{"id":49441,"date":"2021-11-20T06:00:44","date_gmt":"2021-11-20T11:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=49441"},"modified":"2021-11-19T16:33:38","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T21:33:38","slug":"on-stage-extra-chesco-actress-has-key-role-in-anastasia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=49441","title":{"rendered":"On Stage Extra: Chesco actress has key role in Anastasia"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Anastasia<\/p><\/div>\n

When the national tour of the hit musical \u201cAnastasia\u201d visits Philadelphia next week for a six-day run at the Merriam Theater from November 23-28, an actress from Chester County will be playing one of the lead roles.<\/p>\n

The show, which is presented by the Kimmel Cultural Campus in partnership with The Shubert Organization, will feature West Chester\u2019s Madeline Raube in the role of Countess Lily.<\/p>\n

When \u201cAnastasia\u201d opened on Broadway in 2017 and had its run at the Broadhurst Theater, it received two Tony Award nominations and nine Drama Desk Award nominations. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnastasia\u201d is a\u00a0musical\u00a0with music and lyrics by\u00a0Lynn Ahrens\u00a0and\u00a0Stephen Flaherty, and a book by\u00a0Terrence McNally. Based on the 1997\u00a0film of the same name, the musical adapts the legend of\u00a0Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, who could have escaped the\u00a0execution of her family.<\/p>\n

Years later, an\u00a0amnesiac\u00a0orphan named Anya hopes to find some trace of her family by siding with two con men who wish to take advantage of her likeness to the Grand Duchess.<\/p>\n

In St. Petersburg,\u00a0Russia in 1918, the\u00a0Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna\u00a0comforts her youngest granddaughter, five-year-old\u00a0Grand Duchess Anastasia, who is saddened by the fact that her grandmother is moving to\u00a0Paris, France. Before leaving, the Dowager Empress gives Anastasia a music box as a parting gift.<\/p>\n

Nine years later, Anastasia is attending a ball with\u00a0her family\u00a0when the\u00a0Bolsheviks\u00a0invade the palace. As the Romanovs attempt to escape, Anastasia tries to retrieve her music box, only to be shot at and captured, along with the rest of her family. The Dowager Empress later receives word in Paris that the entire family has been executed.<\/p>\n

Ten years later, Gleb Vaganov, a general for the Bolsheviks who now control Russia, announces to the gloomy Russians that the now-poor Saint Petersburg has been renamed\u00a0Leningrad, and he promises a bright and peaceful future. The Russians protest this change but are uplifted by a rumor that Anastasia may have survived the Bolsheviks\u2019 attacks.<\/p>\n

Two wanted con men, the handsome young Dmitry and an ex-member of the Imperial Court named Vlad Popov, hear the rumors and brainstorm \u201cthe biggest con in history\u201d — they will groom a naive girl to become Anastasia to extract money from the Dowager Empress.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Madeline Raube<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe auditions for the tour took place pre-pandemic in early 2020,\u201d said Raube, during a phone interview Thursday morning from a tour stop in Columbia, South Carolina.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen the pandemic stopped everything. There were more video auditions from January-March 2021. The final callback was in person in July in New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe role that I have is the one I was auditioning for right from the start. Years ago, when I was watching the movie, she was the role I liked. Her name in the movie was Sophie and in the play it\u2019s Lily. Getting it was a dream come true.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I love about Lily is that she is a mix of everything. She\u2019s funny. She\u2019s really confident onstage and she provides comic relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had big back-to-back numbers. It\u2019s also an important role. She is the Dowager-in-Waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raube, who got an undergraduate degree in classical voice and opera at Oberlin College in Ohio, gets to show off her vocal chops in several numbers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have three big numbers,\u201d said Raube, who also got a master\u2019s degree in musical theater at New York University.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first is \u2018Land of Yesterday\u2019, which is a solo number. It\u2019s followed by \u2018The Countess and The Common Man,\u2019 which is a duet with Vlad. That number brings down the house.<\/p>\n

“My final number is \u2018Press Conference.\u2019 That\u2019s where they realize Anya is real. I also do four different ensemble roles in Act One.\u201d<\/p>\n

This tour provides two \u201cfirsts\u201d for Raube \u2013 first time experience with the musical version of \u201cAnastasia\u201d and first national tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw the movie \u2018Anastasia\u2019 but I never saw the musical onstage until this tour,\u201d said Raube. \u201cI knew the music from the original Broadway soundtrack.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is also my first national tour. I love being able to travel. And I love the theaters and the audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

The national tour schedule was also serendipitous for Raube.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really nice that I\u2019m in my home area with the show during the holiday week,\u201d said Raube. \u201cI get to spend Thanksgiving with my family in West Chester.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also special for me because I performed at the Kimmel when I was in sixth grade. It was an all-star choir event, and we sang \u2018America the Beautiful.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for \u201cAnastasia\u201d \u2013 Anastasia21_Montage_HD.mov (dropbox.com)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at the Merriam Theater will run from November 23-28.<\/p>\n

Ticket prices start at $39.<\/p>\n

On November 21, the Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, 610-649-8389,\u00a0www.ardmoremusic.com<\/a>) will present a show by a band featuring a quintet of legendary musicians.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Immediate Family<\/p><\/div>\n

Known as The Immediate Family, the band\u2019s line-up features guitarists Danny Kortchmar and Waddy Wachtel, drummer Russ Kunkel, and bassist Leland Sklar have come together, along with guitarist Steve Postell.<\/p>\n

These names might not be familiar to the average listener. But, for music fans who have vinyl records on their shelves, it is almost certain that they have albums on which these musicians have played key roles.<\/p>\n

The Immediate Family is a unique group of iconic musicians who have played together for decades but never as their own band.<\/p>\n

They have long, illustrious careers backing up Hall-of-Fame artists such as James Taylor, Keith Richards, Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Stevie Nicks and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The list also includes Warren Zevon, Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, Harry Nilsson, Glenn Frey, Randy Newman, Don Henley, Mick Jagger, Bob Seger, J.D. Souther, Joni Mitchell, Rod Stewart, Hall & Oates, and Bonnie Raitt.<\/p>\n

Sklar and Kunkel met Kortchmar in 1971 at sessions for James Taylor\u2019s album, \u201cSweet Baby James\u00a0in 1971 and have been friends ever since.<\/p>\n

\u201cWaddy and I have been playing together for 45 years,\u201d said Kortchmar, during a phone interview last week from a tour stop in Windsor, Connecticut. Russ, Leland, Waddy and I — we all love each other very much.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019re playing, we just know how to stay out of each other\u2019s way. We all have very different styles.<\/p>\n

\u201cBacking James Taylor back in the early 70s was our first tour. We went out with James on tour in 1971 \u2013 with Carole King on keyboards. Russ, Leland and I have been playing together for more than 50 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

These guys have been in-demand session musicians in Los Angeles for decades. Playing on their own, the started with the name Mellow Mafia and then became The Section with the addition of keyboardist Craig Doerge in 1972.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Section was more of a rock-fusion band,\u201d said Kortchmar. \u201cThe Immediate Family is all about songs and singing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always written lyrics. I\u2019ve been working for 10 years writing my own songs. I think I\u2019m representing it well.<\/p>\n

The Immediate Family\u2019s new album contains 12 original songs, including Waddy Wachtel\/Warren Zevon\u2019s \u201cThings to Do in Denver When You\u2019re Dead\u201d and two bonus live tracks — Zevon\u2019s \u201cJohnny Strikes Up the Band\u201d and the Kortchmar\/Jackson Browne collaboration \u201cSomebody\u2019s Baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a cover band that does all originals,\u201d said Kortchmar. \u201cThere are songs that were hits for other people, but they are songs that we wrote.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for The Immediate Family — https:\/\/youtu.be\/aZzPQiZ5kAI<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at Ardmore Music Hall on November 21 will start at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Ticket prices start at $30.<\/p>\n

Other upcoming shows at the Ardmore Music Hall are Boombox ft. Backbeat Brass on November 19, Tommy Conwell on November 20, and Splintered Sunlight on November 24.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Tommy Castro<\/p><\/div>\n

Tommy Castro and his band The Painkillers will return to this area for a show on November 21 at the Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808,\u00a0www.st94.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The show will be a double treat for blues fans because it\u2019s a twin bill of Alligator Records artists. The opening act is blues veteran Carolyn Wonderland.<\/p>\n

Tommy Castro & The Painkillers — bassist Randy McDonald, drummer Bowen Brown and keyboardist Michael Emerson — are touring coast to coast beginning in September 2021 and moving into early 2022.<\/p>\n

Castro is celebrating the release of his trailblazing new album,\u00a0\u201cTommy Castro Presents A Bluesman Came To Town.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album is a raucous, multi-song tale of a young man bitten by the blues bug.\u00a0It is a striking collection of songs that tell the story in vivid lyrics and are brought to life by Castro’s patented roadhouse rock, soulful ballads and deep, greasy grooves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always interested in new sounds and trends,\u201d said Castro, during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon from a tour stop in Connecticut.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the new one \u2013 I said, \u2018what am I going to do now?\u2019 It\u2019s a rock opera but it\u2019s like a blues opera.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ran it by Bruce (Alligator Records president Bruce Iglauer) and he didn\u2019t hate it. We jumped over that hurdle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still had to decide if I was biting off too much. Rock operas had songs that were very different \u2013 and a story to listen to from front-to-back. I moved on to producer Tom Hambridge and he thought it was a really good idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

On his website, Castro wrote, \u201cI try to keep my music fresh by taking different approaches and writing and recording different types of songs. I want to stretch out musically, but I always want the songs to be my most authentic, to remain true to myself and my art. This time, I felt the need to do something I\u2019ve never done before.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith \u2018A Bluesman Came To Town,\u2019 what I have for you is a record of songs that tell a story. It\u2019s the story of a young man from a small town. One day a guitar-playing bluesman comes to his town. From that point on, the young man\u2019s life will never be the same. It\u2019s based on a classic hero\u2019s journey — the odyssey of a musician\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI brought in the big guns this time and collaborated with legendary producer Tom Hambridge. I co-wrote most of the songs with him. In telling the story, I\u2019ve tried to touch on the many different styles of music that I love. I\u2019m excited for you to hear it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Castro created his most ambitious project ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about a kid from rural America who saw his life laid out for him,\u201d said Castro. \u201cHe had other dreams. A bluesman came to town, and it changed his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bluesman told the kid that he was good and that he should go out. He did and played his music \u2013 and had to deal with drugs, alcohol and women. Through the process, he finds out what\u2019s important in life. That was the treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the course of his four-decade career, Castro, who is a six-time winner of the prestigious Blues Music Award-winner, has played thousands of shows to hundreds of thousands of fans.<\/p>\n

Castro, one of San Francisco\u2019s veteran music acts, has put together a top-flight band. The Painkillers feature bassist Randy McDonald, keyboardist Michael Emerson and drummer Bowen Brown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started the Painkillers a few years ago,\u201d said Castro. \u201cRandy (McDonald), who has been with me for over 25 years. My music isn\u2019t so much about guitar as it is about songs. I\u2019m probably more a singer than a guitar player. I like a good hook and I want songs that people remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Castro and his band are touring in support of the album and making a return visit to the Sellersville Theater.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve played the Sellersville Theatre a number of times and always had a lot of fun. It\u2019s a great place to play. We\u2019re looking forward to it. It has good sound, good food and great audiences. We always had good shows there\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Tommy Castro —\u00a0https:\/\/youtu.be\/BmBfrPIjxdU<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Carolyn Wonderland<\/p><\/div>\n

Award-winning Texas guitar slinger, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist\u00a0Carolyn Wonderland is celebrating the release of her Alligator Records debut album,\u00a0\u201cTempting Fate.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

The new LP, which is Wonderland\u2019s 11th album, was produced by famed master roots musician Dave Alvin, and features Wonderland\u2019s signature, blistering six-string and lap steel playing, her intense vocals and her original songs melding blues, rock and Americana.<\/p>\n

On November 16, tastemaker UK magazine\u00a0MOJO\u00a0released its influential Best Blues Albums Of 2021 list and three Alligator Records artists were selected. Christone \u201cKingfish\u201d Ingram’s\u00a0\u201c662\u201d\u00a0topped the list at #1. West Coast bluesman Chris Cain\u2019s \u201cRaisin’ Cain\u201d\u00a0followed at #3, and Wonderland\u2019s label debut,\u00a0\u201cTempting Fate,\u201d earned the #7 position.<\/p>\n

Wonderland has been playing guitar in John Mayall\u2019s band on tour since 2018. She also recorded with him on his 2019 Forty Below Records release, \u201cNobody Told Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

After being in John Mayall\u2019s band for a couple years, I decided it was time to do some recording on my own,\u201d said Wonderland, during a phone interview Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in Woodstock with my friend Cindy Cashdollar, who is a great lap steel player. She asked me who I\u2019d like to do the album with and I said \u2013 Dave Alvin. She called him and he said yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wonderland and her band — Kevin Lance and Bobby Perkins \u2013 tracked the album in their hometown of Austin, Texas at Stuart Sullivan\u2019s Wire Recording with Dave Alvin producing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been a fan of Dave Alvin since I was a kid,\u201d said Wonderland. \u201cI\u2019m a huge fan. I love him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made the album at Wire Recording in January 2020. We just captured the joy in less than a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album featured a lot of top-flight guests.<\/p>\n

According to Wonderland, \u201cWe were super lucky to have Dave, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Red Young, Cindy Cashdollar, Marcia Ball, Shelley King, and Jan Flemming all lend their extreme talents in the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n

The timing was right.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe magic trick was that it was January when most of these musicians weren\u2019t on tour. Even Cindy (Cashdollar) was in town.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wonderland, who was born Carolyn Bradford in Houston, has been making music her whole life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a kid, music was the only thing that would hold my attention,\u201d said Wonderland. \u201cMy mom had a guitar, and my aunt had a trumpet. I learned to play and then started doing shows. My first gig was in Houston when I was 14 or 15.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just played Sellersville Theater a month ago in John Mayall\u2019s band. He\u2019s 88 and keeps touring and I\u2019m still in his band.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Carolyn Wonderland — https:\/\/youtu.be\/wS26pxbs8So<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at the Sellersville Theater on November 21 will start at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Tickets are $29.50.<\/p>\n

Other upcoming shows at the Sellersville Theater are Joe Conklin on November 20, and Kategory 5 on November 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times When the national tour of the hit musical \u201cAnastasia\u201d visits Philadelphia next week for a six-day run at the Merriam Theater from November 23-28, an actress from Chester County will be playing one of the lead roles. The show, which is presented by the Kimmel Cultural Campus in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8457],"tags":[12076,14200,7426,14201,14202,10489],"class_list":["post-49441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-anastasia","tag-carolyn-wonderland","tag-featured","tag-madeline-raube","tag-the-immediate-family","tag-tommy-castro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49441"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49442,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49441\/revisions\/49442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/49436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}