Christine Ebersole News

Award-winning singer Natalie Douglas has performed several dozen concerts on the Birdland stage over the past ten years. Each time, she packs the room with an ever-growing fan base eager to cheer her inimitable voice, exquisitely-produced shows and passion-filled, hilarious conversation. This past Monday was no exception when Natalie, musical director Mark Hartman and their band of Broadway All-Stars brought 'The Birthday Show' to the historic music room. Scroll down for photos from the concert!

Rehearsals are underway for Christopher Durang's 2013 Tony Award-winning comedy, 'Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,' directed by Tony Award and Emmy Award-winner David Hyde Pierce, based on the Broadway direction of Nicholas Martin. 'Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike' will be presented at the Mark Taper Forum, January 29 through March 9, 2014. The opening is scheduled for February 9. Check out a first look at the cast in rehearsals below!

City Theatre has announced The Skivvies, a City Events special presentation featuring the musical duo's signature undie rock and comedy pop. The Skivvies will perform in City Theatre's Hamburg Studio for four shows, one weekend only, February 13-15, 2014.

Razor & Tie Music Publishing and Ghostlight/Sh-K-Boom Records have created a joint venture to sign and nurture the talents of a new generation of theatrical composers and writers. The venture's first signing is New York City based songwriter and artist Shaina Taub, who straddles the world of theater music and contemporary pop performance. The venture is an extension into the publishing arena of the successful longstanding distribution and marketing relationship between Razor & Tie and Ghostlight/Sh-K-Boom Records.

The original cast recording of Murder for Two, the hit new musical comedy starring Jeff Blumenkrantz and Brett Ryback, will be released digitally today, January 14, 2014 by Ghostlight Records.

The original cast recording of MURDER FOR TWO, the hit new musical comedy starring Jeff Blumenkrantz and Brett Ryback, with book and music by Joe Kinosian and book and lyrics by Kellen Blair, will be released digitally on Tuesday, January 14, 2014 by Ghostlight Records. To celebrate, the cast and creative team of MURDER FOR TWO are throwing an album release party immediately following the 7pm performance on Monday, January 13, 2014 at New World Stages.

Bay Area Cabaret presents the one and only Broadway legend Chita Rivera in a unique solo concert event celebrating her 80th Birthday: CHITA: A LEGENDARY CELEBRATION. The nine-time Tony nominee, two-time Tony Award winner (Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Rink) and first Hispanic woman ever to receive the Kennedy Center Honor, will share perspectives and recreate signature moments from her legendary career.

Tennessee Repertory Theatre will present its first-ever musical REPaloud staged reading with the Tony-winning Grey Gardens. The REPaloud for Grey Gardens will take place on January 17 - 18 at 7:00 pm at Nashville Children's Theatre (25 Middleton Street).

The Broadway at Birdland concert series presented acclaimed singers Jenna Esposito and Jim Van Slyke in a sold-out celebration of the music of Connie Francis and Neil Sedaka in "Where The Hits Are: A Tribute to the Songs of Connie Francis and Neil Sedaka" on Monday, December 30. Fortune Esposito was musical director/guitarist, with David Crone on piano, Rob Broelmann on bass, Dan Weiner on drums, Frank Petrocelli on sax, and Kelly Esposito-Broelmann & Rob Langeder were on backup vocals. Check out a look back below!

New York City night club and cabaret venue Feinstein's at Loews Regency closed almost a year ago on December 31, 2012, and according to the New York Times, music legend Michael Feinstein is currently working on opening a new venue. Feinstein has teamed with Birdland owner Gianni Valenti to open 'Feinstein's on Broadway' in midtown Manhattan.

'A Swinging Birdland Christmas' opened with a bang on December 21! For the fourth year in a row, Jim Caruso, Billy Stritch, Klea Blackhurst, and the band (Steve Doyle on bass and Carmen Intorre on drums) kick of Christmas week with their swinging holiday standards, and a few pieces of special material that are impossible to define! Opening night saw Broadway folk like Christine Ebersole, Colleen Zenk, Daniel Rowan and Andrea Prestonario leading the applause. Check out a look back below!

Tickets are now on sale for the fourth annual 'A Swinging Birdland Christmas' celebration at Birdland Jazz Club. To celebrate the holidays, Birdland regulars Klea Blackhurst, Jim Caruso and Billy Stritch will perform swinging arrangements of beloved seasonal specials like 'Christmas Waltz,' Kay Thompson's 'Holiday Season,' 'Sleigh Ride,' and 'I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm' among other favorites. The singers will be joined by Steve Doyle on bass and Carmen Intorre on drums.

'Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike' by Christopher Durang will play Center Theatre Group's Mark Taper Forum, directed by David Hyde Pierce, based on the Broadway direction of Nicholas Martin, beginning January 29, 2014, with an opening slated for February 9. The production will play through March 9, 2014.

On Sunday, December 15, the Broadway at Birdland concert series presented multi-Grammy and Tony nominated composer Frank Wildhorn in his "2nd Annual Frank & Friends Holiday Concert." Joining Wildhorn onstage were Broadway performers Jeremy Jordan, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Laura Osnes, Christiane Noll, Michael Lanning, Teal Wicks and award-winning jazz vocalist Jane Monheit. Check out a look back below!

The world's tastiest new musical will have its premiere this winter in NYC. The Chocolate Show!, arriving just in time for Valentine's Day, will begin performances on Saturday, February 1 with an official opening night set for Friday, February 14 at the 47th Street Theatre, 304 West 47th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. Featuring book and music by Alan Golub & Laura Goldfader, lyrics by Mr. Golub, The Chocolate Show! is directed by Dan Foster, choreographed by Grady McLeod Bowman and under the music direction of Jeffrey Klitz, who also provided the musical arrangements and orchestrations. Tickets for The Chocolate Show! are $39.50 - $59.50 and can be arranged online at www.ticketcentral.com or by calling 212.279.4200 or at the TicketCentral Box Office located at 416 West 42nd Street. The 47th Street Theatre box office (304 West 47th Street) will open one hour before each performance.

Jim Caruso & Billy Stritch return to Bemelmans at The Carlyle Hotel this month with their evening of swinging standards. The two performers, who have performed extensively on their own, gained national exposure together as the host and musical director of the wildly popular open mic, Cast Party, which celebrates talent every Monday at Birdland in NYC, and tours nationally. During their November run at Bemelmans, the duo received critical acclaim, and made news when rock legend Bono joined them in an impromptu performance. Check out more photos from their concert below!

The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra will perform its annual 'Holiday Pops' concert tonight, December 13-15 (Today and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.) at historic Music Hall under the direction of 'Mr. Christmas,' Pops Conductor John Morris Russell. Multiplatinum-selling vocalist and Broadway veteran Ann Hampton Callaway returns to the Pops as guest artist, performing traditional holiday favorites and up-and-coming classics such as 'My Favorites Things,' 'I Wonder as I Wander,' and 'Somewhere in my Memory' (from John Williams' Home Alone). The rich Pops orchestration, along with the May Festival Youth Chorus, Winton Woods High School Varsity Ensemble and the ever-popular cloggers from the Studio for Dance of Cincinnati, give life to these and other familiar tunes in this highly-entertaining family tradition.

Artistic Director Jim Johnson provides a well-directed production of the classic women's ensemble play

The League of Professional Theatre Women with the generous support of the Betty R. and Ralph Sheffer Foundation is pleased to present Award-Winning actress MERCEDES RUEHL interviewed by Andrea Chapin for the next Oral History, on Monday, January 13, 2014 at 6:00 pm at the Bruno Walter Auditorium of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts on 65th Street & Amsterdam Avenue.

The original cast recording of MURDER FOR TWO, the hit new musical comedy starring Jeff Blumenkrantz and Brett Ryback, will be released digitally on Tuesday, January 14, 2014 by Ghostlight Records. Produced by Joel Moss and executive produced by Kurt Deutsch, the album will be available in stores and everywhere music is sold on Tuesday, February 11, 2014. The physical CD features complete lyrics, never-before-seen photos, a show synopsis by creators Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair and an essay by Oscar and Grammy Award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz. Admission to the album release party is exclusive to ticket holders of the Monday, January 13, 2014performance of Murder For Two. Sign up to pre-order the original cast recording at www.sh-k-boom.com/murderfortwo.html.