FIDDLER ON THE ROOF With Harvey Fierstein Hits Seattle's Paramount Theatre

Broadway World News

Launching a new "tradition" Harvey Fierstein replaces Topol in the North American tour of the TONY award winning musical FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Chaim Topol, regrettably informed the show's producers he would have to leave the production due to a shoulder injury requiring emergency long term treatment.

Mr. Fierstein starred as the iconic milkman Tevye in the recent critically acclaimed Broadway production. Audiences now have the rare opportunity to see the TONY award winner embrace one of his favorite roles in this Jerome Robbins inspired production. Mr. Fierstein has won four TONY awards including Best Book of a Play and Best Actor in a Play for Torch Song Trilogy. His most recent win was the 2003 TONY for Best Actor in a Musical for the Broadway production of Hairspray. In addition to his TONY Award winning role in the Torch Song Trilogy, Mr. Fierstein recreated the role in the film adaptation thus winning him an Independent Spirit Award nomination as Best Male Lead. Other film work includes, Mrs. Doubtfire, Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway and Independence Day.

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF has captured the hearts of people all over the world with its universal appeal and timeless message. The North American Tour continues the tradition of the 1964 Jerome Robbins TONY Award winning production. Mr. Robbins won twin TONY awards for his direction and choreography of Broadway's FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. In this National Tour, both are faithfully recreated by Director Sammy Dallas Bayes, choreographer of the Broadway Revival.

When FIDDLER ON THE ROOF opened in the United States in 1964, it was a time of change and crumbling traditions in our own country. Perhaps the explanation for its world-wide success in the ‘60's and ‘70's was because the play illustrated the universality of such problems as the "generation gap," youthful dissent, revolutionary doctrine, and the oppression of minorities. Students of the time identified with the rebellious student, Perchik, and strongly related to the breaking of hallowed traditions. Tevye and others of his time struggled with these problems in 1905, and emerged triumphant, offering the hope and promise of reconciliation to a turbulent society. Today, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is as relevant as ever.

Now, in the midst of a new millennia, in a world fraught with anxiety and fear, the one constant humanity can rely on is the strength of family and of its traditions that will ultimately sustain it through its own trials and tribulations. Forty five years and a generation later, new audiences can identify and take heart as they experience the tradition in great musical theatre that is FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF will be at Seattle's Paramount Theatre for eight performances. The schedule for the Seattle engagement is:

Tuesday, May 25 7:30 pm
Wednesday, May 26 7:30pm
Thursday, May 27 7:30pm
Friday, May 28 8:00pm
Saturday, May 29 2:00pm and 8:00pm
Sunday, May 30 1:00pm and 6:30pm

Tickets for FIDDLER ON THE ROOF are available now as part of the Spring 2010 Broadway at The Paramount season package. Single tickets will be available in April on-line at tickets.com, stgpresents.org or BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com. Tickets will also available by calling 877-STG-4TIX (4849) or in person at The Paramount Theatre Box Office (Monday through Friday, 10am to 6pm).

John O'Hurley Set to Play 'Billy Flynn' in California Musical Theatre's CHICAGO

Broadway World

CHICAGO is BACK IN TOWN and its PURE ENTERTAINMENT! California Musical Theatre presents the national tour of "Chicago" starring John O'Hurley at the Community Center Theater, 1301 L Street, as part of the 20th anniversary Broadway Sacramento season, March 10-21, 2010. Now celebrating 13 glorious years of girls, glitz and glamour on the Broadway, the record-breaking smash hit musical CHICAGO is now the seventh longest-running production in Broadway history ... and shows no sign of ever slowing down!

Murder. Greed. Corruption. Violence. Exploitation. Adultery. Treachery. Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, CHICAGO is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who maliciously murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago's slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today's tabloids.

With a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, CHICAGO is the winner of six 1997 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Cast Recording.

John O'Hurley (Billy Flynn) is one of People magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive," and has become one of television's busiest and most versatile actors, show hosts, advertising heroes, and feature film stars. The award-winning actor is best known as J. Peterman on "Seinfeld," which is now the No. 1 syndicated series in the world in 85 countries. He danced his way into the hearts of America as the ultimate champion of the highly rated ABC show "Dancing with the Stars," starred on Broadway in Chicago, as the male lead Billy Flynn and starred in a two-year stint as the head of the Round Table, King Arthur, in Eric Idle's hilarious musical comedy "Monty Python's Spamalot" in Las Vegas. On the small screen he can be seen weekly on the popular syndicated show "Family Feud." As a follow-up to his Billboard chart topping CD Peace of Our Minds (which was the first independently produced CD to ever reach #13 on the Billboard Music charts), O'Hurley recently released Secrets from the Lake, a collaboration of his piano compositions with cellist Marston Smith. O'Hurley has written two books including his New York Times Bestseller called It's OK to Miss the Bed on the First Jump: And Other Life Lessons Learned from Dogs, and Before Your Dog Can Eat Your Homework, First You Have To Do It. When not performing, John maintains his single digit gold handicap by playing on the Celebrity Players Tour. Additionally, he lends his name and golf game to help charities close to his heart, especially Golfers Against Cancer and Child Development Institute. O'Hurley enjoys spending his free time with his wife Lisa and their young son William Dylan. Together they love to play golf, travel, play with their dogs, cheer for the Boston Red Sox, and entertain friends at their Beverly Hills home.

Produced by Barry and Fran Weissler, CHICAGO has become a worldwide phenomenon with productions in 24 countries and 11 languages since 1996.

The record-breaking London production of CHICAGO continues to hold the record as the longest-running American musical in West End history. CHICAGO is also on tour throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as international tours in Australia and the United Kingdom.

CHICAGO is a production not to be missed. And all the reviewers agree. Time Magazine calls it "A Triumph," Newsweek raves "Smashing" and Entertainment Weekly sums it up by calling CHICAGO "Broadway's Most Electrifying Show."

Advance tickets for CHICAGO are available at the Wells Fargo Pavilion Box Office, 1419 H Street, Sacramento, by phone at (916) 557-1999 or (916) 808-5181. Tickets are also available at the Community Center Theater box office, 1301 L Street, or online at Tickets.com. Performance times are Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m., and Sunday, March 14, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $18-$65. Visit www.BroadwaySacramento.com for more ticketing information.

Discounts available for groups of 10 or more by calling (916) 557-1198.

Theatre At The Center Presents NOISES OFF 2/18-3/21

BroadwayWorld.com
BWW News Desk

The first production to ever be produced at Theatre at the Center in the summer of 1991, Noises Off will kick off the milestone 20th anniversary season for this award winning theatre. The uproarious comedy will run at Theatre at the Center, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana, February 18 through March 21, with a press performance on Sunday, February 21 at 7 p.m. The story follows the on and off stage antics of an inept acting troupe as they stumble from bumbling dress rehearsal to disastrous closing night. Everything that can go wrong does, as actors desperately try to hang on to their lines, their performances, and the furniture.

Noises Off is directed by Theatre at the Center Artistic Director William Pullinsi, who is considered by many to be a master of directing the farce. He has directed dozens of farces including last season's smash hit LEADING LADIES. The cast consists of a "dream team" of Chicagoland's favorite comedic actors including Marilynn Bogetich as "Dotty Otley", Dale Benson as "Selsdon Mowbray", Will Clinger as "Lloyd Dallas", Jeff Cummings as "Garry Lejune", Clay Sanderson as "Frederick Fellowes", Laura Leonardo Ownby as "BeLinda Blair", Anna Hammonds as "Poppy Norton-Taylor", Jason Wroblewski as "Tim Allgood" and Laura E. Taylor as "Brooke Ashton".

"The Funniest Farce Ever Written" is how the New York critics described the awesome hilarity and mind-boggling mayhem of Noises Off. It follows a troupe of has-been, never-was, and wanna-be actors led by a somewhat pretentious and strained-to-the-breaking-point director. They are touring in a typical English bedroom farce called Nothing On through the hinterlands of the outer regions of Britain (the equivalent off Off OFF Broadway in America). As the show progresses from one town to the next, the little romances, intrigues, and foibles of the cast begin to wear on them until, by the time they arrive in the last town, all semblance of the play that they were rehearsing has vanished into the mayhem of their personal and professional vendettas. Shoelaces are tied together, plates of sardines are dumped on heads, alcohol is consumed in quantity, and sexual peccadilloes and dalliances are revealed both onstage and off.

In theatrical stage directions, the term "noises off" specifies sounds that are meant to originate offstage. The play premiered at the Lyric Theatre in London in 1982. Shortly after, it transferred to the West End's Savoy Theatre in The Strand, where it ran until 1987 with five successive casts. It won the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy.

On December 11, 1983, Noises Off opened in New York City at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, where it ran for 553 performances. It earned Tony Award nominations including Best Play and won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble. On October 5, 2000, the National Theatre in London mounted a revival which ran for two years, transferring to the Piccadilly Theatre in the West End on May 14, 2001. The production then returned to Broadway, again at the Brooks Atkinson, on November 1, 2001, with Patti LuPone, Peter Gallagher, Faith Prince, T.R. Knight, and Katie Finneran. The production was nominated for a Tony and Drama Desk Award as Best Revival of a Play, and Finneran was awarded Best Featured Actress by both groups.

In addition to William Pullinsi as Director, Fight Choreography is by R & D Choreographers. The design team for Noises Off is Scenic Designer Lee Brasuell, Costume Designer Brenda Winstead, Lighting Designer Denise Karczewski, Wig Designer Kevin Barthel, Props Designer Libby Fandrei and Sound Designer Matt Meier. The Stage Manager is Rebecca Green with Technical Director Ann Davis.

Founded in 1991, Theatre at the Center is a year-round professional theater at its home, The Center for Visual and Performing Arts, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana. Theatre at the Center is conveniently located off I-80/94, just 35 minutes from downtown Chicago.

Performances are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 2:00 p.m.; Fridays at 8:00 p.m.; Saturdays at 8:00 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m. and Thursdays at 7:30, and Saturdays at
2:30 p.m. Also, for each show in the 2010 season, there will be one specific Tuesday performance at 10 a.m. Individual ticket prices range from $20 - $40, based on the performance date and time, seat location and are currently available for purchase. Season subscriptions to the 20th Anniversary Season are available for $125. New for this season will be subscription series events. The first of these events, the Wine and Theatre Series, will allow guests to enjoy delectable wines from all over the world at Theatre at the Center's home, the Center for the Visual and Performing Arts. An assortment of hors d'oeuvres will be served to complement the wines. This Wine and Theatre Series can be conveniently added to season subscriptions for $75. Finally, the Dinner Theatre series may be added to any subscription for only $105.25. Guests may enjoy pre-show special dinners conveniently located in The Center for Visual and Performing Arts, right across from the theatre lobby. To purchase season tickets, individual tickets call the Box Office at 219.836.3255 or Tickets.com at 800.511.1552. Group discounts, available for groups of 11 or more; and gift certificates, perfect for all special occasions are also available by calling the Box Office at 219.836.3255. For more information on Theatre at the Center, visit TheatreAtTheCenter.com.

Tickets.com Client Spotlight: Paramount Theatre

Seattle Theatre Group (STG) presents Bob Weir & RatDog on Sunday, August 23, 2009 at 7:00pm at the Paramount Theatre.

Broadway World
BWW News Desk

Bob Weir already has a secure place in rock history as the Grateful Dead's co-vocalist and what Andrew Clarke (in one of England's leading newspapers, "The Independent") called the genre's "greatest, if most eccentric rhythm guitarist." When you have a modest, anti-promotional personality - and when you spend 30 years next to an icon - it's easy to fall under the radar.

There's a second reason he doesn't always get quite the attention he deserves. Although always a gentleman, Bob Weir can be...contrary. This is the man who, when his muse required that he go study music, chose McCoy Tyner - not exactly a rock rhythm guitarist - as his model. And just as his personality has a discriminating antiauthoritarian streak that leads him down his own road, his composing is just as distinctive and impossible to classify. So that in "Lazy Lightnin'" he combined r & b/disco chords and a time signature in 7. His go-your-own-way point of view is perfectly articulated in John Barlow's lyrics for "Throwin' Stones," which Weir called an "anarchist diatribe." And the dry, offbeat humor of so many of his songs lets you know - his is a nuanced, special voice. Bob Weir was born in San Francisco in 1947 and grew up in the suburb of Atherton. After less-than-popular-with-the-family-and-neighbors experiences with piano and trumpet, he glommed onto the guitar at the age of 13, and hasn't let go since. He soon became the most-junior member of a folk scene that centered on a Palo Alto, California, club called the Tangent, which hosted such future legends as Jerry Garcia, Jorma Kaukonen, and Janis Joplin. Kaukonen was his guitar-picking role model (Garcia, at that time, was a banjo player), and Weir soon became a full-fledged, if young, folkie, listening to Lightnin' Hopkins, Joan Baez, and the Greenbriar Boys, as well as the Everly Brothers and Chuck Berry.

By 1964, at the age of 17, he'd become a fixture at a Palo Alto music store called Dana Morgan's. That summer, when Jerry Garcia went off on a bluegrass odyssey, Weir assumed responsibility for his guitar students. In the wake of "A Hard Day's Night," rock and roll had swept away even the most purist folkies' doubts, so that when late that year Ron "Pigpen" McKernan urged Garcia to electrify their jug band instruments and become a rock band, Bob Weir - already a Beatlemaniac - evolved from jug to the rhythm guitar chair. They started as the Warlocks, played a lot of bars, and then in the fall of 1965 underwent a trial by fire, serving as the "house band" for a series of psychedelic explorations thrown by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, the "acid tests." By early 1966, the tests had grown into events involving many thousand people, and history was never quite the same. And the Warlocks had become not only unimaginably fused brothers, but also the Grateful Dead.

Weir was "the kid," and while his first Dead song, "The Other One," was not only brilliant and enduring - The Dead play it to this day - his early songwriting had its up and downs. His next song, "Born Crosseyed," was actually out of his vocal range, and for a while he gave up songwriting.

Finally, in 1970, he regained focus with a number of tunes. One was "Cassidy," about a young woman of that name whose birth he attended, combined with the same-sounding legendary hero of "On the Road" and the acid tests, Neal Cassady. With this and other songs, he began a songwriting partnership with John Perry Barlow, an old school friend, which would last 20 years and more. After adding legendary songs like "Truckin'" and "Sugar Magnolia" (written with Robert Hunter) to the 1970 Grateful Dead masterpiece "American Beauty," in 1971 Weir proposed to do his first solo album, which would be called "Ace." For various reasons, his backup band turned out to be, for the most part, the Dead. The album was a classic, and it's no surprise that five songs from it made it on to the "Weir Here" list, including "Playing in the Band," "Cassidy," and "Mexicali Blues."

In 1974, the Dead took a nearly two-year vacation (their only lengthy break in 30 years), and during that period Weir took up with a band called Kingfish, really his first side effort from the Dead. Weir took from Kingfish - aside from a massive amount of fun - the songs "Lazy Lightnin'" and "Supplication," and a huge dose of encouragement for the idea that, in order to be a creative contributor to the Dead, he needed to do things for himself.

As a result, the year after the "Kingfish" album was released (1976), he began a solo project with producer Keith Olsen that would come to be called "Heaven Help the Fool." A brief tour to support that album brought him in contact with various session players, including, eventually, Brent Mydland (who would join the Dead in 1979), Bobby Cochran, Alphonso Johnson, and Billy Cobham. This was the genesis for Bobby and the Midnites, who would tour in the early 1980s and produce two albums, including the eponymous debut album, here represented by "(I Want to) Fly Away."

Later in the '80s, Weir hooked up with the talented multi-genre bassist Rob Wasserman at a benefit, forging a partnership that would last 15 years. They began as a duo. Working on Rob's album "Trios," they joined forces with Neil Young to produce "Easy Answers," and then in the period after Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, added drummer Jay Lane and ex-Kingfish harmonica/guitar player Matthew Kelly to become a blues band called the Ratdog Review.

Eventually, Rob moved on, and a settled lineup featuring Lane, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, lead guitarist Mark Karan, reeds man Kenny Brooks, and bassist Robin Sylvester was RatDog.

Tickets: $39.50, not including applicable fees. Tickets on available now at Tickets.com, in person at the Paramount or Moore Theatres box offices, 24-hour kiosks located outside The Paramount & Moore Theatres, charge by phone at 877-STG-4TIX, or online at STGPresents.org.

Industrial Band KMFDM Comes To The Moore Theater 10/12

Seattle Theatre Group (STG) presents KMFDM on Monday, October 12, 2009 at 7:30pm at the Moore Theatre.

Broadway World

Spawned in Germany during 1984, KMFDM pioneered the crossover between techno/dance and heavy metal with their signature industrial sound. Moving to Chicago in the mid-80' s KMFDM was the pride of Wax Trax Records during the label's peak. Rapidly evolving year by year through intense experimentation and touring; the band has redefined themselves with each new release.

Spawned in Germany during 1984, KMFDM pioneered the crossover between techno/dance and heavy metal with their signature industrial sound. Moving to Chicago in the mid-80's KMFDM was the pride of WaxTrax! Records during the label's peak. Rapidly evolving year by year through intense experimentation and touring; the band redefined themselves with each new release.

Venturing on to dabble in side projects and then re-establish KMFDM in Seattle during 1999, Sascha's revolving band of misfits have stood the test of time. To quote themselves, "The future belongs to those of us still willing to get our hands dirty". Living by their D.I.Y. philosophy, KMFDM launched their own online store, KMFDM Store and record label, (KMFDM Records).

Helmed by the dual vocal attack of the band's founder Sascha and siren Lucia KMFDM celebrated 20 years of musical excellence by performing 62 shows in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia in 2004. In 2005 they embarked on a World Tour of 18 countries in support of their full length CD Hau Ruck. 2006 saw the release of a new remix EP titled Ruck Zuck and the Hau Ruck Zuck USSA Tour. 2007 brought Tohuvabohu, featuring a grand mixture of the band's many styles. In 2008 the band, now relocated to hometown Hamburg, Germany released their first full blown remix album ever, Brimborium.

Celebrating their 24th Anniversary on February 29th, KMFDM announced KMFDM 24/7, a series of twenty four seven inch vinyl singles featuring tracks from the band's original 12" singles and classic album cuts. The singles will be released on the first of every month in the order they were originally released for 24 months culminating on Feb 01, 2010 with a brand new exclusive single. Each of the 24 singles is available in a Limited Edition First and Only Pressing of 250 copies. All tracks have been remastered specifically for vinyl and the covers for all the singles will feature original classic KMFDM artwork, most by famed KMFDM cohort Brute!. All KMFDM 24/7 releases are exclusive to the KMFDM Store.

KMFDM remain a musical entity to be reckoned with. Through relentless musical exploration and reinvention they have continued to top themselves. KMFDM's new 2009 album, Blitz, is no exception. Featuring an electro cover of The Human League's "Being Boiled", the Russian language "Davai", the German sung "Potz-Blitz!" and the disco-amped "Strut".

In addition to Blitz KMFDM presents - SKOLD vs. KMFDM, the new 22 track album by Tim Skold and Sascha Konietzko. The juggernauts of the alt-underground come together again to tear it apart. SKOLD vs. KMFDM is available from KMFDM Records exclusively through the KMFDM Store in fan-friendly CD, audiophile Vinyl and high quality MP3 formats.

As further evidence that their 25th year, 2009, will be one to remember, the band are set to take Europe by storm, hitting a number of festival and headlining dates across ten countries in the Spring and Summer. Later this year they will make their way back to the US and Canada for more stops on the Kein Mitleid Tour 2009.

In addition to their new material KMFDM has re-released their entire back catalog from the band's WaxTrax! Records era as KMFDM Classics via Metropolis Records/KMFDM Records. All KMFDM Classics are remastered with deluxe booklets and some contain extra tracks. Their ten classic albums, What Do You Know, Deutschland?, Don't Blow Your Top, UAIOE, Naive, Money, Angst, Nihil, Xtort, Symbols and Adios are available now.

To accompany the KMFDM Classics, KMFDM has released Extra, a three volume set of double disc collections of all KMFDM tracks not included on the ten KMFDM Classic albums. It features remastered tracks from the band's 12" singles and CD singles. All of the material on Extra has been out of print for many years. Extra Vol. 1, Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 are out now on Metropolis Records/KMFDM Records.

The classic KMFDM side project Excessive Force has had their entire catalog re-released with the same treatment given to the KMFDM Classics by Metropolis Records/KMFDM Records. Both Conquer Your World and Gentle Death are out now.

As can plainly be seen, the self-proclaimed fathers of industrial-rock show no signs of stopping.

Tickets: $27.00 not including applicable fees. Tickets went on sale Friday, June 5 at Tickets.com, in person at the Paramount Theatre box offices, 24-hour kiosks located outside The Paramount & Moore Theatres, charge by phone at 877-STG-4TIX, and online at STGPresents.org.

Seattle Theatre Group is the 501 (c)(3) non-profit arts organization that operates the historic Paramount and Moore Theatres in Seattle, Washington. Our mission is to make diverse performing arts and education an integral part of our region's cultural identity while keeping these two landmark venues alive and vibrant. STG presents a range of performances from Broadway, off-Broadway, dance and jazz to comedy, concerts of all genres, speakers and family shows - at both historic theatres in Seattle and venues throughout the Puget Sound and Portland, Oregon.