The Best Things in Life - 1993 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 8

It was the evening of Wednesday, November 10,1993, and the Minskoff Theatre was packed with VIP guests, producers and theater royalty waiting for the opening night to begin. Four bars of music played while the curtain opened and the spotlights glowed on someone making their Broadway Debut as the Narrator in the show. She beautifully began with the lyrics, a?oeSome folks dream of the wonders they'll do, before their time on this planet is througha??. The singer was the unforgettable Kelli Rabke and the show was the revival of JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT.

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best film musicals since the sound era began; see if your favorites made the list!

How do we make a list of the 101 greatest show tunes from the past 100 years? Well, we did the near-impossible task.  Check out our full list here! 

This Month, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW will present some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

Undermain Theatre presents Whither Goest Thou America: a new work festival.

The Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Center for Thought & Culture, the arts center of the Archdiocese of New York, has announced highlights of its 2020 Spring season, a rich mix of theater, film, music, author's nights, gallery exhibitions, and talk events featuring artists and thought leaders including Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal columnist and author Peggy Noonan; New York Times columnist and bestselling author David Brooks, and Director of The Philanthropy Roundtable's Character Initiative and author Anne Snyder; Director of the Vatican Observatory and President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ; a rousing evening of gospel music from Vy Higginsen's Sing Harlem choir; celebrated composer and big bandleader Darcy James Argue plus the New England Conservatory Alumni Big Band; Tony Award nominee Melissa Errico and multi-award winning New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik; singer, songwriter, and acclaimed clawhammer banjo player Abigail Washburn and genre-bending composer, guzheng virtuoso and vocalist from Beijing Wu Fei; and events tackling thought-provoking topical themes including justice in underserved communities, the protection of immigrants to America, and the inspiration of Sr. Thea Bowman and other Servants of God.

In what has become an annual ritual, a total of 40 established and emerging composers, lyricists, and librettists will converge on the Goodspeed campus from mid-January through mid-February 2020 to participate in the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing 15 new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration.

MerleFest, presented by Window World®, is pleased to announce Trent Wagler (of The Steel Wheels), Darrell Scott, and David Holt as judges for the 28th Annual Chris Austin Songwriting Contest (CASC). 

Grand Horizons is now in previews on Broadway!  Grand Horizons will play a strictly limited 10-week engagement, and officially open on January 23, 2020 at The Hayes Theater (240 West 44th Street).

The Town Hall today announced that GRAMMY Award-winning singer/songwriter and visual artist Solange Knowles will be the first-ever recipient of the Lena Horne Prize for Artists Creating Social Impact, the first major entertainment award to be named after a woman of color, honoring excellence at the intersection of arts and activism. Knowles will be honored at a special event which will be held at The Town Hall in New York City on Friday, February 28, 2020 during which she will receive $100,000, which will be directed to Project Row Houses, a Houston-based nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people and enriching communities through engagement, art and direct action. The organization, founded in 1993, is a catalyst for transforming community through the celebration of art and African-American history and culture.

From November 21st-24th, Judson Theatre Company will be presenting a production of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution at the Bradshaw Performing Arts Center. I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing actor Alan Campbell, who will be starring in the role of Sir Wilford Robarts.

Second Stage Theater (Carole Rothman, President and Artistic Director; Casey Reitz, Executive Director) has announced Ben McKenzie (Ben) will complete the cast of Bess Wohl's GRAND HORIZONS. The production will mark his Broadway debut.

Holding On Too LongIn The Secret Garden, Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Marsha Norman writes, 'They're only a ghost if someone alive is still holding on to them.' It is very clear from the top of Haunting Julia that the three characters we meet are haunted by Julia long before she gets the chance to do any haunting of her own. Set in November of 1993 at the newly established Julia Lukin Music Centre, Haunting Julia tells the story of Julia Lukin, a piano prodigy who apparently committed suicide at the age of 19. Twelve years later, her father (Joe), her would-be boyfriend (Andy), and a psychic (Ken) gather to revisit that fateful night, and, from there, the plot begins twisting.

Usually when people hear the word Frankenstein one image comes to mind: the inarticulate groaning hulk. Opening this weekend and running through Halloween on Stagecrafters' 2nd Stage is A. S. Peterson's version of Frankenstein, where The Monster is unlike the popular film adaptions that comes to everyone's mind. The play doesn't feature a terrifying and unthinking creature, instead The Monster feels emotions and asks questions that all humans ask themselves a?" according to Peterson, a?oehis Frankenstein is not your mama's Frankenstein.a?? BroadwayWorld Detroit was able to have an in-depth interview with the play's director, Andrew Clements, and the man behind The Monster in the show, Michael Meike, to find out what makes this new version so unique and thrilling, yet still be inspired by the classic Frankenstein story by Mary Shelley that audiences have come to know and love.

Las Vegas Neon Museum welcomes 'frightmaster auteur' Tim Burton and his phantasmagorical, wide-eyed-sans-irides, zany creations, now on display amidst retired casino marquees, in an over-the-top exhibition, 'Lost Vegas: Tim Burton @ The Neon Museum,' generously funded in part by the Engelstad Foundation through February 15, 2020.

Entertaining expert Mark Addison, author of the 'Best in the World' award-winning book Cocktail Chameleon, is coming to four more U.S. Christofle boutiques during the 2019 holiday season to host Mark's signature cocktail event series: 'The Fine Art of Cocktails'.

When I reached for my phone to call Tovah Feldshuh to interview her on her upcoming role as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the west coast premiere of SISTERS IN LAW at The Wallis, I never expected to be so enthralled for the fifty minutes that followed; not only by the irascible, most delightful Tovah Feldshuh herself, but by the razor-witted Justice Ginsburg a?' a two-for-one interview!

2019 TCG Peter Zeisler Memorial Award Recipient Bishop Arts Theatre Center presents The Wild Party, a steamy prohibition tale, by Andrew Lippa. Directed by Adam Adolfo at the Bishop Arts Theatre Center, The Wild Party runs October 10 through October 27. Press Night/Opening Night will be Saturday, October 12 at 8:00 p.m.

The Academy of American Poets is pleased to announce the winners of the 2019 American Poets Prizes, which are among the most valuable and venerable poetry prizes in the United States. This year the organization has awarded more funds to poets than any other organization, giving a total of $1,250,000 to poets at various stages of their careers.

The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance kicks off its fall season with the BlakTinX Performance Series from September 25 to November 23, 2019. This annual multidisciplinary festival inaugurated in 2002 celebrates art and performance by Black, Latinx and artists of color. The festival opens with the prolific choreographer Maria Bauman-Morales (formerly of Urban Bush Women) and features premiere dance works by contemporary choreographers.BAAD! is located in a neo gothic style building at 2474 Westchester Avenue. For tickets and information call 718-918-2110 or visit www.BAADBronx.org.

As the Year of Chicago Theatre continues, Chicago theatres open the fall season with some of the most exciting theatre in the country. Offerings from the city's more than 250 producing theatres include a range of special fall programming, featuring everything from the latest musicals to highly anticipated world premieres.

Professional dancer Kate Jackson chose to return to her roots ahead of a series of performances at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

The Coral Springs Center for the Arts today announced that Georgia-based 1990's alternative rock band Collective Soul is brings its 25th anniversary tour to the Center next November. The state-of the-art performing arts center is located at 2855 Coral Springs Drive (33065).

La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts & Mccoy Rigby Entertainment present the West Coast Premiere of GRUMPY OLD MEN: THE MUSICAL, book by Dan Remmes, music by Neil Berg, lyrics by Nick Meglin, (Adapted from the Warner Bros. motion picture written by Mark Steven Johnson), additional orchestrations by Phil Reno, choreography by Michele Lynch, musical direction by Benet Braun and direction by Matt Lenz.

John Wick reloads for another worldwide smash hit when John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum arrives on Digital August 23 and on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray and Digital), Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital), DVD, and On Demand September 10 from global content leader Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B). The highly anticipated third film in the blockbuster John Wick franchise is an action-packed, international thrill ride that is now Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh