What a difference a year makes. Holiday Season 2024 brought us the movie musical that Broadway fans have been clamoring for with 20 years of anticipation and drool. Well, at least half of it, as my review of Wicked, Part 1 elaborated on. Stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera (who used her full name because … Read more
The Kennedy Center ushered in the holiday season with a spectacle featuring Christmas standards, sacred hymns, and an abundance of holiday pageantry hosted by Virginia native Charles Billingsley and his big band. Also featuring performances from TaRanda Greene, The Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, The National Christian Choir Ensemble, and special guest star, award winning, … Read more
It’s that time again and were back to the roots of Mark On The Arts, where everything began 24 years ago with the very first Christmas Playlist. At the time it featured then cutting edge/now Holiday classic recordings like The Pointer Sisters’ “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”, John Cougar Mellenkamp’s “I Saw Mommy Kissing … Read more
Ireland, the Emerald Isle, is full of magical, mystical, colorful traditions. Leprachauns. Shamrocks. Corned beef and cabbage. Red-headed lasses named Colleen. And for the last 30 years, completing that list is the international entertainment sensation Riverdance, a fast-paced, invigorating celebration of the art of Irish Dance. Just in time to set the scene for a … Read more
Easter season comes a little early to Lancaster, PA, and I’m not referring to some mega-spectacular at neighboring Sight & Sound Theatre. This month, the always impressive Fulton Theatre mounts a stunning production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s powerful rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar. A personal favorite of mine and a staple of … Read more
It’s that time again, and this is down to the wire due to an overly busy December, and the fact that I thought the Annual Playlist may be over now that Cher released the ultimate Christmas album to just play over and over again. But this year bounced back, after being pretty brutal on most … Read more
In one week it’s broken box office records for movie musicals. It’s the entertainment news of the week, the theatrical event of the season, and for the first time ever, it’s not just musical theatre fanatics losing their minds over the decades-long anticipated release of the movie. It’s fans of the MGM classic The Wizard … Read more
And just like that, another year has passed and we are slowly emerging from the dark years of covid and attempting to pretend the world is back to normal. It’s not, but we’re all just tired of living like we have been for 3 years. So we have adapted a sense of normalcy. Which means … Read more
And just like that, another year has passed and we are slowly emerging from the dark years of covid, attempting to pretend the world is back to normal. It’s not, but we’re all just tired of living like we have been for 3 years. So we have adopted a sense of normalcy. Which means I … Read more
Happy 20 years! In addition to this being the one year anniversary of MarkOnTheArts.com (and thank you for following and sharing my articles, lists, and musings), this year’s Christmas Playlist also is a landmark 20 years in the business of tracking down and evaluating the best of Christmas music year by year. What started a … Read more