Gwen Verdon News

The stars came out last night when Lee Roy Reams made his 54 Below debut in 'Song & Dance Man.' After the show, Reams was joined backstage by friends and colleagues including Leslie Uggams, Len Cariou, Dana Ivey, Penny Fuller, Tony Sheldon, Nick Adams, Marilyn Maye, Anita Gillette, and Etan Aronson. Check out photos below!

NEW DRAMATISTS, Tony Honor recipient and the nation's premiere playwright development workshop, has announced that they will honor entertainment lawyer and New Dramatists Chairman of the Board Seth Gelblum with their 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award at its 64th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute, to be held Tuesday, May 21 at the New York Marriott Marquis. Among those performing tributes will be Tony Award nominee Keith Carradine (Hands on a Hardbody, The Will Rogers Follies) and Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins (Caroline, or Change; Jelly's Last Jam). The event co-chairs are Roger Berlind, Roy Furman, and Barry and Fran Weissler.

According to an Equity casting notice for next month, the Cole Porter classic CAN-CAN will have a staged reading in New York in July 2013, with the official dates to be announced, before it aims for Broadway in Spring 2014.

Megan Mullally is a two-time Emmy-winning star of TV's Will & Grace, and recent star of Broadway's Young Frankenstein. On April 6, she makes her New Orleans debut in the acclaimed Broadway @ NOCCA series for two shows only, at 7:30PM and 9:30PM, joined by Seth Rudetsky at piano. For tickets please visit http://www.broadwaynola.com/. Megan will also attend a special Meet and Greet reception directly following her 9:30 show that will benefit The NOCCA Institute. Tickets to the reception, which will take place at Reilly Hall at NOCCA, are also available at the above link. The Broadway @ NOCCA series is also announcing that it will initiate a new, $2,500 per-year scholarship.

Award-winning actor, singer, dancer and comedian Eddie Mekka, who is famously recognized for his role as "Carmine 'the big Ragu' Ragusa" from the ABC-TV sitcom Laverne and Shirley, returns to Naples, Sunday, March 24 to headline TheatreZone's fundraiser Eddie Mekka…with a little Ragoo on the Side.

You've probably seen the movie, but what does FLASHDANCE the Musical have that the movie doesn't? One word. Sas. That's right ladies and gents. Broadway veteran Rachelle Rak has taken on the role of Tess in this brand new musical that is currently sweeping across the US.

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.

With news coming late this week of a revised and reworked edition of the Cole Porter/Abe Burrows Golden Age musical CAN-CAN aiming for a reading in October and the possibility of a potential major production thereafter, now seems like a tres bien moment in time to glance back at the underappreciated charms of this alluring, Paris-set show. Plus, from Gwen Verdon, Patti LuPone, Eartha Kitt, Shirley MacLaine and Chita Rivera to Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Kelly Clarkson, MAD MEN's Christina Hendricks and many more, this clip collection has more than just an errant bright bulb or two to add to the already magnificent and romantic sights of the city of lights.

Florida Studio Theatre has once again extended the run of the hit show Let's Twist Again: with the Wanderers, into its sixteenth week. This is the longest running Cabaret show in FST history. The ‘50s & ‘60s style musical revue that has kept the Goldstein Cabaret hopping since it opened on October 19. Tickets can now be purchased through February 2, 2013 online at Floridastudiotheatre.org, by phone at (941) 366-9000 or by visiting the FST Box Office at 1241 North Palm Avenue in downtown Sarasota.

Just announced is news that the Cole Porter classic, Can-Can, will kick up its heels in a new production to land on Broadway in Spring 2014. Presented by Jonathan Burrows, nephew of the musical's original book writer Abe Burrows, the new production features a revised book by David Lee (Two By Two and Gigi at Reprise, TV's "Frasier" and "Cheers") and Joel Fields (How I Fell in Love at Abingdon Theatre Company, TV's "Ugly Betty' and 'Raising the Bar'). Lee directs the production, featuring choreography byPatti Colombo (Peter Pan) and musical direction by Tony Award nominee Steve Orich (Jersey Boys). Prior to the Broadway production, a workshop will take place in New York in October 2013. Casting has yet to be confirmed.

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, January 13, 2013 - Sunday, January 13, 2013.

Today in 1925, the late Broadway legend Gwen Verdon was born. Verdon was an actress and dancer who won four Tony awards for her musical comedy performances. With flaming red hair and an endearing quaver in her voice, Verdon was a critically acclaimed dancer on Broadway in the 1950s and 1960s. She is also strongly identified with her second husband, director-choreographer Bob Fosse, remembered as the dancer-collaborator-muse for whom he choreographed much of his work and as the guardian of his legacy after his death. Verdon is most remembered for starring in Sweet Charity, Chicago, and Damn Yankees.

Five of the entertainment world's leading ladies will perform in New Orleans in 2013 as Seth Rudetsky's popular Broadway Concert Series makes the leap to NOCCA's Lupin Hall from its summer home at The Art House in Provincetown, MA. Patti LuPone, two-time Tony winner for Gypsy and as the legendary original Evita, will appear for two shows only on January 7th at 6:30 and 8:30. Sutton Foster, two-time Tony-winner for this year's Anything Goes and previously for Thoroughly Modern Millie and star of the ABC Family series Bunheads arrives for one show only on March 2nd at 7:30. Megan Mullally, two-time Emmy-winning star of TV's Will and Grace and star of Broadway's Young Frankenstein performs two shows only on April 6th at 7:30 and 9:30. Audra McDonald, a five-time Tony Award winner and recent star of Porgy and Bess on Broadway and TV's Private Practice will make her New Orleans debut with two shows only on May 18 at 7:30 and 9:30. Betty Buckley, the Tony winning legendary star of Cats and Sunset Boulevard will close the series on June 1 with two shows only at 7:30 and 9:30. The visiting Broadway artists will also be giving master classes for the NOCCA Institute's high school-aged musical theatre students. All five concerts are produced by Mark Cortale, long time producer/manager of Jeffery Roberson aka Varla Jean Merman, and will be hosted by Sirius/XM radio star Seth Rudetsky at the piano. The series is sponsored exclusively by the New Orleans Hotel Collection and Gambit. Tickets can be purchased at www.broadwaynola.com or by calling 800-838-3006.

New Year's Day afforded me the opportunity to watch four hit Broadway musicals that had been adapted for the screen: My Fair Lady, Camelot, Funny Girl and Hello Dolly. My Fair Lady and Camelot had a number of things in common: same director, lyricist, composer, leading lady, supporting male actor and, most important for me, the same choreographer: Hanya Holm, the modern dancer from Dresden who came to the United states to open a school and stayed for the rest of her life, dying at the age of 99!.

The holiday season totally snuck up on me this year. I'm writing this on December 11, just TWO WEEKS before Christmas (and already three nights into Hannukah), and I'm more than a little bit panicked!! Two weeks to do all of my shopping? EEK to say the least. Luckily I have the BC/EFA Catalogue of Giving, which offers hundreds of Broadway-themed gifts, my favorite of which I'll share with you below. Proceeds to the wonderful causes supported by Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS, which this year includes help for victims of Hurricane Sandy and similar disasters.

To kick off its twelfth season, Men Alive - The Orange County Gay Men's Chorus welcomed a very special guest star: the legendary Liza Minnelli. This concert marked her first appearance in Orange County, CA in almost twenty years. This inimitable showbiz icon performed with the chorus at the 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall on the campus of The Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa for 'Liza Minnelli with MenAlive in A WINTER SPECTACULAR'-an evening of Broadway hits, Pop Standards, and, of course, Holiday Music.

By popular demand, Florida Studio Theatre has extended the run of the hit show Let's Twist Again: with the Wanderers, the ‘50s & ‘60s style musical revue, and Smokey Joe's Café, featuring music by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.