Saum Eskandani News

The 12.14 Foundation will be producing two shows for its summer season incorporating 200 children from the Newtown-area as a continuation of its mission to promote personal development through high-level performing arts programs. The first show A ROCKIN' Midsummer Night's Dream, a world premiere adaptation of one of Shakespeare's favorite plays will be performed tonight, August 1st, through August 10th.

The 12.14 Foundation will be producing two shows for its summer season incorporating 200 children from the Newtown-area as a continuation of its mission to promote personal development through high-level performing arts programs.

The 12.14 Foundation will be producing two shows for its summer season incorporating 200 children from the Newtown area as a continuation of its mission to use the performing arts to promote healing and strength.

DISASTER!, the 1970s disaster movie musical comedy, will play its final performance Off-Broadway tonight, April 11th, after a smash six-month run at the St. Luke's Theatre (308 W. 46th Street). Disaster! began previews on October 14th, 2013 and opened to critical acclaim on November 4th, 2013. The musical, which performs in repertory with other productions at the St. Luke's Theatre, will have played 11 previews and 86 performances at the time of its closing.

DISASTER!, the 1970s disaster movie musical comedy, will play its final performance Off-Broadway on Friday, April 11th, after a smash six-month run at the St. Luke's Theatre (308 W. 46th Street). DISASTER! began previews on October 14th, 2013 and opened to critical acclaim on November 4th, 2013. The musical, which performs in repertory with other productions at the St. Luke's Theatre, will have played 11 previews and 86 performances at the time of its closing.

DCINY expands its collaboration with innovative young composer and two-time Grammy Award- winner Christopher Tin with an exhilarating night of Tin's music at Carnegie Hall. The Drop of Dawn on Sunday, April 13 at 8:30 pm, unites two large-scale, multi-lingual choral and orchestral works: the world premiere of The Drop That Contained The Sea, and a performance of Tin's acclaimed Calling All Dawns, whose opening movement, "Baba Yetu," made history as the first piece of music written for a video game to win a Grammy Award. Performing with the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and Singers International, which features outstanding choruses chosen from across the US, Canada and England, and conducted by DCINY Artistic Director Jonathan Griffith, is an array of spectacular singers and world music artists including mezzo-sopranos Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek (of Anonymous 4) and Charity Dawson, tenor Saum Eskandani, Indian Classical vocalist Roopa Mahadevan, Mongolian pop star Nominjin, and Portuguese fado singer Nathalie Pires. The Drop That Contained The Sea will also be released on CD and iTunes on May 8, with pre-orders available starting April 13 on ChristopherTin.com.

DISASTER, is the acclaimed 1970s disaster movie musical comedy is celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a special deal . . . $25 tickets will be available today for tonight's show at the box office of the St. Luke's Theatre (308 W. 46th Street). Offer only available in-person at the box office (opens at 2:00pm); 2 tickets per person limit; $25 tickets are for tonight's show only, while supply lasts.

Well Broadway World, it's my final blog which means it's time to say goodbye. But nobody likes goodbyes, so let's avoid it with funny stories about 'Disaster!' This week we had an amazing LGBT event at the show. The audience was so energetic, and we kept raving about them backstage because they laughed at everything (clearly, we are all attention whores). We had special celebrity guests, Norbert Leo Butz, Laura Osnes, Robin De Jeus, and John Tartaglia at the show. Can we talk about how sweet they all are?!?! I always have 'pinch me' moments when the theater folks I obsessed over in high school and college come to the show. After we geeked out over the celebs listed above, the cast, crew, and audience were all invited to Southern Hospitality for a beverage as part of the event. Like I mentioned in my last blog, the cast is in love so if you give us an opportunity to hang out together, we're there. Not only did we enjoy our complimentary beverages, but we also stuffed ALL of the mac and cheese in our faces. Whoever said 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels' is a dirty liar.

Seth Rudetsky, the co-creator, co-writer and star of the hit Off-Broadway musical comedy Disaster!, will host a special LGBT Night at the show, along with his Disaster! co-star, award-winning comedian, writer and actress Judy Gold tonight, February 27th. The evening's special guest will include Jonathan Groff ('Looking,' 'Glee,' Spring Awakening), two-time Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz (Big Fish, Catch Me If You Can, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), and Tony nominee John Tartaglia (Avenue Q).

Seth Rudetsky, the co-creator, co-writer and star of the hit Off-Broadway musical comedy Disaster!, will host a special LGBT Night at the show, along with his Disaster! co-star, award-winning comedian, writer and actress Judy Gold on Thursday, February 27th. The evening's special guest will include Jonathan Groff ('Looking,' 'Glee,' Spring Awakening), two-time Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz (Big Fish, Catch Me If You Can, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), and Tony nominee John Tartaglia (Avenue Q).

Hey there, reader! Hope you're doing well. Me? I'm doing alright, thanks for asking. A few days ago? Not so great. I either had a stomach bug or food poisoning, which sucked!!! Luckily it happened on our day off so I did not vomit on my cast mates (I'm sorry to give you that visual...so disgusting) but we did come up with a fun game; throughout last night's show we tried to find the most hilarious moments for an unfortunate puking accident. It turns out that our inner musicians shined really brightly at this game because it was either always in rhythm or on the button of a song. For example, we do the song 'Saturday Night' by the Bay City Rollers so in our game it would go 'S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y *barf*'

BROADWAY SESSIONS is described as an evening of musical performances, games and open mic featuring a new Broadway guest each week. The show is created and hosted by Ben Cameron (Bway Wicked, Aida and Footloose) and features musical director Joshua Stephen Kartes on piano. This Thursday, February 13th, Broadway Sessions welcomes the cast of Disaster! and more.

STACEY ORISTANO, currently appearing in Off-Broadway's acclaimed musical DISASTER! in the role of 'Jackie' -- and known to millions for her roles in the acclaimed TV series 'Bunheads' and 'Friday Night Lights' -- will be featured in tomorrow evening's (Tuesday, 2/11) broadcast of Bravo-TV's 'Watch What Happens Live' as the guest bartender.

We might have had the most entertaining performance of Disaster! yet this week, and when I say entertaining, I mean for us cast members; the audience seemed to enjoy the show but we were losing it backstage. On Tuesday nights, our curtain is usually at 7:30pm but something was wrong with the sound system so we held curtain until 8pm to give the stage management team time to fix whatever was happening (in all honesty, I have no clue what was wrong but bless our awesome sound engineer, Nissa Syverson, for dealing with the madness).

DISASTER!, the critically-acclaimed 1970s disaster movie musical now playing Off-Broadway at the St. Luke's Theatre, will welcome new cast members in February. David Hibbard, previously seen on Broadway in Elf, Billy Elliot, Spamalot, A Class Act, Once Upon a Mattress and Cats (2,197 performances as Rum Tum Tugger), will take over the role of casino owner Tony Delvecchio on February 4th. Max Crumm, best known for winning the reality television series 'Grease: You're the One That I Want!' and subsequently starring in the Broadway revival as Danny Zuko, takes over the role of Scott (replacing original cast member Robb Sapp) on February 14th. And as previously announced, award-winning comedian, writer and actress Judy Gold -- currently seen on the reality series 'Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-off,' and known for her acclaimed Off-Broadway shows The Judy Show - My Life as a Sitcom and 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother -- will take over the role of Shirley (currently played by Annie Gold) on February 10th.

So, my blogs are usually kind of sassy and silly, but I'm about to get real, y'all! If you don't mind, indulge my sentimental side for a moment. Last night, I missed my first performance of Disaster! which was slightly heartbreaking, but it was for a good reason. I was actually swung out of the show which means that our swing goes on for my track and I get to sit in the audience and watch. A few blogs ago, I told you about my role in the show and how I understudy three principles. We have limited time for understudy rehearsals so being swung out is a way for me to watch, learn, and take notes. I came prepared with track sheets for the roles and a list of moments I really needed to focus on. My BroadwayWorld peeps, I had to actively tell myself to do my job! I was having such a great time as an audience member that I had to force myself to pay attention as an actor.

So I'm realizing that I haven't really told you guys what I do in Disaster! My bad, BroadwayWorld. I'm one of three ensemble members, and I also understudy three roles:

This post is 100% a love letter to Mary Testa. You're welcome, Broadway World! Know why? Cause Mary Testa is the best-a (yup, that happened) and here are the reasons why:

DISASTER!, the 1970s disaster movie musical now playing Off-Broadway at the St. Luke's Theatre (308 W. 46th Street), has just announced that it will welcome new cast members in the coming weeks.

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.