The Old Neighborhood - 1997 - Broadway Articles Page 9

24th STreet Theatre's Teatro del Pueblo ('Theater of the Village') returns in 2014 with the world premiere of La Vispera ('The Eve'), another warm, funny and unique holiday play about love and sacrifice created from stories shared by members of the local immigrant community during workshops with professional theater artists. Written by Victor Vazquez, co-directed by Jesus Castaños-Chima and Sayda Trujillo, and supported by The James Irvine Foundation Exploring Engagement Fund, La Vispera gets four performances Dec. 6 through Dec. 14 at 24th STreet Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. All performances are in Spanish with English supertitles, and admission is only 24 cents. Following each performance, the audience will be invited to join the performers for a Posada (Christmas procession) around the neighborhood before heading back to the theater for homemade tamales, warm ponche (punch) and a traditional star-shaped piñata.

'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.' This Margaret Mead quote greeted me upon exiting the theater after seeing Children's Theatre Company's SEEDFOLKS. I don't know if this quote is always in their lobby, or if it's specific to this show, but it is the perfect summation of this beautiful play. Paul Fleischman's 1997 novel tells the story of a vacant lot in Cleveland being transformed into a community garden from the perspective of multiple different characters. In CTC's adaptation, all of these characters and more are portrayed by one woman - Sonja Parks. She brilliantly transforms from a young Vietnamese girl, to an elderly Romanian woman, to a Guatemalan boy, and everything in between in the course of just over an hour. It's an epic journey of a neighborhood that transforms from one of fear and distrust to one that, while it might still have those things, is more deeply connected and supportive, all due to the growing of plants. A small group of thoughtful, committed citizens change the world, or at least their small corner of it.

Uniontown, OH

Local residents and professional actors will join forces in the artful adaptation of William Shakespeare's As You Like, as part of the third annual Shakespeare in the Streets presented by Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, scheduled today through Saturday, Sept. 18-20, on Central Avenue between Forsyth Boulevard and Maryland Avenue in downtown Clayton.

WADSWORTH, Ohio

Pan Pan Theatre Company will bring EMBERS by Samuel Beckett to BAM's Harvey Theater (651 Fulton St). Directed by Gavin Quinn with sculpture by Andrew Clancy, lighting design by Aedin Cosgrove and sound design by Jimmy Eadie, the show will run tonight, September 17-20 at 7:30 p.m.

Hands on a Hardbody is a new rock musical about 10 Texans whose new lease on life is so close they can touch it. Under a scorching sun for days on end and armed with nothing but hope and ambition, they'll fight to keep at least one hand on a brand-new truck in order to win it. In this hard-fought contest, only one winner can drive away with the American dream.

Mike Leigh connoisseur Shade Murray, who directed the Jeff Award-winning Abigail's Party for A Red Orchid in 2010, will direct Cole Theatre's inaugural production, Mike Leigh's Ecstasy. The production will star Boyd Harris, Maura Kidwell, Layne Manzer, Lauren Pizzi, Michaela Petro and Joel Reitsma.

Local residents and professional actors will join forces in the artful adaptation of William Shakespeare's As You Like, as part of the third annual Shakespeare in the Streets presented by Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, scheduled Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 18-20, on Central Avenue between Forsyth Boulevard and Maryland Avenue in downtown Clayton.

Pan Pan Theatre Company will bring EMBERS by Samuel Beckett to BAM's Harvey Theater (651 Fulton St). Directed by Gavin Quinn with sculpture by Andrew Clancy, lighting design by Aedin Cosgrove and sound design by Jimmy Eadie, the show will run September 17-20 at 7:30 p.m.

Hands on a Hardbody is a new rock musical about 10 Texans whose new lease on life is so close they can touch it. Under a scorching sun for days on end and armed with nothing but hope and ambition, they'll fight to keep at least one hand on a brand-new truck in order to win it. In this hard-fought contest, only one winner can drive away with the American dream.

By popular demand (and venue availability), the 18th annual The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC), the largest multi-arts festival in North America, announces additional performances for 5 of its sold out shows.

The newly formed Equity Cole Theatre presents its inaugural production, Mike Leigh's Ecstasy, running August 21-September 28 in Old Town. An intensely naturalistic and darkly comic portrait of gloom and joy, violence and romance, Ecstasy is the story of six sharply drawn characters and their struggle against despair one evening in a run-down London flat. The production stars Boyd Harris, Maura Kidwell, Layne Manzer, Lauren Pizzi, Michaela Petro and Joel Reitsma. Mike Leigh connoisseur Shade Murray, who directed the Jeff Award-winning Abigail's Party for A Red Orchid in 2010, directs.

Tickets are on sale now for "Presented" shows in the 2014 Fringe Festival presented by FringeArts, bringing the world's most daring and innovative performers to Philadelphia stages for the 18th year in a row from September 5-21. The 2014 Fringe Festival is supported by Presenting Sponsor PNC, through the PNC Arts Alive initiative. The Lincoln Motor Company is the Official Automotive Sponsor of the Festival.

Manchester, N.H.

North America's largest showcase of Japanese film and “One of the loopiest… and least predictable of New York's film festivals” (New York Magazine), JAPAN CUTS: The New York Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema returns for its eighth annual installment.

Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie has set the 11th season at the CTG/Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City.

Mike Leigh connoisseur Shade Murray, who directed the Jeff Award-winning Abigail's Party for A Red Orchid in 2010, will direct Cole Theatre's inaugural production, Mike Leigh's Ecstasy. The production will star Boyd Harris, Maura Kidwell, Layne Manzer, Lauren Pizzi, Michaela Petro and Joel Reitsma.

Acclaimed Chicago actors Boyd Harris and Layne Manzer announce the founding of Cole Theatre, working under an Equity contract with non-profit status. With the tagline "victory of the people" as its battle cry, Cole Theatre is an arena for underused and under-sung artists to rise up and be seen louder and clearer. The name "Cole" is Greek for "people's victory." The inaugural show will be Mike Leigh's Ecstasy, staged at A Red Orchid Theatre in Old Town, August 25-September 28.

Oscar-nominated actor and founding Wooster Group member Willem Dafoe and legendary performer Mikhail Baryshnikov are a dapperly dressed odd couple, forced to deal with the most inconsiderate of corpses in this surreal melding of absurdism, pitch- black comedy, and vaudeville from iconic director Robert Wilson, THE OLD WOMAN.

Closing Aurora Theatre Company's 22nd season is David Mamet's powerful, fast-paced drama AMERICAN BUFFALO. Tony-nominated director Barbara Damashek, who helmed Aurora Theatre Company's acclaimed productions of Fat Pig and Private Jokes, Public Places, returns to direct AMERICAN BUFFALO, featuring James Carpenter (John Gabriel Borkman, The Master Builder, The Birthday Party, The Homecoming), Paul Vincent O'Connor (Death Defying Acts, National Tour August: Osage County), and Rafael Jordan. AMERICAN BUFFALO plays June 13 through July 13 at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. For tickets ($32-60) and information the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org. For mature audiences.

The schedule for this summer's Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival, which runs from July 20 to August 10, was announced today by Bill Bragin, Lincoln Center's Director of Public Programming. Nearly 100 free performances will take place across the plazas of Lincoln Center during three weeks. A special Memorial Concert for Pete and Toshi Seeger on July 20 will be followed by the official opening concert on July 23 with Larry Harlow's Hommy: A Latin Opera, the landmark work's first performance in 40 years. Complete festival details and a chronological listing of events follow.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today the details for Fassbinder: Romantic Anarchist (Part 1), May 16 - June 1. Divided into two parts, the retrospective will be the most extensive presentation of Fassbinder's films in New York since 1997, with Part 1 including almost all of his work leading up to 1974 and Part 2 (screening in November) to pick up from 1974 through 1982. The ambitious two-part series will include all of his theatrical features, much of his television work, films he starred in, films that influenced him, and films that were influenced by his work.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin tonight, February 18 to the 23rd, 2014 in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater.

Mercury Theater Chicago and The Hypocrites will feature Stephen Sondheim: The Man and The Music, a post-show talk back discussion on the renowned composer with Dr. Mark E. Lococo, Professor and Director of Theatre at Loyola University Chicago; Dr. Sarah Gabel, Chairperson for the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at Loyola University Chicago; and Director Geoff Button, following the 8:00 p.m. performance of INTO THE WOODS tonight, February 7 at the Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport Ave. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and the book by James Lapine, The Hypocrites bring their heightened and playful sense of theatricality to the musical INTO THE WOODS through March 30.