Ian Grey News

Both Melissa James Gibson's play THIS and Windy City Playhouse's production exist on a precipice. For the characters in Gibson's script, they stand on the ledge approaching forty and the onset of middle age, while also waxing nostalgic about the good old college days.These college friends-Jane, Marrell, and Alan (plus Marrell's spouse, Tom, and Jean-Pierre, a new, misplaced member of the circle)-stand firmly in that liminal space. The characters must navigate both the loss of a loved one (Jane is recently widowed) and the creation of new life (Marrell and Tom are parents to a newborn son). And while Gibson's characters seem to be contemplating major life experiences, she also paints them as exceedingly privileged and self-absorbed-in such a way that it becomes rather difficult to sympathize with them. Similarly, Windy City Playhouse's production (with direction by Artistic Associate Carl Menninger) occupies an in-between status-partly entertaining (with an occasional laugh-out-loud funny line delivery), partly striving towards deep emotional complexity. Unfortunately, THIS never swings far enough in either direction to be memorable. 

Angela Lansbury discusses her illustrious career and her hopes for her latest project.

Now through March 2, thousands of Chicago-area kids, parents and teachers are going to be grooving to Mr. Chickee's Funny Money, Chicago Children's Theatre's all-new, R&B family musical based on the popular children's book by Newbery Award-winner Christopher Paul Curtis. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

Now through March 2, thousands of Chicago-area kids, parents and teachers are going to be grooving to Mr. Chickee's Funny Money, Chicago Children's Theatre's all-new, R&B family musical based on the popular children's book by Newbery Award-winner Christopher Paul Curtis. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

Chicago Children's Theatre has announced casting for its world premiere of Mr. Chickee's Funny Money, an all-new, rhythm and blues family musical playing tonight, January 18 - March 2, 2014 at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn, Chicago. Press opening is Friday, January 24 at 7 p.m.

GetDawgz.com has debuted an innovative answer to the time consuming search to find healthy purebred puppies from reputable breeders. Their mission is to match families with healthy puppies.

Premiering at the 2012 Edinburg Fringe Festival, 50 SHADES! THE MUSICAL edged out about two months before its competition, SPANK! THE FIFTY SHADES PARODY. 'The Original Parody' of E.L. James' blockbuster 50 Shades of Grey has received positive notices to rave reviews in Edinburg, Chicago, New York City, and the other markets the show has played. Now, in its second leg of its National Tour, the raucously raunchy little show is still going strong and leaving fans absolutely spent.

Chicago Children's Theatre has announced casting for its world premiere of Mr. Chickee's Funny Money, an all-new, rhythm and blues family musical playing January 18 - March 2, 2014 at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn, Chicago. Press opening is Friday, January 24 at 7 p.m.

While Christmas is all around us and holiday shows are abound, TUTS Underground is gifting Houston audiences with something a little different than your typical holiday fare. TUTS Underground is gearing up for their second production of their inaugural season, 50 SHADES! THE MUSICAL. Parodying the popular book by E.L. James, the musical provides a hilarious interpretation of the novel through the eyes of a ladies' book club. Playing Taylor, Houston native Chris Sams took some time out of his schedule to let us know what Houston audiences have in store with 50 SHADES! THE MUSICAL.

50 Shades! The Musical, the original parody (50ShadesTheMusical.com) has postponed the start of performances because of technical issues with The Elektra Theatre. The financing of the show is in place and a new start date will be announced for early 2014 shortly.

According to E! Online, the Tony nominee and former VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE star is currently being considered to take on the lead role of 'Christian Grey' in the upcoming film adaptation of E.L. James' FIFTY SHADES OF GREY.

As part of its celebratory 5th Birthday Season, Leicester's Curve theatre is producing Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane in a co-production with the Mercury Theatre Colchester.

The raucous and raunchy cast recording for the equally lewd and crude parody musical 50 SHADES! THE MUSICAL - based loosely on the best-selling 50 SHADES OF GREY novel series by E.L. James - is now available for digital download and on CD.

50 Shades! The Musical, the original parody (50ShadesTheMusical.com) will play The Elektra Theatre (669 Eighth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Street) beginning November 18th with opening night set for Thursday, January 9th. Directed by Al Samuels, 50 Shades! The Musical is produced by Royal Mile Entertainment, Marshall Cordell, and Andrew Asnes.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the original 'Peter Parker' in Broadway's SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK has landed a series regular role in the John Logan-Sam Mendes drama PENNY DREAFUL. Carney will Exit SPIDER-MAN on Sept. 15 in order to begin filming later this fall.

50 SHADES! THE MUSICAL first spurt onto the solar plexus of the music theater scene on August 22, 2012 during the 2012 Edinburg Fringe Festival. Edging past SPANK! THE FIFTY SHADES PARODY by premiering about two months before its competition, 'The Original Parody' has received glowing reviews in Edinburg, Chicago, New York City, and the other markets the show has played. With a sturdy and somewhat ravenous fan base, recording a cast album was definitely a logical progression. As this musical will soon be playing in my neck of the woods, I was excited to get a chance to experience the music from the show. As I listened to the songs, I found them entertaining but not highly memorable.

"50 SHADES! THE MUSICAL," the critically-hailed parody of the phenomenally popular books, will release an Original Cast Album Tuesday, Aug. 13. The album is being released by Theater Advisor Records, a division of Theater Advisor LLC. The album is now available through pre-sale on iTunes and can be added to a wishlist on Amazon.com.

The global release of FIFTY SHADES OF GREY will start in North America on Friday, August 1st, 2014 with opening dates around the world to be announced.

BAFTA nominee Sam Taylor-Johnson (NOWHERE BOY) will helm the steamy Focus Features and Universal project, beating out Gus Van Sant and Joe Wright, according to Deadline.

The cast has been announced for the Omaha performances of SPANK! The Fifty Shades Parody! Omaha Performing Arts presents SPANK! for three performances tonight, June 13, at 7:30 p.m.; and Friday, June 14, and Saturday, June 15, at 8:00 p.m. in the Orpheum Theater. The musical comedy parody is part of the Omaha Performing Arts' 2012/2013 Season.