The 1994 return of King Crimson was timed perfectly, matching, in no particular order, one of the peak periods for CD sales, a time of great variety of radio formats in the USA, the growth of a number of bands who pointed eagerly to the influence of King Crimson - especially of the 1972-74 band - a more positive critical reception for the band, following the remasters of the catalogue, Frame by Frame and Great Deceiver boxed sets supervised by Robert Fripp. Such timing not only benefited from the release of the various musicians from their other musical commitments, but in Robert Fripp's case, the ultimately successful battle to regain control of King Crimson's catalogue.
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! was first performed in 1943, and was a significant turning point in the history of musical theatre. It was the first musical to put drama and plot to the fore, portrayed by rounded, believable characters. It swept aside traditions that had their roots in vaudeville – star turns, comic sketches, and endless lines of high-kicking chorus girls. Oklahoma! does feature dance, but in the hands of the choreographer, Agnes de Mille, this was idiomatic to the plot, and revolutionary in terms of the fifteen-minute dream-sequence ballet at the close of Act I. The first collaboration between composer and writer, the show was a hit, running for more than five years on Broadway, and paving the way for their masterpieces to come.
Los Angeles – June 22, 2018 – On August 17, Capitol/UMe will celebrate one of the century’s most electrifying live albums, with the release of Neil Diamond’s Hot August Night Ill, a live concert DVD/CD Blu-Ray multi-disc set. Hot August Night Ill chronicles Diamond’s triumphant return to the legendary Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in August 2012.The magical evening was Diamond’s 40th anniversary celebration of the original multiplatinum-selling Hot August Night collection that was recorded at the very same venue in 1972.
One would think that, with the current feelings about the US presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, there would be frequent stagings throughout the country of Kurt Weill's JOHNNY JOHNSON, his awe-inspiring anti-war "play with songs" and his first work for the American theater. (Not coincidentally, where are all productions of Joan Littlewoood's OH, WHAT A LOVELY WAR and the Gershwin/Kaufman STRIKE UP THE BAND?)