Bebe Neuwirth News

'The Standbys' tells the fascinating story of three talented individuals who work as standbys. They are always ready to go onstage and assume a lead role in a moment's notice.

The League of Professional Theatre Women is pleased to present Award-winning actress BEBE NEUWIRTH for the next Oral History interview on Monday, May 5, 2014 at 6:00 pm at the Bruno Walter Auditorium of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts on 65th Street & Amsterdam Avenue. Ms. Neuwirth will be interviewed by arts journalist Patrick Pacheco. Admission is free, but seats will be on a first-come-first-seated basis.

Salon/Sanctuary Concerts presents Exodus: Dreams of the Promised Land in Antebellum America featuring The Western Wind Vocal Ensemble with guest actors Rosalyn Coleman Williams and Jennifer Rau. The Script and Stage Direction is by Erica Gould and Jessica Gould did the program concept and dramaturgy.

REG E. CATHEY (House of Cards, The Wire) joins the cast of EXODUS: DREAMS OF THE PROMISED LAND IN ANTEBELLUM AMERICA, playing multiple roles including Solomon Northrup (Twelve Years a Slave) and the Abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The cast also includes ROSALYN COLEMAN WILLIAMS (The Mountaintop, Seven Guitars, The Piano Lesson) in multiple roles including Elizabeth Keckley (familiar to audiences from the movie Lincoln), JENNIFER RAU as Abolitionist Angelina Grimke, and the noted vocal ensemble THE WESTERN WIND. Conceived by Salon/Sanctuary's Founding Artistic Director Jessica Gould to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, EXODUS was originally presented last year in a sold-out performance staged at the historic Fraunces Tavern, the oldest structure in Manhattan.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, will present its popular First Look Festival, a series of one-night only staged readings, this year focusing on the remarkable work of playwright Caryl Churchill, whose plays have provoked, captivated and astounded audiences since she burst onto the scene in the late 1960s.

This year, the Garden State Film Festival (GSFF) celebrates its Twelfth Anniversary with a historic move to Atlantic City from Asbury Park. The festival, founded in 2003, runs now through April 6, 2014 in various locales in Atlantic City with financial, marketing and logistical support from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.

Rubicon Theatre continues the company's 16th Not Your Typical Season with a special run of Love, Loss, and What I Wore -- a witty and wise celebration of womanhood adapted by Nora and Delia Ephron, creators of such hits as 'When Harry Met Sally,' 'Sleepless in Seattle,' 'You've Got Mail,' 'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' and 'Silkwood.'

This year, the Garden State Film Festival (GSFF) celebrates its Twelfth Anniversary with a historic move to Atlantic City from Asbury Park. The festival, founded in 2003, runs from April 3-6, 2014 in various locales in Atlantic City with financial, marketing and logistical support from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.

Urban Stages Frances Hill, Founding Artistic Director and producer Peter Napolitano, announced the final week of the World Premiere engagement of Character Man. Jim Brochu's new musical memoir at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street). This limited run will continue through April 6th only. Robert Bartley directs, with musical direction by Carl Haan. The Final Post-Show Talk will take place on Wednesday, April 2nd with Special Guest Karen Mason (Mamma Mia, Sunset Boulevard, Hairspray), moderated by Peter Filichia.

Broadway Records is getting ready to release Jarrod Spector's 'A Little Help From My Friends: Live At 54 BELOW' digitally and on CD on March 25th, 2014, and the album will be available in advance to those attending Jarrod's upcoming 54 BELOW concerts on March 23rd and 24th. Spector will be signing CDs at these 54 BELOW performances as well as at his engagement on March 31st at 54 BELOW, so be sure to come see him live!

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, will present its 2014 Annual Gala, MUSICAL MASTERWORKS, Monday evening, May 12 at the Hudson Theatre at the Millennium Broadway Hotel (145 West 44th Street). Tony Award-winner and CSC Associate Director John Doyle will helm an evening of memorable numbers from iconic American musicals-a rich and vital heritage that CSC has begun to explore with last season's critically-acclaimed production of Passion and the upcoming production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Allegro.

Sharon Bush, Philanthropist & Founder/Chief Executive Officer of Teddy Share, Arianna Huffington, Chair, President & Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, and Joan Vail Thorne, playwright and director, were Women's Project Theater's 2014 Women of Achievement, who were inducted at its 29th Annual Gala Celebration at the Mandarin Oriental, 80 Columbus Circle, on Monday, March 10. Veanne Cox and Doug Wamble lead a musical tribute to lyricist Dorothy Fields. Also on hand throughout the evening were presenters David Hyde Pierce and Stanley Zareff. Check out a look back below!

REG E. CATHEY (House of Cards, The Wire) joins the cast of EXODUS: DREAMS OF THE PROMISED LAND IN ANTEBELLUM AMERICA, playing multiple roles including Solomon Northrup (Twelve Years a Slave) and the Abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The cast also includes ROSALYN COLEMAN WILLIAMS (The Mountaintop, Seven Guitars, The Piano Lesson) in multiple roles including Elizabeth Keckley (familiar to audiences from the movie Lincoln), JENNIFER RAU as Abolitionist Angelina Grimke, and the noted vocal ensemble THE WESTERN WIND. Conceived by Salon/Sanctuary's Founding Artistic Director Jessica Gould to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, EXODUS was originally presented last year in a sold-out performance staged at the historic Fraunces Tavern, the oldest structure in Manhattan.

Gerard Alessandrini's Forbidden Broadway returned to New York in February at the newly refurbished Davenport Theatre (354 W. 45th Street, Between 8th and 9th Avenues) with Forbidden Broadway: Alive and STILL Kicking. As BroadwayWorld previously reported, over the course of the spring, Alessandrini had planned on adding new material to reflect the season's openings. Now, the time as come to unveil the new edition, FORBIDDEN BROADWAY COMES OUT SWINGING! According to The New York Times, this version will begin performances March 17.

The Old Globe today announced it will present two Shakespeare-themed events. On Monday, April 28 at 7:00 p.m., Tony Award winner Roger Rees will return to the Globe for a one-night-only engagement of What You Will, his hysterical (and somewhat historical) 90-minute gallop through the world of Shakespeare. On Saturday, May 3 at 11:00 a.m., Old Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein will offer an encore of Thinking Shakespeare Live!, his 90-minute exploration of the language of Shakespeare. This fast-paced, funny, and altogether fascinating program based on Edelstein's book, Thinking Shakespeare: A How-To Guide for Student Actors, Directors, and Anyone Else Who Wants to Feel More Comfortable with the Bard, reveals a performer's approach to Shakespearean language so audiences may easily understand the poetry of the Bard.

Fire Island Dance Festival, the most anticipated event of the season on Fire Island, returns July 18-20, 2014, for its stunning 20th anniversary edition, featuring some of the most exciting and talked-about dance companies in the industry. The festival, produced by and benefiting Dancers Responding to AIDS, is performed outdoors against the dazzling backdrop of the Great South Bay.

PIPPIN star Patina Miller is headed to the small screen. Deadline reports that the Tony-winning Broadway actress has joined the cast of CBS's drama pilot MADAM SECRETARY.

Salon/Sanctuary Concerts presents Exodus: Dreams of the Promised Land in Antebellum America featuring The Western Wind Vocal Ensemble with guest actors Rosalyn Coleman Williams and Jennifer Rau. The Script and Stage Direction is by Erica Gould and Jessica Gould did the program concept and dramaturgy.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, today announced plans for its 2014/2015 Season. The upcoming season for the esteemed off-Broadway company begins in October with Rodgers & Hammerstein's ALLEGRO, directed by Tony Award-winner and CSC Associate Director John Doyle. ALLEGRO marks the second installment of CSC's Musical Theater Initiative, which launched last year with the company's hugely-successful production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Passion, directed by Doyle. Considered one of Richard Rodgers' and Oscar Hammerstein II's most personal and groundbreaking works, ALLEGRO was their third collaboration and first premiered on Broadway in 1947.

This week, two-time Tony and Emmy Award winner Bebe Neuwirth will play her final eight performances as Matron 'Mama' Morton in Broadway's record-breaking smash-hit musical Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre (219 W. 49th St.) Neuwirth, who won a 1997 Tony Award for her acclaimed portrayal of jazz-age killer Velma Kelly and returned ten years later as merry murderess Roxie Hart, concludes her history-making eight-week engagement as Matron 'Mama' Morton -- her third starring role in the production's 18-year run -- on Sunday, March 9. Beginning Monday, March 10, one of the Chicago family's most celebrated performers, stage and screen veteran Roz Ryan, returns to the role of Matron 'Mama' Morton.