Nicole Ackman - Page 3

If you're looking for a fun family show to see this holiday season, Raleigh Little Theatre's CINDERELLA is a great choice. This year marks the 36th annual production of the musical and Mike McGee returns to direct for his second year. The show is based on the original, well-known fairy tale by Charles Perrault and adapted by Jim Eiler. It's an outlandish yet narratively simple version of the story, but it's sure to thrill younger children. 

RAGTIME is a musical that is as relevant now as it was in 1998 when it premiered and the production currently on at PlayMakers Repertory Company makes that abundantly clear. While the show might be set in the state of New York in 1906, it makes statements about immigration, race relations, corrupt justice, and women's rights that continue to ring true today. Director Zi Alikhan stages the show as you've never seen before, cutting away the period clothing and elaborate setting to focus on its brilliant music and lyrics and the poignant themes it explores. The new 360 degree theatre layout puts the audience firmly into the action, letting them get even closer to the characters than in a normal show. 

It seems that the best things really do happen while you're dancing, or at least they do in the touring production of WHITE CHRISTMAS that's currently at DPAC. The musical is at its very best during its high-energy dance numbers. The show is based on the 1954 holiday classic film starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. With music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, the show is a fun Christmas-themed romp with plenty of 1950s nostalgia, beautiful costumes, and great tap dancing. 

'At my age, I can say what I want,' Bessie Delany says in HAVING OUR SAY: THE DELANEY SISTERS' FIRST 100 YEARS. And truly, who's to argue with a woman who's lived more than a century? North Carolina Theatre's latest show tells the story of sisters, Sadie and Bessie Delany, two African-American women who were trailblazers in their careers and communities. Directed by Tia James, the play invites the audience into the sisters' home as they recount stories from their lives and explores themes of family, faith, and what it means to be a black woman in America.

Audiences might be familiar with the 1993 film, a?oeA Bronx Tale,a?? which was directed by and starred Robert De Niro. It's the tale of a young man growing up in the Bronx in the 1960s who is torn between his father and the Mafia boss who takes him under his wing. The film also featured its writer, Chazz Palminteri, and was based on his one-man play of the same name. The musical A BRONX TALE was adapted by Palminteri from that play over the course of a decade and opened on Broadway in 2016. It is this production that is at DPAC this week, as a stop on its second national tour.

Tyler Dema plays Crazy Mario and is in the ensemble of the US tour of A Bronx Tale, coming to DPAC November 5-10. A Bronx Tale is set in the Bronx in the 1960s and is based on the writer Chazz Palminteri's true life story. With music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Glenn Slater, this musical is sure to appeal to everyone. A New York native, Tyler graduated from Elon University in Elon, North Carolina this year. This is Tyler's national tour debut.

Theatre Raleigh's first show of their 2019-2020 Family Series, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, is a fetching and cute musical suitable for the whole family. It's a simplified concise adaptation of the 1873 Jules Verne novel of the same name packed down into a sixty-minute run time. With an adventure story, talented cast, and playful set, it's a show well worth seeing, especially if you have young children.

Plays and musicals are often written about racial incidents that have happened in the distant past, like THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS or the fictional RAGTIME. It's less often that they are written about more contemporary events like the true story of the Jena Six, six black students charged with attempted murder after a school fight in Louisiana in 2006. But Dominique Morisseau's BLOOD AT THE ROOT at Raleigh Little Theatre tackles the topic with respect and thoughtfulness, creating a narrative that examines the situation from many sides of the student body of the high school where it occurred.

When you open a program to find a page recommending ways that people can take action after seeing a musical (like registering to vote and supporting groups like the ACLU), you know that you're going to see something special. Theatre Raleigh's last show of their 2019 Summer Season, THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, is a daring musical about the Scottsboro Boys trials in the 1930s in Alabama. It has a company of all African-American performers, except one, and takes inspiration from minstrel shows. The show is directed and brilliantly choreographed by Gerry McIntyre who manages to make it very impactful, without feeling overdone.

Raleigh Little Theatre's A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER is the first local production of this musical which won the Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical in 2014. The hilarious romp has a score that's reminiscent of Gilbert and Sullivan's work, complete with patter songs and romantic ballads. A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder is Artistic Director Patrick Torres's fourteenth show he has directed at Raleigh Little Theatre and this month marks his five year anniversary at the company.

There are some musicals that it's difficult to imagine someone could watch without their heart being touched. Theatre Raleigh's production of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, directed by their Artistic Director Lauren Kennedy Brady, is certainly one of those pieces. Based on the novel of the same name, it's a story of family and isolation, love and romance, and wondering if you were meant for more than the life you're leading. With gorgeous music by Jason Robert Brown, this heart-wrenching show is sure to connect with audiences.

Ruth Stage and the 13th Street Reparatory Company's Lone Star feels like seeing two shows in one evening. This revival of James McLure's play consists of a mock country concert by the all-female band The Chalks in the first act with the action of the play occurring in the second act. The entire thing is directed by Joe John Battista, but it feels like two separate pieces rather than one coherent and connected show. While The Chalks are an entertaining and talented group, the play itself leaves much to be desired.

It's hard to believe how much BUTTERFLIES manages to fit into a 90 minutes. This co-production by The Tank and Kairos Italy Theatre manages to deal with sisterhood, motherhood, bohemian versus traditional lifestyles, mental health, and terminal illness in less than two hours. It feels as rushed as you might expect - in some ways, this play is the epitome of the phrase, "That escalated quickly."

The Little Mermaid. Thumbalina. The Ugly Duckling. The Princess and the Pea. The Little Match Girl. It's hard to overestimate just how much the prolific writer Hans Christian Anderson contributed to our childhoods and to our current pop culture. The Ensemble for the Romantic Century's HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON: TALES REAL & IMAGINED takes a close look into the author of many of our most beloved tales and how his tragic life inspired his stories.

In Oscar Wilde's THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, Gwendolen says, "In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing." It seems that NY Classical's new production took this quip to heart as their stylizing replaces more nuanced characterization at times, at least in the gender-reversed version.

Ramin Karimloo's extensive work in musical theatre includes Love Never Dies, Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera and Anastasia. This October, he's taking part in Seth Rudetsky's Broadway @ Leicester Square Theatre concerts.

Jordan Luke Gage is London's new Strat, taking over the lead role in Bat Out of Hell from Andrew Polec. Watch our video interview below!

Lambert Jackson's debut show, There is Nothin' Like a Dame, was a smash hit with four talented actresses celebrating one hundred years of women in musical theatre. West End stars Louise Dearman, Ria Jones, Alexia Khadime, and Rachel Tucker showcased famous female roles from the past century in chronological order over the course of the night, which each number seeming to be better than the last.

Ahead of their opening night on 1 September, Eugenius! hosted an acoustic media night to give previews of some songs and a Q&A with the cast and creators. Eugenius! is returning to The Other Palace for a limited run this September.

The King of Pop Michael Jackson would have been 60 yesterday - and the cast of record-breaking Thriller Live celebrated by entertaining West End crowds from the top of a Thiller Live branded open-top bus. They also appeared on BBC1's The One Show.