers everywhere, Gomez is now reprising the show for two more livestreamed performances on December 5th and 6th. Additional details can be found on the MarshStream website. BroadwayWorld recently chatted by phone with Gomez from her home in the Glen Park neighborhood of San Francisco. Our conversation delved into how she adapted Not Getting Any Younger for virtual performance, her experience as one of the first successful, out lesbian comedians, and her colorful family history in the Latino variety show world. Offstage, she is much as you would expect - naturally warm, funny and down-to-earth - but also surprisingly nerdy about the careful technique that goes into making a successful virtual performance.

Los Angeles Opera has a new a?oeLiving Room Recitala?? with mezzo-sopranno Taylor Raven sings with three different pianists, Jeremy Frank, Nino Sanikidze, and Brendon Shapiro. She sings two songs from Hector Berlioza??s Les Nuits da??Étè, four songs from Xavier Montsalvatgea??s Cinco Canciones Negras, and other delightful pieces.

Vineyard Theatre Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern have announced the weekly schedule for Lessons In Survival, beginning October 6, and the return of 'The VT Show' on the last Tuesday of each month beginning September 29 at 5:30 pm ET.

DIAVOLO/Architecture in Motion's The Veteran Project will premiere its THIS IS ME: LETTERS FROM THE FRONT LINES on The Soraya Facebook page Friday July 31 at 4p PST. Returning to The Soraya for their fourth engagement, DIAVOLO's latest movement piece deals with our current pandemic isolation from the first responders' perspectives. DIAVOLO/Architecture in Motion's founder and artistic director Jacques Heim, who directed and choreographed THIS IS ME: LETTERS FROM THE FRONT LINES, shared some behind-the-scenes of THIS IS ME and background of the performing company he founded in 1992.

It is time for Robert Kelley to take a richly-deserved curtain call. June 30th will be his last day as Artistic Director of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley after a mind-blowing 50 years in that role. It is not hyperbole to state there isn't another individual who has had a more profound influence on the Bay Area theatre landscape. Kelley founded TheatreWorks as a scrappy, community theater company in April, 1970 and guided its transformation over the years into a Tony-winning powerhouse and nationally-recognized incubator of new works. BroadwayWorld had the pleasure of speaking with Kelley earlier this spring to discuss his half-century history with TheatreWorks.

Happy Gay Pride! BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest LGBTQ songs and anthems from 1920-2020. See if your favorite songs or artists made the grade!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest protest songs from 1939-2020. See if your favorite songs or artists made the list!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest Motown songs from 1960-1994. See if your favorite songs or artists made the list!

The highly anticipated streamer HBO Max and Crunchyroll, the world's most popular anime destination, are teaming up to bring more dubbed and subtitled anime to fans across the US.

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best musical theatre characters from 1940-2020; see if your favorites are on our list of the best characters from Broadway musicals.

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best TV episodes from the 1950's to 2020; see if your favorites made the list!

The Beatles! Rihanna! Michael Jackson! Johnny Cash! Kanye West! The Rolling Stones! Aretha Franklin! Bob Dylan! Miles Davis! Nirvana! BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the greatest albums from the rock and rap era (1950-2020); see if your favorites made the grade!