Jesse Smith News

Spanning 28 theater companies and 59 productions, from the largest and most prominent to small, humble and innovative, the Gypsy Rose Lee Awards honor as much professional theater as we reviewers can cram into our year.

Are there any taboo subjects for musicals anymore? I mean we've had shows about serial killers and assassins, drug addicts and prisoners, demons and super powered psychotic teens, and even oversexed puppets. So I don't know why anyone should be surprised by the new musical at ACT in conjunction with ArtsWest and Circle X Theatre Co., 'Bad Apples' which takes a look at one of our countries most disgraceful moments, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. This in your face rock musical will definitely not be everyone's cup of tea and especially not for the kids. But if you can get past all the language, sex, and horrific images then what you're left with is a killer show that looks at how easily people in power can justify appalling acts.

Sound Theatre Company continues its tenth anniversary season with Stephen Adly Guirgis' expressionistic courtroom fantasy The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.  The Last Days of Judas Iscariot dramatizes a court case to decide the ultimate fate of Judas Iscariot which utilizes flashbacks, testimonials, and interrogations of such witnesses as Mother Teresa, Caiaphas, Saint Monica, Sigmund Freud, and Satan, among others.  The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is a hilarious, poignant, thought-provoking work by Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis. Contains mature language.

Bainbridge Performing Arts presents Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID, directed by Joanna Hardie, with music direction by Josh Anderson, and choreography by Debbie Pierce. Run dates are May 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28 & 29. Check out photos below!

There's no doubt that Jeanine Tesori's music in the musical "Violet", currently playing at ArtsWest, is stirring and powerful but it's the lyrics and book by Brian Crawley that truly pack the punch in the show. But of course they would as the show is rife with hot button topics of that era as well as our own. And while the ensemble manages some of the tightest and most technically proficient performances I've seen I didn't always get from them the importance or danger associated with the stakes of those issues and so didn't always feel the emotional connection to the story.

Spike TV's hit original reality-competition series INK MASTER produced by Original Media, returns for a 'lucky' seventh season, premiering tonight, March 1 at 10 pm ET/PT.

Spike TV's hit original reality-competition series INK MASTER produced by Original Media, returns for a 'lucky' seventh season, premiering Tuesday, March 1 at 10 pm ET/PT.

Rock music, counter-culture, and the sexual revolution take center stage in HAIR, the first and most successful rock musical of all time, at Bainbridge Performing Arts this month. Featuring the iconic numbers Aquarius, Good Morning Starshine, I Believe in Love, Hair, I Got Life, What a Piece of Work Is Man, and Hippie Life, HAIR offers meaningful commentary on the generational divide of the Sixties, lending vitality and insights that remain relevant today. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Rock music, counter-culture, and the sexual revolution take center stage in HAIR, the first and most successful rock musical of all time, at Bainbridge Performing Arts this month. Featuring the iconic numbers Aquarius, Good Morning Starshine, I Believe in Love, Hair, I Got Life, What a Piece of Work Is Man, and Hippie Life, HAIR offers meaningful commentary on the generational divide of the Sixties, lending vitality and insights that remain relevant today. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Rock music, counter-culture, and the sexual revolution take center stage in HAIR, the first and most successful rock musical of all time. Featuring the iconic numbers Aquarius, Good Morning Starshine, I Believe in Love, Hair, I Got Life, What a Piece of Work Is Man, and Hippie Life, HAIR offers meaningful commentary on the generational divide of the Sixties, lending vitality and insights that remain relevant today.

Sound Theatre Company has never shied away from difficult plays and now in conjunction with Brownbox Theatre they've taken on Marcus Gardley's moving civil war fable "… And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi". To be blunt, this play is not going to be for everyone with its deeply poetic nature and complex imagery. And while certain elements of the piece I found confusing or missing the mark; I was able to come away from it with an admiration of its lyric beauty and gripping story.

The 2015 Brooklyn Artists Ball Dance Party will be held tonight, April 15, 2015 from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Brooklyn Museum's Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavilion, 1st Floor, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn.

The 2015 Brooklyn Artists Ball Dance Party will be held on Wednesday, April 15, 2015 from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Brooklyn Museum's Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavilion, 1st Floor, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn.

As it gears up to celebrate a record-breaking 7th year in the West End, Thriller Live is announcing major changes to the production, including a new opening, new video content and the addition of iconic Michael Jackson songs - Earth Song and HIStory.

Just in time for the raucous celebration that is Halloween, Australian eclectic soul nonet Saskwatch present the gorgeously terrifying visual accompaniment to “Born to Break Your Heart”

There was champagne and a massive cake on stage last night as the cast, producers and backstage crew celebrated Thriller Live entering the record books as the 20th longest running musical in West End history.

South Williamsport, Pa. residents and students spoke out over the recent cancellation of the high school's planned 2015 musical SPAMALOT at a school board meeting last night, bringing the recent censorship controversy to a supposed head.

The school district has recently heard from the Educational Theatre Association, and Dramatists Guild, amongst other organizations and industry professionals. Last night, the American Critics Association wrote in to address the controversy:

The school district has recently heard from the Educational Theatre Association, and Dramatists Guild, amongst other organizations and industry professionals. Last night, the American Critics Association wrote in to address the controversy: