Xanadu - 2007 - Broadway Articles Page 12

Urban Stages Founding Artistic Director Frances Hill and producer Peter Napolitano present the World Premiere of Character Man as part of its 30th Anniversary season. Jim Brochu's new musical memoir begins an Off-Broadway run at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street) February 28th, with opening night set for Wednesday March 5th. This limited run will continue through March 30th only. Robert Bartley directs, with musical direction by Carl Haan. Character Man will have scenic & video design by Patrick Brennan, lighting design by Meghan Santelli and sound design by Sean Hagerty.

Chance Theater presents the first show of its 16th Anniversary Season - the hilarious modern musical adaptation of Aristophanes' classic comedy, Lysistrata Jones, with music by Tony Award nominee Douglas Carter Beane, music and lyrics by Lewis Flinn, and direction by Kari Hayter. Lysistrata Jones will preview from February 7 through 14, open February 15 and continue through March 9 at the new Chance Theater.

American Stage Theatre Company kicks off the new year with August Wilson's 2 TRAINS RUNNING. They are excited to present their seventh installment of their August Wilson Century Cycle. Previews are January 22 and 23. Opening Night is January 24 and the production runs through February 23, 2014.

A new production of Johann Strauss Jr.'s New Year's Eve classic, the comedic operetta Die Fledermaus, will open at the Met tonight, December 31, with two Broadway stars appearing.

A new production of Johann Strauss Jr.'s New Year's Eve classic, the comedic operetta Die Fledermaus, will open at the Met on December 31. Jeremy Sams, writer and creator of the Met's Baroque pasticheThe Enchanted Island, makes his company debut as director with the new staging, which is set in Vienna at the turn of the 20thcentury. Sams also contributes new lyrics for Strauss's work, which will be performed entirely in English; Tony Award-nominated playwright Douglas Carter Beane makes his Met debut with new dialogue. Adam Fischer conducts a cast of rising opera stars and Broadway performers. The cast is led by Susanna Phillips and Christopher Maltman as the unhappily married Rosalinde and Eisenstein; Jane Archibald as Rosalinde's feisty maid, Adele; Anthony Roth Costanzo as Prince Orlofsky; Michael Fabiano as Rosalinde's former lover, Alfred; Paulo Szot as the bumbling Dr. Falke; and Patrick Carfizzi as the prison superintendent, Frank. Broadway stars Danny Burstein and Betsy Wolfe make Met debuts as the drunken jailer, Frosch, and Adele's sister, Ida. Robert Jones is set and costume designer for the production, with lighting design by Jennifer Schriever and choreography by Stephen Mear in their Met debuts.

Presented by Mary J. Davis, DISASTER! is the hilarious, acclaimed 1970s disaster movie musical now playing Off-Broadway at the St. Luke's Theatre (308 W. 46th Street). DISASTER! is written by Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick, directed by Mr. Plotnick, and has choreography by Denis Jones. A send-up of the 1970s disaster movie genre, DISASTER! features some of the best songs of the 1970s, including 'Hot Stuff,' 'Don't Bring Me Down,' 'I Am Woman,' 'Alone Again Naturally,' 'Signed Sealed Delivered,' 'Knock On Wood,' 'Daybreak' 'Sky High,' and more.

Don't Quit Your Night Job recently returned to New York City at its new home, 54 Below. Joining creators Steve Rosen, Sarah Saltzberg and Dan Lipton were Derrick Baskin (Memphis), Jen Cody (The Frog Princess), Lea DeLaria (Orange Is The New Black), Tony Nominee Hunter Foster (Hands On A Hardbody),Asmeret Ghebremichael (The Book Of Mormon), Jackie Hoffman (Xanadu), Tony Nominee Celia Keenan-Bolger(Glass Menagerie), Jason Kravits (Relatively Speaking) ,Zachary Levi (First Date), Caleb McLaughlin (The Lion King), Maurice Murphy (Motown), Brynn O'Malley (Annie, Honeymoon In Vegas) and Emily Rosenfeld (Annie), with DJ's Andrew Andrew (Girls), and a special visit from David Rossmer. Check out photos from the concert below!

The Little Orchestra Society presents Music Under the Big Top, an evening of entertainment and musical acrobatics for audiences of all ages at Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center on December 10, 2013. This first of its kind program for The Little Orchestra Society, conducted and co-hosted by new Music Director James Judd, will feature the Orchestra performing an eclectic array of classic and contemporary pieces in the ring of the Big Apple Circus joined by the talented violinist and composer Daniel Roumain. See Judd andRoumain discuss the upcoming concert on The Little Orchestra Society's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/LittleOrchestraSoc.

The Little Orchestra Society presents Music Under the Big Top, an evening of entertainment and musical acrobatics for audiences of all ages at Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center on December 10, 2013. This first of its kind program for The Little Orchestra Society, conducted and co-hosted by new Music Director James Judd, will feature the Orchestra performing an eclectic array of classic and contemporary pieces in the ring of the Big Apple Circus joined by the talented violinist and composer Daniel Roumain. See Judd andRoumain discuss the upcoming concert on The Little Orchestra Society's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/LittleOrchestraSoc.

Mary Birdsong (Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, "Reno 911") will join the cast of DISASTER!, the hilarious, acclaimed 1970s disaster movie musical now playing Off-Broadway at the St. Luke's Theatre (308 W. 46th Street) on Monday, December 9th. Ms. Birdsong will take over the role of lounge singer "Jackie," played by Michele Ragusa, whose final performance will be on Friday, December 6th.

A new production of Johann Strauss Jr.'s New Year's Eve classic, the comedic operetta Die Fledermaus, will open at the Met on December 31. Jeremy Sams, writer and creator of the Met's Baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island, makes his company debut as director with the new staging, which is set in Vienna at the turn of the 20th century. Sams also contributes new lyrics for Strauss's work, which will be performed entirely in English; Tony Award-nominated playwright Douglas Carter Beane makes his Met debut with new dialogue. Adam Fischer conducts a cast of rising opera stars and Broadway performers. The cast is led by Susanna Phillips and Christopher Maltman as the unhappily married Rosalinde and Eisenstein; Jane Archibald as Rosalinde's feisty maid, Adele; Anthony Roth Costanzo as Prince Orlofsky; Michael Fabiano as Rosalinde's former lover, Alfred; Paulo Szot as the bumbling Dr. Falke; and Patrick Carfizzi as the prison superintendent, Frank. Broadway stars Danny Burstein and Betsy Wolfe make Met debuts as the drunken jailer, Frosch, and Adele's sister, Ida. Robert Jones is set and costume designer for the production, with lighting design by Jennifer Schriever and choreography by Stephen Mear in their Met debuts.

DISASTER! -- the hilarious, acclaimed 1970s disaster movie musical now playing Off-Broadway at the St. Luke's Theatre (308 W. 46th Street) - is getting into the holiday spirit by adding a performance to this week's schedule - and by offering a discount for those who come with canned goods (to be donated to charity). Those who come to the St. Luke's Theatre today, November 29th with 2 canned goods will be eligible to purchase $25 tickets to that afternoon's special matinee performance at 1:30 PM. All collected canned goods will be donated to charity. The St. Luke's Box Office will open at on Friday, 12/29 at Noon ($25 tickets are available IN-PERSON ONLY on a first-come, first-served basis while supply lasts).

DISASTER! -- the hilarious, acclaimed 1970s disaster movie musical now playing Off-Broadway at the St. Luke's Theatre (308 W. 46th Street) - is getting into the holiday spirit by adding a performance to this week's schedule - and by offering a discount for those who come with canned goods (to be donated to charity). Those who come to the St. Luke's Theatre on Friday, November 29th with 2 canned goods will be eligible to purchase $25 tickets to that afternoon's special matinee performance at 1:30 PM. All collected canned goods will be donated to charity. The St. Luke's Box Office will open at on Friday, 12/29 at Noon ($25 tickets are available IN-PERSON ONLY on a first-come, first-served basis while supply lasts).

Don't Quit Your Night Job returns to New York City at its new home, 54 Below, tonight, November 21st, 11:30pm.

Don't Quit Your Night Job returns to New York City at its new home, 54 Below, on November 21st, 11:30pm.

Mary J. Davis presents DISASTER!, written by Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick, at St. Luke's Theatre beginning today, October 14, and opening Monday, November 4. DISASTER! is a musical based on 1970's disaster movies with a score consisting of 1970's pop, rock and disco hit songs. Directed by Jack Plotnick, choreographed by Denis Jones and music direction by Larry Pressgrove. Disaster! previously ran in 2012. For more information, visit www.disastermusical.com.

Mary J. Davis will present DISASTER! written by Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick, at St. Luke's Theatre starting on October 14, opening Monday, November 4. DISASTER! is a musical based on 1970's disaster movies with a score consisting of 1970's pop, rock and disco hit songs. Directed by Jack Plotnick, choreographed by Denis Jones and music direction by Larry Pressgrove. Disaster! previously ran in 2012.

Theatre Under the Stars' (TUTS) Humphreys School of Musical Theatre (HSMT) introduced Houston, Texas to the 2007 stage musical adaptation of XANADU this weekend. The musical film Xanadu opened to mixed-to-negative reviews and audience responses in 1980, but over the interceding years has gained a cult following. However, from its release, the film's soundtrack has been a commercial success. It contains five Top 20 singles and was certified Double Platinum in the US. The musical adaption retains Electric Light Orchestra's original pop songs written for the film, featuring music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar. Douglas Carter Beane stepped in to write the book for the musical, and added a pair of "evil" muses as a plot twist. For the musical, the creative team pieced together a tacky, self-indulgent, and self-referential one act that despite a talented cast is uninteresting and bland.

Dallas Theater Center launches its 2013-14 season with A Raisin in the Sun. Tre Garrett of Fort Worth's Jubilee Theatre will make his directorial debut at DTC with this Tony Award-winning play. A Raisin in the Sun begins with a Pay-What-You-Can performance tonight, September 13 and runs through Sunday, October 27 at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre in the AT&T Performing Arts Center.

Sundance Channel announced today that it has acquired US broadcast rights to the supernatural drama 'The Returned' from Music Box Films.

The producers of ONCE, winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award winner for Best Musical Theater Album, have just announced casting for the first North American touring company. The tour opens at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Providence, RI with performances beginning on October 1, 2013.

Arden Theatre Company begins its 26th season of great stories with Parade, the musical with book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Directed by Terrence J. Nolen and co-conceived with designer Jorge Cousineau, the production runs on the Arden's F. Otto Haas Stage from September 26 through November 3, 2013.

Dallas Theater Center launches its 2013-14 season with A Raisin in the Sun. Tre Garrett of Fort Worth's Jubilee Theatre will make his directorial debut at DTC with this Tony Award-winning play. A Raisin in the Sun begins with a Pay-What-You-Can performance on Friday, September 13 and runs through Sunday, October 27 at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre in the AT&T Performing Arts Center.

Today in 2007, Xanadu opened at the Helen Hayes Theatre, where it ran for 512 performances. Xanadu is a musical comedy with a book by Douglas Carter Beane and music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, based on the 1980 cult classic film of the same name. The story of the musical focuses on a Greek muse, Clio, who descends from Mt. Olympus to Venice Beach, California, in 1980 on a quest to inspire a struggling artist, Sonny, to achieve the greatest creation of his life - a roller disco. It earned an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical and a Drama Desk Award for Best Book. It was also nominated for Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Book.

Zachary Levi, star of TV's 'Chuck,' Disney's feature film Tangled and the upcoming Thor: The Dark World, will make his Broadway debut starring opposite Broadway and television ingenue Krysta Rodriguez('Smash,' The Addams Family) in First Date, Broadway's new romantic musicalcomedy. With a book by Austin Winsberg ('Gossip Girl'), music and lyrics byAlan Zachary and Michael Weiner (Secondhand Lions, Twice Charmed) and musical staging by Josh Rhodes (Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella) First Dateis directed by Bill Berry (Producing Director of The 5th Avenue Theatre). BroadwayWorld brings you clips of the cast in action below!