James Naughton News

The Stuttering Association for the Young (SAY.org) will host its 17th Annual Benefit Gala, honoring long-time SAY supporter and Tony Award-winning director Thomas Kail with the Budd Mayer Advocacy Award, and inducting SAY's Musical Director Everett Bradly into the SAY Hall of Fame. Hosted by Broadway's Tony-Award-winning, past SAY Honoree Kelli O'Hara, the benefit gala will take place on Monday, May 13th, 2019 at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (566 LaGuardia Place), followed by a Chef's Tasting Event at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers.

Deborah Grace Winer continues her monthly love affair with New York when her acclaimed musical revue 'NEW YORK: BIG CITY SONGBOOK' returns to Birdland Theatre on Sunday, April 14 at 7:30 pm featuring Klea Blackhurst, LaTanya Hall and Nick Ziobro with Joe Davidian on piano and Jay Leonhart on bass and vocals. Mark Waldrop directs with musical arrangements by John Oddo.

BroadwayWorld is sad to report the death of music director and arranger, John Oddo who passed away on April 2nd.

MCC Theater's annual Miscast gala is one of the most exciting and unique theater events in town. Broadway's hottest stars perform songs from roles in which they would never be cast.

Schimmel Center at Pace University concludes its 2018-19 Cabaret Series with an evening of standards and musical theater selections composed by women titled Baby, Dream Your Dream: The Great Women Songwriters today, March 9, 2019 at 7:30pm. Tickets start at $29 and can be purchased at SchimmelCenter.org, by phone at 212-346-1715, or by visiting the Schimmel Center Box Office at 3 Spruce Street, Manhattan. Box office hours are Tuesday-Today, Noon-5pm, and then beginning three hours prior to each performance, through intermission.

Broadway legends -- and real-life husband and wife -- Danny Burstein (My Fair Lady, Moulin Rouge) and Rebecca Luker (The Sound of Music, Music Man) have joined forces to tell a playful tale about the pitfalls of greed.

Schimmel Center at Pace University concludes its 2018-19 Cabaret Series with an evening of standards and musical theater selections composed by women titled Baby, Dream Your Dream: The Great Women Songwriters on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at 7:30pm. Tickets start at $29 and can be purchased at SchimmelCenter.org, by phone at 212-346-1715, or by visiting the Schimmel Center Box Office at 3 Spruce Street, Manhattan. Box office hours are Tuesday-Saturday, Noon-5pm, and then beginning three hours prior to each performance, through intermission.

Schimmel Center at Pace University concludes its 2018-19 Cabaret Series with an evening of standards and musical theater selections composed by women titled Baby, Dream Your Dream: The Great Women Songwriters on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at 7:30pm.

Why have so many songwriters been compelled to write about New York? What is it about this city that fuels an endless supply of stories? Deborah Grace Winer's new show NEW YORK: BIG CITY SONGBOOK offers a kaleidoscopic vision of life in the city, from the inspiring and romantic to the aggravating and the quirky. New York is a fabulous character, and Deborah has assembled a great cast of real New Yorkers (meaning they come from everywhere) to take us on this entertaining and exhilarating musical ride in search of what it really means to be a New Yorker.

If necessity is the mother of invention, that scrappy lineage certainly continued with Rosemary Clooney, Barbara Cook, and Julie Wilson.

For three decades, the unofficial launch of 'autumn in New York' has been marked by the annual Cabaret Convention of The Mabel Mercer Foundation. This year, their four individual concerts will once again be presented at 6 p.m. at the Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, beginning Today, October 9thand running through Friday, October 12th. More than seventy diverse vocalists -- ranging in age from seventeen to ninety -- are scheduled to entertain; thirteen of these will make their New York Cabaret Convention debuts during the 2018 performances.

Tony Award-winning Broadway and television star Sutton Foster headlined Westport Country Playhouse's 2018 Gala on Saturday evening, September 8, performing Broadway standards and contemporary tunes with a trio of musicians.

Two Broadway legends have joined forces to tell a whimsical tale about what can happen when you become your own personal MacGyver.

For three decades, the unofficial launch of 'autumn in New York' has been marked by the annual Cabaret Convention of The Mabel Mercer Foundation. This year, their four individual concerts will once again be presented at 6 p.m. at the Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, beginning Tuesday, October 9thand running through Friday, October 12th. More than seventy diverse vocalists -- ranging in age from seventeen to ninety -- are scheduled to entertain; thirteen of these will make their New York Cabaret Convention debuts during the 2018 performances.

Tony Award-winning Broadway and television star Sutton Foster will headline Westport Country Playhouse's 2018 Gala on Saturday evening, September 8, performing Broadway standards with a trio of musicians. "Sutton effectively stops whatever Broadway show she's in with her amazing combination of talents in dance, song, and a wicked sense of humor," said Mark Lamos, Westport Country Playhouse artistic director. "She's a dazzling throwback to the great Broadway stars of yesteryear." 

Every once in a while, a person is born who is destined to influence the world in ways yet to be seen. Sometimes these men and women are born into a position of power, such as a king or queen, and other times they do whatever it takes to become great and powerful business or political leaders on the backs of others. But once in a blue moon there comes a man who gains fortune and fame for simply being someone who people connect with, who speaks the truth, and who does his best to make the world a better place than he left it. One such man is the sage from Oologah ,Oklahoma, William Penn Adair Rogers. As time passes, fewer and fewer people are alive who had first-hand experience reading Will Rogers' column, listening to him on the radio, or seeing his films. It is for that reason, that we are lucky a show like THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES exists, and even luckier that Goodspeed Musicals chose it for the opening production of its 2018 season. Telling his life story over the course of a Ziegfeld follies extravaganza (another thing that many today have no memory of), this dazzling, colorful, and heartwarming musical takes audiences on a journey from rags to riches with America's "Cowboy Philosopher".

BroadwayWorld has a first look at Goodspeed's THE Will Rogers FOLLIES! Telling the life story of humorist Will Rogers, the Tony-Award winning musical features a book by Peter Stone, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and music by Cy Coleman.THE Will Rogers FOLLIES begins performances on April 13th and will run through June 21st.

Goodspeed presents THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES! Telling the life story of humorist Will Rogers, the Tony-Award winning musical features a book by Peter Stone, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and music by Cy Coleman.THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES begins performances on April 13th and will run through June 21st.

Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre invites audiences to experience ENCORES!, a special one-time only performance by the legendary Flo Hayle on the BST Mainstage Saturday April 21st at 2:00pm. Producer Jan Grice and Musical Director Jay Kerr join Ms. Hayle for a potpourri of terrific tunes and fascinating tales in celebration of her 89th trip around the sun!

Goodspeed Musicals kicks off its 2018 season with the Broadway hit The Will Rogers Follies, A Life In Revue. The exuberant dance-filled musical will be running April 13 - June 21 at The Goodspeed in East Haddam, Conn.