The American Way - 1939 - Broadway Articles Page 10

The story of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" has gone through many incarnations over the years: An American fairytale, a Broadway extravaganza, one of the first technicolor MGM movie musicals, and the 1989 West End holiday musical. Now, complete with dancing Munchkins and flying monkeys, Sierra Rep is delighted to present The Wizard of Oz this summer at the Historic Fallon House Theatre in Columbia State Park. The book is by John Kane, music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It has additional background music by Herbert Stothart. It is based on the novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum and the 1939 film version written by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf. This production will be co-directed by Scott Viets and Jerry Lee, who previously teamed up for Holiday Jukebox and The Robber Bridegroom. The production sponsor is DSN Outdoor.

Spanning more than 45 years, the music of Don Williams continues to connect adoring fans around the world, and soon they'll have a chance to experience those iconic hits in a whole new way. Starting October 31, Don Williams: Music & Memories of The Gentle Giant takes residency at Nashville's famed Schermerhorn Symphony Center for three nights of reflection of the Country Music Hall of Fame member's music, accompanied by the Nashville Symphony, with Keith Urban serving as the show's curator.

Axis Company presents a return engagement of Last Man Club, written and directed byAxis Artistic Director Randy Sharp, June 5-28. The "atmospheric, expertly structured one-act drama" (The New York Times), presented first in 2013 and now again as part of Axis's 20th anniversary season, exemplifies the company's work-raw, unblinking theater, staged in Axis's intimate West Village space, that frequently explores dark moments in America's past. As news stories about the acceleration of climate change and its human toll break daily, the production takes audiences to the Dust Bowl, another era of environmental and economic strife catalyzed by unrestrained human greed.

NATIVE SON, a novel written in 1940 by Richard Wright, tells the story of 20-year of Bigger Thomas, an African American youth living in utter poverty in a poor area on Chicago's South Side in 1939. While not apologizing for Bigger's crimes, Wright portrays a systemic inevitability behind them, making the case that there is no escape from his destiny since he is the inevitable product of the society in which he has lived since birth, faced by expectations imposed upon him by others tasked to teach him the proper way for a Black man to live in society. It is often said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. This is certainly the case in Wright's original story which could have been written today, given the similar news stories filling the airwaves right now involving police beatings of Black men and gun violence leading to senseless murders.

The Bucks County Playhouse has announced titles and creative teams for the theater's 80th anniversary season, which will launch May 17.

Pittsburgh Opera will unveil industry-first functionality in their mobile app at their performances of La boheme, March 30 - April 7, at the Benedum Center.

The Guthrie Theater (Joseph Haj, artistic director) today announced the nine productions of its 2019 2020 subscription season: Tennessee Williams' classic family drama The Glass Menagerie; Shakespeare's rollicking comedy Twelfth Night; an adaptation of Emma based on the Jane Austen novel; and Kander and Ebb's musical Cabaret will grace the Guthrie's signature Wurtele Thrust Stage while the McGuire Proscenium Stage's lineup will include Robert Harling's female-driven comedy Steel Magnolias; the regional premiere of Noura, Heather Raffo's complex tale of identity; Anne Bogart's acclaimed production of Euripides' The Bacchae; Karen Zacar as' comedic telenovela Destiny of Desire; and Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning Sweat.

The Tak cs Quartet returns to Segerstrom Center for the Arts on February 28, 2019 at 8:00pm. The ensemble, considered to be one of the world's greatest string quartets, welcomed second violinist Harumi Rhodes earlier this year following the retirement of founding member K roly Schranz. Quartet members include Edward Dusinberre and Harumi Rhodes, violins; Geraldine Walther, viola; and Andr s Fej r, cello.

Four symphonic orchestras, a major heritage museum and one of Los Angeles' leading performing arts centers will join forces in 2020 for an ambitious collaborative initiative that will bring to life the sounds of music once lost. 

Axis Company today announces its 20th Anniversary Season, which kicks off a bold new work: the world premiere of Strangers in the World, written and directed by Axis Artistic Director Randy Sharp (March 13-April 6). The company celebrates two decades of making raw, unblinking theater in its intimate West Village space with a lineup that exemplifies Axis's body of work-its artistry in exploring dark moments in America's past, and its mastery at staging moving first-person narratives. 

The creative team has delivered a beautiful, inventive and masterful version of the classic 'The Wizard of Oz'. Visually it is pleasantly different to what we are used to, but it is very audibly familiar.

The Tak cs Quartet returns to Segerstrom Center for the Arts on February 28, 2019 at 8:00pm. The ensemble, considered to be one of the world's greatest string quartets, welcomed second violinist Harumi Rhodes earlier this year following the retirement of founding member K roly Schranz. Quartet members include Edward Dusinberre and Harumi Rhodes, violins; Geraldine Walther, viola; and Andr s Fej r, cello.

The Fountain Theatre follows its hugely successful 2018 celebrity reading of All the President's Menwith a one-night only, all-star reading of Ms. Smith Goes to Washington, starring Bellamy Young (ABC's Scandal) in the title role, along with her Scandal co-stars Joshua Malina and Jeff Perry, with more to be announced.

This winter and spring Bucks County Playhouse offers a full slate of entertainment representing a wide variety of musical, comedy and special event performances as part of the Visiting Artists Series at the Playhouse.

Five POV feature films and one POV Shorts documentary have made it to the shortlists of their respective categories. Minding the Gap, Dark Money, The Distant Barking of Dogs On Her Shoulders and The Silence of Others are among 15 feature films being considered for the Documentary Feature Oscar for the 91st Academy Awards. A Night at the Garden, which was produced by Field of Vision, is among ten films that will advance in the Documentary Short Subject category. 

The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture has announced its 2019 winter/spring season, a rich program of theater, film, music, poetry, art, and talk events featuring artists and thought leaders including Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter;Tony Award winner Lena Hall; Grammy Award-winning musician and recording artist Eileen Ivers; Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award nomineeAlexander Gemignani;and journalist and former Wall Street Journal columnist Sohrab Ahmari.

The Last Night of Ballyhoo places audiences in the home of the Freitag family. The year is 1939, and the Freitags reside amongst the upper-echelon of the German-Jewish community in Atlanta, GA. As the beginnings of World War II percolate from a distance, the Freitags are more concerned with finding Lala a date to Ballyhoo, the lavish social event of the year. This comedy light heartedly explores the struggle with religious identity in times of great change and prejudice.

CABARET is a 1966 musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff, based on John Van Druten's 1951 play I Am a Camera, which was adapted from the short novel Goodbye to Berlin (1939) by Christopher Isherwood. Set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis are rising to power, it focuses on the nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, and revolves around young American writer Cliff Bradshaw (John Fredrickson) and his relationship with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles (Logan-Rae). The musical was also made into a 1972 film.

The Wizard of Oz has been delighting audiences since it first appeared as a 1939 movie starring Judy Garland as Dorothy. The story, first created by L. Frank Baum in 1900, has inspired a number of adaptations, and the most popular stage version frequently finds its way to the stage at high schools and community theatres. Even though many of you have probably seen The Wizard of Oz, you've likely never seen a production of it like the one that will open at The Eichelberger Performing Arts Center on November 16th. Why is this production so unique? Because it is being performed by actors from The Penguin Project of Gettysburg Community Theatre. This program gives youth with special needs an opportunity to perform with other youth, both with and without special needs, giving them a chance to focus on their abilities rather than their challenges. BroadwayWorld had an opportunity to hear from Gettysburg Community Theatre's Executive Director, Chad-Alan Carr, as well as from five of the actors who will be performing-Natalie Hurwitch and Maddie Greco, two of the peer mentors; Ella Scott, the actor playing Dorothy; Leah Watson, who portrays Glinda the Good Witch of the North; and TJ Williams, who plays the Wizard of Oz-about their experiences with this production of The Wizard of Oz.

Another tornado heads to Gainesville as GTA sells out "The Wizard of Oz" before its Nov. 6 opening

The Broadway musical phenomenon that is Wicked has become the very definition of defying gravity. Not only is it the 6th longest running Broadway musical of all times, it's been translated into 8 languages, performed in 15 countries, and seen by almost sixty million people worldwide.

The Gish Prize Trust today announced that the inspired Music and Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel, has been selected to receive the 25th annual Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize in recognition of his ongoing achievements as a conductor and an advocate for music education. Established in 1994 through the will of legendary stage and screen actress Lillian Gish, known as the First Lady of Cinema, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize is one of the most prestigious honors given to artists in the United States and bears one of the largest cash awards, currently valued at approximately $250,000.

Those who lived through the World War II years will certainly recognize the name of ambitious and charismatic J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Berkeley-trained scientist who found himself called upon to spearhead the largest scientific undertaking in all of human history: the Manhattan Project and the creation of the Atomic bomb which the United States government believed would bring about a swift end to World War II. And although it did that, what was the cost on those involved with the project or subjected to its first tests without proper protection from the released radiation, as well as those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki when the bombs were exploded over those cities. Was it even wise to develop the ability to split atoms given how the world has changed since then or the threat of total annihilation which hangs over us daily?

Bang on a Can and the Jewish Museum's 2018-2019 concert season, pairing innovative music with the Museum's exhibitions and showcasing leading female performers and composers, continues on Thursday, November 15, 2018 at 7:30pm.