Bob Avian News

Maine State Music Theatre opens its 54th season with the Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon A CHORUS LINE. Starting the season off with a high kick, A CHORUS LINE opens at the Pickard Theater tonight, June 6th and runs until June 23rd. Tickets are available online at www.msmt.org, over the phone at (207) 725- 8769, or by visiting the box office located in the Pickard Theater lobby at 1 Bath Road in Brunswick, Maine. Ticket prices range from $36 to $59.

Maine State Music Theatre opens its 54th season with the Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon A CHORUS LINE. Starting the season off with a high kick, A CHORUS LINE opens at the Pickard Theater on Wednesday, June 6th and runs until June 23rd. Tickets are available online at www.msmt.org, over the phone at (207) 725- 8769, or by visiting the box office located in the Pickard Theater lobby at 1 Bath Road in Brunswick, Maine. Ticket prices range from $36 to $59.

Continuing our extensive countdown considering many of Broadway's best clips as represented on Tony Awards telecasts recent and distant, today we look to the third and final clip from a Michael Bennett musical on our countdown - and, many would argue, the creme de la creme of them all - the only; the one; A CHORUS LINE. A 5, 6, 7, 8...

Maine State Music Theatre opens its 54th season with the Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon A CHORUS LINE. Starting the season off with a high kick, A CHORUS LINE opens at the Pickard Theater on Wednesday, June 6th and runs until June 23rd. Tickets are available online at www.msmt.org, over the phone at (207) 725- 8769, or by visiting the box office located in the Pickard Theater lobby at 1 Bath Road in Brunswick, Maine. Ticket prices range from $36 to $59.

Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston has announced the full cast of A Chorus Line, the landmark Tony Award-winning musical which opens the company's 44th consecutive summer season. Starring Golden Globe nominee Lorenzo Lamas (The Bold and the Beautiful, Air America, Renegade, Falcon Crest) as Zach, A Chorus Line runs June 15-24 in the Robinson Theatre, 617 Lexington Street, Waltham.

Berkshire Theatre Group today announced its acting ensemble for the Summer of 2012 with a mixture of Berkshire Theatre Group alumni, newcomers, up and coming talent and seasoned professionals.

Berkshire Theatre Group and Artistic Director/CEO, Kate Maguire have just announced programming for Summer 2012. BTG's Summer of 2012 boasts a full assortment of theatrical productions, concerts, comedy, Friday Series play readings, Musical Mondays, Made in the Berkshires and more.

30 years ago today, Dreamgirls premiered on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre. The production was directed by Michael Bennett, produced by Bennett, Bob Avian, Geffen Records, and The Shubert Organization, and choreographed by Bennett and Michael Peters. It starred Sheryl Lee Ralph as Deena Jones, Jennifer Holliday as Effie White, Loretta Devine as Lorrell Robinson, Ben Harney as Curtis Taylor, Jr., Cleavant Derricks as James 'Thunder' Early, and Obba Babatundé as C. C. White. Dreamgirls proved to be a star-making vehicle for several of its performers, particularly Holliday, whose performance as Effie received significant praise.

Today we are talking to a Broadway stalwart with a string of hit shows on his resume - CATS, A CHORUS LINE, JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, THE WHO'S TOMMY, CHICAGO and more included - as well as hit solo albums of his own, such as his new release CHANGE BEGINS WITH ME; the one and only Matt Zarley. He also shares all about the shoot for the three music videos for the songs on his new dance album - "WTF" and "Forgive Me" included. Additionally, he shares his thoughts on Broadway now versus when he started out in the late-80s, Gillian Lynne versus Michael Bennett, as well as opinions on GLEE, his own favorite shows and scores, co-stars' careers and much, much more!

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!

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Interim Executive Director Joey Parnes) announced today that it will host a memorial to honor the memory of famed costume designer and friend Theoni V. Aldredge. The legendary designer, who passed away on January 21, 2011, will be remembered in a memorial on Monday, May 9 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at The Public Theater. The memorial will be in the Newman Theater and is free and open to the general public

A CHORUS LINE closes at NJPAC Sunday, May 1 at 2 p.m.

That 'one, singular sensation' - A CHORUS LINE - which wowed audiences and raked in awards with its 1975 premiere and reclaimed its place in Broadway's heart with a new production in 2006, comes to NJPAC's Prudential Hall from April 26th to May 1st.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Interim Executive Director Joey Parnes) announced today that it will host a memorial to honor the memory of famed costume designer and friend Theoni V. Aldredge. The legendary designer, who passed away on January 21, 2011, will be remembered in a memorial on Monday, May 9 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at The Public Theater. The memorial will be in the Newman Theater and is free and open to the general public

On this very day in 1943, Michael DiFiglia was born in Buffalo, New York, and the world of Broadway would simply never be the same. Cutting his teeth with the accomplished choreography for A JOYFUL NOISE, PROMISES, PROMISES, SEESAW and COCO was merely the beginning of a career that would virtually rewrite and revolutionize the ways and means by which a director could yield ultimate control over a project. With COMPANY and FOLLIES, the later co-directing with Hal Prince, Bennett solidified himself as one of the most talented and brilliant choreographers of his generation and, shortly thereafter, proved with A CHORUS LINE that he was a master theatrical engineer with few, if any, peers. Worldwide success, Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize were just the gravy. Who else but Michael Bennett would then, or ever, receive - or should I say, earn - the credit "Entire Production Conceived, Produced and Directed by," besides him? While BALLROOM failed to live up to A CHORUS LINE in mostly every way, he soon after reinvented the wheel yet again with DREAMGIRLS in 1981. We never got to see his productions of CHESS and SCANDAL, both of which he was in the latter stages of developing at the time of his death in 1988. Broadway has never been the same since he's been gone. So, today, on the day following a glittering new production of COMPANY at Lincoln Center - with the complete dance sequence "Tick Tock" fully restored, now with five dancers - we take a tip of the top hat to the tops in taps, temerity and truthfulness onstage - the one and only Michael Bennett.

The new production of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical A CHORUS LINE comes to Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth for a limited eight-performance engagement March 29 through April 3.

The new production of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical A CHORUS LINE comes to Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth for a limited eight-performance engagement March 29 through April 3.

That 'one, singular sensation' - A CHORUS LINE - which wowed audiences and raked in awards with its 1975 premiere and reclaimed its place in Broadway's heart with a new production in 2006, comes to NJPAC's Prudential Hall from April 26th to May 1st.

The new production of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical A CHORUS LINE comes to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta and will close on Sunday, March 20, 2011.

The new production of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical A CHORUS LINE comes to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta on Thursday, March 17, 2011 through Sunday, March 20, 2011. Tickets are on sale now at the Cobb Energy Centre's Bank of North Georgia Box Office, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, all Ticketmaster outlets, online at ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000. Group orders for 10 or more may be placed by calling 770-509-2301.