Welcome to Creators on the Rise, where we find and profile breakout creators who are in the midst of extraordinary growth. You can check out previous installments here.
Brandon Contreras and Matt Curiano are inseparable.
They’ve known each other for half their lifetimes, after meeting 15 years ago in the Bfa musical theater program at Pace University. The two of them “quickly became best friends,” Contreras says, and discovered a mutual passion for sketch comedy. They kept in touch after they graduated, and always “talked about making funny videos together,” Curiano chimes in, but never quite got around to it.
Then, while Contreras was away on a six-month contract in Utah, Curiano decided to give the whole video thing a real shot. “While he was gone, I was like, I’m going to try this out,” Curiano says. “I started playing around with stuff and I came up with the idea of The HomoSapien Experience,...
Brandon Contreras and Matt Curiano are inseparable.
They’ve known each other for half their lifetimes, after meeting 15 years ago in the Bfa musical theater program at Pace University. The two of them “quickly became best friends,” Contreras says, and discovered a mutual passion for sketch comedy. They kept in touch after they graduated, and always “talked about making funny videos together,” Curiano chimes in, but never quite got around to it.
Then, while Contreras was away on a six-month contract in Utah, Curiano decided to give the whole video thing a real shot. “While he was gone, I was like, I’m going to try this out,” Curiano says. “I started playing around with stuff and I came up with the idea of The HomoSapien Experience,...
- 1/18/2024
- by James Hale
- Tubefilter.com
A new Broadway season has started, and there are currently seven productions of musicals set to open this fall. Could we be seeing any of them contend at next year’s Tony Awards? Below is an overview of the plot of each musical as well as the awards history of its author, cast, creative team, and the opening and (where applicable) closing dates.
“Almost Famous” (previews begin October 3; opens November 3)
In this stage musical adaptation of Cameron Crowe’s 2000 Academy Award-winning film, William Miller is an idealistic 15-year-old aspiring music journalist. When Rolling Stone magazine hires him to go on the road with an up-and-coming band, he is thrust into the rock-and-roll circus, where his love of music, his longing for friendship, and his integrity as a writer collide.
This musical has a book written by Crowe, who also co-wrote the score with Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tom Kitt.
“Almost Famous” (previews begin October 3; opens November 3)
In this stage musical adaptation of Cameron Crowe’s 2000 Academy Award-winning film, William Miller is an idealistic 15-year-old aspiring music journalist. When Rolling Stone magazine hires him to go on the road with an up-and-coming band, he is thrust into the rock-and-roll circus, where his love of music, his longing for friendship, and his integrity as a writer collide.
This musical has a book written by Crowe, who also co-wrote the score with Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tom Kitt.
- 9/14/2022
- by Jeffrey Kare
- Gold Derby
“Almost Famous” is almost ready for Broadway. The specific New York theater has yet to be announced, but opening dates for the musical adaptation of the Cameron Crowe film were revealed by the Shubert Organization on Thursday, with previews set to begin Sept. 13 and an official opening night of Oct. 11.
If not for the pandemic, “Almost Famous” almost surely would have been opening a year or two earlier, as it was considered very much ready for prime time during a rapturously received preliminary engagement at San Diego’s Old Globe Theater in 2019. Los Angeles Times critic Charles McNulty wrote then that the seemingly hitch-free show was “destined to conquer Broadway.”
Jeremy Herrin, a stalwart of the British theater, directs, as he did with the Old Globe’s successful production, with a score featuring music by Tom Kitt. Kitt and Crowe collaborated on the lyrics, and Crowe wrote the musical’s book,...
If not for the pandemic, “Almost Famous” almost surely would have been opening a year or two earlier, as it was considered very much ready for prime time during a rapturously received preliminary engagement at San Diego’s Old Globe Theater in 2019. Los Angeles Times critic Charles McNulty wrote then that the seemingly hitch-free show was “destined to conquer Broadway.”
Jeremy Herrin, a stalwart of the British theater, directs, as he did with the Old Globe’s successful production, with a score featuring music by Tom Kitt. Kitt and Crowe collaborated on the lyrics, and Crowe wrote the musical’s book,...
- 6/2/2022
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
The stage musical adaptation of Cameron Crowe’s 2000 film Almost Famous will will begin Broadway previews on Tuesday, September 13, with an official opening on Tuesday, October 11, and a cast featuring Chris Wood, Anika Larsen, Solea Pfeiffer, Drew Gehling and Casey Likes.
The venue will be a Shubert theater to be announced.
“Broadway fans and rock fans have so much in common,” said Crowe, who wrote the musical’s book and lyrics (with original music and lyrics by Tom Kitt). “We obsess over the music, we pore over every possible recording we find, and we treasure those moments when an artist stands on a stage, opens their heart in that most personal way, and creates real magic. Suddenly everything seems possible.
“Almost Famous,” he continued, “has always been about the power of that connection: hearing a piece of music for the first time, looking into a person’s eyes and feeling the electricity,...
The venue will be a Shubert theater to be announced.
“Broadway fans and rock fans have so much in common,” said Crowe, who wrote the musical’s book and lyrics (with original music and lyrics by Tom Kitt). “We obsess over the music, we pore over every possible recording we find, and we treasure those moments when an artist stands on a stage, opens their heart in that most personal way, and creates real magic. Suddenly everything seems possible.
“Almost Famous,” he continued, “has always been about the power of that connection: hearing a piece of music for the first time, looking into a person’s eyes and feeling the electricity,...
- 6/2/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
We have a very special contest for you! You can win tickets to see Bhangin’ It: A Bangin’ New Musical at the La Jolla Playhouse. The dance musical begins on March 8 and plays through April 17, 2022, at the Mandell Weiss Theatre.
Bhangin’ It: A Bangin’ New Musical is set in the colorful world of a collegiate Bhangra Dance competition. When a young woman finds her identity cannot be defined by checking a box, she sets off on a quest to dance to her own beat. Drawing from competitive Bhangra and mixing it with other Indian and Western dance forms alike, Bhangin’ It: A Bangin’ New Musical is an intoxicating, brash and joyous musical.
Find your beat. Find your team. Find yourself. While East Lansing University senior Mary Darshini Clarke has spent her entire life trying to figure out where she fits in, she has always found community dancing on the school’s prestigious bhangra team.
Bhangin’ It: A Bangin’ New Musical is set in the colorful world of a collegiate Bhangra Dance competition. When a young woman finds her identity cannot be defined by checking a box, she sets off on a quest to dance to her own beat. Drawing from competitive Bhangra and mixing it with other Indian and Western dance forms alike, Bhangin’ It: A Bangin’ New Musical is an intoxicating, brash and joyous musical.
Find your beat. Find your team. Find yourself. While East Lansing University senior Mary Darshini Clarke has spent her entire life trying to figure out where she fits in, she has always found community dancing on the school’s prestigious bhangra team.
- 3/1/2022
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
La Jolla Playhouse is pleased to announce the cast for its world-premiere production of Bhangin’ It: A Bangin’ New Musical, book by Mike Lew (Playhouse’s Tiger Style!) and Rehana Lew Mirza (Playhouse’s DNA Series’ Child of Colonialism), music and lyrics by Sam Willmott, with additional music by Grammy Award nominee Deep Singh. The piece will be directed by Stafford Arima (Broadway’s Allegiance), with choreography by Rujuta Vaidya (Slumdog Millionaire Academy Awards performance) and musical staging by Lisa Shriver (Playhouse/Broadway’s Jesus Christ Superstar), along with Bhangra specialist Anushka Pushpala (Artistic Director of Bhangra Empire). The show is scheduled to run in the Playhouse’s Mandell Weiss Theatre March 8 – April 17, 2022 (press opening March 20).
The cast features Ari Afsar as “Mary,” Aryaan Arora as “Mohan,” Bilaal Avaz as “Amit,” Jesse Bhamrah as “Gobind,” Brandon Contreras as “Billy,” Laura Dadap as “Constance,” Henry Walter Greenberg as “Noah,” Jason Heil as “Wallace,...
The cast features Ari Afsar as “Mary,” Aryaan Arora as “Mohan,” Bilaal Avaz as “Amit,” Jesse Bhamrah as “Gobind,” Brandon Contreras as “Billy,” Laura Dadap as “Constance,” Henry Walter Greenberg as “Noah,” Jason Heil as “Wallace,...
- 1/21/2022
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
“Almost Famous,” a new musical based on the Oscar-winning film, has lined up its creative team and cast.
The show, which will kick off the 2019-2020 Season at the Old Globe, will include Colin Donnell as rock star Russell Hammond, Casey Likes as teenage journalist William Miller, and Solea Pfeiffer as groupie Penny Lane. The show features a book and lyrics by Cameron Crowe, the movie’s writer and director. Crowe based the story on his own experience as a young writer for Rolling Stone and how he came-of-age while following a promising band that was on the verge of breaking into the big time.
Likes is a 17-year-old who will make his professional theater debut with the pivotal role, serving as a stage surrogate for Crowe.
The rest of the cast includes Drew Gehling as Jeff Bebe, Anika Larsen as Elaine Miller, Robert Colletti as Lester Bangs, Matt Bittner as Larry Fellows,...
The show, which will kick off the 2019-2020 Season at the Old Globe, will include Colin Donnell as rock star Russell Hammond, Casey Likes as teenage journalist William Miller, and Solea Pfeiffer as groupie Penny Lane. The show features a book and lyrics by Cameron Crowe, the movie’s writer and director. Crowe based the story on his own experience as a young writer for Rolling Stone and how he came-of-age while following a promising band that was on the verge of breaking into the big time.
Likes is a 17-year-old who will make his professional theater debut with the pivotal role, serving as a stage surrogate for Crowe.
The rest of the cast includes Drew Gehling as Jeff Bebe, Anika Larsen as Elaine Miller, Robert Colletti as Lester Bangs, Matt Bittner as Larry Fellows,...
- 8/1/2019
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
TheNew Groupis presenting the Off-Broadway premiereJerry Springer- The Opera withJennifer Allen,Florrie Bagel,Brandon Contreras,SeanPatrick Doyle,Bradley Greer,Luke Grooms,Nathaniel Hackmann,Billy Hepfinger,Justin Keyes,Beth Kirkpatrick,Elizabeth Loyacano,Tiffany Mann,Jill Paice, Kim Steele,Nichole Turner,Terrence MannandWill Swenson.Jerry Springer- The Opera features Music byRichard Thomasand Book amp Additional Lyrics byStewart LeeandRichard Thomas, with Choreography byChris Bailey.John Randodirects.
- 1/30/2018
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.