Ethel Merman News

Al Hirschfeld gets a tome of his own!

After kicking off her world tour in Seoul just a over a week ago, followed by a total of four shows in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo, Idina Menzel held Sunday her one-night-only performance in Manila capping the Asian stretch of her 53-city concert performances.

Patti LuPone just did a Q&A with Time Out New York, in which she talked about playing a community theatre diva in SHOWS FOR DAYS at Lincoln Center and more. BroadwayWorld can't get enough of this Broadway legend and her insights on the industry. Below, we've rounded up 10 of the most shocking and surprising things we learned from today's interview!

Rehearsals began June 2nd for the all-new production of RUTHLESS! The Musical. Broadway lovers (and haters) rejoice, because the funniest and bloodiest musical about what it takes to make a child a star is returning to Off-Broadway! RUTHLESS! is set to begin performances June 25th at St. Luke's Theatre in the heart of the Theater District, with the official Opening Night on Monday, July 13th. Book and lyrics are by Joel Paley and music byMarvin Laird. Joel Paley also directed the original production of RUTHLESS! as well as productions in L.A., South Beach and the record-breaking concert event starring Bernadette Peters. He will once again serve as director of the new production, with Marvin Laird on board as musical supervisor as well.

It's early June in Memphis, but, with the recent success of Playhouse on the Square's KISS ME, KATE and, now, Theatre Memphis' sparkling production of ANYTHING GOES, we seem to be having, as my late grandmother might say, 'another 'cole' snap' - Cole Porter, that is. Who would not welcome the giddy book by the great P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton, with a reworking by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse? And who has not delighted to such songs as 'You're the Top,' 'I Get a Kick Out of You,' 'Blow, Gabriel, Blow,' 'It's De-Lovely,' and, of course, the title tune?

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for June 15 - June 21, featuring "Four Generations of Miles,' with Jimmy Cobb, Mike Stern, Buster Williams, Sonny Fortune; Erich Bergen; Merman's Apprentice featuring Richard Kind, Klea Blackhurst and Anita Gillette; and more!

New York's funniest show Celebrity Autobiography has shows on Sat. 6/6 at 9:30pm and Mon. June 8 at 7pm. 6/6, a special Tony Awards-themed show will feature in the cast SNL's Sasheer Zamata, Tony Award-winner Roger Bart (You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, The Producers), Tony Award-nominee Mario Cantone (Laugh Whore, Assassins, Sex and the City), Tony Award-nominee David Harbour, Elayne Boosler, Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel and more tba. 6/8 will feature in the cast Brooke Shields, Ramona Singer (The Real Housewives of NYC), Tate Donovan (Broadway in Amy's View, Good People, TV's 24, Damages), Lucy DeVito, Elayne Boosler, Tony Award-winner Alan Zweibel (Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me), Tim Kazurinsky (SNL, Police Academy, Broadway's An Act of God), Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel and more tba. Tickets are $80, $60, $45 (plus a two-drink minimum).

Rehearsals are set to begin today for the all-new production of RUTHLESS! The Musical. Broadway lovers (and haters) rejoice, because the funniest and bloodiest musical about what it takes to make a child a star is returning to Off-Broadway in just a few short weeks! Tina Denmark is a pretty, charming and diabolical eight-year-old girl who 'was born to entertain.' With the encouragement of slick and overbearing potential agent Sylvia St. Croix, Tina will do anything to play the lead in her school play, and we mean anything. The question is, where does such remarkable talent and unstoppable ambition come from? The answer may shock you when you see this award-winning Stage Mother of all musicals.

92Y announces the lineup for Lyrics & Lyricists 2016, the 46th season of the country's preeminent American Songbook series.

Australia's Acoustic Voice, the only acoustic theater company in the world,  announced today the North American premiere of Call Me Miss Birds Eye: A Celebration of Ethel Merman, in its pre-Broadway run at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater, July 8 through July 19, 2015.

Beloved theatre standards, tap-dancing sailors, chorines in sequins, a farcically silly plot; what more could you want from a Cole Porter musical? After winning three Tony Awards in 2012, including Best Revival of a Musical, the National Tour of ANYTHING GOES ends its delightfully giddy run at Orlando's Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts this week, concluding on Sunday, May 31st. This non-Equity tour boasts Kathleen Marshall's direction and choreography, the latter of which earned her a third Tony. A joyful celebration of old-fashioned musical theatre, the delightful cast will leave you with a smile on your face, but this ANYTHING GOES lacks the sharpness and playfulness to make you fall out of your seat laughing and/or cheering, which most certainly can happen when this classic is at its best.

Al Hirschfeld immortalized celebrities, politicians, Broadway productions, films, television shows and beyond with his iconic linear drawings for nine decades, establishing himself as one of the most important contemporary portrait artists. Over a decade since the legendary artist drew his final line drawing, he continues to inspire. This spring, Hirschfeld will be celebrated with the publication of a new book and a major exhibition at the New-York Historical Society.

Today in 1959, Gypsy opened at the Broadway Theatre, where it ran for 702 performances. Gypsy is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. It follows the dreams and efforts of Rose to raise two daughters to perform onstage and casts an affectionate eye on the hardships of show business life. The musical contains many songs that became popular standards, including 'Small World,' 'Everything's Coming up Roses', 'Some People', 'Let Me Entertain You', and 'Rose's Turn'.

Tina Denmark is back! The diabolical tot who will do anything to be a star, the gal who sets things spinning in RUTHLESS! The Musical, originally staged in New York 22 years ago, winning both the Drama Desk (Best Lyrics) and Outer Critics Circle Award (Best Musical). But make no mistake - this is not your mother's RUTHLESS! This is no mere revival, but a newly imagined meditation on narcissism, talented tykes and stage mothers in this post 'Toddlers and Tiaras' and Honey Boo Boo world!

New York's funniest show Celebrity Autobiography has added Brooke Shields, Jackie Hoffman, SNL's Sasheer Zamata and a show on June 8 at 7pm at The Triad (Stage 72 -- 158 West 72nd Street) following its scheduled shows on 6/1 at 7pm and 6/6 at 9:30pm which will celebrate Broadway and the upcoming Tony Awards. In June the production will also welcome familiar faces of Broadway, Film & TV  including Tony Award-winner Roger Bart (You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, The Producers), Tony Award-nominee Mario Cantone (Laugh Whore, Assassins, Sex and the City), Oscar-nominee Carol Kane (Broadway in Wicked, Harvey), Rachel Dratch (SNL), Tate Donovan (Broadway in Amy's View, Good People, TV's 24, Damages), comedy legend and Tony Award-winner Alan Zweibel (Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me),  Tim Kazurinsky (SNL, Police Academy,  Broadway's An Act of God) and Drama Desk-winners Eugene Pack & Dayle Reyfel.

Today in 1946, Annie Get Your Gun opened at the Imperial Theatre, where it ran for 1147 performances. Annie Get Your Gun is a musical with lyrics and music written by Irving Berlin and a book by Herbert Fields and his sister Dorothy Fields. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley (1860-1926), who was a sharpshooter from Ohio, and her husband, Frank Butler. Songs that became hits include 'There's No Business Like Show Business', 'Doin' What Comes Natur'lly', 'You Can't Get a Man with a Gun', 'They Say It's Wonderful', and 'Anything You Can Do.'

The Broadway at Birdland Concert Series is proud to announce that Stephen Cole and David Evans musical fable, Merman's Apprentice, will appear at the historic Birdland stage One Night Only, Monday, June 15 at 7pm. Directed by Igor Goldin (Yank) the cast features (in alphabetical order) P.J. Benjamin, Klea Blackhurst, Anita Gillette, Richard Kind, and Elizabeth Teeter supported by a six-piece band with orchestrations by Lynn Shankel.

New York's funniest show Celebrity Autobiography is celebrating Broadway and the upcoming Tony Awards with two performances on Monday, June 1 at 7pm and Saturday, June 6 at 9:30pm at The Triad (Stage 72 -- 158 West 72nd Street).

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.