The Moment When - 1999 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 18

On July 16, 1999, the world stood still when John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and her sister Lauren Bessette were killed in a plane crash. Now 20 years after that tragic day, ABC News presents a two-hour prime-time special about John, featuring his closest friends and rare, candid video footage of John and Carolyn. “The Last Days of JFK Jr.” airs on “2020,” Friday, July 12 (9:00 – 11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC.

When it opened on Broadway in 2006, The Drowsy Chaperone boasted an all-star cast and garnered five Tony Awards, including Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score. You can expect that same quality in Broadway at Music Circus' third production of the summer, with Lynne Wintersteller returning to Sacramento in the title role. Lynne was last seen here in 2017 as Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! and as Mother Superior in Sister Act, where she solidified her place as Music Circus royalty and left audiences anticipating her return. We are now lucky enough to witness that event and Lynne was generous enough to speak with Broadway World Sacramento about her newest role and what we can expect from her in the future.

Today the Merce Cunningham Trust announces Summer & Fall 2019 programming for the worldwide Merce Cunningham Centennial, which unites artists, companies, and cultural and educational institutions in a celebration of Cunningham's vital impact. Launched in the fall of 2018 and continuing throughout all of 2019, the Centennial honors Cunningham's legacy across continents and artistic disciplines. The diversity of activities and participating partners demonstrate the profound, enduring resonance of the choreographer's work and his approach to how the body moves in time and space.

BBMAK, Mark Barry, Christian Burns and Stephen McNally who recently reunited after a 15-year hiatus have revealed the official album artwork and full track listing for their brand new album Powerstation.

A&E Network is celebrating the lives of two American icons, Farrah Fawcett and John F. Kennedy Jr., surrounding the anniversaries of their tragic deaths through two in-depth original documentaries airing under the celebrated 'Biography' banner. These comprehensive explorations of their lives include never before-seen footage and exclusive interviews with those closest to them. These two-hour documentaries, 'Biography: Farrah Fawcett Forever' and 'Biography: JFK Jr. - The Final Year' will air Tuesday, July 9 at 9pm ET/PT and Tuesday, July 16th at 9pm ET/PT respectively.

 Steve Kroft will retire from 60 MINUTES at the end of his 30th season on America's most-watched news program.  The 73-yr-old correspondent is currently the news magazine's longest tenured reporter, having reported nearly 500 60 MINUTES stories – many among the broadcast's biggest moments.    Kroft will announce his plans to step down this Sunday, May 19th after the broadcast's 51st season finale.  60 MINUTES will celebrate his 50-year career as a journalist with a special tribute broadcast this September.

IFC Center today announced an impressive and wide-ranging lineup for the third annual Split Screens Festival (www.splitscreensfestival.com) taking place Wednesday, May 29 through Monday, June 3, 2019, at the IFC Center in New York City. The festival consists of special events offering a variety of looks at history, identity and the mystery of existence itself, including panels on series that explore dystopian realities and alternate timelines, and screenings that transport us into any number of time periods and places, be it a late-1800s South Dakota town or the height of 1980s ballroom culture in New York City.

In the days since seeing playwright Martin Zimmerman's On the Exhale, which is running at Slipstream Theatre Initiative in Ferndale through May 19th, I have been thinking a lot about the 1999 Columbine shooting, the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, and the 2018 Parkland shooting. Slipstream's one-woman show, On the Exhale, centers on an unnamed single mother whose only child was killed in a shooting at his elementary school. This mother goes on a desperate journey to uncover what exactly happened in that school on that fateful September morning.

The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and Dutch National Opera have appointed a new Chief Conductor: Lorenzo Viotti. The 29-year-old conductor with Swiss and French dual nationality will take over in the 2021-2022 season. 'He is an inspirational conductor, who has shown himself more than worthy of the most prominent concert podia and opera houses', says Rob Streevelaar, managing director of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. 'His deep understanding, passion and commitment for the stage coupled with his respect and love for the singers, provides a powerful combination of drama and music', adds Sophie de Lint, director of Dutch National Opera. Lorenzo Viotti will take over the baton from Marc Albrecht, who is stepping down at the end of next season.

In an uplifting tale of finding a voice, this new production follows the real-life story of Musharaf Asghar, who won the heart of the nation when he overcame his debilitating stammer in the Channel 4 documentary Educating Yorkshire. Mushy: Lyrically Speaking recounts the story known and loved by the public of a young man overcoming the odds with the help of an inspirational teacher, then asks what happened next as the teen was hit by the highs and lows of overnight fame. With music playing a crucial role in helping Mushy to find his voice, the show will use rap and lyrical narration written by rapper Raxstar, and the book has been written by Rifco Theatre Company's Artistic Director Pravesh Kumar. Mushy: Lyrically Speaking is a Rifco Studio production presented by Rifco Theatre Company and Watford Palace Theatre.

The International Festival of Arts & Ideas today announced complete details for Festival 2019, which opens on June 8 and continues for two weeks through June 22 in New Haven, Connecticut.

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, is pleased to present a staged reading of award-winning playwright John Glore's Creep. This staged reading is being directed by Artistic Director Oanh Nguyen as part of Chance Theater's OTR New Works Series. Creep will be presented for one night only on Wednesday, May 8 at 7:30pm at Chance Theater @ Bette Aitken theater arts Center on the Cripe Stage.

Peppered with infectious Abba songs, it's like bubblegum for the soul.

Musical Theatre West's entertaining, high-energy new production of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN---which continues performances at the Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts in Long Beach through April 14, 2019---is, for the most part, a sleek, stylish, and abundantly entertaining piece of theater, filled with nostalgic fun and features a plucky anti-hero at its center whose bad behavior can both be seen as terrible and worth cheering for in his sheer audacity and skill. Despite its flaws, the show is a worthy trip back in time, especially with the presence of its two terrific lead actors Jacob Haren and Jeff Skowron as the teenage con artist and the FBI agent chasing him.

If you're feeling nostalgic for the catchy pop hits of the '90s, CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE '90S MUSICAL is just the ticket.

From Friday, May 3 through Wednesday, May 22, BAM presents Black 90s: A Turning Point in American Cinema, a nearly three week-long program of films, both low-budget art films and classic blockbusters, from an era of explosive creativity and newfound studio support for black filmmakers.

A.D. Players at The George hosted their second annual After Dinner Affair on Saturday March 23. The event celebrated all the theater has accomplished in the last year, and looked forward to the upcoming 2019-2020 season. Over 450 guests were in attendance for the West Side Story themed evening, enjoying dinner catered by Churrascos, a silent auction, dessert and champagne, and show stopping entertainment of Broadway favorites supported by a full band and featuring some of Houston's top vocal talent such as; Jake and Emily Speck, Chelsea McCurdy, Brooke Wilson, and out of town guests John-Mark McGaha, Mike Elred, and Piper Jones.

Buried amongst the over twenty names receiving the smallest-sized billing for their contributions to Roundabout Theatre Company's hot new revival of Cole Porter and Sam & Bella Spewack's masterpiece of kick-back musical comedy entertainment, Kiss Me, Kate, is the credit 'Additional Material' with the name of the accomplished Broadway lyricist Amanda Green written below.

The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia presents Portugal's brightest star Mariza on April 17, 2019, at 8pm in the Chan Shun Concert Hall. The internationally lauded fadista a performer of Portugal's traditional soul music, fado will showcase brand new material from her recently released eponymous album produced by Spain's Javier Lim n, the singer's seventh studio recording. Effortlessly effusing passion, joy, and nostalgia, the talented vocalist will weave her impressive vocal range and commanding stage presence into a deeply moving and memorable evening of music.

KCMPT's 2019-20 lineup features some of the greatest names in African American theater: August Wilson, Lorraine Hansberry, and Ntozake Shange and newcomer Lewis J. Morrow. Newly minted Artistic Director Nicole Hodges Persley states "We wanted to give our audiences a "Greatest Hits" of African American theater.

I thought throwing out my Annie CDs would be easy--I thought I only had one! Obviously that would be the indispensable Original Broadway Cast Recording with Dorothy Loudon and Andrea McArdle. How wrong I was! I knew that, as a kid, I had the tape of the 1982 movie soundtrack with Carol Burnett and Aileen Quinn (and an all-star supporting cast!), but I didn't remember buying it on CD. And when the hell did I get the CD of the 1999 TV version (with Kathy Bates and an all-star cast)? And, oh yeah... I forgot about this studio album from the 90s with studio cast queen Kim Criswell--I think I bought back in the day somehow convincing myself Ruthie Henshall was playing Annie. (Spoiler alert: She plays Grace.) Oh, and I do remember this '30thAnniversary' deluxe production with Chicago area diva (and original star of the sequel, Annie Warbucks) Alene Robertson as Miss Hannigan plus a lot of bonus material. To add insult to injury, I also have a Blu-Ray of the recent Hollywood remake with Cameron Diaz. I don't even have a Blu-Ray player! This thing is definitely going into the trash along with all the audio, but I will listen to a few tracks online for my edification.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra returns to Carnegie Hall this March for two back-to-back programs in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. In an all-Richard Strauss program on Tuesday, March 19 at 8:00 p.m., music director and conductor Andris Nelsons and the BSO are joined by world-renowned soprano Renee Fleming for the closing scene in the composer's final opera, Capriccio, on a program also including the Sextet and Moonlight Music from that opera, as well as the tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra.

Walnut Street Theatre's 2018-19 Independence Studio on 3 season continues with an intimate portrait of Katharine Hepburn inKATE THE UNEXAMINED LIFE. Written by Rick Foster and directed by Peter Sander, the production begins previews on March 5, opens March 7, and continues through April 7.

Sad Planets will release their debut album Akron, Ohio on April 19th via Tee Pee Records. The band features John Petkovic (Cobra Verde, Sweet Apple, Guided by Voices, Death of Samantha) and Patrick Carney (The Black Keys), and the album features a guest appearance by J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.; also plays with Petkovic in Sweet Apple). 

In addition to performing masterworks from past centuries at major halls and with leading ensembles worldwide, pianist Kirill Gerstein has a deep interest in the music of our time, including that of composer Thomas Ad s, with whom he has formed a close artistic relationship and performs together twice next month at Carnegie Hall. On Wednesday, March 20 at 8:00 p.m., Mr. Gerstein gives the New York premiere of a new piano concerto composed for him by Mr. Ad s on commission from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which performs the work under the baton of the composer, who is the BSO's Artistic Partner. The concerto is the second work on the program, which opens with Liszt's Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (orchestral version) and closes with Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4.