Elton John News

On June 17, 2012, Chris Isaacson presented the 3rd year Season Finale of Upright Cabaret's American Icon Series with VIVA LAS VEGAS - a presentation of personality and pop that honors the flashiest performers of all time: Elvis Presley, Cher & Elton John!

On Thursday, three-time Tony Award-winning Broadway composer Richard Adler passed away at the ripe old age of 90. Responsible for two of the biggest Broadway smash hits of the 1950s, THE PAJAMA GAME and GAMN YANKEES, Adler never quite managed to equal his career-high double-hitter of that era, yet his earlier work with Tony Bennett ('Rags To Riches'), Doris Day ('Everybody Loves A Lover') and Marilyn Monroe (the iconic 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President') surely shall solidify his place in the firmament of entertainment history along with his two classic musicals from the Golden Age. Winning both Best Score and Best Musical for both THE PAJAMA GAME and DAMN YANKEES, Adler's partnership with lyricist Jerry Ross - which began on Broadway in 1953 with JOHN MURRAY ANDERSON'S ALMANAC - was tragically cut short just months after the DAMN YANKEES premiere when Ross was diagnosed with lung disease and passed away soon thereafter. Yet, thanks to the beloved film versions of THE PAJAMA GAME and DAMN YANKEES and continued interest in the entities as expressed in the revivals and reappraisals of both onstage from Broadway to Biloxi to Bombay year after year, the snappy, snazzy tunes of Adler and Ross live on eight times a week all around the world - even now, more than fifty years after they premiered. Unfortunately, Adler's subsequent shows with other collaborators post-1955 failed to capture the early magic of his previous projects with Ross and his earlier musical and theatrical endeavors in the pop arena, with the racially charged KWAMINA flopping on Broadway in 1961 (though he took home a Best Composer Tony Award for his efforts anyway) and the awkwardly titled MUSIC IS failing to recreate the magic of its source material, Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT, in 1976. A MOTER'S KISSES, starring Bea Arthur and a young Bernadette Peters, died on the road, as well. In the intervening years, Adler attempted musical adaptations taken from a number of intriguing sources - OF HUMAN BONDAGE and others among them - though only his ballet scores seemed to reach an audience; particularly his last, commissioned for a new production of Lorca's THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA in 1998. Of course, THE PAJAMA GAME has had two Broadway revivals - most recently the rapturously received Kathleen Marshall-directed production starring Harry Connick, Jr. and Kelli O'Hara; and DAMN YANKEES famously returned to the Great White Way with much ado in 1994 starring Victor Garber. Now seems particularly ripe for remounting YANKEES, as we approach twenty years in its absence - especially given the musical's seriously smashing showing at Encores! in 2007. Who knows, perhaps some risky producer will even take a chance on a new production of KWAMINA, MUSIC IS, A MOTHER'S KISSES or one of the bottom drawer shows someday soon to see if they possess any of the limitless potential shown by Adler's earlier work. Or maybe a stage treatment of his TV musical GIFT OF THE MAGI (originally composed for then-wife Sally Ann Howes)? Or, better yet, how about a revue? What a stupendous songstack Adler created over the course of his career - 'Whatever Lola Wants' to 'Hey There' to 'Hernando's Hideaway' to 'You Gotta Have Heart' to 'Steam Heat' to the aforementioned Bennett, Day and Monroe standards and so many more chestnuts.

William Schermerhorn has won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Original Song that was perfomed in 85th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC, called (Won't You) Join Our Parade. The Emmy award winning song (Won't You) Join Our Parade was performed by Stage Door Manor and written by composer, Doug Katsaros and lyricist, William Schermerhorn.

Easton's State Theatre has announced its 2012-13 season- on sale to State Theatre Members Wed, August 1 (Box Office window at 453 Northampton Street opens at 6 AM; Online Ticketing and Phone lines open at Noon). Tickets will go on sale to the Public August 15th at 10 AM. Limit 6 tickets per Member per performance during Members Only sales. Membership to the Non-Profit State Theatre starts at $75, lasts one year and is tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

REBECCA, the new musical based on the classic novel by Daphne du Maurier novel, has found its male and female leads: Jill Paice will play the role of "I" and Ryan Silverman the role of "Maxim de Winter." REBECCA will open on Broadway Sunday, November 18 at The Broadhurst Theatre. Previews will begin Tuesday, October 30.

On June 22 and 23, Broadway favorite Sherie Rene Scott will boldly step off the Broadway stage and into your heart for a rare, intimate appearance at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. This brand new show of eclectic music and musings will feature songs by David Byrne, Harold Arlen, Toots and the Maytals, Jason Robert Brown and Yusef (the guy formerly known as Cat Stevens).

Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Working Title Films, Old Vic Productions and NETworks Presentations, LLC bring the multi-award-winning Billy Elliot the Musical to the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center from today, June 19 to June 24. Based on the international smash-hit film and featuring music by Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, choreography by Peter Darling and direction by Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot the Musical has earned critical acclaim around the world and was the winner of ten 2009 Tony Awards including Best Musical.

Mandy Patinkin will narrate PBS's AMERICAN MASTERS JOFFREY BALLET on Friday December 28th at 9pm. The special will cover the story of the first quintessentially American dance company founded by Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, who pioneered a new dance philosophy.

More than 25 years ago, retired music executive Joe Smith accomplished a Herculean feat-he got more than 200 celebrated singers, musicians and industry icons to talk about their lives, music, experiences and contemporaries. The Library of Congress announced today that Smith has donated this treasure trove of unedited sound recordings to the nation's library. The list of noted artists and executives is a veritable who's who in the music industry. They include Artie Shaw, Woody Herman, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Barbra Streisand, Little Richard, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Elton John, Paul Simon, David Bowie, Billy Joel, Sting, Tony Bennett, Joan Baez, James Taylor, Dick Clark, Tina Turner, Tom Jones, B. B. King, Quincy Jones, David Geffen, Mickey Hart, Harry Belafonte and many others. All types of popular music are represented-from rock 'n' roll, jazz, rhythm & blues and pop to big-band, heavy metal, folk and country-western.

Today we are talking to a supremely gifted performer who can be seen eight times a week on Broadway in the currently running Des McAnuff revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, Jeremy Kushnier. Tracing his Broadway trajectory from his memorable debut in FOOTLOOSE back in the late 1990s to his impressive regional theatre and concert work - CHESS to The Dream Engine to BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY and beyond - to his success touring in AIDA, RENT and others, up to his most recent gig in JERSEY BOYS, Kushnier opens up about his diverse career thus far and what we can expect from him in the future, near and far. Plus, Kushnier analyzes the five roles he has essayed in the current production of SUPERSTAR so far, since he was first brought into the production as a standby and understudy, after all - Jesus, Judas, Pilate and two different priests - and shares his enthusiasm for the dazzling, Tony Award-nominated production - all of this as he prepares for his long-awaited upcoming solo spotlight concert at Birdland on June 18! Additionally, Kushnier shares plans and wishes for a forthcoming solo album, as well as offers his thoughts on GLEE, SMASH and much, much more!

Billy Elliot, the entertaining and heartfelt musical currently playing at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, will win you over with heart.

If the California desert wasn't hot enough this time of year, Grammy Award winning singer k.d. lang & the Siss Boom Bang promise to 'heat up the summer night' when they bring their eclectic, signature musical style to The McCallum Theatre on Tuesday, June 26 at 8:00 pm as part of the Fitz's Jazz Cafe Series. Lang launched her career 25 years ago with a blend of country-rock and a playfully punk-like attitude. With her 1992 Platinum-selling Ingenue, she had fashioned a unique sound and an elegant and impassioned adult contemporary approach that yielded her a Grammy Award, her second, and her biggest career hit, 'Constant Craving.'

The Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza Foundation and Chris Isaacson Presents concludes their smash season in Upright Cabaret's American Icon Series with VIVA LAS VEGAS tonight, June 15, 2012 at 8:00pm at the new Cabaret Lounge in the Scherr Forum Theatre.

Heather Headley will soon star as Rachel Marron in the upcoming West End production of THE BODYGUARD, but until then she is Singing alongside Andrea Bocelli, whose tour is currently in Denmark. Check out the hilarious Headley in sound check for the performance below!

Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Working Title Films Old Vic Productions and NETworks Presentations, LLC bring the multiBawardBwinning Billy Elliot the Musical to Milwaukee from July 17-22. Based on the international smashBhit film and featuring music by Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, choreography by Peter Darling and direction by Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot the Musical has earned critical acclaim around the world and was the winner of ten 2009 Tony Awards including Best Musical.

Fuse, the national music television network of The Madison Square Garden Company, announced that pop vocal sensations, The Wanted, would return to the U.S. for a special performance at the Beacon Theatre tonight, June 14th at 8 pm ET. For fans who can't make the show, Fuse is bringing The Wanted live and in HD to TV screens across the nation. "Fuse Presents: The Wanted Live from the Beacon Theatre" will feature songs from the band's US self-titled debut EP, including the hit singles "Glad You Came" and "Chasing the Sun."

"Stand By Me," the song written by Leiber & Stoller and Ben E. King will receive the Towering Song Award at the 2012 Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) Gala Event to be held at the Marriott Marquee Hotel in New York City tonight, June 14, 2012, Songwriters Hall of Fame Chairman, Jimmy Webb, announced. Mike Stoller will accept the award along with Ben E. King, who will also be honored with the Towering Performance Award for his performance on the Leiber & Stoller produced recording of "Stand By Me."

This past Sunday Toronto was treated to a special outdoor concert by Rufus Wainwright, the man Elton John once called 'the greatest songwriter on the planet'. The concert was part of Luminato, and included the debut of 12 tracks from his upcoming album 'Out of the Game.' BWW was on hand to get photos from the gorgeous evening.