QUINCY — The Quincy Community Theater will celebrate 100 years of bringing entertainment center stage in the Gem City with a packed slate of hit shows for the 2023 season. QCT Artistic Director Brandon Thomsen said he wanted the 2023 line-up to reflect on what the Theater has offered to volunteers and patrons over the … Read more
LOS ANGELES — Annette O’Toole is reveling in her “Virgin River” role as the unpredictable mayor of a small town whose woodsy, peaceful setting belies its residents’ roller-coaster lives. Her character is older but not always wiser, including in love. That goes against Hollywood’s tendency to view midlife-plus as past the sell-by date for nuanced … Read more
NEW YORK — New York City’s latest celebrity visitor is stopping traffic even in this jaded, larger-than-life town. Little Amal, a 12-foot puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee, is on a 17-day blitz through every corner of the Big Apple as part of a theater project hoping to raise awareness about immigration. “When we talk … Read more
By JESSE SCOTT FOR THE FREE LANCE–STAR It’s a big week for Riverside Center for the Performing Arts. On Sunday at 6:30 pm, the organization will host a special “Celebration 25” gathering. The event will reveal the six shows to take the main stage in 2023 for Riverside’s landmark 25th season (Hint: There will be … Read more
James Earl Jones became world-famous after lending his distinctive voice to treasured films like “Star Wars” and “The Lion King.” The actor’s actor was truly at home on Broadway, however, making Monday’s unveiling of the James Earl Jones Theater all the more historic. The venue itself has stood on New York’s West 48th Street for … Read more
NEW YORK — The newly restored Cort Theater on Broadway will formally be renamed after James Earl Jones on Monday, becoming the second theater on the Great White Way named after a Black artist. The honor adds to the many that the iconic actor Jones has amassed, including two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony … Read more
This year has been one of change and new faces for the Mother Lode Theatre, with three staff members coming on board since January. In the lobby of the performing arts center sits a large, mobile white board marked with different-colored sticky notes listing items the staff needs to get done. Each color signifies a … Read more
NEW YORK — This Sunday, the cast and crew of the Broadway musical “Come From Away” have an appointment, as usual, with an aircraft carrier. Every year on Sept. 11, they help box thousands of meals for food banks across the city and perform for the volunteers aboard the USS Intrepid. “9/11 was a worldwide … Read more
NEW YORK — The fictional character Roxie Hart has many awful attributes — she’s adulterous, narcissistic, scheming, manipulating and murderous. Next week she’ll also be something unexpected: Inspirational. “Pose” star Angelica Ross on Monday will step onstage in Hart’s high heels, becoming the first openly transgender woman to play a leading part on Broadway. “I … Read more
NEW YORK — Playwright Ken Ludwig isn’t a fan of seeing his old shows, no matter how successful they’ve become. It makes him feel like he’s not moving ahead. But Ludwig has lately found an ingenious way to look back and forward at the same time. He’s revisited one of his most beloved plays and … Read more
