Elton John News

Following its commercial and critical success across North America, the Estate of Michael Jackson and Cirque du Soleil will present Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour™ at New York's Madison Square Garden beginning Tuesday, April 3 through Thursday, April 5, 2012.

PNC Broadway Across America - Pittsburgh, presented by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh Symphony and Broadway Across America, proudly announces the 2011/2012 season. PNC Broadway Across America - Pittsburgh, one of the city's premier entertainment series, is sponsored by The PNC Foundation. This season presents an exceptional array of live entertainment on the Cultural District's world-class stages.

The Estate of Michael Jackson and Cirque du Soleil announced today the official international launch of Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour™ written and directed by Jamie King, the leading concert director in pop music today.

Anoushka Shankar, who learned at the knee of her sitar maestro father, Ravi Shankar, will cross the 1,000-year-old bridge between Indian classical and Spanish flamenco roots on her U.S. "Traveller" tour, stopping at Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, April 10, at 7:30 p.m.

Signature Theatre today announced that Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang will be the Residency One Playwright for the 2012-2013 season at the company's new home, The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between Dyer and 10th Avenues).

The Broadway production of END OF THE RAINBOW will open tonight, April 2, at the Belasco Theatre. Michael Cumpsty, Tom Pelphrey and Jay Russell join two-time Oliver Award-winner Tracie Bennett in Peter Quilter's acclaimed play about the legendary Judy Garland, directed by the Tony Award winning Terry Johnson.

Broadway in Indianapolis announces its 2012-13 season. The season will leap into play with the 2009 Tony Award-winning Best Musical BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL, an inspirational story, with music by Elton John, of one boy's journey to make his dreams come true. Two other new titles join the series: SISTER ACT, a comedy with glorious music and even greater heart, and Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT, which has boldly taken the American musical where it's never gone before. JERSEY BOYS will be making its way back to Indianapolis after an engagement in June of 2010, telling the tale of The Four Seasons' road to stardom. Finally, this series will conclude with WEST SIDE STORY, the story of forbidden love with the legendary score by Bernstein and Sondheim.

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts continues its 31st season with a night of dance hits on Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 8pm. One of dance music's biggest stars for over three decades, GRAMMY Award winner GLORIA GAYNOR will perform with a full band. Her 1979 #1 hit, the greatest disco anthem of all time, "I Will Survive," is her signature song of inspiration that has touched the hearts of people all over the world. The song was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame at this year's ceremony in February. Urban and dance music phenomenon COLONEL ABRAMS will perform his biggest hits, including "Trapped," "I'm Not Gonna Let You" and "How Soon We Forget." Also performing will be THE HIT MEN, a group of six guys who made, played, sang and recorded the hits of the '60s, '70s and '80s. This group features original recording and performing members of such iconic bands as Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons and Tommy James and The Shondells and the original recording artists of such historic megahits as "Oh What a Night (Dec. '63)," "Sherry," "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown" and 'Who Loves You."

Geva Theatre Center's Artistic Director Mark Cuddy and Executive Director Tom Parrish today announced the much anticipated 2012-2013 season of seven Wilson Mainstage productions and six Fielding Nextstage presentations that make up the organization's 40th Anniversary Season of producing professional theatre for audiences in the Greater Rochester region.

On Saturday, March 31, 2012, producer Ken Davenport (Godspell) will present a private industry reading of the new musical SOMEWHERE IN TIME, based on the 1980 Universal Motion Picture of the same name by Richard Matheson.

The first ever, full-length Broadway Las Vegas season at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts features eight of Broadway's biggest hits, beginning with the world-wide phenomenon WICKED. Other titles in the season include THE ADDAMS FAMILY, BILLY ELLIOT, WEST SIDE STORY, SHREK THE MUSICAL, Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, ANYTHING GOES and CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. Broadway Las Vegas at The Smith Center will also feature two season specials, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES and Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT.

The national tour of BILLY ELLIOT will play San Antonio's Majestic Theatre from March 28th through April 8th.

The 2009 Tony Award-winning best musical Billy Elliot electrifies San Antonio March 28-April 8 at the Majestic Theatre.

"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 on Thursday, June 14, 2012, Songwriters Hall of Fame Chairman, Jimmy Webb, announced today. 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."

On Saturday, March 31, 2012, producer Ken Davenport (Godspell) will present a private industry reading of the new musical SOMEWHERE IN TIME, based on the 1980 Universal Motion Picture of the same name by Richard Matheson.

According to the star's official web site, Nederlander Presentations, Inc. will announce that Grammy® Nominee and R&B superstar Deborah Cox will star as Lucy in the international musical sensation JEKYLL & HYDE that returns to Broadway in April 2013 following a 25-week National Tour. The tour will launch at San Diego's Civic Theatre in San Diego, California on October 2, 2012. Cox will star alongside the previously announced Tony Award Nominee Constantine Maroulis in the title dual role of Dr. Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde.

Disney Theatrical Productions and Fox Associates announced today that tickets for the long-awaited return engagement of DISNEY'S THE LION KING will go on sale to the public on Saturday, April 14 at 10:00am. St. Louis' most eagerly awaited return will once again leap onto the Fox Theatre stage on Wednesday, August 15 for a limited engagement of three weeks through Sunday, September 2.

D3 LED, LLC (D3), the global leader in design, engineering and technology for the LED (light emitting diode) display market, today announced its completion of the first state-of-the-art LED display marquee and digital media system in Broadway theatre history for New Amsterdam Theatre at 214 West 42nd Street in New York City.

The 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards, sponsored by Ketel One Vodka, were held on March 24, 2012 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square and Glee's Cory Monteith and Naya Rivera hosted the event.