BWW Interview: PAINT YOUR WAGON's Robert Cuccioli
by Kristen Hirsch Montag - Aug 8, 2016
Tony nominee Robert Cuccioli has a long career on stage and an unusual path to get there. He comes to the Ordway stage in an all-new production of Lerner & Loewe's PAINT YOUR WAGON that the Ordway is collaborating with Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre on, which includes a new book and orchestrations.
BWW Interview: Let the Sun Shine In: Mark Martino Directs MAMMA MIA at MSMT
by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold - Aug 1, 2016
'We are excited to have the audience open its eyes to some sunshine. [Artistic Director] Curt Dale Clark and I were just saying this morning that this has been an intense season so far, and Fiddler on the Roof and Evita cannot let in much sun. But we stream that light in Mamma Mia, and we hope it will provide a chance to breathe in the joy of the Greek Isles. If we do it right, we will all feel an uplift.'
Director/choreographer Mark Martino is waxing eloquent about his latest project and one which constitutes his Maine State Music Theatre debut: a new production of the 2001 Broadway smash it musical Mamma Mia, based on the songs of ABBA. Martino has what he calls 'a very short history' with the show, having mounted a production for the first time in June of this year at the Theatre Aspen. 'The two will be staged very differently,' he explains. 'Aspen is a 200-seat thrust stage, and here they have a 600-seat proscenium theatre. The Pickard Theater gives me an opportunity to expand the show. Our cast at MSMT is about one third larger than in Colorado - some twenty-seven actors - which is even a bit larger than the twenty-four in the original Broadway production. The production values are going to be large and lavish, and the cast has a huge amount of energy, so for me it is an opportunity to revisit the show and make different pictures and entirely different choreography.'
Regional Roundup: Top 10 Stories This Week Around the Broadway World - 7/29; MAMMA MIA! at The Muny, MARY POPPINS with Kara Lindsay, CABARET at Music Circus & More!
by BWW Special Coverage - Jul 29, 2016
This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature stories in Raleigh, Sacramento, St. Louis and more. Check out our top 10 stories around our Broadway World below, which include MAMMA MIA! at The Muny, MARY POPPINS in Raleigh, and CABARET at California Music Circus, just to name a few.
BWW Interview: Jackie Burns of IF/THEN at Bushnell Theatre
by Joseph Harrison - Jul 25, 2016
Do you ever wonder what your life would have been like if you had made different choices? Would you have a different job? A different love? Would your life have been better, or maybe worse? In the first show of Hartford's 2016-2017 Bushnell Broadway Series, IF/THEN, one woman finds herself at the intersection of choice and chance, and takes audiences on a journey guided by the whims of fate. Playing, Elizabeth, the woman whose life splits into parallel paths due to one fateful choice, is Jackie Burns, a Connecticut native who is returning to her home state to bring this contemporary musical to the Bushnell stage. I caught up with Jackie to talk about the show and hear how it feels to return home with IF/THEN.
BWW Blog: Clevelander's Invade Canada for the Shaw Festival 2016
by Roy Berko - Jul 25, 2016
Walking down Queen Street, the main shopping boulevard in beautiful Niagara-on-the Lake, during the third week of July, was like being in downtown Cleveland. Cav championship t-shirts and Indian's garb were worn by many of the strollers. Our Toronto friends shared that in almost every play they attended, their neighbors on one or both sides of their seats were from the Cleveland area.
BWW Interview: Baayork Lee - A CHORUS LINE Original Still Stepping Up to the Line
by Gil Kaan - Jul 25, 2016
To any A CHORUS LINE aficionado, the mere mention of Baayork Lee will conjure up vivid memories of the original Connie Wong - the youthful-looking, 4'10' Asian-American, perky dynamo who repeatedly evaded revealing her biological age to Zach, the interviewing choreographer. Now in 2016, Baayork will be choreographing and directing her most recent production of A CHORUS LINE at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
Joseph J. Vitale Releases WHAT I WOULD DO AS U.S. PRESIDENT
by Christina Mancuso - Jul 13, 2016
NILES, Ohio, July 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-iReach/ Joseph J. Vitale, 91-year-old former U.S. Marine, railroad supervisor, prize fighter, father of four, widower, and author, released a new book 'What I Would Do As U.S. President.'
