Those Were the Days - 1990 - Broadway Articles Page 10

The Downtown Urban Theater Festival (Reg E. Gaines, Artistic Director) will present its 13th annual season in New York City from May 13th - 30th, 2015. 

The Downtown Urban Theater Festival (Reg E. Gaines, Artistic Director) will present its 13th annual season in New York City from May 13th - 30th, 2015.

Almost 40 years ago, the world watched as the fate of Saigon sealed the fate of Vietnam. The hotly contested politics of those years, the tragic moments of those last days and the heroic evacuation of not only Americans but tens of thousands of Vietnamese plays a vital role in the newest book in author Spencer Hawke's Ari Cohen espionage series. 'I remember the events of the Vietnam War playing out for the world on our televisions with the international news,' the British-born author said. 'I was young, but the images were striking, and when I began to craft the backstory on my latest villain, those images came back to me. 'As a result, I spent a good deal of time on research of those vital days - April 28-30, 1975 - looking at things from the benefit of nearly 40 years hindsight, and as the anniversary draws near, I feel compelled to be part of the education process that doesn't forget the incredible events that transpired.' By April 28, General V?n Ti?n D?ng and his North Vietnamese forces had begun their push toward the heart of Saigon in South Vietnam and America's military had already largely been withdrawn from the country for some time. With the enemy on its way, evacuation of all Americans in the city had been ongoing for weeks. On April 29, 1975, D?ng began his final attack on Saigon, and General Nguy?n V?n Toàn's South Vietnamese forces weren't the only casualties of the heavy artillery bombardment. That day saw the last two deaths of American servicemen in Vietnam - Charles McMahon and Darwin Judge, killed at Tân S?n Nh?t Airport. By late afternoon on April 30, the North Vietnamese had taken over the Presidential Palace, and renamed the city after the Democratic Republic's President H? Chí Minh. The Fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period leading to the formal reunification of Vietnam into a socialist republic, governed by the Communist Party of Vietnam. But in those precious last days before the South Vietnamese surrendered, Operation Frequent Wind evacuated not only the remaining Americans, but tens of thousands of Vietnamese as well. It was the largest helicopter evacuation in history. 'It's really with the onset of Operation Frequent Wind that my characters' story begins,' Hawke said. 'I tried looking at those hours with an understanding viewpoint for the Marines who had little or no options to help the throngs of people rushing the American Embassy gates, but at the same time, there is another focus that often goes overlooked. 'The controversy surrounding whether or not the American military should have been in Vietnam often overshadows the amazing things we did in those last hours to help save tens of thousands of Vietnamese people,' he said. 'I try to show some of that affinity for the Vietnamese in my novel and I am excited to see the upcoming Last Days of Vietnam documentary coming out that will really tell that amazing story.' Hawke's newest novel, "The Orthus Conspiracy," is Book 2 in the Ari Cohen Series, which features a former Mossad agent now working for a 200-year-old secret society created by America's founding fathers. Orthus isn't his first novel with a tie to historical fact. 'I am a huge history buff,' he said of the hobby that influences so much of his writing. 'My first novel was a Biblical times thriller, and the first book in this series was tied to the 1990's crash of a stealth bomber in Bosnia.' Soon, Hawke plans to release a short prequel to the Cohen works, set in 1700s England and America, of course. "It's a headache for my editor to double-check all my times, dates, names and places," he said of his writing passion, 'but I'm lucky that she loves it as much as me!'

GO FIGURE! Productions, LLC is thrilled to announce the world premiere of GO FIGURE! THE RANDY GARDNER STORY, starring World Champion Figure Skater Randy Gardner and written & directed by Josh Ravetch (the co-creator and director of Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking, Dick Van Dyke's, Step In Time, and long distance swimmer, Diana Nyad's, ONWARD!). GO FIGURE! will preview on Thursday, May 14 at 8:00pm and will open on Friday, May 15 at 8:00pm and will run through Sunday, June 14th before moving on to West Hollywood, Las Vegas and Boston where it will appear in concert with the 2016 Ice Skating World Championships.

The 'psycho lesbian' murderer is a staple media stereotype without basis in fact. Seeing it on NBC'S THE BLACKLIST in 'Vanessa Cruz' harks back to a less enlightened era of television and film. Isn't THE BLACKLIST sexist and offensive enough without it?

Music Director Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) announce the Orchestra's celebratory Centennial 2015-2016 season, its ninth season under the direction of Maestra Alsop. Through appearances by the world's most renowned artists, premieres of several new works, Baltimore homecomings from local artists or artists who got their start on the BSO stage, exciting signature projects and strengthening of longstanding community partnerships, the BSO marks this important milestone in grand fashion.

Music Director Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) announce the Orchestra's celebratory Centennial 2015-2016 season, its ninth season under the direction of Maestra Alsop. Through appearances by the world's most renowned artists, premieres of several new works, Baltimore homecomings from local artists or artists who got their start on the BSO stage, exciting signature projects and strengthening of longstanding community partnerships, the BSO marks this important milestone in grand fashion.

The winners of the 44th annual George London Foundation Awards Competition for young American and Canadian opera singers were announced at the conclusion of the competition's final round this evening, which took place in a front of a capacity audience at Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City.

One of Broadway's quintessential renaissance men, Jerry Mitchell talked about the genesis of Kinky Boots the Musical and his unique collaboration with Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein

After seeing the new INTO THE WOODS movie twice over the holidays, I posted on Twitter about how two of the songs had stuck with me. After a tweet conversation, my BWW colleague Jeff Walker and I decided to put our heads together to try and come up with a list of Sondheim's most hummable tunes. Despite not discussing it beforehand, Jeff ended up picking songs from the 1960s and 70s, and I filled in the gaps with numbers from the 80s and 90s.

Broadway fans had plenty of reasons to celebrate this year, with dozens of shows having opened since January, hundreds of actors having made their debuts, and many more having returned to the stage for critically acclaimed performances. Not all news was good though, as we also suffered a loss of an incredible amount of talent. Below, BroadwayWorld sends a fond farewell to those who passed away in 2014.

Sundance Institute announced today the members of the six juries awarding prizes at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, January 22 to February 1 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

Tony Torn (Karen Coonrad's The Tempest, Jay Scheib's The Disinherited, Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's on Broadway) joins the cast of The Velvet Oratorio, an original opera/theater piece commemorating the 25th anniversary of The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. The show will be presented in the grand ballroom at the current home of the Czech Center and the Czech Consulate: The Bohemian National Hall. The Velvet Oratorio is an evocative retelling of the Velvet Revolution through found text, choral music, and scenes inspired by Vaclav Havel's Van?k plays. Torn will be playing a secret service officer who interrogates Van?k but later disclaims his Communist past.

Jane's Addiction is set for an encore presentation at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas at The LINQ, 3545 Las Vegas Blvd. South today and Saturday, November 21 & 22, 2014 at 9:00 PM.

B Street Theatre's Family Series, California's only fully professional, resident theater for children, is pleased to present Snow White and Rose Red, adapted for the stage by David Pierini.

The Velvet Oratorio, an original opera/theater piece commemorating the 25th anniversary of The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, will be presented in the grand ballroom at the current home of the Czech Center and the Czech Consulate: The Bohemian National Hall. The Velvet Oratorio is an evocative retelling of the Velvet Revolution through found text, choral music, and scenes inspired by Vaclav Havel's Van?k plays.

During the first week of November, the Mariinsky Theatre returns to the UK for an operatic showcase of Wagner's Ring in Birmingham at the historic Hippodrome and three operas originally written for the Mariinsky including the most recent Levsha (The Left-hander) by Rodion Shchedrin. With a 300-strong troop of musicians, soloists and chorus starting the tour in Cardiff with Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery, Valery Gergiev proceeds to London to present Russia's national epic Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov followed by the UK premiere of The Lefthander, both in concert versions at the Barbican.

Barry Allen gets struck by lightning and develops some serious core muscles on the premiere episode of the CW's THE FLASH

The Velvet Oratorio, an original opera/theater piece commemorating the 25th anniversary of The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, will be presented in the grand ballroom at the current home of the Czech Center and the Czech Consulate: The Bohemian National Hall. The Velvet Oratorio is an evocative retelling of the Velvet Revolution through found text, choral music, and scenes inspired by Vaclav Havel's Van?k plays.

Jane's Addiction is set for an encore presentation at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas at The LINQ, 3545 Las Vegas Blvd. South on Friday and Saturday, November 21 & 22, 2014 at 9:00 PM. Tickets on sale Saturday, October 4, 2014 at 10 a.m. PST.

During the first week of November, the Mariinsky Theatre returns to the UK for an operatic showcase of Wagner's Ring in Birmingham at the historic Hippodrome and three operas originally written for the Mariinsky including the most recent Levsha (The Left-hander) by Rodion Shchedrin. With a 300-strong troop of musicians, soloists and chorus starting the tour in Cardiff with Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery, Valery Gergiev proceeds to London to present Russia's national epic Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov followed by the UK premiere of The Lefthander, both in concert versions at the Barbican.

ESPN Films today revealed the films that will make up its fall 2014 30 for 30 slate. The series will return for a six-week run Tuesday nights on ESPN beginning October 7, with one additional film in December.

SummerStage continues their summer programming of free concerts. They recently released their lineup of free shows for the week of August 18-24th. See the full details below!

The 18th Long Island Al Jolson Festival coming up on August 16 is a whole-day affair featuring film presentations, lectures, memorabilia displays and sales, and a performance--'The Heart of Al Jolson'--by singer and Staten Island native Tony Babino (photo below), who can sing Jolson songs like, well, you ain't heard nothin' yet. The other day, like clockwork, I received my yearly invitation to attend from Oceanside, LI resident Jan Hernstat, who for the past 10 years has been the President of the 62-year-old International Al Jolson Society (which was formed in early 1950, a few months before Jolson died), an organization with a worldwide membership hovering around 1,000. I am proud to say that for 30 years, I've been one of them. I'm even prouder to say that I've been an Al Jolson fanatic for much longer. Here's my story about how it happened.

The biggest challenge in personalizing a tribute show is when the set list is structured to tell a story about the performer's life. Those songs better be good, that life better be interesting, and that storytelling patter better be clever, humorous, and self-deprecating or an audience (let alone a reviewer) will tune you out quicker than a liberal accidentally hitting FOX News on the remote. I recently saw two different shows at The Duplex from enchanting young women performers—Carly Ozard and Nikki MacCallum--who deftly managed to weave their love of a singer (Bette Midler for Ozard) or a songbook (Kander & Ebb for MacCallum) into a tale of life journey and personal growth to produce charming and entertaining shows.