If/Then - 2015 - US Tour Articles Page 3

'If/Then,' now playing through Sunday at the Starlight Theatre, is a show the audience wants to love. It is chock full of big songs, great performances, and memorable dancing. Sets are cleverly designed to resemble impressionist versions of everyday New York big city locations that have the ability to gracefully and seamlessly transform one into the next. Orchestrations are lush and fully realized.

For any local college students looking for a memorable night at the theatre, Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Atlanta is offering a special $25 Student Rush Ticket price for the Atlanta engagement of 'If/Then,' playing at The Fox Theatre August 9-14 to close the 2015/2016 season.

Do you ever wonder what your life would have been like if you had made different choices? Would you have a different job? A different love? Would your life have been better, or maybe worse? In the first show of Hartford's 2016-2017 Bushnell Broadway Series, IF/THEN, one woman finds herself at the intersection of choice and chance, and takes audiences on a journey guided by the whims of fate. Playing, Elizabeth, the woman whose life splits into parallel paths due to one fateful choice, is Jackie Burns, a Connecticut native who is returning to her home state to bring this contemporary musical to the Bushnell stage. I caught up with Jackie to talk about the show and hear how it feels to return home with IF/THEN.

Below, check out the upcoming shows currently scheduled at the Fox Theatre.

It's always a challenge to find a fresh, new, innovate way to tell a story. It seems at times like every story out there has already been told so the only option is to tell it again, but tell it differently. Use a storytelling technique that excites and engages the audience, and maybe it won't even matter what the story is. That idea, while it might sound good, just doesn't work in reality, as demonstrated by the current touring production of If/Then, now playing at Providence Performing Arts Center. The interesting way of telling the story just can't mask the fact that the story being told is incredibly ordinary, unoriginal and dull.

If/Then is an original musical that tells the story of Elizabeth Vaughan, a 40-year-old woman who moves back to New York City seeking a fresh start to her life. The musical depicts two different paths of where Elizabeth's life could take her.

Tony Award-winning Broadway star LaChanze (If/Then, The Color Purple) will join the national tour of IF/THEN when it plays a limited one-week engagement at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall June 7-12. LaChanze's addition to the touring cast reunites her with Jackie Burns and Anthony Rapp, who along with LaChanze, starred in the original Broadway production of IF/THEN.

Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Atlanta announced today that tickets for the National Tour of IF/THEN, which was named the "Best Musical of the Year" by New York Magazine, will go on sale Sunday, May 22. IF/THEN will perform a limited one week engagement from August 9-14 at Atlanta's Fox Theatre to close the 2015/2016 Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Atlanta Series.

If/Then, a musical from the creators of Next to Normal and the director of Rent, opened last night at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto. The show, which was written as a star vehicle for Idina Menzel, is one of the most exhilarating new musicals I've seen in a decade – and mere moments in any concerns that the show lacks something without a celebrity in the lead were put to rest.

The National Tour of IF/THEN, which was named the 'Best Musical of the Year' by New York Magazine, will perform a limited engagement at Detroit's Fisher Theatre, March 29 - April 10, 2016.

An incredible opportunity has presented itself to the cast of If/Then upon arriving in St. Louis last Tuesday to carry out a 2 week run at The Fabulous Fox Theatre (March 15-27th). After sitting and talking with Anthony Rapp (star of If/Then, RENT), he told us that the Hard Rock Cafe contacted them and offered to donate their space for them to perform in, if they could find a use.

It's interesting to me that IF/THEN is billed as 'a new musical'. It's the use of the word 'new' that I find puzzling. The concept certainly isn't an original one, having been explored on the big screen in the films Blind Chance (1981) and its sort-of remake, Sliding Doors (1998). And, even though neither of those movies were musicals, they both featured the idea of having their lead traverse optional story lines, with Blind Chance even offering up three different scenarios for its protagonist to experience. But, this show is new in the sense that it explores contemporary trends, with the caveat that some audiences may not find much to identify with, and it features a wonderfully fresh and tuneful score (music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey). All of that just might be enough to make this show worth seeing. Because it does feature a talented cast who have the ability to pull off these roles and the memorable songs provided with considerable conviction. But, the trickery seems a bit cloying at times, and the show does seem to drag at over 2 ½ hours. I guess, like our heroine, Elizabeth, I'm straddling the fence too, at least when it comes to my opinion.

Hard Rock Cafe in St. Louis presents IF/THEN's 'Now/Then: A Benefit Cabaret for BC/EFA', Monday, March 21 at 7pm to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. 

Mark Hamill has once again opened up about the long-running speculation as to STAR WARS' Luke Skywalker's sexuality. In a new interview with The Sun, the actor double-downed on his stance on the character's ambiguous love life in the films.

BroadwayWorld.com Chicago reviews the national tour of IF/THEN

I happened to be in D.C. on November 5, 2013 when IF/THEN opened its preview run. I was fortunate enough to get tickets to opening night.

Original Broadway Cast member Jackie Burns (If/Then, Wicked, Hair), Tamyra Gray (American Idol Season One Finalist, Rent), and Matthew Hydzik (Side Show, West Side Story, Grease) have joined Original Broadway Cast member Anthony Rapp (Rent, Six Degrees of Separation, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown) and the rest of the previously announced cast in the National Tour of IF/THEN. The tour is now playing at the Connor Palace Theatre in Cleveland through Sunday, February 21. BroadwayWorld brings you photos of the new cast in action below!

The Barn Players Community Theatre held its annual Barney Awards and Volunteer Appreciation Celebration this week.

IF/THEN begins well enough with a compelling musical number. The song 'What If?' weaves a tapestry of tight harmonies and interesting staging. It immediately establishes the premise: a woman paralyzed by the song's title question proceeds to live out two possible life paths for the audience. Think 'Sliding Doors,' but with more supporting characters and a lot more songs. Unfortunately, this ambitious multi-layered premise proves too much for the authors, and the show ultimately loses its way.

The National Tour of IF/THEN, which was named the 'Best Musical of the Year' by New York Magazine, will perform a limited engagement at Detroit's Fisher Theatre, March 29 - April 10, 2016.

If/Then, just by the way it is written, will always be about if the woman playing Elizabeth/Liz/Beth is on or not.  While the show was on Broadway Elizabeth was played by Idina Menzel so obviously people will always want to compare.  I for one, am not going to do that because Jackie Burns was too amazing. She completely sold both story lines and sang her face off.  The vocal performance that this character requires is no easy feat and Burns made it look effortless.

Original Broadway Cast member Jackie Burns (If/Then, Wicked, Hair), Tamyra Gray (American Idol Season One Finalist, Rent), and Matthew Hydzik (Side Show, West Side Story, Grease), will join Original Broadway Cast member Anthony Rapp (Rent, Six Degrees of Separation, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown) and the rest of the previously announced cast in the National Tour of IF/THEN, playing at the Fabulous Fox Theatre March 15 - 27.

When IF/THEN debuted on Broadway in March 2014, it reunited original RENT stars Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp with RENT director Michael Grief. Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt, whose 2008 rock musical NEXT TO NORMAL had received the Pulitzer Prize, wrote the much-anticipated show, and New York celebrated the team's brisk New York return. Although the show received mostly mixed-to-positive reviews, it lasted a mere 430 performances, despite mother-daughter duos flocking to see Menzel upon the icy heels of FROZEN's success.

Original Broadway Cast member Jackie Burns (If/Then, Wicked, Hair), Tamyra Gray(American Idol Season One Finalist, Rent), and Matthew Hydzik (Side Show, West Side Story, Grease), will join Original Broadway Cast member Anthony Rapp (Rent, Six Degrees of Separation, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown) and the rest of the previously announced cast in the National Tour of IF/THEN, starting tomorrow,Wednesday, January 27 at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas.