Heidi Scheuermann - Page 4

Turn on those TVs and set those DVRs! THE MIDTOWN MEN are coming straight to you, New Orleans, on Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) this coming Saturday, August 8th at 9:00pm. Who are THE MIDTOWN MEN, you ask? Well… these guys are something special. Christian Hoff, Michael Longoria, Daniel Reichard, and J. Robert Spencer are four cast members from the original Broadway cast of the hit JERSEY BOYS. They formed a band together and now tour the country singing popular hits from the 60s, and boy are they great!

The sparkles and feather boas were out in full force last night because after more than a year away from the stage, EGOT winner Liza Minnelli is back in action!  Last night she graced the Gulf Coast at Biloxi's IP Casino with her comeback performance 'Liza Minnelli in Concert with Billy Stritch.'

Le Petit Theatre wrapped up their 2014-2015 season with crowd pleaser MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG.  Music and lyrics written by none other than the amazing Stephen Sondheim, MERRILY tells the story of a one Franklin Shepard (Richard Arnold) and his rise to fame in Hollywood.  Sounds like a dream, right?  But you see, there's a catch.  Frank's road to becoming a great Hollywood producer comes with loss in other areas of his life.  He abandons his career as a Broadway musical composer along with his family and friends.  Turns out fame and money aren't what bring Frank the happiness that he is looking for.

Once again Rivertown has done it, folks.  I mean seriously… I don't think it's actually possible for these guys to put on a bad show.  This time, they took us to the French Riviera to hang out with the likes of Lawrence Jameson (played by Robert Pavlovich), Freddy Benson (played by Gary Rucker), and Christine Colgate (played by Kayla Herrington)… each of them con artists in their own right. 

It's time to dig into those closets and find the shiniest, brightest clothes you've got and head down to the Saenger Theatre for the most colorful show of the season! JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT is headed our way, and is sure to be a fun 2014-2015 season finale. Between the captivating story, the toe-tapping tunes, and the razzle dazzle of the costume and set design, JOSEPH is a show that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Tonight, Cutting Edge Theater opened musical GOING TO THE CHAPEL, which centers on leading lady Betty Lou and her bridesmaids the week of her wedding. I find the content of this show incredibly timely and fitting for the beginning of spring in the New Orleans area as many deem this time of year 'wedding season.' And who doesn't get a kick out of all of the goofy traditions that ladies go through together to make sure their friend has the wedding celebration of the century? GOING TO THE CHAPEL is a jukebox musical featuring music of the 1960s, and more specifically the 'girl groups' of the 1960s such as The Chiffons, The Shirelles, and The Supremes. Featuring a cast of four amazing ladies, this show is sure to keep you laughing and bopping along to some great tunes!

There have been a few times in my life where I attended an event, be it a theatre production or a concert, and I woke up the next morning still reeling from the excitement with a cheesy smile plastered across my face. The first time I remember that happening was when my dad took me and my younger sister to see Hanson (yes, the Mmmbop guys) on their Middle of Nowhere Tour. I also remember feeling like that after I saw NEWSIES for the first time on Broadway. Experiencing THE MIDTOWN MEN at the Mahalia Jackson Theater was another one of those events. Not only are these guys some of the sweetest, most genuine humans I've ever met - we're talking funfetti cupcake status, here - they have a passion for entertaining that is unmatched.

Coming to New Orleans tomorrow night is an act that no JERSEY BOYS loving theatergoers, including myself, are going to want to miss! THE MIDTOWN MEN, four original cast members from the Broadway hit JERSEY BOYS (Christian Hoff, Michael Longoria, Daniel Reichard, J. Robert Spencer) have come together and have formed their own music group which brings to life the music of the 60's in what's sure to be an energy packed show.

So here's the thing… The first time I heard of/saw ONCE was back in college. A group of friends were squishing into a tiny living room in an on-campus apartment (I think there were probably 10-15 of us), and one of the crew decided we were going to watch this totally awesome movie called 'Once.' So we squished, we sat, we watched. I remember thinking, 'Ok, the movie was cute, but man… the music!' There's no mistaking the magic that is Glen Hansard's and Marketa Irglova's music, including their incredibly beautiful, Academy Award Winning song 'Falling Slowly.'

Will Rogers, 'Oklahoma's Favorite Son,' was one of those do-it-all celebrities. Cowboy; trick roper; vaudeville performer; comedian; newspaper columnist; film actor; politician; husband to Betty Blake; and father to Bill, Mary, James, and Fred. The man did it all. Because Will's vaudeville trick rope act led him to headline the Ziegfeld Follies, THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES tells his life story as if it were being told through one of Mr. Ziegfeld's productions. It's quite clever. It's also the rootinest, tootinest, knee-slapping, wholesome humored, and down right All-American show I've ever seen. And I loved it.

Alright, so unlike most humans who are currently in their mid-twenties, I grew up listening to the tunes of artists like Bing Crosby (not just at Christmastime), Judy Garland, Perry Como, Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, The Andrews Sisters… I could go on forever. I listened to it because my dad listened to it because his dad listened to it. It's in my blood, I can't help it. Besides, have you ever given 40s music a really good listen? If you have, you'll know that there never were smoother voices in this history of forever. Silky smooth, buttery voices. People just don't sing like that anymore! Not to mention full orchestras backed the singers. Full orchestras! We're talking piano, drums, trumpets, trombones, bass (the upright kind), saxophone… I mean these guys really knew how to rock!

If you look up the word 'perfection' in the dictionary, after the actual definition, you'll see a picture… a teeny tiny little picture. Do you know who it's a picture of? William Shakespeare. Don't believe me? Go look it up. Did you see it? Ok… so maybe I lied about the picture of my pal Will being in the dictionary. But someone should seriously consider it, right? Hey, Webster, get on that! While we wait on Webster to do what's right by Will, I'd like to tell you about my experience at Slidell Little Theatre this past weekend for their very unique production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.

I have very fond memories from weekends during high school driving by the lake in my hometown in my best friend's car rocking out whatever pop music was on the radio at the time (probably the Backstreet Boys or the Spice Girls or something like that). On occasion we would blast the RENT movie soundtrack (I always sang the role of Mimi… terribly I might add) with the windows down, but there was one particular cast recording that we couldn't get enough of… MAMMA MIA!

Hold on to your britches, ladies! DIRTY DANCING, written by Eleanor Bergstein, has been adapted for the stage in a hot new production that audiences across America have been going crazy for! That's right… Johnny, Baby, and the rest of the Kellerman's gang in the flesh are headed from city to city bringing the steamy love story right to you.

Ok so here's the deal… I like to laugh. No, I love to laugh. You know when something tickles your fancy and you start laughing so hard that you just can't control yourself? I'm talking tears (and quite possibly snot) running down your very red face, and your cheeks and belly hurting so bad you only wish you could stop? It's literally the best feeling in the entire world, and it only happens once in a blue moon. But when it does… man… you just feel great for the next 24 hours because (whatever it was) made you that happy? If you saw ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS at Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts, you for sure know what I'm talking about.

'There it is, Wendy. Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning!' The most famous directions in the world. Is there a person on the planet who doesn't know how to get to Neverland? Better yet, is there a person on the planet who doesn't wish he or she could go to Neverland? How exciting to go on wild adventures, to fight with pirates, to meet a mix of magical creatures, to never grow up, and most importantly, to fly! This weekend at Le Petit Theatre audiences were asked to leave behind all sense of reality and join Molly Aster on her most important mission.

One of Broadway's most beloved musicals, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, opened last night at the Saenger Theater. The musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber originally opened on the Great White Way in the late 1980s, and starred the likes of Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. The story begins when the Paris Opera House is taken over by a new management team. The disfigured man who lives beneath the theatre, the phantom, lets them know who is really in charge by terrorizing them until his love, Christine, is put into the spotlight.

'It's about murder, greed, corruption, and mayhem,' says Roz Ryan, '...everything that's near and dear to our hearts.' Who wouldn't love a show about that?! The National Tour production of Broadway favorite CHICAGO hits New Orleans' Saenger Theatre this week, and it's sure to be a hit! I recently caught up with Roz Ryan who play's popular character Matron Mama Morton. We talked a little about her career and a lot about what makes CHICAGO so great.

I love plays that make me think. This is a play that made me think. It made me think about all of the people, not only in my personal life, but also around the world who suffer from some form of mental illness. It's real. It exists. And it should not be ignored. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST addresses mental illness head-on, and The Nola Project took the content and presented an absolutely stunning rendition.

The Chekhov inspired VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE opened this weekend at the ever-so-charming Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre under the direction of Ron Gural. Written by Christopher Durang, the story revolves around three middle-aged siblings who tend to get under each other's skin. Vanya (the gay brother) and Sonia (the adopted sister), as we are reminded ad nauseam, have been living together and taking care of their elderly parents until they passed and "have not lived." Neither have jobs, and both are unsatisfied with the way their lives have turned out. Their younger and overly dramatic, self-absorbed sister Masha (the movie star) has been paying for the house that they live in as well as all of their other bills relieving them from the need of finding jobs.