Fanny Brice News

Casting has just been announced for the 13th Street Rep's forthcoming production of ASCAP Award-winning playwright/director Chip Deffaa's new show "The Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue." The show, which opens November 9th, will be the third production of Deffaa's to play this year at the 13th Street Theater (50 W. 13th Street, NYC, www.13thstreetrep.org); the others are Deffaa's "One Night with Fanny Brice" and "Theater Boys," playing in repertory at the theater this fall.

Casting has just been announced for the 13th Street Rep's forthcoming production of ASCAP Award-winning playwright/director Chip Deffaa's new show "The Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue." The show, which opens November 9th, will be the third production of Deffaa's to play this year at the 13th Street Theater.

'Hello gorgeous.' The Hillbarn Theatre in San Mateo kicked off its 2014-2015 season with the sensational Funny Girl. Based on the life of Fanny Brice, Funny Girl originally starred Barbra Streisand in the icon role of the famous vaudeville and Ziegfeld Follies legend. It was a part that catapulted her into stardom and made Streisand a household name. Hillbarn Theatre showed a lot of chutzpah in putting on a show so closely associated with a major star, but this is their 'Season of Awakening,' therefore daring, dreams and self-discovery are most definitely in the air. Debuting Executive Artistic Director Dan Demers wraps it all up with this quote from Mark Twain (by way of Demers' mother): The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why,' which certainly could be a quote about Ms. Brice.

Broadway veteran and acclaimed voice teacher Lisa Rochelle returns to the stage in a celebration of the music of Stephen Sondheim at The Schoolhouse Theater in Croton Falls, NY on September 20th at 4:00 p.m. Joining her are Broadway tenor Frank Mastrone and musical director Joshua Stephen Kartes. Saturday in September with Sondheim marks Ms. Rochelle's return to performing after spending the last 20 years devoted exclusively to her students.

Playwright Chip Deffaa says he never dreamed, when his musical play "One Night with Fanny Brice," first opened Off-Broadway at St. Luke's Theater in the 2011-2012 season, that the starring role would someday be played by a teenager. Over the past three years, stars in their 30s, 40s, and 60s have played the show, which transferred in 2013 to the 13th Street Repertory Theater. Chloe Brooks, who now stars in the show, after previously serving as an understudy, is just 17.

As previously announced, Tim Realbuto (The Emperor's Club) and Jenna Leigh Green (Wicked) have been picking a new song to sing each night during his Wunderkind tour. As an established writer with a musical of his own headed to Broadway, Realbuto has a passion for up and coming new voices to be heard.

Get ready for Hillbarn Theatre's production of Funny Girl, playing August 28 - September 21. Based on the real life story of famous Vaudeville star Fanny Bryce, Funny Girl is a Broadway classic that you're going to want to see on stage! It originally starred Barbra Streisand in both the stage and film version, garnering the actress an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Actress, among many other awards and nominations. Although the movie and musical have some major differences, the stage production is bound to bring the same laughs and chutzpa as the original. Nominated for eight Tony Awards, this is a must-see musical.

Hillbarn Theatre, the Peninsula's premier community theatre company, kicks off its 2014-15 season opener with one of Broadway's musical theatre cornerstones, Funny Girl.

Light Opera Works will present COLE PORTER'S GREATEST HITS October 3 through 12 at the Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston.

Tony Award nominee Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Avenue Q; "Scrubs"), Melissa Dye (Into the Woods; Grease), and Abigail Ludrof (The HVAC Plays; Ghostlight) will join Tim Realbuto on the first stop of his Wunderkind tour this Monday, September 1st.

Steven Carl McCasland is a rising voice in the world of theatre. After their acclaimed and sold-out production of Little Wars in April, Beautiful Soup presents the last two works in McCasland's trilogy. The plays examine the lives of historical women in the arts. Beginning on August 27th, Shades of Blue: The Decline and Fall of Lady Day and What Was Lost, an examination of Laurette Taylor's preparation for The Glass Menagerie, will open at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre. Scroll down for a first look at WHAT WAS LOST onstage!

Steven Carl McCasland is a rising voice in the world of theatre. After their acclaimed and sold-out production of Little Wars in April, Beautiful Soup presents the last two works in McCasland's trilogy. The plays examine the lives of historical women in the arts. Beginning tonight, August 27th, Shades of Blue: The Decline and Fall of Lady Day and What Was Lost, an examination of Laurette Taylor's preparation for The Glass Menagerie, will open at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre.

Casting has just been announced for the 13th Street Rep's production of ASCAP Award-winning playwright Chip Deffaa's new musical comedy 'Theater Boys.' The show, which opens September 21st, will run in repertory this fall at the 13th Street Repertory Theater (50 W. 13th Street, NYC,,www.13thstreetrep.org), along with Deffaa's musical play 'One Night with Fanny Brice' (starring Chloe Brooks), and Israel Horovotz's 'Line' (now in its 40th year at the theater), which is New York's longest-running production. A cast album for 'Theater Boys'--now in the works--will be released in October. And the Rep, according to founder/artistic director Edith O'Hara, has plans to present two additional shows by Deffaa, following 'Theater Boys.'

Casting has just been announced for the 13th Street Rep's production of ASCAP Award-winning playwright Chip Deffaa's new musical comedy 'Theater Boys.' The show, which opens September 21st, will run in repertory this Fall at the 13th Street Theater

Award-winning actor/writer Tim Realbuto, who recently had a critically acclaimed and sold-out (not-so-solo) solo show at 54 Below entitled Tim Realbuto: Alone (With Plenty of Help), will tour a new show this fall. Realbuto and his publicist Laurie Sheppard recently announced that Tim has tweaked the show and will present it as mini three-stop New York City tour under the new name Tim Realbuto: Wunderkind.

NiCori Studios and Productions in association with the Oakeside Bloomfield Cultural Center announces a new installment of the monthly concert series, Music at the Mansion, on Sunday, August 31, at 3pm. Performers include Jamie Hartmann, Celia Berk and Craig Pomranz. The featured performer in the 'Young Musician Moment' will be Talia Wynzel.

Beautiful Soup has announced that Bettina Coley will replace the previously announced Carol Sims as Billie Holiday's mother, Sadie Fagan, in SHADES OF BLUE: THE DECLINE AND FALL OF LADY DAY... The play marks Denson's Beautiful Soup debut, in which she'll appear opposite her husband Ron Denson, who plays Holiday's final husband Louis McKay.

Steven Carl McCasland is a rising voice in the world of theatre. After their acclaimed and sold-out production of Little Wars in April, Beautiful Soup presents the last two works in McCasland's trilogy. The plays examine the lives of historical women in the arts. Beginning on August 27th, Shades of Blue: The Decline and Fall of Lady Day and What Was Lost, an examination of Laurette Taylor's preparation for The Glass Menagerie, will open at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal!

Funny Girl is based on incidents in the life of Fanny Brice before and after World War One. It focuses on Fanny's attempts to become a Broadway star and the consequences this brings. A hilarious and heart-warming musical. Accompanied by a live jazz band it proves to be a musical enjoyable for all.