News on your favorite shows, specials & more!

Paul Batterson - Page 15

Paul Batterson

Since 2013, Paul Batterson has had a secret life: being a volunteer writer for BroadwayWorld. During this time, he has had the pleasure to see some of the best plays, musicals, and concerts, interview some of his personal heroes (Joe Walsh, Steven Page, and Ben Folds) and industry leaders (Andrew Lippa and Nathan Tysen) and watching Columbus theatre scene grow and grow. Batterson graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in journalism and from Capital University with a teaching license. He has been married to his lovely wife Nancy for over three decades and has two grown children in Alicia Millerson, an actress in Denver, and Grant Batterson, who is heading to grad school in England.




LEARN MORE ABOUT Paul Batterson

First Show:

Marmalade Gumdrops

Favorite Show:

I think EVITA is one of my favorite shows. It is great story telling about an event I knew nothing about and it changed my thinking of what a Broadway show could be.

Favorite Stories:

  • Henry Winkler - As a child growing up in the 70s, a person couldn't get any cooler than the Fonz. Getting a chance to meet Henry Winkler and hear tell the stories of his life journey was amazing.
  • Waiting in line half the adventure for Walsh fans - How many times do you get a chance to meet one of your heroes? It was so interesting to spend three or so hours with fans waiting to meet Joe Walsh at a record signing in his home town of Columbus, Ohio.
  • Squeeze’s Difford ready to test road waters in band’s NomadBand tour - Chris Difford pens some of the most poetic, thoughtful lyrics out there. It was interesting to sit down with him (via the miracle of Zoom) and see how he does it.
  • DEAR EVAN, Thanks For Everything. Sincerely, Columbus. - I truly enjoyed DEAR EVAN HANSEN because of the way it took the audience on a journey through despair to hope. It tackles some of the big issues of today (teenage suicide and social media) in a way that didn't sound preachy or like an afterschool special.
  • TOXIC AVENGER Earns a Glowing Review - You have to love a show whose opening line is a warning: The story we're about to tell you is so disturbing, we've stationed a registered nurse outside in the lobby. She is armed with a tranquilizer dart gun for those needing sedation. She also has Xanax and Vicodin she got off the internet."


BWW Interviews: CABARET to Offer a History Lesson as Well as a Musical
BWW Interviews: CABARET to Offer a History Lesson as Well as a Musical
May 28, 2014

The 18-member cast of Weathervane Playhouse's CABARET signed up to be in a musical but got a history course in pre-World War II Germany to go along with it.

BWW Reviews: BIGGER THAN JESUS More Than Just a Musical Review
BWW Reviews: BIGGER THAN JESUS More Than Just a Musical Review
May 14, 2014

Shadowbox Live, a theater troupe known for delivering cutting edge entertainment, puts a warning label right out in front on its latest offering BIGGER THAN JESUS.

BWW Reviews: Giving RENT its Due - Imagine's Gritty, Intimate Show
BWW Interview: Chip Danver Takes on RENT, Opening Tonight at Wall Street Night Club
BWW Interview: Chip Danver Takes on RENT, Opening Tonight at Wall Street Night Club
May 7, 2014

Chip Danver will be hitting a personal milestone when Imagine Productions' presentation of RENT opens tonight, 7:30 p.m. May 7 at the Wall Street Night Club. Opening night will mark the first time Danver, who plays Mark Cohen in the Jonathan Larson musical, has seen the show in person.

BWW Interview: Chip Danver Ready to Take on RENT
BWW Interview: Chip Danver Ready to Take on RENT
May 1, 2014

Chip Danver will be hitting a personal milestone when Imagine Productions' presentation of RENT opens 7:30 p.m. May 7 at the Wall Street Night Club. Opening night will mark the first time Danver, who plays Mark Cohen in the Jonathan Larson musical, has seen the show in person.

BWW Reviews: FULL MONTY Makes Successful Transition from Silver Screen to Musical
BWW Reviews: FULL MONTY Makes Successful Transition from Silver Screen to Musical
April 28, 2014

Somewhere between Hollywood Boulevard and Broadway, there's an intersection where somewhat successful movies are turned into crowd-pleasing musicals and vice-versa. How else do you explain sensations like LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, SUNSET BOULEVARD, and LEGALLY BLONDE?

BWW Interviews: Getting a Peek at Otterbein's FULL MONTY
BWW Interviews: Getting a Peek at Otterbein's FULL MONTY
April 21, 2014

One can only imagine the conversation between David Buergler and his parents John and Kim when he found out he landed a major role in Otterbein University's production of THE FULL MONTY.

BWW Interviews: Short North Stage Ready to Deliver THE WHO'S TOMMY
BWW Interviews: TETELESTAI Rises Up Again for Five Columbus Shows
BWW Interviews: TETELESTAI Rises Up Again for Five Columbus Shows
April 4, 2014

Russ Nagy recalls going to the Lakewood Civic Auditorium in Cleveland in 1971 and being blown away by one of the first performances of a new musical called GODSPELL.

BWW Reviews: Fab Four Makes Sure They Got their Beatles History Right
BWW Reviews: Fab Four Makes Sure They Got their Beatles History Right
March 10, 2014

Ron McNeil distinctly remembers the first time he heard bandmate Ardy Sarraf sing.

BWW Reviews: Facelifted PHANTOM Returns to Haunt Columbus
BWW Reviews: Facelifted PHANTOM Returns to Haunt Columbus
March 8, 2014

In the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, a white mask adds intrigue and mystery to the identity of the Phantom. In real life, the 'newly reimagined' PHANTOM, with its multimillion dollar facelift by set designer Paul Brown, is hiding behind a similar mask.

BWW Interview: SHREK Is More Than Just Another Show for Its Cast, The Mosley Family
BWW Interview: SHREK Is More Than Just Another Show for Its Cast, The Mosley Family
March 6, 2014

Lisa Andres, the director of the Pleasure Guild's SHREK THE MUSICAL, knows the final days before the opening of any show can take the toll of the cast. Her cast had four days to erect a massive set before beginning their show's March 7-9 run at the Palace Theatre.

BWW Interview: Steven C. Anderson Offers a Familiar Story from a New Prospective
BWW Interview: Steven C. Anderson Offers a Familiar Story from a New Prospective
March 7, 2014

When he writes a play, Columbus resident Steven C. Anderson usually begins within an idea and finds the right cast to present it. With THE WOLF TALES, which opens tonight, March 7 at the Studio Two Theatre in the Riffe Center, Anderson did things the other way around. He started with a cast and wrote a children's play tailor-made for their strengths.

BWW Reviews: SEINFELD New Man in Standup Tour
BWW Reviews: SEINFELD New Man in Standup Tour
February 28, 2014

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is famous for creating SEINFELD, a show about nothing. As a standup comedian, Seinfeld proved he can make just about anything funny. Performing before a packed Ohio Theatre crowd Feb. 27 in Columbus, Seinfeld proved his point during the opening 10-minute diatribe about what it probably took most of the audience to get tickets for the show.

BWW Reviews: LA CAGE AUX FOLLES Anything But a Drag
BWW Reviews: LA CAGE AUX FOLLES Anything But a Drag
February 20, 2014

Having future in-laws meet can often be a pretty awkward experience, especially when the two sets of parents reside on opposite sides of the political fence. Few meetings could be more awkward than the ones in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, a two-act musical being presented by Imagine Productions at Wall Street Nightclub in downtown Columbus.

BWW Interviews: Becoming John Lennon a Real Challenge for McNeil
BWW Interviews: Becoming John Lennon a Real Challenge for McNeil
February 17, 2014

Every time he looks at his niece Angela, Ron McNeil remembers John Lennon. McNeil's niece was born Dec. 9, 1980, a day after Lennon was shot and killed outside his apartment in New York City.

BWW Interviews: Balgord Enjoys Taking on Another One of the Webber Women
BWW Interviews: Balgord Enjoys Taking on Another One of the Webber Women
February 7, 2014

Back as part of a national tour for the first time in 17 years, Linda Balgord finds herself in familiar, but new territory. Balgord plays Madame Giry in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, marking the fifth different character she's played in an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

BWW Reviews: CATCO is Kids' THE CAT IN THE HAT Brings Dr. Seuss' Book to Life
BWW Reviews: CATCO is Kids' THE CAT IN THE HAT Brings Dr. Seuss' Book to Life
January 16, 2014

The opening pages of Dr. Seuss' THE CAT IN THE HAT give a perfect description of a dismal January day in Columbus. CATCO is Kids production of THE CAT IN THE HAT at Studio One Theatre in the Vern Riffe Center might be the perfect cure for families suffering from cabin fever of the city's muck and mire season.

BWW Interview: Otis Williams Keeps The Temptations' Name Alive
BWW Interview: Otis Williams Keeps The Temptations' Name Alive
January 16, 2014

Surviving. A rock band and a television show may have named themselves after the concept and Gloria Gaynor may have sung about it. For the last 50 years, Otis Williams and the Temptations have lived it out.



  …       15       




Videos