Alan Jay Lerner News

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's beloved musical GIGI will return to Broadway, possibly as soon as the 2013-2014 season, directed by Tony Award-nominee Eric D. Schaeffer (Follies), in a new adaptation by acclaimed British playwright and Emmy-nominated screenwriter Heidi Thomas ('Cranforde,' 'Upstairs Downstairs,' 'Call the Midwife').

Today in 1976, the first Broadway revival of My Fair Lady opened at the St. James Theatre, where it ran for 377 performances. My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, so that she may pass as a well born lady. The musical's 1956 Broadway production was a hit, setting what was then the record for the longest run of any major musical theatre production in history. It was followed by a hit London production, a popular film version, and numerous revivals.

Today in 1947, Brigadoon opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre, where it ran for 581 performances. Brigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. It tells the story of a mysterious Scottish village that appears for only one day every hundred years, though to the villagers, the passing of each century seems no longer than one night. Brigadoon then received a West End production opening in 1949 that ran for 685 performances, and many revivals followed. A 1954 film version starred Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. A 1966 television version starred Robert Goulet and Peter Falk.

According to Showbiz411.com, Clive Davis announced during a reading for his book at the 92nd Street Y last night that his top pick Bartlett Sher has signed on to direct the 2014 Broadway revival of MY FAIR LADY. Sher's recent credits include South Pacific, Golden Boy, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) continues to study and celebrate the work of composer Kurt Weill with Into a Lamplit Room: The Songs of Kurt Weill presented by CCM's Department of Musical Theatre at 7 p.m. on both tonight, March 3, and Sunday, March 10.

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's (CCM) year-long Kurt Weill Festival resumes this month with a dynamic new production of the iconic musical The Threepenny Opera. Composed by Kurt Weill with book and lyrics by dramatist Bertolt Brecht (adapted into English by Marc Blitzstein), The Threepenny Opera weaves the riveting tale of notorious bandit and womanizer Macheath ('Mack the Knife') and his seedy companions in London's underworld. Weill's innovative score invented a new form of musical theatre, leading the way for such shows as Chicago and Cabaret.

The Goodman Theatre just announced its 2013/2014 season. For tickets or more information, visit: http://www.goodmantheatre.org/upcoming-season/?id=&epslanguage=en

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) continues to study and celebrate the work of composer Kurt Weill with Into a Lamplit Room: The Songs of Kurt Weill presented by CCM's Department of Musical Theatre at 7 p.m. on both Sunday, March 3, and Sunday, March 10.

For its 21st annual Spring Gala, the Kennedy Center will present My Fair Lady in Concert on Sunday, May 5, 2013 at 8 p.m. in the Concert Hall. The famed 1956 musical features book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner with music by Frederick Loewe and will be directed and choreographed by Tony Award nominee Marcia Milgrom Dodge. The concert staging will be accompanied by the 35-piece Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra conducted by Music Director James Moore.

Today, February 23 and February 24 and 25 Lyrics & Lyricists tours Miss Peggy Lee's hip musical landscape with guest artistic director Billy Stritch and vocalists Barbara Fasano, La Tanya Hall and Gabrielle Stravelli. Cabaret legend Marilyn Maye, who frequently includes Peggy Lee classics in her shows, joins the show as a special guest.

It was announced earlier this week that, Davis is eying LES MISERABLES star Anne Hathaway and Colin Firth to play Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins respectively. Now according to the Daily Mail, Hathaway has responded positively to the news. She told DM: 'I haven't heard for a while what's happening with My Fair Lady and I don't know whether I would do it on stage, or screen, but either would be a treat.'

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's (CCM) year-long Kurt Weill Festival resumes this month with a dynamic new production of the iconic musical The Threepenny Opera. Composed by Kurt Weill with book and lyrics by dramatist Bertolt Brecht (adapted into English by Marc Blitzstein), The Threepenny Opera weaves the riveting tale of notorious bandit and womanizer Macheath ('Mack the Knife') and his seedy companions in London's underworld. Weill's innovative score invented a new form of musical theatre, leading the way for such shows as Chicago and Cabaret.

Now according to USA Today, Davis is eying LES MISERABLES star Anne Hathaway and Colin Firth to play Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins respectively. Firth has also starred in a big screen musical in the past, taking on Harry in 2008's MAMMA MIA. Neither actor, however, has yet starred in a Broadway production.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Grammy and Oscar, 'Smash' and 'Million Dollar Quartet' on TV, Lyric Opera's five R and H shows, Rachel Rockwell directs 'Brigadoon' and 'Shrek,' two college shows, and the two singing Callaway sisters!

BroadwayWorld.com noticed something today as we scoured Facebook and it's something that we really liked, so we wanted to share it with you because it's not so often that you find such generosity for actors. This weekend, all roads lead to St. Louis as actors are headed there from all over the country to audition for the Muny's summer production of LES MISERABLES directed by Richard Jay-Alexander and with music direction by Kevin Stites.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Eliza Doolittle might be heading back to Broadway in the near future, as music industry legend Clive Davis has just announced plans to produce My Fair Lady in 2014. He told LAT: 'I always wanted to produce a Broadway show, and I've never done it. I'm hopeful we will prepare and finalize everything this year to bring 'My Fair Lady' next year to Broadway with a stellar cast.'

"It's almost like being in love!" Goodman Theatre proudly announces a Summer 2014 production of the 1947 musical Brigadoon, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe-marking the first major revival of the musical in nearly 20 years. Award-winning Chicago director/choreographer Rachel Rockwell, hailed as "a theatrical magician" (Chicago Sun-Times) and "2012 Chicagoan of the Year" (Chicago Tribune) for her recent reinvestigations of American musicals, directs the piece in her Goodman debut. With permission from the Lerner and Loewe estates, the Goodman and Rockwell will consider some revisions to the book for this production. Only Goodman Subscribers and Groups are guaranteed priority access to Brigadoon tickets; subscriptions for Goodman's 2013/2014 Season (additional projects and dates for Brigadoon to be announced) will be available for purchase in March. Call 312.443.3800 or visit GoodmanTheatre.org.

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe may be best known for MY FAIR LADY, their 1956 musical adaptation of Pygmalion. The show was an incredible success and left anticipation high for another Lerner & Loewe musical. After tumultuous writing, casting, and rehearsing processes their follow up opened on Broadway in 1960. The musical, simply titled CAMELOT, was based on T. H. White's The Once and Future King. It opened to mixed reviews, but the Original Cast Album LP was America's best selling LP for a solid 60 weeks. After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, it was publicized that the original cast recording had been a favorite of the Kennedy family in while in the White House, forever tying Lerner & Loewe's CAMELOT to the glamorous, media culture Camelot era of the Kennedy family.