TWO PRO THEATRES OPEN CURTAINS THIS WEEK!

Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS), Houston’s internationally renowned musical theatre, opens their new production of Kander and Ebb’s CURTAINS March 31st for a 16 performance run, playing through April 11, 2011. The hilarious backstage whodunit—where everyone in the cast and crew is a suspect—was  nominated for eight Tony© Awards, and features a book by Rupert Holmes,  score by John Kander and Fred Ebb, and is based on a concept by Peter Stone.

Director Mark S. Hoebee, in an interview with Houston.com, commented on his excitement about the production:  “I’m thrilled to be a part of this brilliant musical. ‘Curtains’ left an impression on Broadway, and I know Houstonians are going to be quite impressed with the cast, the music, and the performance this show promises to deliver.”

Robert Newman takes the lead as super sleuth crime solver Lieutenant Frank Cioffi. Newman, a four-time nominee for the Soap Opera Digest awards and two-time Daytime Emmy Awards nominee, is best known for his role as Joshua Lewis in Guiding Light, but is also know for his stage work. He has starred in musicals for major regional theatres from coast to coast and he has worked extensively in the Los Angeles theatre scene.

Robert Newman will portray Lt. Frank Cioffi in TUTS' CURTAINS

Playing the role of tough-as-nails brassy Broadway producer Carmen Bernstein will be four-time Daytime Emmy winner Kim Zimmer, also of Guiding Light fame. Her theatre experience includes off-Broadway’s Love, Loss, And What I Wore and Four Dogs And A Bone. The duo will reunite on stage for CURTAINS after spending several years as Guiding Light‘s on-screen power couple.

CURTAINS is featured as part of the TUTS 2010-2011 season that also includes Billy Elliot, Rock of Ages and more.

Also opening a new production of CURTAINS this week is the venerable Performance Riverside in Riverside, California. Featuring a very talented indeed cast of over twenty five, the production opens, no foolin’, on April 1st and plays through April 10th.

CURTAINS is now available for licensing exclusively through TRW. You can order a perusal of CURTAINS instantly at the PerusalsNOW™ store on the TRW website. In just seconds you’ll be reading CURTAINS while listening to song samples that will have you scheduling YOUR production of this irresistible musical. Visit the CURTAINS homepage at www.theatricalrights.com for more information.

ZANESVILLE, OHIO SCHOOL PRESENTS THE MUSICAL OF THE LOUISA MAY ALCOTT CLASSIC

Maysville High School in Zanesville, Ohio presents LITTLE WOMEN this weekend playing Friday and Saturday at the school’s auditorium. This all-new musical, based upon Louisa May Alcott’s beloved 19th century novel, vividly brings to life the March family of Concord, Massachusetts. In a time of war and sacrifice, Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth, guided by their mother Marmee, grow from girls into women, through romance and courtship, illness and loss, loving and letting go. Kim Oler and Alison Hubbard‘s moving Richard Rodgers Award-winning score, by turns funny and touching, is seamlessly matched by Sean Hartley‘s wise and witty book. This is a LITTLE WOMEN like none you have ever seen or heard before.

The cast of Maysville High School's LITTLE WOMEN

Get the full story on the Zanesville Times-Recorder!

The success of the current ALL SHOOK UP National Tour is another great feather in this much storied show’s blue suede cap. Produced by the Prather Entertainment Group (PEG),  the tour is currently on a 50-city run that’s been SRO from New York to California.

The PEG tour rolls-out a stellar production to showcase an immensely talented cast of twenty who gamely deliver ALL SHOOK UP‘s irresistible Elvis songs matched with Joe DiPietro‘s rapid-fire riff on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Like the regional, community and school productions that came before it, the PEG tour is earning rave reviews.

ALL SHOOK UP, one of a wave of Jukebox Musicals that crested in New York and London in the 2000′s, hit Broadway in 2005, with break-out performances from Cheyenne Jackson and Jenn Gambatese. Broadway, and the West End perfected the Jukebox Musical phenom in the first decade of the new century and it’s no wonder. Depending on your definition of what is now an widely recognized genre of Musical Theatre, no fewer than 40 new Jukes were launched in the ‘ots! From 2001′s LOVE, JANIS to the just-closed FELA!, musicals featuring the assembled songs of beloved artists or eras have become a defining part of the modern Musical Theatre landscape.

ALL SHOOK UP played for over 200 performances during its Broadway run. Not a long run by Broadway’s measure, but very effective indeed for propelling the show into a new theatrical orbit! The appeal of the Elvis music is pure magic and with a hilarious, romantic and endlessly clever book by DiPietro (MEMPHIS), the show is achieving a new success, especially with schools and community theatres. ALL SHOOK UP is now enjoying its 5th year of licensing with TRW.

Catch the PEG tour in one of these upcoming cities and get in on the fun and excitement of ALL SHOOK UP!

March 22, 2011 Charlestown, WV

March 23, 2011 Mansfield, OH

March 25, 2011 Morristown, NJ

March 26, 2011 West Point, NY

March 27, 2011 Bayside, NY

March 29, 2011 Rockford, IL

March 30, 2011 Elyria, OH

March 31, 2011 Byron Center, MI

April 1-2, 2011 Aurora, IL

April 3, 2011 La Crosse, WI

April 5-17, 2011 Dayton, OH

HOW I BECAME A PIRATE is now available for licensing! Based on Melinda Long’s hugely popular children’s book of the same name, this magnificent tale is a musical treasure chest that brings to the stage the tale of young Jeremy Jacob’s high seas adventure. Jeremy meets Captain Braid Beard and his mates one day, and is recruited to help find the perfect digging spot for their treasure!

With book, music and lyrics by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman, HOW I BECAME A PIRATE is ideal for theatre organizations that are looking for an easy to cast and stage musical that will do big biz at the box office!

HOW I BECAME A PIRATE connects with young audiences by capturing their sense of imagination and letting it soar as they come to know and love Jeremy and each and every endearingly crusty pirate from their fearless leader Braid Beard to  Pirate Scurvy Dog! A host of hilarious and charming characters can be played by a smaller cast or a larger ensemble and staged as simply or lushly as suits your individual production needs.

Oklahoma Baptist University Theatre for Young Audiences production, 2010.

Like the other hot titles in the TRW/TYA Catalogue, HOW I BECAME A PIRATE is part of the great new wave of TYA musicals that are bringing a whole new audience to theatres worldwide. Organizations that are looking for creative ways to satisfy their creative missions while still selling tickets are looking to fresh, new, high-quality titles that have flown from the page to the musical theatre stage! The Nickelodeon Live On Stage Collection (RUGRATS, BLUES CLUES LIVE: THE MOST SPECTACULAR PLACE and BLUE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY), and PINKALICIOUS, CINDERELLA, NO DOGS ALLOWED, and THEY CHOSE ME are all helping theatres everywhere get to the next level of presenting hip, smart, stage adaptations of new titles that are not cut-down versions of older shows, but stories that are becoming the classics of this generation!

Critics consistently praised PIRATE in its initial productions around America. “Kids love pirates.  On opening day of “How I Became a Pirate” at Cape Rep’s outdoor theater, the show was sold-out. This fun, pirate parody (without any scary parts), is sure to please.  My six-year-old’s eyes were fully fixed on the stage.  My ten-year-old liked the sprinkling of modern technology references, especially the song “pirates dot arggh,” wrote Ellen Petry Whalen of GateHouse News Service, reviewing the Cape Cod Rep Theatre’s 2010 production in Brewster, MA.

Nancy Cook-Senn of the Oklahoma University News agreed: “How I Became A Pirate,” a musical by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman, shows just how much fun a daydream can be when a lad sets sail with a wacky boatload of buccaneers. It’s a charming romp that never flags in its silliness for youngsters and sly asides for grown-ups, adventuring aboard ship, on the beach and against a shimmering sky. Songs are energetically and deftly delivered as characters enter and interact with the audience. It’s an appealing treat from start to finish. These buccaneers are a huge hit!” wrote Cook-Senn after seeing the Oklahoma Baptist University Theatre for Young Audiences production in Shawnee, OK in 2010.

South Carolina Chldren's Theatre production, 2010

You can catch HOW I BECAME A PIRATE at one of these upcoming productions:

March 17, 2011 – March 19, 2011 TRYPS Children’s Theater, Columbia, MO

March 30, 2011 – May 19, 2011 Muskegon Civic Theatre, Muskegon, MI

May 6, 2011 – May 15, 2011 ABQStages, Albuquerque, NM

May 11, 2011 – May 31, 2011 Theatre of Youth Company Inc, Buffalo, NY

May 19, 2011 – May 20, 2011 Mountain Trails Elementary, Eagle Mountain, UT

October 14, 2011 – October 30, 2011 Omaha Theater Company, Omaha, NE

February 25, 2012 – March 31, 2012 Derby Dinner Playhouse, Clarksville, IN

HOW I BECAME A PIRATE comes with a fully-orchestrated performance CD! Order a PerusalsNOW™ of HOW I BECAME A PIRATE and you can begin the fun of staging YOUR production of this wonderful show!

TRW's Director of Licensing Jim Hoare

The 2011 Southeastern Theatre Conference, Live from Atlanta, is set to begin on March 2nd, and TRW will be there! TRW’s Director of Licensing Jim Hoare will be on hand at Booth #122 at the Hilton Atlanta Convention Center. Jim is on hand to personally confer with SETC attendees on TRW’s phenomenal new acquisitions, the StageCenter Collection and much more. Stop by and get a free CD and meet Jim!

Plus Jim is anchoring the “Rights, Royalties and New Plays” panel with other licensing house reps at 4pm on Friday, March 4th in RM 312. Be sure to attend this vital panel discussion and get the inside scoop from theatrical licensing experts!

This is a great chance for you to meet Jim and know that you have a personal contact in TRW’s New York office!