Heroes

Played correctly - as it surely is in MetroStage’s sweet and charming production - Gérald Sibleyras’ Heroes is something Noël Coward might have written, had Coward been free to be earthy Read more

ROOMS on Opening Night

I am waiting to pick up my ticket for the opening night production of ROOMS a rock romance at New World Stages when I suddenly find that I am nervous. From the moment Carolyn Griffin called me to tell me about this new musical she had just landed for MetroStage, Read more

Cool Papa’s Party

Cool Papa’s Party
Written and Directed by Tom W. Jones II
Produced by MetroStage
Reviewed by Debbie Minter Jackson

Cool Papa’s Party is a frantic smattering of music, dance, with bits of dramatic elements tossed on an overlay of historical chronology, coarsely swirling together as a wild-eyed homage to the life spirit of Sammy Davis, Jr., the ultimate hipster, swing Daddy Cool.  Sammy.  He was a force of nature - complex, conflicted, controversial, self-destructive, who barreled through his life story as the ultimate song and dance man, Read more

Cool Papa’s Maurice Hines and Tom Jones

Cool Papa’s Party
A conversation with choreographer Maurice Hines and writer/director Thomas W. Jones II
by Joel Markowitz

It was late, the end of a long evening rehearsal, and the cast of Cool Papa’s Party had one more song in them - “Sho’ Can Dance” which they recorded for us before quitting the stage, leaving just me, 12-time Helen Hayes Award-Winning writer and director Thomas W. Jones II, and the legendary dancer, director and choreographer Maurice Hines. Read more

Isn’t It Romantic?

Isn’t it Romantic?
Written and directed by David Hunter Koch
Music Direction by William Knowles
Produced by MetroStage
Reviewed by Debbie Minter Jackson

No one this side of the Blue Note or the Algonquin Hotel delivers a silver-plated lyric like Jimi Ray Malary.  Just as in prior MetroStage hits, Ellington: The Life and Music of The Duke and Nat King Cole: King of Cool, Malary mixes old school technique with a modern flair for just the right classic touch. Read more

Pearl Bailey .. By Request

If you enjoy live R&B/jazz and are looking for an entertaining musical evening out, the MetroStage world premiere production of Pearl Bailey . . . By Request admirably fills the bill. Read more

Rooms’ Natascia Diaz and Doug Kreeger

Meet the stars of Rooms: A Rock Musical
An interview with Natascia Diaz and Doug Kreeger
by Joel Markowitz

Minutes after accepting their standing ovations, their Scottish accents still on the tips of their tongues, the stars of the new bound-for-NYC musical Rooms: A Rock Musical Read more

Rooms

• ROOMS
• Music and Lyrics by Paul Scott Goodman
  Book by Paul Scott Goodman and Miriam Gordon
  Directed by Scott Schwartz
  Music Direction by Jesse Vargas
• Presented and Co-Produced by MetroStage
• Reviewed by Steven McKnight

Rooms is the most emotionally real and authentic musical this reviewer has ever seen.  Imagine if Rent or Spring Awakening was condensed down to an intimate two person show and you’ll understand the appeal of this powerful rock romance. Read more

Make Room for Rooms

• ROOMS stars in rehearsal for MetroStage show
• By Joel Markowitz

July 6 - New York

I fell in love with Natascia Diaz at the Kennedy Center’s 2001 Sondheim Festival, when she played the role of Petra in A Little Night Music, and stole the audience’s hearts with her gorgeous rendition of “The Miller’s Son”. Read more

Tags: metrostage, musicals

The Stephen Schwartz Project

April 18, 2008 by Gary McMillan  
Filed under Our Reviews

4 Comments

• The Stephen Schwartz Project
• Conceived by Michael J. Bobbitt
• Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
• Musical arrangements by John L. Cornelius II
• Directed and Choreographed by Michael J. Bobbitt
• Produced by MetroStage
• Reviewed by Gary McMillan

PBS has its seemingly ubiquitous “Three Tenors.” Musical theatre fans have the three Stephens (Flaherty, Sondheim and Schwartz) who have been delighting theatre and film audiences with their music for decades. While Schwartz personally has not brought home the brass ring, the Tony Award, for his music, he’s racked up an impressive array of national and regional awards, achieved astounding commercial success, and remains a far more popular favorite among many musical theatre buffs and, undoubtedly, the general public for his pleasing, highly-memorable melodies and intelligent lyrics. Read more

Tags: broadway, metrostage

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