Broadway To Vegas

Copyright: July 5, 2020
By: Laura Deni
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COVID-19 SPREADS CREATIVITY AS REGIONAL WORKS GO NATIONAL

Melia Bensussen. Photo by Defining Studios.

The entertainment world is noted for creativity. Thus, it should be no surprise that as devastating as the COVID-19 virus has been, there is an upside. A bigger audience for regional works.

No longer confined to limited audience venues, creatives have taken their productions to streaming, thus potentially gaining a world wide audience.

One of the most difficult aspects was coming to the realization that the COVID-19 pandemic has legs and longevity.

"Here we are, all these weeks later, with our new normal," wrote Melia Bensussen – the Artistic Director of Hartford Stage. She has come to grips with the current devastating situation. "But after twelve weeks it's time to acknowledge this is not temporary, and that it's time to adapt, yet again, to a new way of working and being together. . . At Hartford Stage we'll be taking this time to plan, and adapt, for the months ahead. We are not going away . . .but we are looking into how to remain important to our entire community and to you in the coming months.

"We are at a threshold. We will all be changed by these months of seclusion, by this shuttering of our communal spaces and by our country confronting its own history of injustice. But theatre has continually adapted over the centuries: over the years as theatre-makers we've adjusted and adapted to technologies, audiences, and perspectives. By sharing the work of specific stage adaptations, perhaps we can explore all the possibilities of this form, and think about innovative and creative ways of making theatre in this new moment.

"Let's go forward together, and discover the ways in which we can adapt, adjust, transform and connect," said the Obie-Award winning director who is the sixth artistic director, as well as the first woman, to lead the theatre in its 55-year history.

Around the world successful venues and creatives are following Bensussen's mind-set.

Premiere Stages will present two screenings of Rohina Malik’s critically-acclaimed solo show Unveiled via Zoom webinar on Wednesday, July 8. In this incredibly topical one-woman show, Ms. Malik plays five Muslim women navigating complex social issues in a post 9/11 world. Following the screening, Ms. Malik will host a live Q & A with all ticket holders.

A proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Malik is the 2018 recipient of the Lee Reynolds Award, given annually to a woman active in any aspect of theatre whose work has helped to illuminate the possibilities for social, cultural or political change.

"The music industry isn’t about healing heartbreak and vulnerability. It’s about selling it."

Lines from Mood Music, the second show in the Old Vic's archive recorded series. Mood Music, which played over The Old Vic's 200th birthday in 2018, will be shown on their YouTube channel from Wednesday, July 8 until Tuesday. July 14. On Wednesday when the show premieres cast member Seána Kerslake will be live tweeting throughout.

This timely play about power, passion and the price of creativity is written by Joe Penhall and directed by Roger Michell.

Also, the venerable Old Vic in London has been staging Old Vic: In Camera which they term "an incredible experiment into new ways of sharing live theatre . . . We’re working hard to ensure more people get to experience it ..."

New York City's Mint Theater Company Producing Artistic Director Jonathan Bank has announced the Summer Stock Streaming Festival, featuring archival recordings of three past productions. All three productions will be available from July 5th through July 19th from the Mint website.

This festival of Mint works includes a domestic drama from America. The Fatal Weakness by George Kelly, directed by Jesse Marchese); high-brow silliness from England. The Fatal Weakness tells the story of society woman Ollie Espenshade, who, after 28 years of marriage is still an incurable romantic (her fatal weakness). Perhaps discovering that her husband is a lying cheat will cure her?

The New Morality by Harold Chapin, directed by Jonathan Bank. Set aboard a houseboat on a fashionable reach of the Thames in 1911, The New Morality tells the story of how the brazen Betty Jones restores dignity to her household and harmony to her marriage, by losing her temper and making a scene.

The suspenseful comedy featuring an all-female cast from Ireland Women Without Men by Hazel Ellis, directed by Jenn Thompson. A workplace drama laced with biting humor, Hazel Ellis’s Women Without Men is set in the teacher’s lounge of a private girls boarding school in Ireland in the 1930’s. Jean Wade is an enthusiastic young teacher new to the school, where she soon finds herself popular with the students and at odds with her quarrelsome colleagues—especially the antagonistic Miss Connor. When Miss Connor’s life’s work—a history of “beautiful acts” through the ages—is found torn to shreds, Jean is the most likely suspect. With the evidence mounting against her and animosity in the air, will Jean fight for her career, or will she be beaten by the pettiness and jealousy that thrives in the school’s cloistered environment?

Mint has been investing in creating professionally shot and edited full length archival videos since 2013. These videos are shot during live performances with three high-definition cameras, and edited to create a broadcast quality, intimate and enjoyable experience of Mint programming.

“We’re putting 30 actors and stage managers from three different productions back on payroll, providing critical employment for our valued artists while offering our beloved audience an opportunity to catch performances you might have missed or to revisit old favorites,” said Jonathan Bank. “We will be back producing plays at Theatre Row sometime in 2021, but in the meantime, we’re happy to share these past productions, while providing a lift to out-of-work actors.”

What is the Perfect Life, does it exist? Is it illusion, do you know it when you have it?

Does anyone? Or is it something you only recognize and appreciate when it's gone?

In 1985 James Lecesne an American actor, author, screenwriter, and LGBT rights activist best known for his screenplay of the Academy-award winning short film Trevor wrote a musical called One Man Band in which he played all the characters. With music by Tony and 5 time Emmy winner Larry Hochman and Marc Elliot. Lyrics by Marc Elliot a stage and screen actor, writer, Marc has written for everything from Romper Room to Radio City Music Hall productions.

In 2008 the show became an actual multi person show and then in 2014 Larry's daughter Laurie, a magna cum laude graduate from Emerson who picked up her master’s degree from the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, having earned a seat in the Graduate Writing for Musical Theatre Program, started to rework the book.

The production being streamed was featured as part of the 2017 Austin Theater Project.

Now it can be view as part of Streaming Musicals After landing in a mental institution, a farmer reflects on his journey to find his wife and the unexpected companion he found on the way.

The cast features: Nina Amara (Voice 1)Susannah Crowell (Voice 2)Cat Phillips (Voice 3)Dalton Hutto (Doc Noonan)Daniel Cline (Art)Emily Christine Smith (Karma)Alicia Lyn Cornwell (Adelle/Mary Kay).

Directed by Barbara Schuler with music direction by Larry Hochman and David Blackburn. Choreography by Chris Ehresman and Alicia Lyn Cornwell. Creatives include: Lighting -James Jennings. Sound - Jeff Miller. Set Design - Jim Schuler who also served as technical director. Projections - Courtney DeGinder. Costumes - Veronica Prior. Stage Manager - A.J. Reyes.

Other creatives include: Larry Hochman (Orchestrator). Howard Begun (Music Preparation). Audrey Barrett (Assistant Music Director).

Courtney DeGinder (Projections). Darren Scharf at Well Rounded Films (Film Director). Camera operators for the four camera shoot were Darren Scharf, Magic Hoskins, Jeff Harland and Noelle FItzsimmons. Jeff Miller served as Recording Engineer. Mixed and edited by Jeffrey Lesser at Jet Laser Productions.

Musicians: Larry Hochman (Piano). David Blackburn (Synthesizer / Harmonium). Sonja Larson (Violin). Adrienne Banks (Cello). Alex Freeman (Acoustic and Electric Bass). Brice Rafferty (Guitar/Autoharp/Banjo).

Forced to cancel it's touring schedule, Hamilton is gaining even more of an audience through a filmed version of the Broadway stage phenomenon about the US founding fathers told through the lens of modern, multi-ethnic America. The theatrical film dropped July 3rd and even opened in the Middle East on OSN's streaming platform last Saturday, July 4.

The movie offers a rare chance to see the original run of a show that won 11 Tonys and has grossed $1 billion worldwide.

In the musical, Hamilton berates a pro-British loyalist who called the revolution a "rabble", telling the crowd that "the revolution is comin'" and "I'd rather be divisive / Than indecisive / Drop the niceties!"

Director Thomas Kail shot footage for the movie over three days in June 2016.

The film melds two live performances - in which cameras sat among and above Broadway audiences - with closed-door renditions, in which "we were able to get on stage with a steady cam, or have a camera on a crane" for a greater sense of proximity.

The production features the original principal Broadway cast: Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr, Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler, Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton, Christopher Jackson as George Washington, Jonathan Groff as King George, Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds, Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison, and Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton. Some original ensemble members had departed before the filming took place, but look out for such faces in the ensemble as now-Tony nominees Ariana DeBose and Ephraim Sykes.

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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 TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART in Ohio has added a monumental quilted portrait of the 19th-century abolitionist and social reformer Frederick Douglass by acclaimed contemporary artist Bisa Butler to its collection. The new work, The Storm, the Whirlwind, and the Earthquake (2020) is a composition made entirely of quilted and appliqued cotton, silk, wool and velvet, depicting Douglass at full-length human scale against a vibrant patterned background.

Born in 1973 in Orange, New Jersey, and currently living and working in West Orange, Butler studied fine art at Howard University and subsequently earned a master’s degree in art education from Montclair State University. Prior to turning to artmaking full time, Butler taught art in the South Orange and Maplewood, New Jersey public schools. Though her training focused on painting, Butler discovered that quiltmaking and fiber art allowed her to more fully articulate, reclaim and honor the countless contributions and untold histories of African Americans. Butler learned to sew from her mother and grandmother long before she began to paint. Employing wax-printed fabrics from Ghana, her father’s homeland, as well as kente cloth and Dutch wax prints, Butler engages in a meaningful and dynamic conversation with traditional African textiles. The artist also builds upon the legacy of African American quiltmaking, feminist craft strategies of the 1970s and 80s, and the collage techniques of Romare Bearden.

After escaping slavery, Douglass (1817-1895) became an influential orator, writer and leader of the abolitionist movement. The work’s title references a famous line from a July 5, 1852 speech, in which Douglass, alluding to a July 4 pyrotechnic display, admonished the celebration of freedom during a time of slavery: “It is not the light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.” Douglass was the most photographed person of the 19th century, and his likeness in this quilt is a composite of several photographic sources, which captures the subject’s conviction and perseverance.

The artwork will be on view beginning this summer. The Storm, the Whirlwind and the Earthquake will be installed alongside works from TMA’s permanent collection that have been selected by Butler in collaboration with the curatorial team.

The Storm, the Whirlwind, and the Earthquake will also be included in the upcoming group exhibition Radical Tradition: American Quilts and Social Change, which will be on view exclusively at TMA from Nov. 21, 2020, through Feb. 14, 2021. Curated by Lauren Applebaum, Ph.D, the Museum Leadership Fellow at TMA, the exhibition will bring historical and contemporary works together in critical dialogue to explore how quilts have been used to voice opinions, raise awareness, and enact social reform in the U.S. over the past two centuries.

THE LOUVRE ABU DHABI has reopened with the number of visitors per hour to the museum will be limited to allow for social distancing.

Entry to Louvre Abu Dhabi will be free for guests under the age of 18, as part of the museum's mission to engage the young audiences and families.

Manuel Rabaté, director of the museum, told the press that appropriate health and safety measures are in place - including thermal scanning, and limiting the number of visitors every hour with a maximum stay of three hours. Masks and gloves are also required.

"We look forward to giving our museum back to the community and resuming our physical role as a space for sharing our many stories of cultural connections. As we prepare to reopen, we are furthering our commitment to being a mindful museum - a concept that has always been a part of our DNA and is now more urgent than ever before," said Rabaté. The museum is located on the Saadiyat Island Cultural District. It is approximately 24,000 square metres in size, with 8,000 square metres of galleries, making it the largest art museum in the Arabian peninsula.

On display is Charlie Chaplin when art met cinema. Chaplin had an extraordinary career that spanned more than half a century and more than 70 films; he undoubtedly contributed to the elevation of popular cinema into what Ricciotto Canudo presciently characterized as the seventh art (alongside architecture, sculpture, painting, music, poetry and dance).

Discover the connection between the great Charlie Chaplin films and the artistic creations of avant-garde artists of the time, including Marc Chagall, Fernand Léger and František Kupka, artists at the centre of modern art movements such as Constructivism, Surrealism and Dadaism.

Featuring around 100 paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, archives and film scenes, the exhibition reveals the relationship between Chaplin’s work and those of his contemporaries who constantly addressed, each in their own way, the rapidly changing world of the first half of the twentieth century. The exhibition is organized by Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Musée d’arts de Nantes and Agence France-Muséums and is curated by Claire Lebossé, Curator of the collections of modern art, Musée d’arts de Nantes, France.

Also, artworks from around the world are showcased at the museum, with particular focus placed upon bridging the gap between Eastern and Western art.

In 2012, the Louvre Abu Dhabi started collecting photography, making its first acquisitions in the field, including works by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey, Roger Fenton and George Wilson Bridges. The museum also acquired a sculpture of a Bactrian princess dating from the third millennium BC, a pavement and fountain set from the early Ottoman period, as well as the paintings Breton Boys Wrestling (1888) by Paul Gauguin and The Subjugated Reader (1928) by René Magritte.

A number of important works to be loaned under the agreement with Agence France-Muséums and the Musée du Louvre, including Leonardo Da Vinci's La Belle Ferronniere and works by Henri Matisse, a self-portrait by Vincent Van Gogh, Jacques-Louis David's Napoleon Crossing the Alps and Claude Monet's Gare Saint-Lazare.

The museum possesses 600+ artworks, including 300 masterpieces on loan from 13 key institutions.

Pritzker-prize winning architect Jean Nouvel sought inspiration for the concept of Louvre Abu Dhabi in traditional Arabic architectural culture. Although it is call the Louve it isn't an official part of the famed Paris museum. The establishment of the museum was approved by the French Parliament on 9 October 2007. The museum is part of a thirty-year branding and trading agreement between the city of Abu Dhabi and the French government.

The museum was inaugurated on November 8, 2017 by French President Emmanuel Macron and United Arab Emirates Vice President Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. US$525 million was paid by Abu Dhabi to be associated with the Louvre name, and an additional US$747 million will be paid in exchange for art loans, special exhibitions and management advice.

THE BARBICAN in London reopens July 13, after being shuttered for three months due to COVID-19.

New safety measure put into place include:
Reduced numbers of visitors
Clear signage to guide people safely around the Centre
Removal of seating and changes to how you access toilets, lifts and stairs to ensure social distancing
Hand sanitizer stations at all entrances
Regular and thorough cleaning of door handles, rails, toilets and other areas
Making our coffee bar takeaway only and only using disposable cups
Taking cards (not money) only at our shop and bar

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SWEET CHARITY

ALTAR BOYZ is an award winning, most unusual musical. If seen in person you know it's full of sass and sarcasm. However, if you haven't seen a production and just listen to the recording you are led to believe that's it's not just pro Catholic, but a a musical hell bent on preaching equality. On July 9 over 30 former Altar Boyz will team for a visual rendition of I Believe to raise money and spread awareness for The Actors Fund.

The event can be viewed on Ken Davenport's The Producer’s Perspective Live.

With music and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker I Believe along with another of the production numbers Everybody Fits have to be two of the most powerful, uplifting and all inclusive songs ever written.

Susan Blackwell will host the virtual reunion featuring original company members Ryan Duncan, David Josefsberg, Andy Karl, Kevin Kern, Tyler Maynard, Scott Porter, and Daniel Torres as well as composer-lyricist Gary Adler, director Stafford Arima, producer Davenport, librettist Kevin Del Aguila, choreographer Christopher Gattelli, producer Robyn Goodman, co-conceiver Marc Kessler, music director and co-orchestrator Lynne Shankel, and composer-lyricist Michael Patrick Walker.

SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES: A CELEBRATION FOR THE FILM & TV MUSIC COMMUNITY, BENEFITTING MUSICARES COVID-19 RELIEF FUND is now streaming on YouTube, now till September 25th - three months.

Over 75 film & television composers, celebrities, and songwriters, including Sting, Catherine O’Hara, William Shatner, Hans Zimmer and more appear in this fun and heartfelt program. Collectively, this prestigious group has been nominated for 273 Grammys (with 87 wins), 216 Emmys (with 51 wins) and 136 Oscars (with 34 wins).

Performers and special guests include Sting, Catherine O’Hara, Ming-Na Wen, Patti LuPone, William Shatner, Elisabeth Moss, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Andra Day, Auli'i Cravalho, Alex Newell, Marla Gibbs, Jane Levy, Mandy Moore, Richard Kind, Alex Newell, Zachary Levi, Paul Reubens, Kiernan Shipka, Harvey Fierstein, Ginnifer Goodwin, Anika Noni Rose, Kasi Lemmons, Ted Danson, Auli'i Cravalho, Darren Criss, Drew Carey, Ray Romano, Holly Hunter, Reba McEntire, Bob Saget, Ken Page, Lucy Lawless, Mary Steenburgen, Dave Coulier, Kevin Smith, Peter Gallagher, Naomi Scott, Annie Potts, Clive Davis, Jodi Benson, Harvey Mason Jr., Susan Egan, Paige O’Hara, John Stamos, Andra Day and Rita Wilson.

Composers and songwriters participating include Michael Abels, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Angelo Badalamenti, Glen Ballard, Lesley Barber, Nathan Barr, Tyler Bates, Jeff Beal, Marco Beltrami, Alan Bergman, Terence Blanchard, Jongnic Bontemps, Kathryn Bostic, Kris Bowers, Jon Brion, Nicholas Britell, Bruce Broughton, BT, Carter Burwell, Sean Callery, Joshuah Brian Campbell, Lisa Coleman, John Debney, Tan Dun, Fil Eisler, Danny Elfman, Charles Fox, Germaine Franco, Harry Gregson-Williams, Hildur Gudnadóttir.

In the lineup; Alex Heffes, Joe Hisaishi, James Newton Howard, Justin Hurwitz, Ashley Irwin, Mark Isham, Steve Jablonsky, Amanda Jones, Laura Karpman, Christopher Lennertz, Joe LoDuca, Robert Lopez, Mark Mancina, Gabriel Mann, Clint Mansell, Dennis McCarthy, Bear McCreary, Alan Menken, Bruce Miller, John Murphy, Starr Parodi, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Daniel Pemberton, Michael Penn, Heitor Pereira, Rachel Portman, Mike Post, A. R. Rahman, Tim Rice, Lolita Ritmanis, Dan Romer, Anna Rose, Jeff Russo.

On board: Arturo Sandoval, Lalo Schifrin, Marc Shaiman, Teddy Shapiro, Richard M. Sherman, David Shire, Rob Simonsen, Mark Snow, Tamar-kali, Dara Taylor, Pinar Toprak, Brian Tyler, Nick Urata, Benjamin Wallfisch, Diane Warren, Mervyn Warren, Paul Williams, Austin Wintory, Alan Zachary, Geoff Zanelli, Marcelo Zarvos, David Zippel and Hans Zimmer.

SIR ELTON JOHN in April launched a new COVID-19 Emergency Fund "to protect the people we have always sought to serve through HIV care, treatment and prevention, as well as mitigating the damage that COVID-19 can do."

Beginning last Friday July 3rd Sir Elton launched a special classical concert series exclusively on YouTube and available digitally for the first time ever, to help raise invaluable funds towards our COVID-19 relief efforts. The premiere ‘Live at the Playhouse Theatre’ from 1979 in Edinburgh, Scotland, will continue with a different classic concert every Saturday for the next five weeks.

All donations "will help us continue our lifesaving work to help the most vulnerable people to HIV around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic."

SPREADING THE WORD

LET'S ALL GO TO A MOVIE Walmart has announced that they are converting 160 of its parking lots across the US into drive-ins. These theaters will open in early August and remain open through October as the movie industry struggles amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The conglomerate is partnering with Tribeca Entertainment for the project which promises to have live appearances by movie stars and creatives associated with each movie.

Before each movie screening, Walmart will sell families picnic baskets. Each moviegoer orders their drive-in essentials online and can pick up curbside on the way to their movie. Concessions will be delivered right to customer vehicles.

The Tribeca Film Festival team traveled to Southern California to launch the "Tribeca Drive-In" at the famed Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, CA beginning on July 2nd, which will feature an exciting slate of over 30 iconic films shown throughout the summer. This limited-engagement drive-in series will provide families with a safe, comfortable entertainment experience that captivates audiences of all ages, as the nation takes steps to emerge from coronavirus lock-downs.

Drive-ins are a signature program for Tribeca; they have been a part of festival programming since the beginning 20 years ago. The series will take place each weekend (Thursday through Sunday) throughout the summer, running through August 2, 2020. In appreciation for the workers who have risked their lives serving on the frontlines for their communities amid COVID-19, Tribeca Enterprises, IMAX, AT&T, and their pop-up venue partners will offered complimentary access and reserved parking to essential workers the first night.

The Tribeca Drive-In series will encompass a variety of engaging and thoughtful themes in tribute to modern classics and all-time audience favorites, such as: Music Movies with Selena, The Bodyguard, and Straight Outta Compton, Sports Sundays with Creed, Jerry Maguire; Space Jam, and Love & Basketball/

There will be Time Travel Comedies withBill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Back to the Future. High School Comedies with Mean Girls and Superbad. Ladies' Night with Girls Trip and Bridesmaids. Hit the Road with Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and The Fast and The Furious.

A James Bond tribute with Goldfinger and Casino Royale, and Kids' Night with Inside Out; The Lego Movie and Spy Kids. There was also a 4th of July celebration featuring Field of Dreams; The Wizard of Oz, and a special 25th Anniversary screening of Apollo 13.

The series will also feature some surprise elements including special filmmaker and talent introductions, live stand-up comedy, new teasers of upcoming film releases and more.

AMERICAN UTOPIA MEETS UTOPIA AVENUE David Byrne and David Mitchell in Conversation takes place Tuesday, July 14, at 92Y's Unterberg Poetry Center in New York City.

The online conversation featuring bestselling author David Mitchell and pop/rock icon David Byrne. They will discuss writing, music, the creative life - and Mitchell's new novel, Utopia Avenue, which comes out on July 14.

David Mitchell is the author of Cloud Atlas, The Bone Clocks and Slade House, among other books. According to Random House, Utopia Avenue centers on “the strangest British band you’ve never heard of.”

David Byrne works in a variety of mediums. Born in Dumbarton, Scotland, he grew up in North America and was educated at art schools in Maryland and Rhode Island. Since leaving the Talking Heads, the band he co-founded in the 1970s, Byrne has released nine solo studio albums, most recently American Utopia (2018) which led to a sold-out Broadway show. Byrne has been honored with an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Grammy awards, among others.

THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES has announced that the film academy has reached its . 2020 diversity goals established after #OscarsSoWhite with the admission of 819 new members, surpassing its goal to double the number of women and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities by 2020.

RED BULL THEATRE continues RemarkaBull Podversation with Matthew Rauch. This free event can be viewed by anyone through a variety of livestreams and on Facebook Live.

RemarkaBull Podversations are informal, online conversations that investigate approaches to essential passages from the Shakespearean and Jacobean canon - and beyond with some of the finest actors working in the classical theater today. Previous guests have included Kate Burton, Lisa Harrow, Chukwudi Iwuji, Dion Johnstone, Elizabeth Marvel, and Michael Urie.

On Monday July 6th, celebrated Shakespearean actor and Red Bull stalwart Matthew Rauch sits down with host Nathan Winkelstein, Red Bull’s Associate Producer, to discuss Shakespeare’s first great villain Richard III. Matthew played this role at Shakespeare Theater Company in DC in the acclaimed 2019 production helmed by David Muse. He’ll read passages from the play and discuss his thoughts on the text, character, and the evolution of Shakespeare. They’ll take questions through Facebook LIVE.

CBS REPORTER JAMIE YUCCAS who delivered the CBS-TV week-end news last week-end for Norah O'Donnell was very impressive. Would like to see more of her on air in an anchor spot. She comes across as knowledgeable, articulate and has an authoritative, yet appropriate, energy level. She's also gorgeous, establishing that a silver blonde with blazing blue eyes isn't dumb.

According to the CBS news website Yuccas graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

SCOTTISH THEATRES RECEIVE GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL HELP

The Scottish government announced last Friday that a £10m fund to help performing arts venues survive has been established. The"lifeline for support" was created as part of the Scottish Government's £185m Business Support Fund.

The Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund will help venues who cannot yet reopen to their audiences due to the ongoing impact of coronavirus (COVID-19), according to Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop.

In her official release, Ms Hyslop said:
“Our theatres and performing arts venues and the talented freelancers who work with them are an essential part of the fabric of Scotland’s culture and communities and promote our international reputation, and we are determined that they will survive and be able to thrive again.

“We reacted quickly to help culture and the creative industries from the earliest days of this pandemic, including through the £120m Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund, which is unique to Scotland. This new fund is the next step.

“Our performing arts venues effectively had to close overnight, with an almost complete loss of income. There is no doubt that in doing so they saved lives, and for that I am extremely grateful.

“As we navigate our way through the pandemic, we know physical distancing is vital to ensuring that we do not see a second wave of infections, but we recognize the difficulties this presents for those in performing arts. This dedicated fund will be a vital lifeline to help performing arts venues continue to weather the storm. We are also actively considering support for grassroots music venues.

“We know the impact of this crisis will be long-term so ambitious action to support the future of these organizations, as well as our wider cultural infrastructure, is vital.

“We will continue to urge the UK Government to use their fiscal levers, such as significant borrowing powers, to back culture and creative industries with major investment. This will enable the Scottish Government to offer even more support to respond to this crisis and build for the future.”

Iain Munro, Chief Executive of Creative Scotland, which will manage the fun stated:

"We welcome this £10m from the Scottish Government which will provide a critical injection of cash to help meet the immediate needs of Performing Arts venues in Scotland which have been so badly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

"It is significant, welcome and demonstrates the Scottish Government’s continued commitment to culture but we also recognize that organizations and individuals working across the wider cultural sector are facing extremely challenging circumstances which, in some cases, threaten their long-term viability.

"We will therefore continue to work closely with both the Scottish Government and other partners to explore every possible avenue for further support.”

The Tron Theatre in Glasgow received £76,000 from the Scottish Government’s initial support for the sector through the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund (PERF) which helped thousands of businesses across the country.

Andy Arnold, Artistic Director at The Tron, said:
“This new dedicated fund is welcome news and should provide a morale boost to Scottish theatre and I hope will give a financial life line in the short term to many vital cultural organizations.

“Tron Theatre is also extremely grateful for the PERF award we received which will enable us to prepare our venue for re-opening and re-establishing our creative programme.”

Ministers also confirmed that the B&B Hardship Fund, which is part of the £185m Business Support Fund, will now be extended to cover those with a business account who have received no other COVID-19 related business grant support to date.

The B&B Hardship Fund and Newly Self-Employed Hardship Funds both remain open to new applicants until July 10, 2020.

The Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund is for regularly funded organisations and non-RFOs and aims to:

remove the threat of insolvency prior to the end of March 2021
allow for specialist / core staff to return from furlough or avoid redundancy to work on future sustainability plans
increase the opportunities for commissioning and employment of freelance artists and creative practitioners.

LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE

Magician Wayne Alan owner of The Historic North Theatre and Performing Arts Center in Danville, VA enjoys the following jokes:

Why do we tell actors to "break a leg?" Because every play has a cast.
Don't open email about free pork, ham & salt...it is spam.
When nothing is going right, go left.
If one door closes and another door opens...your house is probably haunted.
From Wayne Alan's magician friend Matt Fore:
Detective: Where were you between 5 and 6?
Suspect: Kindergarten.

According to Reader's Digest this joke was voted funniest joke of all time in a 2002 online poll, it's still funny:
Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He's not breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls 911.
"I think my friend is dead!" he yells. "What can I do?"
The operator says, "Calm down. First, let's make sure he's dead."
There's a silence, then a shot. Back on the phone, the guy says, "OK, now what?"

OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY

THE ADULTS ONLY CIRCA RESORT the first new hotel to be built in downtown Las Vegas in decades with the first five floors set to open October 28 is taking room reservations for New Year's Eve. Price? $999 plus taxes and resort fees.

The 777-guest room hotel will boasts the largest sportsbook in Las Vegas. It also has room with bunk bed. That's right, bunk beds. It's not the honeymoon suite, but what the resort says is a suite designed for friends (without benefits) traveling together.

NATIONAL THEATRE IN LONDON has infomed 400 individuals, including all Front of House employees that they will not be retained.

It will pay its 250 front of house staff and 150 backstage workers until the end of August. The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester also announced it had made 65 per cent of its permanent staff "redundant."

E-Book

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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.

FINAL OVATION

CAR REINER the veteran comedy actor, writer, director and producer whose career spanned seven decades died of natural causes in his Beverly Hills Home on June 29, 2020. He was 98.

Reiner performed in several Broadway musicals including Inside U.S.A. and Alive and Kicking and had the lead role in Call Me Mister. Other Broadway credits include Something Different; Tough to Get Help; So Long, 174th Street, and The Roast.

In 1950, he was cast by Max Leibman in Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows, appearing on air in skits while also working alongside writers, such as Mel Brooks and Neil Simon.

Reiner created the classic sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show. He co-wrote and acted on Caesar's Hour and Your Show of Shows, starring Sid Caesar.

He also starred in a one-man Las Vegas show.

Over his long and distinguished career, Reiner won nine Emmy Awards, one Grammy Award, and The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

On December 24, 1943, Reiner married singer Estelle Lebost. The two were married for 64 years until her death in 2008. At the time of the marriage, Reiner was 21 and she was 29. Estelle delivered the line "I'll have what she's having" in the deli scene of their son Rob's 1989 film When Harry Met Sally. She died on October 25, 2008, at age 94. He is survived by their children, actor and director Rob Reiner, author Annie Reiner, and artist Lucas Reiner, and the grandson Tracy Reiner.

MAX ROBINSON BARRIE son of screenwriters, Michael Barrie and Sally Robinson, Max was born and raised in Beverly Hills, California. He graduated from Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences -- but left college before receiving his film degree, and decided to pursue a writing career.

His great uncle, George Barrie (9 February 1912 - 16 November 2002) was the owner and CEO of Fabergé Inc. He was a two-time Academy Award nominee, and the creator of Brut (cologne). Barrie was one of the first to use celebrities to advertise.

The official obit for Max Robinson Barrie from the funeral home states "Max Robinson Barrie. August 20, 1982 – June 21, 2020. Max was soulful, caring, chatty, hilarious – a writer of keen insight, a painter of satirical Maxterpieces, a mensch. A guy you could lean on who loved nothing more than to be of help. Max had issues and demons and he was complicated – with all the ramifications of that word. He was interesting. He was neurotic as hell. He’d been to the edge. He had a wicked laugh. He did a sit-down stand-up. Dogs saw him as a rockstar. His most notable failing was not being able to take in the love he’d earned from so many. Max broke a few hearts in his time. And today he did it again. We already miss you, Maxo."

MAFALDA PAPP legendary Las Vegas lounge performer known as Mafalda died June 16, 2020. She was 93.

In a career that spanned over 50 years the singer/pianist, who was a Liz Taylor look alike, worked every major hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. She was at the Desert Inn lounge for six years, and at the old MGM Grand for eight. She was a regular at the The Sultan's Table, a gourmet restaurant at the Dunes Hotel performing with either a duo or trio which included her husband Lou Papp on stand up bass.

Lou Papp who was Mafalda's manager before they married in 1956 and became one of her sidemen died October 1, 2008. Mafalda is survived by her daughter Maria Fihn and her husband Dr. Greg Fihn, and grandchildren.

HUGH DOWNS veteran Today show, 20/20 newscaster, and sidekick to talk show host Jack Paar from 1957 to 1962, died July 1, 2020 in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was 99.

Downs enjoyed a seven-decade career in television news and talk shows. On August 25, 1958, Downs concurrently began a more than ten-year run hosting the original version of the game show Concentration. Also, he hosted NBC's Today Show for nine years from September 1962 to October 1971.

Downs was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in 1984. In that same year, he was certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as holding the record for the greatest number of hours on network commercial television (15,188 hours), though he lost the record for most hours on all forms of television to Regis Philbin in 2004.

A published composer, Downs hosted the PBS showcase for classical music, Live from Lincoln Center from 1990–96.

On October 13, 2007, Downs was one of the first inductees into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, Nevada. Downs was inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State's highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 1967 in the area of communications.

Ruth Shaheen Downs, Hugh's wife, with whom he had two children, died on March 28, 2017, at age 95.

He is survived by his children Deirdre and Hugh Raymond (H.R.), grandchildren Leah Downs, Cameron Black and four great grandchildren.

Next Column: July 12, 2020
Copyright: July 5, 2020 All Rights Reserved. Reviews, Interviews, Commentary, Photographs or Graphics from any Broadway To Vegas (TM) columns may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, utilized as leads, or used in any manner without permission, compensation and/or credit.
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