These are the Times - 1950 - Broadway Articles Page 13

As unlikely as it might seem, it is possible that despite the fact that "Plain and Fancy" has been performed over three thousand times during the past thirty years with an attendance of over three hundred thousand patrons there might still be some folks who haven't seen "Plain and Fancy" at the Round Barn Theatre in Nappanee.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson today announced the complete casting and programming for the company's 2018 Summer Festival, which will feature new productions of four operas at The Spa Little Theater in Spa State Park, along with a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events from May 26th through July 15th at venues throughout the region.

New York City Center is sure to be a singular sensation this fall!

Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA; Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director), an award-winning company presenting Shakespeare alongside other classic and contemporary drama at Polonsky Shakespeare Center, Downtown Brooklyn, is pleased to announce its 2018-19 season-the 39th since its founding in 1979.

Drury Lane Theatre announces a one-night-only event with celebrated author Todd S. Purdum, in connection with its acclaimed production of the Tony Award-winning musical South Pacific. Purdum is the author of the new book SOMETHING WONDERFUL: A Rogers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution. During the evening, Purdum will read excerpts from his new book and answer questions about the famed duo and their works. Guests will receive a signed copy of SOMETHING WONDERFUL and enjoy dinner at Lucille Restaurant, followed by a performance of South Pacific. Tickets for the May 4 event begin at $55 and are available through the Drury Lane box office at 630.530.0111, Ticketmaster at 800.745.3000, or online at www.DruryLaneTheatre.com. Drury Lane Theatre is located at 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace.

Jazz fans know they can count on the Highlights In Jazz concert series to showcase the gifted players who shaped jazz history and continue to contribute to its long and rich legacy. This third concert of the 46th season is no exception: The music is sure to dazzle - and swing - when you have such renowned musicians on hand as pianist Dick Hyman, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, bassist Jay Leonhart, saxophonist/clarinetist Ken Peplowski, and drummer/vibraphonist Chuck Redd.

Red Bull Theater (Jesse Berger, Founder and Artistic Director | Jim Bredeson, Managing Director) presents the New York Premiere of David Ives's The Metromaniacs, adapted from Alexis Piron's La Metromanie and directed by Michael Kahn opening Sundayevening (7pm). Previews now!

A.D. Players, one of Houston's oldest and largest resident theatre companies, is now A.D. Players at The George. The theatre company is pleased to announce its upcoming spring show, "The Lilies of the Field," taking place April 20-May 13, with preview performances April 18-19 at the Jeannette and L.M. George Theater. The critically acclaimed story earned Sidney Poitier the accolade of being the first African-American to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his role in the 1963 movie adaptation.

Wendy Wasserstein's witty, award-winning comedy, The Sisters Rosensweig, wraps up the 2017-18 season at South Coast Repertory. The production, directed by Casey Stangl, runs May 5-June 2 on the Segerstrom Stage. Tickets are now available at www.scr.org.

Our greatest Australian classic and a hilarious cutting edge, new American play sit side by side in the month of May. Ray Lawler's Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, is a beautiful 1950's drama of love and homecoming. Set in working class Melbourne, this classic is directed by Adam Mitchell and is paired with the subversive and gender bending American kitchen sink drama, HIR by Taylor Mac (24 Decade History of Popular Music), directed by Zoe Pepper.

'Ride to Heaven: An Existential Theme Park Mystery,' a documentary film with elements of retro Americana and the history of Old Hollywood, will be available on demand through Time Warner Cable starting April 1, 2016. This coincides with the 55th anniversary of the planned opening of the Disney inspired theme park called Bible Storyland. 'Ride to Heaven' is a quirky documentary film that follows a Los Angeles art dealer, Harvey Jordan, on his obsessive decade long quest to uncover the mystery of an ill-fated theme park designed by Disney creatives and backed by Jack Haley (Tin Man 'The Wizard of Oz'). The 220-acre park was to open April, 1961 in Southern California and intended to compete with Disneyland. The theme park blended the imagination of an Ex Disney VP (Nat Winecoff) and a Disney animator (Bruce Bushman) with themes from biblical times. The park was to feature Rides to Heaven and Hell, Chariot Races and eateries selling lion burgers. (Hear a reading of the 1960 Press Release at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zst8ekmOOm0) 'We are very pleased to have our film available to a much wider audience that will surely enjoy this story that includes elements of Disney, The Wizard of Oz, Hollywood films and Yo-Yo's,' said Harvey Jordan, the film's main character. 'You will have to see it for yourself to understand the common link between all these cultural icons. I'm sure you will be drawn into the mystery just like I was.' Stephanie Hubbard, the film's director, is a Los Angeles-based author and award winning documentary film editor & producer whose work has shown on PBS, the Discovery Channel, and History Channel. Her latest production was the short film 'Improv Death Ice Age.' 'Creating Ride to Heaven,' says Hubbard, 'was a personal self discovery that mirrored Harvey's existential journey as he faced life's travails against the backdrop of the enveloping vision of Bible Storyland Theme Park. My love of films of the 1950's came in handy - films like 'Ben-Hur' and 'The Ten Commandments' were pivotal to the development of the park. Exploring the politics of religion was also a fascinating aspect for me.' 'Ride to Heaven' includes interviews with Charles Phoenix (pop culture humorist), Rev. Malcolm Boyd (author, prominent theologian), Buddy Bregman (producer for Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland) as well as many scholars and experts on theme park history. The film's co-star, Debi Derryberry, is a prolific film & TV Voice Actor (Jimmy Neutron, Speedy Alka Seltzer, Disney & Pixar films.) 'Ride to Heaven: An Existential Theme Park Mystery' distributed by Cargo Film & Releasing, 611 Broadway, Suite # 630, New York, NY 10012, (212) 995-8139, www.cargofilm-releasing.com. An extended version of this film, with extras, is available on DVD thru the website. This film, previously released as 'Bible Storyland, The Movie' has screened at numerous Film Festivals and named Best Documentary at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival. Website: www.RideToHeaven.com 'A marvelous Drama, wrapped in a Comedy, folded around a Documentary, twisted into a Detective story and squeezed into a Valentine.' - Chris Epting, Pop Culture Author 'A real investigative eye-opener and fun to watch!' - Huell Howser, Host/Producer of 'California's Gold'

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced the complete casting and programming for the company's 2018 Summer Festival, which will feature new productions of four operas at The Spa Little Theater in Spa State Park, along with a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events from May 26th through July 15th at venues throughout the region. Single tickets, as well as subscription packages, are on sale now at www.operasaratoga.org.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced the complete casting and programming for the company's 2018 Summer Festival, which will feature new productions of four operas at The Spa Little Theater in Spa State Park, along with a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events from May 26th through July 15th at venues throughout the region. Single tickets, as well as subscription packages, are on sale now at www.operasaratoga.org.

Jazz fans know they can count on the Highlights In Jazz concert series to showcase the gifted players who shaped jazz history and continue to contribute to its long and rich legacy. This third concert of the 46th season is no exception: The music is sure to dazzle - and swing - when you have such renowned musicians on hand as pianist Dick Hyman, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, bassist Jay Leonhart, saxophonist/clarinetist Ken Peplowski, and drummer/vibraphonist Chuck Redd.

A Noise Within (ANW) presents A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, directed by Gregg T. Daniel, the sixth production of its 26th season performing February 25 to April 8 (Press Opening March 3). Now added - three performances - Wednesday, March 14 at 7:30 pm, Wednesday March 29 at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, April 8 at 7 pm.

The Guthrie Theater (Joseph Haj, Artistic Director) today announced seven of the eight productions to be offered as part of the theater's 2018-2019 subscription season, including Playing with Fire by Barbara Field based upon the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Metamorphoses, written and directed by Tony Award winner Mary Zimmerman, and the renowned musical comedy Guys and Dolls on the Wurtele Thrust Stage, and Michael Frayn's Noises Off, The Great Leap by rising playwright Lauren Yee, Cyrano de Bergerac, adapted and directed by Joseph Haj, and the world premiere of Floyd's, a Guthrie commission by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, on the McGuire Proscenium Stage.

Red Bull Theater (Jesse Berger, Founder and Artistic Director) Jim Bredeson, Managing Director) today announced the cast for their next mainstage production, the New York premiere of David Ives's The Metromaniacs, directed by Michael Kahn:Noah Averbach-Katz (The Bachelors - Williamstown Theater Festival, Othello =Dir. Pam MacKinnon); Christian Conn (RBT: The School for Scandal, Desire Under the Elms -Broadway, The Liar -CSC); Adam Green (RBT: The Witch of Edmonton,  two Helen Hayes nominations for Midsummer Night's Dream and the world premiere of The Liar - Shakespeare Theatre of DC); Peter Kybart (Broadway: Awake and Sing, The Diary of Anne Frank, Judgment at Nuremberg; Off-Broadway: Beckett-Albee, Andorra, Cymbeline); Adam LeFevre (Bway: Devil's Disciple; Our Country's Good; Summer & Smoke; Footloose; Mamma Mia; Guys and Dolls; Priscilla Queen of the Desert; The Liar - CSC, Marriage of Bette and Boo - Roundabout); Amelia Pedlow(RBT: 'Tis Pity She's a Whore; Pride and Prejudice - Primary Stages; The Liar, The Heir Apparent - CSC); and Dina Thomas (Tribes, Clever Little Lies  - Off-Broadway).

As a prelude to this play, vintage cartoons from the 1930's were projected onstage as the audience entered to take their seats. Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie, which introduced Mickey Mouse, was animated by Ub Iwerks, who (we are informed on titles between the shorts) soon left Disney to make his own cartoons for MGM, including Flip the Frog, an example of which followed hard upon. Before curtain, we were also treated to Betty Boop, and all of the cartoons were in stark black & white. Playwright Eli Keel identifies this period as the 'Golden Age of Animation', a time when the form was almost literally being invented. The end of the decade would bring Snow White, often described, somewhat inaccurately, as the first feature-length animated film. That it was in full color underscores the rapid development of the technology and the storytelling. However much the late 1940's and 1950's are celebrated for the rise of Disney's commercial empire, Keel has chosen the most interesting and fertile period of animation creativity in which to set his story.

Featuring outstanding performances from a cast led by Laura Michelle Kelly and Jose Llana, the beautiful and exquisite national tour production of Lincoln Center Theater's Tony Award-winning revival of the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein classic THE KING AND I leaves audiences utterly spellbound by its sweeping opulence and gorgeous, reverent staging-which notably combines the elegance and grace of the classic musical many of us have known and loved for decades with a knowing sensitivity to modern times that we exist in today. The national tour production continues its two-week run of performances at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa that continues through March 11, 2018.

Acclaimed multidisciplinary Iranian-American vocalist and artist Sussan Deyhim will perform the New York premiere of The House Is Black Media Project, a years-in-the-making work that marshals various facets of her dauntless career-opera, cinema, poetry, theater, video and performance art-to manifest the world of Iranian modernist Forough Farrokhzad's poetry and film, March 10 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

One of Atlanta's local playwrights is bringing his published work home for the first time.

The performances of all three actors are outstanding.

Leonard Bernstein made one foray into Hollywood with an original film score: the 1954 romantic tragedy On the Waterfront, which is ranked by the American Film Institute as one of the ten best films of all time.  On Saturday, February 24 at 8pm, On the Waterfront will exuberantly come to life when the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) presents Richard Kaufman conducting Bernstein's electrifying score live, while the newly re-mastered film is shown in glorious high definition on the big screen with original dialogue intact.

A Noise Within (ANW) presents A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, directed by Gregg T. Daniel, the sixth production of its 26th season performing February 25 to April 8 (Press Opening March 3).

Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park excels at bringing musicals and plays to the boards. Its rendering of MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux is no exception.