Broadway To Vegas

Copyright: February 11, 2024
By: Laura Deni
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CHINESE NEW YEAR AND FLOWER DRUM SONG

The world is in the middle of celebrating the arrival of The Year of the Dragon in the Chinese New Year. The two week long celebration culminates with The Lantern Festival which happens on the 15th and final day February 24 in 2024.

Called Yuan Xiao Jie in Mandarin Chinese, it’s considered the perfect ending to the weeks-long Lunar New Year preparations and celebrations. The Lantern Festival celebrates the first full moon of the year – hence the name (Yuan means beginning. Xiao means night).

On this day, people light lanterns to symbolize driving out darkness and bringing hope to the coming year.

In ancient Chinese society, it was the only day when young girls were allowed to go out to admire the lanterns and meet boys. As a result, it’s also been dubbed Chinese Valentine’s Day.

Around the world communities still put on massive lantern displays on the festival’s final day.

The last Year of the Dragon was in 2012, and you're known as a dragon if you were born in 2000, 1988, 1976, 1964 or 1952 - which means that this is the year you'll be presented with exciting new opportunities. And, being a dragon, you'll know just how to exploit them: people born in this year are said to be confident, strong-willed and adventurous.

One of the main features of any Chinese New Year's celebration is "the parade."

The San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade, celebrating the Year of the Dragon, will be on Saturday, February 24, 2024, stepping off at Second and Market Streets."

Named one of the top ten Parades in the world by International Festivals & Events Association, the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco is one of the few remaining night illuminated Parades in North America and the biggest parade celebrating the lunar new year outside of Asia.

San Francisco was also the setting for Flower Drum Song, the hit Broadway musical which was turned into a movie which includes scenes from the 1961 San Francisco Chinese New Year Festival and Parade. The Chinese and those associated with the stage productions - absolutely hated the film.

Flower Drum Song was the eighth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on the 1957 novel, The Flower Drum Song, by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee. It premiered on Broadway in 1958 and was then performed in the West End and on tour. It was adapted for a 1961 musical film.

Lee's novel focuses on a father, Wang Chi-yang, a wealthy refugee from China, who clings to traditional values in San Francisco's Chinatown. Rodgers and Hammerstein shifted the focus of the musical to his son, Wang Ta, who is torn between his Chinese roots and assimilation into American culture. The team hired Gene Kelly to make his debut as a stage director with the musical and scoured the country for a suitable Asian – or at least, plausibly Asian-looking – cast. C.Y. Lee sat in the audience on the first night; he later stated that he had been nervous and was "bowled over" by the positive audience reaction. The show attracted considerable advance sales; even when these were exhausted, sales remained strong and sellouts were the norm. Cast album sales were similar to previous Rodgers and Hammerstein hits. The show received six Tony Award nominations, but won only one Tony (Best Conductor and Musical Director, for Salvatore Dell'Isola). It was overshadowed that year by Redhead, which though it received only slightly better reviews than Flower Drum Song and had a considerably shorter run, dominated the Tony Awards in the musical categories. Flower Drum Song ran for 600 performances, a longer run than any of the shows with which it had competed for Asian performers.

The production returned $125,000 profit to its backers on an investment of $360,000.

After the release of the 1961 film version, the musical was rarely produced, as it presented casting issues and fears that Asian-Americans would take offense at how they are portrayed.

When it was put on the stage, lines and songs that might be offensive were often cut. The piece did not return to Broadway until 2002, when a version with a plot by playwright David Henry Hwang (but retaining most of the original songs) was presented after a successful Los Angeles run. Hwang's story retains the Chinatown setting and the inter-generational and immigrant themes, and emphasizes the romantic relationships. It received mostly poor reviews in New York and closed after six months but had a short tour and has since been produced regionally.

C.Y. Lee fled war-torn China in the 1940s and came to the United States, where he attended Yale University's playwriting program, graduating in 1947 with an M.F.A. degree. By the 1950s, he was barely making a living writing short stories and working as a Chinese teacher, translator and journalist for San Francisco Chinatown newspapers. He had hoped to break into playwriting, but instead wrote a novel about Chinatown, The Flower Drum Song (originally titled Grant Avenue). Lee initially had no success selling his novel, but his agent submitted it to the publishing house of Farrar, Straus and Cudahy. The firm sent the manuscript to an elderly reader for evaluation. The reader was found dead in bed, the manuscript beside him with the words "Read this" scrawled on it. The publishing house did, and bought Lee's novel, which became a bestseller in 1957.

Lee's novel centers on Wang Chi-yang, a 63-year-old man who fled China to avoid the communists. The wealthy refugee lives in a house in Chinatown with his two sons. His sister-in-law, Madam Tang, who takes citizenship classes, is a regular visitor and urges Wang to adopt Western ways. While his sons and sister-in-law are integrating into American culture, Wang stubbornly resists assimilation and speaks only two words of English, "Yes" and "No". Wang also has a severe cough, which he does not wish to have cured, feeling that it gives him authority in his household. Wang's elder son, Wang Ta, woos Linda Tung, but on learning that she has many men in her life, drops her; he later learns she is a nightclub dancer. Linda's friend, seamstress Helen Chao, who has been unable to find a man despite the shortage of eligible women in Chinatown, gets Ta drunk and seduces him. On awakening in her bed, he agrees to an affair, but eventually abandons her, and she commits suicide.

Impatient at Ta's inability to find a wife, Wang arranges for a mail order bride called a "picture bride" for his son. However, before the picture bride arrives, Ta meets a young woman, May Li, who with her father has recently come to San Francisco. The two support themselves by singing depressing flower drum songs on the street. Ta invites the two into the Wang household, with his father's approval, and he and May Li fall in love. He vows to marry her after she is falsely accused by the household servants of stealing a clock, though his father forbids it. Wang struggles to understand the conflicts that have torn his household apart; his hostility toward assimilation is isolating him from his family. In the end, taking his son's advice, Wang decides not to go to the herbalist to seek a remedy for his cough, but walks to a Chinese-run Western clinic, symbolizing that he is beginning to accept American culture.

The musical retained Lee's "central theme – a theme coursing through much 20th-century American literature: the conflict between Old World immigrants and their New World offspring". Hammerstein and Fields shifted the focus of the story, however, from the elder Wang, who is central to Lee's novel, to his son Ta. They also removed the darker elements of Lee's work, including Helen Chao's suicide after her desperate fling with Ta, added the festive nightclub subplot and emphasized the romantic elements of the story.

David H. Lewis in 2006 called the movie "a bizarre pastiche of limping mediocracy". He comments that since the 1958 version of the musical was only rarely revived for decades after its initial run, the film "would in future years come to stand for the stage musical it so crassly misrepresented" and would serve as the version that academics and latter-day theatre critics would judge when they analyzed the musical.

Reviewing for The New York Times after the premiere, Bosley Crowther called the film neither "subtle or fragile ... It is gaudy and gaggy and quite melodic."

The film was the only Hollywood adaptation of a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical to lose money. Nevertheless, it was nominated for five Academy Awards and featured choreography by Hermes Pan. As early as mid-1961, the musical was licensed for local productions. That summer, the San Diego Civic Light Opera filled the 4,324-seat Balboa Park Bowl to overflowing for a highly successful run of the musical. It was less successfully revived by that company five years later; though it still attracted large crowds, local critics complained that Hammerstein's view of Asians was outdated.

Although there are no major productions of Flower Drum Song running, the Big Apple has enormous Chinese New Year celebrations planned.

The New York Chinese Cultural Center and the South Street Seaport Museum have teamed up to stage a Lunar New Year celebration at the Seaport in Downtown Manhattan on Saturday, February 17 The event, which will be spread throughout the Seaport, will include a traditional Lion Dance as well as free Chinese crafts and calligraphy workshops taught by experts from the Chinese Cultural Center.

NYC’s premiere AAPI sketch-comedy team will present a Lunar New Year show, taking place for the first time at the historic Players Theatre on Saturday, February 17. Model Majority—a comedy troupe working to increase positive Asian representation in comedy all while fighting stereotypes, with performers like Veronica Dang, Kevin Chew, Carol Lee and more—will host a night of dragon-themed comedy, music, special guests and more.

Don those important good luck colors of red or gold and enjoy audience gifts like delicious snacks, red envelopes, and wishes for a happy and prosperous new year.

Orchestra Now will usher in the Year of the Dragon at The Sound of Spring, an authentic Chinese New Year concert, taking place today, February 11, in the Rose Theater of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall. The show will include performances by erhu virtuoso Zhang Haiyue and dizi player Feng Tianshi from the Central Conservatory of Music in China.

Pulse Events is known for being a curator of Asian-American electronic music and live performances. They're staging their festival at the Avant Gardner in Brooklyn on Sunday, February 18 and Monday, February 19, which marks the beginning of Spring in the Chinese Lunar New Year calendar. Headliners include Slander and Alan Walker.

Celebrate the Year of the Dragon with a spectacular Lunar New Year performance by the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company at Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture in the Bronx. The Company dancers, acrobats and musicians will be performing in festive costumes in red, gold, blue and purple colors symbolizing their prayer for a peaceful and harmonious New Year with plenty of prosperity and good fortune for everyone to enjoy and share.

Firecrackers, cymbals and drums accompany the acrobatic dragon dancers and vibrant colors from the motions of the endless floating lines of fabric, costumes and props that are created by the agile dancers and warriors. Acclaimed pipa player and professor, Liang-xing Tang, will also be featured in the show, performing Three variations of the Plum Flower and Remembrance and Drinking Song. Tang has achieved the highest distinction of pipa player, Pipa Master, and is a recipient of National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

As for Super Bowl city, Las Vegas is called Chinese New Year in the Desert. Celebrations span three days, packed with dozens of themed events, many of which are free. Festivities take place throughout the city, including such venues as Downtown Las Vegas, Downtown Container Park, Villa Azur, Taverna Costera, and Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. Some of the festive highlights include CNY Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Gala Dinners, and above all—the Parade. A dragon parade and carnival procession must be the city's favorite tradition. Las Vegas Spring Festival Parade weaves its way through Fremont Street from 11 am to 12 pm. It is followed by Parade After Party, held in Downtown Container Park from noon to 3 pm. Both the parade and after party are free and open to the public.

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This is not your typical, totally boring textbook.

In the pages of How To Earn A Living As A Freelance Writer (the first to be lied to and the last to be paid) you'll find sex, celebrities, violence, threats, unethical editors, scummy managers and lawyers, treacherous press agents, sex discrimination; as well as a how-to for earning money by writing down words.

ART AND ABOUT

YOKO ONO: MUSIC OF THE MIND

Yoko Ono with Glass Hammer 1967 from HALF-A-WIND SHOW, Lisson Gallery, London, 1967. Photo © Clay Perry © Yoko Ono

a new display at Tate Modern in London stages a press opening on February 14, followed by the public opening on February 15 which runs through September 1, 2024.

Tate Modern presents the UK’s largest exhibition celebrating the ground-breaking and influential work of artist and activist Yoko Ono. Spanning seven decades of the artist’s powerful, multidisciplinary practice from the mid-1950s to now, Yoko Ono: Music of the Mid will trace the development of her innovative work and its enduring impact on contemporary culture.

Conceived in close collaboration with Ono’s studio, the exhibition will bring together over 200 works including instruction pieces and scores, installations, films, music and photography, revealing a radical approach to language, art and participation that continues to speak to the present moment.

The show traces the development of her practice and explores some of Ono’s most talked about and powerful artworks and performances. This includes Cut Piece (1964), where people were invited to cut off her clothing, to her banned Film No.4 (Bottoms) (1966-67) which she created as a 'petition for peace'. Visitors are invited to take part in both simple acts of the imagination and active encounters with Ono’s works, such as Wish Trees for London, where visitors can contribute personal wishes for peace.

Supported by John J. Studzinski CBE. With additional support from the Yoko Ono Exhibition Supporters Circle and Tate Americas Foundation. Exhibition organised by Tate Modern in collaboration with Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf.

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SWEET CHARITY

NEW YORK CITY CENTER TO PILOT NEW DESIGN AWARDS AT THE ROGER REES AWARDS 74 greater New York high schools will participate in the program.

The Broadway Education Alliance (“BEA”) has announced a strategic partnership with the New York City Center Education & Community Engagement Department to introduce a scenic and costume design award that will be presented as part of The Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Student Performance portfolio of recognitions. The 14th annual talent showcase will be held at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, on Sunday, May 19, 2024.

New York City Center is Manhattan’s first performing arts center with the mission of making the best in theater, dance, and music accessible to all audiences. This commitment continues today through celebrated dance and musical theater series like the Fall for Dance Festival and the Tony-honored Encores! series which has celebrated American musical theater for 30 years. The alliance between BEA and City Center reflects the growing importance of proactive artist development and community outreach for the theatrical industry and the positive impact The Roger Rees Awards is having on the creation of a trackable talent pipeline into the Broadway sector. Since 2009, The Roger Rees Awards has been produced by BEA and Disney Theatrical Group to identify and recognize outstanding student actors who have performed a leading role in an officially licensed high school musical production. Two performers receiving this honor move on to represent the Greater New York region at The Broadway League Foundation’s Jimmy Awards (also known as the National High School Musical Theatre Awards) on June 24 at the Minskoff Theatre. Previous Roger Rees Awards national honorees include the 2023 Best Actress-winner Lauren Marchand, 2021 Best Actor-finalist Mateo Lizcano, 2019 Best Actress-winner Ekele Ukegbu and scholarship winner Jeremy Fuentes, Andrew Barth Feldman, and 2015 Best Actress-winner Marla Louissaint.

In addition to recognizing the importance of theater arts education, the program celebrates the exceptional life and career-long artistic excellence of Broadway’s beloved actor/director, Roger Rees. Rees received the Olivier and Tony Awards for his performance in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and Tony nominations for Indiscretions and as co-director of Peter and the Starcatcher. Throughout his life, he was a committed educator and generous mentor to young artists. Playwright Rick Elice, Rees’ partner of over 30 years, and author of Finding Roger, said, "Rog would have liked this chance to educate and inspire young actors, to offer a guiding hand as so many were offered to him when he too was a kid with a dream." Rees passed away in July 2015 after a year-long battle with brain cancer. He was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in November 2015.

DEVOTED WIFE AND DETERMINED WAR HORSE QUEEN CAMILLA drove six hours to keep an appointment after her helicopter flight was cancelled due to bad weather. Taking on extra duties while her husband is in cancer treatment, the woman wonder attended a musical evening at Salisbury Cathedral in southern England last Thursday in support of three charities. The concert saw pianist Rupert Egerton-Smith perform alongside The Band of The Grenadier Guards and The Band and Bugles of The Rifles, military regiments of which Queen Camilla is honorary colonel. The event also celebrated three organizations of which she is Patron: the Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust, The Wiltshire Air Ambulance Charitable Trust and Community First – Youth Action Wiltshire.

Referring to her husband she told the crowd: "He is doing extremely well under the circumstances. He is very touched by all of the letters and messages the public have been sending from everywhere. That’s very cheering,"

SPREADING THE WORD

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN backed by a sensational 17-piece big band, "in my tribute to Tony Bennett Because of You takes place on Valentines Day, February 14, 2024 in Reynolds Hall at the Smith Center in Las Vegas, NV.

THE EAGLES are on the road with The Long Goodbye tour after 52 years of performing. Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, Vince Gill and Deacon Frey are performing together for the final time. On February 13, they are on stage at the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK. On Friday they perform at the Toyota Center in Houston Texas. Saturday they'll be singing their hits at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA.

STANISLAVSKY SEMINAR takes place today, Sunday, February 11 at Theater West in Los Angeles.

This dynamic Seminar and Demonstration is focused on the work of the man who revolutionized the art of acting. Speaker Sharon Marie Carnicke, is an award-winning expert on Stanislavsky’s System and an internationally acclaimed acting teacher. She will explore the value of taking a fresh look at Stanislavsky’s last, most innovative rehearsal technique: Active Analysis.

She will be joined by Theatre West members for a demonstration focused on the topic.

Carnicke is the author of Dynamic Acting through Active Analysis and Stanislavsky in Focus Her next public workshop will focus on film acting at the upcoming S-Word Symposium in London in May.

THEATER RESOURCES UNLIMITED (TRU) has partnered with CreateTheater.com to present the fourth virtual edition of the TRU Voices New Plays Reading Series. The series marks a new partnership with Streaming Musicals and the new Milliron Media Group Studios, enabling TRU to have more sophisticated capabilities in the virtual presentation of new works for theater, including up to eight cameras and high-quality sound.

TRU Voices kicks off with a rare opportunity to view a live broadcast of a new play. On Sunday, February 11, at 4pm ET will mark the debut of 1920 by Scott Sublett, directed by Christopher Scott, with Gene Gillette and Marina Shay. The producer is John Ewing III, a current member of the TRU producer Master Class.

"1920 is a witty, intimate look at a famous couple in American history. It takes place the night 36-year-old Eleanor Roosevelt confesses her bisexuality to her handsome, still healthy, 37-year-old husband Franklin. They teeter on the verge of divorce, but out of their conflict they forge a new kind of marriage ... and political alliance. 1920 explores the flawed and fascinating human side of our national heroes.

The reading will be followed by TRU’s unique "Dollars and Sense" industry talkback featuring prominent commercial producers, artistic directors and general managers. Panelists will include producers Jane Bergere and R.K.Greene.

1920 will also be available On Demand for a limited time after February 11, for 4 days only.

Up next on Sunday, February 18, 2024 is Rolling with the Punches by Joel S. Bailey, directed by Ben Rauch.

Jo, a wheelchair-bound 20-something, lives largely confined to a second story walk-up, but when her mother’s boyfriend moves in, Jo's life is turned upside-down. Her poor judgment causes a serious accident, and Jo is wrongly placed in the infamous asylum, Dunning State Hospital. Her treatment motivates her to fight for the repeal of Chicago’s archaic 'Ugly Law', (deformed and unsightly people must stay out of sight from the public). The law’s repeal in 1974 remains a milestone in the Civil Rights movement for the disabled.s they’ve all been avoiding.

THE DRAMA LEAGUE'S DIRECTORS PROJECT points out that If 2024 is signaling anything about directors, it is that "the artists we serve at The Drama League are increasingly being called upon to work in heretofore unimagined ways, according to a release from The Drama League. With the advent of AI, they are being asked to employ new technologies and techniques in theater production. In a world rife with political and economic tension, they are being asked to work across companies, regions, borders and continents. And as those sitting in the seats evolve their desires, directors are being asked to innovate around the act of performance itself."

Over the next few weeks, The Drama League will "amplify directors exploring these forces. Last night, at Lincoln Center in New York, eight Directors Project alumni will showcase their work in media at Films and Futures. One month later, eight different directors, traveling from around the world, will convene in New York City for our first International Directors Gathering, meeting colleagues and sharing perspectives on change in our field, and in our world."

Stage Directing Fellows will take center stage at DirectorFest, produced by our colleagues at Keen Company, and our Resident Directors will highlight their exciting new projects.

COLIN JOST Saturday Night Live weekend co-host has been hired as the MC of the 2024 White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington D.C. on April 27.

"His sharp insights perfectly meet this remarkable time of divided politics," White House Correspondents’ Association President Kelly O’Donnell said on Friday while announcing the upcoming joke fest. "His smart brand of comedy and keen observation will turn up the heat on the national news media and across the political spectrum," she continued. "A night of laughs and reflections as our dinner honors freedom of the press as a cornerstone of American democracy. I am beyond excited to welcome one of NBC’s brightest stars to one of Washington’s greatest traditions."

OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY

BAD BUNNY has purchased one of Ariana Grande’s homes for $600,000 less than what Ariana paid when she bought it from Cameron Diaz in early 2021. Even with the hefty discount, Bad Bunny still paid $8.3 million for the home in the popular Bird Streets section of the Hollywood Hills. Ariana has been on a home-buying binge in the last few years with homes in Florida, LA and New York. She is recently divorced from real estate agent Dalton Gomez.

HOW MUCH TAYLOR SWIFT, CYRUS AND SZA EARN FROM THEIR MOST STREAMED SONGS ON SPOTIFY the team at CasinoGuardian took a deep dive into the streaming stats from Spotify, the world’s largest audio streaming service. They analyzed the platform’s weekly Top 200 charts for the past 12 months (Jan 2023 to Jan 2024) and calculated how much the most streamed tracks must have generated in royalties since being uploaded.

This is how much Swift, Cyrus and SZA’s most streamed songs on Spotify made over the past twelve months:

• With 1.65 billion global streams on Spotify in 2023 alone, Flowers by Miley Cyrus has been the most streamed song on the platform over the last year. It should have generated around $7.22 million or approximately $597k per month ($19,900 daily). That’s a ratio of 97.55% when we compare 2023 streams to total streams;

• Kill Bill ranks as Spotify’s second most streamed song with 1,41 billion global streams in the past year alone. The song should have brought around $6.18 million or approximately $468k per month ($15,588 daily). That makes the ratio of 2023 streams to total streams 89.42%.

• Taylor Swift’s Anti-Hero, the lead single from her 10th studio album Midnights and the 10th most streamed song around the world as per our findings, boasts 895,551 million global streams from the past year. It should have generated around $3.913 million or approximately $263,243 per month ($8,774 daily). That’s a ratio of 67.16% when we compare 2023 streams to the number of total streams;

As of January 2024, Spotify is available in 237 countries and territories and has more than 574 million users, which makes it the most popular audio streaming service in the world. Roughly 7.2% of the world’s population listens to music, audiobooks, and podcasts via the platform. The number of songs has increased from around 70 million in 2020 to more than 100 million at the beginning of 2024. Considering the average length of a Spotify track is 3 minutes and 17 seconds, CasinoGuardian calculated that it would take a person more than 624 years of nonstop listening to hear all 100 million tracks.

VALENTINE'S DAY is approaching. According to Statista planned Valentine's Day spending in the United States was expected to reach just under 26 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. A National Retail Federation survey concluded that significant others anticipated spending an average of $175.41 per person on Valentine's Day gifts.

The average planned spending on gifts for friends, children’s classmates/teachers, co-workers and pets has increased, to almost $56.00.

Planned spending does vary by age, the survey found, with those ages 35 to 44 planning to spend the most. Americans in this age group plan to spend an average of $335.71 for gifts and other Valentine’s Day items — $142.91 more than the average consumer is planning to spend.

According to GOBankingRates.com, the most popular places to buy Valentine’s Day gifts are online (35%) and department stores (34%), the survey found. Other popular places to shop include discount stores (31%) and specialty stores (18%).

The survey found that the top gifts will be candy (57%), greeting cards (40%), flowers (37%), an evening out (32%), jewelry (21%), gift cards (20%) and clothing (19%). In total, Americans plan to spend more than $5.5 billion on jewelry and nearly $4.4 billion on a night out, the National Retail Federation reported.

Experiences as gifts are also becoming more popular. About one-third (32%) of Americans plan to gift an experience up from 26% in 2022-23.

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HANG IN THERE

KING CHARLES III who no sooner got that pesky prostate problem addressed then he announced that he'd been diagnosed with cancer - a real bummer. The workaholic royal is undergoing a few weeks of treatment and has demonstrated the Don't Explain - Don't Complain adage. His support system - those trois femme formitable - his wife Queen Camilla; his sister Anne,The Princess Royale and his daughter-in-law Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh have everything under control. His right hand man is his son Prince William. Utilizing the Stay Calm and Carry On philosophy, the empire is in good hands.

TYNE DALY 77, who was to star in the Broadway revival of John Patrick Shanley’s Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play Doubt: A Parable, directed by Tony Award nominee Scott Ellis, was suddenly required to pull out due to an unexpected hospitalization. The Emmy and Tony award winning actress who is a member of the Theatre Hall of Fame. has been performing for six decades.

The first preview performance on February 2 was canceled. The second on February 3 featured Tony nominee Isabel Keating as Sister Aloysius, who will star until Amy Ryan steps in on February 13. "With respect and admiration for Tyne, we wish her the best and a quick recovery. We are grateful that Amy Ryan said yes – in a quick minute – to join our company and take on the role of 'Sister Aloysius.' We deeply appreciate Isabel Keating, who remarkably stepped in with a day of rehearsal and allowed us to get the production up on its feet during this first week of performances," Ellis, 66, said in a statement.

Daly had not performed in the role at all, a press release said. She was hospitalized on Friday, therefore, show organizers canceled the first preview held on that day.

The play also stars Liev Schreiber as Father Flynn, a priest who may be harboring a dark secret, Quincy Tyler Bernstine as Mrs. Muller, and Zoe Kazan as Sister James. Doubt: A Parable will have its official opening on March 7 at the Todd Haimes Theatre on Broadway.



ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME has announced the following Nominees for 2024 Induction:

Mary J. Blige
Mariah Carey
Cher
Dave Matthews Band
Eric B. & Rakim
Foreigner
Peter Frampton
Jane's Addiction
Kool & the Gang
Lenny Kravitz
Oasis
Sinéad O'Connor
Ozzy Osbourne
Sade
A Tribe Called Quest

The 2024 ceremony will once again stream live on Disney+ with a special airing on ABC at a later date and available on Hulu the next day.

To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band must have released its first commercial recording at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. Ten out of 15 of the Nominees are on the ballot for the first time, including Mariah Carey, Cher, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & the Gang, Lenny Kravitz, Oasis, Sinéad O’Connor, Ozzy Osbourne and Sade.

Nominee ballots will be sent to an international voting body of more than 1,000 artists, historians, and members of the music industry. An artist’s musical impact and influence on other artists, length and depth of career and body of work as well as innovation and superiority in style and technique are taken into consideration.

Inductees will be announced in late April. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2024 Induction Ceremony will take place in Cleveland this fall.



SMALL written by Robert Montano.

Directed by Jessi D. Hill

Robert Montano shares a wild, autobiographical ride about the wears of childhood, family, racism, and the misunderstood life of being a horse jockey. Nearly ravaged by addiction in order to stay 'small'L, Montano ignites complex and universal themes of struggle and sacrifice to pursue a passionate dream, first to race horses, and then to be a professional dancer. A rocky story of the racetrack, Small is about a boy transforming into a man by following his heart … and his feet.

The creatives are: Stage Manager Karen Schliefer. Original Set Design Christopher & Justin Swader. Orginal Prop Design Buffy Cardoza. Original Lighting Design Jamie Roderick. Original Sound Design Brian Ronan.

February 15 - 25, 2024 at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, OK.

MACK & MABEL by Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart.

Directed and choreographed by ARTCO founder Scott Thompson.

Musical direction by ARTCO co-founder Fred Barton.

Dive into the tumultuous yet enchanting world of silent-movie director Mack Sennett and his muse, Mabel Normand. Not just a musical but a journey through the golden era of Hollywood, filled with laughter, love, and heartbreak.

Caroline O'Connor graces the role of Lottie Ames. Alongside her Dermot Mulroney and Jenna Lea Rosen will lead a star-studded cast of 40 in this fully staged and choreographed performance backed by 18 musicians.

Presented by All Roads Theatre Company. Performances February 16-18, 2024 at the El Portel Theatre in North Hollywood, CA.

THE FOLKS AT HOME by R. Eric Thomas.

Directed by Daniel F Lendzian.

Featuring PK Fortson & Ryan Adam Norton and Josie DiVincenzo, Shanntina Moore, Roderick Garr, Julianna Tracey.

A love-letter to the great sitcoms of the 70s, The Folks at Home is a contemporary and hilarious look inside the homes of our neighbors. Roger and Brandon are an interracial couple living in South Baltimore and doing the best they can. A late mortgage, months of unemployment, and a possible ghost in the attic are all complicated when all of their parents show up at the door and need to move in.

Opening Night Wednesday February 14 Continues through March 2! at Alley Theatre in Buffalo, NY.

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS by Agatha Christie, adapted for the stage by Ken Lugwig.

Directed by Charles Fee.

A killer mystery. Immerse yourself in the thrills, chills and witty banter of Ken Ludwig's adaptation that brings the iconic whodunit to life.

Detective Hercule Poirot is on the case as passengers riding the opulent Orient Express are stranded on a snowy track with a killer in their midst. Poirot must solve the curious conundrum of who stabbed one American tycoon eight times in his locked compartment before the murderer strikes again! One of Christie’s most renowned titles, audiences will love the twists, turns and thrills they encounter as they join Poirot on this mind-bending journey.

The cast includes: Eva Wielgat Barnes, Laura Welsh Berg, Luke Brett, Casey Casimir, Jake Diller, Jodi Dominick, Grace Feidt, Jeffrey C. Hawkins, Jillian Kates, Alex Mandelson, Anthony Michael Martinez, James Alexander Rankin, David Anthony Smith, Nick Steen, and M.A. Taylor.

The understudies are: Ángela Utrera, Aaron Warrow and Jerrell Williams.

The creatives are: Nicki Cathro, Production Stage Manager. Esther M. Haberlen, Costume Designer. Patrick John Kiernan, Sound Designer. Rick Martin, Scenic and Lighting Designer. Jaclyn Miller, Movement Director. Imani Sade, Assistant Stage Manager. Dayne Sundman, Assistant Stage Manager.

Great Lakes Theater programming at the intimate Hanna Theatre, Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio through March 3, 2024.

HENRY V by William Shakespeare.

Directed by Mark Booher.

Original Music by Michael Wilkins.

Attempting to leave behind his rowdy and unpredictable past, Henry lays claim to certain parts of France through familial roots and ancient land laws. When his claim, and the new reign are insulted by the Dauphin of France, Henry begins a war that whisks us from England to France, in Shakespeare’s most famous "war play."

Starring Emily Trask as King Henry V.

The show’s cast also features Andrew Philpot, Erik Stein, Don Stewart, Peter Hadres, Michael Tremblay, George Walker, Molly Dobbs, Kitty Balay, and Alexander Pimentel.

The show’s creative team includes costume designer Klara Wilson, lighting designer Cody Soper, scenic designer Kevin Dudley, sound designer Tony Angelini, stage manager Rebekah Carriere, George Walker fight choreographer and Michael Tremblay french coach.

A Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) immersive experience February 15 - March 3, 2024 at the Marian Theatre at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, CA.

E-Book

Soft back Book

This is not your typical, totally boring textbook.

In the pages of How To Earn A Living As A Freelance Writer (the first to be lied to and the last to be paid) you'll find sex, celebrities, violence, threats, unethical editors, scummy managers and lawyers, treacherous press agents, sex discrimination; as well as a how-to for earning money by writing down words.

FINAL OVATION

CHUCK PHILIPS a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist best known for his investigative reporting in the Los Angeles Times on the culture, corruption, and crime in the music industry during the 1990s and 2000s, died January 21, 2024. He was 71.

Philips shared a Pulitzer in 1999 with Michael A. Hiltzik for a series of stories on corruption in the music industry. The Pulitzer board cited in particular their stories on "a charity sham sponsored by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, illegal detoxification programs for wealthy celebrities and a resurgence of radio payola."

SEIJI OZAWA groundbreaking Asian conductor, died February 6, 2024 at his home in Tokyo from heart failure. He was 88.

The high-voltage maestro was widely considered the first Asian conductor to win world renown leading a classical orchestra.

The Japanese conductor was known for his advocacy of modern composers and for his work with the San Francisco Symphony, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna State Opera, as well as the Boston Symphony Orchestra which he conducted from 1973 until 2002. His 29-year tenure was the longest in the history of the orchestra. .

He is survived by his wife and their children.

Next Column: February 18, 2024
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Laura Deni

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