Chita Rivera News

The Ogunquit Playhouse, America's Foremost Summer Theatre, is pleased to present the first installment of a new post-show discussion series featuring the dynamic creators of Billy Elliot the Musical following the Saturday matinee on June 28 at 6PM. The one-hour discussion from the stage, moderated by Associate Producer Jayme McDaniel, will shine the spotlight on director BT McNicholl and choreographer Adam Pelty.

Echoes of Etta, the award-winning Etta James Tribute, celebrates America's birthday weekend on July 3rd, 9:30pm at Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street). Echoes of Etta was the winner of the 2014 MAC Award for Show of the Year.

Last night, the legendary CHITA RIVERA wowed the packed Marriot Marquis ballroom for the 45th Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction Gala. She was greeted with cheers and a standing ovation as she sang a medley from WEST SIDE STORY, which included 'A Boy Like That' and the show-stopping 'America', in a program designed to mix past and future sounds.

Peninsula Players Theatre, America's Oldest Professional Resident Summer Theater and Door County's theatrical icon, opens its 79th season June 17 with the world premiere comedy "The Tin Woman" by Sean Grennan. The Players premiered another of Grennan' s comedies "Making God Laugh" in 2011.

Virginia's Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre closes out its 2013/2014 season with the world premiere musical Cloak and Dagger, directed by Signature Theatre's Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer (Broadway's Follies, Million Dollar Quartet). From Helen Hayes Award Winner Ed Dixon (Signature's Sunset Boulevard) comes this screwball musical comedy send-up of the 1950s film noir.

Tony Award-winners Chita Rivera and Karen Ziemba, Norman Norman Jewison, Academy Award-winning director of the 1971 film version of Fiddler on the Roof (Irving Thalberg Award Recipient), and Ambassador Ido Aharoni, Counsul General of Israel, were just some of the stars who took part in Raising the Roof, an all-star benefit concert celebrating the 100th anniversary of The National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene, the 50th Anniversary of iconic American musical, Fiddler on the Roof, and the 90th birthday of its Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning lyricist, Sheldon Harnick, last night, June 9 at New York's The Town Hall (123 West 43rd Street). BroadwayWorld brings you photo coverage from the special night below!

There may not have been 76 trombones, but Florence Henderson and Constantine Maroulis did excellent impersonations of librarian Marian Paroo and Harold Hill of 'The Music Man' fame, as they lead a 28 piece marching Broadway band into the Skirball Cultural Center in the new Guerin Pavilion/Herscher Hall to begin an evening of co-hosting for the Actors Fund's 18th Annual Tony Awards® Party. Check out the photos below!

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: It's the day after the Tonys, and we're feeling it -- but it was worth it! There's still TONS of new content coming your way from Sunday evening's festivities. Plus, get your tickets to THE LAST SHIP, and celebrate FIDDLER, Lerner & Loewe, drag queens and more!

Broadway legend, Barbara Cook, will be honored with The Julie Harris Award for Artistic Achievement at The Actors Fund's 18th Annual Tony Awards Viewing Party on June 8th, 2014.

The Ogunquit Playhouse, America's Foremost Summer Theatre, will be one of the first regional theatres in the U.S. to produce the Tony Award winning Billy Elliot the Musical on stage June 25 to July 26. Billy Elliot tells the story of a young boy who discovers his true passion lies in ballet class and not in the boxing ring, and then finds the strength to defy the convention of his small UK mining town to make his dream come true. The Ogunquit production features a cast of Broadway veterans, including Anastasia Barzee, Armond Shultz and Tony Award nominee Joel Blum.

Today in 1975, Chicago opened at the 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rogers Theatre), where it ran for 936 performances. Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago, with music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the 'celebrity criminal'. The original cast starred Chita Rivera as Velma Kelly, Gwen Verdon as Roxie Hart, Jerry Orbach as Billy Flynn and Barney Martin as Amos Hart.

Just last night, award-winning cabaret performer Jamie deRoy celebrated Broadway with a roster of Tony Award winners on her Multi MAC award-winning Variety Show, Jamie deRoy & friends, at New York's wonderfully-appointed cabaret The Metropolitan Room (34 West 22nd Street ~ btw. 5th & 6th Avenues).

Today we continue the 2014 edition of our annual BroadwayWorld feature series spotlighting the very best Tony Awards-related moments of all time with a special focus on one of the biggest battles for Best Musical with A CHORUS LINE versus CHICAGO.

Ahrens and Flaherty's 'Nice Fighting You: A 30th Anniversary Celebration Live At 54 BELOW' will be released today, June 3rd, 2014.

Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced additional casting on both the Main Stage and Nikos Stage as well as special events for the 2014 Season. On the Main Stage: Diana DiMarzio, Rick Holmes, and Timothy Shew join the WTF Resident Company, appearing in both June Moon and The Visit.

Tony Award-winners Chita Rivera and Karen Ziemba, Norman Norman Jewison, Academy Award-winning director of the 1971 film version of Fiddler on the Roof (Irving Thalberg Award Recipient), and Ambassador Ido Aharoni, Counsul General of Israel, have joined the lineup of Raising the Roof, an all-star benefit concert celebrating the 100th anniversary of The National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene, the 50th Anniversary of iconic American musical, Fiddler on the Roof, and the 90th birthday of its Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning lyricist, Sheldon Harnick, on Monday, June 9, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. at New York's The Town Hall (123 West 43rd Street).

Laguna Playhouse will present the return of Rita Rudner who will be performing her award-winning solo comedy, AN EVENING WITH RITA RUDNER and her new dress, for two performances only, today, May 31 and Sunday, June 1 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

The Burt Reynolds Institute for Film and Theatre (BRIFT) will offer a six week Cabaret Camp beginning June 17 and continuing through July 29. Cabaret Camp, which will be taught by well-known Broadway star and cabaret singer Avery Sommers, will be held at the Lake Park Mirror Ballroom.

Cleveland Play House enthusiastically welcomes dance legend Maurice Hines to Cleveland in the toe-tapping extravaganza, Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life. Co-produced with Alliance Theatre and Arena Stage, CPH audiences will be dazzled by this infectious production, which brings the history of American tap to life. Directed by Tony-nominee Jeff Calhoun (Newsies) and featuring contemporary tap icons The Manzari Brothers and music from the all-female big band The Diva Orchestra, Tappin' Thru Life will dance its way onto PlayhouseSquare's Allen Theatre stage for an extended run from today, May 30 - June 29. Special gratitude is given to CPH's generous sponsor, Zinner & Co.

No rural area has as many summer stages as the Berkshires of Massachusetts whose offerings overflow its borders.