The Bench - 2018 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 6

MONSIEUR LINH AND HIS CHILD is playing at the Grand Theatre in Luxembourg from May 3 to 7, 2019.

Actor/writer and 2018 Fred Ebb Award winner Will Reynolds makes his Birdland debut premiering all new songs, including selections from his musicals RADIOACTIVE and THE VIOLET HOUR (recently developed by MTC), written with collaborator Eric Price. Special guests include trumpeter and Birdland favorite Benny Benack III, Broadway stars Kirsten Anderson (MY FAIR LADY), Aisha Jackson (FROZEN), Adam Kaplan (A BRONX TALE), and soul singer-songwriter Chris Ams (FAVORITE STATES band).

'This is a story of kings.' The opening line of playwright Ayad Akhtar's JUNK gives the audience an epic summary of what they're about to experience. Kings not determined by the biggest crown or most expansive army, but by the fullest pockets. Robert Merkin, played by Carlo Lorenzo Garcia, is one such king, though unconventional in that the lead character of Akhtar's longest work sees debt as an asset. Robert sits proudly on the cover Time Magazine, and he's ready to capitalize on his role as 'America's Alchemist'. Performer Garcia revels in all the teeth sucking, furtive gesticulating, and slick talking of a classic 1980's Wall Street yuppie.

The Marsh San Francisco announces the return of its 2017 hit, The Mushroom Cure by Adam Strauss. Inspired by a scientific study that hallucinogenic mushrooms may cure obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Strauss embarked on a program of vigilante psychopharmacology. The true tale of Strauss' hilarious, harrowing, and heartrending attempts to treat his debilitating OCD with psychedelics was an Off-Broadway hit, where it was named Critics' Pick by Time Out New York and hailed by The New York Times as "mining a great deal of laughter from disabling pain" before moving to San Francisco for an extended run. The Mushroom Cure will be presented March 16 - 30, 2019 with performances 8:30pm Saturdays and 5:30pm Sundays at The Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia St., San Francisco. For tickets ($20-$35 sliding scale, $55-$100 reserved), the public may visit www.themarsh.org or call The Marsh box office at 415-282-3055 (open Monday through Friday, 1pm-4pm).

The Marsh San Francisco presents work in progress performances of Uncertainty Principle, the newest solo show by award-winning actor and playwright Adam Strauss. In this latest work by the creator of The Mushroom Cure, Strauss grapples with the big questions.

Love is in the air with Opera Theater of Cape Cod's (OTCC) Valentine's weekend benefit concert Some Enchanted Evening: A Valentine's Gala today, February 16, 7:00 pm, Wellfleet Preservation Hall, 335 Main St., Wellfleet. Joseph Turbessi serves as music director, and Ethan DePuy is stage director. Black-tie dress is encouraged, but optional. Proceeds from the performance fund OTCC's expenses for its production of Puccini's La boheme, being performed this summer.

The Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival is pleased to announce that its Annual Dinner will return on Saturday, June 1, 2019.

The Greenhouse Theater Center, in association with The Marsh, presents the Chicago premiere of the off-Broadway hit THE MUSHROOM CURE, the true story of one man's attempt to treat his severe OCD with psychedelics.

The Crossing and Donald Nally have won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance for their recording of Lansing McLoskey's Zealot Canticles. The award was presented yesterday, February 10, 2019, at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. This marks the Philadelphia new-music choir's second consecutive Grammy in the category, previously winning the 2018 Grammy for Gavin Bryars' The Fifth Century with PRISM Saxophone Quartet on ECM. The Crossing's recording of Thomas Lloyd's Bonhoeffer (Albany 2016) was nominated for the 2017 Grammy in the same category.

The Drama League (Executive Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks) presents DirectorFest 2019: The 35th Annual Directors Festival, the only festival in the United States exploring the art of contemporary stage directing, concludes with First Love andDeathwatch at the New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street). Festival programming, tickets and additional details are available atwww.directorfest.org, or by calling (212) 244-9494.

Love is in the air with Opera Theater of Cape Cod's (OTCC) Valentine's weekend benefit concert Some Enchanted Evening: A Valentine's Gala on Saturday, February 16, 7:00 pm, Wellfleet Preservation Hall, 335 Main St., Wellfleet. Joseph Turbessi serves as music director, and Ethan DePuy is stage director. Black-tie dress is encouraged, but optional. Proceeds from the performance fund OTCC's expenses for its production of Puccini's La boheme, being performed this summer.

Sundance Institute will gather 20 celebrated and revered expert voices across film, art, culture and science to award feature-length and short films shown at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival with 12 prizes, announced at a ceremony February 2 that will be livestreamed at sundance.org and on YouTube. Short Film Awards will be announced at a separate ceremony on January 29 and will also be livestreamed. The Festival takes place January 24 through February 3 in Park City, Salt Lake City and Sundance, Utah.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents the West Coast premiere of the roof-raising musical play Marie and Rosetta. Developed at TheatreWorks' 2015 New Works Festival by Lucille Lortel Award-winner George Brant, Marie and Rosetta shares the saga of a musical legend. From stirring up churchgoers in the morning to rocking the Cotton Club at night, Sister Rosetta Tharpe inspired Elvis, Ray Charles, and more on her way to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Growing competition on the 1940s Gospel Circuit finds Rosetta auditioning a new partner with a voice made from heaven. Will they break, blend, or find harmony at last?

The Drama League (Executive Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks) has announced casting for DirectorFest 2019: The 35th Annual Directors Festival, the only festival in the United States exploring the art of contemporary stage directing. DirectorFest takes place at various locations around NYC: New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street), The Drama League Theater Center (32 Avenue of the Americas), LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (31-10 Thompson Avenue, Long Island City), and Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street). Festival programming, tickets and additional details are available at www.directorfest.org, or by calling (212) 244-9494.

Though it's not billed as a musical, there's quite a bit of singing in Chesapeake Shakespeare's A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Anchored by strong character work, the production diverges from the format of 'straight play' by featuring wonderful harmonies and active, authentic-looking dances. Visual interest is high with action on three levels of staging, brisk pacing, brilliant costuming and dramatic special effects. Charles Dickens' effervescent dialogue and narrative paired with writer Ian Gallanar's adjustments create a classic rendition with a special Christmas In Baltimore flourish, a successful adaptation full of little surprises.

Desert Theatreworks' THE SOUND OF MUSIC is a must-see, with great acting, singing, staging, and technical production.

Taking over the title role in Neil Koenigsberg's play WINK, Andrik Ochoa begins rehearsals this week after replacing Javen Marquise Smith. A non-binary actor, Ochoa is based in Los Angeles and was recently seen in the film 'Morir de Amor.'

Lightyear Entertainment, in partnership with Fonda, Inc., has announced the release of two more of the best-selling fitness videos of all time, on DVD and Digital Media, with a DVD street date of December 18, 2018.

Taking over the title role in Neil Koenigsberg's play WINK, Andrik Ochoa begins rehearsals this week after replacing Javen Marquise Smith. A non-binary actor, Ochoa is based in Los Angeles and was recently seen in the film 'Morir de Amor.'

It's easy to lose your way in Hollywood. A homeless gender questioning teenager and Dario Villanova, a former A-list actor who is now doing B movies, are both down on their luck in Los Angeles. When a synchronistic meeting connects these two souls, they quickly bond over music, art, and life's unexpected misfortunes. Sometimes the best way forward is to stop fighting the past.

Hudson Theatre Works presents"And My True Love Gave To Me"by Luigi Jannuzziat their new space.

TABLE MANNERS, LIVING TOGETHER, and ROUND AND ROUND THE GARDEN piece together to form the intriguing triptych of THE NORMAN CONQUESTS.  Directed by Mark Kilmurry, Alan Ayckbourn's brilliant work is presented with heart and humor as passions rise, personalities clash and the dangers of trying to please everyone plays out across three spaces in the one home.

The Millennia Consort, California's premiere "organ plus" ensemble, celebrates its 20th anniversary with a concert in the St. James Music Series, on November 25, 2018 at 4 p.m. at St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 743 Prospect Street in La Jolla.

Guest Ccnductor David Danzmayr led the San Diego Symphony with unusual intensity in a program of one new work and two familiar favorites. Forceful skyward thrusts demanded full power when needed, and an active left hand called for expressive playing. The orchestra responded with performances that brought a range of satisfying effects from compelling excitement to wistful tenderness.

The Naples Players (TNP), the oldest and premier theatre in Naples, celebrates its 65th anniversary this year. TNP's ETC Readers Theatre presents 'What Happens in the Theatre', an evening of original one-act plays, on Sunday, November 11, 2018 at 7 p.m. in the Tobye Studio Theatre. An evening of one acts that gives a behind-the-scenes look at life in the theatre and all the hijinks that goes with it.