Artvoice: Buffalo's #1 Newsweekly
Home Blogs Web Features Calendar Listings Artvoice TV Real Estate Classifieds Contact
Previous story: Theaterweek
Next story: On the Boards

Stagefright

Movie and TV star Bobby Cannavale (pictured above) is currently making his Broadway debut in Theresa Rebeck’s outstanding new play Mauritius. Cannavale appeared in the last two episodes of Tom Fontana’s Oz and received an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Vince D’Angelo, Will’s first long-term boyfriend in Will & Grace. Mauritius also stars Alison Pill and Academy Award winner and Studio Arena alum F. Murray Abraham.

Justin Fiordaliso will be making his professional debut in Studio Arena’s upcoming production of A.R. Gurney’s Indian Blood, which will be directed by Kathleen Gaffney. Fiordaliso attended Studio Arena Theatre school summer program for several years and recently won the Donald Savage Scholarship at Buffalo State College. Savage was one of Gaffney’s mentors. The production also marks Darleen Pickering Hummert’s return to Studio Arena.

Brian Cavanagh will direct the Kavinoky’s upcoming production of the classic Twelve Angry Men. Some of the men aligned for the production are Christian Brandjes, Steve Cooper, Phil Knoerzer, Peter Jaskowiak, Jim Maloy, Gerry Maher, Norm Sham, Guy Wagner and Doug Weyand. The production will run January 4-February 5. The popular play was revived on Broadway in 2005 receiving the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. That production is still on a national tour starring Richard Thomas.

Marla Schaffel, who received a Tony award nomination for her performance in Jane Eyre—The Musical, will be returning to Shea’s in the touring production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, which runs December 18-23. Schaffel last appeared at Shea’s in the touring production of The Sound of Music. Based on the popular 1954 movie, White Christmas was first produced in San Francisco in 2004, starring Buffalo’s Jeff Denman, and has been performed all over the country since then. Denman will be reprising his performance at the Wang Theater in Boston, November 23-December 23.

It was bound to happen, after Late Night Catechism had a very successful engagement at Shea’s Smith Theatre; now comes Sister’s Christmas Catechism. The interactive comedy will play November 27-December 23. This time, the sister will try to solve the mystery of what happened to the Magi’s gold.

Musicalfare will present Charles Dickens Presents A Christmas Carol December 23 & 24. This one-man show, conceived, written, directed by and starring Mike Randall, is a recreation of Dickens’s appearance in Buffalo back in 1868. As part of his America Reading Tour, Dickens performed two sold-out shows at St. James Hall in Buffalo. His performance was reviewed in the Buffalo Morning Express on March 13, 1868.

Shea’s Performing Arts Center and the New York State Theatre Education Association are accepting applications for The Write To Be Heard, the annual one-act playwriting competition open to eighth through 12th grade students within a 60-mile radius of Buffalo. Deadline for submitting is January 7, 2008. For further information visit margodavis.com.

To coincide with Ariel Dorfman’s visit to Buffalo presented by Just Buffalo Literary Center on December 7, BUA will present a reading of his play Death and the Maiden on Saturday, December 8, at the Alleyway Theatre. The performance will be a benefit for Just Buffalo and will star Josephine Hogan and Peter Palmisano, directed by Kelli Bocock Natale.

Brendan Powers (pictured below) is back in town to appear as the Celebrant in Leonard Bernstein’s Mass, which will be performed November 16-18 at St. Joseph University Church on Main St. This massive production (a 20-piece orchestra, more than 15 principals, the WNY Children’s Choir, the Buffalo Choral Arts Society and dancers) is being directed by Brother Augustine Towey. Next, Powers will be heading to Fort Myers to star in a production of the Pulitzer Prize winning Doubt.