West Side Story - 1960 - Broadway Articles Page 14

Leapin' lizards! With more than 400 performances under her belt, the new U.S. National Tour of ANNIE will play the National Theatre for one week only, March 15 - 20, 2016. Directed by original lyricist and director Martin Charnin for the 19th time, this production of ANNIE is a brand new physical incarnation of the iconic 1977 Tony Award-winning original.

Pacific Ballet presents ROMEO ET JULIETTE, a contemporary interpretation of Shakespeare's tragedy, Choreography by Jean-Christophe Maillot, Music by Sergei Prokofiev (Op. 64, 1935-36).

Below, BroadwayWorld sends a fond farewell to those who passed away in 2015.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley kicks off the New Year with the regional premiere of Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin, a brand new work by acclaimed performer/playwright/director Hershey Felder. The inspiring story of "America's Composer" Irving Berlin takes center stage in this tour-de-force performance by virtuoso Hershey Felder, internationally acclaimed for bringing to life such composers as Gershwin, Beethoven, Chopin, and Bernstein. Fleeing the anti-Semitism of Czarist Russia, capturing the rhythms of the Lower East Side, and eventually enchanting the entire world, Berlin epitomized the American dream. Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin will be directed by Trevor Hay with performances January 13 - February 14, 2016 (press opening: January 16) at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View. For tickets ($35 -$100) and information the public may visit www.TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

Thanksgiving is a time for families to gather together, to share a meal, and to count all of the wonderful blessings that they have received over the past year. That is, of course, unless your family is filled with monsters, ingrates, and malcontents. For BroadwayWorld's readers not fortunate enough to have a loving family, Thanksgiving can be a time of sibling rivalry, domestic disappointments, and turke-time tantrums.

Now brought to the stage, thus making the message of a shared humanity that much more profound, the Cape Cod Theatre Company has given us a production that is worthy of more than just the audience's time and consideration: it is a lesson that must be carefully taught to each of us again and again, a confirmation that people have the right to be considered individuals beneath the watchful eye of unchanging men, and a song that should not cease because people are too blind to hear its call.

La Jolla Playhouse announces additional projects for its second Without Walls (WoW) Festival today, October 9 - 11, featuring more than 20 immersive and site-based works taking place simultaneously in and around the Playhouse Theatre District, UC San Diego campus and the surrounding neighborhood.

In this unique, live one-woman show, described as 'mesmerizing' and 'a real treat' by Variety, Patricia Ward Kelly - Gene Kelly's wife and biographer - gives us his story. Taking the Harris Center audience behind the scenes, she presents an intimate portrait of this innovative artist who gave us such iconic works as An American in Paris and Singin' in the Rain.

The New York Philharmonic will present the third season of THE ART OF THE SCORE: Film Week at the Philharmonic September 18-21, 2015, featuring two complete Academy Award-winning films screened with live performances of their acclaimed scores: On the Waterfront and The Godfather.

The Museum of Modern Art presents Transmissions: Art in Eastern Europe and Latin America, 1960-1980, an exhibition on view from September 5, 2015, through January 3, 2016, that focuses on the parallels and connections among international artists working in-and in reference to-Latin America and Eastern Europe during the 1960s and 1970s.

In this unique, live one-woman show, described as "mesmerizing" and "a real treat" by Variety, Patricia Ward Kelly - Gene Kelly's wife and biographer - gives us his story. Taking the Harris Center audience behind the scenes, she presents an intimate portrait of this innovative artist who gave us such iconic works as An American in Paris and Singin' in the Rain.

La Jolla Playhouse announces additional projects for its second Without Walls (WoW) Festival on October 9 - 11, featuring more than 20 immersive and site-based works taking place simultaneously in and around the Playhouse Theatre District, UC San Diego campus and the surrounding neighborhood.

Molly Smith directs her 30th production as Artistic Director of Arena Stage with a gritty and relevant take on the Tony Award-winning musical Oliver!, blending the chaotic worlds of 19th-century Victorian London with 2015 London. Smith's new in-the-round staging infuses a modern edge to the classic musical about an innocent orphan thrown into the dark world of double-dealing thieves and conmen, highlighting the disparity between classes and dangerous life on London's streets today. Featuring a remarkable score including 'You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,' 'Consider Yourself,' 'Where is Love?' and 'Food, Glorious Food,' Oliver! runs October 30, 2015-January 3, 2016 in the Fichandler Stage at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater.

One of the Midwest's leading, professional equity theaters, Theatre at the Center, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, is gearing up for an exciting 2016 season filled with a rich array of productions from Hitchcock remakes to Gershwin-filled musicals to Annie sequels. The season kicks off in February with the thrilling and fast-paced play Alfred Hitchcock's THE 39 STEPS. This Tony Award-winning comedic spoof of the Alfred Hitchcock 1935 film runs February 18 to March 20. The champagne flows and the gin fizzes May 5 through June 5 with the Chicago area premiere of George and Ira Gershwin's new musical hit NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, the hilarious musical comedy set in the Roaring Twenties. When two newly single men find themselves as roommates, all hell hilariously breaks loose in Neil Simon's classic THE ODD COUPLE, running July 14 to August 14. Catch all the unexpected action of six friends in small town North Carolina September 15 through October 16 with the popular Rock 'n' Roll, Blue Grass, Countrified musical revue, PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES. Annie's story didn't end where you thought it did. Find out what really happened with Daddy Warbucks' quest to remain with the newly-adopted Annie in the sequel to ANNIE, ANNIE WARBUCKS, running November 17 through December 18.

Bucks County Playhouse producers Robyn Goodman and Alexander Fraser just announced the 2nd Annual Oscar Hammerstein Festival -- named in honor of the master lyricist who wrote some of America's most beloved and recognizable musicals at his family farm in Bucks County.

The New York Philharmonic will present the third season of THE ART OF THE SCORE: Film Week at the Philharmonic September 18-21, 2015, featuring two complete Academy Award-winning films screened with live performances of their acclaimed scores: On the Waterfront and The Godfather.

Artists Repertory Theatre announces an ambitious and stylistically diverse 2015/16 season of eight engaging plays. These selections emphasize Artists Rep's role as Portland's premiere mid-size regional theatre company by offering five critically acclaimed contemporary plays, alongside two magnificent mid-20th Century classics, and the world premiere production of the Broadway-scale musical, Cuba Libre.

Artists Repertory Theatre announces an ambitious and stylistically diverse 2015/16 season of eight engaging plays. These selections emphasize Artists Rep's role as Portland's premiere mid-size regional theatre company by offering five critically acclaimed contemporary plays, alongside two magnificent mid-20th Century classics, and the world premiere production of the Broadway-scale musical, Cuba Libre.

This August and September, 54 BELOW presents an exciting lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street. For a detailed schedule of upcoming performances at 54 Below and to purchase tickets, visitwww.54Below.com. 

Happy Birthday Arthur Laurents! Laurents' first play, Home of the Brave, opened on Broadway in 1945, followed by many others. He wrote his first musical, West Side Story, in 1957, followed by Gypsy and others. His first screenplay was The Snake Pit in 1948, followed by others including Rope, Anastasia, The Way We Were and The Turning Point. His own play, Invitation to a March in 1960, was the first of several he directed. I Can Get It for You Wholesale in 1961 was the first musical he directed, followed by others including La Cage aux Folles and Gypsy with Angela Lansbury, then Tyne Daly and most recently, Patti LuPone. He pased away in May 2011.

The Museum of Modern Art presents Transmissions: Art in Eastern Europe and Latin America, 1960-1980, an exhibition on view from September 5, 2015, through January 3, 2016, that focuses on the parallels and connections among international artists working in-and in reference to-Latin America and Eastern Europe during the 1960s and 1970s.

The McKittrick Hotel (542 West 27th Street), home of the immersive theater spectacle Sleep No More, announces a summertime rooftop film series curated by film and television icon/comedienne Amy Poehler beginning on July 14, 2015 and continuing throughout the summer and early fall atop The McKittrick, the one-stop nightlife destination in Chelsea. 

It's official! Joining previously announced Joely Richardson, Robert Sheehan and Kare Conradi in THE WARS OF THE ROSES at Rose Theatre, Kingston are: Rufus Hound (Bedford & Bolingbroke), Jack Cade (Rivers), Oliver Cotton (Winchester, Clifford, Hastings), Laurence Spellman (Young Clifford, Richmond), Alex Waldmann (Henry VI, Tyrrell), Susan Tracy (Margery Jourdain, Duchess of York).

Starting fittingly on July Fourth weekend, Museum of the Moving Image will present The Essential John Ford, a tribute to the consummate American filmmaker. Ford made his reputation on westerns, but worked in many genres, creating films of depth, beauty, and ambiguity. From today, July 3 through August 2, the Museum will present 20 movies directed by Ford-all on film, with some restored archival prints-including his masterpieces Young Mr. Lincoln, My Darling Clementine, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Starting fittingly on July Fourth weekend, Museum of the Moving Image will present The Essential John Ford, a tribute to the consummate American filmmaker. Ford made his reputation on westerns, but worked in many genres, creating films of depth, beauty, and ambiguity. From July 3 through August 2, the Museum will present 20 movies directed by Ford-all on film, with some restored archival prints-including his masterpieces Young Mr. Lincoln, My Darling Clementine, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.