Black and Blue 1939 - Articles Page 4

Composer Paola Prestini, the Creative and Executive Director of National Sawdust (NS), today announced programming for the non-profit's inaugural fall season in its new home-a $16 million, 13,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art chamber hall in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The performance and recording venue, designed by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Bureau V in the shell of century-old former sawdust factory, will provide composers and musicians a setting in which they can flourish, and a place where they are given commissioning support, mentoring and other critical resources essential to create, and then share, their work. For audiences-serious fans and casual listeners alike-the venue will be a place to discover genre-spanning music at accessible ticket prices.

Forty-five young performers, veterans as well as newbies, share the stage in this endearing version of the L. Frank Baum classic.

One of America's most versatile and prolific living composers, Andre Previn, joins Pacific Symphony as the honored guest and focus of the 15th American Composers Festival (ACF). Previn, who has been called one of America's least easily categorized musicians, began his remarkable career as a Hollywood "wunderkind" and a best-selling jazz pianist. Now 86, Previn has received four Academy Awards for his work in film, 10 Grammy Awards for his recordings (plus one more for his Lifetime Achievement), and he is also an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He's held a series of major conducting posts, including the L.A. Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra, but now exclusively composes. The concert is led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, whose great admiration for the legend shaped this year's ACF to reveal the scope of Previn's prowess as a composer. 

Orange County, Calif.-May 11, 2015-One of America's most versatile and prolific living composers, Andre Previn, joins Pacific Symphony as the honored guest and focus of the 15th American Composers Festival (ACF). Previn, who has been called one of America's least easily categorized musicians, began his remarkable career as a Hollywood "wunderkind" and a best-selling jazz pianist. Now 86, Previn has received four Academy Awards for his work in film, 10 Grammy Awards for his recordings (plus one more for his Lifetime Achievement), and he is also an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He's held a series of major conducting posts, including the L.A. Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra, but now exclusively composes. The concert is led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, whose great admiration for the legend shaped this year's ACF to reveal the scope of Previn's prowess as a composer. 

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in television, new media, news, radio, and promotional writing during 2014.

Every year, despite a litany of warnings they come to the Big Apple with big dreams. Warnings like: “You have to pay your dues.” “It's a tough business, kid.” “How are you going to survive?” There's no such thing as an overnight success, yet still they come to be at “the top of the heap,” as Kander and Ebb so eloquently put it. The four young performers featured here haven't yet vaulted to the top of the cabaret heap, but they've certainly made their marks with excellent shows during 2014, while exhibiting the potential to get there. The spotlight is already shining on Chrysten Peddie, Angela Dirksen, Rembert Block, and Kristoffer Lowe.

Considered one of the biggest film events of all time, the Gone with the Wind premiere was a three-day extravaganza for over 300,000 movie fans and citizens of Atlanta, Georgia in 1939. MGM and Gone with the Wind publicist William R. Ferguson kept detailed records and memorabilia leading up to and during the historical and magical movie event. Ferguson's premiere tickets, shooting script, vintage publicity materials, and studio photographs are just a few of the Gone with the Wind items that will be available in Profiles in History's October 17-20, 2014 Hollywood Entertainment Auction.

Considered one of the biggest film events of all time, the Gone with the Wind premiere was a three-day extravaganza for over 300,000 movie fans and citizens of Atlanta, Georgia in 1939. MGM and Gone with the Wind publicist William R. Ferguson kept detailed records and memorabilia leading up to and during the historical and magical movie event. Ferguson's premiere tickets, shooting script, vintage publicity materials, and studio photographs are just a few of the Gone with the Wind items that will be available in Profiles in History's forthcoming October 17-20, 2014 Hollywood Entertainment Auction.

Bucks County Playhouse is proud to welcome Adrienne Warren to the cast of AIN'T MISBEHAVIN, running today, August 14 through September 7, 2014.

Bucks County Playhouse is proud to welcome Adrienne Warren to the cast of AIN'T MISBEHAVIN, running August 14 through September 7, 2014.

This fall the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present the final showing of the groundbreaking multimedia exhibition Hollywood Costume in the historic Wilshire May Company building

This April, teen performers came from throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey to participate in a rigorous audition for the much-anticipated Bucks County Playhouse Youth Company. For the first time, the Playhouse proudly offers a free, intensive, six-week musical theatre training program for young actors, culminating in two weeks of performances of Disney's Beauty and the Beast Jr. on the legendary stage at Bucks County Playhouse July 28th through August 9th.

Bucks County Playhouse Producers Alexander Fraser, Robyn Goodman, Stephen Kocis, and Josh Fiedler announce complete casting for the remaining 2014 75th anniversary summer seaso

If you are even a semi-regular reader of this column of reviews, you know that about every three or four months, I post a compilation of observations of shows from the previous quarter of the year. This cabaret critiquing mash up happens for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I admittedly see too many cabaret shows for the amount of time I have to promptly review them (and then, of course, the usual writer's procrastination sets in). So I have to prioritize the timeliness of the reviews based on the prestige of the performer, the length of a show run, the strength (or lack thereof) of the performance, etc. The quality of the shows in these compilations—which can range from a half dozen to a dozen reviews in one shot—are usually a mixed bag of outright raves, qualified positives, and constructive pans (I'm not a fan of the word “negative” in the reviewer lexicon). With that in mind here are a collection of cabaret show reviews going back to the start of a very harsh winter.

Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) is pleased to announce exclusive releases for Record Store Day from Nirvana, Soundgarden, Blue Note Records, Frank Zappa, Rick James and Public Enemy.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's beloved classic film THE WIZARD OF OZ has been re-adapted for the stage by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams. The splashy show features Harold Arlen's original music and E.Y. Harburg's original lyrics, with additional lyrics by Tim Rice and additional music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Flying audiences over the rainbow, this musical is sentimental, family-friendly schmaltz that entertains with ease.

During my first taste of the show last fall, I was certainly wowed by its technical wizardry and its talented cast, but was sadly underwhelmed by how much of the original film's stirring, emotional magic and innocent fantasy had been stripped away in favor of easy, high-camp laughs, dazzling onstage visual effects, and head-scratching staging choices. I think perhaps a small part of me had hoped that a few alterations have been enacted into the tour now that it has arrived an hour south in Costa Mesa months since that L.A. premiere. Alas, no.... the very same show (except for a cast change or two) is now playing at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County through February 23.

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has added an exciting roster of screen legends and beloved titles to the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival,

Following a critically acclaimed and sell-out run at the Finborough Theatre, the first production in sixty years of R. C. Sherriff's supernatural drama, The White Carnation transfers for a limited three week run to Jermyn Street Theatre, opening tonight, 4 February 2014 (Press Night: Thursday, 6 February 2014 at 7.30pm). The show stars Michael Praed (Design for Living - West End, Robin of Sherwood, Dynasty) who joins the existing superlative Finborough Theatre cast, which includes acclaimed newcomer Daisy Boulton and Benjamin Whitrow (Mr. Bennet in BBC's Pride and Prejudice).

The stage adaptation of Academy Award®-winning screenwriter Dalton Trumbo's searing World War One novel Johnny Got His Gunwill receive its UK premiere at Southwark Playhouse (21 May - 14 June 2014), marking the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War, and the 75th anniversary of the book's publication.

The Alley Theatre's production of Mark St. Germain's Off-Broadway smash hit FREUD'S LAST SESSION is a skillful exercise in crisp, engaging theatre. The play had its World Premiere in 2009 at Barrington Stage Company in Massachusetts, where it became the longest-running show in that theatre's history. It opened in New York City on July 22, 2010 and moved through several Off-Broadway houses before closing on July 22, 2012, having played 775 performances. The show's sharply produced Houston premiere showcases what gave it such staying power in its hit runs in the Northeast.

Theater for the New City will present the world premiere of 'Sotto Voce' by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz from February 15 to March 9, directed by the author.

Following a critically acclaimed and sell-out run at the Finborough Theatre, the first production in sixty years of R. C. Sherriff's supernatural drama, The White Carnation transfers for a limited three week run to Jermyn Street Theatre, opening on Tuesday, 4 February 2014 (Press Night: Thursday, 6 February 2014 at 7.30pm). The show stars Michael Praed (Design for Living - West End, Robin of Sherwood, Dynasty) who joins the existing superlative Finborough Theatre cast, which includes acclaimed newcomer Daisy Boulton and Benjamin Whitrow (Mr. Bennet in BBC's Pride and Prejudice).

The Library of Congress has today announced its annual list of 25 films that will be included in the National Film Registry.

The Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) announced their winners for 2013 this morning, lavishing the lion's share of their praise on one of the most difficult, and critically acclaimed, films of the year.