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NORMANITY: A ROCK MUSICAL ABOUT WOULD BE GUITAR PLAYERS AND STOCK TRADERS WHO CHEAT - - THE CHARLES DICKENS MUSEUM
- - FROM BOOK TO AMAZON DOCUMENTARY - -
KING CHARLES AND QUEEN CAMILLA THROW AN ITALIAN DINNER - -
SUN RECORDS CELEBRATE - - NO RESERVATION - -
THE BEDWETTER: A NEW MUSICAL
- - A LYRICS & LYRICISTS ONE-NIGHT-ONLY SPECIAL EVENT - - DONATE . . . Scroll Down
Copyright: February 9, 2025
By: Laura Deni
CLICK HERE FOR COMMENT SECTION
NORMANITY: A ROCK MUSICAL ABOUT WOULD BE GUITAR PLAYERS AND STOCK TRADERS WHO CHEAT
Norman Goodman is desperate to become a guitar playing rock star. His idol legendary Dutch heavy rock guitarist Ronnie Jupp overdosed on cod-liver oil capsules and drowned in the bathtub. He was 27.
As the musical opens loud rock music blares and an audience cheers. Norman is listen to a Ronnie Jupp concert in which the mega star intoned:
You Go Through Life Kicking And Screaming
Searching for Meaning
Which Is Never To Be Found
Whatever Path Your Taking
Mistakes You'll Be Making.
You Gotta Reach For High Ground,
So Be Yourself, RemoveThe Mask,
And As The Future, Becomes The Past,
There's Just One Thing, You Need To
Ask, Normality, What Is Normality?
An extravagant solo follows.
Norman is in his bed-room. His mother is recently deceased and he lives with his father who bangs on Norman's bedroom door and yells at him to turn the loud music down.
Despite having established himself as a wunderkind with a college degree in mathematics and computer science its rock music that feeds his soul.
His biggest problem: Norman has determined it will take three paying gigs a week to stave off starvation. A daunting situation.
A Wireless Theatre / JK Music Collaboration written by Jules Kleiser & Nige Reid. Directed by David Beck. Musical director Patrick Stockbridge.
Act One is set in 2007, at a time of increasing financial instability – Normanity " is a satirical interrogation of corporate corruption and the fragility of our aspirations, conducted with quirky humor and real heart. Featuring a coterie of cracking tunes delivered by a superb cast, this is a musical that deals with universal issues such as love, loss and loneliness in a disarmingly down to earth manner."
Starring: Cameron Sharp is known for Ushers, Jesus Christ Superstar, Rock of Ages, Avenue Q. and The Front of House Musical. Siobhan Athwal known for Walking On Sunshine andEast Enders. Simon Shorten known for Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera, Joelle Dyson known for Murder on the Orient Express, and Funny Girl, Marc Pickering known for HBO's Broadwalk Empire, Michael Ahomka-Lindsay known for Newsies and Katherine Akin, known for her work as a voice over actress.
The excellent performers all deliver believable and commendable performers. The sound balancing is exquisite.
Like many wannabe rockers Norman was raised to amount to something. He's a computer wunderking with degrees in mathematics and computer science.
Next morning he heads to London for an audition. Music merges into the sound of a London Underground train.
Song "Only The Driver" alternately delivered by the driver and commuters intones:
The Living Dead Are Getting Ready To Rise,
Conspicuous Consumption In Their Bloodshot Eyes,
WeCould Do Better But We Could Do Worse", answers the commuters.
Like A Short Ride In he Back of a Hearse" adds the conductor.
Norman isn't familiar with the London underground and thinks he has missed his stop. Fellow passenger Celia helps him passenger Joe looks on. Norman admits "I didn't think it would be so crowded."
When the out of work rock guitarist attempts to audition for a music gig. He enters the building and reception Tara says: "Third floor and then second door on the left." Following the directions Norma meets a man named Bob Butler. Norman can hear Butler swearing at a young couple who were applying for jobs. Terrified, they run from his office. Butler asks him some questions to which Norman has all the right technical answers. There he accidentally lands an IT job with this low-level City firm. What he doesn't know that his travails are just beginning. Tasked with designing an IT system to predict market trends, but finding himself embroiled in a Machiavellian financial scam, Norman is confronted with a life changing dilemma – who to trust, when all he holds dear is challenged in a morally bankrupt world?
The job he landed is with the Butler Corporation a small financial trading firm operating on the fringes of the City of London. His role is to build a computer system capable of predicting market trends in the financial industry.
Norman grabs at the job hoping to save enough money to be able to concentrate on auditions.
It's a small firm but as Butler says: "Butler Corporation might not be the biggest but there's one thing we're good at, and that's s making money. Am I right Portia or am I right?"
"You are most certainly right Bob," answers Portia.
In the song Be Someone Butler intones:
You Seal The Deal And Then You Move On To The Next
Cause The Only Thing That Matters Is The Size Of Your Bonus Cheques
And I Dare You To Tell Me It Didn't Tell Me It Disn't Feel Better Than Sex,
You Gotta Be Someone,
But If You Can't Be Someone, Screw It Up For Somebody else.
Unknown to Norman, the computer system has been taken over by Chief Financial Officer at the firm, Portia, who doesn't divulge to Norman that her last name is Butler and that she is the daughter of the sinfully rich and powerful founder of the Butler Corporation. To say she hates her father is an understatement. She is determined to take down his company and destroy him.
Math genius Norman has no trouble is greating the stock marketing tools Portia has requested. What he doesn't know is that Partia who is secretly having false data input into the system to manipulate the market to her own wicked ends.
The financial market eventually collapses and Norman protests that the computer system predicted the crash. He cannot understand why no-one took any notice.
To find out if Norman reconnects and falls in love with Celia, the women he met on the train and what is going on with that psychedelic cult and what happens between Bob and daughter Portia, you'll just have to listen to the show.
The creatives are: editor: Ross Burman - - Broadcast Assistant: Fiona Thraille - - Engineer: Stephen Kobong - - Producer: Sarah Golding - - Recorded January 27, 2025 at the wonderful Jukeboc Studios, Ladbroke Grove by Stephen K.
"This is an uplifting and often joyous musical but please be aware that there is also mention of parental death, suicide, being in a cult, alcohol consumption, colloquial coarse language."
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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
THE CHARLES DICKENS MUSEUM Charles Dickens' bedroom. Photo: Charles Dickens Museum
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this year celebrates its centenary. To celebrate that a new exhibit Dickens in Doughty Street: 100 Years of the Charles Dickens Museum
opened on February 5th and can be seen through June 29, 2025.
This new exhibition illuminaties the life and works of Charles Dickens and the Museum’s role in preserving his legacy. Visitors will be able to see Dickens’s original manuscripts, letters to friends and family and rare first editions of his most famous works. But you’ll also encounter Dickens the man as well as Dickens the writer, his personal style, interests and passions.
On June 9, 1925 The Dickens House, as it was then known, was opened with a formal ceremony. Hundreds of people gathered on the street, where they were addressed by the Earl of Birkenhead: "…the house in which Oliver Twist and Wackford Squeers and Kate Nickleby were all born, was for all time to be made available to admirers of his genius," he declared from the drawing room window of 48, Doughty Street.
Lord Birkenhead’s speech encapsulated the aims of The Dickens House in the 1920s. It was designed to be a 'literary shrine' in which Dickens fans could be immersed in the world of the great author. There had long been a fascination with 48 Doughty Street as a place in which Dickens had once lived. While still a private home, as early as 1897 the property was referenced in The Daily Mail as having the very same door knocker which belonged to Dickens. In 1901 it was remodeled into a boarding house, and was marked with a sign declaring it to be The Dickens House. As Lee Jackson writes in his book, Dickensland, the 1920s was a boom time for 'Dickensian' tourism and so when Doughty Street was put up for sale – with some plans to demolish the house in place of an hotel – it was purchased by the Dickens Fellowship, with the aim of opening it to the public.
There were questions from the very beginning: how should Dickens’s legacy be best preserved, and what to do about the less heroic elements of Dickens’s life? The early museum was designed to be a place to inspire the imagination. It was not laid out as a home, but rather was filled with Dickensian 'relics.' It was perceived as a literary 'shrine,' a pilgrimage site for Dickens enthusiasts. Yet Dickens’s own will and testament had been emphatic, "I conjure my friends on no account to make me the subject of any monument, memorial, or testimonial whatever."
Charles Dickens kitchen. Photo: Charles Dickens Museum
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And it is notable that both of Dickens’s surviving children in 1925, Henry Fielding Dickens and Kate Perugini are not recorded as being present at the opening.
Similarly, one of the most scandalous elements of Dickens’s life – his separation from Catherine and his long-term relationship with Ellen Ternan – was quietly ignored. When in 1928 The Daily Mail published a headline 'Was Dickens a Hypocrite?' It was met with fierce resistance by Dickens’s sympathizers, with Sir George Douglas writing in The Dickensian "I think that the time has come to warn off the revelation-hunter from the Dickens preserve."
The focus of the museum over the last century has changed. After the Second World War their first Curator was appointed, and from the early 21st century significant steps were taken to bring the museum in line with modern professional standards in collection care, with the museum gaining accredited status in 2011. But many of the questions being wrestled with by the early museum are still relevant today.
Charles Dickens' dining room. Photo: Charles Dickens Museum
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How do they best provide an immersive and enjoyable experience to visitors who often have a profound love and admiration for Dickens, alongside our duty to provide a critical analysis of his legacy? How do they make sure that all of their interpretation and information is wholly historically accurate, while also allowing for open discussions on the more speculative areas of Dickens’s life?
It’s a journey which will never really be over. The study of history often reveals as much about the present as it does the past. Each new generation has different interests, different ways of thinking, different needs and expectations from heritage locations. This is a good thing, it prevents museums from becoming static and it opens ever new opportunities to discover unexplored areas of the 'ickensian' world, states the museum.
So as they mark one hundred years since the doors of 48 Doughty Street were first opened to the public, they are particularly mindful of Dickens’s quote from A Christmas Carol: May we live in the past, constantly seeking to deepen our understanding of Dickens’s life and times. May we live in the present, alive and alert to new possibilities, new ways of understanding and interpreting our collection. And may we live in the future, ready to inspire new generations to engage with the legacy of this remarkable writer.
"May the spirits of all three strive within us, this centenary year and always."
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SWEET CHARITY
LOIS ROBBINS AND EPHRAIM BIRNEY to star in a benefit reading of Artistic Director Chris Henry’s new short comedy, inspired by Christopher Durang, titled The Fun-er-al: A Fundraising Memorial for the Death of the American Theatre.
The benefit reading takes place at Royal Family Productions in New York City on Thursday, February 20, 2025.
The one-act play, directed by Henry, "is full of wacky hijinx, sends up Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams and L. Frank Baum, in equal measure and is a true celebration of the art form of theatre. The piece features acclaimed actress, writer, and producer Lois Robbins and Outer Critics’ Circle Best Leading Actor Nominee Ephraim Birney."
There will be two benefit performances, one at 4 PM and one at 7 PM, both on Thursday, February 20th. There will be a reception with a cash donation bar opening one hour before each show, as well as immediately following.
DINNER WITH THE YOUNGERS took place February 7, 2025 at the historic Guild Theatre in San Francisco.
Dinner With the Youngers is an innovative dinner theater style experience featuring scenes from Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. staged as a benefit for Carrie's Touch.
Lorraine Hansberry was a trailblazing playwright best known for A Raisin in the Sun, the first play by a Black woman to be produced on Broadway. Hansberry’s work explored themes of racial justice, feminism, and class struggle, reflecting her commitment to civil rights and social change. Despite her untimely death from cancer at just 34, her impact endures.
Carrie’s Touch is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering African American women affected by breast cancer. Through culturally relevant programs, education, and advocacy, they strive to uplift and inspire women on their journey toward healing and wellness.
SPREADING THE WORD
FROM BOOK TO AMAZON DOCUMENTARY The 2012 version enjoyed a run at Sundance.
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King Charles has achieved what authors dream about - having their book picked up and turned into a visual creation: big screen, television or documentary.
His 2010 book, Harmony: A New Way of Looking At Out World which he co-authored with Tony Juniper and Ian Skelly, is being turned into a documentary which will air on Amazon.
The book called for a shift in how everyone interacts with nature. As Prince of Wales, Charles spent decades campaigning and convening meetings to drive action on environmental issues. In stepping up to protect the planet he was insulted, ridiculed, became the butt of jokes. It was pointed out that was a tree hugger and talked to plants. The word "crazy" was bandied about.
It took decades of insults but everything the Navy veteran proselytized was later scientifically proven to be true.
Finally getting his just due, King Charles is set to be featured in a new documentary for Amazon Prime Video.
Filming has already started at Dumfries House in Scotland. The filming location is also environmentally important. Dumfries House was a dismal wreck as was the surrounding community. Thanks to the dedication of then Prince Charles a refurbishing program took place, which not only gave new life to Dumfries House but to the town and the people who lived there. Some of the homeless were permitted to achieve their potential and assumed jobs of significance in running Dumfries House.
According to The Times which first reported the news, several outlets wanted this upcoming documentary with Amazon winning out.
The newspaper added that the film is due out at the end of this year or early 2026.
A Buckingham Palace source told BBC News that the King was "greatly looking forward" to seeing how the concepts from his book could be communicated to new audiences.
Harmony presented as a diferent version of the upcoming release has already had a successful run at Sundance. See Broadway To Vegas column of April 29,2012.
A LYRICS & LYRICISTS ONE-NIGHT-ONLY SPECIAL EVENT The 92nd Street Y, New York presents multi-Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash in a one-night-only Lyrics & Lyricists special event on Thursday, February 13, 2025.
Cash joins us with musician, co-writer, and partner John Leventhal, for an evening of songs from her lyrical body of work, including "A Feather’s Not a Bird," "Blue Moon with Heartache," "ong Black Veil," "The Sunken Lands," "The Wheel," and more. The concert also includes classics from the American folk and roots songbooks, the premiere of a new song from her forthcoming album and a preview of her first foray into musical theater, with music from Broadway’s upcoming Norma Rae – an adaptation of the Oscar-winning film, for which she is the lyricist. A masterful storyteller, Cash shares stories around the creation of the songs, lyric writing, the stories within the songs, the difference between writing in first person and writing in character, and what it is like co-writing with her husband.
THE LAST TIME I SAW CAILEIGH an exciting piece of new queer writing with performances at February 13th and 15th at The Tank in New York City.
"The Last Time I Saw Caileigh is a dark, funny and heartfelt play that explores queer erasure through the lens of an unsolved mystery. When Caileigh Richardson goes missing, the three people closest to them point fingers at one another, and at the ever elusive "system", as they recount their last few days with Caileigh and try to uncover what happened to them. It asks questions about gender, who we hold accountable for injustice... and fish sex changes."
It was devised collaboratively by a small ensemble at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and in 2024 received by grant from Arts Council England for a UK tour. This will be the piece’s NYC premiere.
EPIC PLAYERS THEATRE presents The EPIC Underground: Passions & Appetites on February 24, 2025 at Joe’s Pub at The Public in New York City.
Featuring an extraordinary evening of laughter celebrating the talents and experiences of their performers through captivating narratives and hilarious stand-up comedy. It will be a night filled with genuine humor, heartfelt moments, and a sense of community. Ther line-up features a mix of seasoned comedians and fresh voices, all bringing a unique perspective to the Joe’s Pub Stage.
The EPIC Underground: Storytellers is a night of dramatic storytelling, stand-up and spoken word featuring our neuro-diverse performers and their original works centered around the theme of: Passions and Appetites.
Passions and Appetites, are the driving force behind our actions and desires whether those be the pursuit of love, the craving for delicious food, or the intense ambition to achieve a goal; they are the very essence of our human experience, both beautiful and complex, shaping our choices and defining who we are.
Join the storytellers as they weave their captivating journey through a unique lens of experiences - from triumphs to trials, from laughter to tears - resulting in the joy of finding their authentic selves. One night only.
THE MUMFORD AND SON'S STORY Four masterful live musicians come together in tweed waistcoats, skinny jeans and bushy beards to celebrate the best of Mumford & Sons’ iconic music and their explosive rise to fame. February 13-14, 2025 at Wilton's Music Hall in London.
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA starring Vanessa Williams has extended in London at the Dominion Theatre and is now booking through January 3, 2026.
Based on the hit film, this new musical boasts brilliant performances, amazing fashion, and joyous songs by Elton John.
THE CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY has signed President Joe Biden who is available for bookings.
The Creative Artists Agency also represents former President Barack Obama and wife Michelle, former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke.
SINGER-SONGWRITER BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE has been stripped of Order of Canada.
The move to rescind her award was announced in the Canada Gazette, the federal government newspaper.
It says the appointment was terminated by an ordinance signed by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon on January 3, 2025.
The move comes after a CBC report in 2023 questioned Sainte-Marie’s Indigenous heritage, saying it found a birth certificate that indicated she was born in 1941 in Massachusetts.
The Order of Canada is the cornerstone of the Canadian Honours System. Presented by the governor general, it recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.
The move comes after a CBC report in 2023 questioned Sainte-Marie’s Indigenous heritage, saying it found a birth certificate that indicated she was born in 1941 in Massachusetts.
PUTTING ON THE ROYAL FEEDBAG ITALIAN STYLE
King Charles and Queen Camilla plan to jet off to Italy to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. They got the party started early on Friday, February 7, 2025 by hosting an Italian themes dinner at their Highgrove House.
Queen Camilla talks with Dame Helen Mirren as Victoria and David Beckham look on. Photo: Press Pool
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Celebrities who know a good meal when they taste one included: Stanley Tucci, David and Victoria Beckham, Donatella Versace and Helen Mirren.
Other guests included former British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful and chefs Raymond Blanc and Angela Hartnett.
Their Majesties joined the Italian Ambassador to the U.K., Inigo Lambertini, and his wife, Maria Grazia Lambertini, along with Stanley Tucci, to host a "celebration of slow food and slow fashion," according to Buckingham Palace.
Queen Camilla far left looks on as King Charles talks with Stanley Tucci. Photo: Press Pool
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"Good food brings people together and what we choose to eat helps to define use as families, communities and nations," King Charles said during the event. "It is a thing of beauty, 'edible art,' as you have put it, Stanley!"
However, The King added the evening was "about more than that: how we produce our food, and indeed our fashion, and how we source it is intimately entwined with the very future of our planet, and our ability to continue living on it sustainably."
World-renowned chef Francesco Mazzei was in charge of the menu. The palace noted that Mazzei was inspired by Italian-American actor Tucci, who hosts National Geographic's Tucci: The Heart of Italy series.
The dinner was created "using entirely British ingredients blended with Italian culinary traditions and local flavors," according to the Buckingham Palace release which pointed out that the event aimed "to fully embody the principles of slow food."
KingCharles mixes a drink as Stanley Tucci watches. Photo: Press Pool
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The King hailed this "most splendid evening which brings together two things very dear to my heart - slow food and Italy".
"A nation's food culture is a priceless social and environmental asset, intimately bound up with its sense of identity and place," said the King.
Referring to having two food experts (Tucci and Mazzei) in the same room, King Charles quipped "I can only hope they are still talking to each other at the end of it all!"
Cocktails were made by "mixologist" Alessandro Palazzi, using herbs from the gardens at Highgrove.
There was a toast made by the King in Italian, "alla eterna cultura italiana del buon cibo," meaning "to Italy's timeless food culture".
Food at the pre dinner Reception included:
Rare and pasture salumi
Tuscan-style paté and coppa
Yorkshire pecorino cheese puffs
British vegetables caponata tartelletta
Highgrove sparkling wine.
The sit down formal dinner featured:
Scottish crab panzanella
Westcombe ricotta and Highgrove fine herbs ravioli
Isle of Wight tomato passata
Suffolk Red porchetta
Pumpkin and sage mash, Tuscan kale
with white wine Gavi dei Gavi La Scolca Black label 2023 and red wine Barbaresco Gaja 2021
Zuppa Inglese and biscotti with a red dessert wine, Recioto della Valpolicella Classico Zenato.
During the event, students and graduates from The King's Foundation training program provided demonstrations of their work in sustainable fashion and traditional heritage skills such as embroidery, furniture marking and millinery.
The gentlemen in attendance all looked dapper and suave.
The women left no doubt that arm candy doesn't end at age twenty-five.
Queen Camilla, wearing a navy Fiona Clare dress was elegant. Queen Camilla accessorized by wearing her Diamond Serpent Necklace along with two of the Queen Mother’s Cartier Bracelets. Dame Helen Mirren, wore a gorgeous emerald green lace gown and matching green head band.
Donatella wore a full-length, tight fitting Atelier Versace column gown, was crafted with 'a series of boning' to make a 'second skin' figure-hugging fit.
According to People the frock was made from more than 40metres of silk chiffon woven in the Como region of Italy. The rose colored gown took five Atelier artisans more than 500 hours to complete and was decorated with 1,500 crystals. Donatella completed her look with a pair of statement earrings boasting pink gemstones.
Victoria Beckham wore a stunning white gown which contained a large cummerbund.
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THE BLACKBURN PRIZE Now in its 47th year, the Blackburn Prize is the largest and oldest international playwriting award. More than 500 plays have been honored as finalists since the honor's inception in 1978, with past winners including Annie Baker, Alice Birch, Benedict Lombe, Julia Cho, Caryl Churchill, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Katori Hall, Lucy Kirkwood, Marsha Norman, Lynn Nottage, Dael Orlandersmith, Lucy Prebble, Sarah Ruhl, Paula Vogel, Wendy Wasserstein, Timberlake Wertenbaker, and Cheryl West.
This year's finalists have just been announced. They are: Chris Bush for Otherland, Carys Coburn for BÁN, Keiko Green for You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World, Haruna Lee for 49 Days, Isobel McArthur for The Fair Maid of the West, Suzie Miller for Inter Alia, a.k. payne for Furlough’s Paradise, Else Went for An Oxford Man, and Anna Ziegler for The Janeiad.
The winner will be announced at a celebration hosted at Playwrights Horizons March 10. The winner will receive a $25,000 award along with a signed and numbered print from artist Willem de Kooning, created especially for the honor. Judges may choose to award a $10,000 special commendation, and finalists will each receive $5,000.
This year's judges panel comprises Linda Cho, Jennifer Ehle, Nancy Medina, Mark Ravenhill, George Strus, and Indira Varma.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS OF MAINE is bragging about Amy Allen, who grew up in South Portland and Windham,Maine and won the Grammy Award for Songwriter of the Year for her work on Sabrina Carpenter’s album "Short n’ Sweet." She is the first woman ever to win in the category, and the first Mainer to win in a major Grammy category.
“The child in me that was starting writing songs when I was little in Maine on my bed is screaming and crying and laughing at the absurdity of this moment,” Amy said in her acceptance speech.
"Congratulations on this tremendous accomplishment, Amy!", posted Senator Collins.
SUN RECORDS CELEBRATE Ruthie Foster’s Grammy Award Win for Best Contemporary Blues Album Mileage.
Released via Sun Records, Mileage marks a career milestone for the revered singer-songwriter, whose rich blend of blues, gospel, and folk storytelling has captivated audiences worldwide.
After five previous Grammy nominations, Foster’s triumphant win affirms her status as one of contemporary blues' most profound voices. Produced by Tyler Bryant, Mileage is an intimate and deeply personal record that reflects Foster’s journey of resilience, love, and self-discovery.
Foster’s win is also historic for Sun Records, as Mileage becomes the first album released by the legendary label to win a Grammy. Sun, which shaped the sound of American music with icons like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Howlin’ Wolf, continues its legacy by championing groundbreaking contemporary artists like Foster. The album features a stirring cover of That’s All Right, a song originally written and recorded by Black blues artist Arthur Crudup in 1946. Presley later made it his first hit with Sun Records in 1954, but Foster’s version pays homage to the profound influence of Black artists on rock and roll’s foundation.
Foster is current in Mumbai, India where her performances tonight closes out the Mahindra Blues Festival 2025.
THE BEDWETTER: A NEW MUSICAL Book by Joshua Harmon & Sarah Silverman. Music by Adam Schlesinger. Lyrics by Sarah Silverman & Adam Schlesinger.
Additional Music & Lyrics by David Yazbek. Based upon The Bedwetter: Stories Of Courage, Redemption, and Pee.
Directed by Anne Kauddman.
Choreographed by Danny Mefford.
Starring Aria Kane as young Sarah Silverman and two-time Tony nominee Shoshana Bean as her mother, Beth Ann. The cast also includes performers Ashley Blanchet, Rick Crom, and Darren Goldstein returning from the world-premiere Off-Broadway production, adding extra excitement. With: Avery Harris, Emerson Holt Lacayo, Liz Larsen, Alina Santos, Elin Joy Seiler, Alyha Umphess. The understudies are: Gig Beckett, Aaron Bliden, Lyla Randall, Susan Rome, Candice Shedd-Thompson.
Ten-year-old Sarah faces a new school, her parents divorce and an embarrassing secret you'll never guess. Meet Sarah. She's funny. She's foul mouthed.She has clinical depression.
This one-of-a-kind musical blends laughs with emotional depth.
This production includes haze, strobe lights, strong language, and themes relating to mental health crises.
The creatives are: David Chase Orchestrator and Arranger. Meghann Zervoulis Bate Music Supervisor. Rebekah Bruce Music Director. David Korins Set Designer. Kaye Voyce Costume Designer. Japhy Weideman Lighting Designer. Kai Harada Sound Designer. Lucy Mackinnon Video Designer. Tom Watson Hair & Wig Designer. Ash(er) Lloyd Ehrenberg Associate Director. Niani Feelings Associate Choreographer. Matthew Lowy Associate Music Director. Lisa Nathans Dialect and Vocal Coach. The Telsey Office/Rachel Hoffman, CSA Casting. Raiyon Hunter, DC Casting. Ryan Gohsman Stage Manager. Dayne Sundman Assistant Stage Manager. Samantha Wilhelm Assistant Stage Manager.
Performances at the Kreeger Theater at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C .
in connection with this show Arena Stage is staging a Diaper Donation Drive through February 23, 2025.
Accepting diapers for toddlers and younger. People who drop off diapers will receive one free drink ticket for the Arena Stage bar.
There will also be a
I Bet You Didn't Know A Talent Show! on February 22 at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. Share a side of yourself that others may not always see at Arena Stage's "Bet You Didn't Know" Family Talent Show, inspired by this production. "Whether you act, sing, dance, perform spoken word, crack jokes, do magic, puppetry, or that other weird thing you're good at, we want to see your hidden talents light up the stage."
THE JONATHAN LARSON PROJECT conceived by Jennifer Ashley Tepper.
Directed by John Simpkins.
A new musical that celebrates the dozens of unheard songs, unfinished and unproduced musicals, and pop songs found in files and boxes when the visionary writer of Rent died suddenly at the age of 35 in 1996.
The Jonathan Larson Project will begin previews on Friday, February 14 with an official opening on Monday, March 10 at the Orpheum Theatre, in New York City for a 16-week limited engagement.
NO RESERVATION writer, director and performing is Elizabeth Hess who is the Artistic Director of The Hess Collective (THC).
No Reservation is about global goddesses who crash a dinner party celebrating false gods. The goddesses have been underground for centuries and now rise up, sensing the urgency of their presence 'at the table'. This multidisciplinary performance piece moves forward from second wave feminist artists who took on the patriarchy through works like The Dinner Party, by Judy Chicago and the dinner scene in Top Girls, by Caryl Churchill.
The title refers to multiple meanings of 'No Reservation,' including rejection, outspokenness, and the refusal to be confined. The goddesses seek accountability, acknowledgement, and atonement. In the process, they discover commonality and contrast, creating a complex mosaic of global sisterhood.
The false gods are never named but are recognizable as revered or feared patriarchal leaders from around the world. In the course of airing gender-based issues of social urgency, they enter into a cross-cultural dialogue about the fate of an unsung girl or woman from their roots. They give voice to unspoken truths regarding bodily autonomy, misogynoir, intersectional feminism and violence against women - recognizing overlapping experiences affecting all womankind, including themselves. They shed the outer layers of their goddess personas as they come to recognize and own their own humanity. Ultimately, the women upend the table and revel in each other’s company as they nourish their bodies and souls by stepping away from ‘an empty plate’ to engage in a fulfilling dance of life.
Featuring Akiko Aizawa, Ninoshka De Leon Gill, Elizabeth Hess, Maya Mays.
La MaMa presents the World Premiere of The Hess Collective’s performed through February 23, 2025 at The Downstairs Theatre at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York City.
REDWOOD the new musical written and directed by Tony Award-nominee Tina Landau. Music by Kate Diaz, and lyrics by Diaz and Landau.
Starring Tony Award-winner Idina Menzel.
Menzel is joined on stage by Tony Award nominee De’Adre Aziza, Michael Park, Zachary Noah Piser, and Khaila Wilcoxon. Daniel Brackett, Bradley Dean, Veronica Otim and Jessica Phillips complete the company.
"Redwood is a transportive new musical about one woman’s journey into the precious and precarious world of the redwoods. Jesse (Menzel) seems to have it all — a successful career and devoted family — until a life-altering event drives her far from everyone and everything she knows. When she finds herself at the foot of the redwoods in Northern California, a chance encounter and a leap of faith will change her life forever. Redwood explores the lengths — and heights — one travels to find strength, resilience and healing."
The creative team for Redwood includes Jason Ardizzone-West (Scenic Design), Hana S. Kim (Video Design), Toni-Leslie James (Costume Design), Scott Zielinski (Lighting Design), Jonathan Deans (Sound Design), Matthew Armentrout (Wig Design), Melecio Estrella, BANDALOOP (Vertical Movement/Vertical Choreography), Jennifer Weber (Dream Choreography), Tom Kitt (Music Supervision), and Haley Bennett (Associate Music Supervision), with Orchestrations and Arrangements by Kate Diaz and Music Direction by Julie McBride. Kenneth Ferrone is Associate Director and Casting is by The Telsey Office/Patrick Goodwin.
Redwood is conceived by Landau and Menzel, with additional contributions by Menzel. It was originally developed and produced by La Jolla Playhouse in California where it premiered last year in a sold-out run.
Redwood officially opens at the Nederlander Theatre on February 13, 2025.
STILL by Lia Rome.
Directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt.
Starring Melissa Gilbert and Mark Moses.
Billed as a funny yet heart-wrenching story for anyone who has ever wondered "what if?" Thirty years ago, Helen and Mark broke up, but they never completely forgot one another. Now, they are getting a second chance at first love. Single, and frustrated with dating apps, they are ready to try again. But Mark has an agenda and Helen has a secret that could derail his plans.
Performances at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture’s Loreto Theater in New York City.
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FINAL OVATION
TONY ROBERTS a versitile Tony award nominated actor died in his home in New York City from lung cancer on February 7, 2025. He was 85.
Roberts had a genial stage personality perfect for musical comedy. He made his Broadway debut 1962 with a role in the play Something About a Soldier and he originated roles in such diverse Broadway musicals as "How Now, Dow Jones" (1967); "Sugar" (1972), an adaptation of the movie "Some Like It Hot," and "Victor/Victoria" (1995), in which he co-starred with Julie Andrews when she returned to Broadway in the stage version of her popular film.
Roberts's Broadway credits include "Barefoot in the Park"; "Murder at the Howard Johnson's"; "Promises, Promises"; "The Sisters Rosensweig"; "They're Playing Our Song"; "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife"; "Arsenic and Old Lace;" and "Cabaret". In 1998, he played Buddy Plummer in Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey. In 2007, Roberts returned to Broadway in the musical "Xanadu" and "The Royal Family" in 2009.
He was known for his roles in six Woody Allen movies—most notably Annie Hall—often playing Allen's best friend.
On the big screen Roberts portrayed Deputy Mayor Warren LaSalle in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. He also appeared in the Sidney Lumet movies Serpico and Just Tell Me What You Want. Roberts was in the 1983 horror movie Amityville 3-D, portraying John Baxter. Roberts was featured in 2014's The Longest Week.
He is survived by his daughter Nicole Burley.
PETER JORDAN Ferguson trumpeter died December 29, 2924 in Henderson, Nevada. He was 56.
His father played saxophone with the Johnny Holmes Orchestra; his uncle was the jazz legend and bandleader, Maynard Ferguson; and Peter himself was a talented trumpeter who toured with Maynard's band. Predeceased by his parents and brother, David.
GRANT LOUCKS president of Alan Gordon Enterprises (AGE) a premier motion picture company, died January 6, 2025 in Pacific Pallsades, California. He was 92.
He joined AGE in 1952 as a camera technician, later buying the company along with his partners and building AGE into a premier motion picture equipment company. Grant was active in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, sitting on several committees. He received two Technical Achievement Awards from the Academy. He was also active in the American Society of Cinematographers.
Grant was an avid collector of artifacts and cameras relating to the history of motion pictures and had a passion for history, travel, photography and woodworking.
He is survived by his wife, Judith Bronowski, his sons Glenn and Wayne, daughter Julia, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
LOURINDA BRAY American restoration artist and historian, and creative owner of Running Horse Studio, died November 19, 2024 Pasadena, California.
She held degrees from Occidental College, including a master's in Drama and Stage Craft.
She enjoyed a career in float design for Fiesta Floats and the Rose Parade, and as designer for Santa's Village at Lake Arrowhead. Lourinda began purchasing and restoring carousels in the 1970s, starting with a horse she purchased from the Pomona Fair carousel. After 14 years working on the Santa's Village carousel, Lourinda purchased the carousel for her Running Horse Studio in Irwindale. Her collection of world-class carousels and artifacts would eventually grow to include more than 400 horses, lions, elephants, giraffes, dragons and other creatures and decorations, sourced from America, Mexico and Europe, spanning from the mid-19th century to the present day.
The vast, highly curated collection includes pieces by the most celebrated artists and carvers from the "Golden Age" of carousels.
Lourinda curated two exhibitions for the Pasadena Museum of History featuring various aspects of her collection, history and restoration techniques: Giddy Up: Children Take the Reins: Exploring the World of Carousel Animals & Childhood Toys that Rock, Bounce & Roll and Flying Horses & Magical Beasts: The Magical World of Carousel Animals. T
As a legacy, Lourinda made plans for her collection to live on as a museum that will continue showcasing these marvelous pieces, so that future generations can come to appreciate the history, craftsmanship, and magic of carousels.
Lourinda is survived by her sisters, Georgianna Bray Erskine and Judith Bray Longyear, brother Bannister R. Bray, and her many nieces and nephews.
JIM TAUBERM/font> former film executive who most recently served as President of Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, died of complications from multiple myeloma. He was 74.
Tauber was known for his decades-long tenure as an industry leader, overseeing scores of successful and critically acclaimed films.
After a decade with SKE, during which time he oversaw 30+ films, Tauber retired from the film industry in 2015.
While at SKE, Tauber oversaw such films as "The Place Beyond the Pines", "Death at a Funeral," "Lars and the Real Girl," and Best Picture nominee "Hell or High Water". Prior to SKE, he served as Worldwide EVP of Acquisitions & Co-Productions for 20th Century Fox. Before that, he helped found Anonymous Content, which he then led as President and COO, helping build it into the prominent production and management company it is today.
Tauber arrived at Anonymous from Propaganda Films, where he also served as President and COO. While at Propaganda, he produced 30 films, including Academy Award nominees "Being John Malkovich" and "Wild at Heart", and helped launch distribution company Gramercy Pictures, which would go on to release numerous iconic films.
Earlier in his career, Tauber was EVP of Acquisitions and Business/Legal Affairs at Columbia TriStar Pictures. In this role, he oversaw all acquisitions and sales agreements, as well as the production of over 50 features, including Oscar nominee "Sex, Lies and Videotape" and Sundance hits "The Waterdance" and "Gas Food Lodging".
He was a longtime member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
He is survived by his wife, Laura, his sister, Joanie, and his three daughters, J.Lucy, Dixie, and Zazu.
Next Column: February 16, 2025
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