Arthur Laurents News

Bill Hanney launches the 2010 Broadway musical series at the new North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) with Vicki Lewis starring in GYPSY. A veteran of the stage and screen, Vicki Lewis is most remembered for her 5 seasons playing Beth on the NBC sitcom, 'NewsRadio.' The multi award winning Broadway classic GYPSY runs July 6 - 25, 2010, with press night scheduled for July 8 at 7:30pm.

The 2010 2011 Kravis On Broadway season boasts a powerful line up which includes The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein and straight from the great white way, a revival of West Side Story. Add to this, NETworks Presents Disney's Beauty & The Beast, Dreamgirls and The Color Purple, all making their West Palm Beach debut at the Kravis Center. 'The upcoming Kravis On Broadway season promises a world of excitement and escape for our audience,' said Lee Bell, the Kravis Center's Senior Director of Programming.

From the first trumpet blast of its legendary overture to the last white hot spotlight, GYPSY is considered by many to be 'the best musical ever.' Lakewood Theatre Company is proud to present this classic musical as its summer production in the 2010-11 season.

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes Penguin Rep Theatre, in association with Chase Mishkin, to AMERICAS OFF BROADWAY with the New York City premiere of FREED, written by Charles Smith and directed by Joe Brancato. FREED begins previews on Friday, June 11 for a limited engagement through Saturday, July 3.

Stage legend Patti LuPone sereved as the featured guest for the 'From Stage To Page' workshop at the 2010 BookExpo at the Javits Center last month. In the discussion, LuPone provides insight into her forthcoming memoir 'Patti LuPone: A Memoir,' the struggles she faced finding stardom in EVITA at a young age, and yes, GLEE.

25 recordings have been added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry including the original cast recording of GYPSY featuring Ethel Merman. Other titles include Patti Smith's debut album and Tupac's 'Dear Mama.'

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.

Broadway/L.A. has announced that Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony Award®-winning creator, composer-lyricist and original star of Broadway's 2008's Best Musical IN THE HEIGHTS will reprise the lead role of ‘Usnavi' when the show has its Southern California premiere engagement at the historic Pantages Theater in Los Angeles from June 22nd through July 11th. The gala opening night is Wednesday, June 23rd, following one lower-priced preview on Tuesday, June 22nd.

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!

The touring production of the smash hit Broadway revival of WEST SIDE STORY, set to tour North America beginning this fall, will open at Detroit's Fisher Theatre, Sept. 30 - Oct. 16, 2010.

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes Penguin Rep Theatre, in association with Chase Mishkin, to AMERICAS OFF BROADWAY with the New York City premiere of FREED, written by Charles Smith and directed by Joe Brancato. FREED begins previews on Friday, June 11 for a limited engagement through Saturday, July 3.

Bill Hanney launches the 2010 Broadway musical series at the new North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) with Vicki Lewis starring in GYPSY. A veteran of the stage and screen, Vicki Lewis is most remembered for her 5 seasons playing Beth on the NBC sitcom, 'NewsRadio.' The multi award winning Broadway classic GYPSY runs July 6 - 25, 2010, with press night scheduled for July 8 at 7:30pm.

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.

@BroadwayGirlNYC is live blogging and tweeting all throughout the 2010 Tony Awards! To follow her along on Twitter, click here!

Franklin-born and -raised Hannah McGinley, now a senior at New York University pursuing a degree in musical theatre, is spending the summer at home, portraying 'Louise,' the young woman who would become Gypsy Rose Lee in the Towne Centre Theatre production of Gypsy. Karen Himelrick directs Gypsy, the beloved musical by Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents, as it dances its way onto the Towne Centre stage for a July 10-July 3 run at the Brentwood theatre.

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes Penguin Rep Theatre, in association with Chase Mishkin, to AMERICAS OFF BROADWAY with the New York City premiere of FREED, written by Charles Smith and directed by Joe Brancato. FREED begins previews on Friday, June 11 for a limited engagement through Saturday, July 3.

Commonwealth Youthchoirs has announced that Broadway star Alison Fraser and opera star Lauren Flanigan, will appear as guest artists at its 6th Annual Gala Concert at the Kimmel Center on June 6, 2010.

Broadway/San Diego ~ A Nederlander Presentation, continues its 34th Season of great theatre with a variety of choices for all audiences. We offer the hottest ticket in town to ten of Broadway's best, from classic musicals to rock icons to beloved family fare - not to mention dance!

Today, we are taking a look at a clip from the 1984 Tony Awards and the original Broadway cast of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES which was that year's big winner, starring Gene Barry and George Hearn under the direction of Arthur Laurents with a score by Jerry Herman, book by Harvey Fierstein and produced by Alan Carr.

Today, we are taking a look at a clip from the 2008 Tony Awards and a chilling performance by the trio of Tony-winning talents that won that year's Best Actress In A Musical, Best Featured Actress and Best Featured Actor: Patti LuPone, Laura Benanti and Boyd Gaines in Arthur Laurents's lauded revival of his classic musical written with Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim, the spectacular classic GYPSY!