AmericanTheaterWeb Original News & Reviews

Well,there's a new Elle Woods coming ot Broadway, Bailey Hanks, who was named the winer of the MTV reality series last night. Banks has released a single of one of the songs from Legally Blonde, "So Much Better." To make it easy for eveyrone who's looking for it, a direct link is below.

So Much Better from Legally Blonde.

And, as long as we're at it, I've been looking for the two singles from Wicked recored by the show's current Elphaba, Kerry Ellis. I've not been able to track them down, as soon as I do, I'll link them up here.

Updated July 22, 2008 AM

CurtainUp

Review: Around the World in 80 Days
Director Michael Evan Haney has five capable actors playing more than thirty roles in the globe-trotting yarn, as compactly adapted by Mark Brown at the Irish Rep. . . .

Variety

Review: Around the World in 80 Days
In the summer, the Irish Repertory Theater usually offers a droll little treat. This year, it's Mark Brown's adaptation of Jules Verne's novel "Around the World in 80 Days," co-produced with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Some of the jokes are painfully lame, but this featherweight romp should still find its niche.

TheaterMania

Review: Around the World in 80 Days
This small-scale theatrical of Jules Verne's globe-trotting novel is big fun.

Talkin' Broadway

Review: Around the World in 80 Days
Let’s dispense first with the most shameless obviousness: If you loved The 39 Steps, you’ll love Around the World in 80 Days. . . .

December brings two tales of second chances Pittsburgh thanks to the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre’s Conor McPherson Winter Rep.

The company is expanding their season with the addition of a second play by the contemporary Irish playwright, Conor McPherson. The previously-slated Dublin Carol will run December 3 - 20, and McPherson’s one-man comedy St. Nicholas wil be seen for six performances between December 12th and 20th.

In St. Nicholas, a vitriolic Dublin theatre critic obsesses over a beautiful young actress playing Salome. After giving the production a scathing review he follows the troupe to London, but instead of finding love and forgiveness he is taken under wing by a house full of vampires!

St. Nicholas stars Martin Giles as the critic, and is directed by Andrew S. Paul.

The 36-year-old McPherson has received numerous accolades as both a playwright and a director. His play The Weir won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play in 1999, and in 2006 Shining City received two nominations for Tony Awards, including a nomination for best play. He was recognized as both a playwright and a director for his most recent play, The Seafarer, which received Tony nominations in 2008 for best play and best director.

Martin Giles is in his seventh season with PICT, currently appearing in the Synge Cycle productions of The Playboy of the Western World, The Shadow of the Glen and Deirdre of the Sorrows. Giles’ past PICT productions include Julius Caesar, Stuff Happens and The Gigli Concert.

St. Nicholas will be performed on December 12th, 13th, 19th and 20th at 10 p.m. (following performances of Dublin Carol), on December 14th at 7 p.m., and December 15th at 8 p.m. All seats $20 ($15 with purchase of ticket to Dublin Carol). For reservations call ProArts Tickets at 412-394-3353 or visit www.proartstickets.org. For more information visit www.picttheatre.org.

The 2008-2009 season Plowshares Theatre Company in Detroit gets underway in just two days with a new company-created musical revue, Soulfest. Running July 24 - August 3, this production is just one of four in the theater's season, which will feature two plays receiving their Midwest Premieres with the company.

Soulfest brings the music of the 1970s to life in a show that invites audiences to "put your platform shoes on, fluff out your afro and throw on your daishiki." Conceived, developed and directed by the theater's artistic director Gary Anderson, the revue features the music of Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire and others.

From October 2 - 26, the theater will produce A Summer In Sanctuary by Al Letson, an autobiographical one-man show by poet/playwright perhaps best known for JULIUS X. The play takes place in the summer of 2006, and in it, Letson chronicles his journey working at a summer camp at the Sanctuary on 8th Street, a community center in an economically challenged neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida.

Alice Childress' Wedding Band is the third entry in Plowshares' 08-09 season and is slated for production in February and March 2009. Set in 1918 in South Carolina, "Wedding" focuses on the love affair between Julia and Herman who must keep on the move hiding their love for one another. She's black and he's white their love is against the law. They dream of moving up north to start a new life together free of compromise but after a deacade this dream has become a dim promise, and they must struggle to keep its light alive.

Plowshares' season will conclude in April and May with Order My Steps from Tracey Scott Wilson. This play explores the African American Church in modern times. When Selena's doctor tells her that she's HIV positive, she's certain he must be mistaken. What she doesn't know is that her husband, Malik, has been leading “a secret life.” Selena tries to escape into the fantasy world of a church musical about AIDS and faith in her church, while her husband fights to maintain his own standing in the community.

For more information or to get a membership to Plowshares Theatre Company’s upcoming season, call the theater at 313-506.2858 or visit: www.Plowshares.org.

Having received both critical and popular acclaim, the Theatre Rhinoceros production of John Fisher's Ishi: The Last of the Yahi has been extended through July 27 in San Francisco.

Fisher's play is a revisit to San Francisco history, a tale of love, war, and ruthless ambition in the City by the Bay. In "Ishi," Professor Alfred Kroeber finds the West's most famous Indian starving in the woods and the two embark on an adventure that will shape the future of California and uncover the secrets of our blood drenched past. Staged by playwright Fisher, the piece unfolds as an environmental theatre production that's been called "gripping" by The San Francisco Chronicle.

Theatre Rhinoceros, America’s longest running professional queer theatre, develops and produces works of theatre that enlighten, enrich, and explore both the ordinary and extraordinary aspects of our queer community.

Performances of "Ishi" are Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 3pm. Tickets are $25.00 and can be purchased by visiting www.ticketweb.com. Theatre Rhinoceros is located at 2926 16th Street in San Francisco. For further information visit: www.therhino.org.