James Monroe Iglehart

James Monroe Iglehart Shares His New Cabaret Show Ahead of a Performance at NJPAC

By: Iris Wiener

April 21,2022: Due to his remarkable, distinct talent, James Monroe Iglehart steals every show in which he is cast. His head-turning, Tony Award winning performance in Aladdin and his breakout spot in Memphis were only the beginning of an illustrious career which now spans stage and screen. Not many entertainers can boast performing in two Broadway shows running simultaneously (see last year’s Freestyle Love Supreme and Hamilton), nor can they say they worked on Disney movies and guest roles throughout the pandemic (see Disenchanted and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, respectively). However, despite a laundry list of credits that demonstrate his versatility, what truly sets Iglehart apart from the rest is his enormous heart. He takes center stage in his new concert, The JMI Show, premiering at the NJPAC on April 22^nd as part of the American Songbook series. He spoke with Theaterlife about returning to cabaret, sharing a bill with Jim Dale, and his latest guest-star turn with the ladies of Girls5Eva.

The 94th Oscars

The 94^th Oscars Telecast Sunday. Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes Host

By: Ellis Nassour

March 24, 2020: Moviedom’s 94^th Academy Awards, saluting the best and brightest films of 2021, will telecast live on ABC from Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre at 8 P.M. Eastern. The Red Carpet Show will telecast at 6:30 Eastern. At various times around the world, the Awards will showcase U.S. and world cinema to more than 200 nations and territories. Things are quasi back to normal. The program returns from Los Angeles’ Art Deco train station to the luxe Dolby Theatre, smack dab in the middle of Hollywood.

English **, The Hang *

(l-r) Tala Ashe (Elham), Pooya Mohseni (Roya), Marjan Neshat (Marjan), Hadi Tabbal (Omid) and Ava Lalezarzadeh (Goli) in “English”.

By: David Sheward

February 27, 2022: Our relationship with language is the subject of Sanaz Toossi’s perceptive new play English, presented in a taut and affecting production by Knud Adams in a co-production from Atlantic Theater Company and Roundabout Theater Company. It’s so refreshing to hear from a new voice and gain perspective outside the American kitchen sink. Set in a English language classroom in 2008 Iran, this funny and moving work follows four adult students and their teacher as they prepare for the all-important TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). A high score can mean the difference between menial work and better job opportunities and possibly moving to the West.

ACA Galleries

Hugh Mangum

The Photography of Hugh Mangum 1897-1922 will be on view at ACA Galleries, 529 West 20^th Street, 5^th Floor through October 23.

September 12, 2021: ACA Galleries is presenting Where We Find Ourselves -The Photography of Hugh Mangum 1897-1922 through October 23. Mangum was a self-taught photographer born in Durham, North Carolina. As an itinerant portraitist in the shadow of the segregationist laws of the Jim Crow era, Mangum welcomed into his studios a clientele that was both racially and economically diverse. After his death, his glass plate negatives remained stored in a tobacco barn on his family farm for 50 years. Slated for demolition in the 1970s, the barn was saved at the last moment, and with it, this unparalleled document of life at the turn of the 20th century.

The New Group

Abby Merrill, Brandon Victor Dixon, Tamika Lawrence, Jennifer Damiano

Cocktails on the lawn showcased songs from The New Group’s upcoming new musical, Black No More, opening January 2022 at the Signature.

August 27, 2021: Scott Elliott, Founding Artistic Director of The New Group, and Abby Merrill, the Board President, hosted “Cocktails on the Lawn” at Abby’s home in Quoque. The meet and mingle on Thursday celebrated The New Group’s return to live theater in January 2022 with Black No More. Broadway stars Brandon Victor Dixon and Tamika Lawrence performed emotional renditions of songs from the new musical, originally slated for Fall 2020.

The David Desk Awards

By: David Sheward

June 7, 2020: Today normally would have been one of the best days of the year, Tony Award Day! But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Broadway theaters have been shut down since March 12 and are not likely to reopen until January 2021 at the earliest. In a May 25 interview with Tim Teeman of the Daily Beast, Broadway League president Charlotte St. Martin was cautiously optimistic about the Main Stem lights being relit. But she stressed social distancing and playing to half-empty housing would not fit with the Broadway economic model which requires packing in as many bodies as possible for maximum profit. A few shows such as Plaza Suite, MJ: The Michael Jackson Musical and 1776 have announced opening dates for the spring of 2021, but those may be aspirational like Trump saying he wanted packed churches on Easter.

Drama Desk

Announcement

April 8, 2020: New York theater is caught in a moment of exceptional uncertainty. In the face of this, the mission of the Drama Desk Awards – recognizing the thousands of artists and craftspeople who make up our community – has never been more urgent. Our organization is committed to honoring the outstanding work of this season as best we can, with safety the highest priority. The Drama Desk Awards nominating committee will regard Wednesday, March 11, 2020, as the conclusion of the 2019-20 theater season, and move forward with determination of award nominees. The nominations will be announced on April 21.

Jamie deRoy & friends

Jamie deRoy

Jamie deRoy & friends returns to Birdland benefitting The Actors Fund: Jamie deRoy & friends Cabaret Intitiative

February 17, 2020: Photos: Maryann Lopinto
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L.O.V.E.R. ***1/2

Lois Robbins

By: Isa Goldberg

October 2, 2019: What woman doesn’t dream of having her own washing machine? Usually, however, it isn’t a momentous issue – at least not in the way Lois Robbins’ claims it to be in her solo show, L.O.V.E.R.

Chita Rivera Awards 2019

Chita Rivera and The Radio City Rockettes

Hadestown, Alice By Heart, & King Kong are Winners at Chita Rivera Awards, Honoring Choreography

May 20, 2019: Last night, Tony Award winners, Ann Reinking and Ben Vereen, co-hosted the third annual Chita Rivera Awards, honoring dance and choreography. Broadway’s Hadestown and the Off-Broadway production of Alice by Heart, took home the outstanding choreography awards in Theater.

Gay Pride & The 21st Century

Suzanne Poli’s Iconic Photographs 1969-2019
Only One Woman in the World Has Documented 50 Years of the LGBT Civil Rights movement … and it all started from her window on Christopher Street

May 12, 2019: Norwood is honored to present member Suzanne Poli’s iconic photographs as a special Pride exhibit as we celebrate 50 years of Stonewall, Gay Pride and this remarkable body of work from 1969-2019. Please join us for the grand opening reception.

Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia Predicts Breathtaking Color, Characters, Acrobats, and Lots of Rain – All Under the Big Top

By: Ellis Nassour

May 8, 2019: Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia: A Walking Dream of Mexico, under the white and gold big top adjacent to Citi Field in Queens through at least June 9, is the company’s 38^th original production since 1984, and its 17^th show presented under the tent. Luzia is a bold, lively, and stunningly visual escape to an imaginary Mexico – a surrealistic journey through a world suspended between dreams and reality. Luz is Spanish for light.

White Noise ****

Thomas Sadoski, Daveed Diggs, Zoë Winters, Sheria Irving

World premiere of Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks provocative White Noise directed by Oskar Eustis.

By: Patrick Christiano

April 25, 2019: The prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks (“Topdog/Underdog,” “In The Blood”) demands to be heard in her return to The Public with the world premiere of her compelling tale, White Noise, about race and friendship. Oskar Eustis’s crisp, realistic staging with four excellent actors gives the play a naturalism and urgency that allows you to, almost, suspend disbelief when the playwright puts forth a bizarre premise.

Easter Bonnet Competition

Broadway Care/Equity Fights AIDS’ 33rd Annual Easter Bonnet Competition Monday and Tuesday at the Minskoff Theatre

By: Ellis Nassour

April 23, 2019: The Red Bucket Brigade (#redbuckets) has completed their Spring end-of-theater mission. Volunteers across 22 Broadway and Off Broadway shows and also touring companies, their casts, and crews have lobbied tirelessly for the last six weeks to benefit the multitude of programs Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS supports. Their efforts culminate and will be honored at the 33rd Annual Easter Bonnet Competition(#BroadwayBonnets)at the Minskoff Theatre, home of Disney’s The Lion King.There are two performances: Monday at 4:30 P.M., Tuesday at 2 P.M.

Maestro **1/2

John Noble

By: David Sheward

February 7, 2019: The life of Arturo Toscanini, perhaps the greatest conductor of the 20th century, would make a fascinating drama. In addition to collaborating with all the top names of the music world in his decades-long career, he bravely took a stance against fascism in his native Italy and in Nazi Germany, leaving Europe in the late 1930s to lead the NBC Orchestra and bring the classics into millions of American homes over the radiowaves. Plus a recent discovery of a cache of letters offers a glimpse into his intimate life, particularly a long-term affair with the pianist Ada Colleone Mainardi. Unfortunately, Maestro, a strange combination of solo show and concert presented by Ensemble for the Romantic Century, is not that work.