The annual Thespian Festival at the University of Nebraska is the premiere event on the high school theatre calendar! The week showcases great high school performances on four stages, a wealth of learning opportunities for students and educators in workshops and master classes, a student leadership program, auditions for college admission and Thespian scholarships, the Thespian Playworks, and much more. TRW is a long-time supporter of the Festival and this year we have stepped up to the plate with a Platinum Sponsorship and a full slate of activities. Our Director of Licensing Jim Hoare and our Manager of Licensing & Accounts Julie Abdelahad are in Lincoln and hosting an information packed exhibit. We’ve got workshops lined-up and demonstrations of our newest rehearsal and performance enhancement products.

Jim’s hot new workshop, ‘Writing a New Musical,” is sure to be a hit with students and teachers alike. This in-depth look at the many ways that musical theatre writers do their thing is designed to illuminate the process of crafting the great American musical.

TRW's Director of Licensing Jim Hoare

TUE, THU & FRI from 2:30-4:00pm & 4:15-5:45pm in Kaufman 111, Team TRW will be giving demos of Show|Ready™ and Stage|Tracks™, our new rehearsal and performance tools. These new, ultra user-friendly rehearsal and performance accompaniment interfaces are the next generation of this popular product line. Check it out at Thespian Fest 2012.

ALL SHOOK UP at the 2010 Thespian Festival

Also, at the Show|Ready™ and Stage|Tracks™ demos, learn about the CHANGING MINDS Video Smackdown, where you might win $5,000 for your Theatre department. AND…SING SONGS! Oh, yes, sing with us from SPAMALOT, CURTAINS, ALL SHOOK UP and THE COLOR PURPLE!

TRW and the 2012 International Thespian Festival: A Great Partnership to Celebrate the High School Musical Experience!

For a full listing of events, click here to check out the minute-by-minute Festival guide.

Lt. Frank Cioffi, one of Boston’s finest, is thrilled to be on stage until the star of the show collapses. Did she trip? Is she tired? No, she’s dead! Now he has his hands full. Broadway’s musical whodunit, CURTAINS is a runaway hit in community theatres worldwide. And our featured production at the Williamsburg Players, in Williamsburg, VA is no exception!

The Williamsburg roduction runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Saturday afternoons at 2 p.m.  Tickets are $18 and are available online at www.williamsburgplayers.org or by calling the box office at (757) 229-0431.

Click here for more information on the Williamsburg Players.

Click here to find out about licensing your production of CURTAINS.

PCPA Theaterfest’s upcoming 49th Season features a vibrant assortment of theatrical experiences, from established family favorites to the newest prize-winning plays and musicals. The 2012-13 season marks another bevy of comedies, dramas and literary classics, with some special innovations and renovations, from the Central Coast’s resident professional theatre.

Next summer, MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT, the Tony Award winning Best Musical plays under the stars in PCPA’s Solvang Festival Theater July 13 – August 10, 2013. This fresh Broadway hit retells the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, and features a bevy of beautiful show girls, not to mention cows, killer rabbits and French people.

For more than 40 years PCPA Theaterfest has been presenting professional theatre and providing excellent training with a resident company of theatre professionals. Begun in the summer of 1964, founder Donovan Marley laid the ground work for a year-round professional theatre company. PCPA remains the only resident professional company on the Central Coast producing consistent quality entertainment for the community while training thousands of actors and theatre technicians for a career in theatre.

Tickets for the 2012-2013 Season go on sale in October.

Visit www.pcpa.org for more information.

Click here for information about licensing MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT.

BARE, the rock musical about teens coming of age in a Catholic school setting, will get a commercial Off-Broadway run starting Nov. 19 at New World Stages. Stafford Arima (Carrie) will direct the latest version of the show.

To get the whole scoop on BARE’s return to NYC, click here to read the article at Playbill.com.

Click here for information on licensing BARE.

The Lilly Theater at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis has been offering live entertainment to young people for over 25 years. This summer, the Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman musical HOW I BECAME A PIRATE, adapted from the beloved book by Melinda Long with Illustrations by David Shannon, will take the stage at the renowned museum’s theater space.

This is the irresistible story of young Jeremy Jacob, who is recruited by Captain Braid Beard and his mates to help find the perfect digging spot for treasure. Jeremy is instructed on how to talk like a pirate and learns all about pirate “etiquette.” When a storm arises, Jeremy Jacob begins to wonder if the pirate life is really for him, and he realizes that the simple things in life, like a kiss and tucking in at night, are among the most important.

Click here to check out the info on the Indy production of HOW I BECAME A PIRATE at the Children’s museum!

HOW I BECAME A PIRATE at The Indianapolis Children’s Museum

Tuesday–Sunday
July 5–Aug. 12, 1 and 3 p.m.
No Monday performances
ASL-interpreted performance August 4 at 1 p.m.

Click here for information on licensing HOW I BECAME A PIRATE

Our friends at ShenanArts in Staunton, Virginia are set to open their take on the ever-popular ALL SHOOK UP on June 22 playing through July 1. Inspired by and featuring the songs of Elvis Presley, ALL SHOOK UP is a powerhouse musical mash-up of Elvis and Shakespeare! The story’s a classic: Into a square little town in a square little state rides a guitar-playing roustabout who changes everything and everyone he meets in this hip-swiveling, lip-curling musical fantasy that’ll have you jumpin’ out of your blue suede shoes with such classics as “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Jailhouse Rock,” and “Don’t Be Cruel.”

ShenanArts is a non-profit community theatre that was organized in 1981.  From their website: “Our mission continues to be using theatre to build bridges within our community.    In our new space at the nTelos Theatre we will continue to produce a variety of play as well as adding music events throughout the year.  Shenanarts produces plays for all generations:Youth, Teen, and Multi-Generational Shows as well as adult  oriented plays.

In 2009 the Presbury Theatrical Training Program was started in memorial of Lin Presbury.  The goal of PTTP is to provided quality training for aspiring actors.  A variety of classes and workshops are offered throughout the year. ShenanArts is directed by a volunteer Board of Directors.  We rely on a host of dedicated community volunteers to maintain all aspects of our theatre. The Gypsy Hill Place is a registered National Land Mark. The space that is now the theatre was built in 1928 and was a part of a 21 million dollar renovation.  The theater at Gypsy Hill Place seats 341 people.  The stage is a traditional proscenium stage with an added thrust.”

And on June 23rd…they are serving dinner as well as ALL SHOOK UP!

TRW salutes the cast and crew at ShenanArts!

For Tickets Click Here!

For information on licensing ALL SHOOK UP click here.

TRW is proud to represent GrooveLily‘s brilliant STRIKING 12, a new musical spin on The Little Matchgirl story and LONG STORY SHORT, an adaptation of a play by David Schulner called “An Infinite Ache.” GrooveLily is a theatrical power-pop trio consisting of Valerie Vigoda, Brendan Milburn, and Gene Lewin. They have existed, in one form or another, since 1994, and in addition to their phenomenal records are masterful creators of new musical theatre. Along with STRIKING 12 and LONG STORY SHORT, the lovely Lilys have created sensational musicals including SLEEPING BEAUTY WAKES, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, and ERNEST SHACKELTON LOVES ME.

Their newest show, WHEELHOUSE, opens June 9th, 2012 at Theatre Works Silicon Valley. In a comically touching ode to the road, a traveling rock band cuts back on expenses, hitting the highway in a well-worn Winnebago. When their plan backfires with a bang, it threatens the sweet harmonies that hold them together. GrooveLily stars in this irresistible autobiographical musical about traveling tunesmiths in desperate need of a tune-up. TRW will be in California for the opening night performance on June 9th and we are super excited to see this hot new show!

Click here to Visit GrooveLily.com to watch the amazing Wheelhouse Vlog series on the development of this new musical!

The San Jose Mercury News featured a superb cover story on the San Francisco Bay Area’s status as the preeminent launching ground for new musicals outside of New York City, featuring MEMPHIS, WICKED and WHEELHOUSE. Click here to check out this great feature at www.mercurynews.com

For tickets to WHEELHOUSE, Click here to visit Theatre Works Silicon Valley

For information on licensing STRIKING 12, click here to visit the show’s homepage at Theatricalrights.com

For information on licensing LONG STORY SHORT, click here to visit the show’s homepage at Theatricalrights.com

Davis Gaines will star as King Arthur

DAVIS GAINES is leading a remarkably talented cast in MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT, set to open June 29th, closing out another great Musical Theatre West season. Gaines performed the title role in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA in more than 2,000 performances on Broadway, in Los Angeles (where he remains LA’s longest-running Phantom) and San Francisco (where he received the Bay Area’s Critic’s Award for Best Actor). Other talent for the MTW production includes  LARRY RABEN as Sir Robin, JAMIE TORCELLINI as Patsy, DAN CALLAWAY as Sir Galahad, ZACHARY FORD as Sir Lancelot, RICHARD ISRAEL as Historian/Fred/Herbert, and DANNY STILES as Sir Bedevere, and TAMI TAPPAN DAMIANO as Lady of the Lake. The creative team includes Director Steven Glaudini, Choreographer Billy Sprague, Jr and Musical Director John Glaudini.

In other SPAMALOT news, TRW recently announced to our valued customers in North America that MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT is available for productions with performance dates commencing September 1, 2013. Some cities are available now! Find your grail, TRW customers, and give your audiences and performers the chance of a lifetime to experience one of the greatest Broadway musicals of the modern age. The Tony® Award Winning Best Musical, SPAMALOT! And, check out the MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT homepage and click on CASTING INFORMATION for great advice on casting many roles with females and tips on expanding your ensemble and giving them featured parts. Click here to get started.

The Naples Players, of beautiful Naples, Florida, are hard at work rehearsing their upcoming production of ALL SHOOK UP. This irresistible mash-up of Elvis and Shakespeare comes from the Tony Award winning pen of Joe DiPietro (MEMPHIS) and features a score that tells this hilarious story with all Elvis Presley songs in shimmering new arrangements.

The Naples Players cast features Chris Valente as the guitar-playing roustabout and  Alana Neuman plays Natalie. Their production features a large ensemble as well, drawn from many previous Naple’s shows, including young talent from their awesome kid’s theatre programs. The show is directed by Dallas Dunnagan with musical direction by Charles Fornara and choreography by Dawn Lebrecht Fornara.

“All Shook Up” will be performed in Blackburn Hall at Sugden Community Theatre, 701 5th Avenue South in downtown Naples. Show times are at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets are $35 for adults and $10 for children 18 and under. A dinner and show ticket is also available for $55.00 for adults. Tickets can be purchased at the box office, by calling 239.263.7990, faxing a request to 239.434.7772, or by visiting naplesplayers.org/tickets.

To get an idea of how much fun this show is to rehearse and perform, check out this awesome rehearsal video of the Naples Players team staging a wild chase scene! Click here to watch the video!

The Great Plains Theatre in Abilene, Kansas, just opened their sizzling hot new production of ALL SHOOK UP! The beloved theatre, opened in 1995 by Richard Esvang and Michelle Meade, bills itself as ‘The Only Professional Theatre between Kansas City and Denver.’ Their first week was a, “stellar opening weekend, playing to capacity crowds,” according to a theatre spokesperson. (OK, their Facebook page!).

According to a real source, the Salina Journal, ALL SHOOK UP is a 1950s-era rock ‘n’ roll musical inspired by the songs of Elvis Presley. It’s a story that might have made an Elvis movie: a guitar-playing, hip-swiveling, motorcycle riding cool cat comes to a small town and changes the lives of everyone he meets. The show features such Elvis classics like Heartbreak Hotel, Jailhouse Rock, Don’t Be Cruel and the title song. “Last year, we had a great success with ‘Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story,’ so we thought we could have a similar success with people who love Elvis’ music,” Director Marc Liby said. “Most ‘jukebox musicals’ don’t have that much of a plot, but this one does.”

Read the whole story at http://www.salina.com/news/story/Great-Plains-Theatre-Line-Up-6-1

To find out more about ALL SHOOK UP click here visit the show’s homepage at www.theatricalrights.com

To order a perusal of ALL SHOOK UP, click here to go to TRW’s Perusal Store