The show's pre-Broadway, out-of-town tryout was very successful financially, suggesting that there's an audience for the show. (The show broke box-office records in Seattle, during its tryout.) But that was before the pandemic. As company members began testing positive in December, the show was forced to cancel a number of performances, costing the production a lot of money. And after spending six years developing the show, its creators did not want to see the show die due to Covid-19. So they are trying this nine-week hiatus now, in the hope that it will give the show a chance at long-term viability later. [more]
So how is Broadway doing right now, in terms of ticket sales and attendance? Not bad at all, all things considered.... There are currently 24 shows running on Broadway. Last week, overall, the shows sold about $22 million dollars’ worth of tickets, with 176,083 tickets sold. The 24 shows now open are running at 85% capacity, with the average ticket price about $126. (That's the average--meaning that there were some tickets sold at higher prices, with some rush tickets, twofers, and other discounted tix available for less.) [more]
George Wein, who died peacefully at his New York apartment at the age of 95, was the founder of the modern music festival. His contributions to pop culture were enormous. I liked him very much. He was easy to talk to, always candid and frank in our talks, and he was wholly committed to the music he loved. Starting in the early 1950’s, he created the Newport Jazz Festival, and followed that with assorted other festivals: the Newport Folk Festival, the Kool Jazz Festival, the JVC Jazz Festival, the Grand Parade du Jazz (in Nice, France), the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and more. [more]
Don long worked as a publicist for one singer he greatly admired; when age and ill health prevented her from working much anymore and her finances grew precarious, she told him she could no longer afford a publicist and would have to let him go. He continued to do what he could for her, gratis, and when she died he handled the public relations, to ensure she got the sort of send-off she deserved, even though there was no one to pay him for his services; he felt it was his responsibility as her long-time publicist. [more]
More than 30 Broadway productions are expected to open or re-open before year's end. Producers are gambling that by the fall, audiences will be ready to return. I'll list below the shows and projected opening dates, as it stands now. (And this is still in flux. Info changes almost every day.) Fingers crossed! Lights should be returning to Broadway this fall... There are still a lot of unknowns, of course. No one knows, for example, what the tourist situation will be, come fall. And tourists traditionally buy a lot of theater tix. And no one knows if the pandemic will be fading out in the fall or--due to emerging variants--be resurgent. [more]
Now ready to take on a global circuit, we started working on promoting AcebergTM’s brand new debut EP "Far From Home" which was just released on April 16th, 2021 along with his music video for one of his singles “DANCA.” “DANCA” is a perfect blend of Afropop mixed with Amapiano beats that can make you head to the dancefloor or groove while sipping on a strong drink. Our DANCA dance challenge is in full swing on TikTok/Instagram with more social media excitement on the way and his EP is being hailed by critics and tearing up the charts. While we have placed advertising campaigns in some of the major cities including, but not limited to, New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta, we have and continue to engage the music community at large, bookers for late night talk shows, music supervisors for TV/Film and beyond to share AcebergTM with more of the world. [more]
Broadway playwright’s like Jim Rado, Neil LaBute, Jeremey Kareken and Greg Kotis have all graced our seats. We have had Broadway performers step on to our relatively tiny stage to give the audience an unparalleled opportunity to see a legend like Austin Pendleton performing King Lear. We also were the first stage for so many child actors taking their very first steps onto the boards. [more]
We dove into the archives to find six of the best globe-trotting music documentaries to keep readers occupied and maybe even teach them something new. Whether you’re a fan of Japanese video game soundtracks or high-energy live performances, there’s something here for everybody! [more]
Theater enthusiasts, Broadway stars, industry insiders and passionate supporters ran (or walked) the streets of New York City in this year’s Broadway Run, raising a record-breaking $104,239 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. [more]
Theaterscene.net is deeply saddened to report the passing of the legendary Carol Channing. Channing died at 12:31am on Tuesday, January 15th, 2019, at home in Rancho Mirage, CA of natural causes. [more]
Our TheaterScene.net staff was very prolific in 2018. I'm proud of all their efforts and our site in it's 18th year as a home for long form independent arts journalism. [more]
He attended Lehigh University. He enlisted in the Navy and served in and around China during World War Two. After the war, he married Alberta Saby of Allentown, Pennsylvania; they were married for 68 years, until her passing in 2014. [more]
Andy Stein, Founder and Executive Chairman, stated: “There are not enough words to say how thankful we are to the legendary Stephen Schwartz for his incredible support of the children of the Orphaned Starfish Foundation, to Michael Lavine, Paul Kreppel and Carol De Giere who made this a reality, and to all the wonderful Broadway stars who donated their performances that made tonight so very special. This night exceeded our expectations in all ways and raised much needed funding,for the programs of the Orphaned Starfish Foundation. This night exceeded our expectations in all ways and raised much needed funding,for the programs of the Orphaned Starfish Foundation. [more]
Great Performances is produced by THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET, one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers. Throughout its more than 40-year history on public television, Great Performances has provided viewers across the country with an unparalleled showcase of the best in all genres of the performing arts, serving as America’s most prestigious and enduring broadcaster of cultural programming. Bill O’Donnell is series producer and David Horn is executive producer. [more]
The Festival’s sole lecture-presentation proved useful in revealing how one composer viewed the intersections of science and art in his own composing: trumpeter Skye van Duuren, now a trumpeter and PhD candidate in Composition in the College-Conservatory at the University of Cincinnati spoke on “Bridging Worlds: Creating Fixed Media Microtonal Music with Acoustic Instruments” and then presented the third movement of his Manifestations. Emphasizing the development of his “microtonal language … with traditional chromatic scale as a baseline … and gradations of 5 cents in octaves that each have 240 ‘notes,’ van Duuren discussed the use of Melodyne software to increase the microtones of acoustic instruments. [more]
In the very first concert, one of the finest – and also longest – pieces of the Festival was Marie-Helene Bernard’s BOA Sr (1.5, i.e. Concert 1, piece 5). In 2010, Bernard read the obituary of an old woman living in the Andaman Archipelago in the Bay of Bengal; she was the last person alive to speak the Bo language, and at the end of her life, with no one left to talk to, she spoke to the birds. This fixed media requiem piece uses fragments of an anthropologist’s recordings of the old woman’s voice with electronic musical sounds. From its beginning, this work evokes the past by preserving the voices of its ghosts; humanness is stretched out into something cosmically airy. It is a mysterious and gorgeous work, a modern anthropological moment turned into a myth of simultaneous loss and eternity. [more]
This year, the Festival site was the Abrons Arts Center; the three performance venues in the facility – the Experimental Theater, the Playhouse and the Underground Theater – were all used. In the spacious Center, performers, composers and audience socialized and exchanged ideas and personal news throughout the week. Though the Festival composers came from many countries all over the world, the “community” of electroacoustic music is quite small; performers often know each other and each others’colleagues and friends, knowledgeable audiences and strong supporters … an exceptionally eclectic and vibrant group, all interested in music that both affirms and expands the core questions about music that composers, performers and listeners have been exploring for centuries. [more]
Having added the 200-seat indoor Touchstone Theatre in 2009 to the outdoor Hill Theater with a capacity of 1,089, the season which began on June 14 now runs until November 18. It currently serves 110,000 patrons annually, one of the largest audiences for classical outdoor theater in the United States. Another perk of visiting the neighborhood is to tour Taliesin East, Frank Lloyd Wright’s fascinating private home as well as his school for architects, both of which are only one mile away from the theater. [more]
"Husband" is also receiving a sublime production this summer at the Stratford Theatre Festival in Ontario, Canada, featuring a bubbly Brad Hodder as the “good-for-nothing” Lord Goring, who “leads such an idle life” and often serves as Wilde’s spokesman. There is also a haughty Bahareh Yaraghi as the shrewd Mrs. Laura Cheveley (who knows “such pleasant scandals about all her friends,” while creating some of her own), a no-nonsense Joseph Ziegler as the Earl of Caversham, Tim Campbell as Sir Robert Chiltern and Sophia Walker as his wife, Lady Gertrude. Though she has the lesser role of Lady Markby, Marion Adler also shines whenever she’s on stage. [more]
The first 26 chapters are the original text of "Contradictions" with each followed by “”Reflections,” where Prince variously corrects, expands upon and ruminates about that portion. After concluding with the tribulations of the 1974 revival of "Candide," the next 19 chapters are new additions that detail all that came after. There’s also a comprehensive appendix of facts about all of his shows and an index. [more]
Each was asked about their first audition. Marilyn D’Honau couldn’t remember, although she clearly made an impression on Robbins who subsequently used her in "Gypsy." Tony Mordente, just an acting hopeful, was working in a Times Square Howard Johnson’s when he heard that WSS was being assembled and he showed up with no professional experience and managed to impress the powers-that-be. Some flew in from the Coast or Las Vegas or were known by Robbins before hand, like Ronnie Lee who was in "Peter Pan." All were reminded by Robbins before the opening night that they were “handpicked.” [more]
The St. Bart’s Players, NYC’s award-winning, longest running community theater group, proudly presents A Little Night Music as the final show of its 90th Anniversary Season [more]
Apart from two years ago, when personal developments required me to cancel my scheduled trip at the last minute, the present summer marked my 18th consecutive year at the Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake and my 12th at the Stratford Festival--both in Canada. (Stratford is about a 90-minute drive from the Toronto airport, and Niagara-on-the-Lake is an hour or so from Buffalo.) What any theatergoer who’s never been to either Festival doesn’t know is that each is the best-kept theatergoing secret in North America. That’s because they are true repertory theaters, and there’s nothing to compare with seeing the same actor in one play in the afternoon and then in a very different production in the evening. And for the most part, every actor in each company is doing just that: there are matinees and evening performances every day of the week, except for Monday, when both Festivals are dark. (Each Festival also has four different theaters.) [more]
Sigourney Weaver, who acted in Gurney’s plays Mrs. Farnsworth and Crazy Mary, periodically appeared onstage with her husband Jim Simpson. Mr. Simpson was the former Artistic Director of The Flea Theater which presented 15 of Gurney’s works. Throughout the celebration the couple reminisced about the writer and recited biographical details about him, while illustrative slides depicting his life were projected. At the conclusion of this portion, in white lettering on a black background, were projected the titles of Gurney’s 48 plays. It was a stark testament to his achievements. [more]
Interestingly, some of the most raucously explicit material of protest came not from the Peace and Social Justice Concert 24 but from the Wil(helms/liams)burg Concert 26, a collaboration of musicians and performing artists from Brooklyn and Hamburg, Germany. In the opening work, "Trumpen," for clarinet, piano, cello and laptop performers, Georg Hajdu created a piece based on the destructive and fracturing words of Donald J. Trump. This piece introduced the Unheard-of//Ensemble – Ford Fourqurean/clarinet, Daniel Anastasio/piano and Thea Mesirow/cello – who played throughout the concert, demonstrating remarkable technical control and versatility; this group “is a contemporary chamber ensemble dedicated to the development and performance of new music by living composers.” In "Trumpen," Trump’s words are altered and devolved into an ever-increasing intensity of chaos; the audience is witness to the mess – and is part of it as well – as this replicates political protest at its best, at once ancient and contemporary. [more]
n light-hearted Rationalize (concert 27), composer Cody Brookshire combined found and manipulated sounds created by the audience with live music on bass clarinet and marimba. Brookshire created SynkroTakt, an audio streaming technology. Before the piece began, the composer instructed the audience on the seven-step procedure required to enable their devices to create sounds streamed into synchronous audio tracks; the audience, in this way, became the collective ‘artist/musician’ and provided one half of the ‘duet’ of electronic sounds and live instruments. The result was an unexpectedly sweet and pretty piece, a bauble in which sounds produced by an unusually concocted combination of chance and intention became a contemporaneous agent of creativity. [more]
In spite of the Festival’s lengthy booklet and daily concert updates, the rich creative vitality of the electroacoustic musical community remains only tangentially documented: composers and performers clearly work in close collaboration. Internationally recognized cellist Madeleine Shapiro, for instance, director of the important NewMusicMannes ensemble at the New School’s Mannes College of Music, is on the NYCEMF 2017 Steering Committee, and performed in several of the 2017 Festival’s concerts. She is clearly the sort of artist who can turn her instrument into both the composers’ muse and their servant. Shaprio’s ability to incorporate the cello’s entire history into its creative use in contemporary classical and experimental music suggests expanded incorporations of cello sounds in new music to contemporary composers. [more]
Mr. Howard is eminently qualified to hold forth on the subject, having been a prominent New York City acting teacher for over 60 years. Concurrently with an active theatrical career, he studied with Sanford Meisner at The Neighborhood Playhouse, and with Lee Strasberg as a member of the Actor’s Studio. In 1953, he founded The Michael Howard Studios. [more]
"Misty Copeland" is not just the celebration of Misty Copeland the feisty, young classical ballet dancer, but of Misty Copeland the young, nubile, well-proportioned young woman. She looks great wearing next to nothing, her exposed skin gleaming under Mr. Delman’s expertly subtle lighting. She is able to achieve all sorts of hyper-stretched positions on all sorts of furniture, her expressions ranging from distracted to come hither. [more]
Vegas still maintains its status as a hotspot for Broadway musicals, theatrical plays, and live entertainment. Although Performing Arts doesn’t appeal as largely to today’s youth in relation to other forms of entertainment, the city hopes to draw in more young performers to the arts by creating public and supporting personal programs [more]
Although "Hamilton" had been nominated for 16 awards in 13 categories, it failed to break the record of Mel Brooks’ "The Producers" which remains the all-time winner with a total of 12. Hamilton took all of the top musical awards including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical (Thomas Kail, previously nominated for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights) except for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical which went to British actress Cynthia Erivo. (Making her Broadway debut, Erivo was reprising her role as Celie Harris in "The Color Purple" from the 2013 Menier Chocolate Factory production re-envisioned by John Doyle.) Star Miranda won his second and third Tonys with his awards for Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theater and Best Book of a Musical. He previously won for Best Score with his 2008 Broadway musical, In the Heights. [more]
Building wooden play backgrounds is a fairly simple and creative project that helps develop woodworking skills. If you're already a skilled woodworker, you'll probably just enjoy the creativity of designing and painting the set. [more]
