If you’re up on your Chekhov, you know that Vanya is the title character from Uncle Vanya. You’ll know that that Sonya works with him in the same play. You’ll probably remember that Masha is the middle child in Three Sisters. But you’ll be hard-pressed to figure out who Spike is. None of which matters according David Hyde Pierce...
The 2012 movie Ruby Sparks told the story of a writer who begins a story about a girl when she suddenly appears in flesh and blood. In the new play Trudy and Max in Love, the story revolves around two people who meet at a writer’s group, one a married author (Trudy) and the other a single writer (Max)....
“That book is too big to have just one theme. It is too massive to draw one conclusion or reaction. In terms of humility, we are only focusing on a few themes and therefore cannot call it 'The Iliad' but just 'An Iliad.'”
Actor, singer, and dancer Ben Vereen has been performing on stage, in movies, and on television for over 45 years. He is best known for his Tony Award-winning turn as the “Leading Player” in the original production of Pippin and for his role as “’Chicken’ George Moore” in Roots. It seems like he’s done it all, but with his...
Invisible Cities isn’t your parents’ opera. There’s no orchestra pit. There’s no stage. There’s no front row. Instead, the production, which is based on an Italo Calvino novel about an imagined conversation between emperor Kublai Khan and explorer Marco Polo, is being performed in the middle of Union Station. The man responsible for staging it is Yuval Sharon, artistic...
Stephen Sondheim says he prefers actors who sing to singers who act. Five-time Tony Award winner Broadway star Audra McDonald responds, “I’m not what he is looking for. I am a singer who acts. I think that’s because I started singing first.” With three of those Tony Awards for musicals (Carousel, Ragtime, and Porgy and Bess) and two for...
The artist Michaelangelo said, “The greatest risk to man is not that he aims too high and misses, but that he aims too low and hits.†That’s never been a problem for Terrence McNally (Master Class, Ragtime); taking risks has been his primary motivation throughout a more than four-decade career. Those gambles have paid off big for the four-time...
The woman who originated the role of Glinda in Wicked and won a Tony Award for her performance as Sally in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, will finally make her debut as a Hollywood Bowl headliner. Sure, Kristin Chenoweth has performed at the Hollywood Bowl, but this time around the Broadway star is front and center backed by the Los Angeles...