Casting Announced for THE SOUND OF MUSIC At The Promise
The Sound Of Music will come to life on the epic Texas Amphitheater stage (home of The Promise) in this timeless classic full of love, family, romance, and of course, music! Local and national talent will come together to bring the hills of Glen Rose alive. CASTING has just been announced!
Photo Flash: Get Spooked by THE SLEEPY HOLLOW EXPERIENCE
Historic Hudson Valley and Brian Clowdus bring The Sleepy Hollow Experience, a new signature Halloween event, to Sleepy Hollow Country's top-rated fall festivities this year. The interactive musical performance will premiere at Washington Irving's Sunnyside in Tarrytown in October 2019.
Photo Flash: First Look At MAMMA MIA! at Sugarloaf Mountain Amphitheatre
After a sold out run of The Sleepy Hollow Experience last fall, Brian Clowdus is back to produce the first Broadway musical at Sugarloaf Mountain Amphitheatre in over 25 years. Things will be heating up as Chillicothe transforms into the islands of Greece with the most immersive ABBA musical experience audiences have ever witnessed. Betsy Padamonksy from the Broadway National Tour of MAMMA MIA! headlines as Donna. Follow her and her friends as they take a trip down memory lane to discover the winner takes it all in the end and sometimes life forces you to stand up and embrace your inner dancing queen!
BWW Review: THE CHRISTMAS CAROL EXPERIENCE at The Wren's Nest
There's a new immersive theatrical experience at the Wren's Nest Museum in Atlanta this month, and it's definitely going to ring your Christmas bell. From the mind of visionary Atlanta director Brian Clowdus comes The Christmas Carol Experience, an interactive holiday concoction that's two parts Christmas party and one part Dickensian storytelling. The storytelling component of the evening offers little more than a wave at Dickens' frumpy and heavy-handed holiday novella, A Christmas Carol. Instead, it relies on the audience to bring a bit of working knowledge of Ebenezer Scrooge, literary history's most famous mizer, while it, bolstered by an impressive cast of five actors, provides the perfect 19th-century atmospheric backdrop, courtesy of The Wren's Nest, one of Atlanta's oldest homes with ghost-story spookiness built right in, and an abundance of holiday cheer.
Here's how it works: The audience, mourners at Jacob Marley's funeral with Christmas cocktails in hand, are free to travel about the open rooms of the museum. What happens next depends on which characters are in the room. If Ebenezer and his deliciously ghostly guide, Marley, are present, the rooms offer up newly reimagined versions of Ebenezer's encounters with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. If Ebenezer and Marley are not present, the rooms offer up interactive holiday cheer - maybe a singalong or a fun game. Newsflash: If you don't end up singing a solo in a room full of strangers before you leave, you did it wrong.
This unusual rendering of the holiday classic demands only five actors, and each one is up to the challenge of providing a believable, up-close-and-personal experience. Of particular note are the performances of the beautifully Bah Humbug-gy Daniel Burns in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge and an incredibly talented Jordan Patrick in the role of the doomed-for-eternity Jacob Marley. Their laudable non-verbal storytelling skills nicely supplement the thin script, leaving the audience with a rich and satisfying experience. Lilliangina Quinones, Julie Trammel Key, and Rosie Gyselinck, all playing women from Scrooge's life who take on the roles of Ebenezer's Christmas ghosts, are, in addition to carrying their equal parts of the forward movement of the story, all up to the demanding task of leading rooms full of people through carols and games while remaining firmly rooted in the 19th-century sensibilities of their characters.
The production is, unarguably, a pure sensory delight. The Wren's Nest, with its creaky floorboards and weather-stained walls and ceiling, is the important sixth character in this cast, and it is impressive in its role. In addition to the authentic Victorian oppressiveness that comes with the house, thick fog and eerie lighting aptly service the needs of the story and underscore the beauty of Clowdus's carefully crafted stage pictures.
Here's a helpful tip: Follow Scrooge and Marley into the first room if you can. The experience is disorienting by nature, and following the story from beginning to end will likely quell some of the initial feelings of bewilderment you might face. But if Marley slams the door in your face while you are trying to enter that first room, as he did mine, don't fret. The story, as it is meant to do, will culminate in a softer and more charitable Scrooge, and it will leave you feeling the joy of the holiday season no matter the order in which you experience it.
2018 Suzi Bass Award Nominations Announced
The Suzi Bass Awards revealed nominations for the 2017-2018 Atlanta professional theatre season on Monday evening, August 27, to patrons and industry artists. The Suzi Nomination Party was generously hosted by Synchronicity Theatre, at 7:30pm, One Peachtree Pointe, 1545 Peachtree St. NE #102, Atlanta.
BWW Contest: Win Tickets To Serenbe's TITANIC in Atlanta
BroadwayWorld is giving you and a friend a chance to attend Serenbe Playhouse'sTITANIC: THE MUSICAL, directed by Brian Clowdus. The show began performances on July 11th and runs to August 12th. TITANIC: THE MUSICAL is produced at The Inn Lake at Serenbe.
Photo Flash: First Look at Synchronicity Theatre's HEIDI
Atlanta's Synchronicity Theatre will celebrate the holidays with Heidi, a family-friendly musical retelling of the classic children's story about a little girl who brings joy to everyone she meets. Performances run through December 31, 2017 and are suitable for children age three and up. For tickets or more information, please visit synchrotheatre.com or call 404-484-8636.