Alan Cumming News

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & UPRIGHT CABARET are thrilled to announce the performers for its fifth and final show of their second season, CALIFORNIA DREAMIN', starring vocal powerhouse JAKE SIMPSON (2x 'Star Search' Grand Champion, Oprah Winfrey Favorite), Broadway sensation JENNIFER LEIGH WARREN (Broadway: Little Shop of Horrors, Marie Christine, Big River, Regional: Having It All, The Buddy Holly Story, Diamonds Are Forvever, Cinderella - a Modern Musical Extravaganza), JULIE GARNYE, NATHAN SHRAKE and BROOKE TANSLEY, performing the music of The Mamas and The Papas, Linda Ronstadt and The Eagles.

Classic Stage Company's acclaimed production of UNNATURAL ACTS, a new play created by members of the Plastic Theatre, conceived and directed by Tony Speciale, will extend by popular demand for one additional week through Sunday, July 17 at CSC (136 East 13th Street). New York Magazine called UNNATURAL ACTS 'remarkable, sleek and brutal' and said 'the play offers damning lessons in power, persecution and solidarity - or lack thereof.' Variety raved 'UNNATURAL ACTS is riveting and fascinating' with 'stunning theatricality.' The Associated Press called UNNATURALS ACTS 'powerfully riveting' and said 'Speciale has staged this engrossing story with flair and impressive theatricality, employing a company of extremely talented actors. In a riveting series of increasingly charged vignettes, he unspools a story of prejudice, intimidation, friendship, fear and betrayal that displays the crushing effect of societally-approved homophobia.' And The Daily News wrote 'Speciale's production is stylish and stirring, and beautiful.'

Classic Stage Company's acclaimed production of UNNATURAL ACTS, a new play created by members of the Plastic Theatre, conceived and directed by Tony Speciale, will extend by popular demand for one additional week through Sunday, July 17 at CSC (136 East 13th Street).

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & UPRIGHT CABARET are thrilled to announce the performers for its fifth and final show of their second season, CALIFORNIA DREAMIN', starring vocal powerhouse JAKE SIMPSON (2x 'Star Search' Grand Champion, Oprah Winfrey Favorite), Broadway sensation JENNIFER LEIGH WARREN (Broadway: Little Shop of Horrors, Marie Christine, Big River, Regional: Having It All, The Buddy Holly Story, Diamonds Are Forvever, Cinderella - a Modern Musical Extravaganza), JULIE GARNYE, NATHAN SHRAKE and BROOKE TANSLEY, performing the music of The Mamas and The Papas, Linda Ronstadt and The Eagles.

Coming quick and sprightly on the heels of the smash-hit movie theater presentation of Stephen Sondheim's COMPANY, Shakespeare's Globe London Cinema Series is setting out to do for Shakespeare and classical theatre what COMPANY did for Sondheim and musicals with THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR. Beginning on Monday, hundreds of select movie theaters nationwide will present a special showing of Shakespeare's coy and daring comedy THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR as the inaugural showing of The Globe London Cinema Series, and, with it, we, as the avid audience, will be ushered into a new era for Shakespeare - both live and on film. How easily and affordably we may now witness world-class entertainment from the very front rows of the finest playhouses in the world in the way only a special event cinema broadcast such as Shakespeare's Globe London Cinema Series presentation of THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR can provide! Such are the joys of traveling to the nearest multiplex near you hosting a Shakespeare's Globe presentation - such as on Monday at 6:30 PM with MERRY WIVES - as opposed to a transatlantic flight and accommodations in the UK were you to try to catch the show live and in person (with the hope to score some rare tickets). Plus, you can't beat these seats - or the sights and sounds only the real, true home of W.S. - The Globe - can supply.

Cabaret star, international singing sensation and post-modern showgirl, Meow Meow, acclaimed for her current performance in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, returns to the stage with her solo West End debut, Meow Meow In Concert for three nights only on 23, 24 and 25 June

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN, the platinum-selling vocalist and pianist, will release We Dreamed These Days, his new CD recorded with the Carmel Symphony Orchestra, on June 21. The disc, released through DuckHole Records, is available on iTunes, Amazon.com and in stores.

Following their current season which has included the sold out critical and box-office hits Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov and David Ives' The School for Lies, Classic Stage Company (CSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Jessica R. Jenen, has announced details for their upcoming 2011-12 season, the esteemed Off-Broadway downtown theater company's 45th.

FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY, the nightclub proclaimed 'Best of New York' by New York Magazine and 'an invaluable New York institution' by The New York Post, will continue its Spring 2011 season with the debut of Broadway veteran and six-year "Saturday Night Live" favorite ANA GASTEYER on June 13 and June 27.

THE THREEPENNY OPERA to WICKED to ROCKY HORROR to PASSION onstage - and, before that, believe it or not: THE REAL LIVE BRADY BUNCH TOUR - in addition to SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE to MEAN GIRLS on screens large and small: the multi-talented Ana Gasteyer continues to surprise us with every new venture - and aren't we lucky! Ms. Gasteyer's exceedingly elegant new cabaret show at Feinstein's, appropriately titled ELEGANT SONGS FROM A HANDSOME WOMAN - this coming Monday at 8:30 PM, and also on Monday, June 27 - will give her a chance to show off her considerable singing skills. In this all-encompassing interview we discuss the inspiration and ideas involved in her new cabaret piece and exactly what we can expect on Monday night, plus all about her upcoming multi-episode arc on HBO's CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM and co-starring in a brand new ABC series coming this Fall, SUBURGATORY. Additionally, we parse her stage work with everyone from Joe Mantello to Mary Zimmermann and her experiences working on live TV for six years on NBC's SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE - plus, first news about her role in Tyler Perry's WE THE PEOPLES and her recollections on the fantastic REEFER MADNESS: THE MOVIE MUSICAL - as well as working with Raul Esparza, Lindsay Lohan, Tina Fey, Larry David - and much, much more!

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Jeff Awards wrap-up, Tony Awards predictions, 'Glee' live, 'Chicago' in Chicago, 'Million Dollar Quartet,' 'A Minister's Wife,' more....

The Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA), a new offshoot of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, today announced nominations for the inaugural Critics' Choice Television Awards, hosted by Cat Deeley and scheduled to take place at a luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel on June 20, 2011. ABC was the most nominated broadcast network with 16 nominations, followed closely by NBC with 12. AMC and FX led nominations for cable networks, with nine each. Modern Family was the most nominated series with six.

Civic Theatre proudly presents the 2nd Annual Northeast Indiana Playwright Festival June 3-5, 2011 at the Allen County Public Library. Festival events include a workshop conducted by Dan Clancy, International Playwright of The Timekeepers; a panel discussion with Dan Clancy, John Tolley - Guest Director of The Timekeepers and Phillip Colglazier - Executive/Artistic Director of Fort Wayne Civic Theatre; stage reading of the 2nd place play - Knitters Row and the 3rd place play - Struggling For My Sanity; and staged performances of the 1st place winning play - Discom-BOOB-ulated and also The Timekeepers. In addition there will be a reception at the Courtyard by Marriott following the Saturday, June 4th performance of The Timekeepers*.

Parade, the acclaimed Broadway musical by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Alfred Uhry and award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown, was nominated for nine Tony Awards on its premiere in 1998 - winning Best Book and Best?Score - and subsequently won both the Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards for Best New Musical.

Think about it: How many times have you seen the title of a show or movie with an exclamation point on the end? There's Oklahoma! Airplane! ¡Three Amigos! Mamma Mia! Hot Shots! Oliver!....and those are only a few. Some of them actually, depending upon your response, may have deserved the exclamation. Most, however, do not. An exception to this general truism is Vegas! The Show.