Little Rock, written
and directed by Rajendra
Ramoon Maharaj, at
Loreto Theater at Sheen Center, is a play that
tells the story of the Little Rock Crisis of
1957, when nine black students were integrated
into the white Little Rock Central High School.
It is told with projections of the photos taken
at the time. The excellent nine member cast act
and sing beautifully. It is an inspiring story.
We previously attended the wonderful opening
night party at Capitale on June14.
A revival of Carmen
Jones, by Oscar
Hammerstein II, music by George
Bizet, at the Classic Stage Company,
featured a glorious singing cast headed by an
outstanding Anika
Noni Rose in the title role. The entire cast
sang and moved well under the direction of John
Doyle with choreography by Bill
T. Jones. The music is taken from the opera Carmen and
it is updated to World War II in a parachute
factory with an all black cast. The toreador is
now a boxer, a sonorous David Aron
Danane, Cindy Lou (Micaela) is Lindsay
Roberts, and sang magnificently, and Joe
(Don Jose) Clifton Duncan is
the soldier in love with Carmen is. The
musicians played the score excellently, under
the direction of Shelton
Becton. It was a delight for the ears from
beginning to end.
One of the delightful events of the Awards
Season is Inside Broadway's 2018 Broadway
Beacon Awards at JW Marriott Essex House,
160 Central Park South. This year Ethan
Slater (photo below) was honored with Alexandra
Kambouris Alberstadt, Kenneth G. Alberstadt and Orin
Wolf.
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There is always a delicious reception with
fine food, wine and cocktails before the
Award Ceremony, where adorable children from
PS 97 K performed songs from Broadway shows,
and performers from Beautiful: The Carole
King Musical also sang. It was a
marvelous evening.
Three terrific singers head the
cast, Melissa
Errico, Stephen Bogardus (photo below) and John
Cudia, of On
a Clear Day You Can See Forever, music
by Burton
Lane, book and lyrics by Alan
Jay Lerner, adapted and directed by Charlotte
Moore, at the Irish Repertory Theatre.
The music is glorious, the songs are
wonderful and the eleven member cast perform
excellently. Although the plot is bizarre,
one is carried away by the exceptional
performances, especially by the three leads
mentioned above. I had a marvelous night
celebrating with the cast at Crompton Ale
House, 159 West 26th St, at the opening
night party.
There is not a brighter night at the ballet
than seeing Don Quixote, choreography by
Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky, staged
by Kevin McKenzie and Susan Jones, music by
Ludwig Minkus, a production of American
Ballet Theatre (ABT) at the Metropolitan
Opera House. It has magnificent dancing,
sparking music and is very funny. What more
can you want? Hee Seo (Kitri) was the
highlight, with her impeccable performance.
James Whiteside (Basil) supported her
excellently. Alexandre Hammoudi was a comic
Gamache and Thomas Forster a fine Espada. In
Act II, Aaron Scott gave a brilliant,
athletic performance as a Gypsy leader with
Betsy McBride as his sexy lady. In the Dream
scene, Christine Shevchenko (Queen of the
Dryads) and Anabel Katsnelson (Amour) were
outstanding
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