I Was Most Alive with You Photos - Off-Broadway

Another lovely early evening of pure dance bliss. Sun still shining on another ideal California spring day; the final performance in the three-part dance series by nine talented and soul-sharing dancers included Shari Washington Rhone, Justin Edmonson, Latrice Postell, Kacy Keys, Chris Smith, Tashara Gavin-Moorehead, Laura Ann Smyth, Alex Rasmussen and Bernard Brown; all a part of JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble. They performed mainly outside on the grounds surrounding the Library.​​​​​​​ This was the third and final performance of the Brand Associates Dance series that included Nickerson-Rossi Dance, Tropicaleiza and 4 weekends of workshops. Pat Taylor is a master at her craft. She created and is Artistic Director/Choreographer for the prestigious jazz dance company established in 1993. She not only chooses her music, dancers, production people, etc. to gel with her initial idea for a dance piece; she develops it with input from all the dancers as well, and creates through her emotions, her knowledge, love and history in Dance, and what she draws from each of her full-of-joy/life dancers... and they are into it! The program consists of excerpts from a new work they are now continuing to develop, after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, entitled “Songs My Mother Taught Me,” which, Pat Taylor explained, “celebrates music and reflections by renowned African-American women that are jazz artists, activists and engagers. It is a celebration of community, and a soul-stirring shout-out to living, learning and loving.

This Spotlight focuses on Jon Lawrence Rivera, co-founder of Playwrights' Arena with Steve Tyler in 1992 during the LA Riots. At the time, and for at least two decades, we were the only theater dedicated to discovering, nurturing, and producing new works for the stage written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights to be enjoyed by adventurous minds. I first discovered Playwrights' Arena when their 2017 production of Bloodletting was selected to be presented during Center Theatre Group's 2018 Block Party at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City.

The Old Globe today announced that the West Coast premiere of Laurel Ollstein's They Promised Her the Moon has been extended by popular demand and will run through May 12, 2019. The first of two shows in the 2018-2019 Season developed in the Globe's Powers New Voices Festival, it wowed Festival audiences with the story of the powerful forces that kept one woman from reaching orbit. Directed by Giovanna Sardelli (the Globe's The Whipping Man and Somewhere), They Promised Her the Moon runs April 6 - May 12, 2019 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run April 6-10. 

Over 100 new people move to Austin every day. And before you wonder why I've started a theatre review with that statistic, it means 36,500 new Austinites have not seen ZACH's A CHRISTMAS CAROL. This perennial favorite, running at ZACH every Christmas season for the last three million years (Okay, really, what is it now, four years?) adds much merriment to the Austin holiday season, and Austin theatre in general. It showcases the best of our community, and is top notch entertainment for those looking to bask in the joy of the holiday season. It's a perfect show to share with the family in town for the holiday - and a great representation of Austin's talent for the newcomer.

A CELEBRATION OF LIFE The Los Angeles Memorial/Tribute for Alan Johnson at The Performing Arts Center October 14, 2018 Alan Johnson was truly a man of many talents. On Sunday, October 14th, 2018, friends, all of whom are either dancers, choreographers, directors or actors, or all combined, that have had the honor to work with or befriend him, gathered at The Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles, CA, owned by Joe Malone and Nanci Hammond Malone, two superb dancers/teachers that donated their facility for this event, to honor, reminisce and celebrate Alan's wondrous life and career.

LITTLE WOMEN, THE MUSICAL with book by Allan Knee, music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, is based on the beloved 1869 classic novel by Louisa May Alcott. It's a song-filled adaptation of the touching tale of young love, achieving dreams, and the power of family to overcome even the most difficult of life's challenges. No doubt almost every young woman read the novel at some point during their lives, devouring the tale of the March sisters adventures (budding author Jo, practical Meg, sweet Beth, and romantic Amy) who are coming of age during the Civil War under the care of their doting mother, whom they call Marmee, while their father is away fighting for the North. They gather together to read his too infrequent letters, each warmly cuddling together around their beloved mother like a safe cocoon in a world being torn apart by violence around them.

Court Theatre, under the continuing leadership of Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director, continues its 2017/18 season with Guess Who's Coming to Dinner by Todd Kreidler (based on the screenplay by William Rose), directed by Marti Lyons with Associate Director Wardell Julius Clark. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner runs March 15 - April 15, 2018 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. The press opening is Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 8:00pm.

Since 2003, Hologram USA has delivered more than 700 successful projects, making groundbreaking strides in how people experience live events and communicate with each other using dynamic, cutting edge Holographic 3D technology. Their holographic experiences allow audience members to sit in a theater and feel as if they are attending a live three-dimensional concert or nightclub performance right in front of their eyes. Sounds too incredible, right? That's what I thought until I attended their latest creation, Billie Holiday Alive! at the new Hologram USA Theater in Hollywood

Saturday competitions and the short film festival, I grabbed my friend Mady by the hand, rushed downstairs from our Troupe 5480 corner on the second floor, and asked as many New Jersey Thespians as I could the most polarizing question you could whip out on any East Coaster.

A school year at Gloucester County Institute of Technology is more like a tumble. Somehow we muddle through the enormity of each event, emerging from it a little prouder, a little smarter, a little more appreciative. There's apexes tacked onto every month, among these being shows, Thespian Cabarets, and competitions. Anymore I envisage my mind as a scrapbook, with washi tape borders reading an event's name, the center of the page a sprawl of selfies, ticket stubs, and phrases the resound in the aesthetic of those hours.