Michael Levine News

ASCAP, the world leader in performing rights and advocacy for music creators, today kicks off its renowned annual ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop for an historic 30th year. Mentored by Emmy Award-winning composer Richard Bellis and produced by ASCAP Film & TV executives Michael Todd and Jennifer Harmon, the comprehensive 4-week program in Los Angeles is known in Hollywood circles for grooming some of the film and TV industry's top composers, connecting them with agents, music supervisors, attorneys and A-list Hollywood studio executives. The 12 composer participants for this year's program were revealed today.

Acorn Productions, producer of the ongoing Naked Shakespeare series of free and low-cost Shakepeare performances, announced that the company's Founding Artistic Director Michael Levine will be handing over leadership of the 14 year-old troupe to Sarah Barlow this fall. The transition marks the first time in the ensemble's history that someone other than Levine will be guiding the ongoing series that has included performances in a wide variety of locations, including the old Wine Bar on Wharf Street, Riverbank Park in Westbrook, the Portland Yacht Services Complex, Battery Steele on Peaks Island, the Portland Musuem of Art, Victoria Mansion, and the Dana Warp Mill. In order to celebrate Levine's tenure, Naked Shakespeare has teamed up with the Fore River Brewing Company in South Portland to offer the "Naked Shakesbeer" series on five consecutive Monday nights beginning on July 16th. These performances feature a reunion of past company members, who team up with actors currently in the ensemble to recreate highlights of Naked Shakespeare's first 14 years. These accessible shows feature sonnets, soliloquies and scenes brought to life without sets, lights or costumes in Fore River's cozy tasting room in South Portland. All shows in this pay-what-you-can series begin at 7pm, and lists of actors and selections for each of the 5 shows can be found on Acorn's website at www.acorn-productions.org.

At a press conference held May 31 in the lobby of the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) announced 237 nominations for the 39th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards, which recognize excellence in the performing arts in Toronto.

'Psycho the Musical' returns to Palm Springs for a limited engagement Memorial Day weekend- one year after it's incredible sold out run.

'Psycho the Musical' returns to Palm Springs for a limited engagement Memorial Day weekend- one year after it's incredible sold out run.

BroadwayWorld has teamed up with Broadway alum Ilana Levine, who makes her entrance onto the podcast stage with her new show Little Known Facts. Ilana's unique brand of celebrity interview, 'Podcast Verite,' is unfiltered, raw, honest and uniquely funny.

Praised for its "panache" by The New York Times, the Harlem Quartet is "bringing a new attitude to classical music, one that is fresh, bracing and intelligent," says the Cincinnati Enquirer.  That new attitude will be on display when the Harlem Quartet returns to the Soraya and Younes Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) and teams up with honor students from CSUN's Samuel Goldberg Honors String Quartet. This free concert will be performed on Wednesday, March 14 at 7:30pm in the intimate 500-seat Plaza del Sol Performance Hall situated alongside The Soraya on the CSUN campus.

March brings the return of Avner Eisenberg to Acorn Productions, this time as the co-director of the monthly Naked Shakespeare show entitled "Vaudevillians," which will be performed at Mechanics Hall on First Friday, with a Thursday night preview, and the following Thursday at Oxbow Blending and Bottling.

Richard Wagner's last opera, PARSIFAL, is a tough nut to crack. With its highly religious overtones, lack of action and incredible length (it ran about 5 hours 40 minutes the other night), it's not exactly a 'light night' at the opera--even if for those of us who consider opera to be a 'light night'. Still, with the right cast and conductor, it can be transcendent. The Met's new revival came pretty close to getting us there.

Netflix has given a Seaon 3 order to the hit drama series FRONTIER, starring Jason Momoa. The new season will consist of six episodes and premiere on Netflix in 2018.

Verdi's Rigoletto, a searing exploration of patriarchy, power, and commerce, returns to the Canadian Opera Company this winter with a production from acclaimed American director Christopher Alden. A tragedy on a Shakespearean scale, the opera is brought to life by an all-star cast and conducted by pre-eminent American maestro Stephen Lord. Ten performances take place at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on January 20, 27, February 1, 4, 6, 9, 11, 17, 21, and 23, 2018.

Naked Shakespeare, Acorn Productions' performance series dedicated to presenting the works of the Bard in accessible ways for contemporary audiences, continues its third season of First Friday performances in The Ballroom at Mechanics Hall with Cross-Dressers.

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

ASCAP, the world leader in performing rights and advocacy for music creators, today announced the 12 composer participants selected for its prestigious annual ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop, now in its 29th year. Led by Emmy Award-winning composer Richard Bellis, the comprehensive 4-week program takes place in Los Angeles.

The world's premier Podcast platforms, iTunes and Soundcloud, have both picked up the new long-form conversation podcast titled “Without Notes – The Podcast” hosted by prominent media expert and best-selling author Michael Levine ,effective immediately ,according to podcast executive producer Ryan McCormick.

Performances began on Tuesday, April 25, at the Curran for a strictly limited two-week run of THE ENCOUNTER starring Simon McBurney. This run marks the final U.S. engagement of the production through Sunday, May 7. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening festivities below!

The Tony Awards Administration Committee has been meeting all year to discuss the eligibility of the 2016-17 Broadway productions all leading up to Tuesdays big announcement... the Tony nominations.

Carole Shorenstein Hays and the Curran theater have announced performances for THE ENCOUNTER begin tonight, Tuesday, April 25 for a strictly limited two week run, which marks the final U.S. engagement of the production.

Carole Shorenstein Hays and the Curran are excited to present PLUGGED IN AT CURRAN, a series of events that invites you to explore your relationship with sound in unique and innovative ways.

Brown Box Theatre Project is set to tackle their most ambitious production to date with an outdoor presentation of Jason Robert Brown's beloved musical, Songs for a New World, May 5-14.