The Last Letter - 2003 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 5

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!

Visit our list of the best musicals & shows you can watch from home! We've got you covered with all the must-sees on streaming sites including Tony-award winners, favorite stars and top performances.

 Court TV will provide coverage of real estate heir Robert Durst's murder trial in Los Angeles.

On February 1, 2020, Los Angeles Opera presented the world premiere of Matthew Aucoin's third opera, Euridice. He composed it together with Sarah Ruhl who wrote the original 2003 play. Aucoin, Ruhl, and this presentation's stage director, Mary Zimmerman, have been the recipients of the MacArthur Fellowships known as 'Genius Grants.' 

Sweden's greatest modernist playwright, August Strindberg, returned from the Continent to Stockholm in 1906, where he lived out his last seven years. There he wrote 'The Pelican' for his Intimate Theater in 1907 and 'Isle of the Dead' (Toten-Insel) immediately after as its prologue. The latter was unpublished until 1918 and rediscovered in the early 60s, when it was found and promptly dismissed as an incomplete fragment. The two plays were finally reunited by Ingmar Bergman in a radio version in 2003. It was his last dramatic production. From February 6 to 22 August Strindberg Rep, a resident company of Theater for the New City (TNC), will bring the two plays to the stage together for the first time in history. It will also be the world premiere of new English translations of both plays by Robert Greer, Artistic Director of Strindberg Rep, who helms the production.

Broadway San Jose General Manager Gretchen Feyer announced today the six productions that will make up the company's 2020a?'21 season. The season includes the return of the Broadway blockbuster, Disney's THE LION KING (July 15a?'August 9, 2020); the pre-Broadway engagement of 1776 (September 29a?'October 4, 2020), directed by Tony Awarda?'winner Diane Paulus; the Tony and Grammy Award­a?'winning pop culture phenomenon, DEAR EVAN HANSEN (November 10a?'29, 2020); the romantic and adventurea?'filled musical, ANASTASIA (January 26a?'31, 2021); the Bay Area premiere of the hit musical comedy, TOOTSIE (March 23a?'28, 2021); and the delectable Roald Dahl's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (May 4a?'9, 2021).

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the company for A Thousand Splendid Suns, adapted for the stage by Ursula Rani Sarma and based on the 2007 New York Times bestselling novel by Khaled Hosseini (Kite Runner). Set in 1992 in war-torn Afghanistan, this gripping story centers around a friendship that develops between two Afghan women following a tragedy. While facing insurmountable odds of a brutal and oppressive way of life, the two form an unlikely bond in a heart-rending fight for survival. Directed by Carey Perloff, A Thousand Splendid Suns runs January 17 - March 1, 2020 in the Kreeger Theater.

The Hollywood Film Awards announced today that some of this year's brightest talent from behind the camera will be honored at the 23rd Annual “Hollywood Film Awards.” Writer/Director/Producer Bong Joon Ho will receive the “Hollywood Filmmaker Award” for the Palme d'Or winner “Parasite,” which opened to record-breaking box office and is being hailed by critics as one of the best movies of the year. Emma Tillinger Koskoff, longtime producing partner of Martin Scorsese, will be receiving the “Hollywood Producer Award” for “The Irishman.”  Critics have been calling the film a masterpiece since opening the New York Film Festival.  It is one of several films Koskoff has produced this year. James Mangold will receive the “Hollywood Director Award” for “Ford v Ferrari,” which already has audiences buzzing with excitement and Anthony McCarten, whose words have paved the way for many award-winning acting turns, will receive the “Hollywood Screenwriter Award” for “The Two Popes.” Actor and comedian Rob Riggle will host the ceremony, which will take place on Sunday, November 3, 2019 at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, CA.

Fresh from the combined creative minds of Jake O'Flaherty and Tom Misuraca, their SUICIDAL BLONDE will world premiere September 19, 2019 at the Whitefire Theatre. Their dark comedy take on suicide will be directed by Candi Milo. I had the opportunity to field a few questions to Pam Trotter, who plays BLONDE's integral Felicia. 

It's time to grab your best gal pals and head to Ogunquit Playhouse for the hilarious musical comedy Menopause The Musical®, on stage September 4 through September 14. A raucous celebration of womanhood created by Jeanie Linders and inspired by a hot flash and a bottle of wine, Menopause The Musical® applauds women who are on the brink of, in the middle of, or have survived a?oeThe Change.a?? The show is produced by special license from GFour Productions, the producers of MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL®, now in its 18th year, and 14th as the longest-running musical in Las Vegas history. The director of the Ogunquit Playhouse production is Tony Award®-winner Seth Greenleaf. This joyful parody of 25 re-lyricized classic hits from the '60s, '70s, and '80s features chart-toppers including a?oeI Heard it Through the Grapevine that You No Longer See 39,a?? and the disco favorite a?oeStayin' Awake, Stayin' Awake!a?? 

A diverse collection of short films made by children will be showcased during the 2nd Annual Just Be You Performing Arts Youth Film Festival on Thursday, August 29, 2019, at the Rahway Public Library, 2 City Hall Plaza, Rahway, New Jersey. From 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the library's auditorium room. Children all over the world submitted films to this youth driven film festival. The festival is free for kids and teens.

Over the last decade, Ryan Murphy has become one of the most influential creators in entertainment. The screenwriter, director and producer has won six Emmy Awards out of 28 nominations and a Tony Award in 2019 for Best Revival of a Play, as a producer. He has also earned three Grammy Award nominations, as a producer.

A new film festival designed just for the youth is now free for kids and teens. The 2nd Annual Just Be You Performing Arts Youth Film Festival takes places on Friday, August 30, 2019, at the Paul Robeson Campus Center Dance Theater at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. Kids and teens under the age of 17-year's-old are admitted free of charge with an accompanied adult. The festival features a diverse collection of short-films created by youth filmmakers.

A new film festival designed just for the youth is now free for kids and teens. The 2nd Annual Just Be You Performing Arts Youth Film Festival takes places on Friday, August 30, 2019, at the Paul Robeson Campus Center Dance Theater at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. Kids and teens under the age of 17-year's-old are admitted free of charge with an accompanied adult. The festival features a diverse collection of short-films created by youth filmmakers.

Jazz singer Mark Winkler has just released a new album on singer Bobby Troup and will do a CD release party at Feinstein's Upstairs at Vitello's on August 23. In our chat, Winkler talks about his background, his love for Troup, jazz and the overall world of music. Tell our readers about your background. Where are you from? How did you get interested in music, especially jazz?

BroadwayWorld has learned that The Muny announced today 25 principal cast members for the first season of its second century. Complete company casting will be announced throughout April and May. The 101st season opens on a brand new, state-of-the-art stage with Muny favorite Guys and Dolls followed by the U.S. regional premiere of Kinky Boots. The season continues with 1776, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, Footloose and a newly-reimagined Lerner and Loewe's Paint Your Wagon. Season 101 closes with the highly-anticipated Muny debut of Roald Dahl's Matilda.

Last night Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), the non-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), hosted the annual "Mr. Abbott" Award gala and celebrated the 60th anniversary of SDC.

Twelfth Night is a tale of unrequited love hilarious and heartbreaking. Twins are separated during a shipwreck and are forced to fend for themselves in a strange land. The first twin, Viola, falls in love with Orsino, who dotes on Olivia, who falls for Viola but is idolized by Malvolio. Enter Sebastian, who is the spitting image of his twin sister is it possible for this to all end well? Well, it IS a comedy!

New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA) presents the return of the iconic Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) for two main stage performances on March 22 and 23 at 8 p.m. at the Mahalia Jackson Theater.

Multi-award winning Foothill Music Theatre presents Bullets Over Broadway The Musical, the Tony Award-nominated musical based on Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath's screenplay for the hit film Bullets over Broadway. A love letter to the golden age of Broadway, Bullets Over Broadway The Musical brings the classic musical comedy back with a bang. Loaded with the songs that made the 1920s roar, this splashy musical features Jazz Age standards including 'Let's Misbehave,' ''Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness If I Do,' "Tiger Rag," and 'Up a Lazy River.' In this madcap comedy, a young playwright finally gets his play produced on Broadway, but discovers there's a catch: the mobster putting up the funds wants a vehicle for his ditzy, talent-free girlfriend. Throw in an aging diva, dancing gangsters, and a bevy of beautiful chorus girls, and comedic capers ensue. Under the direction of Milissa Carey and music direction of Louis Lagalante, Bullets Over Broadway The Musical will play February 28- March 17, 2019 (press opening: March 1) with performances 7:30pm Thursdays, 8:00pm Todays & Saturdays, and 2pm Sundays at the Lohman Theatre, 12345 El Monte Rd (I-280 & El Monte Road), Los Altos Hills. Tickets ($12 - $36) and information can be found at www.foothill.edu/theatre or by phone at (650) 949-7360.

Global music sensation and contemporary flamenco guitarist Ottmar Liebert is returning to Sacramento for one night only with his band, Luna Negra. Liebert has been nominated for five Grammy Awards and boasts multiple gold and platinum records. His debut album, Nouveau Flamenco, is the best-selling instrumental acoustic guitar album of all time.

The Actors' Gang Theater presents an exhibition featuring the artworks of Ralph Steadman and Dario Fo, to accompany the run of ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST, which will open this Saturday, February 2nd and will continue until March 9th. Written by Italian playwright and Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo, translated by Jon Laskin and Michael Aquilante and directed by Will Thomas McFadden, the play began its run on Thursday, January 24th.

San Francisco Playhouse announced casting for Lauren Yee's King of the Yees, headlined by Obie and Lucille Lortel Award-winning actor and San Francisco native Francis Jue. The play, centered on San Francisco's Chinatown, was inspired by Yee's family and their deep connections within the community. Joshua Kahan Brody will direct the Playhouse production.

Multi-award winning Foothill Music Theatre presents Bullets Over Broadway The Musical, the Tony Award-nominated musical based on Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath's screenplay for the hit film Bullets over Broadway. A love letter to the golden age of Broadway, Bullets Over Broadway The Musical brings the classic musical comedy back with a bang. Loaded with the songs that made the 1920s roar, this splashy musical features Jazz Age standards including 'Let's Misbehave,' ''Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness If I Do,' "Tiger Rag," and 'Up a Lazy River.' In this madcap comedy, a young playwright finally gets his play produced on Broadway, but discovers there's a catch: the mobster putting up the funds wants a vehicle for his ditzy, talent-free girlfriend. Throw in an aging diva, dancing gangsters, and a bevy of beautiful chorus girls, and comedic capers ensue. Under the direction of Milissa Carey and music direction of Louis Lagalante, Bullets Over Broadway The Musical will play February 28- March 17, 2019 (press opening: March 1) with performances 7:30pm Thursdays, 8:00pm Fridays & Saturdays, and 2pm Sundays at the Lohman Theatre, 12345 El Monte Rd (I-280 & El Monte Road), Los Altos Hills. Tickets ($12 - $36) and information can be found at www.foothill.edu/theatre or by phone at (650) 949-7360.