Lynn Taylor-Corbett News

The Cleveland area has a full schedule of summer theatre entertainment. Here are some of the upcoming stagings:

The National High School Musical Theater Awards (NHSMTA) selected 62 finalists from tens of thousands of students to compete for the coveted Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress, last night at the Minskoff Theatre. Hosted by the Tony Award-nominated stars of Rodgers + Hammerstein's CINDERELLA, Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana, the fifth annual performance showcase featured dynamic ensemble and solo performances exclusively from the musical theater cannon. Sarah Lynn Marion, from Fullerton, CA and Taylor Varga, from Newtown, CT took home the big awards for the evening and you can check out photos of the winners below!

Donna Moore's Cougar the Musical will get its World Premiere this summer under the direction of Tony Award and Drama Desk Nominated director/choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett at St. Luke's Theatre (308 West 46th Street).

The BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop announces its Spring Smoker, a semi-annual showcase for new songs from Workshop writers. The event will be held in the 30th Floor Media Room of BMI's New York office at 7 World Trade Center/250 Greenwich Street tonight, April 26, at 5:30PM and is open to members of the entertainment industry as well as Workshop members. Reservations are a must: Ssantana@bmi.com or 212 220-3177. Running time is 70 minutes.

The BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop announces its Spring Smoker, a semi-annual showcase for new songs from Workshop writers. The event will be held in the 30th Floor Media Room of BMI's New York office at 7 World Trade Center/250 Greenwich Street on Thursday, April 26, at 5:30PM and is open to members of the entertainment industry as well as Workshop members. Reservations are a must: Ssantana@bmi.com or 212 220-3177. Running time is 70 minutes.

Staging one of the theatre's most unique and unclassifiable pieces, Brecht & Weill's THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS for the New York City Ballet, starting May 11 and running through May 16, is just the latest act in a career made up of anomalies, seemingly built upon always attempting to do the impossible - from her Broadway debut, trying to bring balletic bravado to Trevor Nunn's terminally troubled 1988 musical CHESS (a project begun under the guidance of Michael Bennett before his death), up through the trying-but-Tony-winning TITANIC in 1997 and, this century, SWING! starring Ann Hampton Callaway and Laura Benanti and a succession of successful regional ballets and theatre pieces - the gifted and dynamic director/choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett continues to challenge herself, her peers and audiences with each of her audacious new endeavors. THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS, starring two-time Tony-winning Broadway legend Patti LuPone as Anna I, is a particularly problematic play - or is it a musical? Or, is it a ballet? A song-spiel? - and in this revealing and engaging discussion, Ms. Taylor-Corbett and I attempt to deduce the themes, analyze the structure and look back at the authors' lives to gain insight into the perplexing America painted by Brecht and Weill in the forty-minute-long theatrical experiment. Also, in this complete conversation, Lynne and I take a look back at her long and varied career and she generously shares her thoughts on where the place of dance is in the twenty-first century, the exhilaration of working with a theatre artist like Patti LuPone, her own inspirations and formative experiences in the theatre, the legacy of Michael Powell and THE RED SHOES, the theatre versus the dance world, her son Shaun's career, and much, much more! Further information on THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS - including tickets - is available here.

Staging one of the theatre's most unique and unclassifiable pieces, Brecht & Weill's THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS for the New York City Ballet, starting May 11 and running through May 16, is just the latest act in a career made up of anomalies, seemingly built upon always attempting to do the impossible - from her Broadway debut, trying to bring balletic bravado to Trevor Nunn's terminally troubled 1988 musical CHESS (a project begun under the guidance of Michael Bennett before his death), up through the trying-but-Tony-winning TITANIC in 1997 and, this century, SWING! starring Ann Hampton Callaway and Laura Benanti and a succession of successful regional ballets and theatre pieces - the gifted and dynamic director/choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett continues to challenge herself, her peers and audiences with each of her audacious new endeavors. THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS, starring two-time Tony-winning Broadway legend Patti LuPone as Anna I, is a particularly problematic play - or is it a musical? Or, is it a ballet? A song-spiel? - and in this revealing and engaging discussion, Ms. Taylor-Corbett and I attempt to deduce the themes, analyze the structure and look back at the authors' lives to gain insight into the perplexing America painted by Brecht and Weill in the forty-minute-long theatrical experiment. Also, in this complete conversation, Lynne and I take a look back at her long and varied career and she generously shares her thoughts on where the place of dance is in the twenty-first century, the exhilaration of working with a theatre artist like Patti LuPone, her own inspirations and formative experiences in the theatre, the legacy of Michael Powell and THE RED SHOES, the theatre versus the dance world, her son Shaun's career, and much, much more! Further information on THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS - including tickets - is available here.

The BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop announces its Winter Smoker, a semi-annual showcase for new songs from Workshop writers.

The BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop announces its Winter Smoker, a semi-annual showcase for new songs from Workshop writers.

Gotham Arts Exchange presents the Emerging Artist Showcase, a shared evening of dance works by emerging choreographers John-Mark Owen, Jessica Gaynor and Adam Barruch (with guest performer Margie Gillis) on Wednesday, January 5 and Thursday, January 6 at 7:30pm at Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, NYC.

Gotham Arts Exchange presents the Emerging Artist Showcase, a shared evening of dance works by emerging choreographers John-Mark Owen, Jessica Gaynor and Adam Barruch (with guest performer Margie Gillis) on Wednesday, January 5 and Thursday, January 6 at 7:30pm at Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, NYC.

Gotham Arts Exchange presents the Emerging Artist Showcase, a shared evening of dance works by emerging choreographers John-Mark Owen, Jessica Gaynor and Adam Barruch (with guest performer Margie Gillis) on Wednesday, January 5 and Thursday, January 6 at 7:30pm at Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, NYC.

Gotham Arts Exchange presents the Emerging Artist Showcase, a shared evening of dance works by emerging choreographers John-Mark Owen, Jessica Gaynor and Adam Barruch (with guest performer Margie Gillis) on Wednesday, January 5 and Thursday, January 6 at 7:30pm at Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, NYC.

Gotham Arts Exchange presents the Emerging Artist Showcase, a shared evening of dance works by emerging choreographers John-Mark Owen, Jessica Gaynor and Adam Barruch (with guest performer Margie Gillis) on Wednesday, January 5 and Thursday, January 6 at 7:30pm at Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, NYC.

After almost a year on the 'In the Heights' tour, Shaun is back in the B'way company and stealing scenes.

The 2008 Tony and Grammy Award-winning Best Musical In The Heights welcomes platinum recording artists and 2007 'American Idol' winner Jordin Sparks making her Broadway debut as Nina Rosario beginning Thursday, August 19, 2010 at Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street).

Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller and Jill Furman Willis, the producers of the 2008 Tony and Grammy Award-winning Best Musical In The Heights, announced today that Jon Rua will be Broadway's new 'Sonny' for 5 weeks only from Tuesday, June 22, through Sunday, July 25, 2010 at Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street).

The BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop announces its Spring Smoker, a semi-annual showcase for new songs from Workshop writers. The event will be held at the The Actors Temple Theatre, 339 West 47th Street, (between 8th and 9th Aves) at 5:30PM and is open to members of the entertainment industry as well as Workshop members.

Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage will be honored with the Nelson A. Rockefeller Award March 15th for her contribution to performing arts. The award will be presented by Purchase College School of the Arts Gala at the Hudson Theatre. Choreographer Paul Taylor will be honored for his contribution to the arts as well

The BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop announces its Winter Smoker, a semi-annual showcase for new songs from Workshop writers.