Ira Gershwin News

Rehearsals begin today, Monday, September 22, for the upcoming world premiere of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS prior to its engagement at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris where previews will begin Saturday, November 22, 2014 for a Wednesday, December 10, 2014 opening night. The Broadway run of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS will begin previews Friday, March 13, 2015 for a Sunday, April 12, 2015 opening night at the Palace Theatre (Broadway at 47th Street).

Acclaimed Bay Area crooner Craig Jessup returns to the concert stage with another collection of classics from the Great American Songbook tonight September 19 at 8pm at 142 Throckmorton Theatre (142 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley).

Theo Ubique artistic director Fred Anzevino and musical director Jeremy Ramey, who teamed up for the company's Jeff-award Best Musical winner The Light in the Piazza as well as Aspects of Love and Master Class, are collaborating on this collection of songs by the German born classical composer-turned-Broadway-songsmith Kurt Weill. Ramey is providing exciting new arrangements as well as musical direction. Christie Kerr is also on the team as choreographer for the cabaret to be performed at the No Exit Cafe, 6970 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago, from tonight, September 19 to October 19, 2014.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. '50 Shades' joins the fall-winter lineup at the Broadway Playhouse, 'Stomp' and 'Rain' join BIC, Halloween musicals begin, two sketch musicals at pH, the Muellers and Mason headline FWD's gala, Weill and Porter shows prepare to open, and Barbra goes for six straight decades!

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT makes its mark at Bass Hall from now until the 21st.

South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) has announced its 2014-15 performance schedule through February 2015.

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts announced today that it will welcome the first national tour of Nice Work If You Can Get It to the St. Paul stage Oct. 14-19, 2014. Tickets start at $36 and can be purchased online at www.ordway.org, by phone at 651-224-4222 or in person at the Ordway ticket office.

Today in 1943, Porgy and Bess opened at the 44th Street Theatre, where it ran for 24 performances. First performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward, it was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward. All three works deal with African-American life in the fictitious Catfish Row in Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1920s. Originally conceived by George Gershwin as an 'American folk opera', Porgy and Bess premiered in New York in the fall of 1935 and featured an entire cast of classically trained African-American singers-a daring artistic choice at the time.

Encores! Celebrates Rodgers and Hammerstein and Hart, New York City Center's annual Gala on October 27, 2014, will feature the music and lyrics of Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Lorenz Hart

Alex Enterline and Mariah MacFarlane star as wealthy playboy Jimmy Winter and feisty bootlegger Billie Bendix, respectively, in the national tour of NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT. The tour launched September 2 at the Music Hall at Fair Park in Dallas, TX. Check out a first look at the cast in action below!

Season passes are now available for Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre's twentieth anniversary season. Dreamcatcher, in residence at Oakes Center at 120 Morris Avenue in Summit, will offer both a full-season and mainstage-only pass that will allow patrons to attend performances at a greatly reduced rate. This professional company will bring three New Jersey premieres to the stage in addition to improvisational comedy, new play readings, a holiday variety show and many programs for seniors and students. As always, the Dreamcatcher Resident Acting Company and their guests will tell stories that reflect our shared experience of being human with heart and humor.

Bay Area Cabaret, devoted to presenting world-renowned artists who expand the definition of cabaret, continues its 11th season, with pioneering Tony and Emmy Award winning actress/singer Leslie Uggams in her first Bay Area appearance in more than two decades. Celebrating over 60 years in show business, Ms. Uggams has starred on television, films, and Broadway, and has recorded more than fifteen albums. Leslie Uggams will perform an evening of "Classic Uggams," a collection of songs ranging from Lena Horne to musical theatre, from Broadway classics to jazz and blues,5pm, Sunday, November 2 at the Venetian Room of the Fairmont San Francisco, 950 Mason Street atop Nob Hill, San Francisco. Tickets ($50 general/$45 subscribers) can be purchased by calling (415) 392-4400 or online at www.bayareacabaret.org.

Jack Everly will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) in its first SuperPops concert of the 2014-2015 season on Thursday, October 9 at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore, and Friday, October 10 at 8 p.m., Saturday, October 11 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, October 12 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

Alex Enterline and Mariah MacFarlane star as wealthy playboy Jimmy Winter and feisty bootlegger Billie Bendix, respectively, in the national tour of NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT. The tour launches today, September 2, at the Music Hall at Fair Park in Dallas.

Three continents, multiple awards and an avalanche of international acclaim later, ...MISKIEN is back in Cape Town 2-27 September.

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, the award-winning musical comedy that played Broadway from 2012-2013, will launch its national tour in North Texas next month. The tour kicks off at the Music Hall at Fair Park September 2-14, presented by Dallas Summer Musicals. Then the tour rolls into Fort Worth, where it'll play at Bass Performance Hall September 16-21, presented by Performing Arts Fort Worth.

Acclaimed Bay Area crooner Craig Jessup returns to the concert stage with another collection of classics from the Great American Songbook on September 19 at 8pm at 142 Throckmorton Theatre (142 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley).

South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) has announced its 2014-15 performance schedule through February 2015.

Dixon Place, Ellie Covan, founder and artistic director, proudly announces SUPPER AT THE SALON, a special evening of dinner and entertainment which will take place on the mainstage theater at Dixon Place on Monday, September 15th, with cocktails beginning in the lounge at 6:30 PM. The evening will include performances by Stew (Passing Strange), Nancy Giles ('CBS Sunday Morning'), Broadway's Ted Keegan (Phantom of the Opera, Cyrano, Camelot), award-winning aerial troupe LAVA, and more to be announced, and will be hosted by Bindlestiff Family Cirkus founder, Keith Nelson. Also that evening, four honorees will receive the iconic Dixon Place mini chair award for their contributions to the arts and support of Dixon Place: award winning actor-writer Peggy Shaw; The Jerome Foundation, celebrating its 50th Anniversary; Dixon Place Board member Eric Jensen, and theater supporter Yoshiko Kakuga.