Ira Gershwin News

The National Tour of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS, winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, will launch at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre this November. The tour, accompanied by a 23-piece orchestra, will begin performances Sunday, Nov. 10 with an official opening on Wednesday, Nov. 13. BroadwayWorld was just in the rehearsal room with the cast for a sneak peek and you can check out photos below!

Join two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy nominated Michael Feinstein as he rings in the New Year with two special performances on Tuesday, December 31 at 7:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. at Feinstein's at the Nikko (222 Mason Street, San Francisco).

There will be a Celebration of legendary theatrical press agent Shirley Herz, on Monday, November 4th at 1:30 pm at the Samuel J Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th Street, NYC. Some of the participants are Jeffrey Alper, Sam Altman, Barry Brown, Jan Buttram, Robert Callely, Tyne Daly, Jane Friedman, Diane Judge, Angela Lansbury, 'Charlotte Moore, Tom Rhoads, Liz Smith, Iris Williams and La Cage aux Folles' Original cast members: Betsy Craig, Dan Grady, Cady Huffman, David Jackson, Eric Lamp, Tom Sesma & Jennifer Smith. Musical accompaniment by Mark Hummel and Don Pippin.

In today's New York Times Arts Beat 'In Performance' video, jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater who portrays Billie Holiday in the new musical "Lady Day," sings "A Foggy Day in London Town,"

The National Tour of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS, winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, announces the complete cast for the tour launch at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre this November. The show plays in Charlotte July 15-20, 2014 in Belk Theater at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.

The new musical, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, has targeted Broadway for the spring of 2015 following its world premiere in December, 2014 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. It will be directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, making his Broadway directing debut. Featuring music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and a book by Tony and Pulitzer Prize nominee Craig Lucas, the creative team also includes Tony Award winners Bob Crowley (sets and costumes), Natasha Katz (lighting) and Scott Lehrer (sound) with a musical score adapted and supervised by Rob Fisher. Bartlett Sher is creative consultant. Based on the Academy Award winning film inspired by the 1928 orchestral composition by George Gershwin, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS brings this classic tale to Broadway for the first time.

Musicals Tonight! the Obie-winning company dedicated to the revival of neglected musicals continues its 2013-14 season with a 16-performance run of Marvin Hamlisch and Howard Ashman's 1986 musical SMILE (October 22 - November 3) directed by Thomas Sabella-Mills, with music direction by David Bishop.

Park Square brings a dash of Gershwin to the holiday entertainment season with WORDS BY...IRA GERSHWIN AND THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK, November 29 -December 29, 2013.

Casting has been announced for the national tour of 'The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess,' winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, which will open at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre on April 23 and play through June 1, 2014. (Preview on April 22.) The tour, accompanied by a 23-piece orchestra, is set to launch at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre this November.

Tickets for American Idiot, West Side Story, STOMP, Mamma Mia!, Blue Man Group, and Hal Holbrook In Mark Twain Tonight! at the National Theatre go on sale Monday, October 28.

The National Tour of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS, winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, announces the complete cast for the tour launch at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre this November with rehearsals starting Monday, Oct 14 in New York City. The tour, accompanied by a 23-piece orchestra, will begin performances Sunday, Nov. 10 with an official opening on Wednesday, Nov. 13.

Musicals Tonight! the Obie-winning company dedicated to the revival of neglected musicals kicks off its 2013-14 season with a 16-performance run of Cole Porter's Mexican Hayride (October 8 - 20) directed by Thomas Sabella-Mills, with music direction by James Stenborg.

Musicals Tonight! announces its 2013-2014 season, featuring Cole Porter, Marvin Hamlisch, Will Holt, George & Ira Gershwin and Rodgers & Hart.

The cast features Jessica Wagner, M.X. Soto, Amie Bermowitz, Casey Hebbel, Ryan Hilliard, Tara Lynne Khaler, David Marmanillo, Benjamin Perez, Natalie Ramirez, Kelly Ross, April Woodall, Michael J. Borges, Cristina Farruggia, Glenn Giron, Cat Greenfield, Alex Krasser, Christiana Little, Christian Marriner, Jacob L. Smith, and Andreas Wyder.

The Chicago Humanities Festival (CHF) announced casting today for two theatrical productions in November: White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, the Iranian absurdist play about isolation co-presented with the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), running Nov. 3-9, 2013, and Birds Do It, Bees Do It..., the annual cabaret performance Nov. 5, 2013, created by Rob Lindley and Doug Peck.

Bay Area Cabaret, devoted to presenting audiences with top performers who expand the definition of cabaret, enters its 10th season this fall with a gala series at the Fairmont San Francisco's historic Venetian Room. To celebrate this significant milestone, Bay Area Cabaret presents a star-studded lineup of performers making their Bay Area Cabaret debuts, as well as the return of a few favorites from the past decade. Opening the seas tonight, September 21, 2013 with a bang is Broadway's Megan Hilty, known to millions as the powerhouse 'Bombshell' on NBC's television program Smash. The season continues October 20, 2013 with Tony nominee Norm Lewis (The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess) and November 10, 2013 with 'America's romantic piano sensation,' multi-platinum selling recording artist Jim Brickman, joined by special guest Broadway heartthrob David Burnham.

Park Square Theatre announces a 2013-2014 Season composed entirely of area, regional and world premieres - opening with David Lindsay-Abaire's dark comedy Good People and closing with the first ever stage depiction of Nero Wolfe, the famously eccentric detective genius created by best-selling author Rex Stout. The talent bringing these stories to life includes bold-faced names and theatre favorites, including the Minnesota stage debut of James Denton of Desperate Housewives fame, the return of Emmy-nominee Linda Kelsey playing Mary Todd Lincoln and the Park Square directing debuts of Joe Chvala and Amy Rummenie.

Broadway in Detroit brings the National Tour of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS, winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, accompanied by a 23-piece orchestra, to the Detroit Opera House, March 4 - 9, 2014. Tickets will go on sale Sunday, September 29 at noon at all Ticketmaster locations, by phone at 1-800-982-2787, online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.broadwayindetroit.com, and at the Fisher Theatre box office. Tickets will be available at the Detroit Opera House box office starting at 10 a.m. on Monday, September 30.

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT closed up shop on Broadway on June 15, 2013. The show enjoyed 478 regular performances and 27 preview performances over the course of about 15 months. Its notices were mixed to positive, and there are plans to kick off a National Tour for the 2014-2015 season. For those of us who missed the show on Broadway, the lively and decadently glitzy NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (Original Broadway Cast Recording), which was released by Shout! Factory and distributed by Sony Records, perfectly allows us to acquaint ourselves with the production before it plays in our regional venues.