Theater

Laura Benanti loves musical theater. Laura Benanti loves popular music. Laura Benanti combines the two in her new cabaret act, In Constant Search of the Right Kind of Attention, at Broadway nightclub

Clutching their newly minted statuettes, the 2013 Drama Desk Award winners met the press Sunday night. Shortly after winning, they were whisked away from the ceremony at Town Hall to the Liberty Thea

The 2013 Drama Desk Awards were announced on Sunday and although the nominations were pretty evenly distributed between Broadway and Off-Broadway, it was mostly Broadway shows that walked away with trophies.Although the Drama Desk likes to tout that it's the only awards that lets Broadway and Off-Broadway duke it out in every category, maybe it's time to rethink that approach since the winners are so lopsided in Broadway's favor?So a special congratulations to all of the Off-Broadway winners this year:Outstanding Music: David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, Here Lies Love [Public Theater]Outstanding Lighting Design: Justin Townsend, Here Lies Love [Public Theater]Outstanding Projection Design: Peter Nigrini, Here Lies Love [Public Theater]Outstanding Solo Performance: Michael Urie, Buyer + Cellar [Rattlestick]Outstanding Revue: Old Hats [Signature Theater] Unique Theatrical Experience: Cirque Du Soleil: Totem [We're really not sure if Cirque du Soleil counts as Off-Broadway]

Winners of the 58th Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced tonight from Town Hall. Eligibility and award category designations for the productions under consideration this season were determined by

The 58th Annual Drama Desk Awards Ceremony takes place tonight, May 19 at 8:00PM at Town Hall in midtown Manhattan. An organization of theater critics, writers, and editors, Drama Desk honors excell

Happy spring Sunday, Producer’s Perspective readers! On this rainy spring day, we’re going to give away tickets to a deliciously dark musical . . . Murder Ballad! Murder Ballad was a surprise hit earlier this season at Manhattan Theatre Club’s newly re-opened Off Broadway underground space, and now it’s back downtown at the Union Square Theatre for an uber cool commercial run. It’s got a “killer” cast (get it?  Murder Ballad?  Killer?  I made a “punny”) – Will Swenson, Caissie Levy, John Ellison Conlee, Rebecca Naomi Jones.  And they’ve modified the Union Square Theatre to make the show “environmental.” Environmental shows seem to be all the rage these days, with Sleep No More, and more recently, Here Lies Love and Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 amongst others. What is it about environmental productions?  Is it a generational thing?  Has the modern theater reached an age where our audiences (or our creators) are bored with seeing the same shows in such similar spaces that they’ve busted down the fourth wall and created fifth and sixth walls?  Is it even neater if it doesn’t take place in a theater?  Can any show be environmental? While I encourage your comments on all those questions, it’s the last one that is the subject of this Giveaway.  Pick a show, any show, and set it in an environment specific to the production (ex. Little Shop of Horrors in a Flower Shop) and I’ll pick one winner . . . and that winner will get two tickets to Murder Ballad! Good luck!  Happy Murder! (Got a comment? I love ‘em, so comment below! Email Subscribers, click here then scroll down to say what’s on your mind!) _ _ FUN STUFF: - Play our Tony Pool and you can win an iPad.  Click here to enter and win! - Only 49 performances of Macbeth remain!  Get tix.

Strapped for cash? We have the perfect ticket off for you: £5 tickets to see Fox Trotter Theatre Company’s Black-Out. A brand new show and made up of different plays, Black-Out weaves three plays into one. See below for a bit more information and then scroll down to claim the offer. FOX TROTTER THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS: BLACK-OUT Directed by Marta Noguera-Cuevas The Simulacra Studio, Brixton | 6-8, 13-15, 20 & 21 Jun Black-Out is a new show consisting of three short plays: Ink by Martin Malcom, The Voice That Bleeds In by Dan Horrigan and When We Two Parted by Nathan Cross. Black-Out is a mosaic of several interrelated characters in search of happiness, forgiveness, and peace; their stories taking place on the same night in London. These will be woven into the events of the three different plays to create a single show. For more information about Black-out and the writers, please visit  foxtrottertheatre.wix.com @FOXTROTTERTHEAT Claim the offer: To book your £5 tickets, simply e-mail foxtrottertheatre@gmail.com stating the date of the performance that you would like to see. Valid on all performances. Subject to availability. The post Ticket Offer: £5 tickets to see Black-Out at The Simulacra Studio appeared first on A Younger Theatre.

The moody overcast sky and the anniversary of the execution of George Boleyn in 1536 seemed fittingly portentous for the opening night of Fallen in Love in the Tower of London. The Suffolk-based Red Rose Chain are probably best known for their child-friendly summertime Shakespearean romps in the forest, which explode with energy, enthusiasm, and humour. In contrast, this controversial play about the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn, the feisty queen executed by Henry VIII at the age of just 35, is turbulent and dark, almost a gothic prelude to the summer we’re still waiting for. Written by Joanna Carrick, the play is a series of snapshots of crucial moments in Anne’s life, charting her early adulthood, the fateful attentions of the king, and her constant struggle to bear a male heir and to make Henry love her, which ultimately leads to death. There’s a real sense of growing tension as the scenes become shorter and faster, with the contrast of delightful and poignant moments where Anne and her brother George seek escape in regression to childhood, fooling around with silly voices and singing ballads. This brings us to the controversy: Carrick’s play centres not on the relationship between Anne and Henry, but on that between Anne and George. We all know of the vivacious, daring woman who captured the heart of a king and had him turn the country upside down so they could marry. Fallen in Love takes us deeper, presenting Anne and George as physical and emotional personalities with desires and ambitions, and leaving the audience to decide the truth of the charge of incest brought against them. The production feels like a historical novel brought to life on the stage, and it is no coincidence that Tudor historian and author Alison Weir has lent her support. Fallen in Love, like much historical fiction, presents the often ignored side of history: the female version of the story. Carrick makes clear Anne’s purpose as a political tool at a time when women were generally regarded as mere chattels, and the devastating birth of a second princess in a society ruled by men. Anne could only exercise her power through men, and this frustration is skilfully presented by Emma Connell as the leading lady. Connell is particularly convincing as the young favourite of the king, exasperated after six years of holding off Henry’s sexual advances until the legitimation of the affair by marriage. Scott Ellis’s portrayal of George is also thoroughly enjoyable, contrasting the boisterousness of youth and his deep affection for his sister Anne. The play ends with a moving speech from each sibling before their executions. Unfortunately, this tragic atmosphere is spoiled by the final image of Anne and George reunited in heaven as white petals fall from above; it seems Carrick decided she had to add an imaginary happy ending to this sad tale, and it feels rather tacky. This is soon forgotten, though, when you walk out through the Tower and remember that Anne was imprisoned, executed and buried right here. What could be better than a powerful production staged where the action actually happened all those years ago? Fallen in Love is at the Tower of London on selected dates in May and June until June 16. It is also being performed at Gippeswyk Hall in Ipswich. For more information and to book tickets, please visit the Fallen in Love website. The post Review: Fallen in Love: The Secret Heart of Anne Boleyn appeared first on A Younger Theatre.

Many people aren’t aware that there’s more than one musical adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s novel The Phantom of the Opera. Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit’s musical Phantom was composed and raising funds before Andrew Lloyd Webber’s, but shelved after Phantom of the Opera became a huge success. Dawn Kalani Cowle’s production at Ye Olde Rose and Crown marks the UK premiere of Phantom, and with a bigger budget behind it, could give Lloyd Webber a run for his money. Neither version is extremely faithful to the book, although Yeston and Kopit’s adaptation is the only one to hold the rights to it. So if you’re familiar with either popular versions, Phantom still won’t be everything you expect. Christine (Kira Morsley) is essentially a busker who is recommended to the Opera House for lessons when influential patron Phillippe (Sean Paul Jenkinson) hears her sing. Unfortunately, his friend Carriere (Tom Murphy), the manager of the Opera House has been sacked, and the new proprietors Carlotta (Pippa Winslow) and Cholet (Andrew Rivera) place Christine in the costume department where the Phantom (Kieran Brown) hears her sing and offers her lessons as a masked maestro. By the time she comes to audition for the company, they can’t deny her talent but Carlotta poisons her drink on opening night so that Christine can’t sing. The Phantom rescues her from the stage, taking her down to his lair where Carriere tries to warn her he’s dangerous, however she is determined that she sees good in him. Until she sees his face. The plot begins strongly, playing for laughs in the beginning and tears in the ending at the expense of focus. Although I’ll admit that I shed a few tears, this was more for Christine and the Phantom’s fleeting love story, over the well-acted but arduously written scene between father and son, the Phantom and Carriere. Other than the leads, the characters remain sketchily drawn as plot devices or caricatures which are likeable but mean that the storyline lacks integrity. Furthermore, the Phantom’s ‘underlings’ are strange characters, that have stepped right out of an amateur show. Excusing this, Phantom is a show that’s carried by a stupendous ensemble. It might be unfair to compare Phantom to The Phantom of the Opera, or just plain inevitable, but it really does help to reflect upon the few problems with Yeston’s score that keep it from being quite so popular. Yeston, who has also composed musicals including Nine, Grand Hotel and Titanic, weaves magic with his choral harmonies. The music is the absolute star of this piece, with swirling and intricate melody lines, it’s a challenge to sing and couldn’t be done better. Kieran Brown as the Phantom and Kira Morsley as Christine are absolutely mind blowing talents; Brown has an emotive and commanding voice, that can turn from burdened to biting in a bipolar instant, and Morsley couldn’t sound sweeter if she were an actual songbird. Each song stands alone, but therein lies the problem. Where Lloyd Webber reuses material like he’s run out of ideas, the running motifs through his version of Phantom are what make the music memorable, whereas you don’t come out humming along to Yeston’s score. All Star Productions need to be forgiven a little for the limitations placed upon them by the small space and presumably small budget. The staging is minimal and best when Cowle embraces the over lugging cheap bits of set on and off. Brendan Matthew’s choreography has moments of brilliance, but has a fancy for symmetrically which looks a little basic. Altogether however, this is a quick and simplistic production which is effective because the performances are so heartfelt. Everything surrounding it should make it hard to believe in the production, but the cast and music make it impossible not to invest and that matters more than anything else. Phantom is so good it actually hurts. Phantom is playing at Ye Olde Rose and Crown until 31 May. For more information and tickets, see the All Star Product

Here at AYT, we are quite excited because we have managed to get a pair of tickets to each night of Iris Theatre’s production Music Impossible at St.Paul’s Church in Covent Garden. With shadow puppetry and an orchestra, as well as the fact that it is in a church, everything about this show looks pretty amazing. You’ve not got long to enter so you better be quick! Gregory Emfietzis and Iris Theatre present: MUSIC IMPOSSIBLE Devised and composed by Gregory Emfietzis 24-26 May | St.Paul’s Church, Covent Garden Based on Myrto Loulaki’s classic fairy tale and performed by the Metapraxis Ensemble, Music Impossible is a shadow puppetry show for all the family where instruments of the orchestra become part of the shadow puppetry world. Join Roger on his mysterious journey, full of thrills and action, as he strives to find a way to destroy the source of evil and bring back music to the city again. Join us as we venture into a… Music Impossible. iristheatre.com Enter the competition: To win a pair of tickets to any performance, simply fill in the form below and submit it by 7.00pm on Wednesday 22 May. A pair of tickets are available for each performance. [contact-form-7] By entering the competition you agree to have your email added to the A Younger Theatre E-Newsletter. AYT never passes your details onto other third parties – we keep them safe! The post Competition: Win tickets to Music Impossible at St.Paul’s Church appeared first on A Younger Theatre.