“Madman” Goes Off-Broadway: A Conversation with Ilia Volok of “Diary of a Madman”
Last October, I had the chance to review Diary of a Madman, an engaging one-person show based on the short story by Nikolai Gogol, and adapted and performed by the brilliant actor Ilia Volok. At the time, I considered it to be one of the best shows – and certainly the most memorable one-person show – I had seen in 2017. Now, in the wake of its initial run’s critical acclaim and box office success, the show is moving to the John Cullum Theatre at the American Theatre of Actors for an Off-Broadway limited engagement.
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COMPANY in Concert presented by Clocktower Players, Community Theater of the Rivertowns
Phone Rings, Door Chimes, In Comes COMPANY!
Kick off Clocktower Players 40th season on Saturday, November 4th with the concert staging of legendary composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award-Winning Best Musical,COMPANY!
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A Very, Very Late Farewell to the Union Square Theatre
There is so much to pay attention to in New York City that sometimes even the most important things can go completely unnoticed. I don’t walk through Union Square too terribly often, since I live 90 blocks north of it, but when I do, I have always tried to stop and look at the Union Square Theatre on East 17th Street, the first New York theatre I ever saw a show in. Apparently, I haven’t been paying as close attention to it as I thought, because walking past it the other day I noticed it’s not there anymore. Oh, the classic marble and red brick Tammany Hall façade remains, being a historic landmark and immune to demolition, but the building has been gutted, it is a hole in the ground. The theatre is gone and it is not coming back. What’s more, the process of its disappearance and the building’s reinvention has been going on for nearly two years. So I want to apologize to the Union Square Theatre for allowing this all to slip my notice and pay tribute to a building that was a key part of my theatre education.
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Actors Deserve a timely “Yes or a No” from Casting Directors
Have you ever waited weeks, sometimes months after an audition to hear if you have been cast or not? Cringing by the phone, frantically checking your email every two minutes, even going through your spam and text messages to see if a Casting Director has contacted you about that latest audition. You’re stressed out because you have not heard one peep, and you’re not sure if you should audition for other theaters and gigs. You really have your heart set on that one role, company and show and may be going out of town for a long run, or on the road, or cruise ship and you don’t want to lead other casting directors or companies on by attending other auditions!
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Inside UVX: An Exciting New Combination of Cinema and Live Theatre
It often feels exciting to talk about what new forms of theatre – and what new forms of art and entertainment, generally speaking – may emerge in future society. Whenever this conversation comes up, it is always worth talking about how theatre could potentially be merged with the still relatively young art form of cinema, and become an audience experience unlike any other, and that is exactly why the UVX (the Ultimate Viewing Experience) w
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Discovering and Re-Discovering 'Ghost: The Musical' - An Interview with WPPAC's Natalie Weiss and Steven G. Douglas
Playing iconic theatre roles is never easy. Now add the fact that the role is from an iconic movie, I don't envy the actors taking that on.
Usually, roles like these have intense fanbases who have the highest expectations when it comes to how these characters are portrayed. But such challenges also provide some incredible opportunities. The chance to explore these characters and put your own spin on them is something actors rarely pass the chance to do.
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'CastAndLoose Live! Not So Buenos Aires' Opens at the New Ohio Theatre
Join CastAndLoose Live! as we take on all the pigeon-holes and stereotypes facing Latinx actors and characters in film, TV, and theater.
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What Works and Doesn't Work with 'For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday'
"I wrote For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday as a gift for my mother,” says playwright Sarah Ruhl in the program notes for the current production of For Peter Pan, currently playing at Playwright's Horizons. Later she mentions that Peter Pan author J.M Barrie wrote the classic book for the five children that inspired the story. The Peter Pan parallels begin in the program notes and continue all the way until the end of this 90-minute play.
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The Story of CCTA: How Theatre Artists are Raising Climate Change Awareness
Over the past couple of decades, it has become undeniable that climate change is happening, and is one of the most critical issues facing our planet. If bold actions aren’t taken to do something to reserve the current trends, scientists say that the long-term impact could be catastrophic. While our current political leaders are largely ignorant of these issues, that’s not stopping the artists working on the Climate Change Theatre Action initiative from doing what they can to increase awareness of what’s happening to our environment.
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Royal Family Productions and We So Hapa Join Forces for SONGS OF OTHERNESS
Royal Family Productions, a non-profit theatre company known for its innovative productions and development of new original work, is partnering with We So Hapa, a non-profit group founded to showcase multi-ethnic talent, for this diversity-centric, one-night-only cabaret event entitled Songs of Otherness on Friday, September 1, 2017 at Royal Family Performing Arts Space (145 West 46th Street, 3rd Floor). Tickets for the cabaret start at $25 and can be purchased by clicking http://bit.ly/SongsofOtherness and you can find out more information by vising www.WeSoHapa.com and www.RoyalFamilyProductions.org.
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