Gwen Verdon News

New Dramatists, Tony Honor recipient and the nation's premier playwright development laboratory, just honored Tony Award winning actor and Chairman of the Board of The Actors Fund, Brian Stokes Mitchell with their 2015 Distinguished Achievement Award at its 66th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute. The event featured musical performances from some of Mitchell's most memorable shows by Tony Award winner Leslie Uggams (King Hedley II, Hallelujah Baby), Nicolette Robinson (Brooklynite, TV's 'The Affair,' 'Hart of Dixie') and Leslie Odom, Jr. (Hamilton, NBC's 'Smash'), and Tony nominated Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Avenue Q, Carnival at City Center Encores!). BroadwayWorld brings you photos from inside the event below!

NEW DRAMATISTS, Tony Honor recipient and the nation's premier playwright development laboratory, will honor Tony Award winning actor and Chairman of the Board of The Actors Fund, Brian Stokes Mitchell with their 2015 Distinguished Achievement Award at its 66th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute.

Today in 1954, Damn Yankees opened at the 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rodgers Theatre), where it ran for 1019 performances. Damn Yankees is a musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League Baseball.

Today in 2005, the second Broadway revival of Sweet Charity opened at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, where it ran for 279 performances. Sweet Charity is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and muse Gwen Verdon alongside John McMartin. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1966, where it was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, and also ran in the West End as well as having revivals and international productions. THe 2005 revival starred Christina Applegate in he title role.

NEW DRAMATISTS, Tony Honor recipient and the nation's premier playwright development laboratory, will honor Tony Award winning actor and Chairman of the Board of The Actors Fund, Brian Stokes Mitchell with their 2015 Distinguished Achievement Award at its 66th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute.

With about a zillion original musicals to their name, most of which made it to Broadway, this pair is one of the most famous Broadway songwriting teams of the modern era. Below, revisit their five longest-running Broadway musicals!

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts has announced the complete casting for its much anticipated summer production of Damn Yankees. The Ordway-produced musical comedy runs June 16-28 for a total of 16 performances. Tickets are available now and can be purchased online at www.ordway.org, by phone at 651-224-4222 or in-person at the Ordway ticket office.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is giving A CHORUS LINE some new life on its 40th anniversary.

The popular series CULTURE & COCKTAILS, hosted by the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, recently concluded its 10th anniversary season by attracting 175 song and dance fans to The Colony Hotel, Palm Beach for a Conversation with Broadway legend Tommy Tune.

The Actors Fund will celebrate Broadway's Biggest Night at the 19th Annual Tony Awards Viewing Party on Sunday, June 7, 2015 at the Skirball Cultural Center's Ahmanson Ballroom in Los Angeles.

Author's Note: The posting of this review was delayed due to family circumstances. CHICAGO! has moved on from Baltimore. It is my hope my review will be of use to audiences in other cities on CHICAGO!'s tour.

Salt Lake Acting Company (SLAC) continues its 20th season of the New Play Sounding Series (NPSS) with a free reading of William Missouri Downs' newest play HOW TO STEAL A PICASSO on Monday, February 16, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. Directed by Teresa Sanderson, the reading will feature local actors Daniel Beecher, Terence Goodman, Elise Groves, Jesse Peery, and Susan Dolan Stevens. The NPSS provides an essential testing ground where playwrights see and hear their works in progress and receive insightful feedback from the audience members during a post-play discussion.

Today we are saluting one of the most iconic leading ladies in Broadway history in honor of her recently announced return to Broadway in Kander & Ebb's THE VISIT, the one and only Chita Rivera.

Today in 1966, Sweet Charity opened at the Palace Theatre, where it ran for 608 performances. Featuring music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon, the musical was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and muse Gwen Verdon. It is based on Federico Fellini's screenplay for Nights of Cabiria. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1966, where it was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, and also ran in the West End as well as having revivals and international productions.

Seth Rudetsky's Broadway Concert Series at the Parker Playhouse produced by Mark Cortale will welcome Audra McDonald -- the historic six-time Tony winner and star of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, Porgy and Bess, Ragtime, and Master Class as well as TV's Private Practice, tonight, January 8, 2015.

Rachelle Rak has been performing at the Broadway level for the majority of her life and is one of the most resilient people in the business. With almost 30 years of experience, she has seen it all and more. But she has never backed down and never refused to stop growing as a performer. I got the chance to speak to this strong Broadway gypsy about her experiences with mentors like Ann Reinking and Gwen Verdon, her upcoming show at 54 Below, and of course her signature mantra, SAS.

Today, BroadwayWorld is thrilled to present a world premiere exclusive clip from next week's PBS special MY MUSIC PRESENTS: GREAT BROADWAY MUSICAL MOMENTS FROM THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, which is set to air on December 1.

CHICAGO on Broadway's Terrra C. MacLeod and Bianca Marroquin are back on the road as the accused celebrity killers and reluctant vaudeville partners Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart, respectively, whose combination delivers equally strong lead performances.

Paper Mill Playhouse just opened its 2014-2015 season with a Broadway-bound, world-class revival of Can-Can starring Kate Baldwin as Pistache and Jason Danieley as Aristide. This fresh new production features direction by David Lee (Frasier, Cheers) and choreography by Patti Colombo (Paper Mill's Peter Pan, On the Town, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers). The show features a book byAbe Burrows (Guys and Dolls, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) and a re-crafted script by Joel Fields (Ugly Betty, The Americans) and David Lee. The company just celebrated the success of the run in New York City and you can check out photos from the party below!

Seth Rudetsky's Broadway Concert Series at the Parker Playhouse produced by Mark Cortale will welcome Audra McDonald -- the historic six-time Tony winner and star of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, Porgy and Bess, Ragtime, and Master Class as well as TV's Private Practice, on January 8, 2015; followed by Cheyenne Jackson -- star of TV's 30 Rock and Glee and Broadway's Damn Yankees and Xanadu on February 14; and Sutton Foster -- two-time Tony winner for Anything Goes and Thoroughly Modern Millie and star of ABC's Bunheads and the new TV Land series Younger debuting on March 20. Each concert will feature Seth Rudetsky as pianist and host. What differentiates the series from any other is the seamless mix of intimate behind-the-scenes stories from Broadway's biggest stars -- prompted by the encyclopedic-minded Rudetsky's probing, funny, revealing questions -- and their stellar singing of Broadway show tunes.