Regional Roundup: Top 10 Stories This Week Around the Broadway World - 8/19; Signature's JELLY'S LAST JAM, BILLY ELLIOT in Israel and More!

This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature stories in Washington, DC, Milwaukee, Israel and more. Check out our top 10 stories around our Broadway World below, which include Signature Theatre's JELLY'S LAST JAM, ARCADIA in Milwaukee, and Billy Elliot in Israel, just to name a few.

East/Northeast

1. Washington, DC: Editor Benjamin Tomchik reviews JELLY'S LAST JAM at Signature Theatre. He says, "Mark G. Meadows may not be a familiar name to the casual Washington theatergoer, but he will be after this production. Making his Signature debut with Jelly's Last Jam, the Duke Ellington School for the Arts Jazz Teacher takes on the role which won Gregory Hines a Tony Award, giving a charismatic and effervescent performance. Equal parts arrogant and brilliant, Jelly is a complicated, prideful character which Meadows tackles with skill." Read more here.

2. Boston, MA: Editor Kristen Morale reviews KING LEAR at Elements Theatre. She says, "I was especially amazed by how talented a cast this is, and reading the program over further I discovered that these actors are indeed masters at their craft, having trained at the Royal Academy of Performing arts and theRoyal Shakespeare Company, just to name a few. These actors and the extraordinary performance they gave really makes Shakespeare's words seem so easy to roll of the tongue, when in reality I can only imagine how much rehearsal goes into a production such as this - not only due to the stamina needed to get through a play of such length, but also how each actors stays in character so unbelievably well." Read more here.

3. Connecticut: Editor Joseph Harrison reviews MIDSUMMER (A PLAY WITH SONGS) at TheaterWorks. He says, "MIDSUMMER (A PLAY WITH MUSIC) is a great evening of theatre. On the intimate TheaterWorks stage, the audience gets up-close and personal with these two unlikely lovers as they work through their issues. And they (the audience) connects in a personal way with their struggles and their inevitable love. But there is only one week left for this simple, but beautiful story of two unlikely people and their wild weekend, so don't miss it." Read more here.

Midwest

4. South Bend, IN: Editor Katherine Waddell reviews THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN at the South Bend Civic Theatre. She says, "The Cripple of Irishmaan's success is due largely in part to the ingenious way the actors were cast. The actors were incredible in their portrayal of their characters and made the world of Inishmaan come to life to the utmost believability. The cohesiveness of the group and their ability to perform well together really brought the feeling of a small island-life to the forefront of my mind." Read more here.

5. Milwaukee, WI: Editor Peggy Sue Dunigan reviews ARCADIA at American Players Theatre . She says, "Simplicity indeed evades Stoppard's ARCADIA to the audience's benefit while humor abounds amid the scientific facts, principles and theories being discussed with familiarity on stage where imagination and reality intermingle. The long oblong table offers a center point to the time periods,a certain order set amid the centuries and characters, until the two eras overlap in the final scenes. The fascinating evening also overlaps into provocative entertainment when romantic chemistry between Septimus and Thomasina, Hannah, Valentine, and Bernard, and then Bernard and Chloe heats up." Read more here.

West Coast

6. Seattle, WA: Editor Jay Irwin rounded up Village Theatre's 16th Annual Village Originals Festival of New Musicals. He says, "Well it may have been hotter than blazes this past weekend but I managed to spend the weekend inside at one of my favorite events of the year, The Village Theatre Village Originals Festival of New Musicals. They presented concert stagings of five musicals still in the works. It's a great opportunity for the authors to get to see their shows in front of an audience and for us to get a sneak peak at amazing musical theater to come. Now as they are still being workshopped I can't really review any of them but I can tell you what I saw." Read more here.

7. San Francisco, CA: Editor Harmony Wheeler reviews Lamplighters' NEW MIKADO. She says, "Lamplighters Music Theatre has reset the operetta to Tiramisu, Milan, and what an excellent production it is. The music and story are as enjoyable as ever, but half the fun comes from discovery of reinvented names and slight references to the original. Not to mention Ellen Brook's fresh direction of a show that Lamplighters has produced - with equal excellence - multiple times." Read more here.

8. Los Angeles, CA: Editor Don Grigware reviews PRT's "superlative" ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE. He says, "Under Jackson's cautious and skilled direction, the acting ensemble are stellar. Carter's Miss Alma is quite unlike any I have seen in past productions of the play. Most American actresses work from the inside out, whereas Carter seems to work from the outside in." Read more here.

International

9. Israel: New Editor Ronit Suzan reviews Billy Elliot at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center. She says, "Most musicals lose a lot of their charm once they're translated to Hebrew and while a few of the lines spoken in this musical felt unnatural, translator Eli Bijaoui still managed to do a wonderful job with the songs, given how smoothly they fit in. The same can be said about the choreography, also by Groisman, which is mostly thrilling, is transferring well the danger and action in the striking village, and is of course much more classical than what the Israeli audience is used to see in musicals and yet is swept away with the entire production and gives a standing ovation in the much appreciated original curtain call that in just a few minutes manages to present how this cast is united and enjoys performing together time after time." Read more here. Want to see more of BILLY ELLIOT in Israel? Click here for a first look at the Israeli cast in action!

National Tour Highlight:

10. Los Angeles Editor Don Grigware reviews the National Tour of CABARET at Segerstrom Center. He says, "The acting is top notch with Harrison a powerhouse emcee. From his opening "Willkommen" to "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" to "If You Could See Her" to the pitiful "I Don't Care Much" wearing feminine sequins and jewels, he grabs our attention fully and delivers a bold, brassy statement of demoralization. He is omnipresent looking on at all the scenes from the orchestra on a platform above the main set, or on one of the spiral metal staircases at stage left and right of the band." Read more here.

STUDENT BLOGGERS! We'd like to feature a few of our student bloggers below!

*BONUS* - Interested in joining our team, but not exactly sure what we do? All of your questions are answered, along with every open position from guest and student bloggers, Regional Editors, BWW sites and more! Check it out here!

This week, we'd like to welcome Sarah Comley-Caldwell, our newest contributing editor in Dallas, Laura Jayne in Sacramento, Michael Mekus in Pittsburgh, Lee Cooley in Phoenix, High School blogger Sydney Cahill in New Jersey, and Guest Blogger Arielle Jacobs who is sharing blogs about her role in ALADDIN in Sydney, Australia.