Drowsy Chaperone reopens this Saturday and runs through January 16 in Live Arts Downstage Theater. Ticket information is available on Live Arts’ website.  If you’re going, make sure to download the helpful study guide.

The Wooden Birds

The Wooden Birds were Anne Williams’ guest at The Sound Studios on Saturday afternoon before their show at The Southern. They played several tunes from their album “Magnolia” and chatted with Anne about their tour and the development of their band. Videos from this in-studio are up at  youtube.com/wnrnradio. To learn more about The Sound Studios, check out thesoundstudios.net.

Danny Schmidt

This morning on Acoustic Sunrise, Danny Schmidt was Anne Williams’ guest. He is celebrating the release of his new album, “Instead the Forest Rose to Sing” with two shows tonight. The shows have been moved from Gravity Lounge to Live Arts. Youtube.com/WNRNradio will have videos from this interview.

Will Slusher, the assistant set designer, who Mary Butcher says was “an incredible asset to the show – indispensable to the design and construction of the set,” was busy with the table saw during this interview.

This Thornton Wilder farce opens at Live Arts Friday March 6, 2009.

March 6 to March 28
www.livearts.org
434-977-4177

Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a Musical Thriller.
Dec. 12 to Jan 10
www.LiveArts.org
434-977-4177

I had a chance to talk with Ray Smith, the director of the show, and most of the cast which includes, Carrie Stuart, David Straughn, Jared Ivory, Sharon Millner, Stori Ayers and Ty Daniels.

Flyin’ West tells the story 4 African American Women Pioneers just after slavery was abolished and they flew west for a live and home of their own.

Opens Friday, October 24 – runs to November 22, 2008

For more information or tickets:
www.livearts.org
Live Arts Box Office: 434-977-4177 x 108

I had a chance to talk with Fran Smith, the director of the show, and all the cast members, Doris Safie, Amada Lacy Pierson Finger, Tim Reid and Simona Holloway-Warren.  I also talked with Grady Smith and Cheryl Haley who were there painting the set.  It was just 2 days before opening night.  We talked in the lobby of Live Arts.

For more information or tickets:
www.livearts.org
Live Arts Box Office: 434-977-4177 x 108

In the great tradition of American Musical Comedy Love Stories, Live Arts is presenting Disney’s High School Musical this summer from July 11 to August 2, on the main stage, with all local talent.

As the actors warmed up for their final rehearsal, I had a chance to sit in the back of the theatre and talk to the director, designer and then briefly meet the cast.

Disney’s High School Musical
Live Arts
www.livearts.org
Box Office:
434-977-4177 x 108

The full interview is well worth listening to; you’ll hear the season in the first six minutes.

Stop reading now if you want to be surprised, because below is the list of Live Arts next season:

• Disney’s High School Musical
• Doubt by John Patrick Shanley
• Flyin’ West by Pearl Cleage
• Sweeny Todd by (music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler, based on Christopher Bond’s stage version of the story.)
• 2 Weeks of New Modern Dance
• Visit to a Small Planet by Gore Vidal
  
• The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder
• Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo
• Tartuffe by Moliere
• Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl

Need more — Listen. Need more live arts — www.livearts.org

Mother Courage and Her Children

If you can you image a time where war dominates the headlines, where economies hinge on that very war, and where the men in power say the war is necessary, yet won’t fight themselves – if you can image that – you might just find yourself among friends at Live Arts over the next month.

Satch Huizenga directs Mother Courage at Live Arts and we stole a few minutes of his time to ask how this 59 year old play remains timeless.

@ Live Arts March 28 to April 19, 2008
LiveArts.com or Box Office: 434-977-4177

[ photo: Fran Smith and Ron Hasson in Mother Courage and her Children at Live Arts - (c) Will Kerner ]

In the Blood plays at Live Arts
March 14 to 29 (preview on 13th)
Box Office: 434-977-4177
www.livearts.org

[ Pictured: Mark Washington and Aisha Renée Moore
- from In the Blood at Live Arts. Photos © Will Kerner ]

Live Arts proudly presents Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s A Little Night Music, directed by John Owen, musical direction by Greg Harris. A Little Night Music will run in our DownStage Theater December 07, 2007 through December 22, 2007.

Set in Sweden at the turn-of-the century, A Little Night Music tells the story of Frederik Egerman, Desiree Armfeldt and Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm, and their revolving love interests. They attempt to sort and resort their relationships in order to fill the voids in their lives. When the characters retreat to Desiree Armfeldt’s chateau in the country, they find themselves in the depths of emotions with everything (and everyone) they were trying to escape.

A Little Night Music is a musical whirlwind about what happens when couples explore their relationships, sexuality and each other. Frederick Egerman takes his young, virgin wife Anne to the theatre, forcing her naivety to take a reality check with her husband’s infidelity. Anne confides in her friend Charlotte, only to discover that Charlotte’s husband, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm is involved in his own illicit romance. Desiree Armfeldt, an actress, finds herself in the limelight of it all. The musical waltzes through the lives of two couples and their affairs, as they exchange partners and sentiments to explore their frenzied relationships. There is no shortage of laughter, confrontation and lusty temptation.

A Little Night Music features a book by Hugh Wheeler with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Wheeler is a multiple Tony Award winner, including his win for A Little Night Music in 1973, a musical inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s motion picture, Smiles of a Summer Night. A Little Night Music was adapted to the screen in a film version starring Elizabeth Taylor in 1978. Sondheim is an Academy Award winner, and an unprecedented seven-time Tony Award winner. His 1973 Tony Award win was for Best Score of A Little Night Music. He has also received several Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and has written renowned music compositions, including the score for West Side Story.

Cast, alphabetically: Taylor Baltimore, Ruth Anne Bishop, Rosa Brown, Maya Cichon, Jeff Dreyfus, Dan Finn, Stephanie Finn, Sonya Hayden, Nick Heiderstadt, Luke Hudnall, Marthe Rowen, Dan Stern, Linda Waller, Heather Waters, and Gary White.

Free tickets to the Thursday, December 06, 2007 Preview are available in person at
C-VILLE Weekly. This ticket giveaway will be available on a first come, first served basis, and will continue until gone. Limit is 2 tickets per person, and FREE admission is only via these tickets.

Reserved Seating $19.50/ $22.50 (Fri & Sat) • Members $17.50 / $20.50 (Fri & Sat) • General Seating (Balcony) $10.00 • Tickets on-sale November 20, 2007