Tag: camille bounds

First of all, please understand this is a play about a real woman who lived and produced amazing information in her male-dominated (keep a woman in her place) field of astronomy in the early 20th century.

Broadway By the Bay arrives this year with four top Broadway creating an impressive season for musical theatre lovers.

“Beauty and the Beast” is a delightful presentation. Everyone knows the engaging tale: Belle finds herself in an enchanted castle where the Beast and all the inhabitants are trapped in an animated state because of a witch’s cruel curse that only Belle can break. And as in all fairytales, everyone lives happily ever after. But getting there is delightful fun.

Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” has never been out of print since it was first published in 1868. It was translated into a least a dozen foreign languages during Alcott's life and can now be found in 50 different languages including Bengali, Chinese, Indonesian and Urdu.

When Hans Christian Anderson wrote “The Snow Queen” in 1845, he could never have fathomed in his wildest imagination (and as we all know he had a wild imagination), that his story would become a steampunk musical. He never dreamed that in the never, never, once-upon-a-time land of future theatre there was a director named Rick Lombardo and an associate director named Kirsten Brandt who would supply songs and lyrics and a reworked story. A talented Haddon Kime adds music to create an enchanting (at times confusing) “Snow Queen” that tells a story of valor, loyalty and the triumph of love.

From the wistful, beautiful first notes of Gershwin's classic “Summertime” at the opening of the first act, to the last notes of Porgy's “I'm On My Way” as he sets out to find his love at the end of the last act, this production is a glorious conglomeration of beautiful Gershwin music with a heart-wrenching plot creatively redesigned by award-winning director Diane Paulus. She brings us a bigger and better “Porgy and Bess” and her casting - for the most part - is impeccable.

“Amaluna” moves our planet to another universe and scans the surface of William Shakespeare's “The Tempest.” It moves its artists on a fanciful, unforgettable journey that - at times - takes the breath away. Esteemed award-winning Broadway director Diane Paulus has been given the reins to create this glorious work of art. (Paulus also directed the brilliant “Porgy and Bess” production now playing in San Francisco and the Tony winning revival of “Pippin”.)

In London in 1976, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice released an album of a show that would be called “Evita.” By early 1977, the album took the world by storm and when “Evita” premiered in London in June 1978, everyone was humming "Don't Cry For Me Argentina." In September 1979, “Evita” opened on Broadway to a sold out run and won seven Tonys, including Best Musical, Score, Book and Director. “Evita's” Broadway run went on for four years.

Created from the inspired best-selling novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, “Peter and the Star Catcher” is imaginatively transferred to the stage by Tony Award-winning writer Rick Elice, with award-winning directors Roger Rees and Alex Timbers. Twelve actors play some 50 characters, telling the story of how and why Peter Pan came to be the boy who never wanted to grow up.

The old, award-winning chestnut “Guys and Dolls” is as much fun as ever with a lively cast and great choreography. It’s based on two stories and characters of Damon Ruyon with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. “If I were a Bell,” “Bushel and a Peck” and “Luck Be A Lady” bring back another time and place.