The Thin - 2019 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 18

On February 5, 2019, The Tucson Desert Song Festival and the University of Arizona (UA) presented a recital of Spanish language art songs by soprano Ana Maria Martinez and pianist Craig Terry in Crowder Hall. The songs, from Spain, Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico were appropriate to the Puerto Rican soprano and to the Tucson public, which comes from various Spanish-speaking areas.

Memory. With the first downbeat I was instantly transported to 1982 and the mezzanine of the New York's famed Winter Garden Theatre were the new Broadway production of CATS would settle in a for a record breaking 18 years. The iconic CATS theme wafted from it's synthesizers accompanied by lasers and I knew I was in for something wildly different. Almost 37 years later that same music evokes excitement and nostalgia, with a hint of 'on no, not this again.' A glimmering new National tour began a few weeks ago after it's most recent revival on Broadway and Buffalo audiences were treated to a visual feast last night as the show settled in for it's one week run.

L.A. Theatre Works will bring its signature radio-theater hybrid style to Morristown on Friday, March 8 as it presents Steel Magnolias.  The play is a funny, heartbreaking story of female empowerment and resilience by Robert Harling, is directed by Brian Kite and features a company of six diverse women including Shannon Holt, Elisa Bocanegra, Monica McSwain, Inger Tudor, Cerris Morgan-Moyer and Patti Yasutake.

Classic Stage Company presents Marc Blitzstein's allegorical play in music The Cradle Will Rock, directed by John Doyle, March 21 - May 19, 2019. A Depression-era indictment of rampant capitalism told almost entirely in song, The Cradle Will Rock maintains a twinkle in its eye while bearing sharp fangs. The 1937 premiere of this story of American class tensions-directed by Orson Welles-was famously shut down on the eve of opening night by federal authorities over so-called 'budget cuts,' commonly considered a thin veil for fears of the play's pro-labor stance. The artists involved rebelliously circumvented its cancellation, making for one of the most memorable stories in 20th century theater history. While Blitzstein's libretto is very much a product of its own 1930s political context, The Cradle Will Rock pulses with immediacy in an era of expanding economic inequality and policy for purchase. CSC's 2018-2019 season began with The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Bertolt Brecht's allegory about the rise of fascism via a charismatic tyrant; this spring, it closes with an all-American Brecht-and-Weill-inspired work, which carries a message of defiance built into its very title.

From March 6-8, the paleo snack brand Bubba's Fine Foods will be raising a ruckus at Natural Products Expo West as they unveil a bold new look in line with their avant-garde recipes.

The San Francisco International Arts Festival (SFIAF) is pleased to reveal the full schedule of performances for the 2019 Festival that will run from May 23 - June 2 and have as a central theme The Path to Democracy. As the dark clouds of nationalism and fascism re-assert themselves on the global stage, SFIAF looks at some of the struggles for democracy past and present and how they manifest themselves in different cultures. The Festival will take place at, and in partnership with, the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture.

When the American Ballet Theatre came to Washington, D.C. last year, they served up a delectable Whipped Cream at the Kennedy Center. In 2019, the company has returned with a similarly infectious Harlequinade which, even when viewed independent of Whipped Cream, never reaches the technical heights expected of such a revered company. At Tuesday's performance, the murmurs I overheard at intermission were largely mixed with one audience member calling the dance 'enjoyable but so thin it was like looking through cellophane.' Harlequinade is a fun evening-but it plays more as an introduction to ballet then as a truly triumphant production.

To mark 25 years since David Bowie's Space Oddity was unleashed on the world, The Thin White Duke's band today announces AUSTRALIAN dates for its "A BOWIE CELEBRATION: THE DAVID BOWIE ALUMNI TOUR".

The Paley Center for Media will present Shaping Our Nation's Story: African- American Achievements in Television Presented by Citi from February 1-28. Coinciding with the 60th anniversary of Motown and the 100th birthday anniversary celebration of Jackie Robinson, this monthlong celebration will take place at the Paley Center's locations in New York City and Beverly Hills and will feature an interactive exhibit, family craft activities, education classes for high school students focusing on the civil rights movement, and screenings that take visitors on a nostalgic journey through the most significant African-American moments in television. 

The 29th Annual LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement throughout Los Angeles, were presented on Monday, January 28, at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown LA.

The Rothko Chapel and DiverseWorks have collaborated to bring Chicago-based dance company, The Seldoms, to Houston for one-performance only today, January 31, 2019 at 7 p.m. at the Rothko Chapel. The company will perform an excerpt Floe, from their new dance theater work, Dancing on Thin Ice. The performance is pay what you can with a suggested donation of $20. Rothko Chapel is located at 3900 Yupon Street, Houston, 77006.

Mosaic Theater Company of DC is proud to announce the second installment in its annual Voices From a Changing Middle East Festival, the world premiere workshop production of Shame 2.0 (With Comments From The Populace). Previews begin on January 30, 2019 with a press opening on Thursday, February 7, 2019 at 7:30pm in the Lang Theatre at the Atlas Performing Arts Center. The 19 performance run will be informed by a stripped down aesthetic and an emphasis on script updates through the lengthier than usual preview period and the evolving nature of the documentary-based rehearsal process.

The 29th Annual LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement throughout Los Angeles, were presented on Monday, January 28, at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

morgxn continues his stride into 2019 by releasing a 5 track EP vital : blue (s t r i p p e d) HERE, including stripped-down, string and piano-backed versions of songs off his debut album vital, plus one brand new track - “blue (ft. Nicholas Petricca).”  Additionally, there are companion live videos for each song off the EP HERE.

 The Drama League (Executive Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks) presents DirectorFest 2019: The 35th Annual Directors Festival, the only festival in the United States exploring the art of contemporary stage directing, adds to the festival a Bulgarian production of This is NOT Hamlet,  conceived and directed by Boyan Kracholov at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (31-10 Thompson Street, Long Island City).  Festival programming, tickets and additional details are available at www.directorfest.org, or by calling (212) 244-9494.

Roundabout Theatre Company's new Broadway production of Sam Shepard's Tony & Pulitzer Prize-nominated drama True West, directed by James Macdonald (The Children), opens tonight at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway.

The premiere of BAND VS BRAND, a feature-length documentary film directed by Bob Nalbandian (Director of the Inside Metal series) will make its screening debut today, January 23, 2019 at the Marriott Delta Garden Grove just prior to the annual The Hall of Heavy Metal History Gala. The documentary focuses on the current state of the music business and on how 'the brand' of a rock group these days has more power than the band members themselves. Tickets for the awards gala are $30 each with the movie premiere open to the general public, free of charge.

Pioneering post-punk band, the GANG OF FOUR were formed by guitarist Andy Gill in the bricolage punk rock fallout culture of late seventies Leeds, UK – a place where art was a mirror and guitars were machine guns.

The twelve days of the annual Next Stage Theatre Festival created some of the best theatre buzz in the city. With many sold-out shows, increased revenue and attendance, and excellent reviews, the 2019 festival was the second best selling in its 12-year history.

Renowned Chinese composer and conductor Tan Dun leads the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra (GSO) in three fiery concerts across Switzerland January 25-27, 2019. The concerts begin on January 25 in Geneva (Victoria Hall) where the artists then wind their way to Zurich (Tonhalle Maag) the following day and finish on January 27 in Lucerne (KKL, Kultur- und Kongresszentrum).

The world masters of magic have returned to Brisbane with their spectacular production, The Illusionists: Direct From Broadway materialising in the Concert Hall, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) for a strictly limited season from tonight until 19 January 2019.

As a self-proclaimed musical theater geek, I'll admit to some gaps in my geekdom and Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt's 1966 musical "I Do! I Do!" falls squarely into that gap. Before going to see the current production at Village Theatre I knew nothing about it. I don't even think I've heard the errant song from it off one of my many compilation albums. And now having seen it I'm more than happy to let it fall back into obscurity. With its paper thin, almost conflict free storyline, and songs that simply peter out into an air of forgetfulness, the only thing that saved the evening were the two people performing the show, Kendra Kassebaum and Peter Saide, but even they couldn't save this one.

 Today, Double Dragon Records reveals the artwork and release date for Memoirs of an Uprising, the self-produced new album from singer/songwriter/guitarist,  Damon Johnson.  The album is set for release on March 8, 2019 with pre-orders beginning January 25, 2019. Fans who pre-order Memoirs of an Uprising  will receive the album's debut single, “Shivering Shivering,” as an instant grat track.  Orders for a limited edition Red Vinyl pressing of the album can be placed here.

Louisville is going back to the Renaissance!

As a tribute to Canadian songwriter activist Bruce Cockburn and a reminder that these issues are just as relevant now as they were in 1984, when he released his 'Stealing Fire' album, Twilight Fields presents his own rendition of 'Lovers in a Dangerous Time'.