All That Chat - THEATRE NEWS FOR SAN FRANCISCO BAY

HOME ALL THAT CHAT ATC WEST COAST SHOPPIN' RUSH BOARD FAQS

LOGIN REGISTER SEARCH THREADED MODE

not logged in

Threaded Order | Chronological Order

THEATRE NEWS FOR SAN FRANCISCO BAY

Posted by:	Richard Connema 06:12 pm EDT 09/07/14

MATTHEW JAMES THOMAS JOINS THE CAST OF THE TONY AWARD-WINNING HIT BROADWAY MUSICAL AT THE SHN GOLDEN GATE THEATRE SEPTEMBER 23 – OCTOBER 19 – Matthew James Thomas, who originated the role of PIPPIN in the current 2013 Tony Award winning revival, will perform the role of PIPPIN when the show arrives in San Francisco September 23 through October 19 at the SHN Golden Gate Theatre. “SHN is proud to have Matthew James Thomas reprise his Broadway role of Pippin for our San Francisco engagement,” said Greg Holland, SHN’s Chief Executive Officer. “The upcoming production, which also features Broadway’s original Pippin, John Rubinstein, and Lucie Arnaz, breathes fresh new life into Steven Schwartz’s musical theater masterpiece and we’re thrilled that we can bring this amazing collection of Broadway stars to SHN audiences.” Kyle Selig, who was originally announced to play the role of PIPPIN, will be taking a medical leave of absence for vocal rest from the tour. This all-new production of Roger O. Hirson and Stephen Schwartz’s PIPPIN is directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus, features choreography by Tony Award nominee Chet Walker in the style of Bob Fosse and circus creation by Gypsy Snider of the Montreal-based circus company Les 7 doigts de la main (also known as 7 Fingers). Matthew James Thomas created this role in the 2013 original Tony Award winning production of PIPPIN on Broadway and at American Repertory Theater. He also appeared on Broadway as Peter Parker in Spider-Man. He dedicates his performance to the late Jack Abrahams, beloved friend and vocal coach. Matthew’s debut EP of original music No Sound At All is available wherever music is sold digitally online. In addition to Matthew James Thomas as Pippin, the cast includes Lucie Arnaz as Berthe, the national tour features Sasha Allen (a finalist on the 4th season on NBC’s “The Voice”) as Leading Player, Tony Award winner John Rubinstein (created the role of “Pippin” in the 1972 original Broadway production) as Charles, Sabrina Harper (Pippin, original Broadway Revival cast) as Fastrada and Kristine Reese (Wicked on tour) as Catherine. The company also includes Skyler Adams, Sascha Bachman, Bradley Benjamin, Callan Bergman, Dmitrious Bistrevsky, Mark Burrell, Mathew deGuzman, Fernando Dudka, Mirela Golinska, Kelsey Jamieson, Preston Jamieson, Lisa Karlin, Alan Kelly, Melodie Lamoreux, Zachary Mackiewicz, Lucas Schultz, Tory Trowbridge, Mackenzie Warren and Borris York. With a book by Roger O. Hirson and music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, PIPPIN features music supervision and arrangements by Nadia DiGiallonardo, orchestrations by Tony Award winner Larry Hochman, scenic design by Tony Award winner Scott Pask, costume design by Tony Award nominee Dominique Lemieux, lighting design by Tony Award winner Kenneth Posner, sound design by Tony Award nominees Jonathan Deans and Garth Helm. ############################### BAY AREA CABARET presents TONY AND EMMY AWARD WINNER LESLIE UGGAMS in CLASSIC UGGAMS NOVEMBER 2, 2014 --- Bay Area Cabaret, devoted to presenting world-renowned artists who expand the definition of cabaret, continues its 11th season, with pioneering Tony and Emmy Award winning actress/singer Leslie Uggams in her first Bay Area appearance in more than two decades. Celebrating over 60 years in show business, Ms. Uggams has starred on television, films, and Broadway, and has recorded more than fifteen albums. Leslie Uggams will perform an evening of “Classic Uggams,” a collection of songs ranging from Lena Horne to musical theatre, from Broadway classics to jazz and blues, 5pm, Sunday, November 2 at the Venetian Room of the Fairmont San Francisco, 950 Mason Street atop Nob Hill, San Francisco. Tickets ($50 general/$45 subscribers) can be purchased by calling (415) 392-4400 or online at www.bayareacabaret.org. Earlier in 2014, Ms. Uggams was featured in the PBS documentary series: The Pioneers Of Television, as she was instrumental in breaking down racial barriers on television and became known for creating a number of “firsts”. At age six, Ms. Uggams co-starred on the first sitcom to star an African-American actress – playing niece to Ethel Waters’ Beulah in 1950. By age 9, while making appearances on The Milton Berle Show, The Arthur Godfrey Show and Your Show Of Shows, she also became the opening act for such jazz legends as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Dinah Washington at the famed Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Ms. Uggams attended the New York School Professional Children’s School and at the age of 15, appeared on the CBS -TV show Name That Tune, winning $12,500 toward her college education. After her win, Ms. Uggams was signed to a record deal at Columbia Records by Mitch Miller, who also cast her on his Sing Along With Mitch TV series, making her the first African-American to be a featured regular on a national prime-time variety show. ####################### DAN HOYLE’S NEW WORK “EACH AND EVERY THING” CLOSES AT THE MARSH OCTOBER 4 –The Marsh announces the newest solo show by award-winning actor/playwright Dan Hoyle, EACH AND EVERY THING, will give its final performance October 4. Originally scheduled to run through July 12 and extended twice, the show was an instant hit with audiences and critics alike, receiving highest accolades from every news outlet. A search for connection in the digital age, the show will take its final bow on October 4, after which Hoyle will return to his home base in New York City, where the show is scheduled to be performed at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater. Developed with Charlie Varon and Maureen Towey, and directed by Charlie Varon, EACH AND EVERY THING will play 8pm Thursdays and Fridays, 5pm Saturdays, and 2pm Sundays at The Marsh San Francisco MainStage Theater. For tickets ($20-$50), the public may visit www.themarsh.org or call 415-282-3055 between 1 – 4pm, Monday through Friday. ############################# San Jose Stage Company Announces 2014-15 Season — San Jose Stage Company Artistic Director Randall King has announced The Stage’s 2014 - 2015 Season: THE RAINMAKER by Richard Nash October 1 - 26, 2014 A WEEKEND WITH PABLO PICASSO by Herbert Siguenza (Culture Clash) November 12 - December 7, 2014 VENUS IN FUR by David Ives February 4 - March 1, 2015 DEATH OF A SALESMAN by Arthur Miller April 1 - 26, 2015 A NEW ‘Family’ MUSICAL (to be announced) June 3 - July 26, 2015 “Now in our fourth decade, The Stage’s 2014-15 season continues to bring bold, diverse and innovative works to The Stage,” said Randall King, Artistic Director and co-founder of the San Jose Stage Company. “Our 32 nd season reflects the climate of today’s socio-political, economic, emotional and atmospheric upheavals of our time.” “The plays examine the thirst for love, the need for acceptance, our passions, hopes, faiths and fears, a theatrical season framed in tales of romance, art, politics, seduction, and bookeneded in la familia. The Stage is set to traverse these provacative landscapes,” added King. The Stage’s season launches with a true piece of Americana in N. Richard Nash’s Romantic Comedy ‘The Rainmaker’. A beautiful timeless tale of what it means to take a leap of faith in desperately hopeless times. As described by Nash,“The play takes place in a Western state on a summer day...in a time of drought. I tried to tell a simple story about droughts that happen to people and about faith.” In ‘The Rainmaker’ Lizzie’s hopes and dreams have run dry when the charismatic Starbuck arrives out of nowhere, selling promises of rain, Lizzie must decide: is he a con man, or does he hold the key to everything she desires? "The notion of dreams coming true might seem a preposterous conceit in a more cynical era, yet ‘The Rainmaker,’ N. Richard Nash's unabashedly optimistic 1953 teleplay-turned-Broadway-hit, still has the power to keep disbelief at bay...After nearly half a century, ‘The Rainmaker’ still makes a handsomely staged case for miracles." - LA Times ‘The Rainmaker’ by N. Richard Nash / October 1 - October 26, 2014. ‘A Weekend with Pablo Picasso’ by actor/writer Herbert Siguenza of the powerful and politically renown theatrical troupe Culture Clash created the original play at San Diego Repertory (2011) and stars as Pablo Picasso, the most influential artist in modern history. Set in the 1957 artist’s studio in southern France, the artist paints and speaks and directly to the audience. “Six paintings in three days? Who do you think I am---Dali?” Picasso was the first rock-star artist—a ferocious pacifist, obsessive art maker, flamboyantly opinionated philosopher, and self-proclaimed clown—who relished his passionate views about love, death, war, beauty, eternity, and creativity. The Culture Clash artist, Siguenza’s one-man show, will amaze and promise a weekend you will never forget. ‘A Weekend With Pablo Picasso’ by Herbert Siguenza / November 12 - December 7, 2014. Presented in association with San Diego Repertory. David Ives’ Tony nominated ‘Venus In Fur’ is sexy, provocative and funny. When young actress Vanda arrives several hours late to her audition for a play based on a nineteenth-century erotic novel, the director, Thomas, is less than impressed. But Vanda’s masterful performance flips the script on Thomas’ expectations and turns the session into a tango for dominance between actress and director, woman and man. Hailed as “seriously smart and very funny” by The New York Times, Venus in Fur is a laugh-out-loud study of the politics of sex and power that’s guaranteed to charm and mesmerize. Tony nominated for Best Play ‘Venus in Fur’ was also a recent Roman Polanski film shot in 2012. Based upon a novel from 1870 by author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the inspiration for the term Masochism, the modern adaptation of ‘Venus in Fur’ is perfectly suited to The Stage with this two-person drama within a drama. ‘Venus In Fur’ by David Ives / February 4 - March 1, 2014 Prompts the lion and lamb metaphor during the Valentine month. Please note, ‘Venus in Fur’ contains adult content. Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-winning ‘Death Of A Salesman’ is a tragedy about the differences between a New York family's dreams and the reality of their lives. The play is a scathing critique of the American Dream and of the competitive, materialistic American society of the late 1940s. The storyline features Willy Loman, an average guy who attempts to hide his averageness and failures behind delusions of grandeur as he strives to be a "success." ‘Death Of A Salesman’ has been reprised on Broadway four times winning three more Tonys for Best Revival and is widely considered even to this day to be one of the greatest American plays ever written. ‘Death Of A Salesman’ by Arthur Miller - April 1 - April 26, 2014 In the Summer of 2015, The Stage will perform a new musical for which The Stage has become well-known. From June 3 through July 26. ######################## CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATER ANNOUNCES 2015 SEASON Line-up Includes King Lear, featuring Two-Time Tony Nominee Anthony Heald, Directed by Amanda Dehnert; Pulitzer-Prize winner Nilo Cruz’s adaptation of Life is a Dream by Calderón de la Barca, Directed by Loretta Greco in her Cal Shakes’ debut; Twelfth Night, Directed by Christopher Liam Moore; and Artistic Director Jonathan Moscone’s Take on the Charles Ludlam’s Comedy, The Mystery Of Irma Vep, featuring local favorite, Danny Scheie – California Shakespeare Theater today announced its plans for 2015 season, which includes boldly imagined productions of two of Shakespeare’s greatest works, a beautiful new adaptation of a classic from the Spanish Golden Age of Drama, and an outrageously funny romp from a modern American master. The season will feature the company directing debut of Magic Theatre’s Producing Artistic Director Loretta Greco, and the return of directors Amanda Dehnert (The Verona Project) and Christopher Liam Moore (Lady Windermere’s Fan) in addition to artistic director Jonathan Moscone. Opening the season at the Bruns will be Shakespeare’s beautiful romantic comedy, Twelfth Night, from May 27 through June 21, featuring a gender-bending company of 7 women and 1 man, directed by Christopher Liam Moore. Next up, Loretta Greco makes her Cal Shakes debut with Pulitzer Prize-winner Nilo Cruz’s brilliant adaptation of Life is a Dream, by Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s from the Spanish Golden Age of Drama. Often compared to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, this tale of a young prince imprisoned by his father at birth because of a prophecy plays at the Bruns from July 8 through August 2. Opening in August is Charles Ludlam’s fantastically funny farce, The Mystery of Irma Vep, helmed by Cal Shakes Artistic Director Jonathan Moscone and starring Bay Area favorite Danny Scheie, from August 12 through September 6. Mummies, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, haunted mansions, and every other staple of the Victorian horror genre make an appearance as the ghost of her ex-husband wife, Irma Vep, haunts Lady Enid, with all the characters portrayed by just two actors in a mad dash that will leave you breathless with laughter. Concluding the 2015 season is Shakespeare’s tragic masterpiece, King Lear, from September 16 through October 11. Directed by nationally renowned Amanda Dehnert, creator of revelatory productions of Julius Caesar at OSF and the world premiere of The Verona Project at Cal Shakes, among others, the production will feature OSF alumnus Anthony Heald as the king. Mr. Heald is a two-time Tony nominee (for Anything Goes and Love! Valour! Compassion!), who will appear in the upcoming Broadway revival of The Elephant Man; his film and television credits include The Silence of the Lambs, The Pelican Brief, Boston Legal, and The Closer. Some of his many OSF credits include: Duke of Buckingham in Richard III, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Alfred Doolittle in My Fair Lady (directed by Amanda Dehnert), Stage Manager in Our Town, and Vincentio in Measure for Measure. ########################## Diablo Theatre Company to launch Diablo Youth Theatre this fall – Diablo Theatre Company, one of the premiere producers of musical theatre in the East Bay, announced that they will be launching Diablo Youth Theatre in the fall. This newly expanded education program will be led by Brittany Danielle, Diablo Theatre Company’s Education Director. Diablo Youth Theatre will produce a six-show season in its first year, including three productions for youth ages 6-13 and three professional productions for teens ages 14 and above. In addition to performance training, Diablo Youth Theatre will also offer spotlight intensive classes focusing on singing, dance and acting throughout the year to create a comprehensive and cohesive program. Earlier this year, Diablo Theatre Company announced that they were taking the year off from producing large scaled musical productions to concentrate on developing their education programs. “The goal is to create a self-sustaining youth and teen company that will eventually feed directly into our mainstage division when we begin producing large scale productions again”, states Krissy Gray, Managing Director of Diablo Theatre Company. “This will make the company stronger and elevate our education program to a whole new level.” The program will launch in the fall with auditions for the youth production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella on October 4th and the teen production of West Side Story on September 26th and 27th. Performances will be in November and December at Del Valle Theatre in Walnut Creek and The Village Theatre in Danville. Diablo Youth Theatre is also slated to produce youth productions of Seussical in the spring, and Aladdin Jr. in the summer. The teen division will round out with Spring Awakening in the spring and In the Heights in the summer. Diablo Youth Theatre will cast ALL who audition. Spring Awakening, the pre-professional elite production will be an audition-only program serving as the Mainstage caliber vehicle for the company. “We are hopeful that Diablo Youth Theatre will fill the void of professional youth performance opportunities in this community year-round” states Education Director, and visionary behind the newly imagined Diablo Youth Theatre, Brittany Danielle. “Not only will youth and teens have an outlet to perform and be involved in professional quality productions with live orchestras, but they will also have an opportunity to train and learn from the Bay Area’s best artists, directors, and performers.” Danielle adds, “Our goal with Diablo Youth Theatre is to create, train and foster not only Broadway performers, but also community leaders, responsible individuals, and the next generation of theatre-goers and supporters.”Diablo Theatre Company, had been one of the anchor tenants at the Lesher Center for the Arts since its opening in 1990, producing critically acclaimed and audience favorite musicals such as: Shrek, Guys and Dolls, Singin’ in the Rain, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, Legally Blonde the Musical, Peter Pan, Miss Saigon, West Side Story and Ragtime. The company also rents rehearsal space, costumes, props and sets.

reply to this message \|

All That Chat is intended for the discussion of theatre news and opinion
subject to the terms and conditions of the Terms of Service. (Please take all off-topic discussion to private email.)