The Contrast

Urbanite Theatre will present WHO IS EARTHA MAE?, a solo work created and performed by Jade Wheeler, at its Sarasota venue. Learn more about the upcoming show here!

Director Rebecca Saari and the cast and crew from Fargo Davies bring one of the most beloved stories of all time to life in Mary Poppins. This theatrical adaptation of the classic stories by P. L. Travers and the beloved Mary Poppins produced by Walt Disney premiered in London’s West End in 2004 before moving to Broadway in 2006. The show features music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, along with new songs by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe.

Horace High Theatre took on an ambitious and visually demanding musical with Water for Elephants, and the result was a production filled with heart, imagination, and an impressive level of artistic maturity. Blending music, movement, puppetry, and storytelling, this show leaned fully into the theatrical possibilities of the piece, and the students rose to the challenge beautifully.

The biggest issues with the musical adaptation of 'Water for Elephants' is that it doesn’t seem to know what it’s trying to be, and the choreographic and performance talent in this tour would be better served by stronger material.

The 2024 production earned seven Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical, which I feel is an earned acknowledgment that speaks more to the craftsmanship, the ambition, and the emotional journey present in the show. The stage production’s direction, choreography, puppetry design, and ensemble synergy create moments of theatrical awe that are impossible to deny. What the songs lack in dramatic momentum, the production more than makes up for in its combination of narrative intimacy with large-scale visual storytelling.

For anyone who’s seen Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a lot of the familiar story beats remain here. However, this local production by Encore Performing Arts takes a unique approach to their mounting of this stage musical.

Bursting with powerful, beautifully-rendered musical performances and emotionally-stirring characterizations from a terrific ensemble cast, Chance Theater's incredible-sounding, fiercely-acted, deeply searing new production of SPRING AWAKENING is, according to this critic, one of the best, most satisfying productions of this musical I have seen in a while. With characters you care for and a stunning score that stays with you, the show remains a favorite. And, most of all, the show still f**king rocks.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater has announced the cast and creative team of the world premiere play Billie Jean, about sports icon and equality champion Billie Jean King.

The Cover of Life, by R.T. Robinson, is based on his family’s true story about three women and their struggle for self-worth in rural Louisiana in 1943. Tood, Weetsie and Sybill each married a Cliffert brother who are engaged in World War II. A local reporter with the Louisiana Times Picayune writes story about these young wives, which piques the interest of Life Magazine’s Henry Luce. Luce assigns Kate Miller to the story, who has been covering the war in Europe. Kate spends a week with the Cliffert women to cover their life while the men are away, and unexpectedly explores the reality of the women as they struggle to find their own identity.  The piece is so well written, with complex characters working through intricate relationships, delicious subtext, prose filled with images and powerful emotions, strong rhythm, and subtle humor.

A production to remember.

Boston Ballet to present Spring Experience, a program featuring three ambitious ballets: Jiří Kylián's Petite Mort and the Boston Ballet premiere of his 27'52”, plus the return of Mikko Nissinen's Raymonda. Spring Experience runs May 15–25 at the Citizens Opera House.

On the opening weekend of the Broadway debut of George Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck, a small group of COVID-impacted NY artists offered a gesture of collective care in Manhattan's theatre district.

A juke box musical consists of pre-existing songs which are melded into a script to tell a story.  The songs, in contrast to lyrics and music, which are specifically integrated into a traditional musical’s story, don’t always smoothly transition into the juke box tale. 

The North/South Chamber Orchestra continues its 45th consecutive season on Thursday evening, February 20 when it performs a free admission event highlighting the works of Max Lifchitz, its founder and director.

Red Bull Theater has announced the cast for the next offering of Revelation Readings season: The Misanthrope by Molière, a version by Martin Crimp, directed by Marc Vietor.

SUNSET RUBDOWN will release their new album 'Always Happy to Explode,' set to release on September 20, 2024. Listen to the track 'Candles' and watch its visuals now.

Becca Stevens has unveiled a new single, “I’m Not Her.' The track is the second single from her highly anticipated forthcoming album Maple to Paper. Stevens has also joined the cast of Broadway’s ‘Illinoise.' Listen to her new single!

Sylvester Stallone stars in the greatest boxing saga of all time and triumphs as one of the most inspirational characters in cinematic history. Witness every epic, action packed fight and unforgettable moment as Rocky punches his way to the top against impossible odds when the ROCKY I-VI 4K Collection is released on July 16, 2024.

BroadwayWorld sat down with Ghislain Ramage, who performs a Cyr Wheel act in the show. We discussed how he first got involved in the world of Cirque du Soleil, what the show is about and what he hopes audiences take away from the show as a whole.

Master Drawings New York, the premier U.S. drawings showcase, will take place from January 27 through February 3, 2024. The exhibition will feature exceptional and rare works on paper from the 15th to the 21st centuries, as well as paintings and sculpture. Don't miss this highly anticipated event!

During its original run, real life happenings threatened to overshadow the fictional: Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett - whose presence and music is felt throughout Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n’ Roll - sadly died in Cambridge where he was born and where this epochal play of cultural and political revolution is set over several decades. 

 Park University’s International Center for Music (Park ICM) announced today that it will host its second annual holiday concert, 'An Intimate Christmas with Park ICM,' at the Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel, located at 8700 NW River Park Drive, Parkville, MO.

What did our critic think of SANCTUARY CITY at Steppenwolf Theatre Company? In Martyna Majok’s SANCTUARY CITY, two teenagers in Newark, New Jersey — named only B and G (presumably standing for Boy and Girl) — must contemplate the complexity of their simultaneous youthfulness and the need to make grown-up decisions well beyond their years. Both B and G are migrants in the United States; they emigrated from unnamed countries as young children, and now as they approach high school graduation, must grapple with what it means to live illegally in the United States. When G becomes a naturalized citizen, she offers B a bold proposition so that he, too, might be able to stay. Majok’s play beautifully threads this needle between youthful impulsiveness and the immense pressure on the protagonists to make weighty adult decisions.

Park University International Center for Music (Park ICM), under the direction of founder, Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Stanislav Ioudenitch, has for the last 20 years taken magnificent young instrumentalists, already identified as superior performers, and molded them into international virtuosos. Based upon the European master/apprentice relationship, this rare combination of time, talent, attention, location, and commitment has made Park ICM triumphant in a very short time, demanding the attention of the international music community. Having just completed the celebration of the Center's 20th Anniversary, the next season brings virtuoso friends old and new, and continues to showcase ICM's own award-winning faculty and students, resulting in a season packed with musicianship of the highest order.

Sublime views of the American West by Korean artist Jungjin Lee will be presented at Howard Greenberg Gallery from September 23 through November 21, 2023.