The Mother of Us All - 1976 - Regional (US) Articles Page 18

Award-winning screenwriter-playwright Tom Stoppard is set to receive the Writers Guild of America, West's 2013 Laurel Award for Screen, honoring lifetime achievement in outstanding writing for motion pictures.

New Year's Day afforded me the opportunity to watch four hit Broadway musicals that had been adapted for the screen: My Fair Lady, Camelot, Funny Girl and Hello Dolly. My Fair Lady and Camelot had a number of things in common: same director, lyricist, composer, leading lady, supporting male actor and, most important for me, the same choreographer: Hanya Holm, the modern dancer from Dresden who came to the United states to open a school and stayed for the rest of her life, dying at the age of 99!.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today a rare chance to take in the full measure of a master filmmaker with A CLOSE-UP OF ABBAS KIAROSTAMI from February 8-17.

Performances of Steppenwolf Theatre Company's highly anticipated production of The Motherf**ker with the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis start today! Ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro directs following the Tony Award-nominated Broadway premiere, with an all-star ensemble cast featuring Sandra Delgado, Sandra Marquez, Gary Perez, John Ortiz and Jimmy Smits and members of the original design team: scenic designer Todd Rosenthal, lighting designer Donald Holder and composer Terence Blanchard.

Performances of Steppenwolf Theatre Company's highly anticipated production of The Motherf**ker with the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis start in just two weeks. Ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro directs following the Tony Award-nominated Broadway premiere, with an all-star ensemble cast featuring Sandra Delgado, Sandra Marquez, Gary Perez, John Ortiz and Jimmy Smits and members of the original design team: scenic designer Todd Rosenthal, lighting designer Donald Holder and composer Terence Blanchard.

The Grammy Award-winning musician, actor, and author Common, and Danny Glover, award-winning actor, producer and humanitarian, have been added to the line up of the star-studded Bring Leonard Peltier Home 2012 concert, set for tonight, December 14, 2012 at 7:30pm at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.

Yale Repertory Theatre, in a co-production with American Repertory Theater, presents the world premiere of Marie Antoinette by David Adjmi, directed by Rebecca Taichman. Marie Antoinette will be performed at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street) October 26 through November 17. Opening Night is Thursday, November 1. The cast includes Fred Arsenault, Hannah Cabell, David Greenspan, Marin Ireland, Vin Knight, Jo Lampert, Polly Lee, Steven Rattazzi, Jake Silbermann, Teale Sperling, Brian Wiles, and Ashton Woerz.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announces its upcoming film series and events:

Yale Repertory Theatre, in a co-production with American Repertory Theater, presents the world premiere of Marie Antoinette by David Adjmi, directed by Rebecca Taichman. Marie Antoinette will be performed at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street) October 26 through November 17. Opening Night is Thursday, November 1. The cast includes Fred Arsenault, Hannah Cabell, David Greenspan, Marin Ireland, Vin Knight, Jo Lampert, Polly Lee, Steven Rattazzi, Jake Silbermann, Teale Sperling, Brian Wiles, and Ashton Woerz.

Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham announced today that Public Theater alumna and Academy Award winner Meryl Streep has donated $1 million to The Public Theater. The announcement was made on Thursday evening at a special reception for artists and Public Theater "family" to celebrate the completion of the $40 million revitalization of its downtown home at Astor Place.

For the first time ever, the musical Carrie is available for performances by Schools and Theaters through R&H Theatricals and the recent MCC production has been preserved in a cast recording. The new recording, executive produced by Grammy Award winner Kurt Deutsch (In the Heights), will be released on September 25th on iTunes, Amazon.com, and is available for pre-order at Sh-K-Boom's website (http://sh-k-boom.com/carrie.shtml In the video below, get an exclusive look at the cast in the recording studio as they explain the story behind Carrie!

Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center will kick-off its 2012-2013 10th Anniversary season with its commission of the inaugural full-length program by L.A. Dance Project founded by acclaimed choreographer Benjamin Millepied. The L.A. Dance Project commission will have its premiere performances tonight, September 22 and 23, 2012 at The Music Center's Walt Disney Concert Hall.

THE 2012 ALL FOR ONE THEATER FESTIVAL featuring 10 solo plays and musicals written and performed by 10 extraordinary artists, begins today, September 14th at The Cherry Lane Theatre/Mainstage, 38 Commerce Street, NYC, and continues through September 30th.

Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center will kick-off its 2012-2013 10th Anniversary season with its commission of the inaugural full-length program by L.A. Dance Project founded by acclaimed choreographer Benjamin Millepied. The L.A. Dance Project commission will have its premiere performances September 22 and 23, 2012 at The Music Center's Walt Disney Concert Hall.

THE 2012 ALL FOR ONE THEATER FESTIVAL featuring 10 solo plays and musicals written and performed by 10 extraordinary artists, begins Friday, September 14th at The Cherry Lane Theatre/Mainstage, 38 Commerce Street, NYC, and continues through September 30th.

Cellist Maya Beiser will see the New York premiere of her new production, ELSEWHERE, a "CelloOpera," in four performances from October 17 through 20 at 7:30pm, during the 2012 BAM Next Wave Festival in the inaugural season of the Fishman Space, part of BAM's new Richard B. Fischer Building which opens in September 2012 at 321 Ashland Place in Brooklyn. ELSEWHERE is produced by Beth Morrison Projects.

Source of Joy Theatricals, the producers of the Broadway smash hit THE COLOR PURPLE present the Las Vegas Theatre debut tonight, August 23 through August 26, 2012 as a special presentation in honor of National Women's Equality Month.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Casting news for ChiShakes' 'Sunday,' TATC's '42nd Street' and Paramount's 'Grease,' plus ALW and the eye-popping Marriott season, Chicago's first 'Q,' Super September along Belmont Avenue and much more!

Rehearsals began this week at Steppenwolf Theatre Company for the 2012/13 season opener, Good People, Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lindsay-Abaire's surprising, humorous and deeply moving tale of a modern American story set in economically opposed South Boston and Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Ensemble member K. Todd Freeman directs Lindsay-Abaire's Steppenwolf debut, featuring ensemble members Alana Arenas, Mariann Mayberry and Molly Regan.

Source of Joy Theatricals, the producers of the Broadway smash hit THE COLOR PURPLE have announced the Las Vegas Theatre debut August 23 - August 26, 2012 as a special presentation in honor of National Women's Equality Month.

Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The MusicCenter will kick-off its 2012-2013 10th Anniversary season with its commission of the inaugural full-length program by L.A. Dance Project founded by acclaimed choreographer Benjamin Millepied. The L.A. Dance Project commission will have its premiere performances September 22 and 23, 2012 at The Music Center's Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company Artistic Director Martha Lavey announced today additional casting for the 2012/13 Subscription and Steppenwolf for Young Adults seasons. Will Allan, Keith Kupferer and Lusia Strus join previously announced ensemble members Alana Arenas, Mariann Mayberry and Molly Regan, completing the cast of the season opener, Good People. The cast of the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of The Book Thief features ensemble member Francis Guinan with Patrick Andrews, Amy J. Carle, Rob Fagin, Rae Gray, Dennis William Grimes, Nikki Klix, Ian Knox, Anthony-Jon LeSage, Clancy McCartney, Andy Monson, Mark Ulrich and Nicole Wiesner. Other additions to the 2012/13 slate include Sandra Delgado, Sandra Marquez, John Ortiz and Gary Perez in The Motherf**ker with the Hat, and Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Glenn Davis and Jacqueline Williams in Head of Passes. Edward Torres has also signed on to direct the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of How Long Will I Cry?: Voices of Youth Violence (previously titled Oral Histories) with Artistic Consultant Kelli Simpkins.

THE 2012 ALL FOR ONE THEATER FESTIVAL, which begins September 14th at the 179 seat Cherry Lane Theatre/Mainstage, 38 Commerce Street, NYC, will feature 10 extraordinary solo performers presenting their own works.

On Thursday, three-time Tony Award-winning Broadway composer Richard Adler passed away at the ripe old age of 90. Responsible for two of the biggest Broadway smash hits of the 1950s, THE PAJAMA GAME and GAMN YANKEES, Adler never quite managed to equal his career-high double-hitter of that era, yet his earlier work with Tony Bennett ('Rags To Riches'), Doris Day ('Everybody Loves A Lover') and Marilyn Monroe (the iconic 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President') surely shall solidify his place in the firmament of entertainment history along with his two classic musicals from the Golden Age. Winning both Best Score and Best Musical for both THE PAJAMA GAME and DAMN YANKEES, Adler's partnership with lyricist Jerry Ross - which began on Broadway in 1953 with JOHN MURRAY ANDERSON'S ALMANAC - was tragically cut short just months after the DAMN YANKEES premiere when Ross was diagnosed with lung disease and passed away soon thereafter. Yet, thanks to the beloved film versions of THE PAJAMA GAME and DAMN YANKEES and continued interest in the entities as expressed in the revivals and reappraisals of both onstage from Broadway to Biloxi to Bombay year after year, the snappy, snazzy tunes of Adler and Ross live on eight times a week all around the world - even now, more than fifty years after they premiered. Unfortunately, Adler's subsequent shows with other collaborators post-1955 failed to capture the early magic of his previous projects with Ross and his earlier musical and theatrical endeavors in the pop arena, with the racially charged KWAMINA flopping on Broadway in 1961 (though he took home a Best Composer Tony Award for his efforts anyway) and the awkwardly titled MUSIC IS failing to recreate the magic of its source material, Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT, in 1976. A MOTER'S KISSES, starring Bea Arthur and a young Bernadette Peters, died on the road, as well. In the intervening years, Adler attempted musical adaptations taken from a number of intriguing sources - OF HUMAN BONDAGE and others among them - though only his ballet scores seemed to reach an audience; particularly his last, commissioned for a new production of Lorca's THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA in 1998. Of course, THE PAJAMA GAME has had two Broadway revivals - most recently the rapturously received Kathleen Marshall-directed production starring Harry Connick, Jr. and Kelli O'Hara; and DAMN YANKEES famously returned to the Great White Way with much ado in 1994 starring Victor Garber. Now seems particularly ripe for remounting YANKEES, as we approach twenty years in its absence - especially given the musical's seriously smashing showing at Encores! in 2007. Who knows, perhaps some risky producer will even take a chance on a new production of KWAMINA, MUSIC IS, A MOTHER'S KISSES or one of the bottom drawer shows someday soon to see if they possess any of the limitless potential shown by Adler's earlier work. Or maybe a stage treatment of his TV musical GIFT OF THE MAGI (originally composed for then-wife Sally Ann Howes)? Or, better yet, how about a revue? What a stupendous songstack Adler created over the course of his career - 'Whatever Lola Wants' to 'Hey There' to 'Hernando's Hideaway' to 'You Gotta Have Heart' to 'Steam Heat' to the aforementioned Bennett, Day and Monroe standards and so many more chestnuts.

REBECCA, the new musical based on the classic novel by Daphne du Maurier novel, has found its male and female leads: Jill Paice will play the role of "I" and Ryan Silverman the role of "Maxim de Winter." REBECCA will open on Broadway Sunday, November 18 at The Broadhurst Theatre. Previews will begin Tuesday, October 30.