What Did He See? - 1988 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 7

What do 'James and the Giant Peach,' 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'George's Marvelous Medicine' all have in common? They were all written by Roald Dahl.

Stories about adults and kids swapping bodies have been around for a while. Of course, you have some classic 80's movies like 18 Again! (1988) Starring George Burns, Like Father Like Son (1987) with Kirk Cameron and Dudley Moore and even Vice Versa (1988) with Fred Savage and Judge Reinhold.

"In a story, someone had a dream. In that Dream, someone told a story." A Dream Like a Dream is one of the most celebrated Chinese theatrical masterworks of the 21st century. It was conceived and created by Stan Lai, who recently became the first Chinese theatre professional inducted into the Sibiu Walk of Fame at the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, Romania's pre-eminent performing arts event. In 2002, the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre was the first professional company to mount A Dream Like a Dream, winning Best Overall Performance, Best Costume Design and Best Supporting Actor (TragedyDrama) at the 12th Hong Kong Drama Awards. After a hiatus of 17 years, the HKRep produces this work anew, co-directed by Stan Lai and HKRep Assistant Artistic Director Fung Wai Hang, with special guests Louisa So, three-time Hong Kong Drama Award Best Actor Poon Chan Leung and ViuTV series star Cecilia Choi from My Very Short Marriage leading a 30-member cast of HKRep company members and other outstanding local actors. The production runs from July 28th to September 8th at The Box, Freespace, Art Park, West Kowloon Cultural District. On July 11th, a limited number of tickets will be available for sale for the preview performance (July 27th) and the production run from URBTIX outlets and the West Kowloon Cultural District.

Ahead of her returning three-show run at Feinstein's54 Below this week, Tony winner Joanna Gleason sat down for a phone interview with BroadwayWorld to discuss her love-and-understanding letter to her parents and the lessons loss (and performing after loss) has taught her.

The French Institute Alliance Fran aise (FIAF), New York's premier French cultural and language center, today announced the 2019 Crossing the Line Festival, featuring 11 performances and a gallery exhibition from a geographically, generationally, and artistically diverse group of artists whose work transcends genres and boundaries. All performances are world, US, or New York premieres; they are united by their convention-breaking fearlessness as they confront topics from social injustice to personal demons. Many of the performances pay homage to legendary artists of our time and previous eras, while the theme of migration and its transformational effects on identity informs several others. The festival runs from September 12 to October 12. Ticket are available at crossingtheline.org.

To close out its 55th season, Orange County's Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory is mounting David Henry Hwang's intriguing and mysterious play M. BUTTERFLY, using the playwright's much more layered and riveting 2017 Broadway revival as its source material. Marked assuredly by powerful, gripping performances, this admirable OC staging---directed with clarifying precision by Desdemona Chiang that continues through June 8 in Costa Mesa---keeps you at the edge of your seat, as it unpacks a story filled with wobbly uncertainties and vague declarations. A beautifully complex production that echoes sentiments of gender conformity/fluidity crossed with geopolitical issues that still resonate in today's ever-changing world, M. BUTTERFLY---particularly with this strong new update instituted by the original playwright himself---is definitely worth seeing.

Samuel Beckett's masterpiece HAPPY DAYS has already begun previews May 15, 2019 at the Mark Taper Forum, with Dianne Wiest taking center stage as Winnie, partially buried in the sand. Providing a foil for her non-stop, almost-soliloquy, Michael Rudko portrays Willie, Winnie's mostly unseen husband. Michael found some time to answer a few of my inquisitive queries.

Ute Lemper talks to BroadwayWorld UK about her role in Rendezvous with Marlene, her 'personal homage to that great lady', at the Arcola Theatre

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS opened at Resident Theater Company in Pennsylvania on March 29 and is running through April 14, 2019.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a show that is both fun and funny.  The Resident Theater Company has once again upped their game and produced a very high quality show.  Their tagline of 'NY Theatre in West Chester' is no mere hyperbole. 

Birdland will kick-off their exciting month of programming with Benny Green, The James Carter Organ Trio, Joao Bosco, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Frank Catalano Quartet, Clint Holmes, Joe Alterman, Aubrey Logan, Sheila Jordan, Dena DeRose, The Jive Aces, Michael Wolff, Jason Kravits, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, and more!

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Grab your coffee and catch up on today's top stories from around the Broadway World!

Funny lady Julia Sweeney brings her latest one-woman show JULIA SWEENEY: OLDER & WIDER to the Geffen's Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater stage for a limited comedy engagement February 5 through February 10, 2019. I had the pleasure of delving into the comedic genius of this Saturday Night Live/The Groundlings alumnus, getting some very insightful responses.

Choreographer extraordinaire Matthew Bourne, already a force of nature in the British dance arena since 1988, turned the international dance world upside down with his ground-breaking SWAN LAKE in 1995. His unique take on CINDERELLA will land at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre beginning February 5, 2019, as part of its international tour. I had the wonderful occasion to interview Andrew Monaghan, who's dancing the dual lead role of Cinderella's heroic pilot Harry, as well as, The Prince.

The Actors' Gang Theater presents an exhibition featuring the artworks of Ralph Steadman and Dario Fo, to accompany the run of ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST, which will open this Saturday, February 2nd and will continue until March 9th. Written by Italian playwright and Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo, translated by Jon Laskin and Michael Aquilante and directed by Will Thomas McFadden, the play began its run on Thursday, January 24th.

On Wednesday, March 6, 2019 at 7:30pm, Bang on a Can will present the 2019 Bang on a Can People's Commissioning Fund (PCF) concert, one of the most anticipated and reliable launching pads for composers in New York and beyond. The performance is presented as part of Kaufman Music Center's Ecstatic Music Festival at Merkin Hall (Kaufman Music Center, 129 W. 67th St.) and a New Sounds Live co-presentation with host John Schaefer, streamed live at www.newsounds.org. 

A re-occurring staple of Tracy Letts' plays, Ian Barford heads the cast of LINDA VISTA, already in previews at the Mark Taper Forum. Ian allocated some of his down time between shows to answer a few of my queries.

Fame is said to be fleeting, but it isn't in London -- at least not where the musical is concerned.

February 8 will see the release via the venerable Bar/None label of Songs From Robin Hood Lane and From Memphis to New Orleans, two thought-provoking looks at an often overlooked period of Alex Chilton's long, curious career.  He was at the height of his cult star fame in the mid 1980s to mid 1990s when he made these recordings. It is some of his best most honest work oddly neglected for some time but delivered here for enthusiasts and neophytes alike. All these recordings have been out of print for decades.

Next week, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond.

 Roy Clark, the legendary 'superpicker', GRAMMY, CMA and ACMaward winner, Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry member and co-host of the famed 'Hee Haw' television series, died today at the age of 85 due to complications from pneumonia at home in Tulsa, Okla.

Stephen Lawless will be directing the San Diego Opera's production of The Marriage of Figaro this week. I met with him in the opera company's rehearsal room recently to discuss that, how he came to be a director, and his views of a director's responsibilities.

Jamie Lloyd is marking the 10th anniversary of Harold Pinter's death in remarkable style with his Pinter at the Pinter season, staging all the great man's 20 short plays, plus some sketches and poetry – grouped into seven productions – at the theatre which now bears his name.

It's the day of the show, y'all: The Nashville premiere of Mart Crowley's The Boys in the Band is tonight - at The Barbershop Theatre, 4003 Indiana Avenue in The Nations - and six of the actors portraying Crowley's now-iconic characters took time from tech week to answer questions about their processes and to offer their reasons for why you should come see the show.