Simeon Rawls

It's the final week left to vote for the 2023 BroadwayWorld Central Virginia Awards! Voting ends on 12/31 at midnight. Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

There's just two weeks left to vote and we have the latest standings as of Monday, December 18th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld Central Virginia Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

It's the final 3 weeks and we have the latest standings as of Monday, December 11th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld Central Virginia Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

It's December, and the first standings of the month have been announced as of Tuesday, December 5th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld Central Virginia Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

Happy Holidays! The latest wave of standings have been announced as of Monday, November 27th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld Central Virginia Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

The latest wave of standings have been announced as of Monday, November 20th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld Central Virginia Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

The John W. Engeman Theater's production of DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST opened last night, and BroadwayWorld was there to capture the festivities! Check out the photos below!

The John W. Engeman Theater's production of DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST opened last night, and BroadwayWorld was there to capture the festivities! Check out photos of the opening night bows here!

The John W. Engeman Theater has released production photos for DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Performances run through Sunday, December 31, 2023. Check out the photos below!

The John W. Engeman Theater announces the cast and creative team of DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Performances begin on Thursday, November 16, 2023, and run through Sunday, December 31, 2023.

The Wedding Singer made its Regional Debut at the Crown Uptown in July. It’s super fun, high energy musical based on the hit Adam Sandler movie, with music by Matthew Sklar (Elf, The Prom), book by Chad Beguelin (Aladdin, Elf, The Prom) and Tim Herlihy (Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore), and lyrics by Chad Beguelin. The Wedding Singer's score is rife with 80’s pop references, which made me ponder the question, “From which actual hits were the show’s songs derived?”

The Crown Arts Collaborative (CAC), a 501(c)3 non-profit with a mission of returning theatre and art to the historic Crown Uptown Theatre, continues their inaugural theatrical season with The Wedding Singer, the Tony Award-nominated musical based on the 1998 Adam Sandler film of the same name. Performances run weekends July 15 - August 7 at the Crown Uptown, with Friday and Saturday showtimes at 8:00 PM, and Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM. This will be the regional premier of The Wedding Singer, the first time the show has been produced by a professional company in Wichita or surrounding markets.

It was another beautiful night in Andover, Kansas. The temperature was in the mid-80’s, there was a slight breeze, and not a rain cloud in sight. Many in the crowd were purchasing snacks from the food trucks parked behind the audience. Golf carts were transporting the super annuated and folx with mobility issues from the parking areas to the audience area. The VIP area was humming, and the atmosphere was super festive.

Set in a fun and funky hair salon, Shear Madness concludes The Forum Theatre Company's 2019 production season in a big and bold way. The plot, almost from Clue the movie, has action that centers around figuring out exactly who murdered Isabel Churney with none other than hair cutting shears. If you go, which I do highly recommend, pay close attention to the action at the beginning of the show. It will be useful later to help solve the murder mystery. Filled with Wichita current events and references plus greatly polished improv from the cast, you can't keep from laughing but also appreciate the hard work and dedication which went into crafting out a carefully selected play thanks to producing artistic director, Kathy Page Hauptman.

There are three doors on this colorful 1980s set designed by Ben Juhnke, and immediately I think 'FARCE!' The 1980s tunes are pumping from the sound system, making the patrons move and groove in their seats. The atmosphere is lively, and the audience is upbeat and happy, chatting away until the action on stage catches their attention. A pre-show pantomime begins; Simeon Rawls and Jen Bechter begin their day in the beauty salon 'Shear Madness'; patrons begin to enter the shop and hilarity ensues. This pantomime continues for at least 15 minutes before any of the actors speak, and it is hysterical. The action is clean, quick, and understandable. The hilarity continues on until the last few minutes of the play. I will not reveal the ending, but suffice it to say these last bits are intense and dramatic, and showcase some serious acting chops.

The madness erupts at a hairstyling salon when suddenly, between a shampoo and a style, the old lady upstairs gets mysteriously murdered and everyone's dying to know whodunit?

Music Theatre Wichita concludes its 2017 Season, "Hollywood to Broadway: A Summer Festival of Musical Theatre" with the regional premiere of Disney's Newsies. The lively season finale has an extended run, with performances August 11-20 in the Century II Concert Hall in downtown Wichita, KS. Newsies is part of the organization's 46th season, which is also the 30th season for producing artistic director Wayne Bryan, the final of five locally produced Broadway-scale productions.

Theater professionals from across Michigan will gather Aug. 29 when The 2016 Wilde Awards are presented at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts in the Detroit suburb of West Bloomfield. Presented by EncoreMichigan.com, the most comprehensive resource for news and information about the state's professional theater industry, The Wilde Awards were established in 2002 to honor the excellent work produced by Michigan's professional theaters.