The Choice - 1930 - Broadway Articles Page 4

The glorious Opera Theatre of Saint Louis opened it’s festival season last night with a sheer delight: Puccini’s delectable one-act comedy, Gianni Schicchi.

Free COVID-19 vaccines will be available and distributed in the Grand Lobby of the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles to all eligible recipients. All who attend the pop-up vaccination site (including those already vaccinated) will receive a chance to win a pair of tickets to see HAMILTON at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre when performances resume.

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 91 greatest Sondheim songs from stage, screen and beyond. See if your favorites made the cut! What's at #1?

Just eighteen hours after the end of the UK’s current lockdown, Bill Kenwright presented MARTIN SHAW and JENNY SEAGROVE in A.R. GURNEY’s Love Letters, directed by ROY MARSDEN, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. The play opened on 3 December 2020, the first day after the Prime Minister decreed that lockdown would end.

Happy Gay Pride! BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest LGBTQ songs and anthems from 1920-2020. See if your favorite songs or artists made the grade!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest protest songs from 1939-2020. See if your favorite songs or artists made the list!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best musical theatre characters from 1940-2020; see if your favorites are on our list of the best characters from Broadway musicals.

Tony Winner Linda Lavin has a new CD out and it is one musical bullseye after another.

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the greatest theatrical works (non-musical) from 1920-2020; see if your favorites made the list!

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! 

There is much to offer in this unusual take on the musical, but just as many questionable choices. 

Ping Chong + Company (PCC), founded by the influential theater-maker Ping Chong and increasingly a home for a diverse, intergenerational group of affiliated artists, presents Nocturne in 2020.

With Latoya McCormick and Tron Montgomery leading the way in this Fats Waller revue, 'it's so nice, it should be illegal.'

New York vocalist Kendra Shank pays tribute to her friend and mentor Abbey Lincoln (1930 - 2010) in a program of songs composed by the legendary singer, songwriter, actress, poet, civil rights activist, and NEA Jazz Master whose powerful messages of love, struggle, hope, and freedom are timeless and timely. Shank's CD A Spirit Free: Abbey Lincoln Songbook (2007, the first Lincoln songbook ever recorded) received a New York Times Critics' Choice, 4 stars in DownBeat, and numerous 'Best of the Year' awards, among other accolades.

When German star, comedian Max Ehrlich, and his best friend, composer Willy Rosen were caught in Holland in 1942 and sent to the Westerbork Transit Camp, the commandant recognized Max and made him an offer he couldn't refuse: Every Monday night before the train leaves for Auschwitz the next morning, Max and Willy will do a cabaret. IF they are funny, they do it next week. If not - they are on the train. What followed was 18 months of the funniest cabaret in all of Europe!

Grand Rapids Symphony Music Director Marcelo Lehninger will remain at the helm of West Michigan's largest performing arts organization for another five years.

Today Keen Company Artistic Director Jonathan Silverstein announced his plans for the upcoming season, Keen's 20th

Although set in 1938, it's still so sadly relevant today.

When it comes to Tony Award snubbing, there are several artistic high crimes and misdemeanors. For instance, Fiorello! winning Best Musical over Gypsy, or the good Music Man besting the better West Side Story. Or how about this awful upset: Two Gentlemen of Verona (the since-forgotten musical) beating both Grease and Follies for the top honor. Perhaps worst of all is this: Even though A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM was Stephen Sondheim's first and most successful Broadway show as a composer and lyricist, and even though it would win six of its eight nominated Tony Awards in 1962-1963 (including Best Musical), Mr. Sondheim himself was not even nominated for his lyrics and score. A show that features some of the most beloved comic songs from the early 1960's--'Comedy Tonight,' 'Lovely,' and 'Everybody Ought to Have a Maid'--wasn't even nominated for these iconic numbers. (For the record, Oliver! won that year for Best Score.) Broadway's greatest composer would have to wait almost a decade to receive his first Tony Award.

Drummer Dave Schoepke will be releasing his first solo drum album titled “Drums On Low” on July 15, 2019. Schoepke is an accomplished North American drummer, who has had the pleasure of working with the legendary Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre. Dave toured with Martin's band in 2017 and in 2018 for the “Cruise To The Edge” Tour. He's also been the primary drummer for The Willy Porter Band since 2002, and has loved every second of his time with the band. Dave has toured with Willy Porter on a number of occasions over the years, and has numerous television and radio appearances on his record. The amazing part is that Dave is able to do all of this, and still has time to devote to his own band Tweed. Tweed has been a mainstay touring in Europe for the last few years along with a number of other blues and soul groups. 

It's that time of the week, theater lovers! With the weekend set to kick off at any moment - personally, we like to consider Thursday morning at 12:01 a.m. the official start of the weekend (that's directed primarily to the Dowager Countess of Grantham who quite clearly didn't understand what actually constitutes a 'weekend') - so we are back with a few suggestions of our own to help make your job easier. There are some new shows opening, others which are continuing their runs and still more which will be winding up their slate of performances this weekend!

It's another busy weekend in Nashville - but when is Music City not packed with events, festivals, affairs? - and we're back with our Critic's Choice recommendations to have you cut through the theatrical flotsam and jetsam and find a cultural opening that's a good fit for your harried lifestyle. Nashville Opera opens its staging of Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock at Noah Liff Opera Center, Way Off Broadway Productions unveils its version of Les Liaisons Dangereuses at Music Valley Event Center, Street Theatre Company invites you to the see their staging of Lynn Nottage's Sweat at their new venue on Elm Hill Pike and Nashville Rep continues its celebration of 10 years of The Ingram New Works Festival at Nashville Children's Theatre.

Radio show host and songwriter Sean McCollough will release Earworm, his third album of songs for kids and their grownups, on May 11th. With 13 stick-in-your-head original and cover songs, Earworm features guests including Billy Jonas, Molly Ledford, members of The Lonetones and the Kidstuff Singers.

Not-for-profit History Matters/Back to the Future has announced its winner for this year's Judith Barlow Prize. The Annual Judith Barlow Prize is awarded to a student playwright for an exceptional one-act play inspired by the work of an historic female playwright. Annually, the first place student winner of the prize receives a $2,500 award and a reading of their work in New York City, with a $500 award to the participating professor. The second place student winner receives a $1,000 award.