Chita Rivera News

William Yanesh, a Washington DC-based composer (Adventure Theatre MTC's CAPS FOR SALE), orchestrator (Shakespeare Theatre's MAN OF LA MANCHA) and musical director (Signature's THE LAST FIVE YEARS) will be honored with the Stephen Sondheim Young Artist Citation.

Lainie Kazan, award-winning movie, television and Broadway actress, is also a popular cabaret singer who will soon be starring in the much anticipated sequel My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, to be released just days before she appears live at QPAC in Lanie Kazan and Dick Capri on Sunday, April 3 at 3:00 PM.

In addition, at 2 pm on Saturday, April 16 at the Fairmont's Laurel Court Restaurant, Bay Area Cabaret will host a High Tea/High Fashion event celebrating the panache and style that defines The Puppini Sisters. Vintage attire is encouraged for this event, which will provide an opportunity to welcome the singers to town, hear them sing an a cappella number and see an array of fashions by local vintage fashion enthusiasts.  Reservations for the afternoon tea - $75 ($40 tax deductible) may be made at www.bayareacabaret.org.

 Disaster and School of Rock's choreographer Joann Hunter. Joann was born in Japan, raised in Rhode Island and has two shows opening on Broadway this season. She has worked with the icon Jerome Robbins, her Idol Susan Stroman, the legend Andrew Lloyd Webber, and now is paving the way to become a theatre titan herself.

NEW DRAMATISTS,Tony® Honor recipient and the nation's premier playwright development laboratory, will honor six-time Tony Award winning actress, Audra McDonald with their 2016 Distinguished Achievement Award at its 67th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute. The event will be held Thursday, May 12 at the New York Marriott Marquis.

Based in Los Angeles, the internationally recognized Tremaine Dance Convention and Competition celebrates 35 years of inspiring young dancers with its continuing 2015-2016 National Touracross the United States, a star-studded 35th Annual Convention Gala Event and National Finals this summer in Orlando, a new book expected in June 2016, and the upcoming Behind the Curtain documentary scheduled for completion in 2017. Led by legendary and very busy choreographer/dance educator/performer Joe Tremaine, one of the most influential dance personalities in the country today, the innovative annual convention includes master dance classes with professional teachers/choreographers and competitive opportunities in approximately 24 U.S. cities for over 50,000 dancers each year from across the United States and around the world. Tremaine is well-known in the industry for performing, choreographing, and/or teaching dance to scores of celebrities including Paula Abdul, Christina Applegate, Cher, Helen Hunt, Gene Kelly, and Diana Ross, to name just a few. For additional information, please seehttp://www.tremainedance.com.

The side-splitting parody known as FORBIDDEN BROADWAY comes to the Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside, California, for two shows only on Saturday, March 12, 2016. BWW interviews the producer, John Freedson.

?At the 20th annual Pell Awards, Trinity Repertory Company will honor local artists Len Cabral and Charlene Carpenzano with Rhode Island Pell Awards for Excellence in the Arts alongside previously announced honorees The Public Theater artistic director Oskar Eustis, Laurie Eustis and Elizabeth Chace. The awards ceremony and celebration will be held at Ochre Court on the Salve Regina University Campus in Newport, RI on May 23, 2016. Tickets and sponsorships are now available at www.trinityrep.com.

Jack F. Lee (born John Francis Lee), beloved musical director of both stage and screen, passed away peacefully on March 2, 2016 in his home at the age of 86. Mr. Lee was one of Broadway's leading conductors and musical directors who worked with composers/lyricists John Kander & Fred Ebb, Cy Coleman & Dorothy Fields, Jule Styne, Richard Rogers, Stephen Sondheim, Charles Strouse, Alan Jay Lerner, Maury Yeston, Robert Wright & George Forrest, Sandy Wilson, Bob Merrill, Betty Comden & Adolph Green and Harvey Schmidt & Tom Jones.

Paper Mill Playhouse has announced casting for its spring musical, Pump Boys and Dinettes. This Tony Award nominee features James Barry (Jim), Gabe Bowling (Jackson), Julie Foldesi (Prudie), Jason Ostrowski (L.M.), Alysha Umphress (Rhetta) and Sam Weber (Eddie).  Pump Boys and Dinettes is conceived and written by John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann. Pump Boys and Dinettes will be directed by John Foley with choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter. Pump Boys and Dinettes will run eight times a week at the Millburn, New Jersey, theater from April 6 through May 1, 2016. The official press opening night is Sunday, April 10, at 7:00pm. Paper Mill Playhouse's 2015-2016 Season is proudly sponsored by Investors Bank.

Broadway legend and two-time Tony Award winner Chita Rivera, Tony nominees Stephanie J. Block and Tony Sheldon, Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple, 'Orange is the New Black'), and Laura Michelle Kelly (Finding Neverland) are among those joining the stunning cast of this year's Broadway Backwards, a one-night-only musical celebration, custom-made for the LGBT community, our friends and families. In addition, it was announced that Tony winner Julie White, a longtime supporter of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, will host this year's 11th edition.

Tony, Grammy, and Emmy nominated singer/actress Vanessa Williams has signed on to play the lead role in VH1's upcoming scripted series inspired by Star Jones 2011 book 'Satan's Sisters: A Novel of Fiction.'

Broadway World Entertainer of the Year Karen Mason brings her critically acclaimed show Mason's Makin' Music to the Jeanne Rimsky Theater stage for one night only.  With numbers from Broadway and the Great American Songbook, Mason's Makin' Music celebrates the music of our lives, and recently had a sold-out 7 week run at the legendary NYC cabaret Don't Tell Mama.

In this episode: guest Andre Ward talks about how there is nothing 'Rotten' about joining the Renaissance, how he's roller skated for Tina Fey and with Whoopi Goldberg and done the Disco of the Ages. He also shares how continuing to find his authenticity offstage will make a healthier and longer career onstage.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: Wayne Brady honors Jon Viktor Corpuz, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Nellie McKay and more at Lincoln Center's Emerging Artist Awards!

Theatre Arts Center New York (Robert Laconi, Executive Director), New York's premiere theatrical summer training program for young artists, celebrates a major milestone:  15 years of producing and training students in acting, musical theater, and dance in New York City. 

Grammy-nominated, internationally acclaimed artist Ute Lemper's collaboration with renowned best-selling author Paulo Coelho, The 9 Secrets, is available now via Steinway & Sons. In celebration, Lemper will perform the piece in its entirety in a fully staged production at Symphony Space in New York City on May 13, tickets and information here.

Michael Weber, artistic director of Porchlight Music Theatre, has announced Porchlight Music Theatre's 2016 - 2017 mainstage season which includes In The Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda's first big hit and winner of four Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Score, September 9 - October 16, 2016; End of the Rainbow, the Chicago premiere of the Judy Garland bio musical play, a recent smash hit in London and New York, November 4 - December 4, 2016; The Scottsboro Boys, the long-awaited Chicago premiere of the final collaboration of Kander and Ebb concerning one of the most infamous events in American history, February 3 - March 12, 2017; Marry Me a Little, Jeff Award-winning Porchlight Artistic Associate Austin Cook stars in this rarely seen Stephen Sondheim production, April 14 - May 21, 2017.

One of the most respected and multi-faceted performers in the entertainment industry today, Vanessa Williams will be performing on November 25 at 8 p.m. on the Mainstage of the Union County Performing Arts Center.

As part of their 50th Anniversary Season, the critically acclaimed and award-winning Roundabout Theatre Company is proud to present, direct from Broadway, the national tour of SAM MENDES (Skyfall, American Beauty) and ROB MARSHALL's (Into the Woodsand Chicago, the films) Tony Award-winning production of CABARET, playing this weekend, February 23-28 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts as part of the Associated Bank Broadway at the Marcus Center and Broadway Across America-Milwaukee series.