Bette Midler News

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, the performance venue located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. 54 Below also launches its new series of late night events this March. Joining Tuesday nights' popular "Backstage" with Susie Mosher will be the "54 Piano Bar," a new vocal competition - 'The Callback," singing sensation Marilyn Maye, performance legend Charles Busch, cabaret's own Ricky Ritzel, performance artist James Jackson, Jr. and more!

Rehearsals begin today for Bette Midler's return to Broadway in John Logan's new one-woman play I'LL EAT YOU LAST: A CHAT WITH SUE MENGERS, directed by Joe Mantello. In addition, Booth Theatre Box Office (222 West 45th Street) will begin selling tickets to the play this Friday, March 15.

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center presents Michele Balan, one of the greatest out-and-proud comedians, for two uproarious nights at the Center's Renberg Theatre. Her performances tonight, March 9-10 will be her first L.A. appearances in years, giving long-time fans and new fans alike the chance to find out why Backstage Magazine named her one of their 'Top 10 Comedians.'

Al Jarreau's unique vocal style is described as one of the world's most precious treasures. His innovative musical expressions have made him one of the most exciting and critically acclaimed performers of our time, earning him seven Grammy Awards, scores of international music awards, and popular accolades worldwide.

CenterStage has announced that legendary cabaret performer and Golden Globe Award Winner Amanda McBroom will be the final artist in the 2012-13 U.S. Trust Life is a Cabaret! Series: A Celebration of the Great American Song Book.

Lakeshore Records will release the THE CALL – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally on March 12th and in stores on April 16, 2013. John Debney (TV's Hatfields & McCoys, The Passion of the Christ) composed the original score.

Today we are talking to a veritable legend in her own time - arguably the most influential and recognizable female stand-up comedian of all time, the one and only Joan Rivers. Opening up and revealing her trademark, impossible-to-top wit all the while, Rivers and I discuss many aspects of her life and career, with a particular focus on her many current projects - most importantly, the third season of her smash hit reality series JOAN & MELISSA: JOAN KNOWS BEST? on WE TV. What will happen when Joan, Melissa and company visit Colonial Williamsburg? What illicitness will they discover on Willie Nelson's former tour bus? Will Joan get arrested for protesting her book being banned at a big retailer? Answers to these questions all will be arrived up on Saturday. In addition to all about JOAN & MELISSA Season Three and the current series-high ratings run of FASHION POLICE, Rivers and I take a look back at many of the remarkable figures she has encountered and worked with over the course of her career - among them: Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Woody Allen and many more - and she generously shares candid backstage stories and remembrances as only she can. Of paramount interest to theatre fans may be the announcement of a revival of her one-woman play SALLY MARR… AND HER ESCORTS, which she will be reviving in a special weekly pop-up theatre space on Broadway later this year. Also, as if all of that were not enough, Joan gives us the 411 on her new uncensored web series, IN BED WITH JOAN, as well as her cute new pet lover's web project, MY FAT PET. Plus, her fashion forecast for 2013 and best current trends, favorite films of awards season, thoughts on Broadway today and her picks for the best shows to see as well as much, much more awaits in this career-spanning conversation!

The Amanda McBroom Project: 1 Great Songwriter, 4 Magical Nights, 30 Incredible Women! will play the Laurie Beechman Theatre, tonight, March 8, 9, 15, and 16 at 7pm.

Jeffrey Finn, Tony Award nominated Broadway producer, was just presented The Commercial Theater Institute's Robert Whitehead Award for 'outstanding achievement in commercial theatre producing' at a reception at Sardi's Restaurant yesterday, March 6. Check out photos from the ceremony below!

Amanda McBroom has been called 'the greatest cabaret performer of her generation, an urban poet who writes like an angel and has a voice to match.' Her name first came to the attention of the music public when Bette Midler's version of Amanda's song 'The Rose' hit number one all over the world. But it was Amanda's performance of her own songs on the Golden Globes, the Grammy awards, and the Tonight Show that launched her career as a singer as well as a songwriter. Her songs have been recorded by the likes of Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, Judy Collins, Barbara Cook, Harry Belafonte, Betty Buckley, The Manhattan Transfer, and Donny Osmond.

On this week's episode of Lifetime's PROJECT RUNWAY, the design teams are tasked with designing dresses for prom out of duck tape! The episode airs Thursday, March 7th at 9 p.m. on Lifetime. Get a sneak peek below!

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College (BCBC) presents Fiddler on the Roof on Sunday, April 14, 2013 at 3pm. All tickets are $45/$36 (orchestra/mezzanine) and can be purchased by phone at 718-951-4500 (Tues-Sat, 1pm-6pm), or online at www.BrooklynCenterOnline.org.

Delaware Theatre Company has announced the cast of Daryl Roth's presentation of LOVE, LOSS, AND WHAT I WORE, coming to the DTC stage this month.

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, the performance venue located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. 54 Below also launches its new series of late night events this March. Joining Tuesday nights' popular "Backstage" with Susie Mosher will be the "54 Piano Bar," a new vocal competition - 'The Callback," and more, including Telly Award winner Jamie DeRoy & Friends, Broadway star Chester Gregory, singing sensation Marilyn Maye, Late Night at 54 Below, Tony nominee Adam Pascale, actor/screenwriter/playwright Charles Busch, Broadway's Caissie Levy, Walking the Line - Music of Johnny Cash.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College (BCBC) presents Fiddler on the Roof on Sunday, April 14, 2013 at 3pm. All tickets are $45/$36 (orchestra/mezzanine) and can be purchased by phone at 718-951-4500 (Tues-Sat, 1pm-6pm), or online at www.BrooklynCenterOnline.org.

For those who are fans of reality television - in particular 'reality competition' television - last night was a 'must see' evening in the theatre that featured finalists from three of prime time's most popular shows - American Idol, America's Got Talent and, the one I actually, personally, enjoy - The Voice. For me, this 'dose of Reality' was more than a little disappointing. Despite the high quality of the performers, it felt more like a 'high school talent show' than a professional production - and, in fact, I have seen a few high school talent shows that had a more slick and professional flair. It was weak form both a technical and directorial perspective and might as well have been produced at a county fair than in the beautiful McCallum - or, in fact, any other professional theatre. I think at a county fair I would have been more forgiving because the barre would have been set low enough that they might have had a chance of reaching it.

Tonight, March 1st 8:00PM, State Theatre, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Tickets start at $30.00 and can be purchased by visiting the State Theatre NJ Box Office, 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ or by calling the Box Office: 732-246-7469 or Online at www.statetheatrenj.org

Cabaret Icon Michael Feinstein returns to the McCallum Theatre with 'The Sinatra Project,' for two performances - tonight, March 1 and Saturday, March 2 -- dedicated to the great Frank Sinatra. Michael reflects Sinatra's sensibility by interpreting the songs in conceptually different styles from Sinatra's own renditions. The results are fascinatingly unique and memorably beautiful. Billed 'The Sinatra Project', the concert is presented in two parts on these consecutive evenings. In the second concert, Michael reinterprets songs by such greats as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peggy Lee, and more. 'The second volume is really about Sinatra and his friends,' says Michael. 'It's about the people he influenced and who influenced him.'

The Amanda McBroom Project: 1 Great Songwriter, 4 Magical Nights, 30 Incredible Women! will play the Laurie Beechman Theatre, March 8, 9, 15, and 16 at 7pm.