Michael Kane News

New Light Theater Project (NLTP) is pleased to announce the first annual London Calling event. Over the same weekend in April, London-based Equilibrium Theatre will produce five new American plays in London and NLTP will produce five new British plays in Midtown. The theme? English/American relations and what we actually think about each other. Is the relationship sustained? Does it need a little work?

Empirical Rogue presents Nikolai Erdman's Suicide!?, in a new adaptation written and directed by Empirical Rogue Artistic Director Tim Eliot. Performances begin tonight, January 4 at the InterArt Theatre (500 West 52nd Street between 10th and 11th Avenues).

Voting is now underway for San Francisco! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for San Francisco! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for San Francisco! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for San Francisco! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for San Antonio! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Empirical Rogue has announced casting for Nikolai Erdman's Suicide!?, in a new adaptation written and directed by Empirical Rogue Artistic Director Tim Eliot. Performances begin January 4 at the Interart Theatre (500 West 52nd Street between 10th and 11th Avenues).

True to form, "Rock of Ages" provides "nothing but a good time." Just the right combination of musical theatre storytelling and rock n' roll partying, "Rock of Ages" features a perfectly balanced sound system, just loud enough to blow your mind, but not loud enough to blow your eardrums. The innovative production includes awesome audience interaction, with shout outs to the local audience and fun recognition of traditional Broadway musical theatregoers.

The McCallum Theatre kicked off its Broadway Series last night with the national tour of the wildly popular Jukebox Musical ROCKS OF AGES to a sell-out opening night crowd. The McCallum once again proved itself to be the near perfect road house for a musical - it is large enough to accommodate a big touring production with the intimacy of a Broadway house. ROCK OF AGES has a score that begs the audience to sing along --- in fact, many of the audience members did jutst that … sang along, in something akin to a Rocky Horror Picture Show experience - and the classic 80's tunes follow you out to the parking lot and for a good 24 hours beyond. The score is the best part of the show. The book is frivolous, formula and all too predictable with far, far too many "poop jokes" and "sexual innuendos" along the way, It is wall to wall 1980's kitsch --- similar to the other Broadway 80's throwback "The Wedding Singer". But "The Wedding Singer" does it much better.

The Marcus Center for Performing Arts was rocking Tuesday night for the opening of the Broadway Across America touring company of "Rock of Ages". The atmosphere at the theater was more like a rock concert, than a Broadway musical. And, for this particular brand of show, it worked spectacularly.

If you're feeling nostalgic for some classic 80s rock and your Van Halen albums just aren't cutting it, then throw on your favorite concert tee, put your lighter in your pocket, and get your butt to The Long Center. To borrow from Brett Michaels and Poison, ROCK OF AGES ain't nothin' but a good time.

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) begins performances of the world premiere production FUTURITY: A MUSICAL BY THE LISPS, with music and lyrics by Cesar Alvarez with The Lisps; book by Molly Rice and Cesar Alvarez; directed by Sarah Benson.Performances run from Friday, March 16 through Sunday, April 15, 2012 at the A.R.T.'s second space, OBERON, at 2 Arrow Street, Cambridge.

Oberon hosts world premiere of ambitious Civil War musical that combines history, science fiction, technology, and imagination, but its reach exceeds its grasp. The book is muddled, but the music stands on its own.

Following a highly successfully L.A. premiere this past February 2011, ROCK OF AGES, the five-time Tony Award nominated smash-hit musical, returns to Los Angeles for a strictly limited, face-melting one week engagement now through March 25, 2012 at the Pantages Theatre. L.A. audiences were so amped during the show's premiere engagement that it was clear those die-hard fans who continued singing 'Don't Stop Believin' down Hollywood Boulevard as they left the Pantages Theatre hadn't been rocked hard enough!

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) begins performances of the world premiere production FUTURITY: A MUSICAL BY THE LISPS, with music and lyrics by Cesar Alvarez with The Lisps; book by Molly Rice and Cesar Alvarez; directed by Sarah Benson.Performances run from Friday, March 16 through Sunday, April 15, 2012 at the A.R.T.'s second space, OBERON, at 2 Arrow Street, Cambridge.

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) begins performances of the world premiere production FUTURITY: A MUSICAL BY THE LISPS, with music and lyrics by Cesar Alvarez with The Lisps; book by Molly Rice and Cesar Alvarez; directed by Sarah Benson.Performances run from Friday, March 16 through Sunday, April 15, 2012 at the A.R.T.'s second space, OBERON, at 2 Arrow Street, Cambridge.

A certain generation (namely, my own) is going to really get a kick out of ROCK OF AGES. Those younger than me will still be amused by its wildly over the top antics, but those that are older may be a bit befuddled by the constant barrage of cultural references from the late 1980's, and probably have no familiarity at all with most of the music that's from that era. I think ROCK OF AGES is a gloriously hilarious and completely ridiculous homage to the big hair, hard rock anthem bands that ruled MTV and the radio at that time. This was cruising music when I was in my late teens and early twenties, so I instantly identified with the attitudes presented, and the music that accompanies each melodramatic moment.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), under the Artistic Direction of Diane Paulus, is adding to the already announced season a special family-oriented production - The Snow Queen, Hans Christian Andersen's exuberant ode to childhood. The new stage adaptation for children and their families by Tyler Monroe is directed by Allegra Libonati, with original puppets by Michael Kane, and featuring members of the A.R.T. Institute Class of 2012. The production opens at the Loeb Drama Center on December 10 and runs through December 31.