Angela Lansbury News

The Tony Awards today announced presenters for the 65th Annual Tony Awards at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. The 2011 Tony Awards will air live on CBS, on Sunday, June 12th 8:00 - 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT time delay) and are presented by the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

The Actors Fund's annual gala last night, May 23, 2011 at the New York Marriott Marquis honored Tony and Emmy Award winning actress and current star of 'The Addams Family,' Bebe Neuwirth ('Chicago,' 'Sweet Charity,' 'Cheers,' 'Frasier'); Tony, Emmy and Academy Award winning actor Al Pacino ('The Godfather: Parts I, II and III,' 'Scent of a Woman,' HBO's 'Angels in America' and 'You Don't Know Jack,' 'The Merchant of Venice'), and Vice President, Market General Manager for New York City's Marriott & Renaissance Hotels Michael J. Stengel. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the starry event and brings you photo coverage below!

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 return of Broadway star AARON LAZAR in his new show 'For Lovers Only' - an evening of romantic love songs - for two nights only, Sunday, June 19 and Monday, June 20. He will be joined by Music Director Jeff Klitz on piano, Bernd Schoenhart on guitar, and special guest vocalist Capathia Jenkins. The show, directed by David Solomon, will feature new arrangements of classic love songs by composers Adam Guettel, Richard Rodgers, Bruno Mars, Jason Robert Brown, Cole Porter, Ashford and Simpson, Stephen Sondheim and others. Both shows are at the Loews Regency Hotel (540 Park Avenue at 61st Street).

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, May 22, 2011 - Sunday, May 22, 2011.

Today we have a triple-feature and a double-dose day, with all three of the Tony-winning leading ladies who have won the Best Actress Tony Award for their take on Rose in GYPSY - as great a role in the musical theatre as Lear in KING LEAR is in the classical canon; no question. Believe it or not, Ethel Merman - the once-thought-incomparable original Rose in GYPSY - did not take the prize for Best Actress, nor did Bernadette Peters in the Sam Mendes-directed revival from early this century, but the three divas that did certainly made an unmistakable mark on the titanic role. Cutting to the chase, the ladies of the day: Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly and Patti LuPone. Who could ask for anything more? Not even Rose herself - and that's saying something.

Friends Always Creating Theatre (F.A.C.T.) in assocation with Joria Productions is excited to announce the final shows of their 2nd Season to be presented in repertory May 13-22 at Joria Studios,260 West 36th Street, 3rd Floor, under the umbrella title, 'Page To Stage'.

Today we are revisiting the most recent Tony Awards, which took place on June 13, 2010 on CBS - the 64th telecast - with a look at the audience-favorite Emmy-winning star of WILL & GRACE who made his debut last season in the hit revival of Burt Bacharach/Hal David/Neil Simon's PROMISES, PROMISES, co-starring Kristin Chenoweth, and who acted as amiable host for the festivities: Sean Hayes! We will also be casting a glance at the show he starred in last season, PROMISES, PROMISES, with a performance from the Rob Ashford-directed revival featuring Kristin Chenoweth and the talented cast - including Tony-winner Katie Finneran.

Bay Street Theatre is pleased to announce a very special performance on Memorial Weekend. On Saturday, May 28 at 8 pm, enjoy Broadway luminaries Christine Ebersole and Edward Hibbert in Love, Noël: The Letters and Songs of Noël Coward.

New Dramatists, Tony Honor® recipient and the nation's premiere playwright development workshop, honored 14-time Tony Award® winner Roger Berlind with their 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award at its 62nd Annual Spring Luncheon tribute, yesterday, May 17th at the New York Marriott Marquis. Philip J. Smith and Robert E. Wankel of The Shubert Organization served as the Luncheon Chairs. Jim Dale, Emily Mann and Brian Stokes Mitchell were among those paying tribute to Mr Berlind. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the event and brings you phoot coverage below.

Revered as one of the greatest book musicals ever written Gypsy, based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, and with collaborators Arthur Laurents, Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim is rarely performed except on Broadway due to the demands of the role of Mama Rose, which has been played first by Ethel Merman, and also to acclaim by Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, Bernadette Peters and most recently Patti Lupone. Films have starred Rosalind Russell and Bette Midler (TV), and there's another theatrical one still in the works for Barbra Streisand. The stage mother to end all stage mothers is a monster role to play. She's on stage 95% of the show and must act, sing and dance 150%; there's no faking this one. In a daring production for Equity Waiver, West Coast Ensemble (WCE) is now presenting Gypsy, half a century after it first opened in New York in 1959. Jan Sheldrick has the role of Rose and she runs with it, acting up a storm, giving it her best shot. Under Richard Israel's skilled direction, the production is somewhat flawed, but overall impressive with its very strong rendering on a smaller stage.

As a super-special Spring extension of BroadwayWorld's SOUND OFF column, every day until the Tony Awards on June 12 we will be presenting a spectacular new entry in the SPOTLIGHT ON THE 2011 TONY AWARDS series featuring a particularly entertaining, interesting, relevant and exciting Tony Awards-related clip from the last sixty-three years of the ceremonies (and subsequent seasons on Broadway) with a rundown and commentary on the sights, sounds and showmanship on display in each carefully chosen selection - all, of course, coming in anticipation of Broadway's biggest night, which will be broadcast on CBS this year, as always. Once again this year, BroadwayWorld is the official home of the 2011 Tony Awards and we will also be featuring exclusive interviews, articles, photos, video content, interactive features and more in the coming days and weeks leading up to the event so be sure to check back daily for your theatre fix!

Musical Theatre West is proud to announce a staged reading of ANYONE CAN WHISTLE. ANYONE CAN WHISTLE is the fourth reading offered in the inaugural season of the Reiner Reading Series.

As a super-special Spring extension of BroadwayWorld's SOUND OFF column, every day from now until the Tony Awards on June 12 we will be presenting a spectacular new entry in the SPOTLIGHT ON THE 2011 TONY AWARDS series featuring a particularly entertaining, interesting, relevant and exciting Tony Awards-related clip from the last sixty-three years of the ceremonies (and subsequent seasons on Broadway) with a rundown and commentary on the sights, sounds and showmanship on display in each carefully chosen selection - all, of course, coming in anticipation of Broadway's biggest night, which will be broadcast on CBS this year, as always. Once again this year, BroadwayWorld is the official home of the 2011 Tony Awards and we will also be featuring exclusive interviews, articles, photos, video content, interactive features and more in the coming days and weeks leading up to the event so be sure to check back daily for your theatre fix!

Friends Always Creating Theatre (F.A.C.T.) in assocation with Joria Productions is excited to announce the final shows of their 2nd Season to be presented in repertory May 13-22 at Joria Studios,260 West 36th Street, 3rd Floor, under the umbrella title, 'Page To Stage'.

A hilariously spooky revival makes its way to Mercer County Community College's Kelsey Theatre in June.

James Earl Jones, who most recently starred as Hoke Colburn, the chauffeur in Driving Miss Daisy will return to Broadway in the role of the feisty, folksy and wily ex- U.S. President Arthur Hockstader in GORE VIDAL'S THE BEST MAN coming to Broadway in the spring of 2012. Reported first by Variety, he revealed last night while being honored with the Monte Cristo Award at Bridgewaters-South Street Seaport that starring alongside him will be five-time Tony Winner Angela Lansbury making her return to the stage after most recently appearing as Madame Armfeldt in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.

TACT/The Actors Company Theatre will celebrate the success of its 2010/11 season and honor the accomplishments of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara -"Stiller & Meara" - one of the country's most renowned and recognizable partnerships, at its annual spring gala on Monday, May 9th at The Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street).

The Actors Fund is hosting another Musical Monday at The Pantages, celebrating the life and career of beloved composer and lyricist, Billy Barnes with a special evening of 'Billy Barnes and Friends.' Joining Billy will be Eileen Barnett, Carole Cook, Nancy Dussault, Jane A. Johnston, Karen Morrow, Barry Williams and JoAnne Worley with others to follow.

Whether you've been living under a rock for the past week, or you're just in the mood for a recap of everything theatre, BroadwayWorld's new feature, 'This Week in Pictures' is here to satisfy your end of the week fix. Take a look below to catch up on the latest happenings from the Great White Way to the West End (and everywhere in between) with coverage of press events, rehearsals, opening nights and more!

From the Broadway Beat archives today is rare interview with Arthur Laurents, interviewed by Sidney Myer, talking about GYPSY, Merman & More.