You Never Know - 1975 - Regional (US) Articles Page 9

Looking into the future, you'll find a number of new productions on tap for your entertainment pleasure, thanks to the efforts of theater companies all over Middle Tennessee. Here's our calendar for October 1, 2018, to help you plot your course through the end of the year...

Back by popular demand, the previously sold out Melbourne Music Bus Tour returns this October for 12 guided tours until March 2019. Having had a successful first edition, Arts Centre Melbourne and the Australian Music Vault invite punters to jump on board to explore Melbourne's rich musical history.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts Producing Artistic Director BT McNicholl announces its most ambitious and dazzling year of special events! La Mirada Theatre will kick things off with such sensational shows as LEE ANN WOMACK, THE SIMON AND GARFUNKEL STORY and PAUL ANKA, and that's just this Fall! 

Marking 45 years since the release of his debut solo album, soul/R&B legend Barry White's nine 20 th Century Records albums have been remastered from their analogue master tapes for new 9CD and 9LP 180-gram vinyl box sets, titled Barry White: The 20th Century Records Albums (1973-1979). To be released worldwide on October 26 by Mercury/UMe, the new CD and vinyl collections bring together all the albums White released with the 20th Century Records label. On the same date, the nine remastered albums all long out of print on vinyl will be released in individual 180-gram LP packages with faithfully replicated original sleeve and label artwork.

Fall activities for the Centennial, which begins this month and extends through all of 2019, include a wide range of performances, film screenings, discussions, education initiatives, and new works by other artists in conversation with Cunningham's work.

Blasting off the festival in its 14th year will be the U.S. Premiere of David Gordon Green's razor-sharp new contribution to the HALLOWEEN canon with legendary actor Jamie Lee Curtis—along with HALLOWEEN producers Malek Akkad, Jason Blum and Bill Block in attendance! Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode, who comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.

The Anchoress, a new monodrama by composer David Ludwig, "a composer with something urgent to say" (Philadelphia Inquirer), will have its world premiere on Wednesday, October 17, 2018 at 7:30 PM at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia under the auspices of the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. The next evening, Thursday, October 18, the New York premiere will take place at DiMenna Center for Classical Music. Set to texts by Katie Ford, whose poetry "possess[es] the veiled brilliance of stained glass windows seen at night" (The New York Times Book Review), The Anchoress is based on the medieval mystic tradition called anchorism and its relationship to contemporary society. It will be performed by soprano Hyunah Yu, the early music ensemble Piffaro: The Renaissance Wind Band, and all-saxophone PRISM Quartet.

One person who we have to thank for the influencing the tradition of summer stock theatre is none other than John Kenley, whose legacy lives on today. From the 1940s - 1990s, John Kenley championed summer theatre and brought shows to small towns across America.

Desert Rose Playhouse, the Coachella Valley's LGBT theatre company, always picks something light and enjoyable as their season finale, the slot they refer to as 'Hot summer nights.' To balance out the fact that the last two summers had an all-male show, this year's choice is Women Behind Bars with a mostly female cast. They pulled out all the stops to assemble some of the Valley's top actresses for this side-splitting send up of the tawdry prison dame B-features of the 50's. They are joined by one man and a couple of dolls who arrive at the theatre as men. The results are hilarious, and this show should be on your 'Must See List!'

Park Square Theatre announces the hire of its new Artistic Director - the third in the organization's history - after a five-month national search that attracted 113 applications from across the country (22 from Minnesota) and two from the United Kingdom.

This June, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond.

Main Street Theater presents the Regional Premiere of Daddy Long Legs based on the classic novel by Jean Webster and featuring music and lyrics by Tony Award-nominated composer/lyricist, Paul Gordon (Jane Eyre), and Tony-winning librettist/director, John Caird (Les Miserables).  "This show has the same romantic appeal that draws me to stories like Little Women and Anne of Green Gables as well as romantic period pieces like Downton Abbey and The Forsythe Saga," shares director Andrew Ruthven. "This love story is certainly a 'rags to riches' tale, but the heart of Daddy Long Legs is a young woman coming into her own.  The show is punctuated by Jean Webster's very strong feminist stance.  She pulls no punches in Jerusha's beliefs in votes for women, equality of the sexes, and the battle of sexes."

The world premiere of The Beast in the Jungle officially opened last night, May 24 at Vineyard Theater - 108 East 15th Street, NYC. Let's see what the critics are saying...

The preshow speech of VIETGONE is spoken by the playwright, in which we learn that the play is a love story of how Mom and Dad got together. We also learn that the Vietnamese characters will speak like action heroes/Joss Whedon archetypes and that the Americans will speak... Well, some of it will be words. As Marc de la Cruz, who plays Quang, the playwright's father, says, 'The characters speak and relate to each other as many young Americans today despite the fact that they are Vietnamese and it's 1975... Also, the play is hilarious in an 'omigosh I can't believe they went there' kind of way.' Instantly, we are aware that the universe of VIETGONE is a one of a kind place. Director, Natsu Onoda Power, elaborates: '...it allows audience to perceive 'Vietnamese' characters NOT as the 'other'; it is so rare. (In this play, 'American' is the other).' Regina Aquino, who plays Tong, the playwright's mother, adds, 'From the very first page I was immediately impressed by Qui's flipping of the stereotype script... doing to the Americans what is done to Asian characters in film/tv/theatre all the time. It was shocking and I was totally in love with how subversively clever the writing was throughout the entire play.'

On April 21, 2018, Patrick Marber spoke about Travesties with Education Dramaturg Ted Sod as part of Roundabout Theatre Company's lecture series.

Main Street Theater presents the Regional Premiere of Daddy Long Legs based on the classic novel by Jean Webster and featuring music and lyrics by Tony Award-nominated composer/lyricist, Paul Gordon (Jane Eyre), and Tony-winning librettist/director, John Caird (Les Miserables).  "This show has the same romantic appeal that draws me to stories like Little Women and Anne of Green Gables as well as romantic period pieces like Downton Abbey and The Forsythe Saga," shares director Andrew Ruthven. "This love story is certainly a 'rags to riches' tale, but the heart of Daddy Long Legs is a young woman coming into her own.  The show is punctuated by Jean Webster's very strong feminist stance.  She pulls no punches in Jerusha's beliefs in votes for women, equality of the sexes, and the battle of sexes."

Studio Theatre is serving up a spectacle of a show that mashes satire and high emotion. VIETGONE, directed by Natsu Onoda Power, presents a truly diverse story with the potential to challenge entrenched ideas about the Vietnam War and the immigrant experience. Playwright Qui Nguyen's fresh voice bounces off the rafters and finds its fullest embodiment in the company's impressive and expressive physicality.

Writers Theatre Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce initial casting for the company's previously announced 2018/19 season.

THE SUNSHINE BOYS is a 1972 Tony Award nominated play by Neil Simon that ran for 538 performances on Broadway. It was turned into a feature film in 1975 and a TV movie in 1996. THE SUNSHINE BOYS is the story of two old vaudeville stars, Lewis & Clark, whose iconic act ended when Al Lewis walked away after 43 years of animosity and retired leaving Willie to try to make it as a solo act. When Willie didn't succeed, the duo never spoke again. When his nephew Ben, a talent agent, tries to resurrect the act for a TV special, the big question is whether they can put aside their differences long enough to make one final appearance.

Once again Toby's Dinner Theatre presents top flight entertainment for the entire family.

Double Tony and Grammy Award winner Patti LuPone has proven time and time again that she is willing to speak her mind about anything -- and this week is no different. At the launch of the West End revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company, LuPone addressed a variety of topics with honesty.

This April, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond.

The Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra offered another of its wildly successful pop up concert series at the Bank of Hawaii headquarters downtown on March 28. Joseph Stepec, Assistant Professor of Music at The University of Hawaii at Manoa, Director of Orchestras, conducted the free concert, which received thunderous applause throughout the event.

Particularly in light of the 2016 documentary I Am Not Your Negro, author and civil rights activist James Baldwin is garnering new attention and appreciation for his astute analyses of race, class, and sexuality in U.S. culture. Our reading group will take up his groundbreaking semi-autobiographical first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953). Attendees are invited to read this seminal text that brought mid-20th Century African-American literature out of the shadow of Richard Wright while deftly exploring the post-Civil War Great Migration, its southern roots, its religious inflections, and its generational tensions. The suggested edition is the most recent paperback (ISBN 978-0345806543). Traditional New Orleans fare of coffee and beignets at Muriel's Jackson Square with lively discussion to follow led by Festival favorite and Southern literary scholar Gary Richards. Seating is limited to 50 persons; pre-registration is required.

Belly dance's roots in Eastern cultures, North African cultures in particular, is undeniable. Black and Brown dancers fill the scenes of ancient Egyptian wall paintings and of dance history gems such as Dr. Magda Saleh's 1975 documentary “Egypt Dances.” So why is it so hard to find Black and Brown dancers making a name and a living for themselves in the modern belly dance scene?