Tell My Story - 1939 - Broadway Articles Page 5

Tenor Matthew Polenzani--he of the refined singing, elegant deportment and serious nature--is having a great season at the Met, with major roles in a pair of new productions. First, he was Nadir, whose love for the priestess Leila (Diana Damrau) tempts her to give up her vows in Bizet's LES PECHEURS DE PERLES (THE PEARL FISHERS). Now he's working his mojo on no less than Elisabetta (Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen of England), in the new production of Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX at the Met, premiering March 24.

When it comes down to it, trying to convince rabid or even casual fans of the hit Broadway blockbuster WICKED into seeing the show again (and again… and again) when it comes to their town really doesn't take much of a struggle. No matter how many times over the years that the Broadway blockbuster has landed in our own backyard, the demand for tickets is still high (hence the often long engagements the show has on our stages). Now finishing up the final week of its national tour's latest return engagement at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through March 6, the 'popular' musical continues to be a must-see favorite, and shows no signs of slowing down. So, 15 years later... is WICKED still worth seeing at a city near you for the umpteenth time these days? Absolutely! And here are 10 pretty good reasons why...

Returning to the Finborough Theatre by popular demand, Stony Broke in No Man's Land, the world premiere of a new play from acclaimed playwright John Burrows, runs at the Finborough Theatre, playing nine Sunday and Monday evenings and Tuesday matinees, from Sunday, 10 January 2016 (Press Night: Monday, 11 January 2016 at 7.30pm).

BroadwayWorld was on set earlier this month as the company was readying for the big night and we checked in with animal trainer BIll Berloni, who is working with Toto (played by Scooter), to find out how rehearsals have been going so far. Check out the full interview below!

BroadwayWorld was on set earlier this month as the company was readying for the big night and we checked in with Harvey Fierstein to find out what kind of changes he made to the book to make it more modern. Check out the full interview below!

We are another day closer to NBC's highly-anticipated musical special, THE WIZ LIVE!, which airs Thursday, December 3, at 8PM/7c. The production will star newcomer Shanice Williams as Dorothy alongside Grammy and Golden Globe-winner Queen Latifah as the Wizard, nine-time Grammy-winner Mary J. Blige as Evillene, original Dorothy, Stephanie Mills, as Auntie Em and David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion.

September's events at Bookworks are below. For more information, visit bkwrks.com/event.

New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," celebrates its 25th anniversary season of adult, alternative musical theatre, with a new, expanded line-up, a brand new theatre, and a very special thank-you to the St. Louis community -- '25 for 25.' At the Thursday preview performance for each show this season, New Line will set aside 25 tickets, and the first 25 people in line at the box office at 7:00 pm will each get a ticket for 25 cents (one ticket per person).

Composer Paola Prestini, the Creative and Executive Director of National Sawdust (NS), today announced programming for the non-profit's inaugural fall season in its new home-a $16 million, 13,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art chamber hall in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The performance and recording venue, designed by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Bureau V in the shell of century-old former sawdust factory, will provide composers and musicians a setting in which they can flourish, and a place where they are given commissioning support, mentoring and other critical resources essential to create, and then share, their work. For audiences-serious fans and casual listeners alike-the venue will be a place to discover genre-spanning music at accessible ticket prices.

New Line Theatre, 'the bad boy of musical theatre,' celebrates its 25th anniversary season of adult, alternative musical theatre, with a new, expanded line-up and a brand new theatre.

Despite being a veteran of five Studio Tenn productions already, Patrick Waller - who's clearly one of Nashville theater's favorite thespians - admits being a bit terrified by taking on a new role in the company's upcoming rendition of the iconic musical The Wizard of Oz, playing the Schermerhorn Symphony Center this weekend.

BWW has confirmed today that NBC will host an open casting call for 'Dorothy' in THE WIZ LIVE in NYC next month.

Penguin Rep Theatre's 2015 season officially begins tonight, May 15, 2015, with the New York premiere of Small World by Frederick Stroppel, directed by artistic director Joe Brancato.

Penguin Rep Theatre's 2015 season officially begins May 15, 2015, with the New York premiere of Small World by Frederick Stroppel, directed by artistic director Joe Brancato.

Stony Broke in No Man's Land, the world premiere of a new play from acclaimed playwright John Burrows, runs at the Finborough Theatre, playing nine Sunday and Monday evenings and Tuesday matinees, from Sunday, 24 May 2015..

Grab some children - or kids at heart - and make your way to Adventure Theatre MTC for their new version of Baum's popular tale, here called THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ. In a whirlwind of a production, aimed at young audiences, this WIZARD weaves a spell that cannot be broken by the wickedest of witches.

Five big productions will take centre-stage in National Theatre Wales' fifth season of work, announced this week. The productions reunite the company with some old friends, and introduce some new ones. They were announced in a series of digital messages sent to mobile phones throughout the week (2-6 March 2015).

Artists and Patrons of the Arts in Fort Lauderdale and throughout South Florida have a good reason to be excited! This March a new performing arts space will open its doors in the South Andrews corridor of downtown Fort Lauderdale. The venue, The Vanguard, is located at 1501 S. Andrews Avenue in what was formerly a church when the building was first erected in 1939.

Every year, despite a litany of warnings they come to the Big Apple with big dreams. Warnings like: “You have to pay your dues.” “It's a tough business, kid.” “How are you going to survive?” There's no such thing as an overnight success, yet still they come to be at “the top of the heap,” as Kander and Ebb so eloquently put it. The four young performers featured here haven't yet vaulted to the top of the cabaret heap, but they've certainly made their marks with excellent shows during 2014, while exhibiting the potential to get there. The spotlight is already shining on Chrysten Peddie, Angela Dirksen, Rembert Block, and Kristoffer Lowe.

Below, check out quotables from THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON for the week of November 3 - November 7

Dear Bookworks Bookworm, I read a book this month that I had every intention of liking, but didn't. It had a story line that interested me but the characters were one dimensional and flat and the writing that was not worth writing home about. Rather than review a book that disappoints, I decided to review a movie that I had just seen with Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche, Words and Pictures. This is a movie well worth the ticket price. It is always a pleasure seeing a movie where actors do what they should be doing best, acting and where writers are doing what they should be doing best, writing.

If you are even a semi-regular reader of this column of reviews, you know that about every three or four months, I post a compilation of observations of shows from the previous quarter of the year. This cabaret critiquing mash up happens for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I admittedly see too many cabaret shows for the amount of time I have to promptly review them (and then, of course, the usual writer's procrastination sets in). So I have to prioritize the timeliness of the reviews based on the prestige of the performer, the length of a show run, the strength (or lack thereof) of the performance, etc. The quality of the shows in these compilations—which can range from a half dozen to a dozen reviews in one shot—are usually a mixed bag of outright raves, qualified positives, and constructive pans (I'm not a fan of the word “negative” in the reviewer lexicon). With that in mind here are a collection of cabaret show reviews going back to the start of a very harsh winter.

Australia

Wicked has been wowing audiences all over the world. The show sells out wherever it goes and people can't seem to get enough of it. Many have fulfilled the role of the Wizard and made their marks. Walker Jones is one of the lucky ones to be in the dream role and is currently touring throughout North America.

In no time at all, Houstonians will be able to click their heels and follow the yellow brick road to The Hobby Center to see TUTS' presentation of the National Tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's THE WIZARD OZ. In anticipation of the musical landing in Houston, I spoke with Jacquelyn Piro Donovan who plays Miss Gulch and The Wicked Witch of the West about the show and her career.