Donna Murphy News

The book launch for Nothing Like a Dame: Conversations with the Great Women of Musical Theater, a new book by Eddie Shapiro featuring interviews with 20 female musical theatre stars, will take place January 27, 2014 from 6-8 pm at the headquarters of Oxford University Press at 198 Madison Avenue.

Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre's production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Passion will feature three Jeff-Award lauded performers in its lead roles, Artistic Director Fred Anzevino has announced. The role of Fosca, the sickly woman obsessed with a handsome young soldier in 19th Century Italy, will be played by Danni Smith, who just last year was honored with the Jeff Award for Actress in a Supporting Role for her work in Bailiwick Chicago's production of the musical See What I Wanna See. Smith's win came after two previous nominations in the same category, for Theo Ubique's Pump Boys and Dinettes and Bohemian Theatre Ensemble's The Glorious Ones. Playing Giorgio, the military officer who is the object of Fosca's affections, will be Peter Oyloe, a three-time Jeff Award winner. Oyloe's recent win as best leading actor in a musical for 2013's Hank Williams: Lost Highway was preceded by wins for his leading role in Equus and supporting role in The Pillowman, both at Redtwist Theatre. Collette Todd, Jeff-nominated for her role as Giulietta in Theo Ubique's Aspects of Love and recipient of critical and audience raves for her leading roles in Light Opera Works' productions of Man of La Mancha, Oliver! and Annie Get Your Gun, will play Clara - the third member of Passion's love triangle. Ms. Todd will also understudy the role of Fosca.

The Drama League's 2013 Gala Online Auction opens today, January 13 at www.biddingforgood.com/thedramaleague, featuring over fifty once-in-a-lifetime prize packages, including exclusive celebrity experiences with Dame Angela Lansbury, Emma Thompson, Michelle Williams, opera star Bryn Terfel, guitarist Slash of Guns 'N' Roses, Norm Lewis and Cherry Jones; Broadway opening night tickets and after-parties for Casa Valentina, Violet, and All The Way; backstage visits with Marin Mazzie at Bullets Over Broadway, Jefferson Mays at A Gentleman's Guide To Love and Murder, Fran Drescher at Cinderella, and with cast members at Rocky; luxury vacations to Morocco, London, Las Vegas, West Palm Beach, and Los Angeles; and over forty additional elegant items and elegant experiences.

Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winner, Whoopi Goldberg has been tapped by The Drama League to host the 30th Annual Musical Celebration of Broadway honoring Golden Globe Nominee and Emmy Award winner Neil Patrick Harris on Monday evening, February 3, 2014 at the famed Pierre Hotel (2 East 61st Street). Tickets are available by calling (212) 244-9494.

On Twitter Watch, Donna Murphy wrote 'Once upon a time a witch needed 2 text some1 from the woods. In honor of the new year trying this twitter thing. pic.twitter.com/2JZ2X7Zb5D Murphy received the first of her two Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as 'Fosca' in Passion. Her second Tony for her portrayal of 'Anna Leonowans' in the 1996 revival of The King and I. Her Daytime Emmy Award came from her first television film, HBO's Someone Had to be Benny. This talented and respected actress has had a diverse career, making a number of appearances on both the big and small screens, working in such films as The Bourne Legacy, Tangled, World Trade Center, Spider-Man 2, The Door in the Floor, Star Trek: Insurrection, Center Stage and The Astronaut's Wife. Murphy has also appeared on television shows The Mentalist, Damages, Law & Order and The Practice.'

The Drama League has announced their Winter/Spring 2014 Programming Schedule of special performances, events and educational offerings at the new Drama League Theater Center in Tribeca, and elsewhere. Highlights include intimate evenings with Tony® Award winners Nathan Lane, Donna Murphy, Jason Robert Brown, Michael Mayer and John Patrick Shanley, plus Tony® Award Nominee Jonathan Groff.

Hotel Nikko San Francisco and Michael Feinstein will present Tony Award Nominated star of stage and screen, Anita Gillette, as she presents her new one-woman show, After All, a wonderful evening of music and memories that takes an intimate, touching, and hilarious look behind the scenes from Broadway to Hollywood on Thursday, January 30, 2014 (8 p.m.). An autobiographical work, After All takes audiences backstage with Gillette as a young showgirl starting out in the original cast of Gypsy with Ethel Merman onwards into the worlds of David Merrick and Gower Champion in Carnival through a building career that leads to a Tony nominated performance in the Neil Simon comedy Chapter Two. From major feature films playing roles such as Ms. Mona in 'Moonstruck,' co-starring in hit television shows like 'Quincy' and Game Show classics, to playing Tina Fey's mother in '30 Rock' and Annie Fitzsimmons in the multiple award winning hit 'Modern Family,' Gillette will surprise and delight in this production that is certain to entertain! Tickets for Anita Gillette range in price from $30-$40 and are available now by calling 866.663.1063 or visiting www.ticketweb.com.

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.

Bruce Vilanch, winner of 3 Emmy Awards for writing TV's Oscar telecasts, the popular center square on Hollywood Squares, and the Broadway star of Hairspray, returns for his record 5th appearance as the host of the New York NIghtlife Awards at Town Hall on Monday, January 27th, 7 PM at The Town Hall. Vilanch will be joined on stage by a cast of performers chosen as the most outstanding nightclub entertainers of the past year by the very press that covers them. As in the past, a wide array of major stars from a variety of mediums will both entertain and introduce the winners in support of New York nightlife.

Hotel Nikko San Francisco and Michael Feinstein are proud to announce the upcoming lineup at Feinstein's at the Nikko for January 2014. Artists include actor and singer Tom Wopat, star of stage and screen Cheyenne Jackson, Broadway and West End star Sierra Boggess, Emmy Award winning actor and comedian Leslie Jordan, and more! Tickets for all performances are on-sale now and available by calling 866.663.1063 or visiting www.ticketweb.com.

In Nothing Like a Dame, theater journalist Eddie Shapiro opens a box full of knowledge, through in-depth conversations with twenty leading women of Broadway. The new book will be released on Febuary 7th, 2014.

At a ceremony which took place last night (Monday 4 November 2013), playwright Lucy Kirkwood became the first UK recipient of the Berwin Lee London New York Playwrights, Inc. Award.

At a ceremony which took place last night (Monday 4 November 2013), playwright Lucy Kirkwood became the first UK recipient of the Berwin Lee London New York Playwrights, Inc. Award.

Manhattan Theatre Club and MCC Theater's world premiere of Sharr White's The Snow Geese, opened last night, October 24 at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). This strictly limited 11 week engagement began previews on Tuesday, October 1. BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was on the red carpet, where he chatted with the evening's guests, including Donna Murphy, Ron Raines, and more!

Manhattan Theatre Club and MCC Theater's world premiere of Sharr White's The Snow Geese, opened last night, October 24 at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). This strictly limited 11 week engagement began previews on Tuesday, October 1. BroadwayWorld was there for the whole night, and you can check out photos from the star-studded theatre arrivals below!

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) presents the world premiere of Fun Home, directed by Sam Gold. Featuring music by Jeanine Tesori, book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, and based on Alison Bechdel book, Fun Home will run through Sunday, November 17. The show opened last night, and BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the celebration below!

Laura Benanti - the Tony Award-winning actress and singer, also known for her TV roles on 'Go On,' 'The Playboy Club' and 'Law & Order: SVU' - will follow the recent release of her debut album, In Constant Search of the Right Kind of Attention with a slate of projects through the next year.

Last night, Wednesday, October 16, the stars came out to see Tony Award winner Joanna Gleason in her acclaimed run at 54 Below. Among her friends and colleagues in the audience were Tony Award winner Donna Murphy, Gleason's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels co-star Sherie Rene Scott, Gleason's Into the Woods co-star Chip Zien, Buyer and Cellar playwright Jonathan Tollins, husband and Nick & Nora co-star Chris Sarandon, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife star Michelle Lee, and Gleason's Into the Woods composer Stephen Sondheim.

Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini and leading Australian theatre producer John Frost today announced the principal cast for Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic Broadway musicalThe King and I.

As BroadwayWorld.com continues to celebrate the site's landmark 10th anniversary, with a variety of special features, today we're turning our spotlight on the wonderful photography of Linda Lenzi.