Cy Coleman News

Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport, announces an all-star cast of award-winning actors for the circus-themed musical BARNUM, opening on Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m. and running through June 16, 2013. The cast is led by Chicago native and Broadway, TV, and film actor Gene Weygandt as legendary showman P.T. Barnum, with Cory Goodrich as his wife Charity, and Summer Naomi Smart as the 'Swedish Nightingale' Jenny Lind. The Mercury's production is the first major Chicago revival of the show in over 20 years, led by multiple Jeff Award winners L. Walter Stearns (Director) Eugene Dizon (Musical Director), Brenda Didier and Andrew Waters (Co-Choreographers) and Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi of the Actor's Gymnasium (Circus Director).

It's April 1st. Do you know when your Spring is coming? During another longggggg New York winter, the good news is that there were a ton of warming cabaret shows. The bad news is that there were so many, even during this seemingly endless winter our intrepid reviewer Stephen Hanks didn't have enough time to review them all right after the performances. So in what is becoming a seasonal ritual, here he offers yet another compilation of 13 'catch-up' cabaret show reviews.

At 6:30pm, on Monday, April 8th producer Marty Richards' feast of friends and loved ones will gather in celebration of his extremely accomplished life at The Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street) where they will be served a magnificent four-course dinner and be entertained by a star-studded retrospective of show-stopping numbers from Mr. Richards' acclaimed Broadway musicals including Chicago, On The Twentieth Century, The Life, Grand Hotel, Sweeney Todd, La Cage Aux Folles, Sweet Smell Of Success, The Will Rogers Follies and Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life.

Want to run away and join the circus? Now is your chance! Barnum arrives at the Lake Worth Playhouse April 11th - 28th. Directed by actor and former drama teacher Hal Johnstone, Barnum is a musical based on the life of showman P. T. Barnum, the Prince of Humbug! The production combines elements of musical theater with the spectacle of a circus.

Now in its 15th season, Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook celebrates the best in American singing and songwriting with a new chapter in the Songbook story: 'American Songbook in the Penthouse,' a series of weekend-only performances by performers and composers presented in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, an intimate yet elegant venue that brings artists closer to the audience in a cabaret-style setting. 'American Songbook in the Penthouse' embraces adventuresome performers and celebrates composers and lyricists, both newer and veteran. With a seating capacity of just 225, the Kaplan Penthouse allows acoustic performers to be heard the way they intend - near to the audience and without elaborate amplification. The size of the space also allows performers to interact with their audience to make them an integral part of their performance, something difficult to do in a larger, more formal venue.

Talented triple threat of stage and screen Lucie Arnaz brings her critically acclaimed cabaret 'An Afternoon with Lucie Arnaz' to Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston on Sunday, April 21 at 3 p.m. In an exclusive Boston area engagement, the famed daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz sings, shares stories, and demonstrates the musical savvy and comic pizzazz that have established her as a star in her own right for the past 45 years.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'Catch Me' a 'Big Fish' in the Loop, 'Barnum' and 'Sweet Charity' keep Coleman in the spotlight, 'The Pajama Game' up north, 'Oliver! out west, two from Theo Ubique and more!

It has long been buzzed about that Broadway favorite Kristin Chenoweth will return to Broadway next in an upcoming revival of ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. Unfortunately, projected opening dates have not yet been announced, but Chenoweth revealed in a recent interview with the Village Voice that they are 'literally hammering out the dates right now..'

Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport, presents circus-themed musical BARNUM, previewing tonight, March 27, opening on Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m., and running through June 16, 2013. The cast is led by Chicago native and Broadway, TV, and film actor Gene Weygandt as legendary showman P.T. Barnum.

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director), Barry Grove (Executive Producer), and Mandy Greenfield (Artistic Producer) have just announced full casting for the upcoming world premiere of Tarell Alvin McCraney's CHOIR BOY, the new play featuring gospel music directed by Trip Cullman.

Today we are talking to the king of the modern musical and the most successful theatrical producer in history - the man behind the original productions of countless iconic musicals, among them: LES MISERABLES, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, CATS, MISS SAIGON, STARLIGHT EXPRESS and MARY POPPINS - the one and only Cameron Mackintosh. Looking back at many of his most remarkable musicals to date and also some of his lesser-known success d'estime projects - such as THE FIX - Mackintosh reveals his dedication and passion for the performing arts and discusses many aspects of his legendary shows and displays the characteristic charm and insight that has gotten him to his enviable position over his forty years producing for Broadway, the West End and around the world. Most importantly, Mackintosh and I analyze the mega-successful feature film adaptation of LES MISERABLES, directed by Tom Hooper, and Mackintosh relates many fascinating insights as to the musical's original genesis and the journey of the film from page to stage to screen - such as working with original composer/lyricist team Claude-Michel Schoenberg, Alain Boublil and Herbert Kretzmer on creating new musical material explicitly for the movie, as well as the audition and casting process for the central characters. Looking ahead, Mackintosh shares thoughts on potential MISS SAIGON and OLIVER feature film adaptations in the future and gamely speculates on casting for each, while also giving us the scoop on a new stage production of BARNUM he is producing, set to star Christopher Fitzgerald, and the exciting enhancements being made to the well-regarded musical for this new revised and reconceived production. All of that, Mackintosh's thoughts on the enduring legacy of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and the recent Royal Albert Hall 25th Anniversary Celebration and Broadway anniversary, as well as comments on the new touring productions of LES MISERABLES and PHANTOM coming later this year and next year, as well as the major 2014 LES MISERABLES and MISS SAIGON revivals set for the main-stage of the West End and Broadway - and much, much more!

The Mercury Theatre of Chicago's new production of 'Barnum,' the musical inspired by the life of the world's greatest showman, is packed with every trick in the book. There are high-flying aerial stunts, stilt-walking, juggling and unicycling. And the central character is even proficient at sleight of hand-thanks to the help of a friendly Necromancer.

Audiences will not want to miss this one-woman theatre extravaganza from legendary Broadway star, Donna McKechnie. Centenary Stage Company will welcome this true triple threat performer to present her one woman cabaret show, My Musical Comedy Life tonight, March 16th at 8 p.m.

Wednesday night was the second of Marilyn Maye's first 54 Below run (which will continue until March 16) and she sashayed around the stage in front of an almost full house like a woman of 35. Like most of her shows, Maye's performance was a 'live' cabaret Master Class for budding cabaret performers and seasoned professionals alike, and this 'Maye-den Voyage' never went adrift (thanks in part to solid and unobtrusive support from Tedd Frith on piano, Tom Hubbard on bass, and Jim Eklof on drums).

The Brown Paper Box Co. presents CHARACTER BREAKDOWN: A Miscast Cabaret on Saturday, March 23 at 8pm. This one-night cabaret will feature appearances from The Brown Paper Box Co. artistic associates and former cast members performing as characters they would never play due to age, gender, voice type, race, etc. CHARACTER BREAKDOWN will be presented at Davenport's Piano Bar & Cabaret, 1383 N. Milwaukee Avenue.

Writers' Theatre Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma and Artistic Director Michael Halberstam announce the two-week extension of Writers' Theatre production of Sweet Charity, book by Neil Simon with music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, directed by Artistic Director Michael Halberstam with musical direction by Doug Peck and choreography by Jessica Redish. The production now runs through April 14, 2013, at Writers' Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe, IL.