Michael Levine News

Acorn Productions, a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing and developing Southern Maine's community of performing artists, announces the final performance schedule for this year's Maine Playwrights Festival. The MPF opens with an evening of dramatic readings on Saturday, April 30, in the Ballroom at Mechanics Hall, and continues with a weekend of performances at the St. Lawrence Arts Center from May 4 to 7. The event wraps up with the 24-Hour Portland Theater Project on Sunday, May 8th, a popular presentation of 6 new plays that all share the same line of dialogue, prop, and setting, all of which have been written, rehearsed and presented within a single day. Tickets for the MPF are available on Acorn's website at www.acorn-productions.org and cost $16 for the general public and $14 for students and seniors.

ALWAYS SHINE, starring Mackenzie Davis and Caitlin FitzGerald, directed by Sophia Takal and written by Lawrence Michael Levine, will make its World Premiere at this year's Tribeca Film Festival as part of the US Narrative Competition.

MADAMA BUTTERFLY was never my favorite Puccini until the current production conceived by Anthony Minghella. Before, Butterfly always seemed too submissive, Pinkerton too brutish and their child, well, too cute. Now—particularly with the current cast, headed by the magnificent Kristine Opolais as the young geisha and the dashing Roberto Alagna as the clueless Pinkerton, her American husband--seemed to put my past reservations to rest. The result was a magnificent performance, from beginning to end.

Acorn Productions, a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing and developing the Southern Maine community of performing artists, has finalized plans for this year's annual Maine Playwrights Festival (MPF). This year's MPF is co-directed by MPF Founder Michael Levine and Daniel Burson, former Education and Literary Director at Portland Stage Company, joined by Playwright-in-Residence William Donnelly. This year, six scripts by Delvyn Case, Carolyn Gage, Jennifer Jensen, Richard Sewell, David Susman, and Bess Welden will be brought to life at the St. Lawrence Arts Center from May 4 to 7, 2016, with the latest installment of the 24-Hour Portland Theaer Project on Sunday, May 8th. Additionally, Burson and Donnelly will be offering a 3-hour Master Playwrighting Workshop on March 19 from 1 to 4pm at the Maine College of Art. More information about this year's MPF, including a sign-up form for the Master Playwrighting Class, is available on Acorn's website at www.acorn-productions.org.

The 2016 Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), presented by AT&T, today announced the US Narrative, International Narrative, and Documentary Competition feature film selections

The International Opera Awards are pleased to announce the shortlist for this year's Awards. These were selected by the jury chaired by John Allison, editor of Opera magazine and classical music critic with The Daily Telegraph.

Naked Shakespeare, Acorn Productions' performance series dedicated to presenting the works of the Bard in accessible ways for contemporary audiences, continues their popular series of First Friday performances next month with two performances of 'Seven Deadly Sins,' a series of seven highly-abridged stories from seven different plays, each of which highlights a different vice. Naked Shakespeare Artistic Director abridged the scripts and directs the show, which features a cast of twelve actors, with several company members joined by a few guest artists. Unlike previous First Friday shows, 'Seven Deadly Sins' will be a series of self-contained short pieces, allowing audience members to experience both extremely well-known selections from Othello and The Tempest as well as lesser known plays including Timon of Athens and Coriolanus. Naked Shakespeare's First Friday shows begin a month of Shakespeare performances by various companies designed to coincidence with the visit of a copy of the First Folio at the Portland Public Library. The performances are free with a $10 suggested donation. For more information, audience members are encouraged to visit Acorn's website at www.acorn-productions.org.

Naked Shakespeare, Acorn Productions' performance series dedicated to presenting the works of the Bard in accessible ways for contemporary audiences, expands their popular series of First Friday performances next month with three performances of 'Cupid's Arrow,' a compilation of the stories of five Shakespearean romances.

Canada's greatest achievement in music, LOUIS RIEL, is returning to the Canadian Opera Company stage in a new production to help mark the 150th anniversary of the country's confederation. LOUIS RIEL is one of six landmark operas unveiled today at the public launch of the COC's 2016/2017 season at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Naked Shakespeare, Acorn Productions' performance series dedicated to presenting the works of the Bard in accessible ways for contemporary audiences, continues the company's popular First Friday performances with a December performance in The Ballroom at Mechanics Hall.

Houston, October  6, 2015— Houston Grand Opera (HGO) opens its 2015–16 season October 23 with Puccini's heart-wrenching tale of love and tragedy, Tosca, featuring the reprise of HGO's “gripping” 2010 production and a stellar cast of returning and debut artists. Performances run through November 14. 

Houston, October  6, 2015— Houston Grand Opera (HGO) opens its 2015–16 season October 23 with Puccini's heart-wrenching tale of love and tragedy, Tosca, featuring the reprise of HGO's “gripping” 2010 production and a stellar cast of returning and debut artists. Performances run through November 14. 

Naked Shakespeare, Acorn Productions' performance series dedicated to presenting the works of the Bard in accessible ways for contemporary audiences, announces the first in a new series of First Friday performances in The Ballroom at Mechanics Hall.

The Stratford Festival comes to CBC-TV this September with spectacular performances of KING LEAR, ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA and KING JOHN, captured live in HD and presented uninterrupted. These productions are the first in the Stratford Festival HD initiative, which will see all of Shakespeare's plays filmed over the next 10 years, making them available to audiences nationwide and around the world.

At a press conference held June 1 in the lobby of the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) announced 236 nominations for 212 eligible productions for the 36th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards, which honour excellence in the performing arts in Toronto.

The Brooklyn Film Festival today announced their full slate of films for the 2015 edition of this Brooklyn cultural mainstay.

Toronto – The Canadian Opera Company's iconic double-bill of Béla Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle and Arnold Schoenberg's Erwartungreturns to the company's mainstage to close its 2014/2015 season. COC Music Director Johannes Debus conducts both operas for the first time, leading the COC Orchestra through these visceral and haunting scores, all brought to life in a mind-bending and gravity-defying production by world-renowned Canadian artistic visionary Robert Lepage. Bluebeard's Castleis sung in Hungarian and Erwartung is sung in German, both with English SURTITLESTM, and runs for only seven performances on May 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 23, 2015 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Naked Shakespeare, Acorn Productions' performance series dedicated to presenting the works of the Bard in accessible ways for contemporary audiences, presents the company's latest installment of their new First Friday performance series on Friday, May 1st at 7pm in The Ballroom at Mechanics Hall.

Acorn Productions, a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing and developing the Southern Maine community of performing artists, announces the final schedule of performances for this year's fourteenth edition of the annual Maine Playwrights Festival (MPF), which takes place from May 13 to 17 at the St. Lawrence Arts Center in Portland. This year's MPF is co-directed by MPF Founder Michael Levine and Daniel Burson, former Education and Literary Director at Portland Stage Company, and features three guest directors as well as a residency by Boston-based playwright Melinda Lopez. The festival also includes the fifth installment of the 24-Hour Portland Theater Project, in which six plays are written, rehearsed and performed in the span of twenty-four hours. Tickets for the MPF range from $10 to $15, and a complete performance schedule, as well as more information about the plays and on-line ticket ordering, is available on Acorn's website at www.acorn-productions.org.

Between Worlds is the highly anticipated operatic debut from composer Tansy Davies, who collaborates with director Deborah Warner and librettist Nick Drake on this world premiere from the English National Opera.