Pat Cerasaro - Page 214

Today, we are taking a look at some classic clips featuring the music and arrangements and conducting of legendary Maestro Marvin Hamlisch. Mr. Hamlisch is also the subject of today's InDepth InterView and perhaps now is no better time to showcase some of his lesser known - and endlessly entertaining - appearances on television in the 70s with appearances on Johnny Carson's TONIGHT SHOW alongside Bing Crosby and Ray Bolger on "The Entertaininer" from THE STING, as well as Barbra Streisand's legendary television concert FROM FUNNY GIRL TO FUNNY LADY in which she performers perhaps the best ever rendition of Hamlisch's legendary Oscar-winning title song from THE WAY WE WERE. Plus, an extra-special treat from the Tony Awards performance of SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS!

Children Will Listen On Monday night, the Obamas hosted a starry event at the White House that was streamed live on the White House Official Website and right here on Broadway World that featured the top talents of the Great White Way singing the very best songs by (mostly) American composers. Among the participants were Elaine Stritch, Nathan Lane, Tonya Pinkins, Brian D'Arcy James, Audra McDonald, Chad Kimball, Karen Olivo and Idina Menzel. Additionally, the concert featured Marvin Hamlisch, who accompanied Idina Menzel on his song from A CHORUS LINE, 'What I Did For Love', who I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing yesterday and whose InDepth InterView will be going live tomorrow. First, a review of the Washingtonian events that were online only until the concert premieres on PBS on October 20. Free

Yesterday, I had the exceptional privilege of conducting an InDepth InterView with legendary Oscar-winning Hollywood and Broadway legend Julie Andrews, star of films like MARY POPPINS, THE SOUND OF MUSIC; original TV musicals like Rodgers & Hammerstein's CINDERELLA; and stage shows like the original productions of MY FAIR LADY, CAMELOT and VICTOR/VICTORIA. In our exclusive conversation we discussed everything from her favorite cast albums and theatre scores to working with Robert Wise on THE SOUND OF MUSIC and STAR! to ENCHANTED, THE PRINCESS DIARIES, SHREK and this summer's smash-hit Pharrell Williams/Neptunes-composed animated musical DESPICABLE ME. We also discuss plans for a US tour and the resounding success of her children's book series - even after all these years she still was at the top of the book charts and featured in the top movie of the week last week! Additionally, We also discuss her opinions on co-stars Russell Brand and Steve Carell, rock music in the theatre, GLEE, the Obamas, Sondheim, the Tony Awards and much more. Here is much more than a mere spoonful of the endless vat of sweetness - as well as generosity, beauty, elegance and class - that defines Ms. Julie Andrews.

On Tuesday night I had the privilege of conducting an InDepth InterView with legendary composer, conductor and musical director Marvin Hamlisch. The three-time Oscar-winner has also won a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony, Emmys and Golden Globes making him the only individual besides Richard Rodgers to accomplish as much in his forty-year-plus career. His scores for A CHORUS LINE, THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG and SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, along with his work on classic films like THE WAY WE WERE and THE STING surely cement his place in the pantheon of great American artists, a legend in his own time. On Monday night he also participated - accompanying Idina Menzel on a song from A CHORUS LINE - in the White House celebration of Broadway also starring Nathan Lane, Idina Menzel, Audra McDonald and the First Family themselves which will be airing on PBS in October. He also hosts the 70s music special THE WAY WE WERE, MUSIC OF THE SEVENTIES airing in August on PBS, as well.

This week, we are taking a listen to the premiere solo album from Tony Award-winning stage star Jane Krakowski who can be seen every week on NBC's 30 ROCK as well as having appeared in countless musicals, television shows and movies over the years. A live recording of her cabaret show, THE LAZIEST GAL IN TOWN is everything we love about Ms. Krakowski and more: the sex kitten with the whip, the saucy siren, the bombshell blonde belter and the bawdiest broad this side of Mae West. All this and more is ready and waiting to be examined, ravished and explored for our sheer enjoyment courtesy of Jane & Co.…

Tonight, I conducted an InDepth InterView with Tony- winning choreographer and director Jerry Mitchell in which we discussed his irreproachable and much-celebrated work on each year's Broadway Bares benefits in addition to his Broadway credits which include YOU'RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN, HAIRSPRAY, LEGALLY BLONDE, as well as the forthcoming Broadway productions LOVE NEVER DIES and a revival of BALLROOM. We also discussed working with legendary stars of Hollywood and Broadway like Ann Miller, Lauren Bacall, Donna McKechnie, Harvey Fierstein, Matthew Morrison, Laura Bell Bundy and many more! Here is an exclusive Sneak Peek coming in the wake of raising more than a million dollars for the BC/EFA with Broadway Bares XX: Strip-Opoly, setting a new record!

This week, we are taking a listen to two wonderful West End-related winners featuring the stars of two witch-related West End musicals - THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK and WICKED - courtesy of SimG Records: Caroline Sheen's RAISE THE CURTAIN and Annalene Beechey's CLOSE YOUR EYES. These two delicious divas-in-training have proven that they have the talent, skill and technique to entertain us for many years to come onstage, but just how well do their first solo album efforts showcase their considerable abilities? Singing everything from Sondheim, William Finn and Stephen Schwartz to Adam Guettel, Jason Robert Brown, David Yazbeck and Stiles & Drewe, as well as some Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman thrown in for good measure, there's surely enough to satisfy all with much more than mere morsels to enjoy. All of this appreciable merriment (and even a small sampling of 'Away In A Manger' courtesy of Mitchell) and formidable entertainment comes with mostly unadorned accompaniment, as well, giving these ladies a true chance to shine their clearest and brightest in a solo spotlight all their own!

Today, we are taking a look and a listen to some splendid performances of material written by Frank Loesser, the Broadway composer/lyricist best-known for his musicals GUYS & DOLLS and HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING as well as Hollywood songs like 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' (which won an Oscar) and 'Heart and Soul'. He won 2 Tony Awards for Best Musical and HOW TO SUCCEED won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama - or, as Loesser candidly called it, 'the Putz-ular Prize' - and his work is some of the jazziest and jauntiest ever to grace the boards. With some help from Michael Feinstein, Bette Davis, Bob Hope, Doris Day and Loesser himself we have some fantastic fireworks of melody and merriment to enjoy this July 4th weekend thanks in no small part to Frank!

Today, in honor of centennial of Frank Loesser, we are taking an exclusive First Listen to the Masterworks Broadway release of HEART & SOUL: Celebrating The Unforgettable Songs Of Frank Loesser and taking a look at some memorable clips and cast albums and soundtracks from his illustrious career in Hollywood and on Broadway. Though in the sweaty summer haze it's hard to warm too much to "Baby, It's Cold Outside", nothing could be hotter than "Havana" from GUYS & DOLLS and the more we look at Loesser, it becomes quite crystal clear that sometimes less is truly much, much more…

Last weekend, I had the exceptional privilege of conducting an InDepth InterView with 2010 Tony-winning Best Featured Actress In A Play: the luminous and winsomely witty film and stage star Scarlett Johannson. We talked about her work in the theatre on this year's highly-praised revival of Arthur Miller's A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, as well as her feelings on musicals, Stephen Sondheim, and growing up in New York, which then veered off into a considerable discussion of her film work and working with actors like Hugh Jackman, Robert Downey Jr. and Penelope Cruz, as well as directors like Woody Allen and Christopher Nolan. Additionally, we discussed her love of musicals, her favorite shows, scores and cast albums, singing showtunes with Hugh Jackman, her thoughts on a Woody Allen musical, what Sondheim roles she would like to play, GLEE, and, of course, a detailed and descriptive discussion of the entire process of bringing BRIDGE to the stage. This is the complete InDepth InterView you have all been waiting for - of course, two sneek peek samples have gone up on BWW this week and have so far been quoted and reprinted in US WEEKLY, Perez Hilton and Oh No They Didn't, just to name a few, all of whom also reprinted her e-mail response to me. She is without a doubt one of the brightest stars of our age and it was a extreme privilege for me to help her shine some light on the more obscure corners of her career, as well as the highs - on Broadway, in Hollywood and elsewhere. Enjoy!

Today, in conjunction with Part II of the BWW Exclusive InDepth InterView: Donna McKechnie, we are taking a look at some clips from two productions of the masterpiece musical known as FOLLIES written by Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman and originally co-directed on Broadway by Hal Prince and Michael Bennett (who also choreographed). 'Who's That Woman' is one of the most legendary - and brilliant, and biting, and unique - dance numbers in Broadway history and in this clip the original choreography is recreated by the star-studded cast of the ‘98 Papermill Playhouse revival starring Donna McKechnie, Dee Hoty, Tony Roberts and Laurence Guittard, as well as Kaye Ballard, Liliane Montevecci, Phyllis Newman and Ann Miller under the supervision of Robert Longbottom and Jerry Mitchell. As a bonus, we also have the number as performed in the original Broadway production. This is something any tried and true Broadway baby surely can't miss!

Today, we are taking a listen to five of the greatest and most deservedly classic-status cast albums of all time, with all five selections also being Tony-winning Best Musicals recently remastered, repackaged and re-released by Masterworks Broadway in time for Tony Award season which this week is finally coming to a close. In salute of Broadway now - and as it was fifty years ago when the first of these scores premiered - we take stock of what we have got, for better or worse. Surely, the strength of these shows' scores speak and sing out loud for themselves: 42nd Street, 1776, HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, MAME and CITY OF ANGELS. From Herman to Coleman to Loesser and beyond we go, with a glance to the future and the all-to-recent past...

Today, I am sharing with you Part II of my exclusive InDepth InterView with legendary Broadway star Donna McKechnie who is perhaps best known as the genius director-choreographer Michael Bennett's muse and primary interpreter as well as the originator and inspiration for the character of Cassie in A CHORUS LINE - for which she won Best Actress In A Musical at the 1976 Tony Awards - in addition to her many roles on Broadway and the West End, as well as all over the country on tours of every kind over the years. In Part II of this comprehensive chat we discuss her new show with Kaye Ballard and Liliane Montevecci that kicks off next year titled BROADWAY LADIES, working with choreographers Jerome Robbins and Ron Field, Bennett's thoughts on Leonard Bernstein, Robbins and ON THE TOWN, what Robbins work meant to Bennett growing up, what Gwen Verdon's work meant to her, her thoughts on punk rock and amplification in the theatre as well as working with Rock Hudson, Dick Van Dyke and, of course, Bennett himself.

This weekend, I had the exceptional privilege of conducting an InDepth InterView with 2010 Tony-winning Best Featured Actress In A Play: the luminous and winsomely witty film and stage star Scarlett Johansson. We talked about her work in the theatre on this year's highly-praised revival of Arthur Miller's A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, as well as her feelings on musicals, Sondheim, and growing up in New York, which then veered off into a considerable discussion of her film work and working with actors like Hugh Jackman, Robert Downey Jr. and Penelope Cruz, as well as directors like Woody Allen and Christopher Nolan. In this second sample portion of the forthcoming interview we talk about her love of musicals, her favorite shows, scores and cast albums, singing showtunes with Hugh Jackman, her thoughts on a Woody Allen musical, what Sondheim roles she would like to play, GLEE, and more. The complete InDepth InterView will be available next Friday, but here is another small sampling to curb your appetite until then. A special early-summer treat!

Tonight, I had the exceptional privilege of conducting an InDepth InterView with 2010 Tony-winning Best Featured Actress In A Play: the luminous and winsomely witty Scarlett Johansson. We talked about her work in the theatre on this year's highly-praised revival of Arthur Miller's A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, as well as her feelings on musicals, Sondheim, and growing up in New York, which then veered off into a considerable discussion of her film work and working with actors like Hugh Jackman, Robert Downey Jr. and Penelope Cruz, as well as directors like Woody Allen, Brian DePalma and Christopher Nolan. In this sample portion of the forthcoming interview, in addition to speaking eloquently about the acclaimed revival and winning the Tony, Ms. Johansson was also gracious enough to address the 'Give The Tonys Back To Broadway' Facebook campaign controversy and her response is reflected here, as well as in the e-mail follow-up and further explanation I received from her just moments ago. The complete interview will be available next week, here is a small sampling to whet your palette. Enjoy!

Today, I am sharing with you Part I of my exclusive InDepth InterView with legendary Broadway star Donna McKechnie who is perhaps best known as the genius director- choreographer Michael Bennett's muse and primary interpreter as well as the originator and inspiration for the character of Cassie in A CHORUS LINE - for which she won Best Actress In A Musical at the 1976 Tony Awards - in addition to her many roles on Broadway and the West End, as well as all over the country on tours of every kind over the years. In Part I of this comprehensive chat we discuss her earliest featured roles on Broadway, working on the groundbreaking COMPANY and her thoughts on collaborators Bennett, Sondheim and Hal Prince; as well as her thoughts on the current state of Broadway, the out-of-town experience in the Golden Age and creating Cassie in A CHORUS LINE. Plus, of course, we discuss her fantastic new show and much, much more!

Today, we are taking a First Listen to the forthcoming collection of opening numbers from the many spectacular Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS benefits packaged together and titled in an expectedly suggestive and sexy manner - BROADWAY BARES OPENINGS. A cavalcade of dazzling casts, these tantalizing and titillating themes are led by the likes of Jane Krakowski, Sara Gettelfinger, Debbie Gravitte, Julia Murney, Shoshana Bean, Mary Birdsong, Heidi Blickenstaff, Tituss Burgess, Leslie Kritzer, Anika Larsen, Andrew Lippa, Euan Morton, Mo Rocca, Christopher Sieber, and Lillias White! Even with bottoms on display, this cast is tops!

Today, I am recapping the 2010 Tony Awards as it was broadcast on CBS last night - and on NY1 for the first hour. I was particularly privileged to have my interviews conducted for BWW and TonyAwards.com used throughout both telecasts and was quite moved by the evening in general. But, first: let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start - as Ted Chapin, President of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization and the first presenter of the evening would surely recall from his friend Oscar Hammerstein - who, of course, also mentored Stephen Sondheim who personally selected last night's Best Actress winner Catherine Zeta-Jones for the revival of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.

Today, in honor of the American premiere of ELAINE PAIGE: CELEBRATING FORTY YEARS ONSTAGE being broadcast on PBS this week is a sneak peek of an upcoming InDepth InterView with legendary star of Broadway and the West End, Elaine Paige. In this portion of the interview we discuss the writing of CHESS with ABBA's Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus and lyricist Tim Rice, as well as her thoughts on contemporaries like Patti LuPone and, of course, originating the leads in EVITA, CATS, CHESS. We also preview her new album produced by Phil Ramone and featuring a duet with Barry Manilow. We also discuss the new song written for her by Stiles & Drewe for the concert.

Today, in honor of the Tony Awards on Sunday, we close out the season with the last two recordings related to the 2009-2010 Broadway season with an exclusive First Listen to the PROMISES, PROMISES Broadway Revival Recording starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth courtesy of the kind folks at Sony, as well as the Original Broadway Cast Recording of THE ADDAMS FAMILY starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. These recordings certainly offer strong proof of the best - and worst - that Broadway has to offer in the modern age. Everything old may be new again in the case of PROMISES, but everything new is tired old-hat as far as ADDAMS goes as we will soon see.