Ethel Merman News

The Town Hall's Seventh Annual Broadway Cabaret Festival continues with Elaine Stritch at The Town Hall on Saturday, October 22nd at 8pm and A Tribute to Judy Garland and The Art of American Dance on Friday, October 28th at 8pm. The festival is created, written and hosted by Scott Siegel and is presented in a new format of three consecutive weeks. (Broadway Originals! took place on Sunday, October 16th).

With one of the most refreshingly unique career trajectories in recent show business history, the quirky late-80s/early-90s film star known for her outlandish John Waters comedies - HAIRSPRAY, CRY-BABY and SERIAL MOM included - parlayed her big screen success to a decade-long running eponymous talk-show in the 90s and early 00s that is still talked about to this day - look no further than Nicki Minaj's verse on the remix of Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me" for proof - and, now, with news of the 2012 syndicated return of a new iteration of her show, a new memoir, as well as her current compelling casting on the new season of DANCING WITH THE STARS, Ricki Lake has clearly reached a new career high. Imparting her contagious energy and enthusiasm and amply displaying why she is the foremost queen of gab, Lake generously shares her thoughts on a range of topics - Broadway, Hollywood, GLEE, Sondheim, BOOK OF MORMON and much more included - and reveals details about her many upcoming projects and passion, as well as her ongoing star turn on TV's hottest reality competition, DANCING WITH THE STARS. While in rehearsal on Friday night, talking to me from the backstage costume fitting for DANCING/STARS - tutu included - and on the road back to her LA home - before attending Chaz Bono's party later that evening - Lake and I cover it all and she shows why she has been a TV fixture in millions of homes for twenty years and most likely will continue to be so for the next twenty or more - if we are lucky, that is. Plus, she also happens to be a big BroadwayWorld fan, to boot! Who could ask for anything more?

They say timing is everything. Well, with the success of AMC's 'Mad Men' and the pending release of the retro series for ABC entitled, 'Pan Am' as well as NBC's recently announced 'Playboy Club', it seems like the perfect time for the woman who opened for Sinatra and headlined at each and every one of the Playboy Clubs, Barbara Van Orden, to re-emerge, like Dolly Gallagher Levi in Jerry Herman's hit 'Hello Dolly!', in the public eye.

Amas Musical Theatre presented yet another marvelous event at The Players Theater as part of its Six O'Clock Musical Theatre Lab: a staged reading of The Countess of Storyville.

The Town Hall's Seventh Annual Broadway Cabaret Festival continues with Elaine Stritch at The Town Hall on Saturday, October 22nd at 8pm and A Tribute to Judy Garland and The Art of American Dance on Friday, October 28th at 8pm. The festival is created, written and hosted by Scott Siegel and is presented in a new format of three consecutive weeks. (Broadway Originals! took place on Sunday, October 16th).

Annie Get Your Gun closes October 16.

Auditions are being held for singers who move well for Pittsburgh CLO's Ruthless! The Musical at the CLO Cabaret.

Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff/Artistic Producer) announced the next in its ongoing series 'The Amas Musical Theatre Song Salon', with Special Guest Klea Blackhurst.

A recap of the third episode of the final season of the long running ABC Dramedy.

Fresh off the 2nd National Tour of Wicked as Elphaba, powerhouse vocalist Vicki Noon returns to Village Theatre in the title role of the winter production of Annie Get Your Gun under the direction of artistic director, Steve Tomkins. Noon is joined by a cast of local favorites including Dane Stokinger (Village Theatre: Stunt Girl; The Full Monty) as Frank Butler and Hugh Hastings (Village Theatre: Stunt Girl; Little Women) as Buffalo Bill.

Auditions are being held for singers who move well for Pittsburgh CLO's Ruthless! The Musical at the CLO Cabaret.

The Drama Desk Award-winning Celebrity Autobiography returns to the Triad Theater for a new season with a new edition, Celebrity Autobiography: The Next Chapter, beginning Monday, October 3. Celebrity Autobiography: The Next Chapter will play five performances throughout October-Monday, October 3 at 7pm; Monday, October 10 at 7pm; Saturday, October 15 at 7pm; Monday, October 24 at 7pm; and Monday, October 31 at 7pm-at the Triad Theater, 158 West 72 Street.

This year's New York Musical Theatre Festival will host the New York premiere of The Big Bank, a timely musical about a bank that loves to foreclose, written by Daniel and Jacob Seligmann, directed by David Glenn Armstrong.

This year's New York Musical Theatre Festival will host the New York premiere of The Big Bank, a timely musical about a bank that loves to foreclose, written by Daniel and Jacob Seligmann, directed by David Glenn Armstrong.

The Drama Desk Award-winning Celebrity Autobiography returns to the Triad Theater for a new season with a new edition, Celebrity Autobiography: The Next Chapter, beginning Monday, October 3. Celebrity Autobiography: The Next Chapter will play five performances throughout October-Monday, October 3 at 7pm; Monday, October 10 at 7pm; Saturday, October 15 at 7pm; Monday, October 24 at 7pm; and Monday, October 31 at 7pm-at the Triad Theater, 158 West 72 Street.

Theare legend Stephen Sondheim took soe time out of his busy musical-writing schedule back in 1968 to write a series of crossword puzzles for New York Magazine. The collection was published in 1980, but has been out of print since, making it difficult for theatre lovers to track them down. Now, according to the New York Times, a website has just shared 19 scans of real Sondheim puzzles!

McCarter Theatre Center will open its 2011/2012 season with John Doyle's Ten Cents A Dance: The Music of Rodgers and Hart Friday, September 16 and runs through Sunday, October 9. Ten Cent A Dance is a co-production with Williamstown Theatre Festival where it recently completed a successful run. The show previews Friday, September 9 through Thursday, September 15.

Today we are talking to the new Roxie in CHICAGO on Broadway best known for her status as one of the most successful songwriters of the twenty-first century, having had hundreds of songs featured on albums by the likes of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion, Pink and many, many more - with a significant number of them topping the charts in a variety of genres from pop to rock to country and beyond. In this all-encompassing conversation, DioGuardi and I dissect her career thus far - in front of millions and behind the scenes - and she generously sheds some light on how some of her most famous songs came to be - including the modern-day Gwen Stefani classic "If I Were A Rich Girl", famously sampling a song from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Additionally, we talk about her two-year stint on AMERICAN IDOL and what working with Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul was like, as well as her opinions on Simon's new talent competition premiering later this year, THE X-FACTOR, and how she looks back on her experience doing the hit show and her own reality series, PLATINUM HIT. Additionally, we discuss DioGuardi's Broadway baby roots and her formative theatrical experiences, as well as what taking the stage at this point in her career means to her - and, all about wearing Ashlee Simpson's costume. Plus, DioGuardi's thoughts on entertainment legends ranging from CHICAGO composer John Kander to rock icon Jim Steinman to Broadway legends like Liza Minnelli, Gwen Verdon, Stephen Sondheim and many, many more. We also have news on her upcoming songs and collaborations to look out for, featuring a vast array of artists such as Jason Mraz, Bruno Mars, Jason Derulo and more - many featured through her music publishing company, Arthouse Entertainment. As if all of that weren't enough, DioGuardi also shares her affection for GLEE, Broadway song craftsmanship and gypsies!