Wonderful Town - 1994 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 11

As part of BroadwayWorld's expansive coverage of the 69th Annual Tony Awards, we are providing the full text of all of the 2015 Tony Award acceptance speeches; from the emotional to the bizarre, and everything in between. Keep up with all of the winners' speeches on our continuously updated list.

After auditioning performers in New York City, Los Angeles and Sacramento, California Musical Theatre has confirmed casting for all six shows in the 65th Music Circus season. The stellar cast for the season is loaded with Broadway veterans, some of whom are making their Music Circus debuts, Tony nominees and audience favorites from previous Music Circus productions.

Disney's Newsies will claim Nashville as their own hometown with a weeklong run at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center beginning Tuesday, Osborne and Eppler's Southern Fried Nuptials takes the stage in Woodbury, and local favorite Geoff Davin unveils his latest theatrical creation - Adamenses Huckster…and there's plenty of theater continuing this week to keep you occupied all week long!

It's the official kick-off to summer, what with the Memorial Day Weekend upon us already - seriously, where did the time go? - and while we're certain your calendar is filled with cookouts, fireworks (we don't save all the sparklers for July 4th do we?) and swimming (if it warms up enough here in frosty Tennessee, where it's in the 50s as I type). But being the theatrical fanatic that we (using either the editorial "we" or the royal "we"…just take your pick) are, we would like to humbly suggest you make your way to the theater in the next few days to get some artistic inspiration.

Powerful, moving and ripe for revival, Inge's drama is not simply a breezy summer romance. Set in small town Kansas, this is a sexy world, dangerous and cruel, where residents keep each other in their place while longing to break free. At once sensual, passionate and delightfully funny, Picnic probes the sometimes tenuous line between restraint and desire.

It's been a busy spring in Tennessee and as we head into summer, you can rest assured that things are only going to get busier - and more interesting. Our advice? Hydrate yourself (drink plenty of water before heading out), dress comfortably (but tasteful) and head out for a night at the theater. You'll be inspired, entertained and possibly even transported to some far-away world of wonder and imagination. 

Generations around the world have grown up with Fiddler on the Roof and such unforgettable, iconic songs as "If I Were a Rich Man" and "Sunrise, Sunset." But getting to the "final Fiddler" was a fascinating process, and on May 30, 31 and June 1-closing the 2015 Lyrics & Lyricists season-lyricist Sheldon Harnick takes us inside the creation and history of this cultural landmark.

A dazzling display of Broadway stars come out to celebrate the careers of one of the theatre's most successful brother/sister dance combos.

Geva Theatre Center presents Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike - Christopher Durang's laugh-out-loud, Tony Award-winning comedy, directed by Bruce Jordan. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike begins performances May 5, opens May 9, and runs in the Elaine P. Wilson Mainstage through May 31.

The New York Times writes that John Turturro will star in ZORBA! for Encores!, running May 6-10, 2015.

For 45 years, the National Theater Institute has offered young theater artists a springboard to the professional world at the two-time Tony Award-winning Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. With a singular schedule and an unmatched breadth of training, NTI's credit-earning, semester-long programs are taught by industry professionals and master teachers like Alexander Gemignani.

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.

In celebration of Frank Sinatra's centennial year, new, career-spanning collections of the entertainment icon's timeless music have been compiled for worldwide CD and digital release on April 21 by Capitol/UMe.

The critically acclaimed New York, Off-Broadway hit musical Inside Out will celebrate its 20-year anniversary at the Grove Theatre Center in Burbank, CA tonight, February 12th - March 22nd, it was announced by Kritzerland Entertainment and PlayWorks Music.

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.

Under the direction of Producing Artistic Director Bill Berry, The 5th Avenue Theatre presents a fresh and exciting new take on the tempestuous romance, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel. In its fourth major collaboration with Spectrum Dance Theater, The 5th is thrilled to welcome Tony Award-nominated choreographer Donald Byrd to the creative table, and a host of Seattle's theatrical royalty to its stage.

The critically acclaimed New York, Off-Broadway hit musical Inside Out will celebrate its 20-year anniversary at the Grove Theatre Center in Burbank, CA February 12th - March 22nd, it was announced today by Kritzerland Entertainment and PlayWorks Music. Veteran TV/Film/Theatre/Actor/ Author/Performer/Playwright and CEO of Kritzerland Records Bruce Kimmel has been set to direct the musical by Doug Haverty (book and lyrics) and Adryan Russ (lyrics and music). An all-star female ensemble/cast of six features Sandy Bainum, Cynthia Ferrer, Stephanie Fredricks, Dana Meller, Leslie Stevens and Adrienne Visnic. Preview performances are February 12th and 13th with the show's official opening scheduled for February 14th.

To mark the Centenary of Arthur Miller's birth and the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Richard Beecham will direct a revival of Miller'sPlaying for Time in the Crucible. Beecham directs Kate Adams (Helene), Noa Bodner (Esther), Pascale Burgess (Elzvieta), Imogen Daines (Etalina),Emma Darlow (Liesl), Holly De Jong (Schmidt), James Duke (Mengele / Kapo / Cellist / Paul), Amanda Hadingue (Alma Rose), Melanie Heslop(Marianne), Rebecca Jenkins (Varya), Kate Lynn-Evans (Mandel), Maeve O'Sullivan (Greta / Olga), Sian Phillips (Fania), Danny Scheinmann (Schmuel / Captain Heinz / Second Chess Player / First Trooper), Augustina Seymour (Paulette/ Music Captain), Christopher Staines (Commandant Kramer / 1st Chess Player / SS Guard / Kapo / Pianist) and Alexia Traverse-Healy (Mala / Tchaikowska). Completing the cast are 17 members of Sheffield People's Theatre - the theatre's intergenerational acting company from across the region.

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!' on February 7, 8 and 9, 2015 at 92Y.

This exciting new staging will star the radiant Laura Griffith as Julie and 5th Avenue favorite Brandon O'Neill as Billy in his first Seattle production following his Broadway debut in Disney's Aladdin. The cast also includes local luminaries Anne Allgood, Eric Ankrim, Allen Fitzpatrick, Sean G. Griffin, Cynthia Jones, and Billie Wildrick, and marks The 5th Avenue debut of rising talent Joshua Downs.

This year, ASCAP brings its 100th birthday celebration into the holiday season by unwrapping the top 30 ASCAP holiday songs of all time. Topping the list is 'Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,' written by Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie.

According to a column in the New York Post, Donna Murphy will be playing 'Norma Desmond' in a reading of SUNSET BOULEVARD, directed by Michael Mayer at Roundabout Theatre Company this week.

Compared to Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek as Katerina Ismailova in LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK at the Met, Barbara Stanwyck and Lana Turner were couple of pikers in their film noir triumphs, “Double Indemnity” and “The Postman Always Rings Twice.” Westbroek kills her father-in-law with rat poison, strangles her husband with her lover's belt and, as the piece de resistence, drowns her lover's new girlfriend, while going under herself. And she has to do it all while effortlessly singing Shostakovich's demanding score. What a dame!

Confirming previously reported rumors, the new project will be a collaboration between Sondheim and contemporary American playwright David Ives. The project, whose title was not announced, will be based on two classic films by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel. The two separate films will be the basis for one complete story which the characters will exist in seamlessly. The first half will be based on The 1972 film 'The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie' and the second half will be based on the 1962 film 'The Exterminating Angel.'

Paper Mill Playhouse will open its 2014-2015 season with a Broadway-bound, world-class revival of Can-Can starring Kate Baldwin as Pistache and Jason Danieley as Aristide. Can-Can will play the Millburn, New Jersey, theater from tonight, October 1 through October 26, 2014. The official press opening night is Sunday, October 5, at 7:00pm.