The President and First Lady Michelle Obama will be continuing the White House Music Series in the East Room this evening with a salute to Broadway. PBS will be recording the event for later broadcast, but the event will be livestreamed on the White House website.
From the White House:
In the evening, [20 dance students from Duke Ellington School of the Arts and the Joy of Motion Dance Center who spent the day in a workshop, led by choreographer Jerry Mitchell, rehearsing a segment from the Broadway show Hairspray] will join the ranks of major Broadway artists and new talent who will perform selections from American musicals that reflect the spirit, energy and ambition of America.
Participants include Nathan Lane, Idina Menzel, Audra McDonald, Elaine Stritch, Brian d’Arcy James, Chad Kimball, Tonya Pinkins, Marvin Hamlisch, Karen Olivo, Assata Alston, Danielle Arci and Constantine Rousouli under the direction of George C. Wolfe. President Obama will make opening remarks at this pooled press event, which will be held in the East Room and streamed live on www.whitehouse.gov starting at 7:00 p.m. ET. “A Broadway Celebration: In Performance at the White House” will be televised on public broadcasting stations nationwide on October 20, 2010 at 9:00 p.m. ET as part of the PBS music series “In Performance at the White House.”
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Betrayal -- Harold Pinter turns a seven-year affair inside out, beginning with its aftermath and moving backward to its tentative start. As Emma, her husband Robert, and his best friend Jerry revisit the lies binding them together, what remains unspoken proves as revealing as what is confessed. Directed by Alex Levy (10/8-10/25)
The Tall Girls -- In a Dust Bowl town emptied of men and opportunity, a newly arrived teacher introduces a group of high school girls to basketball. Meg Miroshnik's Depression-era drama follows the team as the game offers a taste of freedom -- and exposes how little freedom young women are actually allowed. Directed by Madeleine Regina (12/3-12/20)
The Travelers -- At a California monastery surrounded by migrant-worker communities, aging monks shelter a wounded stranger while facing the loss of their church funding. Luis Alfaro's funny, humane drama sets faith and duty against the practical question of how to keep a vanishing community alive. Directed by José Carrasquillo (2/11-2/28)
THE ALDEN THEATRE
For James Seol, appearing at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., is a homecoming.
"I'm gonna be a little cliche here," says the gay actor, who was raised in Springfield, Virginia, "but it's a little bit of a dream come true. When I was just starting out, my family might have been a little bit uncertain about this career choice. And to be able to come to a theater that I actually grew up going to -- I remember seeing the first national tour of the original production of Ragtime -- and then having my family -- a big contingent of family, by the way -- come to see me perform there is a really, really great feeling."
