Cole Porter News

Westport Country Playhouse's world premiere musical revue, "Sing for Your Shakespeare," playing June 3 - 22, will feature a six-member cast of Broadway talents: Karen Akers, Britney Coleman, Darius de Haas, Stephen DeRosa, Constantine Germanacos, and Laurie Wells. With selections from Cole Porter's "Kiss Me, Kate," Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's "West Side Story," and Rodgers and Hart's "The Boys from Syracuse," as well as numbers by Duke Ellington, Frank Loesser, and others, the production explores how the American Songbook has been inspired for decades by Shakespeare's works.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), under the leadership of Julianne Boyd Artistic Director and Tristan Wilson Managing Director, announces four new Associate Artists, all of whom are working at Barrington Stage in 2014 - casting director Pat McCorkle, lighting designer Scott Pinkney, scenic designer Brian Prather, and press director Charlie Siedenburg.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has announced the third season for the 2014-2015 TRUST Cabaret Series. Enjoy the rare opportunity to experience the finest cabaret artists at the intimate Cabaret at Theater Square, 655 Penn Avenue, in downtown Pittsburgh's Cultural District. The 2014-2015 TRUST Cabaret Series will showcase performers Linda Eder, Brian D'Arcy James, Norm Lewis, Ann Hampton Callaway & Broadway Showstoppers.

The Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside, Calif., will again welcome six prominent national tours as part of the Broadway in Riverside 2014-15 Season lineup, as well as offer a season special add-on opportunity.

If you are even a semi-regular reader of this column of reviews, you know that about every three or four months, I post a compilation of observations of shows from the previous quarter of the year. This cabaret critiquing mash up happens for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I admittedly see too many cabaret shows for the amount of time I have to promptly review them (and then, of course, the usual writer's procrastination sets in). So I have to prioritize the timeliness of the reviews based on the prestige of the performer, the length of a show run, the strength (or lack thereof) of the performance, etc. The quality of the shows in these compilations—which can range from a half dozen to a dozen reviews in one shot—are usually a mixed bag of outright raves, qualified positives, and constructive pans (I'm not a fan of the word “negative” in the reviewer lexicon). With that in mind here are a collection of cabaret show reviews going back to the start of a very harsh winter.

59E59 Theaters will welcome the US premiere of PAT KIRKWOOD IS ANGRY, written by Jessica Walker, with Joseph Atkins at the piano, and directed by Lee Blakeley, with musical arrangements by James Holmes. PAT KIRKWOOD IS ANGRY begins performances on Tuesday, June 10 for a limited engagement through Sunday, June 29. Press opening is Sunday, June 15 at 7:30 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM & 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM & 7:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.

Warehouse Theatre Company will open it's 2014 season with the world premiere musical BIG VOICE: THE ETHEL MERMAN EXPERIENCE, a unique concert experience that features the music of Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Ray Henderson, Jule Styne, and George Gershwin.

Slidell Little Theatre just ended its third weekend of performances for the comedy-musical-Shakespearean hybrid KISS ME KATE. The show is a play within a play, and centers around a group of actors who are attempting to put on Shakespeare's classic comedy THE TAMING OF THE SHREW (musical style), all while dealing with their complicated love lives and a couple of gangsters sent to the theater with an order to collect or kill.

Clint Holmes brought his critically acclaimed show "This Thing Called Love" to Landmark On Main Street on May 10th. The show imagines the two songwriters, Cole Porter and Paul Simon, meeting at a bar and brings together such classics as Night & Day, The 59th Street Song, Have A Good Time and It's Alright with Me plus many more.

Artists in Partnership (AIP), a non-profit cultural arts organization, will host its 12th Annual Cabaret Festival May 15-18 at the Long Beach Public Library, 111 West Park Avenue, Long Beach, NY. All performances are FREE to the public. The festival will be a celebration of the cabaret genre honoring the Great American Songbook with performances by renowned local and New York City-based artists.

The reviews are in, and Theatre North West audiences are loving Bemused written by Peter Fenton (The Giant's Garden) & Scott White (Top Gun! The Musical). The show is so popular that an additional day of performance has been added to meet the demand.

Nancy Rhodes, artistic director of Encompass New Opera Theatre, announced today that Klea Blackburst, actress, singer and comedienne best known for her award-winning tribute to Ethel Merman, Everything The Traffic Will Allow, will be the featured performer at the Encompass Jazz Cabaret Gala in Manhattan on June 25th, 2014. The benefit will take place at 7:00 PM in a spacious penthouse with panoramic views at 66 Leonard Street.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) announces the complete cast for its production of Neil Simon's THE SUNSHINE BOYS, the second show of its three-show Summer Nutmeg Summer Series onstage June 14-29 in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theater, Storrs.

Since its highly successful Broadway debut 80 years ago, Anything Goes has been revived multiple times and now receives a world premiere symphonic version with Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) and an all-star Broadway cast, tonight, May 9 and Saturday, May 10, as part of the ISO's Printing Partners Pops Series at the Hilbert Circle Theatre.

After a sold-out engagement last September, two-time Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole (Grey Gardens, 42nd Street) returns to Feinstein's at the Nikko with her newest concert, 'Strings Attached," for two performances only - Saturday, June 14 (7 p.m.) and Sunday, June 15 (7 p.m.). Joined by The Aaron Weinstein Trio, Ebersole will celebrate the release of her recent CD, 'Strings Attached.' The evening will include classic standards from the '20s, '30s and '40s, featuring songs by such legends as Fats Waller ("Jitterbug Waltz"), Cole Porter ("Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye"), Johnny Mercer ("This Time the Dream's on Me") and George Gershwin ("Shall We Dance") to name a few. Tickets for Christine Ebersole range in price from $60 - $85 and are on-sale now and available by calling 866.663.1063 or visiting www.ticketweb.com.

The professional chorus Cantus Columbus and the talented Vega String Quartet will present the fourth in their series of collaborative concerts of show tunes from the American Song Book: Can't Help Singing: The Music of Jerome Kern, at 7:30 PM on Saturday, May 31 in the wonderful acoustics of Legacy Hall. Earlier concerts in the series presented works by Cole Porter (2007), Rodgers & Hart (2008), and George & Ira Gershwin (2010). The concert will be preceded by an optional dinner.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, has announced casting for the company's 20th Anniversary Season opener - Kiss Me, Kate, to be presented June 11 through July 12 on the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage (30 Union Street).

Cafe Carlyle welcomes back GRAMMY Award-winner Steve Tyrell for a two-week engagement, through May 17. Celebrating his 10th anniversary at the legendary venue, the singer returns with a new show, The Great American Songwriter, featuring the songs of Dorothy Fields, Oscar Hammerstein, Sammy Cahn, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter and more. Joining Tyrell on stage will be musical director Quinn Johnson (piano), David Finck (bass), Bob Mann (guitar), Kevin Winard (drums) and Jon Allen (keyboards).

DAMN YANKEES, the 1955 Broadway musical based on the Faust legend, will be staged by Light Opera Works at Cahn Auditorium in Evanston, June 7 through 15. The production features a full 28-piece orchestra accompanying such songs as 'Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets)' and 'You Gotta Have Heart.'