Broadway To Vegas

Copyright: August 13, 2017
By: Laura Deni
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LAS VEGAS NATIVE HELMS NEW WORKS FESTIVAL

Memphis which played on Broadway from October 19, 2009 to August 5, 2012, won four 2010 Tony Awards, including: Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book and Best Orchestrations. It got it's start at TheatreWorks during the 2003-04 season.

Born and raised in Las Vegas, Giovanna Sardelli was appointed TheatreWorks Director of New Works Silicon Valley in May 2014, and has guided four well-received productions for the company’s main stage including Crimes of the Heart, The Lake Effect, and the World Premieres of Rajiv Joseph’s The North Pool, and Matthew Lopez’ Somewhere.

Sardelli most recently directed the World Premiere of Joseph's Archduke for the Mark Taper Forum, and will be directing the World Premieres of his play Describe the Night for the Alley Theatre and the Atlantic Theater, and An Entomologist’s Love Story by Melissa Ross for San Francisco Playhouse - all of which came out of TheatreWorks’ New Works Festival.

In addition to her position at TheatreWorks she is resident director for the Dorset Theatre Festival.

The 16th Annual New Works Festival is currently taking place through August 20, 2017.

Attracting theater lovers from across the country, TheatreWorks’ New Works Festival is an extraordinary opportunity to experience new plays and musicals in their early stages of development, the Festival has launched many new works onto TheatreWorks’ stage and on to productions nationally. The acclaimed Fly By Night and Emma came to life in the Festival, as did Broadway’s Memphis, off-Broadway’s hit Striking 12, the off-Broadway play Equivocation, winner of the 2009 Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, and The North Pool, winner of the Will Glickman Award for Best New Play to Premiere in the Bay Area in 2011.

Playwrights and composers have descended upon the 2017 New Works Festival at Palo Alto’s Lucie Stern Theatre, where patrons can applaud, debate, and help shape new works, and interact directly with the writers at a Meet the Artists Panel.

Sardelli is shepherding a stellar line-up which includes staged readings of two musicals, three plays, and other special events.

Irene Sankoff and David Hein composers of Come From Away are re-working their Fringe hit musical My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding.

Among the musical highlights are Tony Award nominated composers Irene Sankoff and David Hein of Come From Away fame who are in Palo Alto to rework their Fringe hit musical My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding, a comic love story about a mother and the woman who changed her life - which is based on Hein's mother's true story and is a musical valentine to a woman who changed everything in her life, and her family along with it.

This was their first show and became the hit of the Toronto Fringe, where it was picked up for a commercial run by Mirvish Productions. That doesn't mean 'good' can't be made 'better.' Hence, the participation in the New Works Festival.

Directed by David Leon Lowenstein who is revisiting My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding after directing/choreographing its SALT Award winning production at The Finger Lakes Musical Theater Festival in 2012. The new edition will have performances on August 16 and 19th.

The Festival opened with a keynote address on The Secret Life of Clowns with Jeff Raz, an American clown actor, teacher, and director. He founded and served as director of the Clown Conservatory in San Francisco, California, the country's only remaining professional clown training program from 2000 to 2010.

Jeff Raz. Photo by Stuart Locklear

As a performer he has had leading roles with Vaudeville Nouveau, Make*A*Circus, Pickle Family Circus, and Cirque du Soleil where more than one million people saw Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo with Raz in the starring role.

Raz performed in the Flying Karamazov Brothers' Broadway production of The Comedy of Errors.

Now the author of a new book The Secret Life of Clowns, the acclaimed actor/director shared a behind-the-scenes peek at the world of big-time circus and insights into his ongoing celebration of all that is different, and odd, about each of us.

Audiences are seeing three plays including: 3 Farids by Ramiz Monsef, touted as "a rollicking Hollywood comedy that rockets from casting calls to movie shoots to gala openings as three Arab-American actors combat the type-casting of Tinseltown"; Tiny Houses by Stephanie Zadravec, called "a dramatic look at the deeply personal impacts of the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-17"; and Deal with the Dragon, explained as "a darkly camp comedy with a Faustian twist by actor/author Kevin Rolston."

The Past, Present, Future section includes The Shangri-Las by David Stenn featuring songs of the Shangri-Las took place on August 12. Composed of two sets of sisters, groundbreaking 1960s "bad girl" group The Shangri-Las charted the heartbreak of teenhood. After gigs with the Beatles and the Stones, their mysterious end is solved for the first time in this American musical journey.

Author Stenn's television credits span from Hill Street Blues to Boardwalk Empire. He is the author of two biographies, Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild and Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow, both edited by Jacqueline Onassis. His documentary Girl 27 exposed Hollywood's best-suppressed scandal. Past, Present, Future is his first theatre piece.

Deal With the Dragon is written and performed by Kevin Rolston. It is staged August 13, directed by M. Graham Smith who is an O’Neill National Directing Fellow, an Oregon Shakespeare Festival FAIR Fellow, and a Resident Artist at San Francisco’s Crowded Fire. He has directed at venues in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Washington DC, and Philadelphia. He teaches at A.C.T.’s actor-training programs, Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, and at Barcelona’s premiere Meisner Technique program.

Tiny Houses by Stephanie Zadravec is directed by Sardelli and staged August 15 and 19th. Called a "play for our times starts with the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-17 shot down over Ukraine in July 2014. Set in the days and weeks that followed, in tiny houses around the globe, this intriguing, tense, often funny drama explores the lives touched - and changed - by one of the defining events of our times."

The playwright is a New Dramatists Resident and recipient of a Helen Merrill Emerging Writer Award.

3 Farids by Ramiz Monsef will be directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh. It takes its turn August 18.

"From comic casting calls to explosive movie shoots and glittering opening nights, Hollywood’s clueless mystique confronts a trio of Arab American actors trying to surmount the stereotypes of Tinsel Town. Bold physical comedy highlights this journey to the hilarious but intractable City of Angels."

Playwright Monsef is the co-author of the musical The Unfortunates, which was produced at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and A.C.T. in San Francisco. 3 Farids was part of The Bushwick Starr reading series in NYC.

Late Night Special Event will take place August 18 featuring the Blogologues created and performed by Yale graduates Jen Kamula and Allison Goldberg, this has been called "a bold, Internet-inspired, sketch-based extravaganza that brings Tinder messages, Amazon reviews, fake news, astonishing tweets, and much more to life on stage and completely verbatim."

A Next Generation Event was the open rehearsal of a new play in progress, Waiting for Next by Jeffrey Lo and directed by TheatreWorks’ Associate Artistic Director Leslie Martinson.

For those who have ever wondered how a “play in progress” actually progresses, Martinson and Lo invited audiences along as they guided their cast through multiple versions of key scenes in a new dramatic comedy about fate, friendship, and growing up. Version one was the latest draft. Version two was a revision hot off the press. And Version three was written after the team heard from the New Works audience.

The popular Meet The Artists segment takes place August 20. That gathering includes the Festival’s featured playwrights and composers who share their anecdotes and insights into creating brave new works for American theatre. Audiences are invited to bring questions and become a part of the conversation with writers who are shaping the theatre landscape of tomorrow. This event will include a special presentation by the winners of 1440 Countdown, TheatreWorks Education Department’s 24-hour playwriting festival for high school students.

The 2017 New Works Festival is presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s New Works Initiative, which received a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The program seeks out new material and serves as a collaborative matchmaker for writers and composers. The Festival has launched many new works onto regional and national productions, including Broadway’s Tony Award-winning Best Musical Memphis.

TheatreWorks is a member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and employs some 300 artists annually, including Equity and non-Equity actors, directors, designers and specialty artists. It is the 3rd largest repertory theater in the San Francisco Bay Area behind American Conservatory Theater and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The company stages a year-round season of eight productions - comedies, dramas, and musicals - in the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts and in the California Mission-style Lucie Stern Theatre complex in Palo Alto.










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ART AND ABOUT

THE WHITE GARDEN AT KENSINGTON PALACE

Diana, Princess of Wales. Photo: Kensington Palace

this summer a temporary garden has been created to celebrate the life of one of Kensington Palace's most famous residents, Diana, Princess of Wales. The White Garden, which complements the palace's exhibition Diana: Her Fashion Story, is delighting visitors from around the world.

Historic Royal Palaces' Gardens Team have been busy throughout the year developing the Sunken Garden with flowers and foliage inspired by memories of the Princess's life, image and style.

Summer planting includes pots of classic English white roses surrounding the reflective pool in the center of the garden becoming more exuberant with glowing ornamental grasses weaving through Cosmos daisies and billows of graceful Gaura.

While in residence at Kensington Palace, the Princess admired the changing floral displays in the historic Sunken Garden and would often stop to talk to the gardeners who cared for it.

Diana: Her Fashion Story celebrate the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, in this major new dress exhibition at Kensington Palace.

Trace the evolution of the Princess’s style, from the demure, romantic outfits of her first public appearances, to the glamour, elegance and confidence of her later life.

An extraordinary collection of garments, including the pale pink Emanuel blouse worn for Diana’s engagement portrait by Lord Snowdon in 1981 and Victor Edelstein’s iconic ink blue velvet gown, famously worn at the White House when the Princess danced with John Travolta.

The Princess’s relationship with her favorite designers is explored through a display of original fashion sketches created for her during the design process. In addition, a recently discovered blue tartan Emanuel suit is on display to the public for the first time. This suit was worn by Diana on an official visit to Venice in the 1980s.

PROJECTS 107: LONE WOLF RECITAL CORPS

Performance view: Facets: A Recital Compilation by Terry Adkins, November 8, 2012 at the Arthur Zankel Music Center, Skidmore College presented as part of the exhibition Recital at The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery. Photo: Patrick O'Rourke/MoMA

a multidisciplinary performance collective founded in 1986 by artist and musician Terry Adkins (American, 1953–2014), has an accumulative, rotating membership of collaborators in various musical and visual arts disciplines.

During Adkins’s lifetime the Corps performed within and in conjunction with Adkins’s exhibitions; described by Adkins as “recitals,” these performances incorporated spoken word, live music, video projection, and costumed, choreographed movement.

For Adkins, these “installation based experiences [issued] from an ongoing quest to reinsert the legacies of unheralded immortal figures to their rightful place within the panorama of history.”

The Lone Wolf Recital Corps’ performances, which Adkins orchestrated with the collaborative improvisation of the Corps, have commemorated and celebrated such figures as John Brown, John Coltrane, Matthew Henson, Bessie Smith, and others.

Projects 107 will be the first exhibition to reunite the Lone Wolf Recital Corps since Adkins’s death. Conceived as a series of live performances by the reconstituted Corps, a changing group of artists will reprise selections from the group’s repertoire in an installation of Adkins’ sculptures. The exhibition will be supplemented by documentary video of earlier recitals, as well as performance props, costumes, and ephemera that trace the history of the Corps.

Brought together are an intergenerational roster of artists and musicians, including Sanford Biggers, Don Byron, Jean-Paul Bourelly, Vincent Chancey, Arthur Flowers, Charles Gaines, Tyehimba Jess, Rashid Johnson, Demetrius Oliver, Cavassa Nickens, Clifford Owens, Kamau Patton, Dread Scott, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Robert Wisdom, Tukufu Zuberi, and others.

Organized by Akili Tommasino, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture.

August 19–October 9, 2017 at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

SPREADING THE WORD

WOODSTOCK ANNIVERSARY: A NIGHT OF PEACE AND MUSIC

Woodstock photo by Ann Baron Wolman

a Hendrix Flat party celebrating all things Woodstock on the same date Hendrix famously headlined the festival.

Expect live performances, DJs spinning vinyl, 60s costumes and a pop-up cocktail bar.

August 18, 2017 at the Handel and Hendrix Museum in London.

The event is sold out.

JULIAN FELLOWES who gave the world Downton Abbey is about to grace the big screen with a movie - The Chaperone in an adaptation of Laura Moriarty’s best-selling novel.

The Chaperone is currently in production.

Directed by multiple Emmy and DGA-nominated Michael Engler, The Chaperone stars Academy Award-nominated Actress Elizabeth McGovern, who is also a producer, optioned the novel and worked with Fellowes to adapt it for the big screen.

In this one Fellowes is taking us back to 1922 - but this time it’s set in America. Downton Abbey‘s Elizabeth McGovern is Norma Carlisle, a Midwestern housewife whose life is forever changed when she chaperones a young and soon-to-be famous Louise Brooks (Haley Lu Richardson) to thrilling Jazz Age New York.

Joining McGovern are Geza Rohrig, Blythe Danner, Campbell Scott, Victoria Hill and Miranda Otto

PBS Distribution is planning a theatrical release of The Chaperone in the United States in 2018 concurrently with distributors in the international marketplace represented by Arclight Films. This is the first feature film from Masterpiece.

THE OLD GLOBE in San Diego has announced the complete cast and creative team for the first show of its 2017–2018 Season, the world premiere musical Benny & Joon, with book by Kirsten Guenther, music by Nolan Gasser, and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein. Based on the beloved and quirky 1993 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture written by Barry Berman and Leslie McNeil, Benny & Joon will be directed by Jack Cummings III, Artistic Director of New York’s Transport Group.

The musical will run September 7 – October 22, 2017, on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center.

Benny & Joon is described as follows: "As Joon’s sole caretaker, auto mechanic Benny makes sure his eccentric sister lives a comfortable, safe, and predictable life. But when Sam shows up, his off-kilter take on the world - full of classic films, Buster Keaton, and an oddball approach to domestic life - turns everything upside down. With unforgettable characters and a beguiling and tuneful score, Benny & Joon explores what happens when we step out of our comfort zones and take a leap toward love."

The cast features Andrew Samonsky as Benny, Hannah Elless as Joon, and Tony nominee Bryce Pinkham as Sam, along with Colin Hanlon as Mike, January LaVoy as Ruthie, Paolo Montalban as Larry, Natalie Toro as Dr. Cruz and Mrs. Smail, and Jason SweetTooth Williams as Waldo and Video Store Owner. Completing the cast as Understudies are Katie Whalley Banville and Jake Millgard.

The creative team includes Scott Rink (Choreographer), Dane Laffrey (Scenic and Costume Design), R. Lee Kennedy (Lighting Design), Kai Harada (Sound Design), Michael Starobin (Orchestrations), J. Oconer Navarro (Music Director), Howie Cherpakov, CSA (Casting), Anjee Nero (Production Stage Manager), and Amanda Salmons (Stage Manager).

THE COMMONS ON 3rd THURSDAYS is a series of free Family Friendly Events in San Francisco’s Central Public Plazas between City Hall and Market Street. Events include Live Music on Three Stages, Food Trucks, Beer Gardens, and Activities for All Ages.

Headlining the August 17 event will be Hot Flash Heat Wave on Fulton Street and Caribbean All Stars in Civic Center Plaza. UN Plaza will feature a variety of performances and activities celebrating San Francisco’s dynamic literary scene - including a spatial audio listening space, Music to Read By by Christopher Willits, who will be performing selections of his own catalog of ambient music and other beautiful classics. Other activities include Giant Scrabble hosted by 826 Valencia, a pop-up book store by City Lights and much more including Bocce Ball, Giant Jenga and other games.

Visitors to the area will also see an outdoor art gallery next to the Asian Art Museum, a pop-up playground in Civic Center Plaza, and a new yarn wrapping installation on trees throughout the area.

“When our residents can share some great food with a friend or dance along with a neighbor, they are coming together to create a stronger, closer community,” said Mayor Edwin M. Lee. “These vibrant events reflect our commitment to make the Civic Center Commons safe, welcoming places for our families, visitors and workers.”

A SWEET SPOT is located in the garden of Clarence House, the home of Prince Charles and Camilla.

The garden contains two beehives, which are home to over 90,000 bees. They produce around 40 pounds of honey a year.

NATIONAL FILET MIGNON DAY is today, Sunday, August 13. Monday is Tomorrow is National Creamsicle Day. Tuesday, which is Julia Child's birthday, is National Lemon Meringue Pie Day. Wednesday is National Rum Day and National Bratwurst Day. Friday is National Ice Cream Pie Day. Saturday is National Soft-Serve Ice Cream Day and National Hot & Spicy Food Day.

IN THE COURTS

OBSESSIVE BRITNEY SPEARS FAN Jesse Webb, 37, was arrested in Las Vegas Wednesday night after he rushed the stage during the opening night performance of her return to Piece of Me” at the Planet Hollywood Axis theater.

He was unarmed and charged with trespassing.

The crazed fan a back flip knocking down a security crew member who was attempting to tackle him while Britney was singing and dancing.. Her backup dancers then broke their line and pinned him to the floor. Security rushed Britney off stage.

TMZ reported that Britney’s knees buckled when she was surrounded by her security team and visibly shaken.

After the man was arrested and hauled off to jail Britney resumed the show. She performs at Planet Hollywood through September 3.

Webb was released from jail last Thursday and is slated to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court on October 24 before Judge Deborah J Lippis.

OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY

THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS has awarded The City of Pompano Beach, Florida a $100,000 Our Town grant. for their Crossroads Project.

The Pompano Beach Crossroads project aspires to create and connect public art and performance art along a one-mile “trail” from the new Pompano Beach Cultural Center and Broward County Library, through historic commercial “Old Town Pompano” and along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to the Interstate-95 overpass. The multi-media project will create interactive connections between the Cultural Center, Bailey Contemporary Arts (BaCA) and Ali Cultural Arts (Ali) utilizing public art, performance art, “drop-in” activities, literary events and digital projections with built-in “augmented reality.”

Being award the grant will be celebrated on Tuesday, August 22, 2017 at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center. During the free event Congressman Ted Deutch will joins Mayor Lamar Fisher, the City Commission, and the City Manager to formally announce the grant. Congressman Alcee Hastings will be represented by Community Outreach Representative Daniel Mulieri. The celebration, which is open to the public, will include a brief program of live entertainment and refreshments.

The City of Pompano Beach is one of 89 organizations out of 274 nationwide applications to receive Our Town grants totaling $6.9 million.




THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES has elected cinematographer John Bailey, 74, as their new president. The nearly 90-year old institution's 54-member board of governors includes Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg, Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg. Bailey succeeds outgoing president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the first African-American to be elected academy president, served four consecutive yearlong terms in the unpaid position.

Bailey received the American Society of Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014 and has served on the board of governors for 14 years.

Also elected, or reelected to one-year terms are: Lois Burwell as first vice president and chair of the awards and events committee; Kathleen Kennedy as vice president and chair of the museum committee; Jim Gianopulos as treasurer and chair of the finance committee; and David Rubin as secretary and chair of the membership and administration committee.

BOTANICUM SEEDLNGS the development series for playwrights at Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum, has announced the recipient of the 7th annual “Izzy” Award for new plays. The winning play, Still Life by Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich, was presented during last year’s Summer Playreadings.

The Izzy is named for Theatricum's first dramaturg, Israel Baran, who passed away in 2007. To honor Israel's keen mind, sharp tongue, and ear for language (despite the fact that he was frustratingly deaf), the Izzy was established to recognize the Seedlings play that “speaks to us the loudest.”

Still Life is a darkly comic look at shared grief, centering on three people who become inextricably linked after a series of subway bombings in an unnamed city.

“We were so proud to help develop Barbara’s touching and terrifying play,” says Theatricum playwright-in-residence Jennie Webb. “Still Life captures the surreal, suspended feeling of life during a tragedy. Like life, it’s also filled with its share of very funny moments.”

Blumenthal-Ehrlich's full-lengths have been produced or developed at theaters including New Georges, Playwrights Horizons, Rattlestick, Victory Gardens, Trustus Theatre and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Still Life is on the Kilroys List and a Susan Smith Blackburn Award nominee.

Playwrights and new play lovers are invited to the upcoming free Summer Playreadings on Sunday, August 20 and Sunday, August 27, 2017 at the Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum, in Topanga Canyon, California.



IF ONLY by Thomas Klingenstein.

Directed by Christopher McElroen.

Featuring Melissa Gilbert, Richmond Hoxie, Mark Kenneth Smaltz, and Korinne Tetlow.

If Only explores a love and a racial equality that might have been. In 1860 Abraham Lincoln came to New York City where he befriended a well-educated ex-slave, and a young, spirited woman from New York’s social class. In the middle of the Civil War, Lincoln brought them together. A romantic relationship ensued but one that neither could acknowledge. Now, thirty-six years later they meet again. They long for each other. For what might have been had Lincoln lived. His assassination changed forever their fate and the fate of a nation.

Scenic design by William Boles; costume design by Kimberly Manning; lighting design by Becca Jeffords; and sound design by Andy Evan Cohen; and properties design by Carrie Mossman. Casting by Stephanie Klapper.

August 19 - September 17, 2917 at The Studio of Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City.

PRINCE OF BROADWAY a musical celebration of the career of Harold Prince with a book by two-time Tony nominee David Thompson, new songs, arrangements, orchestration and music supervision by three-time Tony winner Jason Robert Brown

Directed by Harold Prince with co-direction and choreography by five-time Tony winner Susan Stroman.

Harold Prince is a legend in the American theatre – the acclaimed director and producer behind a long list of America’s most iconic musicals and the winner of a staggering, record-breaking 21 Tony Awards. This musical celebrates six decades of magical moments in a new musical event. What is expecting to be a thrilling performance the show includes fully staged hits from such celebrated musicals as West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Evita, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, The Phantom of the Opera and more, in an unforgettable tribute to an unmatched Broadway career.

Prince of Broadway includes songs from many of the shows that earned Harold Prince a record 21 Tony Awards, as well as biographical material.

The cast of features Tony Award winner Chuck Cooper, Drama Desk Award winner Janet Dacal, Bryonha Marie Parham, Tony Award nominee Emily Skinner, Tony Award nominee Brandon Uranowitz, Kaley Ann Voorhees, two-time Olivier Award nominee Michael Xavier, Tony Award nominee Tony Yazbeck, and Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba.

The creative team features Tony Award winner Beowulf Boritt (scenic and projection design), six-time Tony Award winner William Ivey Long (costume design), two-time Tony Award winner Howell Binkley (lighting design), Jon Weston (sound design), Paul Huntley (wig design), Angelina Avallone (makeup design), Fred Lassen (music direction), Tara Rubin (casting), and Tony Award winner Jeffrey Seller (creative consultant).

In previews with the official opening slated for Thursday, August 24 at MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre,Manhattan Theatre Club in New York City.

In the lower lobby of the Friedman Theatre patrons can view a preview of the upcoming Hal Prince exhibition from the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

ACTUALLY by Anna Ziegler.

Directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz.

Featuring Joshua Boone and Alexandra Socha.

Amber (Alexandra Socha) and Tom (Joshua Boone) are freshmen at Princeton University, where their experiences so far have only two things in common: drunken parties and a desire to fit in. But when they meet, their common experience becomes anything but, and their moral mettle is put to the test. Called a "deeply felt and relevant world premiere play about intimacy and responsibility, power and provocation, privilege and protocol."

Actually is produced in association with Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director, Barry Grove, Executive Producer.

A Co-World Premiere with Geffen Playhouse. On the Nikos Stage of the Williamstown Theatre Festival through August 20, 2017. Williamstown, MA.

FROZEN the new musical based on Disney’s Academy Award-winning musical film features music and lyrics by the creators of the film's score, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and EGOT winner Robert Lopez, and a book by Jennifer Lee, the film’s screenwriter and director (with Chris Buck).

Directed by Tony winner Michael Grandage.

Tony Award winner Rob Ashford serves as choreographer.

Two-time Tony Award winner Stephen Oremus is music supervisor and creates vocal and incidental arrangements.

The musical stars Caissie Levy as Elsa and Patti Murin as Anna, the Arendelle’s royal sisters.

The two will be joined by Greg Hildreth as Olaf, Robert Creighton as Duke of Weselton, John Riddle as Hans, and Jelani Alladin in his Broadway debut as Kristoff.

The design team includes Tony-and Olivier-winner scenic and costume designer Christopher Oram, Tony-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz, and sound designer Peter Hylenski.

Mounted at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ Buell Theatre August 17–October 1, 2017 before transferring to Broadway in spring 2018 at the St. James Theatre.

A LEGENDARY ROMANCE music and lyrics by Geoff Morrow. Book by Timothy Prager.

Directed by Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Lonny Price.

Featuring Jose-Maria Aguila, Lora Lee Gayer, Roe Hartrampf, Maurice Jones, and Jeff McCarthy.

An intimate new musical that delivers us to the intersection of loyalty, love, and ambition. Back in 1950, film producer Joseph Lindy (Jeff McCarthy) was on top of the world, making hit after hit with the love of his life and leading lady, Billie Hathaway (Lora Lee Gayer). Nearly four decades later, retired and forgotten, he must approve for release a version of his abandoned, cinematic masterpiece, an autobiographical film now altered irrevocably by a young producer. Haunted by the choices he made years ago, Joseph’s story hangs in the balance as he reconstructs the film, his memory and, ultimately, his legacy.

Now playing through August 20 on the Main Stage of the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, MA.

DARLING GRENADINE Book, Music and Lyrics by Daniel Zaitchik.

Directed by Kristin Hanggi.

Music Direction by David Gardos

Choreographed by Chase Brock.

Meet fun-loving jingle composer Harry. In modern Manhattan, his charmed life with girlfriend Louise, brother Paul and beloved Labrador Retriever (also Paul!) sparkles with the fizz of romantic comedies and the whimsy of MGM musicals. But will it all go flat when reality interrupts Harry’s tenderly orchestrated fantasia? "A rich contemporary score explores the friction between romance and reality, bitter and sweet, high and low. Raise a glass to a musical serving something magical, moving and boldly new."

Development of Darling Grenadine was supported by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center during a residency at the National Music Theater Conference of 2016.

August 18-September 17, 2017 at The Terris Theatre of Goodspeed Musicals in Chester, CT.

WHO'S WHERE

JENNIFER HOLLIDAY the Tony and Grammy Award winner best known for Dreamgirls, The Color Purple and Chicago performs August 21, 2017 at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY.

AMERICAN POPS ORCHESTRA in Washington, DC stages its Season Opening Celebration featuring Marilyn Maye on Sunday, August 20, 2017. This exclusive event will feature an intimate performance by Marilyn Maye, accompanied by legendary jazz pianist Tedd Firth. An afternoon of champagne, incredible artistry and a preview of the APO's exciting 3rd season in their fabulous new home, Arena Stage.

THE TEN TENORS opens a two night stand Thursday, August 17, at the Regal Theatre in Subiaco, Australia.

LADY GAGA performs Tuesday, August 15, at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, CA. On Saturday she stars at the Century Link Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

COLDPLAY performs Monday, August 14 in Omaha, NE at CenturyLink Center. Tuesday finds them in Kansas City, MO at the Sprint Center. On Thursday they'll be delighting their fans in Chicago, IL at Soldier Field. On Saturday the show is in Cleveland, OH at the Quicken Loans Arena.

TIM McGRAW AND FAITH HILL on stage Thursday, August 17, at the Quicken Loans Arena on Cleveland, OH. On Friday they can be found in Philadelphia, PA at the Wells Fargo Center.

GREEN DAY headlines the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, MO on Monday, August 14. Wednesday's gig is in Noblesville, IN at the Klipsch Music Center. The tour stops Friday in Toronto, ON for a show at Ontario Place. Next Sunday, August 20 they perform at the Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati, OH.

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN Principal Pops Conductor of the Pasadena Pops Orchestra with soloists Jordan Donica, Rachel York and Madelyn Baillio, present Gershwin and Friends, performing treasures from Feinstein's personal archives, such as Someone to Watch Over Me, I Got Rhythm, and Embraceable You, plus gems from Gershwin’s contemporaries like Kern, Bernstein, and Copland. August 19, 2017 at the Los Angeles County Arboretum.

MATTHEW AND GUNNAR NELSON perform their Ricky Nelson Remembered show on Thursday, August 17 at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, IA.

I LOVE THE 90's TOUR with Salt N Pepa, Vanilla Ice, Coolio & Young MC takes place Saturday, August 19, at the Amphitheater in Pompano Beach, Florida.

FINAL OVATION

BARBARA COOK Tony Award winning star of Broadway musicals and cabaret, died Tuesday, August 8, 2017 morning of respiratory failure at her home in Manhattan. She was 89.

She made her Broadway debut as Sandy in the short-lived 1951 musical Flahooley. Shortly thereafter portraying Ado Annie in the 1951 City Center revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! remaining with the production when it went on its national tour the following year.

Later in the 1950s she played the supporting role of Hilda Miller in the original Broadway musical Plain and Fancy, originated the roles of Cunegonda in 1956 in Candide, Marian the Librarian a year later in The Music Man, for which she won a Tony Award, and Amalia in 1963 in She Loves Me, in which she sang one of her signature songs, Vanilla Ice Cream. It was reported by NY Daily News, quoting her spokesperson, that her last meal was vanilla ice cream.

Cook battled alcohol, depression and weight problems, but te lyric soprano continued performing mostly in theatre until the mid-1970s, when she began a second career as a cabaret and concert singer with composer and pianist Wally Harper who died in 2004. She also made numerous recordings.

Her vast accomplishments included celebrating her 70th birthday by giving a concert at Albert Hall in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in November, joined by performers including Elaine Stritch and Maria Friedman. In 2000, she was one of the only American performers chosen to perform at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival in the Sydney Opera House.

Cook returned to Broadway in 2010 in the Roundabout Theatre's Stephen Sondheim revue Sondheim on Sondheim, created and directed by long-time Sondheim collaborator James Lapine, at Studio 54. She starred opposite Vanessa L. Williams and Tom Wopat. On April 12, 2011, Cook appeared with James Taylor, Bette Midler and Sting, at Carnegie Hall for a gala called Celebrating 120 Years of Carnegie Hall.

She was named an honoree at the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors. Barbara Cook married acting teacher David LeGrant on March 9, 1952. The couple who had one son divorced in 1965. She is survived by her son Adam LeGrant.

GLEN CAMPBELL singer/musician and country-pop music legend, whose hits including Rhinestone Cowboy, Gentle on My Mind and Wichita Lineman forever changed popular music, died Tuesday, August 8, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee six years being diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He was 81.

During his 50 years in show business, Campbell released more than 70 albums. He sold 45 million records and accumulated 12 RIAA Gold albums, four Platinum albums and one Double-platinum album. He placed a total of 80 different songs on either the Billboard Country Chart, Billboard Hot 100, or the Adult Contemporary Chart, of which 29 made the top 10 and of which nine reached number one

Campbell made history in 1967 by winning four Grammys total in the country and pop categories. Three of his early hits later won Grammy Hall of Fame Awards (2000, 2004, 2008), while Campbell himself won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. He received trophies for Male Vocalist of the Year from both the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM), and took the CMA's top award as 1968 Entertainer of the Year. A guitar prodigy, Campbell began his career as one of the best studio musicians in the business. He became part of an elite group of studio musicians later known as The Wrecking Crew. Campbell played on recordings by Bobby Darin, Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, The Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, Merle Haggard, Jan and Dean, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and Phil Spector.

On the nightclub scene he was a regular Las Vegas headliner.

Following his early 2011 Alzheimer's diagnosis, Campbell embarked on a final Goodbye Tour with three of his children joining him in his backup band. His final show was on November 30, 2012, in Napa, California. After the end of the tour, Campbell entered the studio to record what would be his final album, Adiós, which wouldn't be revealed until five years later. According to his wife, Kim Campbell, he wanted to preserve "what magic was left", in what would be his final recordings.

Campbell was married four times and was the father of five sons and three daughters, ranging in year of birth from 1956 to 1986. Campbell's eldest daughter is Debby, from his marriage (1955–1959) to Diane Kirk. After divorcing Kirk, Campbell married Billie Jean Nunley, a beautician from Carlsbad, New Mexico, who gave birth to Kelli, Travis, and Kane. Billie Campbell filed for divorce in 1975 and their divorce was final in 1976. Shortly after that, he married singer Mac Davis's second wife, Sarah Barg, in September 1976. They had one child named Dillon and divorced three weeks after Dillon's birth in 1980.

Immediately after his divorce from Barg, Campbell began a relationship with fellow country artist Tanya Tucker. The relationship was marked by frequent gossip including reports of violence. The couple recorded a number of songs together, including the single Dream Lover.

Campbell married Kimberly "Kim" Woollen in 1982.The couple met on a blind date in 1981 when Woollen was a Radio City Music Hall Rockette. Together, they had three children: Cal, Shannon, and Ashley. All three joined Campbell on stage, starting in 2010, as part of his touring band.

On March 8, 2016, Rolling Stone reported that Campbell was living in a Nashville memory care facility and that he was in the "final stages" of his disease. He was unable to communicate with people and understand what people said to him. However, his family also said he was receiving good care and was "happy" and "cheerful."

Neil Portnow President/CEO of the Recording Academy issued the following statement: "Six-time GeMMY winner Glen Campbell was, and always will be, an American treasure. In a career spanning more than six decades, Glen contributed to countless hits as part of the renowned group of session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. As an artist, his remarkable voice, top-level guitar work, and dazzling showmanship shot him to superstardom in the 1960s, and he became one of the most successful pop/country crossover artists of all time. Glen received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy in 2012, our formal acknowledgment of his immense contributions to music and culture and we’ll always cherish his historic appearance at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, one of his last performances. We have lost an icon who will be greatly missed, but Glen’s musical gifts will live on forever."

WALTER LEVIN renowned violinist, music teacher and founder of the LaSalle Quartet died August 4, 2017 at the University of Chicago Medical Center from dementia. He was 92.

Levin who graduated from Julliard in 1949 founded the LaSalle Quartet, which produced best-selling recordings for the Deutsche Grammophon label and traveled the world, doing 67 tours in 40 years.

The Quartet became particularly well regarded as the leading interpreters of “The Second Viennese School,” performing complete cycles of the quartets of Schoenberg, Berg and Webern throughout the United States and Europe. The LaSalle Quartet’s Deutsche Grammophon recording of these complete cycles created a sensation in the music world, winning the Grand Prix du Disque in 1972. Time Magazine called the album “a landmark in recorded music.” In 1978, the LaSalle again won the Grand Prix du Disque, this time for its recording of the Five Late Quartets by Beethoven. The following year, the Quartet won the Edison Prize for the first recording of Alexander Zemlinsky’s Second String Quartet.

Levin was Professor of Music for 33 years at the College Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati, where the LaSalle Quartet was quartet in residence, and subsequently taught chamber music at the Steans Institute of the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, at the Basel Academy of Music in Switzerland, and the Lübeck Academy of Music in Germany.

Among his students was James Levine, the noted conductor and pianist, who grew up to become music director of the Metropolitan Opera.

In 1949 Levin married his wife Evi, who became the business manager for the LaSalle Quartet. He is survived by his wife and sons Thomas Levin, a professor in the German department at Princeton University and David Levin, a professor of theater and performance studies at the University of Chicago.

ANNETTE GARCEAU last surviving member of the team which founded the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota died August 6, 2017 at Lakeview Common hospice in Maplewood, Minnesota. She was two weeks shy of her 104 birthday.

The English-born dressmaker began her career in her native London, England as an apprentice to a court dressmaker. After World War II she was drafted to make costumes for London’s Old Vic Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon. In 1953 she joined her theatrical colleagues, designer Tanya Moiseiwisch, costumer Ray Diffen and director, Tyrone Guthrie, in Ontario, Canada, where they founded the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

A decade later she was invited to Minneapolis by Tyrone Guthrie to help found a theater - The Guthrie.

At the Guthrie, she constructed costumes for actors such as Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy and Sally Wingert. She also worked in Hollywood, dressing the likes of Richard Burton, Ginger Rogers and Christopher Plummer.

In 2002, Garceau retired at age 89 from the Guthrie, which held a fashion show of many of her costumes, including dresses for Queen Elizabeth from Mary Stuart in 1980, Catherine in Henry V (1990) and Hero in Much Ado About Nothing.

Garceau is survived by a son in England.

Next Column: August 20, 2017
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Laura Deni

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