Wonderful Town - 2003 - Broadway Articles Page 16

Can you believe that it's already time to celebrate Independence Day - aka The Fourth of July - with the biggest-in-the-country fireworks display right here in Music City USA? We know how to celebrate America's Independence right here in Nashville and we expect even more tourists (playwright/actor/director/producer/bon vivant Del Shores is in town, for example, to get a taste of a down-home good time) than normal to fill our city's streets over the four-day holiday weekend.

The Playwrights Foundation's 38th Annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival (BAPF) runs July 17-26, 2015 at the Tides Theatre in San Francisco. BAPF 2015 builds on the festival's historic legacy of innovation in theater that then moves to theaters across the country.

Looking for a way to beat the heat this weekend? What's better than sinking into a seat in a darkened auditorium and letting the talented actors onstage whisk you way to a whole different world from the world iin which you toil Monday through Friday? Theater companies throughout the midstate are ready to dazzle you with their latest productions and here are some of this weekend's best bets...

Looking for an early summer diversion? We're happy to suggest some theatrical offerings to occupy your time, to keep you out of the heat and humidity - which seems to have really descended upon us this past week - and place you smack in the middle of a darkened auditorium that's certain to cool you down while entertaining you in high style…

We pride ourselves on our bounteous Southern hospitality here in Nashville, so who's gonna explain this: On Thursday, as thousands of country music fans gathered downtown for CMA Fest and thousands more fans of every musical genre you can think of were headed southward for the Bonnaroo Music Festival - just another summer in Tennessee, mind you - a truck spilled its load all over Interstate 65-S, adding to the hot, humid atmosphere with a whole mess of fish parts. Yep, you heard it right: smelly, disgusting fish parts baking on the hot asphalt under the blazing sun.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show. Thus, we are happy to present a new feature: The Nashville Theater Calendar, a comprehensive - maybe even exhaustive (lord knows we're exhausted from putting it together, gathering all the info from all over the interwebs!) - listing of theatrical openings for the 2015/16 season. We'll update the calendar every Monday, clearing out the shows that have closed and adding additional information on the shows still to come.

It's another busy weekend of new shows opening and many others continuing to delight audiences, with ACT 1's Dog Sees God and Street Theatre Company's Dogfight both opening tonight, while two shows that opened yesterday will continue to treat audiences to some especially wonderful music. Plus, there's a whole slate of shows being performed at Crossville's Cumberland County Playhouse, a revival of Osborne & Epplers' Southern Fried Nuptials down in Woodbury at the Arts Center of Cannon County, and John Chaffin's Cliffhanger enters its final weekend at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre. Go to the theater, young man (and woman) and let yourself be transported to a whole new world of magic and enchantment!

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening around us that it's difficult to keep track of it all. Thus, we are happy to present a new feature: The Nashville Theater Calendar, which is a comprehensive listing of theatrical openings,that will be updated each week, for the 2015/16 season.

The Colony Theatre has announced that the final production of its historic 40thAnniversary season, the critically-acclaimed, smash-hit, Los Angeles Premiere of WORDS BY IRA GERSHWIN A Musical Play by Joseph Vass, directed by David Ellenstein, Musical Director Kevin Toney, Musical Arranger Joseph Vass will be EXTENDING through SUNDAY, MAY 24 at the Colony Theatre, 555 N. Third Street in Burbank.

For 2015 Theater at Monmouth has planned a season of Magic, Murder, and Mayhem! Season 46 peeks into nature of reality and illusion, pokes fun at the foibles and fables of romances young and old, and will prick-up the hairs on the back of your neck. From Shakespeare to Stoppard and Coward to James, the 2015 Season is sure to be a perception-altering ride.

Erik Heger returns to the Guthrie as the man at the center of an Arthur Miller masterwork, THE CRUCIBLE. Directed by Joe Dowling in his final season as Guthrie artistic director, the play can be seen on the Wuertle thrust stage.

Today we are talking to a terrifically talented triple-threat who made a major mark on Broadway with her star turns in GYPSY and WICKED before appearing this season in the brand new Shakespeare-themed musical comedy SOMETHING ROTTEN!, the effortlessly cute and convivial Kate Reinders. Discussing her hilarious role in the fresh Broadway musical, Reinders praises her starry assortment of co-stars - including Brian D'Arcy James, Christian Borle and John Cariani - in addition to analyzing all the details about putting a brand new musical on its feet directly before the eyes of Broadway. Additionally, Reinders shares some of her favorite moments in the show and touches upon some of the changes that have been implemented to the new Shakespeare-themed musical as it was refined over the course of previews, having opened straight in NYC without an out-of-town tryout. Besides all about her fabulously jocular turn in SOMETHING ROTTEN!, Reinders also reflects on some of her most familiar performances to date on the Great White Way and beyond, including her star-making performance in the 2003 revival of GYPSY, starring Bernadette Peters and directed by Sam Mendes, in addition to her notable run in mega-hit Oz musical WICKED. All of that, INTO THE WOODS revival memories, A YEAR WITH FROG & TOAD and much, much more!

The Colony Theatre is thrilled to present the final production of its historic 40th Anniversary season, the Los Angeles Premiere of WORDS BY IRA GERSHWIN A Musical Play by Joseph Vass, directed by David Ellenstein, Musical Director Kevin Toney, Musical Arranger Joseph Vass. WORDS BY IRA GERSHWIN will preview today, April 15; Thursday, April 16; and Friday, April 17 at 8:00pm. It will open on Saturday, April 18 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, May 17.

WICKED is back in town and what a joy that is. The Good Witch and the Bad Witch, the Flying Monkeys and the Fire Breathing Dragon, the Wizard of Oz and the Yellow Brick Road: musical theatre at its best.

The Colony Theatre is thrilled to present the final production of its historic 40th Anniversary season, the Los Angeles Premiere of WORDS BY IRA GERSHWIN A Musical Play by Joseph Vass, directed by David Ellenstein, Musical Director Kevin Toney, Musical Arranger Joseph Vass. WORDS BY IRA GERSHWIN will preview on Wednesday, April 15; Thursday, April 16; and Friday, April 17 at 8:00pm. It will open on Saturday, April 18 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, May 17.

Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) has announced its 2015-16 Season, newly named Artistic Director Sean Daniels' inaugural season.

In the coming months, Broadway will welcome a fresh crop of productions- many of which will mark the Broadway debuts for a slew of talented actors. Whether they are fresh faces or established stars, these Broadway babies will soon take their very first bows on some of the grandest stages in the world.

Gallery Players continues its 48th season with a production of the musical, The Baker's Wife. Based on the film La Femme de Boulanger by Marcel Pagnol and Jean Giono, The Baker's Wife features music and lyrics byStephen Schwartz (Wicked) and a book by Joseph Stein (Fiddler of the Roof). A modern day fable of love that has remained a cult favorite, the musical features the songs 'Meadowlark' and 'Proud Lady,' amongst the many other hidden treasures in this musical. This rarely produced musical will warm the hearts of romantics and cynics alike because this is story is not about true love but about the truth in love and how it shapes us. Directed by Barrie Gelles, The Baker's Wife will open tonight, March 7th at 8pm.

The 2015 Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), presented by AT&T, today announced its lineup of 60 short films, 40 of which are world premieres.

Tony Award-winning costume designer, JESS GOLDSTEIN (currently represented on Broadway with Jersey Boys and On the Town), and scenic designer DOUGLAS W. SCHMIDT are among the 2015 TDF/Irene Sharaff Awards recipients. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on Friday, May 1, at 6:30pm, at the Hudson Theatre (145 West 44th Street). Mr. Goldstein was selected to receive the 2015 TDF/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award for costume design and Mr. Schmidt will receive the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatrical Design.

It's no ordinary cast! Dozens of competitors bid for roles in a professionally produced stage production of the Tony Award-winning musical WONDERFUL TOWN at Bailiwick Chicago's annual CHICAGO CASTING AUCTION. Now, they're ready to take the stage for five performances only, tonight, February 25 - 28, 2015 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. With book by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Leonard Bernstein, WONDERFUL TOWN is directed by Bailiwick Chicago Company Member Varris Holmes* with music direction by Kyle Pollio and choreography by Company Member Jon Martinez*.

Gallery Players continues its 48th season with a production of the musical, The Baker's Wife. Based on the film La Femme de Boulanger by Marcel Pagnol and Jean Giono, The Baker's Wife features music and lyrics byStephen Schwartz (Wicked) and a book by Joseph Stein (Fiddler of the Roof). A modern day fable of love that has remained a cult favorite, the musical features the songs 'Meadowlark' and 'Proud Lady,' amongst the many other hidden treasures in this musical. This rarely produced musical will warm the hearts of romantics and cynics alike because this is story is not about true love but about the truth in love and how it shapes us. Directed by Barrie Gelles, The Baker's Wife will open on Saturday, March 7th at 8pm.

The National Theater Institute is committed to diverse theatrical and educational experiences. Therefore, two weeks of each semester are spent in-residence in one of the world's most prominent theater capitals -- the NTI Semester and NTI-Advanced Programs study in London -- while the National Music Theater Institute train in New York City. In both cities, students met with alumni of the National Theater Institute who shared their theatrical experience, NTI stories, professional advice, and insight into the various ways to make a life in the theater. Today, RISK AGAIN! introduces them to you!

Artistic director Charles Busch -- in his Lyrics & Lyricists debut -- serves up a cavalcade of stories and songs about the legendary women of Hollywood's movie musical Golden Age in 'Here's to the Girls!' this weekend, February 7, 8 and 9, 2015 at 92Y.