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stllimelight · 5 years

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Love Is Love: Passion and Art Make for Potent ' A Man of No Importance' by R-S Theatrics

Love Is Love: Passion and Art Make for Potent ‘ A Man of No Importance’ by R-S Theatrics

By Lynn Venhaus Managing Editor Passion drives the characters and the R-S Theatrics production of a miraculous little musical that has something to say. The title “A Man of No Importance” is a misnomer, for Alfie Byrne is a remarkable human being whose significance is mirrored in the faces of his fellow Dubliners. In a blockbuster musical theater climate that regularly serves feel-good fluff…

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ismael37olson · 8 years

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Life is What You Do

I discovered the cast recording of Zorba in college and have been in love with it ever since. But I honestly never thought I would ever even see it onstage, much less get to work on it. Every time I mentioned it to my musical theatre friends, at least one person would say, "It's so depressing!" Well, it's not. In fact, it's the opposite of depressing; sure, it's dark, but it's genuinely life-affirming. Now maybe in clumsy directors' or actors' hands this story can get bogged down in the darkness and miss all the light. But as written, as conceived, it is not depressing. And our audiences during the first half of our run confirm that every night. The word I hear most after performances is "wonderful." People are really overwhelmed at the fun and the powerful emotions of this show. As usual, our reviews have been incredibly positive. Here's just a taste of what the critics have said... "Filled with passion and genuine exuberance." – Tina Farmer, KDHX "A real revelation… a genuine must see.” – Chris Gibson, BroadwayWorld "Another home run for New Line." – Kevin Brackett, ReviewSTL “A lived-in marvel of beauty and honesty.” – Paul Friswold, The Riverfront Times "Intriguing and intoxicating. . . Zorba the musical will lift your spirits with its wisdom and its zest and make you appreciate what you have all the more." – Mark Bretz, Ladue News Not bad, huh? Though oddly, a couple reviews have complained that there's not much plot, that it's just a series of episodes. But that's only true if you think Zorba is the protagonist. He's not. Nikos is the protagonist, the one who learns and grows and changes. Zorba is a Wise Wizard figure, like Obi-Wan Kenobi or Jiminy Cricket. If you understand that Nikos is our hero, then it's a very straight, linear path from incident to incident, as Nikos learns something from each episode, each encounter, and slowly accesses more and more of his emotions and his "animal" nature, leading to his eventual enlightenment. He follows a classic hero myth trajectory. I wish reviewers would learn to admit they don't understand a show rather than blaming the show for their shortcomings... It has been a massive privilege to work on this beautiful show, to unlock its complexities and ambiguities, to lead this smart, insightful, talented, fearless cast. This whole cast is really, really strong, but I have to give a special shout-out to Kent Coffel, who is giving an extraordinary, utterly fearless performance in the title role, and the whole damn show rests on his shoulders, so...

But there's one thing that delights me more than the rest. The first lyric of the show, "Life is what you do while you're waiting to die," is pretty intense, and it always draws a few uncomfortable laughs. What kind of musical is this? (They softened that lyric for the 1980s revival, though lyricist Fred Ebb hated the new version.) But when that same line comes back at the end of the show in the short epilogue, suddenly those words don't seem harsh or pessimistic anymore; now, with the whole show as backdrop, with Zorba's unique philosophy underscoring everything, now those words just sound right. I see people nodding at this point every night. Of course that's what life is, and we should celebrate that! Life is just time, and what we do with that time is up to us. Talk about freedom! If you haven't seen Zorba yet, come join us this weekend or next. I promise you will love it. The adventure continues... Long Live the Musical! Scott from The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre http://newlinetheatre.blogspot.com/2017/03/life-is-what-you-do.html

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jamieclawhorn · 8 years

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2 high-yielding stocks I’d buy before Pearson plc

Education publisher Pearson (LSE: PSON) reported the largest pre-tax loss in its history on Friday. A change of strategy in the last few years, including the disposal of The Financial Times and French media group Les Echos, combined with a slowdown in key market North America has led to a slew of profit warnings and the £2.56bn 2016 pre-tax loss.

The shares have fallen 20% in the last month, but is the company now a buy?

The loss is attributable largely to a massive £2.55bn impairment of goodwill reflecting poor trading in the North American business. Adjusted operating profit fell 27% at constant exchange rates, but the weaker pound resulted in a more flattering 12% drop after an 8% fall in underlying sales.

The company is also planning on selling its 48% stake in publisher Penguin Random House and plans to use the proceeds to pay down debt and invest in digital, which now accounts for 68% of revenues.

The company has completed its restructuring programme, spending £338m to reduce its cost base by £425m. 2017 operating profit is predicted to come in at £570m-£630m. If we trust these forecasts, the company trades below 10 times operating profit. 2016’s dividend payments total 52p per share, but the company has clearly stated its intention to rebase (read: cut) the dividend next year.

Even if the payout is halved, the shares still yield 3.83%. That said, I believe there is simply too much uncertainty in Pearson’s key markets to invest. Here are two other high-yielding businesses I’d consider instead of Pearson.

Merger to create global dividend titan

British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS) had a far more successful 2016 than Pearson, with revenues rising 12.6%, or 7% if favourable currency rates are ignored. Operating profit came in at £4,655m, for an impressive margin of 31.6%.

This performance was largely driven by an average 50bps market share gain in the company’s major markets. The Global Drive Brand portfolio, which consists of Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall, outperformed the rest of the company with volume up 7.5% and a market share gain of 100bps.

Perhaps the most significant recent news is that the firm has agreed terms to acquire the remaining 57.8% of Reynolds American for $50bn. This will create the largest listed tobacco company in the world as well as marking a full-scale return to the American market for BATS, as well as providing increased efficiencies and economies of scale.

The combination of these two defensive cash-cows could facilitate chunky dividends for years to come. Even if the deal doesn’t go ahead, BATS would be set to yield 3.4%.

Another defensive yield?

BAE Systems (LSE: BA.) also had a successful 2016, with sales jumping 6.2%, although this was largely due to favourable exchange rates. Operating profit fared better, increasing to £1,742m, or a 10% gain on a constant currency basis.

Order intake increased by £7.5bn to £22.4bn, while the order backlog increased by £5.2bn to £42bn after contract wins in the UK and the US. The company paid a 21.3p per share dividend last year, representing a 3.5% yield.

The short-term outlook for BAE seems strong. US defence spending will likely increase under Trump, which should bode well for the company, although it would be remiss of me to avoid mentioning the massive £6.1bn pension deficit, which could cause problems in the long term.

These high-yielding companies look to be in a strong position right now, but none of them made the cut for our exclusive retirement report. It contains the investment theses behind five dividend giants with defensive business models and clockwork cash flows that should be solid income picks for years to come. In fact, our analysts are so confident in the business models that they've declared them shares to retire on.

Click here to download the free report.