Broadway To Vegas

Copyright: September 26, 2021
By: Laura Deni
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TONY AWARDS HONOR BROADWAY

Audra McDonald and Leslie Odom Jr. Will Host the 74th Annual Tony Awards which will be held at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre. The event takes placeSunday, September 26, 2021. No in-person attendance.

This year's awards will recognize the work in productions from the 2019-20 Broadway season.

Broadway To Vegas will post the winners after the show.

2020-21 TONY AWARD NOMINATIONS AND WINNERS

BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL
Diablo Cody – Jagged Little Pil WINNER
John Logan – Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar, and Kees Prins – Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (MUSIC AND/OR LYRICS) WRITTEN FOR THE THEATRE
Christopher Nightingale (music) – A Christmas Carol WINNER
Paul Englishby (music) – The Inheritance
Fitz Patton and Jason Michael Webb (music) – The Rose Tattoo
Lindsay Jones (music) – Slave Play
Daniel Kluger (music) – The Sound Inside

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY
Ian Barford – Linda Vista as Wheeler
Andrew Burnap – The Inheritance as Toby Darling WINNER
Jake Gyllenhaal – Sea Wall/A Life as Abe
Tom Hiddleston – Betrayal as Robert
Tom Sturridge – Sea Wall/A Life as Alex
Blair Underwood – A Soldier's Play as Captain Richard Davenport

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY
Joaquina Kalukango – Slave Play as Kaneisha
Laura Linney – My Name Is Lucy Barton as Lucy Barton
Audra McDonald – Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune as Frankie
Mary-Louise Parker – The Sound Inside as Bella WINNER

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Aaron Tveit – Moulin Rouge! The Musical as Christian WINNER

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Karen Olivo – Moulin Rouge! The Musical as Satine
Elizabeth Stanley – Jagged Little Pill as Mary Jane "M.J." Healy
Adrienne Warren – Tina: The Tina Turner Musical as Tina Turner WINNER

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
Ato Blankson-Wood – Slave Play as Gary
James Cusati-Moyer – Slave Play as Dustin
David Alan Grier – A Soldier's Play as Sergeant Vernon C. Waters WINNER
John Benjamin Hickey – The Inheritance as Henry Wilcox
Paul Hilton – The Inheritance as Morgan/Walter Poole

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
Jane Alexander – Grand Horizons as Nancy
Chalia La Tour – Slave Play as Teá
Annie McNamara – Slave Play as Alana
Lois Smith – The Inheritance as Margaret WINNER
Cora Vander Broek – Linda Vista as Jules

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Danny Burstein – Moulin Rouge! The Musical as Harold Zidler WINNER
Derek Klena – Jagged Little Pill as Nicholas "Nick" Healy
Sean Allan Krill – Jagged Little Pill as Steve Healy
Sahr Ngaujah – Moulin Rouge! The Musical as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Daniel J. Watts – Tina: The Tina Turner Musical as Ike Turner

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Kathryn Gallagher – Jagged Little Pill as Bella Fox
Celia Rose Gooding – Jagged Little Pill as Mary Frances "Frankie" Healy
Robyn Hurder – Moulin Rouge! The Musical as Nini
Lauren Patten – Jagged Little Pill as Joanne "Jo" Taylor WINNER
Myra Lucretia Taylor – Tina: The Tina Turner Musical as Gran Georgeanna

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAY
Bob Crowley – The Inheritance
Soutra Gilmour – Betrayal
Rob Howell –A Christmas Carol WINNER
Derek McLane – A Soldier's Play
Clint Ramos – Slave Play

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Riccardo Hernández and Lucy MacKinnon – Jagged Little Pill
Derek McLane - Moulin Rouge! The Musical WINNER
Mark Thompson and Jeff Sugg - Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY
Dede Ayite - Slave Play
Dede Ayite - A Soldier's Play
Bob Crowley - The Inheritance
Rob Howell - A Christmas Carol WINNER
Clint Ramos - The Rose Tattoo

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Emily Rebholz - Jagged Little Pill
Mark Thompson - Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Catherine Zuber - Moulin Rouge! The Musical WINNER

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A PLAY
Jiyoun Chang - Slave Play
Jon Clark - The Inheritance
Heather Gilbert - The Sound Inside
Allen Lee Hughes - A Soldier's Play
Hugh Vanstone - A Christmas Carol WINNER

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Bruno Poet - Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Justin Townsend - Jagged Little Pill
Justin Townsend - Moulin Rouge! The Musical WINNER

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAY
Paul Arditti and Christopher Reid – The Inheritance
Simon Baker – A Christmas Carol WINNER
Lindsay Jones – Slave Play
Daniel Kluger – Sea Wall/A Life
Daniel Kluger – The Sound Inside

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Jonathan Deans – Jagged Little Pill
Peter Hylenski – Moulin Rouge! The Musical WINNER
Nevin Steinberg – Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
David Cromer – The Sound Inside
Stephen Daldry – The Inheritance WINNER
Kenny Leon – A Soldier's Play
Jamie Lloyd – Betrayal
Robert O'Hara – Slave Play

BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Phyllida Lloyd – Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Diane Paulus – Jagged Little Pill
Alex Timbers – Moulin Rouge! The Musical WINNER

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui – Jagged Little Pill
Sonya Tayeh – Moulin Rouge! The Musical WINNER
Anthony Van Laast – Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

BEST ORCHESTRATIONS
Tom Kitt – Jagged Little Pill
Katie Kresek, Charlie Rosen, Matt Stine and Justin Levine – Moulin Rouge! The Musical WINNER
Ethan Popp – Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

BEST PLAY
Grand Horizons - Bess Wohl
The Inheritance - Matthew Lopez WINNER
Sea Wall/A Life - Simon Stephens and Nick Payne
Slave Play - Jeremy O. Harris
The Sound Inside - Adam Rapp

BEST MUSICAL
Jagged Little Pill
Moulin Rouge! The Musical WINNER
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY
Betrayal
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
A Soldier's Play WINNER

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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

IN AMERICA: A LEXICON OF FASHION The Costume Institute's In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, launches a two-part exploration of fashion in the United States in the Anna Wintour Costume Center. It establishes a modern vocabulary of American fashion based on its expressive qualities. A signature quilt begun in 1856 from The Met's American Wing collection opens the show, and serves as a metaphor for the United States and its varied cultural identities.

Approximately 100 men's and women's ensembles by a diverse range of designers from the 1940s to the present are featured. Enclosed in scrimmed cases that represent three-dimensional "patches" of a quilt, they are organized into 12 sections that explore defining emotional qualities: Nostalgia, Belonging, Delight, Joy, Wonder, Affinity, Confidence, Strength, Desire, Assurance, Comfort, and Consciousness.

Just opened at The Metropolitan of Art in New York City and on display through September 5, 2022.

THE DALI MUSEUM is staging an exhibition featuring the work of a groundbreaking female photographer. Lee Miller (1907-1977) who was the trusted confidante of many influential artists and an eyewitness to some of the most extraordinary moments of the 20th century. Sweeping in scope and intimate in focus, The Woman Who Broke Boundaries: Photographer Lee Miller surveys her fascinating personal life and remarkably incisive portraiture and photojournalism. The exhibition is organized by the Dalí Museum and features more than 130 images from Miller’s prolific body of work. The exhibition concentrates on Miller’s portraits of important writers and artists, the majority associated with the Surrealist movement in Paris, and with whom she had sustained personal relationships. Also featured is a small selection of striking self-portraits, images captured during the liberation of Paris and Germany at the end of the Second World War, and photos representative of technical advancements in the medium she chose to express herself and capture the times.

The Woman Who Broke Boundaries: Photographer Lee Miller is curated by William Jeffett, chief curator of exhibitions at The Dalí Museum. The photographs are on loan from the Lee Miller Archives in Sussex, England.

The Woman Who Broke Boundaries will be on view exclusively at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida through January 2, 2022.

ALSO AT THE DALI the story and legacy of renowned Martinique poet, author and politician Aimé Césaire (1913-2008) is being celebrated in a special installation. Aimé Césaire: Poetry, Surrealism and Négritude explores Césaire’s poems, political activism and strong ties to the art and literature of his time. Césaire once said about his writing: “Surrealism provided me with what I had been confusedly searching for.”

Hailing from the French Caribbean island of Martinique, Césaire, while studying in Paris, co-founded Négritude, a movement that drew on Surrealism in developing an anti-colonialist awareness of Black culture. With his wife, fellow writer Suzanne Césaire, he founded the review Tropiques, which brought together a group of Martinican intellectuals to write anti-colonial poetry and essays influenced by Surrealism. In 1941, Césaire met Surrealism founder André Breton, who became his friend and supporter. When Césaire’s book-length poem Cahier d'un retour au pays natal (Notebook of a Return to the Native Land) was published in 1947, Breton said it "is nothing less than the greatest lyrical monument of our times."

Césaire also developed a close friendship with Pablo Picasso. In 1949, Césaire published his poem collection Corps perdu (Lost Body), which featured 32 drypoints and etchings by Picasso, including his Negro, negro, negro... Portrait of Aimé Césaire, Laureate.

Aimé Césaire: Poetry, Surrealism and Négritude is organized by The Dalí Museum and co-curated by founder and artistic director of Studio@620 Bob Devin Jones and Dalí Museum curator of education Peter Tush. The free exhibit will be on view in the Raymond James Community Room on the Museum’s ground floor through December 5, 2021.

UNITY IN DIVERSITY ART EXHIBITION Art breaks barriers, uplifts the spirits, brings harmony, and celebrates the differences.

An exclusive art exhibition curated by Khawla Art and Culture gathering artists from around the world along with an exclusive collection of Her Highness Sheikha Khawla Bint Ahmed Khalifa Al Suwaidi’s art pieces.

From the September 28 until October 12 at Dubai Opera in Dubai, UAE.

DOWNTON ABBEY: THE EXHIBITION has arrived for a limited time at Perimeter Pointe in Sandy Springs, Atlanta, Georgia.

You can relive your favorite moments from the acclaimed six-season run of Downton Abbey. The experience will transport you to post-Edwardian England, where the characters and iconic house come to life. You'll be immersed in the fascinating social history, culture, and fashion of the Crawley family and their serving staff:

Wander through the full-scale set of Downton's elegant dining room
Picture yourself lounging in Lady Mary's bedroom
Immerse yourself in the grandeur of the iconic house
Imagine the gossip and chatter in Mrs. Patmore's kitchen

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SWEET CHARITY

A ROYAL PREMIERE Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall will team up with Prince Williams and wife Duchess Kate at the world premiere of the latest James Bond movie this week

The four high ranking royals are the guests of honor at the opening of the long-delayed James Bond flick No Time to Die.

The royals will attend the premiere at London Royal Albert Hall on September 28 to meet the cast and crew of the 25th James Bond film.

The glamorous evening marks a return to top-level film premieres - and the royals walking the red carpet - after the long COVID-caused pause in the opening.

Forty fortunate UK servicemen and women and their partners will be present, invited through the military charity Tickets for Troops to attend the glam event mixing it up with the royals and 007 Daniel Craig at the world premiere of No Time To Die.

Last week Craig, 53, was made an honorary commander in the Royal Navy — the same rank held by James Bond.

UK forces all had a part to play in the making of the Bond blockbuster providing use of military assets including an RAF C-17 aircraft and the Royal Navy’s destroyer HMS Dragon.

In the movie the HMS Dragon can be seen cutting through the waves with a Wildcat helicopter flying overhead on an exercise in Cyprus. RAF Brize Norton was also used as a backdrop, standing in for a NATO airbase in Norway where Bond joins MI6 allies and later can be seen boarding a C-17 Globemaster.

The Army also supplied troops from the Household Cavalry used as extras to add pageantry to the over the top Hollywood production.

The star studded event will benefit charities supporting serving and former members of the three intelligence agencies (the Secret Intelligence Service, the Security Service, and GCHQ). The evening will also assist charities supporting past and present members of the United Kingdom Special Forces.

THE NEW YORK POPS UNDERGROUND at Feinstein's / 54 Below, in New York City on Monday, October 4, 2021, stages an intimate cabaret performance featuring Max von Essen Hosted by Steven Reineke.

Tickets include a champagne reception and seated dinner in the elegant setting of a 1920s Manhattan supper club. Event proceeds support The New York Pops and our PopsEd music education programs.

During the evening Executive Director Anne Swanson's 20th anniversary with The New York Pops will also be celebrated.

Anne began her tenure with The New York Pops on September 4, 2001, just one week prior to the tragic events of September 11th. As a new transplant to New York City, she became a Development Assistant under our founders Ruth and Skitch Henderson, and later worked as Skitch's personal assistant. This period of time foretold a future of determination, tenacity, and courage, and in November 2011 she became the Executive Director.

She has since shaped the organization in many ways, overcoming challenges created by the passing of the orchestra’s founders, the Great Recession, hurricanes and blackouts, and now the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her unwavering dedication to The New York Pops' mission has enabled us to expand our PopsEd programs, including Kids on Stage, and create new initiatives like our Forest Hills Stadium summer concert series. Among many other accomplishments, she helped to select Steven Reineke as our current Music Director and Conductor.

If you cannot make the event in-person, it will also be available to livestream. This will be their first in-person event since February 2020. They hope to see you there!

GIBSON GIVES the philanthropic arm of Gibson- the iconic American guitar brand - has donated $300,000 to benefit the students attending Metro Nashville Public Schools. The public private partnership Music Makes Us will distribute the donaton of guitars and other music equipment across metro Nashville Public Schools music education programs, as well as sistering school districts.

The donation includes Gibson guitars (electric, acoustic, and bass guitars), 36 amplifiers, 1700 pairs of guitar strings, and 116 guitar stands. Additionally, Gibson Gives has provided 1000 PPE face masks to all Nashville Metro Public Schools music students valued at $4,000.

SPREADING THE WORD

CAR AFICIONADO JAY LENO who has been inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame, will be dolling out awards at Newport's Audrain's Concourse & Motor Week which takes place September 30 - October 3, 2021 in Newport, Rhode Island.

Considered one of the top 50 greatest car events in the world it will honor America's First-Ever Car Race With a Show of 100 Vehicles. Last year's event was postponed because of COVID, making this years car show off extra special.

This year's events include a VIP reception, symposiums and seminars, "The Gathering" at Rough Point (the former home of heiress Doris Duke) for an exclusive lawn party and a look at rare collections of fine automobiles and motorcycles. Explore the sprawling historic landscape with panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean as you sip champagne, wines and Newport Craft specialty cocktails and beers. You'll be in good company with Jay Leno and other car enthusiasts alike. Then there is Wine by the Water winetasting event at Forty 1 North, "Hilltop Hangouts," the Bonhams Auction, the Audrain Auto Museum Annual Fundraising Gala and, of course—the centerpiece of the event—the Audrain Newport Concours d’Elegance. Once the sun goes down, experience exclusive cocktail hours, dinners, and various VIP parties hosted in some of Newport's most impressive venues.

THE KENNEDY CENTER'S 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION CONCERT which was taped in the Concert Hall on Tuesday, September 14, is being broadcast across the nation on Friday, October 1 at 9 p.m. ET as The Kennedy Center at 50 on PBS.

Echoing "An American Pageant for the Arts," the 1962 event conducted by Leonard Bernstein, this special celebration and re-launch of live, in-person performing arts in America is hosted by six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald with special guest Caroline Kennedy and feature the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO). The concert is directed and choreographed by Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Joshua Bergasse and features newly announced conductors JoAnn Falletta, Steven Reineke and Thomas Wilkins.

Preeminent artists throughout The Kennedy Center at 50, including Common, Renée Fleming, Ben Folds, Punch Brothers, Darren Criss, Christian McBride and Rachael Price, join the NSO to recognize the great performance traditions that have enriched our varied cultural heritage and the bright future that lies ahead.

PATTI SMITH AND HER BAND The punk poet laureate and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is known for fusing rock and poetry in her work. She also won the National Book Award for her memoir Just Kids in 2010. Catch the legendary artist performing timeless songs with her band, poetry and more for the first time at London’s Royal Albert Hall with shows on October 4-5, 2021.

BECK an icon of the alternative era, who has won eight Grammys—including one for Album of the Year, on Tuesday, September 28, he'll bring decades of hits to The Ford’s stage in Los Angeles.

MARILYN McCOO & BILLY DAVIS, JR. founding members of the 5th Dimension perform Thursday, September 30 at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, CT.

EMMA RADUCANTI played a little doubles tennis with Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge. US Open champion Emma Raducanu says she was "more nervous playing the Duchess of Cambridge" before her Homecoming Party than in the US Open final, as they took to the court in celebration of her win at Flushing Meadows. The US Open champion described the mother of three as having a forehand which was “incredible.”

The wife of Prince William is a tennis enthusiast serving as Patron of the Lawn Tennis Association.

Dressed in a navy blue tennis outfit with her hair in a ponytail, she arrived at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, south west London to chat with 18-year-old Raducanu. She also met with men’s wheelchair champions Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid as well as men’s doubles champion Joe Salisbury. They posed together for a photograph which Kensington Palace posted on twitter with the caption, “In the presence of champions...We are all so proud of you!”

Following Raducanu’s win on September 11, Queen Elizabeth sent her a message in which she described the victory as “a remarkable achievement at such a young age, and is testament to your hard work and dedication.”

The 18-year-old is the first woman British woman in 44 years to win a Grand Slam singles title.

Another perk for the teenager is being named as the newest ambassador of Tiffany & Co on September 20. The news comes after she was pictured in a number of items from the luxury jewellery brand during her US Open match.

During her hour-long visit, Kate also met teenagers from across the UK who are part of the LTA Youth program, which aims to inspire the next generation of players aged 4-18. “Her Royal Highness is passionate about supporting grassroots tennis and encouraging young people from all backgrounds to become involved in the sport,” Kensington Palace said in a statement.

It has been reported that her daughter, Princess Charlotte, takes tennis lessons.

THE ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME in celebration of what would have been Ray Charles' 91st birthday, hosted a free virtual panel discussion on the life and career of Ray Charles. Panelists discussed Tangerine Records, the label Charles founded in 1962, which recently released True Genius, the ultimate Ray Charles collection.

Event panelists includew John Burk, producer on Charles' seminal duets album Genius Loves Company and current head of Exceleration Records, and David Ritz, music historian & author of Charles' biography Brother Ray. The panel wase moderated by Jason Hanley, the Rock Hall's Vice President of Education and Visitor Engagement and Andy Leach, the Rock Hall's Senior Director of Museum & Archival Collections.

WONDER WORKS is giving people a rare chance to pick the brain of an astronaut. They are hosting an Ask An Astronaut online event, where retired NASA astronaut Dr. Don Thomas will answer questions that have been submitted by the public. Dr. Thomas will answer as many as he can in a video interview that will be shared on social media on October 2, 2021 at 10 a.m. EST.

WonderWorks, a science-focused indoor amusement park, combines education and entertainment. With over 100 hands-on exhibits, there is something unique and challenging for all ages. Feel the power of 71 mph hurricane-force winds in the Hurricane Shack. Make huge, life-sized bubbles in the Bubble Lab. Get the NASA treatment in our Astronaut Training Gyro and experience zero gravity. Nail it by lying on the death-defying Bed of Nails. Conquer your fear of heights on our indoor Glow-In-The-Dark Ropes Course.

Each of the WonderWorks locations offers over 100 hands-on exhibits covering natural disasters and space discover, an imagination lab, a physical challenge zone, a far out gallery, and a light and sound zone. There are six WonderWorks locations, including Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Pigeon Forge, Panama City Beach, Syracuse, and Branson. Most are open every day of the year.

THE SOUND OF SINATRA celebrate the extraordinary musical contribution of the legendary Frank Sinatra – One of the most influential entertainers the world has ever seen. It’s impossible to imagine popular music without Frank Sinatra—so let us step back in time and fly away with the essence of a man who continues to capture the hearts of millions. The Dubai Opera Big Band features twenty-five of the very best Jazz musicians in the UAE and GCC. The Band’s leader is the hugely talented Adam Long, who has a lasting association with Dubai Opera productions.

The show relives Sinatra’s many iconic hits like Come Fly With Me, Lady Is A Tramp, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Plus very special sequined guest artists with mesmerizing sultry voices performing sensational songs like Fever, Too Darn Hot and Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend. Be wowed by this high-impact Dubai Opera Big Band extravaganza. If you like the Rat Pack, you’ll love the Sound of Sinatra "Simply unmissable!" October 2, 2021 at Dubai Opera in Dubai, UAE.

AMERICAN LYRIC THEATER (ALT) still stage a workshop performance of The Opposable Thumb by composer Jorge Sosa and librettist Julian Crouch. The performance, part of the company’s InsightALT series, will take place on Friday, October 1, 2021 at 7pm EST at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music in Manhattan.

The Opposable Thumb was commissioned by American Lyric Theater under the auspices of the company’s nationally acclaimed Composer Librettist Development Program. Based on various true accounts of the last two hundred years, this fascinating work questions whether mankind is superior to the animals that are contained behind the bars of a zoo’s cages, or just another ape with an opposable thumb, and a trigger pulling finger. “The opera takes place in a zoo inside a city under siege,” explains composer Jorge Sosa. “It explores the relationships between a series of broken characters who are forced into a high risk, high-tension situation. Soldiers from opposite sides are trapped with innocent zoo keepers as they await the invading army’s last offensive. Food is completely gone and if war does not kill them, hunger surely will.

The concert of The Opposable Thumb is the culmination of a ten-day developmental workshop and will feature Flora Wall, Heather Johnson, John Viscardi, Christian Sanders, Zachary James, Sydney Anderson, Laura Soto-Bayomi, Heather Hill, Chantal Freeman, Kimberly Sogioka, and Kirsten Sollek. The concert will be conducted by David Neely, with pianist Jason Wirth. After the performance, there will be an open discussion exploring the creative process with the composers and librettists, moderated by ALT’s founder Lawrence Edelson.

YOU DON'T WANT THE PRESIDENT OF YOUR FAN CLUB AS YOUR LAWYER

People in the business of entertainment love to be flattered and fawned over. It's one of the reasons they seek fame. However, one person you don't want drooling over you is your lawyer. If you need to retain one and the person slobbers like a lap dog, go someone else

An excellent article entitled Lawyers of the Rich and Fantabulous by Jeff B. Cohen cofounder of the entertainment law firm Cohen Gardner LLP in Beverly Hills, but you may know him as “Chunk” in The Goonies. He is the author of The Dealmaker’s Ten Commandments: Ten Essential Tools for Business Forged in the Trenches of Hollywood, published by the American Bar Association. This article was published by the American Bar Association with an invite to share. Broadway To Vegas is doing just that.

"Respect your client’s talent, journey, and fortitude but don’t be overwhelmed by it.

"As a transactional entertainment attorney, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to represent several celebrated and influential individuals. Being a lawyer is challenging, which is why we are “practicing” law and not “perfecting” it. But, when you are representing high-profile clients, there are some additional challenges. Here are some tips in dealing with the prominent and preeminent to help you when representing the Rich and Fantabulous in your chosen area of law.

Respect Your Client’s Talent; Don’t Be in Awe of It

But enough about me, let’s talk about you . . . what do you think of me?
—CC Bloom/Beaches

"I heard this fantastic piece of advice at a speech given by late, great legendary Hollywood producer Jerry Weintraub. He discussed it in the context of working with Brad, Julia, George, and Matt (first names should suffice) while putting Ocean’s 11 together. To learn more, check out his fantastic autobiography, When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead.

"If you are in awe of your client, you can’t help them. Your client pays you to be a trusted counselor and advisor, not a fan.

Respect your client’s talent, journey, and fortitude but don’t be overwhelmed by it. An actor’s unique skill set may give them greater leverage in a negotiation as their abilities are in high demand, but otherwise, the laws of legal physics still apply. And that’s where you are the expert.

"Your Most Important Job Is to Tell the Truth

"People have a habit of telling celebrities what they want to hear. Influential figures often get their way, creating a bubble of disinformation, which is ultimately detrimental to the client’s economic, legal, and artistic well-being. If your clients don’t have accurate information, they can’t make the best decisions. A series of minor mistakes can compound into an avalanche of career-destroying calamity. Six watertight compartments had to flood to bring down the “unsinkable” Titanic.

"How many stories can you recall of prominent folks going under because they were surrounded by sycophants riding the gravy train off a cliff instead of slamming on the brakes?

"We are in a unique position to pop any potential disinformation bubble. We need to level with them so they can make the best decisions. If you cannot convey the unvarnished truth to your client, you are not their attorney. You’re something else.

"Maintain Your Identity.

"Representing famous folks can be profitable and can make you the cool kid at lawyer cocktail parties, but don’t let who you represent become synonymous with who you are. Stars in the galaxy and stars in entertainment are prominent celestial bodies that can exert tremendous gravity on all the planets circling their orbit. Like the Earth revolves around the Sun, it’s easy for your life to start revolving around a mega-client.

"In a way, this is the life we chose and part and parcel with being advocates. But, always keep something for yourself: your interests, your hobbies, your passions, your family, your sanity. It will allow you to maintain perspective and be a better counselor.

"Two fantastic books—The Man Who Seduced Hollywood (which, in part, explores Greg Bautzer’s representation of Howard Hughes) and Johnny Carson (which details Henry Bushkin’s representation of the talk-show icon)—are great examples of the challenges in representing a high-profile client.

"Fame is a powerful, insatiable, carnivorous beast. It has a funny propensity to devour everything around it. Don’t let your identity be one of the hapless consumed."

OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY

TICKET SELLERS AND THEIR UNION "object to North Bethesda music center’s plan to replace human ticket sellers with costly machines and management’s unfair treatment of staff."

Members of the Treasurers and Ticket Sellers Union, IATSE Local 868, object to the music center’s plans to replace the people who sell tickets with machines leased at a price higher than what they currently pay their very human ticket sellers.

To draw the public’s attention to the issue last Wednesday, September 22, prior to the concert by Béla Fleck, ticket sellers protesting unfair treatment greeted drivers traveling along Rockville Pike as well as concertgoers at The Music Center at Strathmore. Ticket sellers also erected a giant inflatable rat outside the concert venue.

In support of union ticket sellers, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO), a founding partner of the venue that has held concerts at the facility since 2005, canceled its September 25 and October 2 concerts at the North Bethesda venue and moved those performances to Baltimore. The Washington Post also reported last week that the BSO is refusing to sign a new contract with the facility until matters with the ticket sellers are resolved.

Throughout the summer and beginning last year, IATSE has staged protests outside the music center, most recently at an August concert by the 70’s rock group America and a September 11 performance by Johnny Mathis.

"Unlike Strathmore, other area venues are using ticket sellers to connect with patrons and promote upcoming performances, not cutting staff or replacing them with machines leased annually for more than a worker’s salary," stated a press release.

. In addition to serving as the Washington-area home for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the multi-disciplinary arts center holds scores of performances in the visual and the performing arts every year.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, or IATSE (full name: International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada), is a labor union representing over 150,000 technicians, artisans and craftspersons in the entertainment industry, including live theatre, motion picture and television production, and trade shows in the United States and Canada.

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STRONGER by Geoff Power. Directed by Paul Meade.

Inspired by true events, Stronger tells the gripping story of Jan, a teacher who is sexually assaulted by her student. As Jan journeys through the legal system, she struggles to find closure and her life is in danger of falling apart. A glimmer of hope appears but it could mean lying to the person she loves the most and confronting the person who has done her most harm.

Featuring: Scott Graham, Marcus Lamb, Fionntán Larney, Mary Murray, and Jennifer O’Dea.

The creatives are: Dramaturgy by Hannah Slattne. Produced by Gill McCaw. Production Manager Anthony Hanley. Stage Manager: Leanne Vaughey. Set and Costume Design: Maree Kearns. Lighting Design: Mark Galione. AV Design: John Galvin. Sound Design: Michael Stapleton.

“The Probation Service recognises the power of this play to create a wider community awareness of the impact of sexual violence on those harmed and to demonstrate how restorative justice can respond to needs, often unmet in traditional justice procedure. Both the Probation Service and the Department of Justice appreciate the important role of the Arts in highlighting and promoting discussion on social issues.”– The Probation Services

A special public forum accompanies this production on Thursday October 7th. Presented as a webinar, the forum will feature a discussion based on the themes of Restorative Justice raised in the play.

The webinar will feature a discussion based on the Restorative Justice themes raised in the play and will open with a panel discussion after which questions will be opened to the general public.

Panel Chair: Tim Chapman, chair of the Board of the European Forum for Restorative Justice
Panel guests will include:
Noeline Blackwell, CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre
Ian Marder, Assistant Professor in Criminology NUIM
Geoff Power, Writer and documentary maker

Presented by Gúna Nua Theatre September 30 - October 9, 2021 at the Dublin Theatre Festival, Ireland.

THE LEHMAN TRILOGY by Stefano Massini adapted by Ben Power.

Sam Mendes directs Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley and Adrian Lester who play the Lehman Brothers, their sons and grandsons.

The founders were Henry Lehman, Mayer Lehman, Emanuel Lehman.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States, with about 25,000 employees worldwide. The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008 was the climax of the subprime mortgage crisis. Their crash into bankruptcy was the biggest corporate failure in history.

The story of a family and a company that changed the world, told in three parts on a single evening.

The creatives are: Set Designer Es Devlin - Costume Designer Katrina Lindsay - Video Designer Luke Halls - Lighting Designer Jon Clark - Composer and Sound Designer Nick Powell - Co-Sound Designer Dominic Bilkey - Music Director Candida Caldicot - Movement Director Polly Bennett - Associate Director Zoé Ford Burnett.

A co-production with Neal Street Production began performances September 25 on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre.

The Lehman Trilogy will also be performing in Los Angeles and San Francisco for strictly limited seasons.

Los Angeles
Ahmanson Theatre, Center Theatre Group
March 3 – April 10, 2022

San Francisco
Geary Theater, American Conservatory Theater
April 20 – May 22, 2022

GHOST LIGHT A Haunted Night of Songs and Stories from KC’s Cultural Crossroads, conceived and directed by Stuart Carden. This hybrid concert and ghost-story event weaves together local storytellers and musicians to share frighteningly fun tales from KC’s cultural crossroads that will leave you shaking with excitement!

Under the stars on the south lawn of the Kansas City Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, patrons will be transported into the world of spirits, hauntings, and the great unknown. New this year Latinx rock’n’rollers Enrique Chi and Juan-Carlos Chaurand of Making Movies as featured performers each night. Seating for this show is general admission, outside on a grass lawn. Tickets are $30 per person. This show is BYOC - bring your own chair (or blanket). September 30, October 2-3, 6-7, 10, 13-14, 16-17.

PURPLE SNOWFLAKES AND TITTY WANKS written and performed by Sarah Hanly.

Directed by Alice Fitzgerald.

This new play follows Saoirse Murphy on her move from Dublin to London. She’s struggling to manage a big secret, and there’s only one person she can talk to about it.

On the Peacock stage at the Abbey Theatre from Sept 30 - October 16 as part of Dublin, Ireland Theatre Festival.

THE NOSEBLEED written and directed by Aya Ogawa.

"In this intimate autobiographical piece, playwright and director Aya Ogawa explores their fractured relationship with their long-deceased, enigmatic father. Through a series of turbulent, absurd and poignantly comic vignettes, Ogawa reveals the seemingly insurmountable cultural and generational gap between themself and their father, who was a typical Japanese corporate businessman, while delving into questions surrounding the playwright’s own present-day experience of parenthood. In the form of a theatrical memorial and healing ritual for the audience, this darkly humorous, tender and inventive play considers how we inherit and bequeath failure, and what it takes to forgive. "

This world premiere production features Drae Campbell, Haruna Lee, Peter Lettre, Aya Ogawa, Saori Tsukada and Kaili Turner, with Set and Costume Design by Jian Jung and Lighting Design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew. Production Stage Manager is Lenyn Hernandez Marcia. Assistant Director & Assistant Stage Manager is Julia Izumi.

Presented by Japan Society and the Chocolate Factory Theater, this world premiere will have eight performances, October 1 - 10 at Japan Society in New York City.

THE MEMORY OF WATER Shelagh Stephenson's poignant and painfully funny comedy makes a highly anticipated return to Hampstead Theatre, 25 years after its World Premiere there in 1996. Mary, Catherine and Teresa are sisters who think they share a common past. But where does reality end and family myth begin? Why has war broken out in Mother's bedroom - and why is Vi, so recently deceased, still with us?

Winner of the Olivier Award for Best Comedy, The Memory of Water is directed by Alice Hamilton and is on stage through October 16 at The Hampstead Theatre in London.

MY LORD, WHAT A NIGHT By Deborah Brevoort.

Directed by Sheldon Epps.

After performing in Princeton, New Jersey, acclaimed contralto Marian Anderson is denied lodging at the Nassau Inn because she is Black. Physicist Albert Einstein invites her to stay at his home, and the two form a profound friendship based on their love for music and their commitment to human rights. Based on true events, My Lord, What a Night takes us into Einstein’s home and imagines the conversations and circumstances that led to Anderson’s historic concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Ford’s Senior Artistic Advisor Sheldon Epps returns to direct Felicia Curry as Marian Anderson, Christopher Bloch as Albert Einstein, Michael Russotto as Abraham Flexner and Franchelle Stewart Dorn as Mary Church Terrell in this remarkable new play about courage, justice and our shared humanity.

An on-demand streaming version of the production will also be available for sale to the public during the run of the play.

October 1-24, 2021 at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC.

E-Book

Soft back Book

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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

PETER C. BUNNELL legendary photography scholar museum curator passed away September 20, 2021, following a lengthy illness. He was 84.

He served as curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art from 1966 to 1972, and then came to Princeton University as the inaugural David Hunter McAlpin Professor of the History of Photography and Modern Art. The position, established in 1971 by Princeton alumnus and photography collector David McAlpin, was the first endowed professorship in the field in the United States and celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year. In addition to his role on the Princeton faculty, from which he retired in 2002, Bunnell spent more than thirty years at the Princeton University Art Museum - as curator of photography, Museum director (1973–78), and acting director (1998–2000). His influence on the study of photography will long outlive him.

Bunnell received a Master of Fine Arts in photography from Ohio University in 1961 under the tutelage of Clarence H. White Jr., the son of noted American photographer Clarence Hudson White, as well as a master’s in art history from Yale University in 1965. While at the Museum of Modern Art, Bunnell curated several important exhibitions, including the first survey of the work of Clarence H. White and the seminal Photography into Sculpture, which offered innovative new avenues to analyze and understand photography.

Through Bunnell’s visionary leadership, the Princeton University Art Museum today holds one of North America’s most important repositories of historical photographs, including modern Japanese photography in which Bunnell was a pioneering curator and collector. Through the generosity of several former students, the Museum’s curatorship of photography was named in Bunnell’s honor in 2011.

He was a Guggenheim Foundation Fellow in 1979 and was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society.

JANE POWELL star of Hollywood's Golden Age musicals, died Thursday, September 16, 2021 at her home in Wilton, Connecticut. She was 92.

Powell began performing as a young child. After working in radio throughout her young life, Powell auditioned for MGM when she was 14 years old, and she was immediately cast in a starring role in Song of the Open Road (1944). A variety of musical roles followed, with Powell typically cast in girl-next-door roles: Holiday in Mexico (1946), Three Daring Daughters (1948), and Nancy Goes to Rio (1950).

Powell’s breakthrough film was 1951’s Royal Wedding, a Stanley Donen (1924–2019) musical in which she starred opposite Fred Astaire (1899–1987) followed by starring as Milly Pontipee in 1954’s Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

In 1964, Powell starred as Eliza Doolittle in a production of My Fair Lady at Los Angeles' Valley West Theatre, which established a record gross for West Coast-based productions of the play. She also toured in 1964 in a musical review titled Just 20 Plus Me! It was done to a recorded track and featured Powell with 20 handsome "chorus boys". Asked after the performance if the production was going to be made available on a commercial recording, she said simply "No"

She had the title role in The Unsinkable Molly Brown in 1966, as well as the female lead in an Atlanta-based production of Carousel, followed by The Boy Friend at the Carousel Theater in Los Angeles in 1967. Also in 1967, she starred in a touring production of Brigadoon. Next, she portrayed Maria von Trapp in a production of The Sound of Music in 1968. Powell also toured with Carousel.

In 1972, Powell appeared in a Cincinnati-based stage production of Meet Me In St. Louis. The following year, Powell made her Broadway debut playing the title character in Irene, following Debbie Reynolds' performance in the title role.

Howard Keel and she appeared on stage together in a revival of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; I Do! I Do! and South Pacific. In the early 1980s, Powell toured in the comedies Same Time, Next Year; The Marriage-Go-Round, and Chapter Two.

In 1996 and 1997, she appeared in the off-Broadway production After-Play. She also performed the role of the Queen in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella at New York City Opera. In 2000, Powell appeared in the Off-Broadway production Avow, in which she portrayed a devout Catholic woman whose gay son wishes to marry his partner in the church. This was followed by a stage production of 70, Girls, 70, the same year.

In 2003, she made a return to the stage as Mama Mizner in the Stephen Sondheim musical Bounce, which held performances in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

On November 5, 1949, Powell married former figure skater Gearhardt Anthony Steffen. Her first child, Gearhardt Steffen III, was born July 21, 1951. Powell's second child, Suzanne Ilene Steffen, was born on November 21, 1952. Powell began an affair with Gene Nelson, her co-star in Three Sailors and a Girl. Powell and Nelson divorced their spouses with plans to wed, but Nelson backed out after his divorce. Powell and Steffen divorced in August 1953. Powell married automobile executive Patrick W. Nerney on November 8, 1954 in Ojai, California. Their daughter, Lindsey Averill Nerney, was born on February 1, 1956. Powell and Nerney divorced In May 1963. in May 1988, Powell married her longtime companion, former child actor Dickie Moore. He died in 2015.

Next Column: October 3, 2021
Copyright: September 26, 2021 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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