I.A.L. Diamond News

This January at Wilton's even the performers don't know what they are going to be performing!

Final casting is today announced for the first London production in 20 years of the hit Burt Bacharach/Hal David/Neil Simon Broadway musical Promises, Promises, based on the Billy Wilder film The Apartment.

On May 4, the 2016 Tony nominees flocked to the Paramount Hotel, where they met with the press for the first time since getting the big news. BroadwayWorld will continue bringing you coverage from the epic day over the next week, but for now, check out photos of Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical nominee for Shuffle Along, Brandon Victor Dixon, as captured by Walter McBride!

A re-imagined version of the 1921 musical SHUFFLE ALONG, one of the earliest stage hits starring, written and directed by African-Americans, opens tonight, April 28, on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre. SHUFFLE ALONG has a new book and is directed by George C. Wolfe, choreographed by Savion Glover. Scroll down to learn more about the company, plus watch SUNDAY MORNING's recent behind-the-scenes look at the show!

Next spring, Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Brandon Victor Dixon, and Joshua Henry will star in SHUFFLE ALONG Or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, a striking new production that presents both the 1921 musical itself, and additionally details the events that catalyzed the songwriting team of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, and librettists F.E. Miller and Aubrey Lyles to create this ground-breaking work.

A Billy Wilder musical classic hits Blu-ray!

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) are adding four new collections to their TCM Greatest Classic Films line, which spotlights some of Hollywood's most legendary actors and actresses in classic cinema.

Prescott Center for the Arts will present PROMISES, PROMISES, featuring music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, book by Neil Simon, based on the screenplay The Apartment by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, and directed by Jon Meyer. The production runs September 26, 27, 28, October 3, 4, 5, 10, 11 & 12, 2013 at 7:30, and September 29 & October 6, 2013 at 2:00. Tickets are $22.00 for evening and $18.00 for matinee.

Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond's screenplay for the 1959 cult classic film Some Like It Hot relied on one comedy gimmick, that two men, played by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, could escape from Chicago mobsters by donning drag and joining a girl band ...and convince everyone around them that they were really women. Could they pull it off? Wilder himself reputedly stated that he never thought the movie would be as successful as it became due to its meager plotline. But... with Marilyn Monroe alongside Lemmon and Curtis as Sugar Kane, the hilarious trio really blended uproariously...and the rest is history. When in 1972 Jule Styne and Bob Merrill collaborated with book writer Peter Stone to create Sugar, their Broadway musical flopped, probably for two reasons. Firstly, Styne's music, with the exception of one or two songs, is not memorable. Secondly, the book, too faithful to the screenplay, has tremendous holes for a stage play and just does not, no offense to composer Styne, come up roses.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) are adding four new collections to their TCM Greatest Classic Films line, which spotlights some of Hollywood's most legendary actors and actresses in classic cinema.

Bellevue Little Theatre. 203 W. Mission in Bellevue, will present 'Sugar' 'The Some Like It Hot Musical', its third offering of the 2012--13 season on April 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, and 27 and 28. Due to production conflicts we have been forced to cancel the Friday April 26 evening performance and have added an additional 2 pm matinee on Saturday April 27. Evening performances begin at 8 pm on the first two Friday and Saturday evenings, and all matinees begin at 2 pm. on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Get ready, 'cause here it comes- MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL that is! MOTOWN begins preview performances tonight, March 11 and will open on Broadway on April 14, 2013 at The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46 Street).Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL will feature a book by Berry Gordy and music and lyrics from the legendary Motown catalogue. Meet the company of the new musical with videos of them from past productions and roles below!

42nd Street Moon, the company that presents intimate productions of "Uncommon Musicals" by great 20th Century composers, today announced casting forSUGAR, the first 2012 mainstage production of the season. The show will feature Michael Kern Cassidy, Tony Panighetti and Riley Krull in the starring roles, under the direction of Dyan McBride.SUGAR opens at the Eureka Theater on April 7, with three low-priced previews April 4 - 6, and runs through April 22.

42nd Street Moon, the company that presents intimate productions of "Uncommon Musicals" by great 20th Century composers, today announced casting forSUGAR, the first 2012 mainstage production of the season. The show will feature Michael Kern Cassidy, Tony Panighetti and Riley Krull in the starring roles, under the direction of Dyan McBride.SUGAR opens at the Eureka Theater on April 7, with three low-priced previews April 4 - 6, and runs through April 22.

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & UPRIGHT CABARET are thrilled to announce the remaining performers for its second show of their season, SWEET SOUL MUSIC, which will include Tony Award-nominee Brandon Victor Dixon (Broadway: The Color Purple, The Scottsboro Boys), & Leslie Odom, Jr. (Broadway: Rent, Jersey Boys, Regional: Leap of Faith opposite Brooke Shields), with the previously announced American Idol star Frenchie Davis, performing the music of RAY CHARLES, MARVIN GAYE and GLADYS KNIGHT, and their own selections, under the musical direction of Todd Schroeder, in a one night only concert - SWEET SOUL MUSIC. SWEET SOUL MUSIC will perform on Sunday, January 30, 2011 at 7:30PM at the NEW Cabaret Lounge at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd. in La Mirada.

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & UPRIGHT CABARET are thrilled to announce the remaining performers for its second show of their season, SWEET SOUL MUSIC, which will include Tony Award-nominee Brandon Victor Dixon (Broadway: The Color Purple, The Scottsboro Boys), & Leslie Odom, Jr. (Broadway: Rent, Jersey Boys, Regional: Leap of Faith opposite Brooke Shields), with the previously announced American Idol star Frenchie Davis, performing the music of RAY CHARLES, MARVIN GAYE and GLADYS KNIGHT, and their own selections, under the musical direction of Todd Schroeder, in a one night only concert - SWEET SOUL MUSIC.

I grew up listening to the music and lyrics of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and I've always had a warm spot in my heart for their tuneful pop confections. So, it was with a considerable amount of anticipation that I looked forward to getting a chance to see a production of their 1968 hit PROMISES, PROMISES, which combines their songs with a funny and touching script by master comedy scribe Neil Simon (a rare adaptation by the finicky writer of I.A.L. Diamond and famed film director Billy Wilder's original screenplay from their Oscar-winning film, The Apartment). Stages St. Louis has put together a stunning production that completely captures that swinging 60's vibe. An exceptional cast and sparkling direction combine to make this a must-see event.

On December 1, 1968, Promises, Promises, the musical version of Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond's The Apartment, opened at the Shubert and took Broadway by storm. The show was such a breath of fresh air, with its hilarious book by Neil Simon, and pop-sounding and brilliant score by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. When that overture began, you knew the sound of Broadway had just changed forever - it was electric in the best way.

Kritzerland has announced a special 2 CD release of PROMISES, PROMISES, the Original Cast Album . Music by Burt Bacharach Lyrics by Hal David

Director/choreographer Twyla Tharp will be presented with the 2010 I.A.L. Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts from Columbia University on May 1. Ms. Tharp, who recently opened her new critically acclaimed musical, Come Fly Away, at Broadway's Marquis Theatre, is a 1963 graduate of Columbia's Barnard College.