The Cover of Life Photos - Off-Broadway

Donna Summer Musical is a show with book by Colman Domingo, Robert Cary, and Des McAnuff and music and lyrics by Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte, Paul Jabara, and others, based on the life of Donna Summer. The musical shows the Queen of Disco at three times of her life: Duckling Donna (Amanda Souza) is in her pre-teens, starting out in Boston; Disco Donna (Jeniffer Nascimento), in her late teens and 20s, has her initial success; and Diva Donna (Karin Hils) is in her 50s and at the top of her career. With direction by Miguel Falabella, the show opens at Teatro Santander on March 5.

FAMOUS re-opened in April after a successful run in 2018. I decided to speak with the show's Creator/Director Michael Leoni (ML) and producers Michelle Kaufer (MK) and Cassidy Pepper (CP), about how the new production uses stylized movements by the characters, enhanced lighting and sound designs, to bring the play flow so much more fluid than last year's version. The result grabs the audience's attention to the point of being able to hear a pin drop, making the entire experience even more stunning and breathtaking than before. And, of course, its relevance to the #MeToo movement is immediately recognizable as power players move in and out of Jason's life during the party.

TABLE MANNERS, LIVING TOGETHER, and ROUND AND ROUND THE GARDEN piece together to form the intriguing triptych of THE NORMAN CONQUESTS.  Directed by Mark Kilmurry, Alan Ayckbourn's brilliant work is presented with heart and humor as passions rise, personalities clash and the dangers of trying to please everyone plays out across three spaces in the one home.

The Resident Acting Company (www.racnyc.org), a new troupe drawn from the performing ensemble of The Pearl Theatre Company, will present a staged reading of 'It Is So (If You Think So)' by Luigi Pirandello on Monday, November 19 at 7:00 PM at The Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South. The reading is the final installment of the troupe's 'The Language Series,' which is devoted to plays that delve into the use of words to lie, deceive, manipulate, conquer, tell the truth, work out the meaning of life and even to find love.

Satchmo comes to life on stage as he is portrayed by another famous New Orleanian, Barry Shabaka Henley, a veteran actor with 25 years of stage, screen, and film credits that only define the career of a man who is capable of successfully pulling off such a complex roll. (Henley's Acting Bio) Drama Desk, Obie, and Olivier Award winner, Henley, will wow you as he radiantly delves into the heart and mind of the jazz legend, as well as portraying the other two men who both shaped and shook the man, Joe Glaser and Miles Davis.  Henley effortlessly glides between the three characters, and the seamless staging transports your mind to another time and place making each moment hypnotically authentic.   

The 3rd annual Hip Hop Film Festival was held, fittingly, at the historic National Black Theatre founded by Dr. Barbara Ann Teer who moved to Harlem in 1968 and saw that the once vibrant neighborhood was suffering from a sense of hopelessness after the losses of African American leaders Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X and desperately needed a community space and cultural arts institution that would 'be reflective of the power, grace and excellence of a people' (according to her daughter and current CEO Sade Lythcott).

In an age of megalomaniac world leaders that have the world teetering on the edge of destruction, Justin Fleming's new work, DRESDEN, contemplates the connection between Adolf Hitler and Richard Wagner.

Azuka Theatre ends the 2017-2018 season with the world premiere of Mrs. Harrison, by R. Eric Thomas, from May 2 to20, 2018. Mrs.Harrison is the third and final show of the season that celebrated Azuka's commitment to notable Philadelphia playwrights and unique Philadelphia voices. Producing Artistic Director Kevin Glaccum directs this suspenseful dark comedy and drama about two women, one story and their very different memories about their relationship in college. The show runs through May 20, 2018, for a total of 18 performances.  All performances will take place at the Louis Bluver Theatre at The Drake, 302 S. Hicks Street. Tickets for shows this season are Pay What You Decide, whereas audience members see a show first, and pay what they decide after the performance. For reservations, visit azukatheatre.org. This production is produced with support from Honorary Producers Robin and Patrick Tracy. 

Combining the force of some fabulous comic actors, SAMI IN PARADISE presents an absurd piece that utilises humour to address the humanitarian issues that are occurring around the world.

As a way of introducing myself as the new DANCE REVIEWER for Broadway World L. A., I am reporting on an historic event in which I participated at St. Luke's Theatre on March 26th, 2018 in NYC: the 40th-year anniversary and reunion of the cast members of the opening of Tony Award-Winning Bob Fosse's DANCIN' on Broadway at The Broadhurst Theatre on March 27, 1978.

Jesse Berger (Founder and Artistic Director), Jim Bredeson (Managing Director), and the Board of Trustees of Red Bull Theater held the Tenth Annual RUNNING OF THE RED BULLS BENEFIT last night, Monday March 26th, celebrating the company's 15th Season and honoring Ismenia Mendes, Charlayne Woodard, and The Fund for the City of New York with the 2018 Matador Awards for Excellence in Classical Theater. Proceeds from the evening will go to support all of Red Bull Theater's programs, including the upcoming Off-Broadway premiere of David Ives's The Metromaniacs, directed by Michael Kahn.

The Boys in the Band cast members Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, and Jim Parsons posed for a cover photo for T Magazine, The New York Times Style Magazine.

The quick-witted American actor and icon, Groucho Marx was a frequent visitor to New Hope and Bucks County. Now nearly 41 years after his death, Groucho makes a hilarious return to Bucks - this time in the form of award-winning actor Frank Ferrante in the global comedy hit, "An Evening with Groucho." The show is presented February 14 - 25 at Bucks County Playhouse as part of the 2018 Visiting Artists Series.

Quiara Alegria Hudes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who wrote the book for the Broadway musical "In the Heights," which received the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical, a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical and was a 2009 Pulitzer Prize finalist. Her Pulitzer-nominated and winning trilogy of plays known as the "Elliot Trilogy" are now being presented concurrently, giving Los Angeles theatre audiences a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in this exciting playwright's work. ELLIOT, A SOLDIER'S FUGUE, the first in her trilogy of Elliot plays, is being produced by Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre at the same time they are presenting the second play in the trilogy, Hudes' Pulitzer-winning WATER BY THE SPOONFUL at the Mark Taper Forum. The Latino Theater Company will present the final installment of the trilogy with their production of THE HAPPIEST SONG PLAYS LAST at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC) opening later this month.

The power of theatre is not only to entertain, but to heal, honor, and harbor the most pressing themes.