STAGEFRIGHT by JAVIER
Jeremy Kreuzer and Anna Krempholtz will play the leads in the Irish Classical Theatre Company (ICTC) Curtain Up production of 'Tis Pity She's as Whore; Fortunato Pezzimenti will direct the 17th century tragedy. Robert Waterhouse returns to ICTC to direct Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard in an adaptation by Tom Murphy, set to star Josephine Hogan. Chris Kelly will direct the revival of A Child's Christmas in Wales, the play adapted from Dylan Thomas. Greg Natale will direct The Onion Game by Bryan Delaney. The season will conclude with Lennox Robinson’s Drama at Inish, directed by Vincent O’Neill. Darleen Pickering Hummert and Gerry Maher have been approached to star.
After a successful run of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Drew Fornarola’s “Starring Buffalo” will return to Buffalo on May 20th at 7:30 p.m. at MusicalFare Theatre's Premier Cabaret. It will be an evening of rock, jazz, and Broadway tunes, starring Broadway's Marrick Smith (Dear Evan Hansen, Fun Home) and Buffalo’s Katy Miner. Special guest appearances by Kelly Copps, Dudney Joseph, and outstanding area students Calvin Cich (from Williamsville East HS) and Gabriella Galante (from Starpoint).
May 20th is also an important date for the Alleyway when they will announce some important changes for the company.
Torn Space Theater announced that its capital campaign has achieved its goal of $2.3 million. The company will complete renovations and improvements to its home in Buffalo’s historic Broadway Fillmore District. A grant from Empire State Development in the amount of $748,000 and investment from KeyBank in partnership with the First Niagara Foundation in the amount of $200,000 provided the final funding needed to complete facilities upgrades.
News about the upcoming production of Hairspray at the Kavinoky: Lorenzo Parnell will play Motormouth Maybelle. This will be the first time that the role will be played a man. Guess they’re getting reading for Victor/Victoria, Tootsie, or Mrs. Doubtfire. And yes, for inquiring minds, they have permission from the composers.
For the ninth installment of Subversive Youth Series, Subversive Theatre Collective will present Layla's Room by Sabrina Mahfouz. Directed by Kelly Beuth, the show will star emerging young actors from the Buffalo Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts high school. Written by the Egyptian-British writer, the play “takes us to the frontlines of one teenaged girl's battle to keep her dignity in a world where everyone seems all too willing to look the other way when it comes to sexual assault. It opens June 6th.
As part of this year’s Summer Camp series, BUA will remount Mommie Queerest, starring Jimmy Janowski, Bebe Bvulgari, Michael Seitz, and Christopher Standart. The show will open on July 13th at the Alleyway.
Two of my favorite people, Mary McMahon Jakiel and Tom Owen, will star in the area premiere of the comedy Bakersfield Mist. Directed by Scott Behrend, the show opens on May 10th at Lancaster Opera House. They describe the play as “An unemployed woman finds a million dollar painting at a thrift store and an art expert arrives to authenticate it in this explosive comedy inspired by true events”.
Lynne Kurdziel-Formato will be spending her summer in Denmark, among other sings, working on a new show with music by the Beatles, which may be Broadway-bound. She will in charge of the fabulous musical Bright Star, to be presented by MusicalFare at Shea’s 710 Main next season. But first, up next from MusicalFare at Shea’s 710 Main, the not to be missed Fun Home, directed by Susan Drozd.
Happy birthday to Kathleen Betsko! She turned 80 (not a typo) on May 5th. At her celebration she boasted, “Eighty Schmeighty! 80 is the new 79!”
Gloria and Emilio Estefan were recently honored during the PBS music special Emilio & Gloria Stefan: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. They were last in Buffalo for the opening of On Your Feet at Shea’s in September 2017.
