The Winter's Tale - 2014 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 3

On Day 9, I am thinking of all the holiday movies that were on television and in our homes every single year. WHITE CHRISTMAS was always one of my favorites. I was in awe of the costumes, the dancing, the singing, the story of love and romance and also seeing everyone pull together to put on a grand show. And the reveal of the soldiers and snow actually falling at the end never failed to fill my heart... no matter how many times I saw it!

I had a blast curating BroadwayWorld's 12 Days of Christmas. It went by so fast... and now, Christmas is here! This song is 25 years old and I wanna GIVE IT UP for our girl, Mariah Carey, because this year, her song FINALLY made it to #1 on the Billboard Charts. I say , a?oeIt was worth the wait, Mariah.a?? It already was a classic but, now, the deal is sealed... in history!

OK...this just makes me HAPPY! In junior high school I found a new Christmas Song I love to play every year. I'm even smiling as I write this :)

This song always reminds me of my father. He Loved B.B. King and this was always on rotation with our many Christmas albums. I found this rare live performance of the legend doing his version that is so embedded in my heart.

On this sixth day of the 12 days of Christmas, I need to thank BroadwayWorld, Robert Diamond and Nicole Rosky for asking me to curate this year's edition. I never dreamed it would be so much fun and bring back so many memories of holiday seasons past. Here's an iconic group, The Temptations, singing 'Silent Night.' We had many albums in our home by the legendary Motown group, but this one was definitely played over and over during the holidays. I immediately flash to my high school and college years when I hear it. Magic.

I loved cartoons on Saturday mornings growing up, but I looked forward to watching them in primetime during the holidays. Some of my favorites were Frosty, Rudolph, The Little Drummer Boy, and A Charlie Brown Christmas (especially the dance and Linus' speech). Even though they were the same stories told over and over again, I was riveted every year. I guess because in my mind both the fictional stories and the religious stories were all real to me. I loved the music and would sing along with so much joy.

I love Vanessa Williamsa?? but who doesn't? She's a singular woman with an equally singular career and we have worked together on the stage and in film and always have a great time. She's incredibly beautiful, wildly intelligent, supremely talented, and... she's a great mom. She has recorded many albums and topped the charts with some unforgettable singles but many people aren't aware of a beautiful Christmas album she recorded, titled 'Star Bright'. I love the album and love this particular cut and video. 

Anyone who knows me knows that my love for Johnny Mathis is infinite. He was a singer I recognized, very early on, who looked like me and made all that beautiful sound- making contact with the most glorious music and lyrics. I'd be lying if I didn't say he was a huge influence on me. He also became synonymous with Christmas and the holiday season. I could never have dreamed that one day I would get to sing with him, but blessed as I've been, it happened. I love him, I love this song... and I love that fireplace!

Andy Williams was a staple in our house growing up. He had those great Christmas specials every year on NBC and they always made you feel cozy and special and spirited. Great sets, costumes, sketches and terrific music. It was traditional, and he always wore great sweaters. Needless to say, all of this made me want to have a traditional-looking cover for my first Christmas album. All the stars used to sing the same handful of songs, but it was the arrangements that made them stick in your brain. No matter what he sang, I was always happy to see and hear Andy Williams. This song is a particular favorite- 'It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.'

The Supremes' 'Merry Christmas' album was the first one off the shelf every year, which in my house, growing up, marked the official beginning of the holiday season. We would trim the tree to this record and others to come. This is my absolute favorite and why I have sung that song now for years. In this video, they perform the song on The Ed Sullivan Show, with the ORIGINAL Supremes: Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson. It aired on CBS on Dec. 4, 1966, and was unforgettable ... and indicative of the kind of preparation that was paid attention to by Motown, in presenting all of their acts.

It's (almost) the most wonderful time of the year! Back by public demand, The Barricade Boys today announce seven more guest stars who will be joining them during their Christmas residency from 10-28 December at The Other Palace in London's West End.

The first wave of casting has been announced for Jonathan Harvey's Our Lady of Blundellsands, as the Everyman & Playhouse announce their full 2020 spring summer season filled with new works, big titles, family fun and re-imagined stories.

The Board of Directors of The National Ballet of Canada today announced that Karen Kain will retire as Artistic Director in January 2021 and will be named Artistic Director Emeritus.

The Jewish Museum will present Rachel Feinstein: Maiden, Mother, Crone, the first survey of the New York-based artist in the United States, from November 1, 2019 through March 22, 2020. The exhibition includes three decades of Feinstein's work in sculpture, painting, and video, as well as a panoramic wallpaper, a major new commission, and the artist's maquettes for sculpture. Taken together, the works emphasize the artist's fascination with dualities: her investigations of masculinity and femininity or good and evil echo her formal explorations of balance and precariousness or positive and negative space. Feinstein's art follows myriad lines of inquiry, but the idea of the feminine is central. She has made a sustained examination of the many ways this concept is manifested culturally. Female protagonists and figures proliferate in her work and bind it together across diverse media.

Christmas at the Unicorn continues the theatre's hugely successful tradition of producing thrilling, imaginative and visual theatre for all the family.  

Eva Marie Saint will receive the Life Achievement Award at the 20th Annual Ojai Film Festival on Sunday, November 3.

The celebrated Sheffield Theatres production of LIFE OF PI Will Transfer To London in 2020. Life of Pi a?' Lolita Chakrabarti's dazzling adaptation of Yann Martel's extraordinary, award-winning book a?' was awarded a string of five-star reviews when it opened in Sheffield earlier this year.

With her production of the world première of Anupama Chandrasekhar's When the Crows Visit in rehearsals, Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham today announces Pass Over, A Museum in Baghdad and The Glee Club which will be staged at Kiln Theatre in 2020, following the previously announced Snowflake by Mike Bartlett.

On announcing the season Gregory Doran, RSC Artistic Director, said: a?oeCreated in Stratford-upon-Avon, shared around the world, crossing borders of creativity, community, culture and technology, our new season celebrates Shakespeare's unique contribution to world culture, whilst at the same time asking us to consider our own place within society, our families and community. Whether experiencing our work on stage in Stratford-upon-Avon, on nationwide tours, in schools and local communities, through live cinema screenings or via the latest digital innovations, the shared experiences and emotional connections forged through live theatre feel as urgent and necessary today as they ever havea??.

Continuing its commitment to bringing free Shakespeare to the community and strengthening audience engagement with the arts, The Public Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, will mount its MOBILE UNIT again this fall with a free three-week tour to venues across the city of Shakespeare's MEASURE FOR MEASURE, directed by LA Williams. The Mobile Unit's free tour (October 24-November 16) brings Shakespeare and other works to audiences who have limited or no access to the arts by visiting correctional facilities, homeless shelters, social service organizations, and other community organizations. Following the tour to the five boroughs, there will also be a free three-week engagement of MEASURE FOR MEASURE in The Public's Shiva Theater running Monday, November 18 through Sunday, December 8, with an official press opening on Friday, November 22.

After more than six years of artistic vision Griffin Theatre Company's Artistic Director Lee Lewis will depart to take the helm at Queensland Theatre, leaving behind a lasting and powerful legacy.

Full casting is announced for The Boy in the Dress, the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) new musical, which runs in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from 8 November.

Tony Award & Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan will return to Broadway with the second of his two exhilarating dramas celebrating Lyndon B. Johnson's legacy: THE GREAT SOCIETY. Get to know the cast below as they begin Broadway performances!

Season 15 kicks off with a modern-verse translation of William Shakespeare's MEASURE FOR MEASURE. This world-premiere adaptation was commissioned as part of Play On Shakespeare, an initiative by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to commission 36 modern American playwrights a?" over half of which are women and people of color a?" to a?oetranslate' Shakespeare's works into contemporary modern English to celebrate the Bard's enduring impact. These commissions challenge the playwrights to bring the same level of dramatic pressure and rigor of language to their work as is present in the originals, deepening our understanding and engagement with Shakespeare. 

Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival is set to round out its 30th Anniversary Season in Vanier Park, with the staging of Coriolanus on the Howard Family Stage in the Douglas Campbell Theatre. Directed by Dean Paul Gibson (The Winter's Tale, 2017 and A Midsummer Night's Dream, 2014), Coriolanus is making its first appearance at Bard in the Festival's 30-year history.