Bob Merrill News

Urban Stages Founding Artistic Director Frances Hill and producer Peter Napolitano present the World Premiere of Character Man as part of its 30th Anniversary season. Jim Brochu's new musical memoir opens Off-Broadway at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street) Wednesday March 5th. This limited run, in previews now, will continue through March 30th only. Robert Bartley directs, with musical direction by Carl Haan. Character Man will have scenic & video design by Patrick Brennan, lighting design by Meghan Santelli and sound design by Sean Hagerty.

Urban Stages Founding Artistic Director Frances Hill and producer Peter Napolitano present the World Premiere of Character Man as part of its 30th Anniversary season. Jim Brochu's new musical memoir begins an Off-Broadway run at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street) tonight, February 28th, with opening night set for Wednesday March 5th. This limited run will continue through March 30th only. Robert Bartley directs, with musical direction by Carl Haan. Character Man will have scenic & video design by Patrick Brennan, lighting design by Meghan Santelli and sound design by Sean Hagerty.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'Ring Of Fire' opens, 'Road Show' readies, 'Gypsy' and 'Chicago' thrive, 'Carnival' prepares, 'Queenie Pie' reschedules, Boho brings the Mozart, plus the new musicals 'Period Piece' and 'Shining Lives,' and more!

Light the lights! FOX's hit musical dramedy series returned after a long midseason hiatus last night - and how! To cite an especially adored and incredibly iconic Jule Styne score, GYPSY, the fights, fits, feuds and some gigantic egos were on display - and it was an episode fit for Madame Rose - but the focus was really on Styne's other iconic diva showcase, FUNNY GIRL. Let the parade begin... again!

Now in a Teen Vogue interview between Michele and her Spring Awakening co-star Jonathan Groff, Michele reveals that plans might already be in the works. She told Teen Vogue: 'I want to do movies. I have some exciting things coming up! And I would also love to go back to Broadway. Ryan Murphy just bought the rights to Funny Girl, so we're hoping to do that at some point!'

Lost Note Theater Company, dedicated to presenting concert readings of obscure and forgotten musicals, is pleased to present CARNIVAL! with music and lyrics by Bob Merrill, book by Michael Stewart, based on material by Helen Deutsch, directed by Stephen Murray and musical direction by Charlotte Rivard-Hoster. CARNIVAL! will play three performances only March 22 - March 29, 2014 at Strawdog Theatre Company's Hugen Hall, 3829 N. Broadway in Chicago. Tickets are currently on sale at brownpapertickets.com. Last season, Lost Note Theater Company, presented its hit inaugural production, I Can Get It For You Wholesale.

BroadwayWorld has just confirmed that GLEE creator Ryan Murphy is currently in talks for the stage rights to FUNNY GIRL, the musical in which Rachel Berry (played by Lea Michele) stars in, on the current fifth season of GLEE. There is no word yet on whether Michele is attached to the potential project, but here's to hoping for her Broadway return! Could life imitate art and could the show be setting up a real life sequence of events?

Urban Stages Founding Artistic Director Frances Hill and producer Peter Napolitano present the World Premiere of Character Man as part of its 30th Anniversary season. Jim Brochu's new musical memoir begins an Off-Broadway run at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street) February 28th, with opening night set for Wednesday March 5th. This limited run will continue through March 30th only. Robert Bartley directs, with musical direction by Carl Haan. Character Man will have scenic & video design by Patrick Brennan, lighting design by Meghan Santelli and sound design by Sean Hagerty.

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) just announced its 2014 season, which will launch on April 5 at 8pm with Unsung Carolyn Leigh, a special evening produced forLincoln Center's American Songbook at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse. Starring Obie Award winner Donna Bullock (Ragtime, A Class Act), Rachel de Benedet(Catch Me if You Can), Drew Gehling (Jersey Boys, On a Clear Day), Autumn Hurlbert (Legally Blonde), Drama Desk nominee Jenny Powers (Donnybrook!,Happiness), Megan Sikora (Curtains) and Max von Essen (Evita), the concert, showcasing songs by the Tony- and Grammy-nominated lyricist of Peter Pan and Little Me, is created and directed by Ben West (The Fig Leaves Are Falling, At Home Abroad, Make Mine Manhattan). Tickets, priced $30-$50, are now on sale.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'Annie Get Your Gun' from LOW, '42nd Street' at the Paramount, the Mercury Theatre's season announcement, 'Dolly' and 'Young Frankenstein' in Oakbrook, a 'Carnival' in concert, a recap of the BIC spring tours and more!

NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF SONG continues its new series NYFOS AFTER HOURS with “A GOYISHE CHRISTMAS TO YOU!” Yuletide Classics by Jewish Songwriters.

Lost Note Theater Company, dedicated to presenting concert readings of obscure and forgotten musicals, is pleased to present CARNIVAL! with music and lyrics by Bob Merrill, book by Michael Stewart, based on material by Helen Deutsch, directed by Stephen Murray and musical direction by Charlotte Rivard-Hoster. CARNIVAL! will play three performances only March 22 - March 29, 2014 at Strawdog Theatre Company's Hugen Hall, 3829 N. Broadway in Chicago. Tickets are currently on sale at brownpapertickets.com. Last season, Lost Note Theater Company, presented its hit inaugural production, I Can Get It For You Wholesale.

On Sunday, December 1 Kritzerland Records presented its 40th show and annual Christmas presentation entitled A Kritzerland Christmas III at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal with special guest star Terri White. It was a beautiful evening of mostly familiar Christmas music with a few lesser known but still great tunes. This is the whole point of Kritzerland to spotlight those songs that somehow got away without becoming hits. On hand as well as dynamic Terri White were songsters Dan Callaway, Robert Yacko, Ashley Fox Linton, Lisa Livesay, Jenna Lea Rosen, Sarah Staitman, Kelsey Scott and nine year-old Hadley Belle Miller, under the super musical direction of Richard Allan.

NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF SONG continues its new series NYFOS AFTER HOURS with “A GOYISHE CHRISTMAS TO YOU!” Yuletide Classics by Jewish Songwriters.

A parental advisory warning preceded this week's GLEE and it went the distance in justifying it via spicy and sexy takes on twerking, 'Blurred Lines' and other pop culture quirks - tattoos included. But, as always, GLEE puts the 'werk' in twerk.

Woo-Hoo! Thanks to OC's 3-D Theatricals, Southern California wasn't deprived of a revival of FUNNY GIRL after all. And, gosh, to top it off, they've even managed to find a Fanny Brice audiences can genuinely admire: Broadway and MAD TV alum Nicole Parker. This admirable new production of the classic Jule Styne/Bob Merrill musical plays the Plummer Auditorium through September 22 then moves to the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center for performances on September 27-29.

Toronto, you are in for a treat. The iconic musical FUNNY GIRL will be brought to life for 'One Night Only' this coming Monday night September 30th.Toronto's own Gabi Epstein stars as Fanny Brice in the role that catapulted a young actress and singer named Barbara Streisand to super-stardom nearly a half-century ago. BWW's Jeff Madden digs deep within Gabi to discover just how little separates Epstein from Brice from Streisand.

Bayou City Concert Musicals (BCCM) is kicking off their series of neglected 50s musicals with THE PAJAMA GAME, featuring Music and Lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross and a Book by George Abbott and Richard Bissell. The beloved romantic comedy is based on Richard Bissell's novel 7½ Cents. In the show, the factory workers at Sleep-Tite Pajamas are fighting for a 7½ cent per hour raise. In the midst of this, Babe Williams, the grievance committee head, and Sid, the handsome new factory superintendent, fall in love. THE PAJAMA GAME took New York City by storm when it premiered in 1954 and ran for 1,063 performances in its original run. It spawned a successful film adaption in 1957, had a failed Broadway revival in 1973, and found success again with a 2006 Broadway revival. Additionally, the BCCM production is the first professional production of the beloved musical in Houston in about 40 years.

Considered one of the premier interpreters of American standards, the two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy nominated Michael Feinstein will bring his new show, Swingin' Back Home, to Feinstein's at the Nikko for four performances only - tonight, September 11 and September 13, 14 and 15, 2013.

Gary Naylor enjoys a curious musical.