Starting Here, Starting Now - 1984 - London Fringe Articles Page 7

In honor of his death, today we salute one of the most renowned and respected directors on Broadway, in Hollywood and far beyond, the one and only Mike Nichols.

Now anyone and everyone can join in the thrill of opening night at the opera! The Dallas Opera and the Sheila and Jody Grant Opera Discovery Program, with support from the AT&T Performing Arts Center, present an evening of FREE entertainment at Dallas's popular Klyde Warren Park, the second annual “Dallas Opera Opening Night Simulcast in the Park” featuring Mozart's class-conscious romantic comedy, The Marriage of Figaro.

Now in its sixth consecutive year, the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre presents Vibrant 2014 - A Festival of Finborough Playwrights, its annual explosion of new writing and part of its 20 Premieres season, running between 2-20 November 2014.

Now anyone and everyone can join in the thrill of opening night at the opera! The Dallas Opera and the Sheila and Jody Grant Opera Discovery Program, with support from the AT&T Performing Arts Center, present an evening of FREE entertainment at Dallas's popular Klyde Warren Park, the second annual “Dallas Opera Opening Night Simulcast in the Park” featuring Mozart's class-conscious romantic comedy, The Marriage of Figaro.

From September 4-14, 2014, Houston Ballet launches its 45th season with the company premiere of John Neumeier's three-act ballet A Midsummer Night's Dream. The ballet is based on Shakespeare's lighthearted play of the same name and follows the hijinks and hilarity that ensues when a well-intentioned plan with a love potion goes awry. Created in 1977, A Midsummer Night's Dream has served as Mr. Neumeier's calling card, being seen as one of his most joyous and popular creations. Houston Ballet is the first American ballet company to perform the famous work and it is the first piece by Mr. Neumeier to enter the Houston Ballet repertoire.

A great, big Broadway season is on its way, with fourteen productions already slated to open in the next few months. With several weeks until the craziness begins, there is still plenty of time to catch up on what's been going on at Broadway's already occupied theaters . BroadwayWorld will be profiling the hits of the Great White Way that continue to draw crowds after months, years, and (in some cases) decades. Meet the current cast of Broadway's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA below!

July 3 Bespoke: Matthew Dekay / Bedouin / Scarlett Ettienne / John Dill Following Matthew Dekay's first official release on One Star Recordings in 2001, his tracks began receiving support from the likes of Danny Howells, Sasha and Deep Dish. He uses his training in classical music as well as his strong fixation for synthesizers to ensure his music stands out.

The Royal Court Theatre announces a new season of work today, Friday 27 June, including new plays from Molly Davies, Zinnie Harris, Rory Mullarkey, Tim Price and Jack Thorne; a debut play from first-time playwright Diana Nneka Atuona; a collaboration between scientist Chris Rapley, playwright and director Duncan Macmillan and director Katie Mitchell and a new production for young people and their families - Enda Walsh's new adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Twits.

Rising cabaret star Marissa Mulder's most recent performance of 'Living Standards' at the Metropolitan Room was certainly up to the high standard she has set for herself over the past couple of years. In fact, she's so consistently solid that she overcame the show's misguided and clunky premise that some very good contemporary songs should be thought of as 'standards.'

Young Soon Kim and WHITE WAVE DANCE present the World Premiere of Eternal NOW. An ambitious collaboration reuniting Young Soon Kim's fluid and intertwining dramatic movement with longtime collaborator composer Marco Cappelli, who will perform an original score live, as dancers interact with scenes of lusciously composed images and edited footage by video artist, Kate Freer, playing on widescreen monitors.

Back at the Delacorte for his fifth Shakespeare in the Park, the TV star talks about playing the fool, getting typecast and living in L.A. and Italy.

Young Soon Kim and WHITE WAVE DANCE present the World Premiere of Eternal NOW. An ambitious collaboration reuniting Young Soon Kim's fluid and intertwining dramatic movement with longtime collaborator composer Marco Cappelli, who will perform an original score live, as dancers interact with scenes of lusciously composed images and edited footage by video artist, Kate Freer, playing on widescreen monitors.

Pan American Musical Art Research (PAMAR), founded and directed by Polly Ferman (and this year celebrating its 30th Anniversary!) has announced the 8th annual Latin American Cultural Week, a sumptuous list of events showing the rich culture of Latin America, with music, dance and theater performances, films, visual arts, and auctions, today, November 15-24 all around town, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and the Apollo Theater in NYC, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Queens Theater, with a couple of trips to the Ritz Theater in Elizabeth NJ and Symphony Hall in Newark NJ.

The Hollywood Reporter writes that Alan Taylor is about to begin testing actors for his upcoming TERMINATOR reboot, starting with the role of 'Sarah Connor'. Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), Brie Larson (The Spectacular Now) and Margot Robbie are reportedly among the contenders.

In two curated weekends and two different programs, Peridance Presents will feature the following companies: Brice Mousset's OUI Danse, Nathan Trice/RITUALS, Emery LeCrone & Dancers, Enzo Celli's Celli Contemporary Ballet, SHANNON GILLEN + GUESTS and Peridance Contemporary Dance Company.

In Richie's Fantastic Five: Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, Ozu, Yanagimachi & Kore-eda, Japan Society's Film Program honors Richie's legacy, presenting five timeless classics and hard-to-see gems over five months in glorious 35mm presentations. Curated by Hirano, a former Japan Society Film Program Director, the series highlights five seminal Japanese directors, who first became known throughout the world through Richie's work. Co-presented with The Japan Foundation, the series launches with Akira Kurosawa's High and Low (October 18); continuing with Kenji Mizoguchi's The Life of Oharu(November 16); Yasujiro Ozu's Equinox Flower (December 12), screening on Ozu's birthday and the 50th anniversary of his death; Mitsuo Yanagimachi's Himatsuri (January 24), unavailable on DVD; and Hirokazu Kore-eda's After Life (February 19), marking the one-year anniversary of Richie's death.

In Richie's Fantastic Five: Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, Ozu, Yanagimachi & Kore-eda, Japan Society's Film Program honors Richie's legacy, presenting five timeless classics and hard-to-see gems over five months in glorious 35mm presentations. Curated by Hirano, a former Japan Society Film Program Director, the series highlights five seminal Japanese directors, who first became known throughout the world through Richie's work. Co-presented with The Japan Foundation, the series launches with Akira Kurosawa's High and Low (October 18); continuing with Kenji Mizoguchi's The Life of Oharu(November 16); Yasujiro Ozu's Equinox Flower (December 12), screening on Ozu's birthday and the 50th anniversary of his death; Mitsuo Yanagimachi's Himatsuri (January 24), unavailable on DVD; and Hirokazu Kore-eda's After Life (February 19), marking the one-year anniversary of Richie's death.

Designated the "Host of the Coast" upon opening on October 1, 1923 and the grandest hotel west of Chicago, the legendary Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles is celebrating a major milestone with its 90 th anniversary. One of the most architecturally stunning and historical hotels in the U.S., Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles continues to serve discerning guests including dignitaries, celebrities and presidents, with timeless elegance and modern luxury.

Stage Entertainment USA and Sylvester Stallone have announced that the new musical, ROCKY, will come to Broadway in 2014, beginning preview performances in February and officially opening in March at Broadway's historic Winter Garden Theatre. ROCKY received its world premiere in fall 2012 in Hamburg, Germany.

A total of 35 established and emerging writers, composers and lyricists will converge on the Goodspeed campus this month to participate in the first-ever Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing more than twenty new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration.

A total of 35 established and emerging writers, composers and lyricists will converge on the Goodspeed campus this month to participate in the first-ever Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing more than twenty new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration.

With the show just a few days away, MTV announced new additions to the performance line-up for the '2012 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS including Rihanna kicking off the VMAs with A$AP Rocky, Nicki Minaj will perform as a surprise guest with a previously announced VMA artist, 2 Chainz taking the VMA stage for the first time ever, and Lil Wayne with the worldwide premiere performance of his brand new single.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Casting news for ChiShakes' 'Sunday,' TATC's '42nd Street' and Paramount's 'Grease,' plus ALW and the eye-popping Marriott season, Chicago's first 'Q,' Super September along Belmont Avenue and much more!

On Thursday, three-time Tony Award-winning Broadway composer Richard Adler passed away at the ripe old age of 90. Responsible for two of the biggest Broadway smash hits of the 1950s, THE PAJAMA GAME and GAMN YANKEES, Adler never quite managed to equal his career-high double-hitter of that era, yet his earlier work with Tony Bennett ('Rags To Riches'), Doris Day ('Everybody Loves A Lover') and Marilyn Monroe (the iconic 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President') surely shall solidify his place in the firmament of entertainment history along with his two classic musicals from the Golden Age. Winning both Best Score and Best Musical for both THE PAJAMA GAME and DAMN YANKEES, Adler's partnership with lyricist Jerry Ross - which began on Broadway in 1953 with JOHN MURRAY ANDERSON'S ALMANAC - was tragically cut short just months after the DAMN YANKEES premiere when Ross was diagnosed with lung disease and passed away soon thereafter. Yet, thanks to the beloved film versions of THE PAJAMA GAME and DAMN YANKEES and continued interest in the entities as expressed in the revivals and reappraisals of both onstage from Broadway to Biloxi to Bombay year after year, the snappy, snazzy tunes of Adler and Ross live on eight times a week all around the world - even now, more than fifty years after they premiered. Unfortunately, Adler's subsequent shows with other collaborators post-1955 failed to capture the early magic of his previous projects with Ross and his earlier musical and theatrical endeavors in the pop arena, with the racially charged KWAMINA flopping on Broadway in 1961 (though he took home a Best Composer Tony Award for his efforts anyway) and the awkwardly titled MUSIC IS failing to recreate the magic of its source material, Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT, in 1976. A MOTER'S KISSES, starring Bea Arthur and a young Bernadette Peters, died on the road, as well. In the intervening years, Adler attempted musical adaptations taken from a number of intriguing sources - OF HUMAN BONDAGE and others among them - though only his ballet scores seemed to reach an audience; particularly his last, commissioned for a new production of Lorca's THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA in 1998. Of course, THE PAJAMA GAME has had two Broadway revivals - most recently the rapturously received Kathleen Marshall-directed production starring Harry Connick, Jr. and Kelli O'Hara; and DAMN YANKEES famously returned to the Great White Way with much ado in 1994 starring Victor Garber. Now seems particularly ripe for remounting YANKEES, as we approach twenty years in its absence - especially given the musical's seriously smashing showing at Encores! in 2007. Who knows, perhaps some risky producer will even take a chance on a new production of KWAMINA, MUSIC IS, A MOTHER'S KISSES or one of the bottom drawer shows someday soon to see if they possess any of the limitless potential shown by Adler's earlier work. Or maybe a stage treatment of his TV musical GIFT OF THE MAGI (originally composed for then-wife Sally Ann Howes)? Or, better yet, how about a revue? What a stupendous songstack Adler created over the course of his career - 'Whatever Lola Wants' to 'Hey There' to 'Hernando's Hideaway' to 'You Gotta Have Heart' to 'Steam Heat' to the aforementioned Bennett, Day and Monroe standards and so many more chestnuts.

Celebrating the best in R&B, hip-hop and soul music, the Fresh Music Festival comes to the Orleans Arena on June 2. Doug E. Fresh will be the host of the festival, with headlining performances from Keith Sweat, K-Ci & JoJo, Guy and SWV.