West Side Story - 1960 - Broadway Articles Page 16

Bucks County Playhouse Producers Robyn Goodman and Alexander Fraser are thrilled to welcome the addition of Broadway's beloved Marin Mazzie to the cast of GETTING TO KNOW YOU: An Enchanted Evening of Oscar Hammerstein II, the Saturday night benefit concert of the inaugural Oscar Hammerstein Festival.

Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) is currently transforming its Front of House areas by installing a number of stylish lounges and concept bars. Having invested more than £3 million in the roll out of 22 Ambassador Lounges and 10 premium bars so far, ATG has planned a further investment of £600,000 by the end of 2014.

Bucks County Playhouse Producers Robyn Goodman and Alexander Fraser announce the launch of a musical theatre development program focusing on the importance of lyrics in the creation of new musicals: The Oscar Hammerstein Festival - named in honor of the master writer whose countless accomplishments during his illustrious career include having mentored a young Stephen Sondheim at Hammerstein's Bucks County farm -- is a year-long program that offers expert mentorship to early career composers and lyricists. The Oscar Hammerstein Festival will culminate in a weekend with musical theatre experts, artists, and enthusiasts and various events open to the general public. The Festival will launch September 26 - 28, 2014.

TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, presents the gripping Broadway musical SWEENEY TODD: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. This masterpiece, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, tells the darkly thrilling tale of a 19th century barber's bloody vengeance. With the help of Mrs. Lovett, the devious purveyor of "the worst pies in London," the cruelly wronged Mr. Todd exacts grisly revenge on the residents of London. Theatreworks Artistic Director Robert Kelley will direct this eight-time Tony Award-winning thrill-ride.SWEENEY TODD plays October 8 - November 2, 2014 (press opening October 11) at TheatreWorks at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. For tickets and information the public may visit www.TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

Those confirmed to receive this prestigious accolade are ASCAP members Joan Baez, Garth Brooks, Billy Joel, Stephen Sondheim and Stevie Wonder.

Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Todd Schmidt-Managing Director) is proud to open its 2014-2015 season with a Broadway-bound, world-class revival of Can-Can starring Kate Baldwin as Pistache and Jason Danieley as Aristide.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), the nation's largest retail bookseller and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced special events in all stores nationwide during the week of July 21 as part of Get Pop-Cultured with Barnes & Noble, a month-long pop culture celebration. On Wednesday, July 23, Barnes & Noble stores nationwide will host Batman Day, a special celebration of the Caped Crusader with Batman-themed activities, giveaways and exclusive Batman merchandise. Barnes & Noble will also host a DC Comics Spectacular from Wednesday, July 23, through Sunday, July 27, with fun activities, special giveaways and an exciting 5-day-only offer of buy 2, get the 3rd free on all DC Comics graphic novels. Additionally, Barnes & Noble has partnered with FUNKO to offer exclusive, never-before-seen, collectibles during the Barnes & Noble Comic Convention Collectibles weekend from Thursday, July 24, through Sunday, July 27, while supplies last. For more information on these great events and everything that's happening during Get Pop-Cultured month, customers can visit their local Barnes & Noble store or www.bn.com/GetPop-Cultured.

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.

Continuing its 40th Mainstage Season, the Hangar Theatre's artistic director Jen Waldman will direct, Little Shop of Horrors by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, today, July 10 until July 26, 2014. This hilarious musical, based off of the 1960 movie, is cosmic fun for the whole family. With toe tapping tunes and a carnivorous alien planet, this show is sure to entertain. Join the cast, crew, and Hangar staff on opening night, Friday, July 11 at 8pm at the Hangar Theatre, as they continue to celebrate their 40th Anniversary of the Mainstage Season. The Hangar Theatre is located at 801 Taughannock Blvd, Ithaca, NY 14850 near Cass Park.

Continuing its 40th Mainstage Season, the Hangar Theatre's artistic director Jen Waldman will direct, Little Shop of Horrors by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, July 10 until July 26, 2014. This hilarious musical, based off of the 1960 movie, is cosmic fun for the whole family. With toe tapping tunes and a carnivorous alien planet, this show is sure to entertain. Join the cast, crew, and Hangar staff on opening night, Friday, July 11 at 8pm at the Hangar Theatre, as they continue to celebrate their 40th Anniversary of the Mainstage Season. The Hangar Theatre is located at 801 Taughannock Blvd, Ithaca, NY 14850 near Cass Park.

Back in the 60s surf music was riding the wave of success and among the most popular acts of the time were Jan & Dean and the Beach Boys. If you long for the day when radio stations played such memorable hits as "Surf City", "Little Old Lady from Pasadena," plus hits from the Beach Boys, including "Barbara Ann," Harris Center for the Arts is proud to present a well-crafted, vocally impressive, high-energy classic California beach party, The Jan & Dean Show, featuring Dean Torrence and the Surf City All Stars.

Bergen Performing Arts Center located at 30 North Van Brunt Street in Englewood New Jersey is excited to present An Evening with Jay Black: 76th Birthday Party Saturday, November 1st at 8PM, Pinkalicious the Musical on Sunday, November 16th at 1PM & 4PM, Wild Kratts Live, Sunday November 30th at 1PM and Fancy Nancy the Musical, Sunday March 8th at 1PM & 4PM- tickets for these four shows go on sale Friday, June 6th at 11AM. Be sure to reserve your tickets at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling bergenPAC's Box Office at 201.227.1030.

Joe's Pub at The Public is known for the most eclectic and diverse programming in New York City. Coming up at the Pub is a slate of extraordinary women performers and artists that span the gambit of genre and style - from the irreverent and explosive alt-cabaret star Bridget Everett to the visionary jazz vocalist and composer Kavita Shah to the prolific and singular singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier. See below for a full list of their leading ladies through June 2014.

Darien Arts Center Stage is a community theatre dedicated to providing excellence in entertainment through plays, musicals, cabarets, and special events. Their Weatherstone Studio at the Darien Arts Center has recently played host to a production of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. Flawlessly directed by Peter Green, the timeless songs, intimate theater setting, simple set pieces, inspired costumes and brilliant Broadway-caliber cast combined for an entertaining and memorable evening. I felt privileged to be able to attend such a perfect production.

Hilda Morales was born in N.Y. City, and grew up in Puerto Rico. Her early training was with Ana Garcia of the Ballet San Juan. At 14 years of age, Ms. Morales received a Ford Foundation Scholarship to study at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet. She danced as a principal dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet, soloist with American Ballet Theatre, artist-in-residence with the Colorado Ballet and guest appearances with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Albuquerque Ballet and Jacksonville Ballet. During her dancing career, Ms. Morales performed in full-length classic ballets as well as works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor, John Butler, Alvin Ailey, and Jose Limon. Ms. Morales was featured in the movie The Turning Point, in the role of Sandra, directed by Herbert Ross. She guest teaches and is on the faculty of the Central Pennsylvania summer programs, and joined The Hartt School faculty in 1998.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center is the place for music and comedy with Dick Fox's 'The Golden Boys' on Saturday, May 17th at 8:00. Renowned singers Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell will perform with comedian Freddie Roman for a crowd-pleasing one-night only show.

Two River Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst, announces the lineup of productions for its 2014/15 Season. The year will include world-premiere plays and musicals that have been developed at the theater, including Your Blues Ain't Sweet Like Mine, a new play written and directed by Tony Award-winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson; and Be More Chill, a musical by Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz, adapted from the novel by Ned Vizzini and directed by Scott Ellis. The season will also include a range of world masterpieces and American classics, and work for audiences ages three and up

Performance-only tickets are now on sale to the general public for ACT TWO: A SWELL PARTY WITH MOSS HART AND FRIENDS, An Evening of Songs Sketches, Scenes and More Celebrating the Genius of Moss Hart, Monday April 21 at 8pm at the Vivian Beaumont Theater (150 West 65 Street). Performers scheduled to appear in the entertainment, which will serve as the centerpiece of Lincoln Center Theater's Annual Benefit and which will be directed by Bartlett Sher, are Victoria Clark, Stephen Colbert, David Garrison, Malcolm Gets, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Byron Jennings, Kelli O'Hara, Steven Pasquale, and Lewis J. Stadlen.

TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, presents ONCE ON THIS ISLAND from the Tony Award-winning creators of Ragtime. A timeless legend filled with joy, heartache, and adventure, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, winner of the Oliver Award for Best New Musical, boasts a score pulsing with irresistible Caribbean beats by Tony Award-winner Stephen Flaherty, with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. TheatreWorks Artistic Director Robert Kelley will direct this uplifting musical, which takes its story from a book by Rosa Guy, in turn inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Little Mermaid.' Choreographed by award-winning director, choreographer, and actor Gerry McIntyre, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND plays today, March 5-30, 2014 (press opening March 8) at TheatreWorks at the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto.

Straight from Skid Row, Audrey II is taking a bite out of Seattle in Little Shop of Horrors, the delightfully demented musical comedy about a man and his plant. Based on the 1960 black comedy film, this hysterical musical devours audiences in the fourth of an incredibly successful string of collaborations between The 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT - A Contemporary Theatre. After his recent Broadway debut at the helm of First Date, The 5th Avenue's own Bill Berry will direct this camp horror hit that ran for five years Off-Broadway. Little Shop of Horrors features an incredible cast that includes Seattle stars Joshua Carter, Jessica Skerritt, Jeff Steitzer, David Anthony Lewis, Eric Esteb, Ekello J. Harrid, Jr., Alexandria Henderson, Naomi Morgan, and Nicole Rashida Prothro.

TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, presents ONCE ON THIS ISLAND from the Tony Award-winning creators of Ragtime. A timeless legend filled with joy, heartache, and adventure, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, winner of the Oliver Award for Best New Musical, boasts a score pulsing with irresistible Caribbean beats by Tony Award-winner Stephen Flaherty, with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. TheatreWorks Artistic Director Robert Kelley will direct this uplifting musical, which takes its story from a book by Rosa Guy, in turn inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Little Mermaid.' Choreographed by award-winning director, choreographer, and actor Gerry McIntyre, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND plays March 5-30, 2014 (press opening March 8) at TheatreWorks at the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto. For tickets and information the public may visit www.theatreworks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

Triple threat Broadway legend Chita Rivera will bring her iconic class and showmanship to the Valley Performing Arts Center January 25 for one performance only at 8 pm. In our chat she tells us a little bit about the new show and talks in great detail about the joys of her career.

Who would have thought that a cheap, black and white horror movie, shot in 1960 by Roger Corman in just two days, would resurface some 20 years later, to become an off-Broadway musical comedy smash hit? The show, in its new incarnation (created by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken) ran for over four years, before transferring to Broadway and from there to London's West End.

Thirteen-year-old Sophie isn't happy about spending the summer of 1960 at her grandmother's old house in the bayou. Bored and lonely, she can't resist exploring the house's maze, or making an impulsive wish for a fantasy-book adventure with herself as the heroine. What she gets instead is a real adventure: a trip back in time to 1860 and the race-haunted world of her family's Louisiana sugar plantation. Here, President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation is still two years in the future and passage of the Thirteenth Amendment is almost four years away. And here, Sophie is mistaken, by her own ancestors, for a slave.

On Saturday, December 7, TheatreWorks opened the Broadway musical 'Little Women' to an enthusiastic, sold-out crowd in Palo Alto, CA. After the performance, attendees emerged into the courtyard of the Lucie Stern Theatre to find snow - make with theatre magic! - followed by a champagne reception and meet-and-greet with the cast. Check out photos below by David Allen.