Music production

Music production

Based on the 2005 movie starring Joel Edgerton and Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kinky Boots follows Charlie Price, the owner of a shoe factory in a small English town who tries to keep the family business afloat. Together, with the help of a local singer and drag queen named Lola, they create a line of fashionable, high-heeled boots. Directed by Jerry Mitchell, with a book by Harvey Fierstein and music and lyrics by none other than Cyndi Lauper, the musical debuted in 2012 and won six Tonys.

The musical was always a risky gamble, even with the star power of Chenoweth and a score by Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz. A musical adaptation of Lauren Greenfield's acclaimed 2012 documentary about the wealthy Jackie Siegel and her family's fall from financial grace, the musical opened to scathing reviews but strong ticket sales. Alas, advance sales through the holidays weren't enough to keep the show afloat.

"T his building gets us closer to the people," says Portland Opera artistic director Alfrelynn Roberts. She's showing off the organization's new location, occupying three floors in downtown Portland's World Trade Center complex. After the 2024 sale of its longtime southeast home base, Portland Opera announced a strategic decision to move across the river in early 2025. Continued activation of downtown Portland is important to Portland Opera, and its new location makes them a nucleus.

Homemade synthesizer made with cardboard produces sounds through the series of handmade wooden keys shaped from walnut and oak. Designed by Gabriel Mejia-Estrella, the electronic device is a DIY project with two main electronic systems inside: a Teensy microcontroller and a Raspberry Pi 5. The body of the cardboard synthesizer with wooden keys comes from a mix of walnut wood, oak, and fiberglass.

The London hit musical Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) is heading to Broadway, and Playbill has an early look at three tracks from the romantic musical comedy. The show will play Broadway's Longacre Theatre beginning November 1 prior to an official opening November 20. Written by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) follows a naïve and impossibly upbeat Brit, Dougal, who has just landed in New York for his estranged father's second wedding.

ian has never been shy about his musical influences. From the moment he hit the scene, the Missouri-born rapper and producer has openly embraced Chief Keef's melodic energy and defiant swagger, translating it into raucous, bass-heavy anthems that have become fixtures at college parties and late-night house shows. But with his latest single, "I Ain't Coming Back," ian signals a shift - one that trades some of that rawness for a sleeker, more polished pop- rap sensibility. The result is a song that manages to feel both vulnerable and mischievous, proving that ian is intent on evolving rather than staying locked in one lane.

The four-plus-minute track is an uplifting love song that sees Steven Tyler and Yungblud performing a duet, the former taking the mid-to-lower register while the latter carries the higher end. They blend together well in the mix - especially during the soaring melodic chorus. Meanwhile, the steady guitar playing of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford churns away for the duration.

Dolly Parton herself wrote the music to , running this month at the Victoria Theatre, and it's a slapstick revue featuring over-the-top wigs and a comedic commitment to specifically recreating the year 1980. The new production of at the Victoria Theater (running through September 27) is not one of those drag queen parody remakes that are so exceedingly popular in this town.

Known for its panoramic views of Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley, Smuggler Mountain was conveniently a couple of miles from the Aspen Ideas Festival campus. The band Lucius and our crew took a short trek up a dirt road to arrive at the historic Smugger Mine. Once inside, we walked through the cold and damp Clark Tunnel and arrived at a man-made cavern. There Lucius played "Dusty Trails," perhaps appropriate for the fossilized surroundings.