What Did He See? - 1988 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 12

El Rey Network Founder and Chairman Robert Rodriguez sits down with award-winning film and theater director, university professor, author, activist, and political organizer Luis Valdez

Orange County, Calif.-Jan. 9, 2015-Composer, conductor and teacher Leonard Bernstein, one of the undeniable giants of 20th-century music, and the first American-born conductor to become a major star, becomes the focal point of Pacific Symphony's second "Music Unwound" concert this season, "For the Love of Bernstein." In 1985, a young Carl St.Clair met Bernstein as a conducting fellow at Tanglewood Music Center. A few years later in 1990, St.Clair stepped in for the ailing Maestro and conducted his "Arias and Barcarolles" during what turned out to be Bernstein's last concert. St.Clair would soon be named music director of Pacific Symphony, but the impact of Bernstein's mentoring to St.Clair has remained to this day.

The Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center are presenting the 24th annual New York Jewish Film Festival at the Film Society's Walter Reade Theater and Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, January 14-29, 2015.

Orange County, Calif.—Jan. 9, 2015—Composer, conductor and teacher Leonard Bernstein, one of the undeniable giants of 20th-century music, and the first American-born conductor to become a major star, becomes the focal point of Pacific Symphony's second “Music Unwound” concert this season, “For the Love of Bernstein.” In 1985, a young Carl St.Clair met Bernstein as a conducting fellow at Tanglewood Music Center. A few years later in 1990, St.Clair stepped in for the ailing Maestro and conducted his “Arias and Barcarolles” during what turned out to be Bernstein's last concert. St.Clair would soon be named music director of Pacific Symphony, but the impact of Bernstein's mentoring to St.Clair has remained to this day.

Rachelle Rak has been performing at the Broadway level for the majority of her life and is one of the most resilient people in the business. With almost 30 years of experience, she has seen it all and more. But she has never backed down and never refused to stop growing as a performer. I got the chance to speak to this strong Broadway gypsy about her experiences with mentors like Ann Reinking and Gwen Verdon, her upcoming show at 54 Below, and of course her signature mantra, SAS.

Goodman Theatre, in collaboration with Chicago's various off-Loop theaters and Northwestern University, unveils partial programming in its spring 2015 citywide "August Wilson Celebration" -- an extensive retrospective of the late playwright's life, artistry and influence on American culture. The seven-week Celebration takes place in March and April 2015 on dual landmark occasions: the 70th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright's birth and the 10th anniversary of his death.

It's unlikely anyone leaving a performance of 'The Motherf**ker With the Hat' (MOFO) will be indifferent. That makes actor Juan Chioran happy. 'To be indifferent is the biggest crime in theatre,' he says on a day off from the popular show now playing at the new Coal Mine Theatre on the Danforth. He demands to be engaged, he adds, every time he attends a production.

Arcadia Performing Arts Foundation presents its second season at the Arcadia Performing Arts Center -- Three Dog Night on Saturday, January 10 at 8 pm; The Four Tops on Saturday, February 21 at 8 pm; Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on Friday, March 27 at 8 pm; The Muppet Movie Sing-a-Long on Saturday, May 16 at 2 pm and Dick Fox Doo Wop Extravaganza on Saturday, June 6 at 7 pm. This four concert season, and the additional attraction The Muppet Movie Sing-A-Long, is presented by the Arcadia Performing Arts Foundation and is a means of raising funds to support arts in the schools and maintain this new, state-of-the-art facility.

Look up "Broadway Flop" on Google, and Carrie is bound to be the first title to show up. Though the material still is a bit rough around the edges, Austin Theatre Project's staging of Carrie manages to straddle the show's unintentional line between camp and seriousness while finding a compelling story and interesting characters, brought to life by performers who could easily rival many a Broadway star.

John Lasseter is the Chief Creative Officer at Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and DisneyToon Studios. A special place where he spoke on the topic of .Cool Japan'.

One constant in Washington-area theater for which we should all be grateful, is that the wonderful creative minds and souls at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, can be counted on to bring us fresh, innovative and carefully crafted productions of shows that may be new to many of us. This season, Signature is giving us three world premier productions of new musicals (Sheryl Crow's Diner; John Kander's Kid Victory and DC-native Nick Blaemire's Soon), but also a revival of a musical version of the story of Elmer Gantry, a traveling salesman turned preacher, who brings a religious revival a possibly dangerous spark in his pursuit of love. Almost 90 years ago, Sinclair Lewis brought Elmer Gantry to the page and Signature's Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer, is bringing him to the Signature stage for 2014 audiences.

Theatre Royal Bath Productions welcomes Richard Schiff, Nigel Lindsay and Lindsay Lohan in David Mamet's SPEED-THE-PLOW, helmed by Lindsay Posner at London's Playhouse Theatre and opening officially tonight, October 2, for a strictly limited run. A high-octane modern classic, SPEED-THE-PLOW is a brilliantly satirical portrayal of Hollywood filled with Mamet's trademark wit and mesmerizing dialogue.

David Yazbek has shown himself to be a Broadway composer-lyricist to be reckoned with, after a splashy debut with 2000's "The Full Monty," and a meaningful follow-up with 2005's "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels." Both film adaptations, they won Drama Desk Awards for him, as well as Tony nominations. 2010's "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown", also a film adaptation, was Tony-nominated for its score as well, though it suffered a truncated run of only 69 performances. Theatre at the Center in the Chicago suburb of Munster, Indiana, is the location for the show's world regional premiere.

BEDBUGS!!! tells the story of Carly, an exterminator, determined to avenge the bedbug related death of her mother. In the process of concocting a bedbug pesticide, Carly accidentally morphs New York City's bedbugs into blood-sucking, heavy metal rock gods. Recently, BEDBUGS!!! creators, Paul Leschen and Fred Sauter, sat down with me to give me all the juicy details about the new Off-Broadway production.

Director of Poland's Theatre of the Eighth Day, Ewa Wojciak, was fired by Poznan mayor Ryszard Grobelny on 28 July because she did not ask for permission to leave the city when she went to Yale and Princeton on 18 February.

As BWW reported earlier this evening, comedian and Academy Award-winning actor Robin Williams died this morning, August 11, 2014, of an apparent suicide. He was 63. A slew of stars took to Twitter following the announcement to express their gratitude to the performer and wish him well. Scroll down to see what they had to say, and check back for updates later tonight and tomorrow morning!

From September 4-14, 2014, Houston Ballet launches its 45th season with the company premiere of John Neumeier's three-act ballet A Midsummer Night's Dream. The ballet is based on Shakespeare's lighthearted play of the same name and follows the hijinks and hilarity that ensues when a well-intentioned plan with a love potion goes awry. Created in 1977, A Midsummer Night's Dream has served as Mr. Neumeier's calling card, being seen as one of his most joyous and popular creations. Houston Ballet is the first American ballet company to perform the famous work and it is the first piece by Mr. Neumeier to enter the Houston Ballet repertoire.

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.

Much to the excitement of guitar aficionados across the globe, celebrated guitarist Marty Walsh released his eagerly awaited debut instrumental solo album 'The Total Plan' on June 16th 2014! Making the release even more thrilling is the array of guest artists appearing on the release – Billy Sherwood (YES/CIRCA:), John “JR” Robinson (Rufus, Eric Clapton, Mike Oldfield/Steve Winwood) and a multitude of LA Studio Legends.

The Kleban Foundation's 24th annual Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre lyricist has been awarded to Nathan Tysen and the 24th annual Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre librettist has been awarded to Arthur Perlman.The 2014 prizes will be presented tonight, June 23, 2014, in a private ceremony (by invitation only) hosted by ASCAP and BMI.

Coming immediately on the heels of the always emotionally taxing Hometown visits, each of Season XIII's remaining Idols performed three songs on Wednesday's penultimate performance show. The first round was made up of songs suggested by the surprisingly not-worthless 'full-time' mentor, Randy Jackson. The next round was songs that the judging panel of Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez, and Harry Connick Jr. selected, and the final round consisted of songs the Top-3 had previously performed on the show and were determined by their hometown fans (and by hometown fans, I mean the show's producers).

The Kleban Foundation just announced that the 24th annual Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre lyricist has been awarded to Nathan Tysen and the 24th annual Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre librettist has been awarded to Arthur Perlman.The 2014 prizes will be presented on Monday, June 23, 2014, in a private ceremony (by invitation only) hosted by ASCAP and BMI.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced today that the 2014 Public Theater Annual Gala will present ONE THRILLING COMBINATION, a gala event directed by Ted Sperling celebrating Marvin Hamlisch, The Public Theater and the creation of A Chorus Line on Monday, June 23 at the Delacorte Theater. This unforgettable summer evening will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the creation of The Public's groundbreaking musical, A Chorus Line, and the legendary man behind the music, Marvin Hamlisch, in a one-night-only, star-studded gala to support The Public Theater. Renee Beaumont and Lizanne Rosenstein will serve as Gala Co-Chairs for this memorable evening in Central Park.

It is hard not to like The Gospel at Colonus, the current Zach revival at the Topfer Theatre. The production is at once joyous and tragic; beautifully rich and amazingly stark - it will have you on your feet swaying to heartfelt, robust gospel music and it will also push you hard in your seat as you contemplate the tragic life of the main character(s).

Mothers and Sons, the new play by four-time Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally and starring Tyne Daly, opens tonight, March 24, 2014 at Broadway's John Golden Theatre. Let's see what the critics had to say...