Broadway To Vegas

Copyright: June 12, 2016
By: Laura Deni
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2016 TONY TIME

Tony Award winner James Corden hosts.

The 70th Annual Tony Awards will take place tonight, Sunday, June 12, 2016, airing on CBS with Tony Award winner James Corden as host.

The evening will feature appearances by Oprah Winfrey, Cate Blanchett, Bright Star Tony nominees Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, Carole King, and Tony winners Audra McDonald, Angela Lansbury, James Earl Jones, Patina Miller, Nathan Lane and Neil Patrick Harris.

Other presenters will include Claire Danes, Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniel Dae Kim, Diane Lane, Lucy Liu, Sean Hayes, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Marlee Matlin, Uzo Aduba, Blair Underwood and Andrew Rannells. Returning to the Tony Awards stage for the first time since 1970, legendary EGOT and show business icon Barbra Streisand will also present. Streisand’s appearance at the Tony Awards precedes the legendary recording artist’s nine-city August North American concert tour.

The telecast will broadcast live from the Beacon Theatre in New York City. The 2016 American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. At The Broadway League, Robert E. Wankel is Chairman and Charlotte St. Martin is President. At the American Theater Wing, William Ivey Long is Chairman and Heather A. Hitchens is President. Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss of White Cherry Entertainment are the Executive Producers of the 2016 Tony Awards. Weiss will also serve as Director of the 2016 Tony Awards.

Kirshner and Weiss have produced the Tony Awards ceremony and live telecast since 2003.

UPDATE: The Tony Awards telecast will be dedicated to victims of the terrorist attack which took place last night in the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida which killed 49 and insured another 53, many in critical condition.

See list of nominees and winners

CALABASAS FIRE DISRUPTS THEATRICUM BOTANICUM OPENER

A California wildfire sparked when a car accident brought down power lines, scorched 50 acres, destroyed two homes and two other buildings, caused opening night disruption for Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum which is located in Topanga, CA.

"We had to cancel our season opening because of the Calabasas Fire," press agent Lucy Pollak told Broadway To Vegas. She was referring to Romeo and Juliet, director Ellen Geer's illumination of the continued relevance of this 421-year-old play; setting Shakespeare’s tale of forbidden love and warring families in East Jerusalem - a city beset by age-old prejudices, street violence and religious differences.

"The theater is not in any danger, but they issued a mandatory evacuation for Topanga Canyon one-half before curtain - for everyone except residents - because of the dry brush, and also because they began using Topanga Canyon Blvd as a through-road for equipment between Pacific Coast Highway and Calabasas."

"Scary stuff," added the press lady who was at the venue when the evacuation order was received.

"The theater was never really under any threat - it was just close by, plus they needed the road to transport heavy equipment. There was no damage due to smoke," she later elaborated.

"They would have loved to resume performances this afternoon for the matinee," she said referring to Sunday, June 5, "but had to cancel again because they didn't know if the road would open in time, which it did, but it was too late."

"I didn't see any ash - despite reports that ash was falling as far away as North Hollywood! I guess it all depends on the wind. I don't know how far the theater is from a hydrant, but Topanga has its own fire station."

“Romeo and Juliet has been retold many times before with a myriad of backdrops, proving each time that it continues to resonate regardless of time or place,” says Geer. “We place the story in a city currently divided by political and cultural strife. The lovers are able to see beyond the narrow scope of the world in which they live and find each other in spite of it all.”

Although the first two performances were fire victims, the production continues through October 2 with original music and sound design are by Marshall McDaniel; costume design is by Beth Glasner; lighting design is by Zach Moore; and set design is by… Mother Nature.

Starring Shaun Taylor-Corbett (Romeo), Judy Durkin (Juliet), Alan Blumenfeld (Capulet), Rav Val Denegro (Mercutio), Steven B. Green (Mufti Zaman), Melora Marshall (Nurse), Karen Reed (Geveret Capulet), Taylor Jackson Ross (Tybalt).

Also featuring Kamran Abbassian, Kate Adams, Claire Andrew, Jonathan Bray, Clayton Cook, Julia Finch, Steve Fisher, Kevin Hudnell, Nima Jafari, Israel Lopez, Celia Mandela, Victoria Yvonne Martinez, Kelvin Morales, Daniel Ramirez, Mark Samet, Gray Schierholt, Alexander Sheldon, Celina Lee Surniak, Lane Wray.

The venue is capable of mounting more than one production at a time. Upcoming at Theatricum Botanicum is a world premiere stage adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Ellen Geer who also directs the production.

Featuring folk music of the period.

Starring Gerald C. Rivers (Tom), Earnestine Phillips (Aunt Chloe), Thad Geer (Simon Legree), Tim Halligan (Haley), Mark Lewis (Augustine St. Clare), Melora Marshall (Harriet Beecher Stowe), Taylor Jackson Ross (Mrs. Shelby), Shannon Shepherd (Mammy), Elizabeth Tobias (Miss Ophelia) Also featuring Lily Andrew, Celeste Arrazolo, Caitlin Durkin, Eben Eldridge, Ian Flanders, Liam Flanders, Angelo Fowler, Durant Fowler, Daphne Gabriel, Jasmine Gatewood, Bradley Gosnell, Kevin Hudnell, Jasmine Nicole Jacquet, Roderick Jean-Charles, Vanduncan Johnson-Phillips, Finn Kerwin, Shane McDermott, Jeffrey McFarland, Julia Merius, Candace Nicholas-Lippman, Clarence Powell, Talya Sindel, Celina Lee Surniak, Sky Wahl, Lane Wray.

Long before Black Lives Matter entered our lexicon, Stowe’s most famous novel about a slave who demonstrates great strength in the face of overwhelming brutality rallied abolitionists worldwide. Inspired by the draconian measures of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 - which made it illegal to help or harbor runaway slaves - and by the words of former slave, social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer and statesman Frederick Douglas,

Stowe first released Uncle Tom's Cabin in serial format in a weekly newspaper beginning June 5, 1851 with the subtitle The Man That Was a Thing. Geer sets her adaptation 35 years later, in 1886, following the death of Stowe’s husband. According to historians, that was the year when Stowe’s health began to deteriorate and she succumbed to what is now believed to have been Alzheimer’s. Obsessed with Uncle Tom’s Cabin, she devoted the remainder of her life to re-writing it again and again.

“In the play, Harriet is rewriting her novel once more in her later years, so you see her passion for its themes,” explains Geer. “The dehumanization of Tom, who was a man of peace. Laws stating that slaves were not allowed to read or write or keep their children. Debasement of women. It’s so important that modern audiences see and feel what slavery really meant. One cannot work towards repairing racism without honoring and depicting the past reality of slavery.”

In its day, ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ was wildly popular, selling more copies than the Bible and marshaling anti-slavery sentiment nationwide. Abraham Lincoln famously credited it as the catalyst to Civil War, calling Stowe “the little lady who made this great war.” In recent years, however, negative associations have overshadowed the historical impact of the book.

According to David Reynolds, a distinguished professor at the CUNY Graduate Center who is the author of ‘Mightier than the Sword: Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Battle for America,’ “[Stowe’s] main character, Uncle Tom, is distant from the cringing sycophant or spineless sell-out that the epithet ‘Uncle Tom’ signifies today. That misleading image arose later on, during the Jim Crow era, when Uncle Tom was inaccurately portrayed on stage as an obedient old fool. In the novel, Tom is gentle but also self-reliant and strong.”

“I want people to know that this book changed forever how Americans viewed slavery, the system that treated people as property, as ‘things’ rather than as human beings,” Geer says. ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ demanded that the United States deliver on the promise of freedom and equality, galvanized the abolition movement and contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War. Tom was a man of great strength and dignity who has gotten an undeserved bad rap in recent years. I hope this play sheds new light on Stowe’s characters and message.”

Sound design is by Ian Flanders; lighting design is by Zach Moore; costume design is by Maggie Clapis; and the wardrobe supervisor is Beth Glasner. The props master is Sydney Russell; assistant stage manager is Karen Osborne; and the production stage manager is Kim Cameron. The dramaturg is Jennie Webb.

Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) wrote 30 books, including novels, three travel memoirs and collections of articles and letters. She came from a well-known religious family and was influential for both her writings and her public stands on social issues of the day.

With its one-of-a-kind outdoor setting in the heart of Topanga Canyon and its roots in the 1950s McCarthy-era Hollywood blacklist - when actor Will Geer created the theater as a haven for blacklisted actors - Theatricum is best known for its productions that frame contemporary social issues through the lens of classic literature. Unlike most theaters in the L.A. area that stage continuous runs of a single play, Theatricum performs five plays in repertory each season, making it possible to see all of the plays in a single summer weekend, with many of the same actors performing in two or more.

Tom officially opens on Saturday, June 18 and continues through October 1 at Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum.










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ART AND ABOUT

JAUME PLENSA: HUMAN LANDSCAPE

Jaume Plensa (Spanish, born 1955), Spiegel. Painted stainless steel, 2010. 148 ½ in. x 92 ½ in. Toledo Museum of Art. Purchased with funds given by Rita Barbour Kern and Gift of Mrs. George M. Jones, Jr., by exchange, 2012.84 A-B

a major exhibition of works by world renowned artist Jaume Plensa, opens at the Toledo Museum of Art on June 17, 2016.

Six large-scale sculptures and sculpture groups by Jaume Plensa (pronounced zhow-muh plens-sah) are positioned in various locations on the Museum’s campus while a selection of works on paper, including 18 drawings and 6 etchings, are on display in the Levis Galleries along with large-scale installations that hang on the walls and ceiling, will be on view through November 6, 2016, in the Main Museum and on the grounds of the Museum’s Glass Pavilion.

“One of the unusual, compelling aspects of this exhibition is that the artist’s work will be shown both indoors and outdoors,” said Amy Gilman, associate director of the Museum and curator of contemporary art. “The addition of Plensa’s sculptures to surroundings that are familiar will give our visitors an opportunity to experience the campus in a new way. And, given the immediate popularity of Plensa’s Speigel when it was added to our collection, we believe the works themselves will really resonate with visitors.”

Born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1955, Plensa is internationally recognized for his large figurative sculptures and installations that produce enchanting and mystifying visions of the human form as landscape. His Spiegel, showing the silhouettes of two massive crouching figures made of a latticework of letters, was acquired for installation in the Museum’s Welles Sculpture Garden four years ago.

Plensa has won numerous national and international awards for his works, including the Medaille de Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres presented by the French Ministry of Culture in 1993; the Government of Catalonia’s National Prize for Fine Art in 1997; an honorary doctorate in 2005 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and more recently, Spain’s National Prize for Fine Art in 2012 and the prestigious Velázquez Prize for the Arts in 2013.

The exhibit is organized by the Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art in Nashville, Tennessee. Admission to the exhibition and the Toledo Museum is free.

PHANTOM BODIES: THE HUMAN AURA IN ART

Adam Fuss (British, b. 1961). Medusa, from the series Home and the World, 2010. Gelatin silver print photogram, edition 3 of 9, 94 1/2 x 56 3/4 in. Courtesy of the artist and Cheim & Read, New York. © Adam Fuss

will be on view June 17-September 11, 2016 at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida.

Contemporary art as a medium for compassion, transformation and timeless metaphysical questions, is explored in this powerful special exhibition.

Phantom Bodies: The Human Aura in Art considers the relationship between mind, body and spirit through a selection of 38 paintings, photographs, videos, sculpture and installation that are designed to inspire connection and commemoration. Among the coterie of top international artists represented in Phantom Bodies are Christian Boltanski, Janet Cardiff, Shirin Neshat, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Doris Salcedo, Anish Kapoor, Sally Mann, Ana Mendieta, Damien Hirst, Gerhard Richter and Bill Viola.

Organized by Mark Scala, Chief Curator at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. The installation at The Ringling will be overseen by Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Matthew McLendon.

The exhibition’s four thematically distinct sections –Objects and Absences, Violence, Empathy, and Erasure, Sublimation, and The Mind-Body Problem – each offer a particularly compelling and rewarding lens through which to view contemporary works of art. Binding the works together is an empathic and poetic dialogue between artist and audience, a transfer of energy similar to the transmutation of the objects themselves into the embodiment of absence and meaning.

“The connection forged in Phantom Bodies between artists and the human presence left behind in objects is both provocative and profoundly moving,” said McLendon. “One of the through-lines in this exhibition is the examination of how objects can embody and reanimate emotions, feelings and memories, which speaks to the broader purpose of museums to create meaningful personal experiences through works of art.”

THE TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART has announced that Carol Bintz, who has been with the Museum for 25 years, will retire as chief operating officer on July 1.

In announcing the changes, Museum Director, President and CEO Brian Kennedy praised Bintz’s service to the institution. “Carol Bintz has made an extraordinary contribution to the Toledo Museum of Art in all aspects of our administration, but especially in the building of our SANNA-designed Glass Pavilion, opened in 2006, in acclaimed efforts on energy sustainability – for example, TMA has 3,000 solar panels and frequently goes off the grid – and in steering the Museum’s finances so beneficially. Carol is a person of the highest integrity and competence.”

A new leadership team will take effect July lst. They are:

Amy Gilman, Ph.D., associate director of the Museum and curator of contemporary art, has been promoted to deputy director; Adam Levine, Ph.D., assistant director and associate curator of antiquities, has been promoted to associate director; and human resources director Lynn Miller has been promoted to assistant director.

Gilman will oversee the Museum’s art collections, development, Mellon Fellowships and finance, while Levine will be responsible for brand marketing and communications, education and engagement, and information systems. Miller becomes responsible for protective services and facilities as well as oversees all aspects of people resources, including diversity and inclusion initiatives.

TATE MODERN MUSEUM IN LONDON

View from the New Tate Modern South at dusk. Photo: © Hayes Davidson and Herzog & de Meuron

will reopen to the public on Friday, June 17, 2016. The new building will permit the facility to "display a greater variety of artworks and show more artists from around the world, presenting an increasingly international view of modern and contemporary art."

The new building is ten-stories on top of The Tanks - the world’s first gallery spaces dedicated to live art, film and installations - its height responding to the chimney of the existing Tate Modern building which was originally designed as a power station by Giles Gilbert Scott in the 1950s. Its twisting, pyramid-like shape will be a memorable addition to London’s skyline and will offer 60% extra space for visitors to explore.

From The Tanks on Level 0 patrons can go all the way up to Level 10 and enjoy the spectacular new roof terrace with 360-degree views of the river Thames, St Paul’s Cathedral and the dramatic London skyline."

Like the original Tate Modern, the new building is designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron.

SWEET CHARITY

SONDHEIM NO. 5 S.T.A.G.E. Presents the 32nd Annual Gala on Saturday, June 18th at the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills.

The Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event (S.T.A.G.E.) will be directed by David Galligan. Serving as Musical Director will be Michael Orland.

Stars of Broadway, Movies and Television will perform in this special concert that raises critical funds for AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA). This will be the 5th program of Sondheim’s works that has been presented by S.T.A.G.E.

S.T.A.G.E. is the longest-running annual HIV/AIDS fundraiser in the world. It was co-created by Michael Kearns, the late James Carroll Pickett, David Galligan and Susan Obrow in 1984. It has raised millions for HIV/AIDS organizations in the Southland, CA area., S.T.A.G.E. continues to be a vital and essential fundraiser more than three decades later. David Galligan has staged and directed all of these memorable productions.

QUEEN ELIZABETH

Queen Elizabeth watches as Dr. Grace Xia demonstates equipment. Photo: CUBRIC/Getty

has officially opened the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre in Wales.

At first glance it may not seem that a brain research center has anything to do with entertainment. However, for a person with a brain injury or a cognitive skills problem, there isn't much opportunity to enjoy any form of entertainment.

Sports stars are prime candidates for brain injury. Muhammad Ali suffered with Parkinson's for over 30 years. Hockey legend Gordie Howe, who died last week, suffered from dementia.

The facility will seek to provide unprecedented insights into the causes of neurological and psychiatric conditions such as dementia, schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis, as well as an understanding into the mechanisms of a healthy brain.

Four MRI systems from Siemens Healthineers will aid research by providing insights into the structure, function and chemical composition of living brain tissue, in turn helping to develop better neurology and psychiatric treatments.

One of the four MRI systems in situ, the Magnetom Skyra Connectom 3T, is currently the only one of its kind in Europe. The advanced technology will allow scientists to study structures in the micron (thousandth of a millimetre) range. It features 300 mT/m gradient coils which are over 6 times more powerful than those found in conventional MR systems.

In America one of the facilities using the Magnetom SKyra Connectom 3T is the Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis. That facility is “home” to the prestigious Human Connectome Project which is a unique and ambitious effort to map the connections between different brain regions in a large population of healthy human adults.

THE READING PUBLIC MUSEUM in Reading, PA reports that their Dogs & Brews event of the Memorial Day Weekend was a tail wagging success.

"Over 500 two-legged visitors, many with their four-legged companions, attended the third annual Dogs & Brews to kick off summer in the Arboretum at The Museum! The RPM partnered with the Animal Rescue League of Berks County once again to create an even bigger and better event than last year, featuring twenty craft breweries, 40 local pet-friendly vendors, six food trucks, and live music by Mike Noecker."

Event Chair Jessica Prutzman, who volunteers at the Museum serves as the board president of the ARL said, “The turnout for our third event was so amazing and it shows how supportive the community is of these two great organizations. My dogs, Dakota and Molly, had such a great time meeting all the other dogs (and their humans) and we can’t wait for next Memorial Day weekend to be back here again!”

SPREADING THE WORD

THE STARS ALIGNED

A constellation of luminaries performed in Shakespeare in America at The Old Globe on June 4. Photo by Douglas Gates.

to appear in Shakespeare in America on Saturday evening, June 4, at the Old Globe in San Diego. This special one-night-only event featured a constellation of luminaries reading selections from Shakespeare and other material, curated and hosted by the gifted writer/director Jeremy McCarter and our country’s most eminent Shakespeare scholar, James Shapiro. Old Globe Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein introduced and directed the evening.

The star-studded company featured Marsha Stephanie Blake, Jonathan Cake, J. Bernard Calloway, Louis Changchien, Kristen Connolly, Clifton Duncan, Eden Espinosa, Robert Foxworth, James Hebert, Hamish Linklater, Jonathan McMurtry, Alfred Molina, Mark Pinter, Lily Rabe, Sharon Rietkerk, Luis Rodriguez, Marion Ross, Mike Sears, Blair Underwood, and Jill Van Velzer; along with San Diego students Samuel Bennett, Jordi Bertran, Aidan Hayek, Katrina Heil, Brooke Henderson, Imahni King-Murillo, Natasha Partnoy, and Davina Van Dusen.

Performances included selections from Shakespeare and other related material - scenes, songs, and essays—inspired by Shapiro’s book Shakespeare in America: An Anthology from the Revolution to Now. Old Globe Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein introduced and directed the evening.

After the show in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre at The Old Globe, guests mingled with the stars at a reception on the Globe’s Copley Plaza.

“This year marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death (or, as we’d rather think of it, the 400th birthday of his posthumous reputation), and Shakespeare institutions worldwide are pulling out the stops in celebration,” said Edelstein.

Shakespeare in America officially kicked off the celebrations surrounding the First Folio!, which opened to the public on June 4 and closes July 7. The Old Globe and the San Diego Public Library were selected as the only stop in California for First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare, on tour from the Folger Shakespeare Library, a national traveling exhibition organized by the Folger Shakespeare Library to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

PLANET CONNECTIONS THEATRE FESTIVITY a socially-conscious, eco-friendly arts festival, stages its eighth season of plays, musicals & staged readings, with all shows taking place at The Paradise Factory, in New York City June 13-July 10, 2016.

Production include Ambition, a musical about three female American serial killers; Lonely Pilgrim, a solo show about a young man who begins a correspondence with a man on death row; The Chaplin Plays, two one-act works about the many faces of the man who created the Little Tramp; Nix, a mash-up of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Erin Brockovich as a war widow uncovers a waste water conspiracy – complete with rap, Latin and rock musical styles; and Gideon, where two young women in a Los Angeles apartment are stuck, seemingly forever as they wait for the cable guy to arrive.

Among the offerings in the Festivity’s Staged Readings Series this year is Hedy! The Life and Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, shining a long-overdue light on a woman who was far more than just an icon of the silver screen; Ocean in a Teacup, about a young soldier who can’t bring himself to return home when the war is over in light of the things he did in battle; Red Emma, about the life and passions of Emma Goldman, an immigrant in the early 20th century who believed in all the promises American had to offer and wanted everyone to get their fair share; and Digna, based on the life of Digna Ochoa, a Mexican human rights attorney who the government claims committed suicide, though evidence points elsewhere.

Also being presented will be Ambition, a musical about three female serial killers; Father/Daughter, a life or death conversation taking place during a mass shooting; The Pink Hulk, a touching and comedic look at one woman’s fight against breast cancer; and The Renaissance Dueling Plays, where short plays and swordplay meet. Off-Off Broadway companies returning to this year’s Festivity include Ego Actus, Nylon Fusion Theatre Company, and Rising Sun Performance Company."

As part of the Festivity’s mission, each production has partnered with charitable organizations such as Food Bank NYC, Hospice of New York, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Women in Need, The New York Public Library and The World Wildlife Foundation, to raise money and awareness for their important causes.

Since its inception, Planet Connections has presented 233 full theater productions and 86 staged readings. 300 charities have benefited from Planet Connections artists.

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL takes place June 15-26 with a focus on Finland.

The festival will also unveils a new Works in Progress industry event and present the UK Premiere of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial accompanied by John Williams’ iconic score performed live by the RSNO on Saturday 25 June 2016 at the Festival Theatre Edinburgh.

Edinburgh International Film Festival hosted the UK premiere of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in 1982, where it was the opening night film. This screening will form a key highlight in EIFF’s 2016 program.

Mark Adams, Artistic Director of EIFF commented: “We are delighted to continue our relationship with the RSNO for this wonderful film and music event. The fact that E.T. and Steven Spielberg have such a strong link to EIFF makes this magnificent screening in our 70th edition all the more special. Certainly not an event to be missed.”

2016 marks the 70th edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, making it the longest continually running film festival in the world.

BEI MIR BIST DU SCHON A Musical Tour through New York's Yiddish Theater takes place Tuesday, June 21 at the Museum of the City of New York.

From the iconic tunes of Fiddler on the Roof and Ragtime back to Sholom Secunda’s Bei Mir Bist Du Shein, the music of Second Avenue’s Yiddish Theater has long found its way into the heart and soul of Broadway’s leading song writers. Discover the unique New York love story between Second Avenue and Broadway, in this program which features anecdotes, performances, and explorations of the Museum's exhibition, New York's Yiddish Theater: From the Bowery to Broadway.

Participants include: Lisa Fishman, actress in On Second Avenue and The Golden Bride, Rachel Policar, actress in The Golden Bride and Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene.

THREE RULES FOR THE DRAGON by Jeff Talbott.

Directed by Wes Grantom.

Selected from over 400 submissions, Three Rules for the Dragon is the first of two scripts scheduled for expanded development as part of the 2016 Premiere Stages Play Festival. An annual competition for unproduced scripts by playwrights with ties to the greater metropolitan area - New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.

Three Rules for the Dragon was also a semi-finalist for the 2016 Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference.

Talbott has received an honorarium and the opportunity to further develop the play through a professional, 29-hour rehearsal process culminating in three public readings, bringing the play one step closer to a full production.

This production will feature actors Julian Cihi, Dashiell Eaves, Tyrah Skye Odoms, and Heather Alicia Simms.

"In this provocative and unabashedly theatrical new play, Douglas Barnes is having difficulty balancing his top secret job and his crumbling home life. As Douglas struggles to extract information from a suspected terrorist, he must also try to salvage a marriage that hangs in the balance."

June 17-19 in the Murphy Dunn Theatre, located in Kean University’s Vaughn Eames Hall in Union, N.J.

MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA CABARET FESTIVAL which opens June 14 will close June 26 with a swinging party featuring piano bar entertainers from around the world including:

The iconic New York performer and 2015 recipient of the Manhattan Association of Cabaret's Lifetime Achievement award Steve Ross will entertain with 1920s/30s style piano bar entertainment.

Fresh off the plane from New Orleans, Karin Muiznieks will produce the sounds of Bourbon Street dive bars, steamy blues of the Louisiana swamps, and pop hits played on washboard and jug on the curb stones of the French quarter. Trevor Jones is one of Australia's favorite and most versatile piano bar entertainers, with a huge repertoire encompassing rock and pop music from the 50s to the modern day.

Chelsea Plumley brings the easy listening sounds of the London piano bar circuit where she entertained celebrities, politicians and royalty for more than four years. Officials promise that "It's going to be a hell of a party - it's on Sunday, June 26.

ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS OF LEONARD PELKEY is a one-night-only performance presented by 92Y in honor of NYC Pride 2016. The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, is the award-winning play written and performed by James Lecesne, directed by Tony Speciale, with original music by Spring Awakening’s Tony Award-winning composer Duncan Sheik. The play has scenic design by Jo Winiarski, lighting design by Matt Richards, sound design by Christian Frederickson, projection design by Aaron Rhyne, original animation & photography by Matthew Sandager, and costumes by Paul Marlow.

Absolute Brightness is about the disappearance of Leonard Pelkey, a 14-year-old boy who dared to be different, and the small New Jersey town that will never be the same without him. The play - produced Off-Broadway by Darren Bagert and Daryl Roth -– is based on Lecesne’s acclaimed YA novel of the same name, reissued in paperback edition by Feiwell & Friends.

Friday, June 17, at 92Y in New York City.

NATIONAL PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE DAY takes place June 12.

OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY

HOTEL MOGUL STEVE WYNN generally tells it like it is - a trait to be admired. Wynn was recently the keynote speaker at the 16th International Conference of Gambling and Risk Taking, at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. The conference is presented every three years.

The man who is an expert at marketing and once talked Frank Sinatra into appearing in a commercial with him for the Golden Nugget, indicated that he wasn't a fan of social media websites.

He also did a version of biting the hand that feeds him.

"I'm one of those old white guys that think the millennials are sort of short on brains," Wynn told the 600 delegates from around the world who responded with laughter. "But in the meantime, we're doing well with them. We put the little darlings in the nightclubs and they get drunk and they give us a ton of money and it's probably the only part of my business where I have cognitive dissonance," he added. "I walk into the clubs and I say to myself either we have attracted every moron in the world, or there's something about the sound that allows normal people to check their human sensibilities at the door."

"We've made $40 million a year with the damn things. I guess we gotta put up with it," he said.

"The driver in our business is the non-casino, the non-casino activity," he emphasized. "The driver in our business is the experiential value of the enterprise. Get it. Understand it," Wynn told the conference.

"Las Vegas is a shopping mecca. Who would have dreamt it 20 years ago," Wynn commented.

MGM RESORTS all 12 of the Strip properties in Las Vegas have instituted their pay-for parking program. If you select self park, that can cost you up to $10.00 for a 24 hour period Select valet and the ante shoots up to $19.00.

Properties charging include: New York-New York, Bellagio, Aria, Vdara, Monte Carlo, Excalibur, Luxor, Circus Circus, the MGM Grand, The Mirage, Mandalay Bay and the Delano.

HAMILTON the must have ticket of the decade has raised the price of premium tickets to $849 per ticket.

The New York Times broke the story printing: "about 200 seats at every Hamilton performance - mostly in the center orchestra - will be sold for $849. The rest of the house ... about 1,075 seats per show - will be sold for between $179 and $199.”

For those who feel lucky, or don't have a trust fund, the number of $10 seats in the theatre’s first two rows, which are sold by lottery each day, will be doubled from 21 to 46.

LATINO THEATER COMPANY OF LOS ANGELES THEATRE CENTER has received a $500K Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant to support capacity building activities. The grant provides $425,000 in spendable funds for use over three years to support the expansion of administrative staff and $75,000 in matching funds to support a revolving board-designated cash reserve.

The mission of the Latino Theater Company at the Los Angeles Theatre Center is to provide a world-class arts center for those pursuing artistic excellence; a laboratory where both tradition and innovation are honored and honed; and a place where the convergence of people, cultures and ideas contribute to the future. The Latino Theater Company operates the Los Angeles Theatre Center, owned by the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs, and is celebrating its 30th birthday and ten years at the LATC. Jose Luis Valenzuela is the artistic director and president of the board.



QUEEN ELIZABETH BIRTHDAY HONORS

The newly knighted Sir Roderick Stewart.

bestowed knighthoods on several celebrities including 71-year-old Rod Stewart. Sir Rod (or officially Sir Roderick), who has starred in Las Vegas on numerous occasions, received his knighthood for services to music and charity.

Among the 19 men given knighthoods are Damon Buffini - recently appointed chairman of the National Theatre - for voluntary and charitable services, and artist Michael Craig-Martin for services to art.

In the year that marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, Prof Stanley Wells, scholar and honorary president of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, is knighted for services to scholarship.

Downtown Abbey actress Penelope Wilton was made a dame for her services to drama. She was one of 13 new dames and the only one from the world of entertainment.

Being elevated above a dame is singer Dame Vera Lynn, 99, who joins the elite Companions of Honour in recognition of her services to entertainment and charity. Her songs which buoyed the spirits of millions during World War Two, said: "I felt very greatly honored to be given a damehood and never expected to receive anything else."

The Companion of Honour is limited to 65 people. Recipients wear the initials CH after their name.

OBEs went to Britain's Got Talent hosts Ant and Dec - Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly - for services to broadcasting and entertainment. Ant and Dec are favorites of Princes William and Harry.

Among the others from the world of entertainment is actor and BBC radio presenter Adil Ray, the creator of TV comedy Citizen Khan, who becomes an OBE.

Honours lists are published at New Year and on the Queen’s official birthday in June.

ONE DESTINY celebrated its 1000h performance on Friday, June 10, 2016. Presented by Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC, this 35-minute one-act play recalls the events of the Lincoln assassination through the eyes of those who were at the theatre. As they reconstruct the sequence of events, they grapple with the question, could John Wilkes Booth have been stopped?

During its tenure at Ford’s Theatre, hundreds of thousands of patrons have enjoyed One Destiny.

One Destiny been performed at Ford’s, in local schools and at the White House.



ANYTHING GOES

Andre McArdle with her caricature. Photo: Facebook

features music and lyrics by Cole Porter with original book by Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse and new book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman.

Directed by Jayme McDaniel.

Choreography by Jason Wise.

Musical direction by Charlie Reuter.

ll aboard for this splendid and saucy musical comedy! When the S.S. American heads out to sea, etiquette and convention get tossed out the portholes as three unlikely pairs set off on the course to true love… proving that sometimes destiny needs a little help from a tap-dancing crew of singing sailors, an exotic disguise and some good old-fashioned blackmail. Topping off the fun is Cole Porter’s delightful, delicious, De-Lovely first-class score that includes some of musical theatre’s most memorable standards, including I Get A Kick Out Of You, You’re The Top, and of course, Anything Goes.

Starring Broadway's Andrea McArdle as Reno Sweeney, two-time Emmy Award winner Sally Struthers as Evangeline Harcourt with Josh Canfield as Billy Crocker. Playing Moonface Martin is Ray DeMattis. Also in the cast are Patti-Lee Meringoas Hope Harcourt; Steve Brady as Elisha Whitney, Ian Knauer as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, and Mychal Phillips.

June 15-July 9 at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine.

MACBETH by William Shakespeare.

Directed by Shakespeare expert Brian Kulick, Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company.

Tempted by an evil prophecy and encouraged by his wife ever deeper into his own dark ambition, Macbeth murders his way to the throne of Scotland. Shakespeare’s chilling tragedy is filled with ferocious battles, supernatural horrors, famously gorgeous poetry, and some of the Bard’s most vivid characters.

Macbeth features Jonathan Cake in the title role and Marsha Stephanie Blake as his Lady Macbeth. The cast also includes Jerome Preston Bates as Duncan; Clifton Duncan as Macduff; Brian Keane as Ross and 3rd Murderer; John Lavelle as Porter and 1st Murderer; James Joseph O'Neil as Lennox, 2nd Murderer, and Seyton; Mark Pinter as Old Man and Siward; and Timothy D. Stickney as Banquo.

Joining them are actors from The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, playing a variety of roles and comprising the Ensemble, including Amara James Aja as Bloody Captain and Menteith; Amy Blackman as 2nd Witch; Ally Carey as Lady Macduff; Ajinkya Desai as Fleance; Talley Beth Gale as Gentlewoman; Kevin Hafso-Koppman as Donalbain; Lorenzo Landini as Young Siward; Jake Millgard as Angus; Makha Mthembu as 1st Witch; Christina A. Okolo as Ensemble; Suzelle Palacios as 3rd Witch; Daniel Petzold as Malcolm; and Nathan Whitmer as Doctor.

The creative team is comprised of Arnulfo Maldonado (Scenic Design), Oana Botez (Costume Design), Jason Lyons (Lighting Design), Sten Severson and David Thomas (Sound Design), George Yé (Fight Director), David Huber (Vocal Coach), Jim Carnahan, CSA (Casting), and Annette Elena Nixon (Production Stage Manager).

The so-called “Scottish Play” will run June 19 – July 24, 2016, in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, San Diego, CA.

THE WIZARD OF OZ an adaptation of the all-time classic, totally reconceived for the stage. This production contains the beloved songs from the Oscar – winning movie score, including new songs by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Directed by John Tartagulia.

Choreography by Ralph Perkins.

Valerie Gebert serves as Music Director.

Starring Danielle Bowen (Dorothy), Peggy Roeder (Miss Gultch/The Wicked Witch of the West), Leah Berry (Glinda, The Good Witch), Nicholas Rodriguez (Hank/The Tinman) and Stephen Wallem (Zeke/The Lion).

Fly “over the rainbow” for this all-time American classic. Whenever Dorothy and her friends follow their hearts down the yellow brick road, you’re guaranteed an evening of enchantment. One of the most popular shows - if not the most popular show – in Muny history.

First Production in 10 Years is staged June 13-22 at The Muny in St. Louis, MO.

YOUARENOWHERE Andrew Schneider's OBIE award-winning production.

A man with a nosebleed appears, possibly from the near future, to tell us something. Microphones crackle and break. Signals get scrambled and transmissions glitch.

Youarenowhere will transform the physical performance space in a collision between theatre, sci-fi and a high-speed physics lecture: a sensory overload into the modern condition of time, reality and independence in the digital age.

June 14-18, 2016 Shoreditch Town Hall, England.

On Wednesday, June 15, patrons are invited to enjoy an exclusive post-show Q&A to discuss and debate the production.

KINKY BOOTS book by Broadway legend and four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein, songs by Grammy- and Tony-winning pop icon Cyndi Lauper.

Direction and choreography by two-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell.

It's Broadway's huge-hearted, high-heeled hit! With this joyous musical celebration is about the friendships we discover, and the belief that you can change the world when you change your mind. Inspired by true events, Kinky Boots takes you from a gentlemen's shoe factory in Northampton to the glamorous catwalks of Milan.

Charlie Price is struggling to live up to his father's expectations and continue the family business of Price & Sons. With the factory's future hanging in the balance, help arrives in the unlikely but spectacular form of Lola, a fabulous performer in need of some sturdy new stilettos.

Tuesday, June 14, 2016 - Sunday, July 10, 2016 at the Opera House of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

RODGERS' ROMANCE created and directed by David-Michael Kenney.

The musical director and accompanist is Charles Gilbert.

The cast of four includes Aaron Bell, Maggie Johnson, Clare O’ Malley, and Patrick Burr.

This musical revue of the work by Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II includes some of the best known songs from this canon, presented in an inventive format that breaks the fourth wall, engaging the hearts and minds of the audience. Harking back to a time before microphones, none will be used, allowing the singers’ voices to be heard naturally.

Rodgers’ Romance is also a trivia competition, with the winner of the night receiving a gift certificate to a local business.

The New Jersey premiere of Rodgers’ Romance from June 15 – July 23 is presented by the East Lynne Theater in Cape May, New Jersey.

LIBERTY: A MONUMENTAL NEW MUSICAL book and Lyrics by Dana Leslie Goldstein. Adapted from original material by Dana Leslie Goldstein, Jon Goldstein and Robert Bruce McIntosh. Music by Jon Goldstein.

Directed by Evan Pappas.

Musical Direction by Jeffrey Lodin.

Based on true events, Liberty tells the story of a young French immigrant who arrives in New York Harbor in 1884. Coming to the United States in the middle of a national immigration debate and a terrible recession, political forces are aligning to deport her. With a strong resolve and a mighty spirit, she battles to gain acceptance and eventually becomes a lasting symbol of the young country.

Liberty cast includes: Abigail Shapiro as Liberty with Mark Aldrich, Brandon Andrus, Nick Devito, Ryan Duncan, C. Mingo Long, Vincent McCoy, Keaton Micucci, Tyrone L. Robinson, Emma Rosenthal, and Tina Stafford.
That creative team includes: Jamie Roderick (Lighting Design), Deborah Hobson (Costume Design), Michael Cassara, CSA (Casting), Cherie B. Tay (Production Stage Manager).

Currently in previews. Opening night is July 4, 2016 at 42West in New York City.

WHO'S WHERE

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND star at the Malieveld in The Hague, Netherlands on Tuesday, June 14. Friday's stop is at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, Germany. On Sunday, June 19, the show is at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

COLDPLAY open a split two night stand on Thursday, June 16 at Wembley Stadium in London. Then they do it again on Saturday.

BARRY MANILOW performs Tuesday, June 14, at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. Wednesday's appearance is at the Arena in Manchester, England. On Saturday his tour stops at the Genting Arena in Birmingham, England.

SELENA GOMEZ is on stage Tuesday, June 14, at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA. On Wednesday she stars at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Friday's show is at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. On Saturday she appears at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Next Sunday, June 19, the show is at the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK.

RIHANNA Tuesday's show is at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, UK. Thursday finds her at the Stadium in Cardiff, UK. On Saturday she's in the spotlight at the Stadium of Light at Sunderland, UK.

MANDY PATINKIN the Tony and Emmy Award winning actor brings his In Concert Dress Casual show with Adam Ben-David on Piano to the Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto for two shows on June 15 and 16th.

FINAL OVATION

PETER SHAFFER Tony award winning playwright and screenwriter of numerous award-winning plays, several of which have been turned into films, died June 6, 2016 while on a trip to Ireland. He was 90.

Equus won Shaffer the 1975 Tony Award for Best Play as well as the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. A journey into the mind of a 17-year-old stable boy who had plunged a spike into the eyes of six horses, Equus ran for over 1,000 performances on Broadway.

Shaffer followed this success with Amadeus which tells the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and court composer Antonio Salieri who, overcome with jealousy at hearing the "voice of God" coming from an "obscene child", sets out to destroy his rival. When the show moved to Broadway it won the 1981 Tony Award for Best Play and, like Equus, ran for more than 1,000 performances.

Shaffer wrote the play Lettice and Lovage specifically for Dame Maggie Smith in 1986, for which he was nominated for another Tony Award and Dame Maggie Smith eventually won the Tony Award for best actress after three nominations in 1990. Lettice and Lovage also enabled Margaret Tyzack to win for best supporting actress, and he was nominated for best direction of a play, in the 1990 Tony Awards.

Several of Shaffer's plays have been adapted to film, including Five Finger Exercise (1962),The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969), The Public Eye (1962), from which he adapted the 1972 film Follow Me! (1972), Equus (1977), and Amadeus (1984), which won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Shaffer received the William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre in 1992. Two years later he was appointed Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University.

Shaffer was awarded the CBE in 1987 and named Knight Bachelor in the 2001 New Year's Honours. In 2007 he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

CONDOLENCES TO LORETTA LYNN on the unexpected death of her oldest grandson, Jeffrey Allen Lynn, who died Monday, June 6, 2016 at the age of 47.

He and lived and worked on Loretta Lynn's ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.

Loretta Lynn was scheduled to perform on Friday, June 11, in Miami, Okla., and on Saturday in Hinton, Okla. Those shows were postponed to July 8 and November 12 to allow her to be with her family.

On her Facebook page it was posted that:"Jeffrey was the eldest son of Jack Benny Lynn, Lynn's second child and eldest son who tragically drowned in 1984," the message continued. "Jeffrey Allen Lynn is survived by three children, Jory, Katie and Cody."

CHRISTINA GRIMMIE a former The Voice performer was whot and killed early Saturday, June 11, 2016, following her performance at The Plaza Live in Orlando, Florida. She was 22.

Authorities said the singer was targeted, and that 27-year-old Kevin James Loibl had traveled from another city in Florida to shoot Grimmie.

The gunman shot the singer as she was meeting fans and signing autographs a half hour after the concert ended. Police called Grimmie's brother as a hero, and said he tackled the suspect, whom they described as a white male with two loaded magazines and a large hunting knife in addition to the two handguns he was carrying.

"Almost immediately, her brother Marcus Grimmie tackled the suspect," Orlando Police Chief John Mina told the press. "Shortly after that, the suspect killed himself."

It's "unknown what his plans were for after killing Christina, but very heroic actions by Marcus Grimmie to jump in definitely could have prevented future loss of life there," Mina said.

Grimmie, a native of Marlton, New Jersey, came in third place on Season 6 of The Voice, NBC's singing competition, which aired in 2014. She at toured with Selena Gomez. On Friday she had opened for Before You Exit, an Orlando pop/rock band.

Next Column: June 19, 2016
Copyright: June 12, 2016 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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Laura Deni

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