Mark Valdez - Page 3

This year, Circus Vargas is bringing a touch of Broadway to the Big Top, introducing Ringmaster Kevin Venardos. Venardos melds melody with movement and adds a bit of Broadway to the Big Top. The blue and gold big top will be set up off the 101 Freeway at Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood from May 10 to 14.

Ashok Amritraj's Hyde Park Entertainment and Image Nation Abu Dhabi will finance and co-produce the Arctic adventure MIDNIGHT SUN. Directed by Hugh Hudson (CHARIOTS OF FIRE, GREYSTOKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, LORD OF THE APES), the film is from a script by Hudson and Bart Gavigan. Jake Eberts (DANCES WITH WOLVES, GANDHI) and Brando Quilici (Iceman Autopsy) will produce alongside Hyde Park Entertainment's Ashok Amritraj (GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE

On the Square Productions presents Steven Bost's original piece THE MINERVAE this July in Athens Square Park in Astoria. This new production is part of OtSP's Astoria Free Theatre Project and will be presented to the public for free at all performances. The production will be directed by Stephen Kaliski. Creative team and cast will be announced in the coming weeks.

The Staten Island Children's Museum has announced new family programs beginning in May that included exotic snakes & sing-a-longs all summer long.

Barrel of Monkeys (BOM) honors the students that have inspired hundreds of sketches and songs over the past school year with an evening of all new work at the annual 'Celebration of Authors' on Tuesday, June 5 at 7 p.m. at Adventure Stage Chicago, 1012 N. Noble St. The performance is free and open to the public, however seating is limited and reservations are required by calling Barrel of Monkeys at 312-409-1954.

Noreen Heron & Associates have announced the launch of a new aspect of Marriott Theatre's upcoming production of the contemporary new musical, HERO. An interactive website has been created, live today at www.heromusical.com (Designed by Charles Riffenburg of Grab Bag Comics), for audiences to gather more information and follow along with the production process. There is a behind the scenes blog, media, bios and more posted.

One Old Crow Productions will present a site-specific production of COWBOY MOUTH, the play born out of the actual relationship between America's most celebrated dramatist, Sam Shepard and the godmother of Punk, Patti Smith. This play with original music composed in collaboration with the cast and director will take place in a grungy space above the bar Lucky Cheng's in the Lower East Side and will incorporate elements from the streets of New York. One Old Crow invites the audience into Cavale's apartment, where she has been holed up with Slim. The production will be directed by Leah Benavides (The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide at The Tank; Member of the 2011 Lincoln Center Director Lab) and will feature Diana Beshara (The Love Letter You've Been Meaning to Write New York at 3LD) as Cavale and Geoffrey Pomeroy (Two Days 'til Dawn at the 2011 Planet Connections Festivity) as Slim.

Pop vocalist and international performer Curtis Winchester's CD, "Do the Natural Thing" is now available on iTunes and CD Baby. Three years in the making, "Do the Natural Thing" features the talents of some of Westchester New Yorks' musicians including Grammy nominated guitar legend Gil Parris and former NY Yankee and Grammy nominated guitarist Bernie Williams.

In the U.S. alone, there are an estimated 2 million children being raised by 1 million lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) parents. Globally, that number greatly increases. Family Equality Council, the nation's foremost advocate for LGBT families, announced this week they will launch a series of annual celebrations in honor of the first-ever International Family Equality Day on May 6, 2012.

THE NAKED TRUTH is an event where the gameshow and burlesque show come together for a night of full disclosure. It offers the chance to win a secret and sexy prize

The Belcourt Theatre presents Castles in the Sky: Miyazaki, Takahata and the Masters of Studio Ghibli, a film retrospective of the renowned Japanese animation studio from June 1-13. In addition to the series' 15 animated films, the Belcourt will also feature Studio Ghibli's most recent release, THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETY.

Craig Smith, Managing Partner of the new Alhambra Theatre & Dining, announced that Joyce DeWitt will star in Sam Bobrick's romantic comedy, REMEMBER ME. Miss DeWitt is most widely known to audiences for her starring role as 'Janet Wood' in the ABC Television hit series THREE'S COMPANY. DeWitt has worked both as actress and director in a stage career which spans over forty years. She recently starred in A SCATTERED, SMOTHERED AND COVERED CHRISTMAS MUSICAL and the Canadian productions of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize-winning play DINNER WITH FRIENDS and Alfred Uhry's Tony Award-winning play THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO. Other recent stage performances include the North American premiere of the Australian comedy DAYLIGHT SAVINGS, the British farce NOISES OFF, the revival of Cole Porter's ANYTHING GOES, and the Broadway musical OLYMPUS ON MY MIND, for which she completed the cast recording - her first record album.

Judy & Company will run every Friday & Saturday at 8PM for the month of May at the Peter Mac's Supper Club Theater, a private theater seating 60 people. It is located in the back of The French Market Quarter. The show has Tribute Artist Peter Mac performing all roles as the iconic ladies of yesteryear, including Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Tallulah Bankhead, Katherine Hepburn and Peggy Lee . The evening includes performance by Peter Mac as Peter Mac, with musical direction by Bryan Miller.

Working Theater has announced a reading of the poetry of US Poet Laureate Philip Levine. Readers include Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Jeffrey Eugenides and performers André De Shields, Gene Gillette and Lisa Ramirez on May 7th at 7pm at the SEIU 32BJ building at 25 West 18th Street, on the 5th floor. Reception with artists to follow.

Cherry Pitz and Joe the Shark present HOTSY TOTSY BURLESQUE, New York's only episodic, monthly burlesque show. Featuring a different script each month and a rotating cast, HOTSY TOTSY BURLESQUE features burlesque talent that New York has to offer.

Central Square Theater and its resident companies, The Nora Theatre Company and Underground Railway Theater, have announced their 2012-2013, and 5th anniversary, season.

The Veterans Speakers Forum has scheduled two public Concert forums. Admission is free with open seating on a first-come, first-served basis.

A festival of devised work centering on the theme of politics from across the southeastern United States and beyond, June 28 - July 8, 2012 at Burning Coal Theatre Company's Murphey School Auditorium, 224 Polk Street, Raleigh, North Carolina. All tickets to all performances $5. No reservations necessary. For further information, call 919-834-4001 or visit us online at www.burningcoal.org. A complete listing of performances and events will be forthcoming.

Kritzerland Upstairs at Sterling's presents BROADWAY BOUND - UNSUNG SONGWRITERS with Zina Goldrich, Marcy Heisler, Alan Chapman, Milt Schaefer, Ira Levin, Michael Leonard, Larry Grossman, Hal Hackady, Brad Ross, Douglas Bernstein, Denis Markell and more. The show will be held Sunday, May 6, 2012 at 7:00 pm. Tom Griep is musical director.

As Chicago's all-Latina theater company approaches its 12th anniversary and launches its new community arts center Luna Central in Chicago, it is expanding its national reach. Its upcoming world premiere of Los Angeles playwright Diane Rodriguez's, Obie award winner and TCG board member, new play LIVING LARGE IN A MINI KIND OF WAY is a comedy with immigration drama and universal issues about identity and privilege. Luna brings light to this exploration of the American Dream. Rodriguez will also direct the play.