The Promise - 1978 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 11

Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart will star on Broadway in a limited season repertoire of Harold Pinter's No Man's Land and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, directed by Sean Mathias, in the fall of 2013.

Writer-director Roger Bean has turned innocent musical nostalgia into his livelihood. He has shaped jukebox musicals out of WWII ditties and radio jingles, but his topmost achievement is The Marvelous Wonderettes, a '50s-and-'60s revue. The irresistible sound of '50s and '60s pop tunes hold a distinctive soft spot in the hearts of those who grew up listening to them; that's for certain. But the music's cross-generational charm has an even broader reach.

Writer-director Roger Bean has turned innocent musical nostalgia into his livelihood. He has shaped jukebox musicals out of WWII ditties and radio jingles, but his topmost achievement is The Marvelous Wonderettes, a '50s-and-'60s revue. The irresistible sound of '50s and '60s pop tunes hold a distinctive soft spot in the hearts of those who grew up listening to them; that's for certain. But the music's cross-generational charm has an even broader reach.

The famous residents of 221B Baker Street have departed London and are investigating an international web of mystery whose strings all lead back to The Home for Wayward Girls and Fallen Women. Will even the brilliant mind of Sherlock Holmes and the dogged friendship of his trusted companion Dr. Watson be enough to unravel the clues before some evil falls on Cherry Pitz, the grand dame of The Home?

Joe The Shark and Cherry Pitz present The Hotsy Totsy Star Wars Holiday Special at the R-Bar, 218 Bowery (between Prince and Spring) at 8pm tonight, Dec 18th 2012. Admission: $10. For more information, visit www.hotsytotsyburlesque.com.

Eminent artists, friends and peers of this year's seven honorees converged in Washington, D.C., last night (Dec. 2) to present entertaining and heartfelt tributes at THE 35TH ANNUAL KENNEDY CENTER HONORS, an entertainment special to be broadcast Wednesday, Dec. 26 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, with Caroline Kennedy as host for the 10th consecutive year.

Joe The Shark and Cherry Pitz present The Hotsy Totsy Star Wars Holiday Special at the R-Bar, 218 Bowery (between Prince and Spring) at 8pm on Tuesday, Dec 18th 2012. Admission: $10. For more information, visit www.hotsytotsyburlesque.com.

Russian pianist Pavel Kolesnikov has been named the Prize Laureate of the 2012 Honens International Piano Competition. Mr. Kolesnikov (age 23) receives the $100,000 Enbridge Prize (cash, CAD) and an artistic and career development program valued at a half million dollars - the largest award of its kind. Finalists Lorenzo Cossi (Italy), Maria Mazo (Russia), Jong-Hai Park (South Korea) and Eric Zuber (United States) each received $10,000 (CAD) prizes and semi-finalist Zenan Yu of China was awarded the $2,500 Raeburn Prize for Artist of Special Promise.

Veteran 60 MINUTES Producer Michael Radutzky has been named Executive Producer of Creative Development, a new CBS News unit dedicated to finding innovative ways to create and distribute CBS News content. The announcement was made today by CBS News Chairman and 60 MINUTES Executive Producer Jeff Fager and CBS News President David Rhodes.

Masterworks Broadway continues to make good on its promise to open its vaults with more classic cast recordings previously unavailable in the CD era. Working (1978 Original Broadway Cast), Call Me Madam (Dinah Shore and the Original Broadway Company, 1950) and Desert Song (1959 Studio Cast) will be available as downloads through all major digital service providers and as disc-on-demand with the original cover art, via Arkivmusic.com and Amazon.com.

Set in 1976, Ralph Pape's Say Goodnight, Gracie deftly blends wistful nostalgia with tinges of regret that always tend to surface when you're faced with a high school reunion. And smoking pot; smoking pot makes anything seem more complex and redolent with hidden meaning and deeper regret than when you're thinking about them straight. I say this from personal experience. I did not, however, inhale.

Pulling together all the roots and branches of Art Garfunkel's career in music, THE SINGER is a 40-song collection of songs hand-picked by the artist himself. Spanning the years from the first Simon & Garfunkel album of 1964 (Wednesday Morning, 3AM) up through 2007's Great American Songbook album (Some Enchanted Evening), this two-CD retrospective will be available at all physical and digital retail outlets starting April 10th through Columbia/Legacy, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT.

People's Light & Theatre presents John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, running through March 25, 2012 on the Main Stage.

The Warner Theatre has just announced AN EVENING WITH TOM WAPAT AND LINDA EDER, A HOLIDAY CONCERT WITH MELISSA MANCHESTER and more are to be added to their programme.

Today we are talking to one of the busiest lyricists in show business, Glenn Slater. In the first part of our extensive discussion, besides discussing all aspects of the writing of LOVE NEVER DIES with Andrew Lloyd Webber and its West End debut, Slater also elaborated on the rewriting of the show and how this new Australian production and unprecedented in-theater presentation of it across the US is the ultimate realization of Lloyd Webber's dream vision for the musical drama - something the Lord shared with me himself when he recently did this column. In addition to all about LOVE NEVER DIES, in this second half of our recent chat Slater and I also trace his career trajectory to date, with a focus on his recent collaborations with composer Alan Menken on the smash hit Disney animated film, TANGLED, along with the currently-running Broadway hit, SISTER ACT, and, the upcoming Spring opening of their new musical, LEAP OF FAITH, starring Raul Esparza, as well as their previous theatre venture, THE LITTLE MERMAID. Plus, Slater shines some light on his upcoming projects, which include a Dreamworks animated musical with Menken, as well as a stage collaboration with his wife, Wendy Leigh Wilf, titled BEATSVILLE - all of that and much, much more!

Musical geniuses Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Seger, Don Schlitz, Harvey Schmidt & Tom Jones and Jim Steinman will become the newest members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame at the organization's 43rd Annual Induction and Awards Dinner. The star-studded event is slated for Thursday, June 14th at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Additional special award honorees will be announced soon.

Warner Theater as added Eder & Tom Wopat to its lineup. The two will perform April 26 at 8pm. Showcasing one of the greatest contemporary voices of our time, Linda Eder's diverse repertoire spans Broadway, standards, pop, country and jazz. Eder possesses a distinctive, unparalleled voice that has been thrilling and captivating audiences on recordings and in concert venues large and small for more than two decades.

Pulling together all the roots and branches of Art Garfunkel's career in music, THE SINGER is a 40-song collection of songs hand-picked by the artist himself. Spanning the years from the first Simon & Garfunkel album of 1964 (Wednesday Morning, 3AM) up through 2007's Great American Songbook album (Some Enchanted Evening), this two-CD retrospective will be available at all physical and digital retail outlets starting April 10th through Columbia/Legacy, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT.

BroadwayWorld.com reported the news exclusively on January 9, 2012 and now the The Public Theater has officially announced the line-up for the 50th Anniversary Shakespeare in the Park season at the Delacorte. Daniel Sullivan, who directed acclaimed productions of All's Well That Ends Well, The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night in the Park, will return to direct AS YOU LIKE IT in June with Lily Rabe as Rosalind. The second show of the 50th Anniversary summer season will be Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's beloved musical INTO THE WOODS, directed by Timothy Sheader with co-direction by Liam Steel. Based on the Olivier Award-winning Regent's Park Open Air Theatre London production in 2010, The Public Theater's INTO THE WOODS will be an all new production with an American cast and designers and will be staged in one of the most beautiful outdoor venues in the world-the Delacorte Theater. INTO THE WOODS will begin performances at the end of July.

People's Light & Theatre will present John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, running February 15 - March 25, 2012 on the Main Stage.

In the 70's, Nigeria rose up and struck a new chord for justice with Afrobeat founder and political activist, Fela, as their controversial leader. The show, which opened last night at San Francisco's Curran Theatre, sways, plays and sings the political heart song of Nigeria through the life story of this musician turned activist, Fela Kuti. In its west coast premiere, the Tony-winning Broadway sensation packed a powerful opening night musical and political punch that was dynamic and experientially transformative. Everybody, please say "yeah yeah!"

Following chart-topping debuts in the U.K. and Germany, The Maltese Tenor, Joseph Calleja's third solo album for Decca Classics, will be released in the U.S. on Monday, October 24. To coincide with the release, Joseph Calleja will appear that same evening in concert at New York City's hip downtown club Le Poisson Rouge at 7:30pm.

Following chart-topping debuts in the U.K. and Germany, The Maltese Tenor, Joseph Calleja's third solo album for Decca Classics, will be released in the U.S. on Monday, October 24. To coincide with the release, Joseph Calleja will appear that same evening in concert at New York City's hip downtown club Le Poisson Rouge at 7:30pm.

Barrington Stage Company, the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, is proud to present the Berkshire County premiere of My Name Is Asher Lev, based on the acclaimed novel by Chaim Potok.

The classic Columbia Records catalog recordings (1973-1987) of Aerosmith, America's all-time top-selling rock and roll band, will be available for the first time digitally on the iTunes Store beginning Tuesday, September 6.