To the Dance - 1939 - Broadway Articles Page 14

Considered one of the most masterful vocalists in classic country, Gene Watson is called "The Singer's Singer " by his many peers. His powerful voice and multi-octave range delivers chart-toppers like"Fourteen Carat Mind," "Paper Rosie," "Nothing Sure Looked Good On You" and "Farewell Party" with a beauty that's smooth, mellow and true.

The Fountain Theatre follows its hugely successful 2018 celebrity reading of All the President's Menwith a one-night only, all-star reading of Ms. Smith Goes to Washington, starring Bellamy Young (ABC's Scandal) in the title role, along with her Scandal co-stars Joshua Malina and Jeff Perry, with more to be announced.

The greatest family musical of all time, The Wizard of Oz, travels over the rainbow to Palm Desert for five performances at the McCallum Theatre. Performances are Friday, January 25, at 8:00pm; Saturday, January 26, at 2:00pm and 8:00pm, and Sunday, January 27, at 2:00pm and 7:30pm. This magical production is a celebration of the 1939 MGM movie, and will be presented with breathtaking special effects that will sweep audiences away, from the moment the tornado twists its way into Kansas. Nick Pearson plays the Cowardly Lion in this iteration. I had the chance to chat with Nick about all things 'Oz' and his personal trajectory that led him over the rainbow. Here are a few excerpts from that conversation:

 BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) is excited to announce it's first ever UN-Acoustic Lounge featuring BMI singer-songwriters Spree Wilson and Spencer Ludwig on Tuesday, January 22ndat Rockwood Music Hall - Stage 2 (196 Allen Street, New York). A fresh and exciting kick-off to the monthly BMI Acoustic Lounge series, this showcase will feature live band performances and is free and open to the public (21+)

Amilcare Ponchielli's opera La Gioconda (no link whatsoever with the painting in the Louvre) is one of those works too rarely represented despite its obvious qualities. Once the most successful opera between Verdi's Aida (1871) and Otello (1887), it is now considered a work stylistically so heterogeneous and both vocally and scenically so demanding that few opera houses try their hand at it. La Monnaie takes on the challenge and invites conductor Paolo Carignani and stage director Olivier Py to revive the whole grand opera behind 'The Dance of the Hours'.

American Ballet Theatre (ABT) marks its annual engagement in the Opera House January 29 - February 3, 2019, with the full-evening production Harlequinade, choreographed by ABT Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky. All performances will be accompanied by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.

Curator and producer Peter Musante (Andrew Schneider's YOUARENOWHERE; Blue Man Group; Trusty Sidekick's Up and Away, a groundbreaking show for kids with autism, called 'immersive theater at its most thoughtful' by the New York Times) joins West Coast physical comedienne Summer Shapiro ('raises the craft of clowning to new levels'- NYTheatre.org) to conceive of a new immersive theater festival for the entire family, inspired by the community organizing principles of Jane Jacobs. With seven new works based on true events from Greenwich Village history, the festival brings together leading NYC experimental theatre artists, musicians, physical comedians and clowns for two programs, each consisting of an interactive pre-show and four short stories that bring the surrounding neighborhood to life. The event, recommended for ages 5 and up, is presented by New Ohio Theatre as part of its Theatre for Young Minds holiday series. The performances run from December 20 thru 31 at 154 Christopher Street, NYC. Tickets are $25 ($18 for groups of three or more with the code 'family') and can be purchased through OvationTix (https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/1001863) or by calling 866-811-4111.

The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture has announced its 2019 winter/spring season, a rich program of theater, film, music, poetry, art, and talk events featuring artists and thought leaders including Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter;Tony Award winner Lena Hall; Grammy Award-winning musician and recording artist Eileen Ivers; Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award nomineeAlexander Gemignani;and journalist and former Wall Street Journal columnist Sohrab Ahmari.

The Morris Choral Society (MCS) will present their annual Holiday Concert entitled "Songs Earthly and Divine" in two performances, Saturday December 8 at 8PM and Sunday December 9 at 3PM at St. Virgil's Parish, 250 Speedwell Avenue in Morris Plains, New Jersey. Tickets range from $25 for General Admission, $20 Seniors (60+) and $15 Students and may be purchased online at www.morrischoralsociety.org .

CABARET is a 1966 musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff, based on John Van Druten's 1951 play I Am a Camera, which was adapted from the short novel Goodbye to Berlin (1939) by Christopher Isherwood. Set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis are rising to power, it focuses on the nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, and revolves around young American writer Cliff Bradshaw (John Fredrickson) and his relationship with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles (Logan-Rae). The musical was also made into a 1972 film.

Broadway Training Center of Westchester (BTC), one of the region's premier performing arts schools, will present 'CATS' November 16 through November 18 at the Irvington Town Hall Theater in Irvington, N.Y.

The Wizard of Oz has been delighting audiences since it first appeared as a 1939 movie starring Judy Garland as Dorothy. The story, first created by L. Frank Baum in 1900, has inspired a number of adaptations, and the most popular stage version frequently finds its way to the stage at high schools and community theatres. Even though many of you have probably seen The Wizard of Oz, you've likely never seen a production of it like the one that will open at The Eichelberger Performing Arts Center on November 16th. Why is this production so unique? Because it is being performed by actors from The Penguin Project of Gettysburg Community Theatre. This program gives youth with special needs an opportunity to perform with other youth, both with and without special needs, giving them a chance to focus on their abilities rather than their challenges. BroadwayWorld had an opportunity to hear from Gettysburg Community Theatre's Executive Director, Chad-Alan Carr, as well as from five of the actors who will be performing-Natalie Hurwitch and Maddie Greco, two of the peer mentors; Ella Scott, the actor playing Dorothy; Leah Watson, who portrays Glinda the Good Witch of the North; and TJ Williams, who plays the Wizard of Oz-about their experiences with this production of The Wizard of Oz.

Celebrated American pianist George Winston recently released a cancer research benefit album, Spring Carousel, on RCA Records on March 31, 2017 that debuted at #1 on Billboard's Jazz Chart. Spring Carousel features a collection of 15 solo piano compositions written by Winston while in recovery from a bone marrow transplant for Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) at City of Hope, in Duarte, California, near Los Angeles. His doctor, Stephen J. Forman, Chairman of the Hematology Department at City of Hope, is one of the world's four foremost authorities on hematology and bone marrow transplants. Proceeds from sales of Spring Carousel will directly benefit cancer research at City of Hope. George Winston is available for interviews upon request.

The Media Theatre Has An All-star Philly Cast In 'the Wizard Of Oz' This Holiday Season

Currently, the are housing the Reverie Actor's Company's production of The Man Who Came to Dinner which is a funny and refreshing classic from Broadway's past.

Santa Fe is known for its art. It is widely known that the City Different is home to world class visual and performing arts; it is also home to a school that educates high schoolers striving to be part of the next generation of world class artists. That school is the New Mexico School for the Arts, and I had the privilege recently to sit in on a rehearsal of their production of You Can't Take It With You, as well as chat with director and faculty member Barbara Hatch about the show and NMSA in general.

Broadway Training Center of Westchester (BTC), one of the region's premier performing arts schools, will present 'CATS' November 16 through November 18 at the Irvington Town Hall Theater in Irvington, N.Y.

Celebrated American pianist George Winston recently released a cancer research benefit album, Spring Carousel, on RCA Records on March 31, 2017 that debuted at #1 on Billboard's Jazz Chart. Spring Carousel features a collection of 15 solo piano compositions written by Winston while in recovery from a bone marrow transplant for Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) at City of Hope, in Duarte, California, near Los Angeles. His doctor, Stephen J. Forman, Chairman of the Hematology Department at City of Hope, is one of the world's four foremost authorities on hematology and bone marrow transplants. Proceeds from sales of Spring Carousel will directly benefit cancer research at City of Hope. George Winston is available for interviews upon request.

Michael Thomas Holmes and Tim Rogan have joined the cast of 'The Rocky Horror Show' at Bucks County Playhouse. Holmes will play Dr. Scott/The Narrator and Rogan will play Rocky. They replaced previously announced cast members Jennifer Van Dyck and Erik Altemus, respectively.

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), the independent, not-for-profit affiliate of SDC, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, today announced unique plans for its 2019 award evening, which will feature original choreographic pieces resulting from a special commissioning program, with the application period now open. SDCF also announced that Victoria Traube would receive a special 'Mr. Abbott' Award at the event, to be held March 25 at the French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF).

Follow the yellow brick road to the theatrical wonderland of Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts in Alto, N.M. where some of the finest touring productions come to full flourish on stage this autumn 2018 through spring 2019.

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble (BTE), the professional Equity company in residence at the McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage (COD) opens its 2018-2019 season with "The Dingdong, or How the French Kiss," a new adaptation by Mark Shanahan from "Le Dindon" by Georges Feydeau. Five actors play 13 roles in this bubbly, fast-paced adaptation of Feydeau's classic directed by BTE Artistic Director Connie Canaday Howard, where opening the wrong door can lead to mayhem, giggles and ultimately some unexpected understandings of a happy marriage. The play runs Sept. 6-Oct. 7. There will be a preview Sept. 6. Press opening is Friday, Sept. 7.   

Follow the yellow brick road to the theatrical wonderland of Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts in Alto, N.M. where some of the finest touring productions come to full flourish on stage this autumn 2018 through spring 2019.

The greatest family musical of all time, The Wizard of Oz, travels down the yellow brick road to The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts as part of the 10th Anniversary Broadway Series, Thursday, November 8 - Sunday, November 11. Tickets are now on sale to members and go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, September 4 at 10 am.

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble (BTE), the professional Equity company in residence at the McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage (COD) opens its 2018-2019 season with "The Dingdong, or How the French Kiss," a new adaptation by Mark Shanahan from "Le Dindon" by Georges Feydeau. Five actors play 13 roles in this bubbly, fast-paced adaptation of Feydeau's classic directed by BTE Artistic Director Connie Canaday Howard, where opening the wrong door can lead to mayhem, giggles and ultimately some unexpected understandings of a happy marriage. The play runs Sept. 6-Oct. 7. There will be a preview Sept. 6. Press opening is Friday, Sept. 7.