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Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation Opens at Theatre Row November 4

by | Nov 3, 2021 | New Musical News Feed

Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin, and their best friends Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, and Owl (and Tigger too!) can be found these days adventuring deep in the Hundred Acre Wood—or rather, Times Square’s Theatre Row—in Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation, opening November 4. The new stage production features the iconic Disney characters, created by A. A. Milne, in a new story with music by the Sherman Brothers. Previews began October 21.

The show is developed and presented by Jonathan Rockefeller, whose company Rockefeller Productions created the popular family-friendly puppet shows The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show and Paddington Gets in a Jam. Like other Rockefeller shows, Winnie the Pooh features life-size puppets. Check out the gallery below of new photos from the production.

Check Out New Photos of Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation

The cast includes Jake Bazel as Pooh; Chris Palmieri as Tigger; Kirsty Moon as Piglet/Roo; Emmanuel Elpenord as Eeyore, Rabbit, and Owl; and Kristina Dizon as Kanga/Owl.

The Sherman Brothers—Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman—are the Oscar- and Grammy-winning songwriting duo behind many Disney classics including Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and The Aristocrats. They wrote the music for the original Winnie the Pooh featurettes that made up the 1977 musical film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The new musical stage production includes familiar tunes such as “The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers” and “A Rather Blustery Day.”

The creative team includes original music and orchestrations by Nate Edmonson, costume design by Lindsay McWilliams, lighting design by Jamie Roderick, and scenic design by David Goldstein, Matthew Herman, and Johnny Figueredo. Lead puppet builders are Matthew Lish and Ben Durocher.

Go Inside Opening Night of the Off-Broadway Revival of Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

by | Nov 2, 2021 | New Musical News Feed

After beginning performances October 12, Signature Theatre’s revival of Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 officially opened at The Pershing Square Signature Center’s Irene Diamond Stage November 1.

Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 follows the aftermath of the L.A. riots, sparked by the acquittal of Rodney King. At the time, Smith responded by interviewing over 350 people, eventually finding space to create a through-line of monologues that explores the unrest.

Go Inside Opening Night of the Off-Broadway Revival of Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

While the play was originally performed by Smith as a solo piece on Broadway in 1994, the Signature Theatre revival features an ensemble cast comprised of Elena Hurst, Wesley T. Jones, Francis Jue, Karl Kenzler, and Tiffany Rachelle Stewart.

“Sadly, the play is still relevant on many fronts,” Smith explained in a previous statement. “The gentleman who took the video of Rodney King being beaten was apparently testing out his camera for the first time. The video of Rodney King is the first time that a beating was seen by the world and in fact, went viral, if viral was even a word used then. None of us would have known about George Floyd’s murder had it not been for a cell phone video. By the time of Floyd’s killing, citizens were more likely to document police brutality; it is also likely that public outrage following the verdict on the LAPD informed how the verdict on Chauvin came out. We shall see if the current conversation about racial and economic inequality lasts longer and is more effective than the one sparked by the civil unrest in Los Angeles following the verdict.”

Directed by Taibi Magar, the revival features scenic design by Riccardo Hernández, costume design by Linda Cho, lighting design by Alan C. Edwards, sound design by Darron L West, projection design by David Bengali, and casting by Caparelliotis Casting and X Casting. Michael Leon Thomas is the movement coach, Dawn-Elin Fraser is the dialect coach, Ann James is the sensitivity specialist, and Charles M. Turner III is the production stage manager.