Chris Pittman

There's good news and bad news in the Gloucester Stage production of Jason Robert Brown's SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD. The inspiring song cycle from 1995 shows the composer's promise that has been fulfilled, as evidenced by his three Tony Awards, and there is much to enjoy in both the music and lyrics (when you can hear them). The five-member cast features quality vocalists, but they often lose focus while they are busily moving around the stage in Director Robert Walsh's zeal to substitute action for the nonexistent connective libretto.

Gloucester Stage Company continues its 37th season of professional theater on Cape Ann with a limited run of Jason Robert Brown's Songs For A New World from August 4 through August 27 at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA. Songs For A New World with music and lyrics by three time Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown is a stirring musical journey examining the moments of decision and difficult choices faced in everyday life. Known for such Broadway hits as Parade, The Bridges of Madison County, Honeymoon in Vegas, and The Last Five Years, Mr. Brown artfully blends pop, jazz and gospel in solos and ensemble styles to create this inspiring song cycle.  Directed by Gloucester Stage Artistic Director Robert Walsh, the production features five singers including Tony Award nominee Barbara Walsh, Broadway veterans Rockport's Wendy Waring and Jack Donahue, Berklee College of Music graduate Chris Pittman and  Brandeis' Nyah Macklin, all four in their Gloucester Stage debut. According to Director and GSC Artistic Director Walsh, "Songs For A New World is an enthralling evening of storytelling through song and movement reminiscent of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. We are so fortunate to have such a talented group of actor-singers to bring this work to our audience. It's a particular treat to work with my cousin Barbara again after so many years!  Wendy, Jack, Chris and Nyah are also incredibly fun, hugely talented and all working together in such a fun way - it's a thrill!'

Gloucester Stage Company continues its 37th season of professional theater on Cape Ann with a limited run of Jason Robert Brown's Songs For A New World from August 4 through August 27 at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA. Songs For A New World with music and lyrics by three time Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown is a stirring musical journey examining the moments of decision and difficult choices faced in everyday life. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast below!

Gloucester Stage Company continues its 37th season of professional theater on Cape Ann with a limited run of Jason Robert Brown's Songs For A New World from August 4 through August 27 at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA. Songs For A New World with music and lyrics by three time Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown is a stirring musical journey examining the moments of decision and difficult choices faced in everyday life. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast below!

SHOW BOAT inaugurates a partnership between Fiddlehead Theatre and Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre. The lavish, spectacular production is co-directed by Meg Fofonoff and Stacey Stephens, features a 27-piece live orchestra, and a cast of 50 triple-threat performers. The costumes by Stephens are to die for and the musical numbers are triumphant. If only it had a little more heart.

Meg Fofonoff and Stacey Stephens, Producing Artistic Directors of Fiddlehead Theatre Company, announced today the cast of Show Boat, the company's first production in partnership with the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre, 265 Tremont Street, Boston. Show Boat will run for twelve performances from June 22-July 3, 2016. Co-Directed by Fofonoff and Stephens, Show Boat will feature a cast of 50 starring seasoned international and off-Broadway performers including Kim Corbett (West Side Story, Les Miserables) as Magnolia Hawks, Jeremiah James (The Fantasticks) as Gaylord Ravenal, Lindsay Roberts (The Gershwins' Porgy And Bess) as Queenie, and Brian Kinnard (Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story) as Joe. Show Boat is Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's epic of life on the Mississippi River with some of the most beautiful and influential music ever written for the stage including 'Ol'Man River,' 'Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man' and 'Bill.' Show Boat will be choreographed by Wendy Hall, with a 27-piece live orchestra under the direction of Charles Peltz.

Three summers ago, Company One Theatre converted the Roberts Studio Theatre into an authentic wrestling arena for its acclaimed production of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Kristoffer Diaz's satire of the faux violence and bright lights of the show biz world of professional wrestling. C1's season 16 concludes with the very real brutality of college football simulated on an astroturf stage in Colossal, a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere by Andrew Hinderaker. Accompanied by the sights and sounds of an actual game, the audience is immersed in a 'Friday Night Lights' experience of pounding drumbeats, crunching body contact, and crushing emotional sequences. Blending the physicality of the sport with the artistry of dance blurs the line between the two seemingly disparate activities, resulting in a compelling approach to telling a powerful story.

The latest offering from Ryan Landry and the Gold Dust Orphans simultaneously displays irreverence and pays loving homage to Disney's Mary with clever repartee, flights of the imagination, and kickin' production numbers.