I wanted to bring the music of the songwriters from the 1920s and the music of Charlie Chaplin together, and that's when I realised that Falling Stars was already a fully-formed thought in my head. The title is taken from one of Chaplin's songs.
Meet the playwrights from the 2nd week of LA's first TogetherLAFestival. Presented by Alternative Theatre Los Angeles (ATLA) in association with LA Stage Alliance (LASA), a?oeTogether LA: A Virtual Stage Festivala?? is celebrating the vibrant and diverse intimate theatre scene of the greater Los Angeles area.
Join the College of Charlestona??s Department of Theatre and Dance on October 1 and 2 as it celebrates womena??s voting rights in its season opener, a?oeHow The Vote Was Won,a?? a one-act farce by feminists/suffragettes Cicely Hamilton and Christopher St John.
The world premiere of Angus Cerinia??s WONNANGATTA kicks off Sydney Theatre Companya??s return to the stage post the pandemic lockdowns that crippled the arts industry.
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center has announced a Fall Season of digital concerts to replace each of the performances originally scheduled for Alice Tully Hall -- Front Row Mainstage, 16 newly-curated concerts drawn from CMS's vast archive of high-quality recordings.
In March, Charlotte M Canninga??s historical commentary on American theatre during the 1918 flu epidemic made the rounds on social media as newly-furloughed industry professionals struggled to find solid footing amidst a global wave of trepidation.
I am very excited about todaya??s post because it's about one of the most important kinds of relationships any student in musical theatre can have--their voice teacher. I'm so proud to introduce BroadwayWorld readers to my remarkable voice teacher, Jeremy Powell.
Immediately after closing its physical doors in March as New York City took emergency action against the novel coronavirus, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine began work on the long road to rethinking the daily life of this sacred space, including plans for what its gradual reopening would look like.
When the lockdown started in mid March, theatres all over the country were forced to shut down in a hurry. Nina Dunn, video designer with credits spread all over the West End and Europe, has been documenting the struggle of the industry through chilling photographs of empty theatres where silence dominates. A fundraiser has accompanied her online photo essays, which are now being turned into a book whose proceeds will go straight to charity. We had a chat to discuss her project, the effects of the closures, and dark theatres.
What better way to spend a summer evening than in the company of artistic genius in the form of iconic composer Ludwig van Beethoven as interpreted by renowned musical theater artist Hershey Felder? On Sunday July 12th at 5pm PDT, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will present a livestream of the hit show Hershey Felder: Beethoven, an intimate and theatrical portrait of the legendary composer. Tickets to the livestream are available on TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's website (www.theatreworks.org) with proceeds to benefit TheatreWorks while the Tony-winning regional theatre remains dark due to the Covid pandemic. Inspired by an account of a Viennese doctor who spent his boyhood by the Beethoven's side, this enchanting musical features masterful performances of some of the composer's greatest works, from a?oeMoonlight Sonataa?? to the a?oeNinth Symphonya?? and the a?oeEmperor Concerto.a?? The enormously popular show's 2017 World Premiere still holds TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's box office record to date. BroadwayWorld recently had the pleasure of speaking with Felder from his home in Florence, Italy where he will be performing the livestream. As cicadas whirred in the background (really!), we had a wide-ranging discussion about Beethoven, Felder's relationship with TheatreWorks, the pandemic and the wonders of Florence. In conversation, Felder is an engaging amalgam of seemingly contradictory qualities, at once erudite and folksy, brainy and empathetic, quick with an arcane cultural factoid or a self-deprecating remark, equally expressive of joy and sorrow.
Austin's theatre community faces this uncertain time with resolve and creativity
The latest ballet to feature as part of the #OurHouseToYourHouse series is Kenneth Macmillan's Anastasia, the true story of Anna Anderson who claimed to be the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and the only survivor of the Russian Royal family's assassination in 1918.
Culture Warrington and LiveWire are joining forces to uncover Warrington's unsung heroes of World War Two.
Throughout the short beginning of 21st century alone, Broadway has been dealt a number of blows in various ways and has always managed to find a way back. Read about them here!
The Long DistanceAnd thus is launched the 44th annual Humana Festival of New American Plays. Once not very long ago the showcase for the Professional Training Company used to be the last show to open; now it OPENS the festival itself. Whether this is just out of love for the members of the PTC, a company that has always been a crucial part of Actor Theatre operations but has more recently taken on distinct intentionality in both the selection and application of said members.
Nora is the perfect wife and mother. She is dutiful, beautiful and everything is always in its right place. But when a secret from her past comes back to haunt her, her life rapidly unravels. Over the course of three days, Nora must fight to protect herself and her family or risk losing everything. Nora: A Doll's House is now playing at the Young Vic (66 The Cut).
The first clue that ANASTASIA was going to be different than what I expected was a note on the title page reading, “Inspired by the Twentieth Century Fox Motion Pictures.” Plural? A savvy journalist, I quickly asked Siri to bring up the imdb page for “Anastasia”. Turns out Fox made ANASTASIA twice, the 1997 animated off-brand Disney princess movie and a 1957 film that scored Ingrid Bergman's second Oscar and marked Helen Hayes' transition to the big screen. And it turns out the musical version has more in common with LES MISERABLES and RAGTIME than BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Gone is the hell-wizard Rasputin, his talking fruit bat sidekick, and the singing demon caterpillars. At intermission, I asked my third grade niece, Adalyn, how she was liking it. “It's awesome…it's real people, like no Beast or anything. No animals.” We decide that Disney staged musicals are great but more it's more impressive when you can achieve the magic without a story that departs from reality.
ANASTASIA is historical fiction hypothetical. It poses a “what if…?” that a daughter of the last czar of Russia (The Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna) escaped when the czar's family was executed in 1918. Rumors persisted for decades that Anastasia did, in fact, escape. In 2007, DNA testing confirmed the remains of all four Grand Duchesses were in the Imperial grave. In this version, Terrence McNalley's book follows Anastasia's rediscovery of her identity after surviving the attack on her family and sustaining some plot enabling amnesia. Renamed “Anya” she grows up and makes a life in post-Revolution Russia. Anastasia's grandmother, the Dowager Empress (in a staggeringly moving performance by Joy Franz) has fled to France and offered a cash reward for anyone escorting the rumored alive Anastasia to Paris. The wily duo Vlad (Edward Staudenmayer) and Dmitry (Jake Levy) pull a My Fair Lady style makeover on Anya to collect the Dowager's prize. They are pursued by Gleb (Jason Michael Evans). A Soviet officer drawn to Anya romantically but tasked with finding and eliminating the last Romanov. Anya's memory becomes somewhat coaxed back, but the Dowager has stopped seeing Anastasia claimants after too much heart-break from countless frauds.
It sounds dark, but with high-tech digital scenery and inspired performances across the cast it is delightful. Stephen Flaherty (Music) and Lynn Ahrens (Lyrics), responsible for bringing us RAGTIME, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, LUCKY STIFF, as well as the Oscar nominated songs carried over from the animated film. ANASTASIA is a perfect context for this pair. “Stay, I Pray You” (my favorite song of the evening) is evocative of RAGTIME's “New Music”. The two songs literally race my heart in a strangely specific way. My real test of a National Tour at Gammage is how fast I get the music playing in my car on the way home. At ANASTASIA I was already finding, “Stay, I Pray You” walking through the parking lot.
The rest of the score is similarly haunting. Lila Coogan, as Anya/Anastasia, powers through the score with nuance, clarity, and passion. Tari Kelly, as Countess Lily, and Stadenmayer (Vlad) were Adalyn's favorite performances and I have to agree. This incredibly gifted pair take the “triple threat” designation (singer, dancer, actor) and go quadruple with the addition of flawless comic timing.
The choreography by Peggy Hickey is masterful. It somehow combines inventive and traditional throughout and the ten-minute slice of “Swan Lake” infused into “Quartet at the Ballet” is the highlight of the second act. It's a fun-size version that gets an under-represented art form onto the plate. This kind of trope often means the plot putting the plot on hold. But here, it is the connective tissue between Anya, Dmitry, the Dowager, and Gleb as they each bring us up to speed heading into the show's climax.
Ultimately, the show's success comes from applying a higher artistic standard to the “previously-animated-film-now-theatrically-staged” genre. It cashes in on the name draw of the 1997 film then gives the viewer something much more enriched than what they think they are coming to see.
The Cleveland Orchestra has announced a new five-year extension of Franz Welser-Möst's contract as Music Director, continuing a partnership that began in 2002 to 2027. The announcement was made at Severance Hall in Cleveland at the Gala Concert opening the Orchestra's 2019-20 season.
Steppenwolf's LookOut Series is pleased to announce their Fall/Winter 2019/20 lineup. This eclectic season showcases exciting work from many Chicago-based artists and companies working across disciplines. Step out of the cold and into Front Bar for a drink to warm you up, then head into Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre for an unforgettable evening of performance. Since its inception, the LookOut series has featured the work of more than 1,000 artists from across Chicago and beyond in more than 350 performances.
The persistent legend, mystique and fascination of what may have happened to Anastasia during Russia's revolution finds a new home in the musical ANASTASIA
The 30th anniversary season of the Bard Music Festival a?" an exploration of a?oeKorngold and His Worlda?? a?" opens this Friday, August 9, with Weekend One: Korngold and Vienna. The first of the weekend's six themed concerts, Program One: a?oeErich Wolfgang Korngold: From Viennese Prodigy to Hollywood Master,a?? offers a broad overview of the composer's multi-faceted career.
What makes a Broadway theatre? Technically any venue with 500 seats or more, located along Broadway in New York City's Theatre District is a Broadway theatre, and the art that is produced in these special places is widely considered the highest form of theatrical entertainment in the world. Today, forty-one theatres are technically Broadway houses, each with their own rich history. Below, we're giving you the scoop on the life of every one of them!
It was just announced by Pulitzer Prize Administrator Dana Canedy that Jackie Sibblies Drury's Fairview has officially won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Happy first full day of Spring! Start the season right by checking out some of the top Broadway news!
In 2017, the Broadway musical version of Anastasia (which opened at Hartford Stage nice months earlier), based on the 1997 film, featuring music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and a book by Terrence McNally debuted to much fanfare, and now Nashville audiences are in the thrall of the cast and crew of the national touring company, onstage at Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall through Sunday, March 24.
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