| Book by Terrence McNally |
We've all heard it a thousand times, but try to live each day as if it were your last. You just never know what will happen.
Yours truly will be performing in Suzan-Lori Parks 365 Days/365Plays: Seven plays covering Week 36, July 16-22. My performances will be at 12:00 PM and 4:10 PM. But check out the entire schedule here, there's is really something for everyone.
365 Days/ 365 Plays - The play cycle by Suzan-Lori Parks
On November 13, 2002, SUZAN-LORI PARKS got an idea to write a play a day for a year. She began that very day, finishing one year later. The resulting play cycle, called 365 Days/365Plays, is a daily meditation on an artistic life. Some plays are very short, less than a page. Others last forever.
SUZAN-LORI PARKS is a playwright, screenwriter and novelist whose plays include Topdog / Underdog, Fucking A, Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom, The America Play, Venus, The Death Of The Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, and In The Blood, among others. In 2002, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Topdog / Underdog.
Would you like to read part of the play cycle? Click on the link to read today's play!
THE 365 INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
The 365 International Festival invites any theater in the world to join a grassroots premiere of this play cycle. Over 700 theaters are producing the plays in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Colorado, Greater Texas, Los Angeles, Midwest, New York, Northeast, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Southeast, Washington DC Area, West, Universities (365U) and all over the planet through 365Global. Produced by Bonnie Metzgar and Suzan-Lori Parks, the 365 Festival is being performed from November 13, 2006 through November 12, 2007.
Plays can be produced in traditional theater spaces or site-specific locations, opera halls or ice rinks. They can be staged readings or fully produced. Participating theaters will each present seven plays, representing one week of this play cycle, before then passing the cycle on to the next theater in a cultural relay race that celebrates the community of theater artists and audiences wherever they are found - online and around the world.
All performances are free to the public and all artists can participate. As we like to say at 365, there's pie for everyone. So whether you are an audience member or an artist, we invite you to join 365.
Bay Area actor and director. Nichole is a true artist and a very funny person with unusual depth and intelligence. Working with her has always been nothing short of wonderful
Local Bay Area actor, Heidi K., on the beach on Half Moon Bay. She is a wonderful model and person with huge talent and passion. I am a photographer and this is one of the photos I took of her recenlty.
415.749.2228
; or via the A.C.T. website, www.act-sf.org. Groups of 15 or more people are eligible for discounts; please call 415.439.2473.
The Pear will be holding readings of new full-length plays in consideration for production in our 2007-2008 season. All readings will be on Sunday evenings at 7pm at the Pear. The public is invited, and there is no charge.
Address: 1220 Pear Avenue, Mtn. View, CA
Phone: 650-254-1148
A group of strangers form a surprising connection with a whale that has mysteriously stranded itself.
A new teacher finds herself bucking the system in a prestigious and competition-driven private school.
Members of a family struggle to keep hope alive when a badly wounded soldier returns from war.
All's fair in love and politics? In this play the twists and turns of a political campaign intersect with those of complicated love affairs and friendships.
I just wanted to let you know about a play reading that’s coming up at City Lights Theatre in
I know life is busy, but if you have a little time I would love to see you there. More info below and at http://cltc.org/newplay.htm
WHAT:
Live staged reading of “Perpetual Motion”, a new script by Jack Richards.
PERPETUAL MOTION
By Jack Richards
A black man and a white boy join forces to escape from abuse and persecution on the streets of Chicago. Based on a true story, PERPETUAL MOTION was originally written for the stage, then adapted for the screen, and has now been re-adapted for the stage.
Since taking an early retirement from teaching English in college to concentrate on writing projects, Jack Richards has completed seven screenplays (all of which have either won or placed in screenwriting competitions), two stage plays, and a TV pilot. He has also published seven books and a reading series for public schools.
WHEN:
Tuesday June 5, 8pm
WHERE:
City Lights Theatre Company
529 South Second Street
Phone
(408) 295-4200
DIRECTIONS:
From
Take Highway 280 south. Take the
From
Take Highway 880 south to Highway 280 South. Take the
From
Take Highway 680 south, which becomes Highway 280 North. Take the
ABOUT THE PLAY:
A black man and a white boy join forces to escape from abuse and persecution on the streets of
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Since taking an early retirement from teaching English in college to concentrate on writing projects, Jack Richards has completed seven screenplays (all of which have either won or placed in screenwriting competitions), two stage plays, and a TV pilot. He has also published seven books and a reading series for public schools.
Nominees for the 61st Annual Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards follow:
Best Play
The Coast of Utopia
Frost/Nixon
The Little Dog Laughed
Radio Golf
Best Musical
Curtains
Grey Gardens
Mary Poppins
Spring Awakening
Best Book of a Musical
Curtains, Rupert Holmes & Peter Stone
Grey Gardens, Doug Wright
Legally Blonde The Musical, Heather Hach
Spring Awakening, Steven Sater
Best Original Score
Curtains
Music: John Kander
Lyrics: Fred Ebb, John Kander & Rupert Holmes
Grey Gardens
Music: Scott Frankel
Lyrics: Michael Korie
Legally Blonde The Musical
Music & Lyrics: Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin
Spring Awakening
Music: Duncan Sheik
Lyrics: Steven Sater
Best Revival of a Play
Inherit the Wind
Jouney's End
Talk Radio
Translations
Best Revival of a Musical
The Apple Tree
A Chorus Line
Company
110 in the Shade
Best Special Theatrical Event
Jay Johnson: The Two and Only
Kiki & Herb Alive on Broadway
Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Play
Boyd Gaines, Journey's End
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Brían F. O’Byrne, The Coast of Utopia
Christopher Plummer, Inherit the Wind
Liev Schreiber, Talk Radio
Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Play
Eve Best, A Moon for the Misbegotten
Swoozie Kurtz, Heartbreak House
Angela Lansbury, Deuce
Vanessa Redgrave, The Year of Magical Thinking
Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed
Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Musical
Michael Cerveris, LoveMusik
Raúl Esparza, Company
Jonathan Groff, Spring Awakening
Gavin Lee, Mary Poppins
David Hyde Pierce, Curtains
Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Musical
Laura Bell Bundy, Legally Blonde The Musical
Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens
Audra McDonald, 110 in the Shade
Debra Monk, Curtains
Donna Murphy, LoveMusik
Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Play
Anthony Chisholm, Radio Golf
Billy Crudup, The Coast of Utopia
Ethan Hawke, The Coast of Utopia
John Earl Jelks, Radio Golf
Stark Sands, Journey's End
Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Play
Jennifer Ehle, The Coast of Utopia
Xanthe Elbrick, Coram Boy
Dana Ivey, Butley
Jan Maxwell, Coram Boy
Martha Plimpton, The Coast of Utopia
Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Musical
Brooks Ashmanskas, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me
Christian Borle, Legally Blonde The Musical
John Cullum, 110 in the Shade
John Gallagher, Jr., Spring Awakening
David Pittu, LoveMusik
Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Musical
Charlotte d’Amboise, A Chorus Line
Rebecca Luker, Mary Poppins
Orfeh, Legally Blonde The Musical
Mary Louise Wilson, Grey Gardens
Karen Ziemba, Curtains
Best Direction of a Play
Michael Grandage, Frost/Nixon
David Grindley, Journey's End
Jack O'Brien, The Coast of Utopia
Melly Still, Coram Boy
Best Direction of a Musical
John Doyle, Company
Scott Ellis, Curtains
Michael Greif, Grey Gardens
Michael Mayer, Spring Awakening
Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, Curtains
Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear, Mary Poppins
Bill T. Jones, Spring Awakening
Jerry Mitchell, Legally Blonde The Musical
Best Orchestrations
Bruce Coughlin, Grey Gardens
Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening
Jonathan Tunick, LoveMusik
Jonathan Tunick, 110 in the Shade
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Bob Crowley & Scott Pask, The Coast of Utopia
Jonathan Fensom, Journey's End
David Gallo, Radio Golf
Ti Green and Melly Still, Coram Boy
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Christine Jones, Spring Awakening
Anna Louizos, High Fidelity
Allen Moyer, Grey Gardens
Best Costume Design of a Play
Ti Green and Melly Still, Coram Boy
Jane Greenwood, Heartbreak House
Santo Loquasto, Inherit the Wind
Catherine Zuber, The Coast of Utopia
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Legally Blonde The Musical
Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Susan Hilferty, Spring Awakening
William Ivey Long, Grey Gardens
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Paule Constable, Coram Boy
Brian MacDevitt, Inherit the Wind
Brian MacDevitt, Kenneth Posner, and Natasha Katz, The Coast of Utopia
Jason Taylor, Journey's End
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, Spring Awakening
Christopher Akerlind, 110 in the Shade
Howard Harrison, Mary Poppins
Peter Kaczorowski, Grey Gardens
Regional Theatre Tony Award
Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, GA
The number of nominations each show received follows:
Spring Awakening - 11
The Coast of Utopia - 10
Grey Gardens - 10
Curtains - 8
Legally Blonde The Musical - 7
Mary Poppins - 7
Coram Boy - 6
Journey's End - 6
110 in the Shade - 5
Inherit the Wind - 4
LoveMusik - 4
Radio Golf - 4
Company - 3
Frost/Nixon - 3
A Chorus Line - 2
Heartbreak House - 2
The Little Dog Laughed - 2
Talk Radio - 2
The Apple Tree - 1
Butley - 1
Deuce - 1
High Fidelity - 1
Jay Johnson: The Two and Only! - 1
Kiki and Herb Alive on Broadway - 1
Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me - 1
A Moon for the Misbegotten - 1
Translations - 1
The Year of Magical Thinking - 1
This week I saw three very different shows at three theatres. The first was After the War at A.C.T. in the beautiful Geary Theatre. The set is constructed as a three story building that spins on a turntable to reveal various rooms and staircases in a boarding house. The thing is huge and it creaks as it turns. The actors were able to continue acting as it turned. It was quite a wonderful piece of stage work.
I also saw a free pre-view of Smokey Joe's Cafe at AMTSJ. James Monroe-Iglehart was wonderful, especially when he danced. I always loving seeing him dance. He's a large powerful man who looks like he should be on the front line of the 49ers, not a musical stage. But then when it's time for him to bust some moves, he's amazing!
And...last night I saw Voluntary Amnesia a City Lights in San Jose. What a fantastic show it was! Nichole Hamilton's direction and the excellent acting all around made this thoroughly challenging and enjoyable. Some of the comic character acting was just wild. It was great to see a brand new face to the bay area theatre scene, Lia Fischer from Chicago, bring her expert comedy to the stage. I hope we see a lot of her in the future.
One of my favorite young actresses, Lauren Ambrose, will be starring in 
Almost every year Foothill Music Theatre receives multiple Bay Area Theatre Critics Award nominations.
This year is no exception.
Urinetown was nominated for outstanding entire production; Robert Brewer, male principal performer; Jessica Lynn Carol, female supporting performer; and Catherine Snider, musical direction.
Annie Get Your Gun, FMT’s summer musical, included nominations for Jessica Raaum, female principal performer; Jay Manley, director; Catherine Snider, musical director; Tyler Risk, choreographer; Joe Ragey, scenic designer; and Janis Bergmann, costume designer.
Congratulations to all!
The annual nominations are in and here they are:
ENTIRE PRODUCTION
PRINCIPAL PERFORMANCE, FEMALE
PRINCIPAL PERFORMANCE, MALE
SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, FEMALE
SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, MALE
DIRECTOR
SET DESIGN
SOUND DESIGN
LIGHTING DESIGN
COSTUME DESIGN
ORIGINAL SCRIPT
ORIGINAL SCORE
CHOREOGRAPHY OR FIGHT DIRECTION
SOLO PERFORMANCE
ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
ENTIRE PRODUCTION
PRINCIPAL PERFORMANCE, FEMALE
PRINCIPAL PERFORMANCE, MALE
SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, FEMALE
SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, MALE
DIRECTOR
MUSIC DIRECTOR
SET DESIGN
SOUND DESIGN
LIGHTING DESIGN
COSTUME DESIGN
CHOREOGRAPHY
ORIGINAL SCRIPT
ORIGINAL SCORE
ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
TOURING PRODUCTIONS:
In Foothill Music Theatre's recent production, the choreography by Joe Duffy was excellent with just enough Fosse to pay tribute to his legacy. Jay Manley's direction was fantastic as always, and Catherine Snyder's music was excellent. But, what really struck me was how Pippin reflects the social atmosphere of the early 1970s. Much of Pippin is whimsy. We were worn out as a nation and we needed to feel unencumbered. There is no gut wrenching conflict in the first act of Pippin. It's mostly light humor and fun.
Sometimes when I watch a musical, I get the feeling that the writers create a first act that exists merely to fulfill an audience's desire to just listen to nice music and watch people dance. Then once they have them in the seats, they give them Act II. Act II often is the musical they want people to see. This for me was the case with Pippin. Act II turned out to be something much more touching and personal. The thrust of the second act revolves around Pippin's (Nathan Baynard) growing love for Catherine, a charming and beautiful peasant woman played wonderfully by Alicia Teeter. He is in conflict over his love for her and his own self perception. He sees himself as a prince that could never live the life of a farmer. The scenes between the two are written with humor and love and the actors really were excellent in bringing it to life. Mr. Baynard and Ms. Teeter create some wonderful moments in the second act that made me both laugh and cry a little.
More than anything, Pippin made me think of life in the early 1970s. It made me remember our need for innocence. It made me think of how in 2007 we are in another war that looks all too similar to Viet Nam. And, it made me long for a time when we could hum along to songs of hope as the flower children we were, or wished we could be.
I hear that the show is completely sold out for the remainder of the run. I think you can possibly get in if you arrive early and get your name on the waiting list. There are often a couple of no-shows. Come by yourself if you can, there is almost always at least one empty seat for a walk-up.
Where: The Pear Avenue Theatre in Mtn. View
When: February 23-March 18, 2007
Tickets: $10-$25
Info Phone: 650-254-1148
A.C.T. (American Conservatory Theatre) in San Francisco is currently showing Henrik Ibsen's masterpiece, Hedda Gabler, at the beautiful Geary Theatre. I went to see this show last Wednesday afternoon, and despite the coughing, wheezing, snoring, hearing aid mal-adjusted audience, it turned out to be one of the best theatre experiences I have ever had.
I am going to try something here as an experiment. Because of our overly committed lifestyles it seems that people tend to read blogs more often when they are written in a list format. So here's my list...
1. Rene Augesen. Simply put, Rene's portrayal of Hedda is brilliant. Her ability to completely embody a character in all her complexity draws you in completely. I have never seen an audience so mesmerized by an actor on stage. You could feel the sold out crowd ride the roller coaster of Hedda's emotions from the first moment of the play to the end. What a fantastic actress she is.
2. Paul Walsh's translation is brilliant. He took a script written in 1890 and made it feel contemporary without losing the feel of the 19th century. I have read numerous translations of Ibsen's works, and this is the only one I have ever heard that completely removes the dated feel without losing any of the classical sound of the text.
3. The set and lights. Scaffolding surrounding a living room and sitting room turned the set into a realistic piece that also brought in the loneliness in a symbolic way. The actors would periodically appear on the scaffolding alone and lonely. It really added a creepiness that worked fabulously.
4. The sound. John Gromada wrote some original music for this piece that added a Hitchcockian feel to the piece. It really created an atmosphere of foreboding and isolation.
5. The humor. Whenever I have read Ibsen or scene a production I often feel like laughing out loud. Usually, however, I restrain myself because, after all it's Ibsen. You're not supposed to laugh. God might strike you dead or something. But, under Richard E.T. White's direction the actors unabashedly embrace Ibsen's humor and run with it. Like in an Albee play you laugh at the awful. It's very disconcerting but wonderful.
A couple of days ago I came across a story of a Baghdad theatre company that had the courage to stage a one act play depicting the horror that plagues the streets of Iraq. It's astonishing that both actors and playgoers risked their lives to speak out in this way. Imagine what it must be like to rehearse a play in Iraq in a bombed out building with the noise of war all around you. Here's the text of the story..
A sculpture of a bomb-charred motorcycle and auto parts decorates the theater's foyer, and the concession stand lies empty under a layer of dust. Spectators are frisked by policemen, and a notice board announces that an employee has been "caught by the hand of treachery and terrorism," a Baghdad euphemism for a violent death.
Inside, the one-act play "Intensive Care Unit" offers more reminders of death and destruction in its portrayal of the war-torn lives of 10 Iraqis.
Theater is back in Baghdad — or is it real life?
If it was an oasis for the audience and the actors, the respite was brief.
The story on stage spoke at once of the city's relentless violence and the resilience of its people, a struggle for normalcy in the midst of mayhem, and if the audience of 300 or so still didn't get the message, it would soon be driven home on the street. As the crowd emerged from Monday's matinee opening at the National Theater, it saw black smoke rising in the distance — the aftermath of a triple car bombing that killed at least 80 people.
The arts once thrived in Iraq, but stage productions have been rare since Saddam Hussein was ousted nearly four years ago. Many in the theater community have fled abroad, while many Iraqis fear large gatherings that can become bombing targets.
"We must go on living," playwright and director Kaheel Khaled said after the show. "We don't want to die in a hole that we dug ourselves. We must end our differences so we can come out of this intensive care unit."
Dozens from the audience, apparently overcome with the depiction of their lives, climbed onto the stage, embracing cast members and posing for group photos.
The characters, played by students from a drama college, include a theater director forced to make a living by peddling cigarettes and candy on the street, and a man who has lost his ID card and has endless trouble at Baghdad's many checkpoints.
A third character is a black-clad woman who lost a leg in a bombing and then was abandoned by her lover. "Mother, Mother, I am sick. Get me the doctor quickly! Quick!" the woman says repeatedly in English, the only non-Arabic line in the show and what the director said is the play's bleak message.
In the background, a man's body is tied with ropes and lies motionless, a reminder of the sectarian abductions and killings afflicting the capital. A stern-faced man, a symbol of today's leaders in Iraq, comes on stage occasionally to bark bizarre orders that are obeyed at once.
"He is a man who makes reasonable demands," the character of a subservient poet says apologetically.
The play's premiere came as Baghdad braces for the escalation of a new security operation that many people see as a final bid by the U.S. military to calm the city of 6 million.
The cast held most of the rehearsals for "Intensive Care Unit" in the blackened shell of another theater that was looted and burned in the days after Saddam's fall, said actor Haidar Joma'a. "It was the only place where we could meet."
Rehearsals stopped for about five months early last year when the bombing of a Shiite shrine set off sectarian reprisal killings. Several members of the original cast fled Iraq, and others stopped showing up for rehearsals.
"But we finally became serious about rehearsals," said Joma'a, who plays a young man scorned by the woman he loves. "We realized that death lurks in the street just as it does at home, that death is really everywhere."
That spirit was shared by the theatergoers, whose decision to brave the deadly streets said as much about their determination to enjoy themselves as it did about the artistic merits of the play.
Dozens of men and women in the lobby before the play showed flashes of the secular Baghdad of old, when the city was a magnet for artists and writers from across the Arab world.
Women openly smoked and mingled freely with men. Some women embraced male friends, a public taboo in today's Baghdad. Only a few women wore the Islamic head scarves so common now, although some said they would wrap their heads when they left the theater.
"If every one of us stayed home, then our lives would be a waste," said Amal Yassin, an Iraqi actress who showed up in a fur coat, black trousers and checkered red scarf.
"Everyone will die on the day he is meant to die," she added. "Nothing will change that."
City Lights has a strong commitment to developing new, offbeat theater pieces. The New Play Readers Series gives promising new plays by local playwrights a workshop play-reading production, followed by an audience TalkBack session in which audiences can let the artists know what they think of the show. Potential plays are reviewed by our New Play Readers' Committee and are selected on a competitive basis. City Lights secures the actors and director for the piece, and the playwright is closely involved with casting decisions and rehearsals. The public play readings are one-night-only performances that occur on selected nights throughout City Lights' season.
| Coming Next to the New Play Readers Series... | |
| Tuesday, February 6, 2007 at 8:00 pm THE MOON SEES ME By Jody Handley. Directed by Rachel Bakker. Cleo, a 37-year-old professional who craves motherhood, walks into a fertility clinic and shakes up the sheltered world of Mary — a young receptionist at the clinic and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As their friendship develops, they both must face their sexuality, spirituality, and romantic relationships. Playwright Jody Handley's other works, which have been produced across the U.S., include Curls , Subjects , Bless Me Father , and To Engage in Mutual Touching or Caressing of the Lips , which also won the Playwrights' Center of San Francisco 's DramaRama 2001 competition. Her work has appeared in San Francisco 's Daytrippers 2001, Overnighters 2003, the 2003 48-Hour Film Competition, and in several PCSF staged readings. Jody is the Special Events Director of the Playwrights' Center of San Francisco . |  |
is going to be used on a commercial travel web site and partner of Expedia.com called Home and Abroad. I took a bunch photos last year in Acapulco of a bullfight. Some of them are pretty cool and even though it's a gruesome sport the photos are extraordinary. The person there in charge of photography saw my photos on Flickr.
This is the picture they will be using on the web site:
I like the movement of the bull's leg and the confidence in the face of the matador. You really get the sense of who's in charge. It's beautiful and chilling at the same time.
If you don't have a New Year's Party to go to tonight, you'll have something better to do...
By Andrew Gans
31 Dec 2006
Audra McDonald
photo by Eddie Malluk
"Live From Lincoln Center," which recently broadcast Audra McDonald's American Songbook concert, televises the four-time Tony Award winner's New Year's Eve concert Dec. 31.
McDonald headlines the New York Philharmonic's annual New Year's Eve gala. The evening, titled "Audra McDonald Sings the Movies for New Year's Eve," will feature tunes from such films as "The Wizard of Oz," "A Star Is Born," "Cabin in the Sky," "A Little Night Music," "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "My Fair Lady." Tony Award winner Ted Sperling conducts the New York Philharmonic orchestra.
PBS stations will broadcast the event live at 8 PM ET; check local listings.
A four-time Tony Award winner for her work in A Raisin in the Sun, Master Class, Carousel and Ragtime, Audra McDonald was also seen on Broadway in Henry IV. The singer-actress made her solo Carnegie Hall concert debut in an evening of songs scored for big bands, performing several tunes from her Nonesuch CD "Happy Songs." McDonald's other solo recordings, "Way Back to Paradise" and "How Glory Goes," are also on the Nonesuch label. The acclaimed actress also co-starred in the NBC series "Mister Sterling” and was recently seen in the WB series "Bedford Diaries." McDonald also made her Houston Grand Opera with a double bill of Send (who are you? I love you) and La Voix Humaine.
McDonald will return to Broadway later this season in the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of 110 in the Shade.
Beverly Sills hosts "Live From Lincoln Center," which is now in its 31st broadcast season.
I will be performing in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Bus Barn Stage Company in Los Altos.
I wish everyone a wonderful New Year. It's been a tough one for the country. Lets hope that next year we can get out of the war and find some peace as a nation.
The older I get the less I enjoy Christmas in the way we seem to be programmed to celebrate it. Thanksgiving is quickly becoming my favorite holiday - no gifts, just togetherness.
I performed in a local production of the show at West Bay Opera a few years ago. It's one of those operas that are almost musical theatre. That's why performers like LuPone and McDonald get the roles. One of the cool things about the show is that The Doors actually took a couple of the numbers and turned them into rock songs including "Alabama Song".
The opera company provides a nice synopsis of the play here.
| What: | Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny Four-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald stars in a new production of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, one of the great 20th-century operas. From composer Kurt Weill and playwright Bertolt Brecht, the creators of The Threepenny Opera, comes a savage and lyrical satire told in a highly entertaining blend of opera and raucous music hall songs, conducted by Music Director James Conlon. Tony Award winners Patti LuPone and John Doyle, star and director of this season's hugely acclaimed Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd, reteam for their Company debuts, joined by acclaimed tenor Anthony Dean Griffey. It's every man for himself in the newly founded city of Mahagonny, devoted to life's illicit pleasures, where anything goes and the only crime is to run out of money. The brilliant score, featuring the classic song "Moon of Alabama," masterfully creates a vivid picture of determination, desperation and debauchery. |
| When: | Saturday, February 10, 2007 3:00 PM to Sunday, March 4, 2007 4:00 PM |
| Where: | Los Angeles Opera 135 North Grand Avenue Los Angeles, California 90012 |
PRODUCTION DATES:
Saturday
February 10, 2007
7:30 p.m.
Wednesday
February 14, 2007
7:30 p.m.
Saturday
February 17, 2007
7:30 p.m.
Thursday
February 22, 2007
7:30 p.m.
Sunday
February 25, 2007
2:00 p.m.
Thursday
March 1, 2007
7:30 p.m.
Sunday
March 4, 2007
2:00 p.m.
Our little play has ended. It was a magical ride that I will remember always. Thanks to everyone and thanks to Paula and Carl for sharing their souls with us.
