What a Life - 1938 - Broadway Articles Page 8

FringeArts has announced the full roster of programming for the 26th Annual Philadelphia Fringe Festival, a city-wide celebration of progressive, world-class art that expands the imagination and boldly defies expectations. The Festival will take place on September 8 through October 2.

On Saturday, July 23rd, I had the pleasure of seeing a truly first-rate production, a phenomenal performance of one of the greatest musicals ever written!  Musicals at Richter, in Danbury, continues with their legacy of providing audiences what we yearn for in live theater, the right shows with the right cast.  Rodgers and Hammerstein’s THE SOUND OF MUSIC was the perfect show to see outdoors on this lovely July night. Under the excellent direction of Jessica Smith, musical direction of Adam Snyder, and choreography of Lindsay Miller, this stellar cast truly made the hills come alive, on this new stage featuring a stunning set designed by John McMahon, complete with moveable pieces. The cast members radiate positive energy from the stage, truly entertaining the audience, and having fun playing their roles!

The MusicUNTOLD Orchestra and Los Angeles Master Chorale present the West Coast premiere of American composer Roy Harris’ Bicentennial Symphony.

After a grenade hits him on the battlefield, a soldier wakes up in hospital without his limbs, eyes, ears and mouth. Based on the 1938 anti-war novel by American writer Dalton Trumbo and created by Essi Rossi, Johannes Holopainen and Pauli Riikonen, this emotionally charged new show examines the life-changing impact fighting in World War I had on the returning soldiers.

For two weeks now Brunswick’s Pickard Theater has been “alive with the sound of music,’ but on June 15 Hanley Smith and Will Ray, the stars of MSMT’s brilliant new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s THE SOUND OF MUSIC, joined MSMT Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark and BWW Maine Regional Editor Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold to celebrate the joy, inspiration, and continued resonance of this timeless musical at the first Peek Behind the Curtain program in three years. The popular panel discussion series held at Curtis Memorial Library returned to an enthusiastic, capacity audience for an hour of conversation about what Clark called “the quintessential American musical and the perfect show to launch post-pandemic MSMT’s Revival Season.”

The rebellious country-blues anthem is accompanied by a spectacular official music video – co-starring New Zealand-based actress Olivia Tennet (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Power Rangers RPM) and Ling Zhang of Parris Goebel’s esteemed Royal Family Dance Crew – premiering today at YouTube.

“Marc Robin ‘s vision for this production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC is that of a joyful, hopeful child,” says Hanley Smith, the actress who makes her debut as Maria von Trapp this week as Maine State Music Theatre kicks off its “Revival Season.” Describing the lens through which director/choreographer Robin views the piece, she continues, “This production comes from a very joyful, youthful place at the same time that there is an awareness of the weight and import of the story. In the face of deep darkness in the world, the light becomes all the brighter. Marc knows how to create both those worlds and the battle between them and make you really want the light to win. And you believe it CAN win. And that is not naïveté; that is an act of courage.”

Fountain Hills Theater announces their 2022-23 season. What has 20 Tony Awards, 27 Drama Desk Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and sings and dances? The Fountain Hills Theater’s 2022-23 season! In the most exciting, creative season in years, Artistic Director Peter J. Hill and Youth Theater Artistic Director Ross Collins have selected a spectacular season that features the single most award-winning series of plays and musicals ever presented by one theater in the history of the Valley of the Sun!

The world premiere Pillow-exclusive engagement, America(na) to Me, will kick off Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2022 in the opening week of the Festival – as the first week-long performance in the newly renovated Ted Shawn Theatre – from June 22-26.

Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1938 three-act play OUR TOWN has a superb new iteration now performing at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, CA through June 4, 2022. Directed by Beth Lopes, the show employs a wonderfully diverse cast, as it re-stages its seemingly ordinary but ultimately impactful vignettes of everyday life.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Our Town is a triumphant production of vitality, and consequence. Thornton Wilder’s classic—a work that captures the universal experience of being alive—takes on new resonance and depth in the capable hands of an extraordinary ensemble. This play is immediate—one to see and share and talk about.

Arizona Opera announced casting today for their vibrant 2022/23 Season, which will feature an exciting array of productions, ranging from beloved classics to new works, including a return to five in-theater shows in both Phoenix and Tucson.

The Pulitzer Prize Board has just announced that Fat Ham has won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Other finalists included: Selling Kabul, and Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord.

The Pulitzer Prize Board today will present the 2022 award winners for Prizes in Journalism, Books, Drama and Music. Who will win this year? Tune in right here at 3pm to watch the announcement live!

In Other People's Shoes Productions and Camp Bob Waldorf today announced an innovative partnership to provide young people a rare opportunity to participate in theater dramaturgy sessions with professional actors and a master playwright.

Beginning with a world-premiere musical in summer 2022, the upcoming season features two new Power Plays, a classic romantic comedy, a timely new drama, a quirky cult musical and a landmark work of the American theater.

After 100 years of producing musicals, comedies and dramas, Theatre Memphis has (like any other theatre lucky enough to be around this long) produced its fair share of 'clunkers' and 'classics.' Some of them were 'classics' which turned out to be 'clunkers,' but many of them, as of late, have turned out to be 'classics' that have been made to feel fresh and relatable (which is no small feat). Most community theatres across America pull out well-known titles as they rely more on the title of the show to fill the seats rather than on the actual people pulling the show together.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC's built-in charm and charisma is indeed very much present in McCoy Rigby Entertainment's latest stage iteration of this classic stage production, now playing at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts through May 15, 2022. Filled with visually-captivating production values, a gorgeous-sounding orchestral sound, and an overall, infectiously winning spirit, this new production is a fun, pleasantly nostalgic throwback to the old-fashioned Broadway book musical.

Chicago Writers’ Bloc announced that it will celebrate its 30th Anniversary with a benefit and staged readings of 10 new works presented as part of its 2022 New Plays Festival, running May 23 to June 14 at the Raven Theater in Edgewater.

Crawford again joins forces with pianist Victor Santiago Asunción, and on three tracks with guitarist JIJI, perform a survey of Latin American music that includes works by Leo Brouwer, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Carlos Guastavino, Manuel Ponce, Egberto Gismonti, and Astor Piazzolla.

Recently concluding performances at Theater for the New City, The UnAmerican questions the power that is supposedly given to those who believe they are above the consensus of the many. Directed by Joe John Battista, Solnik’s play follows the troubled triad of relationships between Marilyn Monroe, Elia Kazan and Arthur Miller - three legendary figures who are criticized and tried for their Communist affiliation

This week I saw productions of two decades-old musicals, each written by one of theatre's great composer/lyricists, which, in their original productions, ran a combined total of nine performances on Broadway.

Theater J has announced Theater J’s 32nd season, which includes five plays and a bonus return engagement of a musical masterpiece.

Grammy Award-winner Alex Klein, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's principal oboe emeritus, and pianist Phillip Bush perform works by composers from both sides of the Atlantic who were caught up in or deeply moved by 20th-century political turmoil on When There Are No Words: Revolutionary Works for Oboe and Piano, available March 11, 2022.

PEN America today announced writer and Emmy Award-winning late night host Seth Meyers, who has uplifted countless authors’ voices—as the host for the organization’s 2022 Literary Awards, which return this year as a momentous in-person event, on February 28 at New York City’s Town Hall (123 W 43rd St).