Kip's Korner

  There's a new Peter flying through the country on the National Tour of Peter Pan and his name is Kruz Maldonado!  I was particularly invested in his casting because I followed Kruz's journey last year in NYC when he was a Jimmy Awards nominee, having won Best Actor at the Joci Awards in San Antonio, Texas. Another Jimmy Awards success story!  To put it in perspective, the Joci Awards in San Antonio is what the Tallulah Awards will be in Huntsville next year. Can't wait to cheer on our first two Alabama high school theater students next year at the Jimmy Awards. It's getting real folks, and real fast! Anyway, I knew I must talk to Kruz on Kip's Korner because of the Jimmys connection. Here's a quick Bio of Kruz, before we dive into our interview: "Originally from San Antonio, TX, Kruz was awarded Best Lead Actor in a Musical (Joci Awards) for playing the title role in Pippin . Regional credits: Sweeney Todd (Tobias), A Bronx Tale (Calogero). In 2024, Kruz...

  Victor Wallace and I met in the summer of 1996, and we lived together in Los Angeles & also Chicago. Years later we both lived in NYC at the same time, then we were on tour together with Les Misérables , then back to living in NYC again. And all these years later we are still the best of friends. In fact, he's a close friend to my husband Jim as well and was at our wedding in New Rochelle, NY almost 12 years ago. So, when I found out that Victor was playing Sam on the 25 th Anniversary tour of Mamma Mia! (which will be here in Huntsville in just over a week), of course we needed to have a video chat for Kip’s Korner! And we chatted. And chatted. And chatted… We tried to “mostly” stay on topic and talk about things that might interest you. Now before I share that with you, here’s a little bio about Victor’s career: Victor Wallace      Broadway: Sam Carmichael in Mamma Mia! final cast. Off-Broadway: Far From Heaven at Playwrights Horizons (Cast Recor...

  The Shamrock Tenors will be having their Huntsville premiere on Sunday, April 6, at 1pm at the VBC Concert Hall. So, I needed to have a chat with one of these tenors to break it down for all of you Kip’s Korner readers. But there are five of them so which one should I pick… As it turns out the creator of the Shamrock Tenors, Raymond Walsh, was also an alumnus of the Barricade so I was sold! Here’s a little bit of info on Raymond before I share our chat: Hailing from Belfast, Raymond Walsh created the Shamrock Tenors in 2018. He trained in Musical Theatre at the Guildford School of Acting in England. For two years, Raymond played Grantaire in Les Misérables in London’s West End and was featured in the All-Star Concert version alongside Alfie Boe and Michael Ball. But there is nothing he enjoys more than singing with the Shamrock boys and the craic that goes with it. My co-worker, Lisa Bollinger, also joined me on my interview with Raymond. And if you know anything about Lisa (...

  That's a wrap on SIX and we are all exhausted! Exhausted in all the best ways possible of course. I loved this show and this cast so much that I watched 3 1/2 performances that week, which is something I never do. Usually just one time for me. Btw, the 1/2 performance was because there was an alternate on for Jane Seymour so I had to watch until her rendition of "Heart of Stone." Which did not disappoint.  It was very important to us at Broadway Theatre League to bring SIX: The Musical for a full week run here in Huntsville. We are very focused on trying to transition from a Five-Show-Weekend market to an Eight-Show-Week market. And we were being watched very closely, from the powers that be in NYC, about how SIX would perform in Huntsville. It was a bit nerve-wracking but I'm happy to report that SIX was our highest-grossing show of all time! So here's to lots of full week runs in our future: Cheers! One of the more challenging parts of moving into an Eight...