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Tony Frankel
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Theater Preview: DEAR ONE: LOVE & LONGING IN MID-CENTURY QUEER AMERICA (ONE Archives Foundation)
ONE TO CATCH Between 1953 and 1965, ONE Magazine, the first openly gay & lesbian periodical in the United States, received thousands of letters monthly from its readers. a great many of them isolated and in search of community. Now, playwright Josh Irving Gershick has compiled the voices of more than 40 distinct, mid-century Queer…
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Album Preview: BLACKBIRDS (Bettye LaVette and “Strange Fruit”)
A MOMENT TO MOURN AND RENEW In 1999, Time magazine named “Strange Fruit” — a haunting protest against the inhumanity of racism — the “song of the century.” Some may know that the man who wrote the song was inspired by a photograph of two lynched black men*, but did you know he was a white…
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Theater Preview: FREE STREAMS OF SIX PLAYS BY BLACK WRITERS (Los Angeles Theatre Works)
FREE STREAMS OF SIX PLAYS BY BLACK WRITERS L.A. Theatre Works, the world’s leading producer of audio theater, has chosen six titles by Black playwrights from its extensive collection of work to stream free on its website. The six plays, including A Huey P. Newton Story, written, directed and performed by Roger Guenveur Smith; Ceremonies in Dark Old…
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Film Preview: AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE’S WEEK INCLUDES A SPIKE LEE INTERVIEW AND A DRIVE-IN DOUBLE FEATURE
AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE’S WEEK INCLUDES A SPIKE LEE INTERVIEW AND A DRIVE-IN DOUBLE FEATURE THE HIGH NOTE | Q&A with Director Nisha Ganatra Fri. June 19, 2020 | 7:00 PM PDT FREE Virtual Q&A with Director Nisha Ganatra Moderated by Carla Renata RSVP >> A SALUTE TO SPIKE LEE | Live Conversation with Spike Lee Sat. June 20, 2020 |…
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Event Preview: SF PRIDE’S FIFTIETH WILL BE CELEBRATED ONLINE (San Francisco Pride)
SAN FRANCISCO PRIDE’S FIFTIETH WILL BE CELEBRATED ONLINE Well, you can’t keep a great party down. On Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28, 2020, the 50-year milestone anniversary of SF Pride will actually be televised. Grammy Award-winning singer and Motown legend Thelma Houston will be the Sunday headliner for the official Pride 50 online…
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Theater Feature: MERCURY THEATER CHICAGO TO CLOSE PERMANENTLY
A SAD DAY FOR THEATER Executive Director, L. Walter Stearns and partner Business Manager Eugene Dizon announced today the permanent closure of Mercury Theater Chicago after ten years and 25 productions, due to the uncertain future in the performing arts (and beyond) caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the incredible financial hardship that has come…
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Theater: STEPHEN SONDHEIM’S “FINISHING THE HAT” (Poetry in America Live)
HOW YOU GET TO FINISH THE HAT This has been a milestone year for America: but aside from an epidemic and protests — and all that is entailed therein — we have Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday to celebrate. Until we can rejoin the masses to enjoy Sondheim’s works in person, there are events recorded live…
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Theater Preview: THE ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS OF LEONARD PELKEY (Streaming at 92Y)
ABSOLUTELY BRIGHT INDEED Available now at 92Y, here’s is a can’t-miss piece of pride — and handily one of the best solo shows I’ve seen in years: The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey. Oscar winner Lecesne’s monologue play, seen Off-Broadway and around the country, recounts the story of a small Jersey shore town as they…
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Film Preview: MR.TOPAZE (directed by Peter Sellers) (Virtual Exclusive Engagement by American Cinematheque)
CATCH MR.TOPAZE, PETER SELLERS’ LONG LOST 1961 DIRECTORIAL DEBUT, NEWLY RESTORED IN 2K FROM THE LONE SURVIVING 35MM PRINT The comedy opens exclusively at American Cinematheque via Film Movement’s Virtual Cinema on June 12, 2020, for two weeks Peter Sellers directs himself in the 1961 British comedy Mr. Topaze, an old role previously played by…
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Music Preview: UCLA SUMMER GLOBAL JAZZ INTENSIVE FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS (Hancock Institute of Jazz)
Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance Fellows to teach at UCLA Summer Global Jazz Intensive for high school studentsNOW ONLINE Program Dates: June 22–27, 2020 Apply by June 5 Scholarships Available Ongoing Conversations: The Summer Global Jazz Intensive Online at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music is a weeklong online summer intensive program designed for high school students…
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Theater Extra: SEASONS OF LOVE (San Diego Musical Theatre)
REASONS FOR LOVE Covering the arts nationwide means that Stage and Cinema has received hundreds and hundreds of virtual entertainments, from classical and jazz to theater and art, all with basically the same purpose: to entertain you at home and try to raise money for struggling organizations. But nothing in the past two months has…
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Film Review: VAMPIRE BURT’S SERENADE (directed by Ken Roht)
UNDEAD, UNREAL, AND UNINTERESTING Unrelentingly campy and absurd, Vampire Burt’s Serenade revels in its own trashiness and in-your-face pansexuality, but this low-rent 2014 indie horror/musical doesn’t seem to give a shit about two things: the horror and the music (pre-released as The Bloody Indulgent, it is now a 2020 VOD release on Amazon Prime). With…
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Virtual Theater: TEENAGE DICK (Theater Wit in Chicago; Third Extension)
DICK EXTENDS Chicago’s Theater Wit announced a third and final extension today of Teenage Dick, its long-running critically acclaimed virtual production of Mike Lew’s devastatingly funny new play inspired by theater’s most famous disabled character — Shakespeare’s Richard III — like audiences have never seen him before: scheming his way through the brutal, no-holds barred…
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Dance Preview: LINCOLN CENTER AT HOME (Ballet Hispánico, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The School of American Ballet, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater)
DANCE ME TO LINCOLN CENTER We all know that dancing is good for you. But did you know that watching dance is also good for you? Science has suggested that the high you get after watching great dancing is your brain is attempting to turn that high into something real, as if you just danced…
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Music Preview: LISTEN LOCAL: NEW YORK CITY (Spotify)
ONE WAY TO ENSURE THAT THE CITY NEVER SLEEPS With the news that Broadway will remain shuttered until at least Labor Day, New Yorkers and those who visit the city to enjoy the life now have a way to get your Big Apple fix during quarantine through an exclusive content hub on Spotify: Listen Local:…
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Exhibit Review: SOCIALLY DISTANT THEATER: THE SOLO SHOW AS SEEN BY HIRSCHFELD (The Al Hirschfeld Foundation)
TAKE A SOLO BOW, MR. HIRSCHFELD How many of us theater addicts have gone to a solo show only to find some woman squealing about her private parts (or man for that matter), and you think “Never Again.” Then you catch Whoopi Goldberg or Robert Morse or Julie Harris or John Leguizamo or the great…
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Virtual Theater: TO MASTER THE ART (Timeline Theatre / Chicago)
STARVING FOR THEATER? FEAST ON THIS! It’s not just for Chicagoans anymore. Time and again, we have trumped that Chicago theater is the most exciting in the country. Not just because of the array and number of companies, but the affordability. Theater artists in Chicago do theater for theater’s sake — and for ours. Case…
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Music Preview: TENOR BRIAN CHENEY (Weekly Shows on Stageit)
BACK ON THE CHENEY GANG I originally caught tenor Brian Cheney in Pacific Opera Project’s Tosca, and I was awestruck. Playing the brave painter Cavaradossi, Cheney really blew me away. With nary a glitch, and equally authoritative throughout his range, Cheney has that terrific tenor sound: the power, richness, and vocal color of a high…
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Theater / Virtual: SONDHEIM @ 90 ROUNDTABLE (Porchlight Music Theatre Virtual Series)
CELEBRATING A PASSION FOR SONDHEIM Welcome to a new, free virtual series to celebrate Stephen Sondheim as an American icon while celebrating his 90th birthday year. Sondheim @ 90 Roundtable, created and hosted by Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre Artistic Director Michael Weber, gathers talents from Chicago, Broadway and the world of theater to offer episodes…
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Film Feature: SOME AWESOME MUSIC DOCUMENTARIES (Red Bull Music Academy)
FUN, FIERCE AND FREE I gotta tell you, folks, since the lockdown from COVID-19, the amount of streaming dreck that has come before me is embarrassing. so it’s a pleasure to share with you some awesome music documentaries I’ve encountered. Many different lengths, many types of music, all fascinating. Some are great to watch on…
Off-Broadway Review: ARIAS WITH A TWIST (HERE Arts Center / NYC)
by Kevin Vavasseur | September 23, 2026
in New York, TheaterTheater Review: LEGALLY BLONDE (Berkeley Playhouse / Berkeley)
by Chuck Louden | September 21, 2026
in San Francisco
(Bay Area), TheaterTheater Review: TEXAS SODOMY (Whitefire Theatre / Sherman Oaks)
by Michael Landman-Karney | September 20, 2026
in Los Angeles, TheaterTheater Review: THE GLASS MENAGERIE (Center REP / Walnut Creek)
by Chuck Louden | September 20, 2026
in San Francisco
(Bay Area), TheaterTheater Review: HANGMEN (Long Beach Playhouse)
by Michael Landman-Karney | September 19, 2026
in Los Angeles, TheaterTheater Review: THE HUMANITIES (Victory Gardens Theater / Chicago)
by Croydon Fernandes | September 19, 2026
in Chicago, TheaterTheater Review: BEGIN AGAIN (World Premiere Musical / The Old Globe / San Diego)
by Milo Shapiro | September 19, 2026
in San Diego, TheaterTheater Review: JEKYLL & HYDE (Kokandy Productions / Broadway Playhouse / Chicago)
by Emma S. Rund | September 19, 2026
in Chicago, TheaterTheater Review: MARISOL (Open Fist Theatre Company / Los Angeles)
by Lawrence Lucero | September 18, 2026
in Los Angeles, Theater
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