Arthur Laurents News

Looking for a quick roundup of this week's events in the theatre world? Look no further - here are some of the best articles the week had to offer!

Berkeley Playhouse closes its 2011-12 main stage season with a delicious adaptation of Roald Dahl's WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. Berkeley Playhouse founding Artistic Director Elizabeth McKoy helms this musical treat, based on Roald Dahl's stylish children's story about the world famous candy man, starring noted Bay Area singer/songwriter, musician, and recording artist Vernon Bush in the title role. Roald Dahl'S WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY plays tonight, July 14 through August 19 at the Julia Morgan Theatre in Berkeley.

Happy Birthday Arthur Laurents! Laurents' first play, Home of the Brave, opened on Broadway in 1945, followed by many others. He wrote his first musical, West Side Story, in 1957, followed by Gypsy and others. His first screenplay was The Snake Pit in 1948, followed by others including Rope, Anastasia, The Way We Were and The Turning Point. His own play, Invitation to a March in 1960, was the first of several he directed. I Can Get It for You Wholesale in 1961 was the first musical he directed, followed by others including La Cage aux Folles and Gypsy with Angela Lansbury, then Tyne Daly and most recently, Patti LuPone. He pased away in May 2011.

Today we are talking to a celebrated comedienne and actress known for her decades-spanning career on screens and stages large and small - from making her Broadway debut in the original Jerome Robbins production of GYPSY on Broadway in 1960 to her many musical roles throughout the 60s to her countless game show and variety show appearances following that all the way to creating an unforgettable character in MOONSTRUCK in the 1980s, as well as her subsequent oft-Neil Simon stage work; now, playing Tina Fey's sweet and daffy mom on NBC's 30 ROCK and, most recently, appearing in Nora & Celia Ephron's LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE and the Playwright's Horizons premiere production of THE BIG MEAL in the new millennium - the one of a kind Anita Gillette. Analyzing her nearly sixty-year career and sharing candid stories of her brushes with some of Broadway and Hollywood's brightest talents - Jule Styne to Ethel Merman to Irving Berlin to Burt Lancaster and beyond - Gillette paints a vivid portrait of the tail end of the Golden Age of Broadway and the heady game show days of TV in the 1960s and 70s to her lauded stage work with Neil Simon and many of the great comedy and musical writers in the years since. Additionally, Gillette and I discuss her current essaying of the role of Mae Peterson in the new Regal Music Theatre production of Charles Strouse and Lee Adams's BYE BYE BIRDIE in Massachusetts as she looks towards opening night tomorrow and relates her joy in participating in a production that has some behind-the-scenes help by her loving granddaughter (while another attends their summer camp). Plus, Gillette's observations on sharing a soundstage with Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Elaine Stritch and Buck Henry for a recent 30 ROCK shoot, reflections on her fondest and most celebrated comedy roles, hilarious memories of appearing in some short-running flops (JIMMY, SKYSKRAPER) as well as in some big hits (GYPSY), her upcoming series of master classes titled "Life In The Business", her return to Birdland with her concert show, AFTER ALL, her role in an upcoming Ed Burns film and maybe even a role in a new Alexander Payne film - all of that, all about attending the Diamond Jubilee celebration in the United Kingdom and much, much more!

Arthur Laurents, Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim's musical Gypsy, based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, will be presented by the Actors' NET of Bucks County July 13 to 29 at the Heritage Center in Morrisville, Pa. et a first look at the production in the photos below!

The Actors' NET of Bucks County concludes its 16th season presenting the blockbuster musical Gypsy, suggested by the memoirs of burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee.

Mit der Urauffuhrung von WEST SIDE STORY wird die Musiktheater-Geschichte neu geschrieben: mutig, realistisch und vital. Kommenden Sommer ist der Broadway-Klassiker endlich wieder an den großen Buhnen Deutschlands zu erleben - randvoll mit unvergesslichen Songs wie Maria, Tonight, Somewhere, America, und I Feel Pretty und mit der Originalchoreografie von Jerome Robbins. Allein in dieser preisgekronten Inszenierung ist dieser wesentliche Teil des Meisterwerks auf weltweiter Tournee zu erleben. Und das in einer Produktion, die anlasslich des funfzigjahrigen Jubilaums der WEST SIDE STORY Publikum und Kritik in Atem hielt. Am Sadler's Wells Theatre in London, am Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, in Sydney, Tokio, Peking und Wien sorgte sie fur ausverkaufte Hauser.

The cast of the Broadway First National Tour of West Side Story put together a fun lip-sync video of the pop hit 'Call Me Maybe' by Carly Rae Jepsen. BroadwayWorld brings you the spoof below, featuring the cast backstage and more!

Fifty years after its release, the MGM re-mastered film returns to the big screen in high definition with its original vocals and dialog intact. This classic romantic tragedy and the bitter battle between the Jets and the Sharks as Leonard Bernstein's seminal score, featuring the much loved 'America', 'Somewhere' and 'Tonight', is dramatically brought to life on stage by The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by Jayce Ogren at the Royal Albert Hall for four performances tonight, June 22nd to June 24, 2012.

Easton's State Theatre has announced its 2012-13 season- on sale to State Theatre Members Wed, August 1 (Box Office window at 453 Northampton Street opens at 6 AM; Online Ticketing and Phone lines open at Noon). Tickets will go on sale to the Public August 15th at 10 AM. Limit 6 tickets per Member per performance during Members Only sales. Membership to the Non-Profit State Theatre starts at $75, lasts one year and is tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

Today we are talking to an iconic Tony Award-winning star who made her name as a teenager singing on TV variety shows - THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW and SING ALONG WITH MITCH included - and then went on to a multimedia career in film and theatre, conquering Broadway with her Tony-winning turn in the Jule Styne/Arthur Laurents musical HALLELUJAH, BABY! in 1967 and returning to the stage in the subsequent decades in a host of Broadway productions, such as BLUES IN THE NIGHT, JERRY'S GIRLS, ANYTHING GOES, August Wilson's KING HEDLEY II and her celebrated Muzzy in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE - a role she reprises in the new Muny production of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical beginning this week - the one and only Leslie Uggams. Taking a thorough look back at her career thus far, Uggams opens up about her many successes and how she has endured for fifty years in show business and shares recollections of many of her most noted co-stars and collaborators, all the way up to the recent 2012 Encores! PIPE DREAM. Additionally, Uggams comments on her film and TV appearances over the years, speaking about her work in INHERIT THE WIND, TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN, ROOTS and beyond. Plus, she shares her candid opinions on GLEE, SMASH, Broadway then versus now, future plans for her Lena Horne solo show and thoughts on other roles she would enjoy pursuing - and much, much more!

Atlanta Lyric Theatre presents Gypsy tonight, June 15 through July 1, 2012 at The Earl Smith Strand Theatre (117 N. Park Square, Marietta.) Tickets are available now at 404-377-9948 or www.AtlantaLyricTheatre.com.

Berkeley Playhouse closes its 2011-12 main stage season with a delicious adaptation of ROALD DAHL'S WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. Berkeley Playhouse founding Artistic Director Elizabeth McKoy helms this musical treat, based on Roald Dahl's stylish children's story about the world famous candy man, starring noted Bay Area singer/songwriter, musician, and recording artist Vernon Bush in the title role. ROALD DAHL'S WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY plays July 14 through August 19 at the Julia Morgan Theatre in Berkeley.