Gwen Verdon News

Ken Bloom, author of the new book SHOW AND TELL: The New Book of Broadway Anecdotes has won a 2017 Grammy Award in the category Best Album Notes along with his collaborator Richard CarlinIt's for Harbinger's Sissle and Blake Sing HUFFLE ALONG CD. This was Bloom's second Grammy nomination. His recording of “Maxine Sullivan Sings Great Songs from the Cotton Club” was previously nominated as Best Jazz Vocal Album.

Record-breaking, six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald will return to New Orleans for Broadway @ NOCCA on March 31, 2017 as a benefit for the The NOCCA Institute.

Durban's KickstArt theatre company will present the classic musical CHICAGO by Bob Fosse, John Kander and Fred Ebb, for a limited season this April at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.

Dolly will never go away and neither will Fred C. Mann III because this gypsy has so many stories to tell Rob and Kevin! Fred pulls back the curtain on his career, including how gymnastic lessons led to Broadway, what Bob Fosse was really like behind closed doors, and why Anthony Rapp crashed on his sofa!

New Dramatists, Tony Honor recipient and the nation's premier playwright development laboratory, will honor 10-time Tony Award-winning producer Daryl Roth and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel with their 2017 Distinguished Achievement Awards at its 68th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute.

Record-breaking 6-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald is to return to London's West End in April for four concerts at Leicester Square Theatre, where she completely sold out her shows last year.

Riverside Theatre, led by Producing Artistic Director/CEO Allen D. Cornell and Managing Director/COO Jon R. Moses, present Broadway's longest-running American musical, Chicago, which performs on the Stark Stage from January 3 - 22, 2017.

Ice skating in Bryant Park. The lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. Seeing the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. The holiday windows on 5th Avenue. Fighting crowds at the airport with the promise of family on the other side of a long flight. Curling up with hot chocolate to watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for the millionth time. The rich, familiar nuttiness of egg nog.

Need some last minute gift ideas for the Broadway lover in your life? Fear not! There may be only a few short weeks left before the holidays, but we've got plenty of ideas to add to your shopping list!

Ken Bloom, author of the new book SHOW AND TELL:  The New Book of Broadway Anecdotes has been nominated for a 2017 Grammy Award in the category Best Album Notes along with his collaborator Richard Carlin. This is Bloom's second Grammy nomination. His recording of "Maxine Sullivan Sings Great Songs from the Cotton Club" was previously nominated as Best Jazz Vocal Album.

The Steps Beyond Foundation, Steps on Broadway's non-profit arm committed to connecting artists and the community through dialogue, performance, and artistic collaboration, will present a benefit performance of "Call Fosse at the Minskoff" on December 3 at 8:00pm. The one-woman play, written and performed by Mimi Quillin, will be for one night only in the Steps Studio Theater.

Riverside Theatre, led by Producing Artistic Director/CEO Allen D. Cornell and Managing Director/COO Jon R. Moses, present Broadway's longest-running American musical, Chicago, which performs on the Stark Stage from January 3 - 22, 2017.

The Fred Ebb Foundation has announced that its 2016 donation to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS will total $1.675 million dollars, bringing the foundation's total contribution to BC/EFA to $13.325 million since it began 12 years ago. The foundation, which is funded by royalties from the late award-winning lyricist Fred Ebb's vast catalogue of work, makes an annual donation to BC/EFA.

The Fred Ebb Foundation (Mitchell S. Bernard, Trustee) in association with the Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) will present the twelfth annual Fred Ebb Award for aspiring musical theatre songwriters to Thomas Mizer and Curtis Moore, tonight from 6-8pm at a by-invitation-only ceremony in the Penthouse Lounge of The American Airlines Theater. The award, named in honor of the late award-winning lyricist Fred Ebb, will be presented by Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley.

Ever since it opened in 1966 as the Broadway production that made the Palace Theatre go legit, the final scene of Neil Simon (book), Dorothy Fields (lyrics) and Cy Coleman's (music) hyper-swinging Sweet Charity has been a trouble spot.

The Steps Beyond Foundation, Steps on Broadway's non-profit arm committed to connecting artists and the community through dialogue, performance, and artistic collaboration, will present a benefit performance of "Call Fosse at the Minskoff" on December 3 at 8:00pm. The one-woman play, written and performed by Mimi Quillin, will be for one night only in the Steps Studio Theater.

MainStage Irving-Las Colinas opens its 2016-17 Razzle Dazzle season with the #1 longest-running American musical in Broadway history, CHICAGO. The production opens November 4 and runs through the 19 at the Irving Arts Center's Dupree Theater (3333 N. MacArthur Blvd., Irving, TX 75062). All evening performances are at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. Single tickets range from $21-31 and go on sale October 1 at the Irving Arts Center Box Office (972.252.2787/ www.irvingartscenter.com). Ticket discounts are available for seniors and students. 

The Fred Ebb Foundation in association with the Roundabout Theatre Company will present the twelfth annual Fred Ebb Award for aspiring musical theatre songwriters to Thomas Mizer and Curtis Moore. 

MainStage Irving-Las Colinas opens its 2016-17 Razzle Dazzle season with the #1 longest-running American musical in Broadway history, CHICAGO. The production opens November 4 and runs through the 19 at the Irving Arts Center's Dupree Theater (3333 N. MacArthur Blvd., Irving, TX 75062). All evening performances are at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. Single tickets range from$21-31 and go on sale October 1 at the Irving Arts Center Box Office (972.252.2787/ www.irvingartscenter.com). Ticket discounts are available for seniors and students.

One of the neat things about writing a column for Broadway World is that you get a chance to interview some folks whose work you've been enjoying and admiring for many years. One of today's subjects first came on my radar way back in 1980 with the Broadway revival of West Side Story. Debbie Allen played Anita in that production and her Her performance deservedly garnered her a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award. A few years later she wowed me again playing the lead role in Sweet Charity, which resulted in yet another Tony Award nomination.