Broadway To Vegas

Copyright: May 21, 2023
By: Laura Deni
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JOE WALSH AND THE WEIGHT OF DESPAIR

Creepy. Sinister. Unusual. Holds your attention.

A fascinating example of how one's mind can manipulate narratives.

This condition is more common than you might imagine. People who suffer from schizophrenia, Pick's disease, narcissistic or antisocial personality disorders are prime contenders.

Joe Walsh and the Weight of Despair is a radio drama in which a man is being investigated in relation to the death of a woman. Using 3D Binaural audio, the listener is placed inside the mans mind, hearing what he hears and feeling what he feels as he drifts from reality, delusion, truth and lies.

The official description: This radio drama explores the lines between fact and fiction & reality and fantasy. Ultimately pondering how one person, submerged in lies can distort a narrative to create their own reality. The story is told through the unreliable narration of Joe. The audience goes through the seemingly honest and vulnerable journey of Joe’s testimony as he talks deeply about his love for the Her character and his heartbreak in her absence. But what really happened?

Featuring: First Interrogator: Jumoké Fashola - Her: Finella Wadilove - Second Interrogator: Joseph Richardson - Joe: Kane O’Brien.

Joe Walsh and the Weight of Despair by Kane O’Brien who also is the director and served as the sound designer. Music Composer(s): Kai Govinden & Kane O’Brien. Production Consultant: Donnacadh O’Briain. The Audio Production completed at Ravensbourne University and presented by the Wireless Theatre Company.

Dramatic, eerie, violent sounds as Walsh is being interrogated.

Walsh was born in Ireland, raised in London and is unemployed. He doesn't wish to elaborate about the woman he'd met at his former employment. She was a customer.

Dramatic sounds punctuate his sentences.

He reads books and relates to nautical characters. He talks around issues and remembers fragments.

It was 8 o'clock when she burst into his life. Very pretty. Cold and wet. Her hotel room wasn't ready.

He was a barman at the hotel.

He wanted her to see him as a respectable citizen, somebody who was worthy of her time. She sat at the back of the bar away from the security cameras.

He wanted to be her suitcase. Something she needed and wanted.

She ordered red wine with ice which he thought was awful. She stayed at the bar for two hours.

The interrogator encourages him to stick to the story, not ramble and include every single detail about extraneous subjects.

He continues to ramble and the interrogators become irritated.

He was at the bus stop and knew he heard somebody. He turned around but nobody was there. He knew it was her, calling from the celestial. She was there, at his apartment; cheerful, happy. Not showing pity for him. They had wine.

He wanted her to be his. "Our thighs were barely touching."

He was "lost at sea and she had found me." They were under the covers - both fully clothed. We were asleep. Then she woke up and left. After that night we saw each other every night for the next six months. She stayed at the hotel the entire time.

It surprises the interrogators that in all that time he failed to ask her why she was there.

"I didn't f***ing kill her," he declared.

He said the last time he saw her was about a week ago. "We were basically the same person. We added nothing to each other's lives. She didn't add anything. She was the whole thing. She went to Greece and I stayed in London."

"So you're saying she fled," comments the interrogator.

"Yes."

So this brings us to last week, he continued. During the years she was gone I grew to despise her. Her lips on somebody else. Her making somebody else feel the way she made me feel. I hated her. I hated myself for hating her. I hated myself for being such a fool. I hated her but I couldn't stop thinking about her.

In the background you can hear her talking and screaming.

He asserts that last week he was heading home and there she was, standing there. She was just there. She had no suitcase. Nothing. All of the shame, love and torment came out. I was so f***ing resentful. I didn't want her to have that satisfaction that she had won. I wanted her to be miserable as I had been for so long. I let her in. She told me about Greece. She had gotten married. She showed me the bruises on her arms.

I said such horrible things to her. Why? I treated her like a romantic inconvenience. I was spiteful. I was f***ing cruel. She was the only person who made me feel real. She was the only person who made me happy. Why did I do that?

The last time I heard her voice was two days ago when I heard her voice on the voice-mail asking me why I had said those things to her. Then the next day you and your friends are knocking down my door and asking me all these questions.

The interrogator interrupts explaining that nothing he says can be verified or makes sense. When they found her she had been dead for at least four years. Blunt force trauma to her head. Bruises all over her body. Her jaw broken. "All we know is that she left your bar at 10 o'clock that night and hasn't been seen alive since."

An exasperated: "shall we go over this one more time."

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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

TATE BRITAIN TO UNVEIL COMPLETE REHANG of its free collection displays. This will be the first time in ten years that the national collection of British art is presented anew. Visitors will discover over 800 works by over 350 artists, featuring much-loved favorites and recent discoveries, alongside brand new commissions.

Alex Farquharson, Director of Tate Britain, said: "When our new displays open on May 23, visitors to Tate Britain will be able to explore 500 years of revolutionary changes in art, culture and society, culminating in new work by some of Britain’s most exciting contemporary artists. We will celebrate the very best of British art and show how it speaks to us, challenges us, and inspires us."

The most iconic works from the world’s greatest collection of British art will be free for all to see, from John Everett Millais’ Ophelia and William Hogarth’s The Painter and his Pug to David Hockney’s A Bigger Splash, Barbara Hepworth’s Pelagos and Chris Ofili’s No Woman, No Cry.

There will be a career-spanning display of over 100 works by JMW Turner, as well as rooms devoted to key figures in art history like William Blake, John Constable, the Pre-Raphaelites and Henry Moore, and a series of regularly changing solo displays exploring other ground-breaking artists, including Annie Swynnerton, Richard Hamilton, Aubrey Williams and Zineb Sedira.

The rehang will reflect the ongoing transformation of Tate’s collection by putting on display over 200 works which were acquired after the millennium. These include 70 works which entered the collection in the past 5 years alone, from grand Tudor portraits and Georgian battle scenes, to modern paintings and sculptures by Derek Jarman, Gluck, Takis, Kim Lim and Donald Locke. Visitors will also find works by a new generation of young artists who are joining the national collection for the first time, such as a kaleidoscopic canvas by Rachel Jones (b.1991) and a series of photographs capturing 21st century British life by Rene Matic (b.1997).

Women artists will be better represented than ever before. Half the contemporary artists on display will be women, from Bridget Riley and Tracy Emin to Kudzanai-Violet Hwami and Lydia Ourahmane.

Tate’s longstanding commitment to diversifying its collection means the gallery can also showcase great women artists from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, including many who have never been shown at Tate before. These include a full-length portrait from 1650-5 by Joan Carlile, thought to be the first woman in Britain to work as a professional oil painter (acquired in 2016), a selection of watercolors by Emily Sargent made on her travels in North Africa (acquired in 2021), and the atmospheric painting A Fisher Girl’s Light 1899 by Marianne Stokes (acquired in 2022).

Polly Staple, Tate’s Director of Collection, British Art, said: “Tate Britain’s new displays will embody our commitment to expanding the canon and diversifying British art history. In recent years we have brought so many incredible works into Tate’s collection and visitors will soon be able to see these new acquisitions hung alongside more familiar and much-loved classics.” Tate’s art installation team are currently preparing to stage a number of complex large-scale works made from unusual materials, from the eight tonnes of rice and two thousand flowers that respectively comprise Vong Phaophanit’s Neon Rice Field and Anya Gallaccio’s Preserve ‘beauty', to the glass and steel sculptures embedded with UV lights in Hamad Butt’s spectacular Transmission, which will be shown at Tate for the first time. To celebrate the opening of the new displays, contemporary artists will also be creating and installing works beyond the gallery spaces, including two climbable concrete sculptures by Sarah Lucas on the front lawn and a site-specific ceiling painting by France-Lise McGurn in the Djanogly Café.

A press preview viewing takes place on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. The event will begin with a welcome from Alex Farquharson, Director of Tate Britain.

ALEXIS ROCKMAN: OCEANUS is a major exhibition premiering at Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, CT on May 27. 2023. The show will feature ten large-scale watercolors and an 8-by-24-foot panoramic painting, all commissioned by the Museum to become part of the permanent collection. The project represents a shift in perspective at the Museum to raise awareness and inspire conversations around the critical global issues that face our oceans due to the impacts of maritime activities as part of our collective cultural, social, and economic heritage.

The central work, Oceanus, takes the viewer on a journey of global discovery beneath the world’s changing seas, deftly weaving natural history, archeology, adventure, political analysis, and science into a story about the human condition.

Oceanus features twenty-two vessels, sixteen of which were inspired by models of watercraft in the Museum collections.

The boats and ships presented help to show the history of human activity in relation to the ocean, including their direct ties to the exploitation of resources in the world’s waters. The ten watercolors, with their large swaths of intense fluid colors, explore some of the most pressing issues of our time, from the biodiversity crisis, pollution, and marine invasive species to extinction and climate change.

ART + SOUL INTERNATIONAL ART & SCULPTURE FAIR at Castlemartyr Resort in Cork, Ireland May 28 - June 18, 2023.

Art + Soul, Ireland's largest and most prestigious Art and Sculpture event is presented by Gormleys.

Held over 3 weeks, there will be over 250 artworks on display including works by Andy Warhol, Salvatore Dali, Damien Hirst, Francis Bacon and Sean Scully.

Over 80 outdoor sculptures will also be set throughout the magnificent grounds of the 17th-century manor estate, by leading Irish sculptors Patrick O'Reilly, Ian Pollock, Orla De Bri, Bob Quinn, Eamonn Ceannt, Paddy Campbell, Sandra Bell and John Fitzgerald, among many more.

The press event will be opened by Suzanne Macdougald. Wine and canapes will be served with live music by the Celtic Tenors.

The exhibition then continues to the 18th June and is open daily from 11am - 7pm.

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SWEET CHARITY

A SPARKLING EVENING TO CELEBRATE ARENA STAGE'S ARTISTIC DIRECTOR MOLLY SMITH and her 25 years of leadership at Arena Stage in New York City. The evening will feature a once-in-a-lifetime performance on the Fichandler Stage saluting productions and artists from Molly's tenure. Billed as "an event not to be missed!"

The performance will star a "who's who" of favorite Arena alum! — and afterwards the after-party to with drinks, desserts, and dancing with other theater lovers and acclaimed artists. Full Gala tickets include access to a wonderful assortment of food, drink, and activities throughout the Mead Center starting at 6pm, followed by premium seating at the 8pm performance.

Tuesday, May 23, 2023 at the Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater in New York City.

MY LOVELY POSTCARDS PROJECT an exhibition and auction to raise funds for Beth's Bursary Fund, which supports nurses to receive further training and education in palliative care, has a raft of famous faces who have lent their support.

Designing postcards are Dame Judi Dench, BAFTA winner Siobhán McSweeney, Mel Giedroyc, Suzie Fletcher, Paul Chahidi, Annie Sloan, and Mark Gatiss, are available for fans to bid on, alongside 400 other submissions.

The fund has been set up by Sobell House Hospice in Oxford in conjunction with the family of Beth Foreman, who died of bowel cancer in 2016, aged 32.

Beth spent time at Sopwell House prior to her death and her family set up the fund after discovering how many nurses working in end-of-life care and hospices were paying for their own training.

The auction ends May 28, 2023.

SPREADING THE WORD

THEATER COMPANY A NOISE WITHIN is offering complimentary tickets for its current production, The Book of Will by Lauren Gunderson, to striking writers as well as to members of the entertainment industry adversely affected by the strike.

Gunderson’s play is about the 400-year old quest to preserve the oeuvre and protect the intellectual property of one of the greatest writers of all time — William Shakespeare.

A smart and funny historical comedy-drama, The Book of Will is set three years after the Bard’s death as former friends and fellow actors John Heminges and Henry Condell contend with egotistical actors, bootleg knockoffs and a ticking clock to get the First Folio published, thereby ensuring that Shakespeare’s plays are not lost for all time.

Free tickets are subject to availability, with a limit of one pair for anyone who is out of work or had their hours cut due to the strike. Requests must be made via phone or in-person at the box office.

Performances of The Book of Will continue through June 4. A Noise Within is located in Pasadena, CA.

ARMED FORCES ENTERTAINMENT (AFE) as part of their annual Heat Wave campaign have announced their touring performers.

A live, interactive dueling piano show, Battle of the Keys, is touring with Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE) this May. As a recurring tour, Battle of the Keys features a rotating cast of talented musicians who play versions of popular songs from all genres and decades. This tour features Stephen Dakin, Christopher Hatfield, and Tyson Leslie.

Also on board are NBA Legends, a tour featuring four retired National Basketball Association (NBA) players, This tour will cover 7 shows, running from June 2 to June 14, and features Muggsy Bogues, Michael Cooper, Jerome Williams, and Mario Chalmers.

Rock band Autumn Kings will be touring with Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE) as part of this year’s Heat Wave campaign. They will be performing in nine shows, from Saturday, June 24 to Saturday, July 8, 2023. Originally formed in LaSalle, Ontario, Canada, the group got their start in the live music scene in Detroit, and now tours throughout North America.

Grunge tribute band Superunknown will be performing five shows as part of AFE’s annual Heat Wave campaign, which features musicians, athletes, and other talented performers. Their shows run from June 29 to July 4 of this year. Starting in 2018 as a solo act with vocalist/guitarist Jason Reed, Superunknown now consists of a full band featuring Louis Graff on guitar, Tom Laskas on bass, Ron DiSilvestro on drums, and Pete Hefley on guitar. Superunknown covers a variety of bands from the 90’s and 00’s era of grunge music, including Soundgarden, Foo Fighters, Rage Against the Machine and Alice in Chains, among others.

From Monday, July 3 to Friday, July 14, 2023, the tour will feature The Pamela Hopkins Band, a dueling piano and interactive live show group from Little Rock, AR, scheduled to perform seven shows throughout the Pacific region and is comprised of lead singer Pamela Hopkins, along with Denny Hechevarria and Lonnie Abbott.

Country music group Zac Brown Tribute Band will be performing from June 29 to July 8. Zac Brown Tribute Band performs high-quality covers of Zac Brown Band songs to audiences across the United States, and have previous experience playing overseas for military audiences.

While the group mainly performs Zac Brown Band songs, their repertoire also includes covers of other artists and genres, with a focus on country and rock and roll music. In addition to their regularly scheduled tours in the United States, Zac Brown Tribute Band regularly performs for military audiences.

Heat Wave is a summer music festival featuring artists across wide variety of genres. As one of AFE’s largest annual campaigns, Heat Wave reaches service members and their families in locations across the globe.

The tour is presented by Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE). Since 1951, AFE has been providing the best performances for U.S. troops and their families stationed overseas, and they are committed to boosting the morale and well-being of service members through world-class live events and performances.

QUEEN CAMILLA

Pupils and teachers at Shirehampton Primary School in Bristol welcomed Her Majesty Queen Camilla on Thursday, May 18, to officially open their new school library, and the first in a series of 50 special primary school libraries to mark the 2023 Coronation. Photo: National Literacy Trust.

conducted her first solo engagement since being crowned Queen by opening the first Coronation library at Shirehampton Primary School in Bristol - quite appropriate since she is patron of the National Literary Trust.

50 Coronation libraries will be created for children in communities with low levels of literacy in the UK.

They celebrate the Queen's advocacy for reading, literacy and primary school libraries, a spokesman told the press.

1 in 7 state primary schools does not have a library.

The Coronation libraries and reading spaces will be created across the UK in 2023 and 2024 in collaboration with Primary School Library Alliance partners, including Bloomberg. The reading spaces will be established in communities with low levels of literacy, where the cost-of-living crisis is biting hardest and children in the Coronation year are least likely to have books at home. Many of these communities live in areas Her Majesty has visited as The Duchess of Cornwall and Patron of the National Literacy Trust. Each library or reading space will be refurbished, restocked and two members of staff will be trained to manage it and deliver a range of reading activities for the whole school. In addition, a commemorative Coronation plaque will be placed in each library.

Shirehampton Primary School’s new Coronation library is also the 500th library to be transformed as part of the Primary School Library Alliance campaign. After being welcomed by Shirehampton’s headteacher Louisa Munton, The Queen joined the school’s pupils, as well as pupil librarians and school librarians from 10 other schools involved in the PSLA library transformation programs, for a "draw your dream library" workshop led by National Literacy Trust’s Lucy Starbuck Braidley and alongside How to Train Your Dragon author and illustrator and former Children’s Laureate, Cressida Cowell and the Noughts & Crosses series author, screen writer and former Children’s Laureate, Malorie Blackman.

Horrid Henry series author, Francesca Simon and a small group of Shirehampton Primary School children also took part in an interactive reading session.

In the library, which has been enriched by 400 new diverse and age-appropriate titles donated by Primary School Library Alliance publishing partners, Her Majesty was presented with the Coronation Collection – a selection of 23 books voted for by over 12,000 children across the UK in celebration of the Coronation before unveiling a plaque to officially open the space.

Pupils from Year 4 met author Jasbinder Bilan and author and Primary School Library ambassador Chris Smith, before joining The Queen for a Coronation Draw-Along with author and illustrator Rob Biddulph. Camilla also participated in a Coronation tea party and a farewell song, chosen and sung by the pupils at Shirehampton Primary.

Representatives from publishers Oxford University Press, BookTrust and Arts Council England were also present.

THIS YEAR MARKS THE CENTENARY of the first performance of The Shadow of a Gunman, and Seán O'Casey is being remembered. The Little Museum of Dublin, Ireland will mark this important anniversary with an event on May 23rd.

This public conversation will feature Seán’s daughter, Shivaun O’Casey, actress, director and film-maker; Garry Hynes, director of the forthcoming Druid O’Casey productions of the three great plays; and Christopher Murray, author of the biography Seán O’Casey: Writer at Work.

Catriona Crowe, board member of the Little Museum and curator of First Thought Talks at the Galway International Arts Festival, will moderate the discussion.

KING CHARLES III AND QUEEN CAMILLA will be joined by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent on Monday, May 22, 2023 for a preview of the Chelsea Flower Show. On arrival at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the royal group are set to greet Keith Weed, the President of the Royal Horticultural Society. Following this, they will tour the gardens on display, and attend a private reception later in the day.

One of the gardens on display this year holds particular relevance to the new King and Queen. Titled ‘The Royal Tribute Garden’, it is set to commemorate the life of the late Queen Elizabeth II, and mark King Charles’s Coronation. The garden is enclosed on three sides to allow for ‘contemplation within the show ground’, and is intended to ‘instill a sense of calm and reflection about the monarchy’, according to the RHS website. It will feature the Windsor family’s favorite plants, with different flower tributes to reflect the individual tastes of both the late Queen and the new King. Light pink and white planting reflects the colors of Her late Majesty, while purple and blue planting reflects the preferences of the King.

The Chelsea Flower Show runs from Tuesday May 23 to Saturday May 27, and will showcase over 500 exhibitors in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London. Established in 1913, today, the show attracts around 168,000 visitors to its gardens, nurseries, floristry, educational displays and trade stands. It is organized by the Royal Horticultural society, of which the late Queen Elizabeth II was the royal patron from 1952 until her death in September 2022.

IT TAKES 3,000 COWS TO SUPPLE THE NFL WITH ENOUGH LEATHER FOR A YEAR'S SUPPLY OF FOOTBALLS Wilson Sporting Goods is the official supplier to the NFL and they manufacture around 700,000 regulation footballs each year. Wilson needs about 35,000 cow hides to manufacture all of those footballs. That means a single cow hide can make about 20 footballs. Now the NFL needs about 11,520 footballs for all of its games every season and that doesn't even include practice. Just for regular season games, the NFL needs 576 cow hides. That's an extra 48,420 footballs for practices and other uses for the year by all of the teams, according to Need To Know Facts.

KINKY COPENHAGEN is a unique city tour taking place through August 3, 2023, where you can take a loved one on a walk to discover both romantic and kinky history. The exhibition will take you through alleys and streets where you can hear about secret love stories and hidden affairs among Copenhageners. For instance, you will hear about royal love affairs, old love letters, sumptuous weddings, and high-end prostitutes. It’s a chance to look behind the curtains and find out the city’s dirty secrets.

OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY

THE MICHAEL JACKSON BIO MUSICAL: MJ THE MUSICAL a $22.5 million production which began previews at the Neil Simon Theatre in December 2021 and opened February 1, 2022, has recouped its entire initial investment.

To date, the Tony-winning musical has played to more than 750,000 patrons and has broken the box office record at the Simon 10 times, according to producers.

In addition to the Broadway production, MJ will launch a national tour this August in Chicago, and the West End premiere is set for March 2024 at London’s Prince Edward Theatre. Tickets for the Broadway show are currently on sale through January 7, 2024.

THE LATINO MEDIA NETWORK has paid $60 million for 18 Spanish-language radio stations from TelevisaUnivision. Jess Morales Rocketto and Stephanie Valencia, who founded LMN, commented that the buy creates the opportunity to highlight and inform Latino communities.

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DRESSED FOR SUCCESS KING CHARLES

King Charles presented Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design to Foday Dumbuya. Photo: PA/ British Fashion Council

attended a special industry showcase staged by the British Fashion Council to present the 6th edition of the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design.

The Monarch, 74, was dressed in a smart pin-striped blue suit, paired with a crisp white shirt, a grey and pink tie and a pink and blue pocket square. He greeted actor Woody Harrelson and his wife Laura Louie and footballer David Beckham at the fashion industry event in London.

Beckham, 48, the former England football captain, wore a sophisticated black suit with a white shirt and dotted black tie. He is the Council's Ambassadorial President, a role he has held since 2018.

As the BFC's ambassadorial president, he showed the King items from the organization's New Gen initiative, which supports emerging talent.

Beckham has become an avid bee keeper and presented King Charles a jar of his home grown honey, Golden Bees. The King, who has kept beehives at his royal estates, thanked him and joked: "We shall have to do a swap."

Beckham is reported to have become enamored with beekeeping during the Covid lockdown and built a £500 hive in the garden of his Cotswolds home.

Woody Harrelson, 61, and his wife Laura Louie, attended the annual event after flying from Los Angeles and thanked the King for 'everything you do - I really appreciate it'. Harrelson wore a pale yellow bomber jacket and a smart black shirt. His wife looked lovely in a white sweater and patterned slacks.

Harrelson's 2020 documentary Kiss The Ground explored solutions to the climate crisis, while the King helped establish the SMI Sustainable Fashion Taskforce as Prince of Wales, which pioneers a sustainable future for the fashion industry.

Also in attendance was Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council, British Vogue's Editor-in-Chief Edward Enninful and Saul Nash, who won last year's award.

The design award recognizes the role played by British design and fashion in the country's culture and trade.

The Sovereign award this year's prize to Sierra Leon native Foday Dumbuya, founder and creative director of fashion label Labrum London.

Dumbuya holds a menswear design certificate from the London College of Fashion, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Information System & Design: African Caribbean Society from Nottingham Trent University. Between 2013 and 2016, he worked as a bespoke design specialist at Nike.

He was a stand out in a lime green suit.

King Charles addressed the crowds during the showcase, before handing this year's award to Dumbuya.

The showcase highlighted the different initiatives the BFC is undertaking to nurture talent around the UK.

The BFC also announced the recipients of the 2023 Fashion Trust grant, which aims to accelerate business growth by supporting young designers with cash and mentoring. This year’s winners include Chopova Lowena, Fruity Booty, Molly Goddard, Neous, Piferi and Richard Malone.

The newly minted King also enjoyed a performance curated by Dumbuya, featuring two drummers, a guitarist, a kora player, and a musician who impressed the crowd with their powerful vocals.

The designer dedicated his win to the Sierra Leonean community in the UK.

Dumbuya's label, Labrum London, means 'having an edge' in Latin, was founded in 2014, with the aim to make stylish and practical clothes with a mix of West African and British influences.

The King also spoke to several young designers who received scholarships and support programs from the BFC. He was also shown handbags, clothing and shoes made from sustainable material.

Pausing to look at a tight crop top, he joked: "Does that stretch? I do hope so."

Stopping to talk to a young designer whose high heels were made of plastic salvaged from the sea, the King said: "I have always said one man's waste is another man's property."

The King was also showed the inflated pair of trousers Sam Smith wore to the Brit Awards earlier this year.

King Charles, who is always a smart dresser, admired Dumbuya's creations in his design workshop, where he high-fived his two-year-old son, Idris, joking: "You did very well to recognize me."

The Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design was created in 2018 and reward one designer selection by the BFC, in collaboration with the Royal Family each year. The Trophy is inspired by the Queen Elizabeth rose, and hand-made by Lucy Price at Bauhinia Studios and in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter.



CLYDE’S written by Lynn Nottage.

Directed by Josiah Davis.

Phyllis Yvonne Stickney in the title role of Clyde.

Featuring: Alfredo Antillon as Rafael, Alinca Hamilton as Letitica, Brendan D. Hikey as Jason and Michael A. Shepperd as Montrellous.

"So often, people only see formerly incarcerated people as the things that they've done," said Davis, "but there's so much more to them than that."

Creating the perfect sandwich is the shared quest of the formerly incarcerated kitchen staff of Clyde’s, a truck stop cafe. Even as the shop’s mischievous owner tries to keep them under her thumb, the staffers are given purpose and permission to dream — finding that “sometimes a hero is more than a sandwich.” From two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, this Tony-nominated hit from Broadway is full of laughs and insights into what it means to find your purpose. Clyde’s is produced in partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative and Arkansas Repertory Theatre.

The creatives are: Scenic designer Jean Kim, costume designer Haydee Zelideth, sound designer Michael Costagliola, lighting designer Christina Watanabe, stage manager Ana Muñoz, and production assistant Cassandra Whitt.

Performances through May 28, 2023 on the Octagon Stage of the Alabama Theatre Festival in Montgomery, Alabama.

TROUBLE IN MIND by Alice Childress.

Directed by Joyce C. Willis Directing Fellow, Christopher D. Betts.

Billed as "a play that is buoyant in its portrayal of real people making sense of their lives. The story centers on a group of actors putting on a 'progressive' play about racism in the 1950s. What begins as a witty backstage comedy, filled with tidbits of actors’ lives and theater dreams in mid-century New York, becomes an exploration of truth-telling and the price of speaking against those in power. All the more relevant is that the most powerful voice at the center of this amazing work is the fictional character Wiletta Mayer, a veteran Black actress. You’ll be transfixed by this cast and their power, the truth in their voices, and the emotional range of this work."

The cast is led by Heather Alicia Simms as Wiletta Mayer.

Others in the cast include: Al Manners, John Bambery, Sideeq Heard, Richmond Hoxie, Adam Langdon, Sarah Lyddan, James Joseph O’Neil, Michael Rogers, Millie Davis, and Chelsea Lee Williams.

The creatives are: Scenic Designer Baron E. Pugh. Costume Designer Jahise LeBouef. Lighting Designer Emma Deane. Sound Designer Kathy Ruvuna. Wig Designer Carisssa Thorlakson. Dramaturg Arminda Thomas. Casting Alaine Alldaffer. Production Stage Manager. Avery James Evans. Assistant Stage Manager Anaïs Bustos.

May 25 – June 18, 2023 at Hartford Stage in Hartford, CT.

A SIMULACRUM a World Premiere play by Lucas Hnath with Steve Cuiffo commissioned by Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles, CA.

Directed by Tony Award nominee Lucas Hnath.

Lucas is a playwright.
Steve is a magician.

Lucas asked Steve to show him some magic tricks. Steve did. And this is what happened.

A unique collaboration starring sleight of hand artist and illusion designer Steve Cuiffo.

The creatives are Louisa Thompson Set Design - Qween Jean Costume Design - Tyler Micoleau Lighting Design - Mikhail Fiksel Sound Design - Vanessa Coakley Production Stage Manager.

May 25 - July 2, 2023 at Atlantic Theater Company in New York City.

THE DISAPPEARED by Jeremy M. Thomas.

Directed by Jeremy M. Thomas.

Starring Nova Duh and Josh Herring.

Buckle down for a fun, wild and rousing cabaret. The Disappeared tells the story of a queer voice who is the victim of rigid politics and forced to exile during a government coup in South America. Come along to a wild, fun, sexy and queer cabaret and experience what happens on the night, when a regime change takes place and the world is turned upside down.

Based on a true story, The Disappeared narrates the account of a Chilean burlesque performer forced to leave his homeland during a coup who then journeys to Denmark via Mexico. Join Nova Duh on a rollercoaster of joy and artistic expression. According to the creators, the act is suitable for adults only.

Produced by Down the Rabbit Hole, the May 18 performance was a world premiere with performances through June 24, 2023 at the LiteraturHaus, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

E-Book

Soft back Book

This is not your typical, totally boring textbook.

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

FINAL OVATION

JOAN MCCALL Broadway star and Hollywood writer has died in Los Angeles.

She was trained as an actress in New York, by acting as an apprentice in summer stock at Gateway Playhouse in Bellport, Long Island where she met her future husband David Sheldon who was the producer-director. She was trained further by Lee Strasberg in New York, and in Los Angeles by Charles Conrad. She made her Broadway debut in A Race of Hairy Men written by Evan Hunter, followed by Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park directed by Mike Nichols, and Star-Spangled Girl also written by Neil Simon. She starred in the national tours of both productions as well as in Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water.

Moving to Hollywood, she starred in the blockbuster Grizzly. She co-authored with David Sheldon the sequel to Grizzly with George Clooney, Laura Dern, Deborah Raffin, Louise Fletcher, John Rhys Davies, Steve Inwood, Deborah Foreman, and Charlie Sheen. Switching to writing, she wrote a screenplay about race car driver Shirley Muldowney called Shirley produced as Heart Like a Wheel and wrote over 250 scripts for film and television under the name Joan Pommer as well as Joan McCall including ,Days of Our Lives; Santa Barbara; Capitol; Search for Tomorrow; Another World; and Divorce Court." On radio, she performed as a regular on Sears Radio Theater for CBS along with many guest stars. She co-authored with Sheldon the bestseller When I Knew Al: The Untold Story of Al Pacino and Ed DeLeo.

She is survived by her sisters Jewel Flaugher and Clara Lee Beltzner, and surviving husband's next of kin Holly Harris, Paul Allan, and Laurel Durenberger.

JOAQUIN FIDEL ROMAGUERA JR. who made his Broadway debut as the secondary antagonist Adolfo Pirelli in Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, died May, 9, 2023 in Florida. He was 90 years old.

In 1979, Joaquin made his Broadway debut in Sweeney Todd. His mighty tenor voice stopped the show

Joaquin began his career with the Miami Opera Company at 18 before a two year run at Radio City Music Hall. A seminal character actor, Joaquin appeared in over 70 operatic roles and 30 musicals notably Rutledge in 1776, the Caliph in Kismet and Benny in The Desert Song. He was a member of the New York City Opera company throughout the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, where he created roles in several NYCO world premieres, including The Dead Man in Hugo Weisgall's Nine Rivers from Jordan, and Professor Risselberg in Gian Carlo Menotti's The Most Important Man.

Outside of his multi-decade association with the NYCO, Joaquin performed with the Opera Society of Washington, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the San Diego Opera, the Opera Company of Boston, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Baltimore Opera Company.

Off-Broadway in 1987, his performance in Cole Porter's Gay Divorce earned a nomination for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. Later that same year, he played Robinet in the musical Mademoiselle Colombe, before again returning to the opera stage. In 1994 he portrayed Mr. Lopez in Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's Fiorello! for the first season of Encores! at the New York City Center. His final musical theatre performance came in 2000, when he portrayed Magaldi in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita at Broadway Sacramento.

His life partner, Robert W. Cybula, was a Broadway hair and wig designer; the pair collaborated on designs for the 1998 Broadway revival of Peter Pan. Cybula passed away in 2000. Joaquin spent the last two decades of his life in his native Florida, directing local productions. He is survived by his children, Racine, Pallas, and Kiko, as well as his extended family.

GARY L. BOWENstage and television director and longtime member of the DGS died Wednesday, May 10th, 2023, in Malibu, California. He was 83.

He earned an MFA from UCLA, where he won the William Morris Award for excellence in theater directing. He studied for a doctorate in theater, history, and criticism at NYU while also working on iconic children’s television shows including Captain Kangaroo, The Electric Company, and Sesame Street.

Gary broke into soap opera directing at CBS, where he worked as a staff associate director for Secret Storm and The Guiding Light. This led to directing contracts throughout the 1980’s and 90’s with various network serials, including The Doctors, Loving, As The World Turns, The Best of Families, One Life To Live, and Santa Barbara. When his wife Ruth Preven began producing off Broadway Theater, Gary directed a pair of Eliot Caplin plays at the Quaigh Theater and Playwright’s Horizons: A Nickel for Picasso and Meegan’s Game.

Also in the 90’s, Gary led a team to Milan, Italy, where he directed a 65-episode international telenovela based on the Judith Krantz novel, Secrets. Later, he traveled to Moscow, Russia, where, for SONY International TV, he trained the directing team that produced Poor Anastasia, a widely hailed first-ever Russian language telenovela.

He is survived by his wife Ruth Preven, their dog Kimba, his daughter, Lara Sabina Bowen, of Albany, New York, and his three step children, Eric, Anne, and Joshua Preven, of California.

Next Column: May 28, 2023
Copyright: May 21, 2023 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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