John Lithgow News

Star of Film, Television and Stage passed away peacefully Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012 after a long illness. She fought the good fight for a few years and is now happily released from pain and struggle. Surviving her is her son George Brown, daughter-in-law Lauren Shpall and many dear friends and family. Janet is pre deceased by her son Tom Brown (1978) and her parents George and Hilda Thiese (2010)

Manhattan Theatre Club will celebrate Artistic Director Lynne Meadow's 40th anniversary as the visionary and artistic leader of the organization with a special tribute on Monday, June 18. The event will begin at 6:30 PM with a VIP cocktail reception, followed by a 7:30 tribute event at the Samuel J. Friedman (261 West 47th Street). Immediately after the Friedman tribute event, a party will follow at Copacabana (268 West 47th Street).

John Lithgow, who is nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in Manhattan Theatre Club's THE COLUMNIST, will be a guest on tonight's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" which airs late night at 12:35 AM on NBC.

Richard Ridge continues his interviews with honorary co-chairs Christine Lahti, Rosemary Harris and Christian Borle, nominees Blair Underwood (A Streetcar Named Desire), Jeremy Shamos (Clybourne Park), Michael Cristofer (The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism), Mary Testa (Queen of the Mist), Alan Menken (Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award), Capathia Jenkins and Kara Lindsay, Ben Fankhauser, John Dossett, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Harvey Fierstein and Jack Feldman (Distinguished Production of a Musical - Newsies), Jeremy Jordan (Newsies, Bonnie and Clyde), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Peter and the Starcatcher), Santino Fontana (Sons of the Prophet), Jessie Mueller (On A Clear Day You Can See Forever), Leslie Odom Jr (Leap of Faith), Annaleigh Ashford (RENT), Tracie Bennett (End of the Rainbow) and more!

BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge brings you interviews with the stars in attendance at the 78th Annual Drama League Awards luncheon, held yesterday, May 18. Below, Ridge speaks with co-hosts John Larouquette and Stockard Channing, presenter Donna Murphy, honorary co-chairs Cynthia Nixon and Judith Light, nominees Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis (The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess), Linda Lavin (The Lyons), Nicky Silver (The Lyons), Russell Harvard (Tribes), Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Ghost), Cristin Milioti (Once), Matthew Broderick and Kelli O'Hara and Joe DiPietro (Nick Work If You Can Get It) and more!

The Drama League announced yesterday, May 18, the winners for the 78th Annual Drama League Awards. BroadwayWorld was there and brings you photos of the lovely ladies at the ceremony, including Cynthia Nixon, Linda Lavin, Audra McDonald, Angela Lansbury, Stockard Channing, Celia Keenan-Bolger, RoseMary Harris, Cristin Milioti, Donna Murphy, Elena Roger and more!

The Drama League announced yesterday, May 18, the winners for the 78th Annual Drama League Awards at the Marriott Marquis Times Square. BroadwayWorld was there and brings you photos of the gentlemen who gathered for the ceremony. See below for photos of Matthew Broderick, Ricky Martin, Blair Underwood, Andrew Garfield, John Lithgow, Christian Borle, Roger Rees, Steve Kazee, Harvey Fierstein, Michael Cerveris and more!

FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY will continue its Spring 2012 season with Maude Maggart and her new show "Into The Garden." Inspired by the recent centennial of the Titanic, the evening will focus on landmark events, music, cultural shifts one hundred years ago.

The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre is getting ready to cut loose this summer with the dance musical Footloose. The stage production, based on the Paramount Pictures film, will open at the Frederick theatre on Friday, June 15th and run through August 25th.

The Drama League announced today the winners for the 78th Annual Drama League Awards: Distinguished Play, Other Desert Cities, presented by Philip Seymour Hoffman; Distinguished Revival of a Play, Death of a Salesman, presented by Christian Borle; Distinguished Production of a Musical, Once, presented by Cynthia Nixon; Distinguished Revival of a Musical, Follies, presented by Kelli O'Hara; and Distinguished Performance, Audra McDonald, presented by John Lithgow at a star-studded luncheon ceremony hosted by Stockard Channing (Other Desert Cities) and John Larroquette (Gore Vidal's The Best Man) at the Marriott Marquis Times Square.

Match.com ain't got nuthin' on New York's cabaret scene, where composers, lyricists and performers are constantly on the lookout for perfect mates; whether for a lifetime commitment or just a brief, but mutually satisfying, fling.

In her first return to television since 'Sex in the City,' Emmy Award-winning actress and fashion icon Sarah Jessica Parker will guest star in the fourth season of GLEE.

Today we are continuing BroadwayWorld's ongoing interview series with the stars and creative team of NBC's hit musical drama series SMASH with a Broadway/Hollywood leading man who first made his mark on the stage creating a role in the Tony Award-winning TITANIC after having appeared in BLOOD BROTHERS and CAROUSEL and who has since starred in productions as diverse as SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, NEXT TO NORMAL, SHREK and many more - the jovial and multi-talented Brian d'Arcy James. Discussing all aspects of his role on SMASH as well as cluing us in on what we can expect from Monday's highly awaited season finale, d'Arcy James and I also take a look back at his career onstage thus far and he shares fond recollections of working on TITANIC, SWEET SMELL, SHREK, NEXT TO NORMAL, TIME STANDS STILL and THE WILD PARTY Off-Broadway as well as offers his observations of his collaborators and co-stars in each endeavor. Plus, Brian also reveals his other current TV project: his character arc on Showtime's dramedy THE BIG C, starring his TIME STANDS STILL co-star Laura Linney and previous John Benjamin Hickey, that begins this Sunday and continues through the rest of this month. Additionally, we also discuss his upcoming 54 Below concerts June 26-30 - as well as his thoughtful and candid opinions on some of his favorite songwriters and his own songs. Plus, comments on his film roles in HBO's GAME CHANGE, FRIENDS WITH KIDS, an upcoming short film - and much, much more!

Manhattan Theatre Club just announced that the world premiere production of THE COLUMNIST by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan has extended again due to popular demand. Tickets for THE COLUMNIST are now on sale through Sunday, July 1 at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street).

On May 5, ABC7 presented 'Broadway Backstage: Spring Preview,' a program that highlighted the 2012 Broadway Spring season. Hosted by anchor Michelle Charlesworth and Tony winner John Larroquette, the four-part special features appearances by Broadway favorites Blair Underwood, John Lithgow, Kelli O'Hara, Matthew Broderick, Linda Lavin, Harvey Fierstein, and Raul Esparza. Check out the full special below!

Awards season is in full swing and to celebrate all of the 2011-2012 nominees, we've dug deep into our archives to bring you vintage photos of all of the talent during special moments in their careers. Check out the 2011-2012 Tony-nominated men below!

This Tuesday marked the second most exciting day of any given year for Broadway babies - the Tony Award nominations. The actual awards ceremony on CBS - Broadway's night of nights - is still a few weeks off, but now is certainly an ideal time to size up the competition(s) and see who will most likely walk away with Tony gold come June 10 - and this year's ceremony, more than most before, could very well be as surprising as this season was; or Tuesday's nominations themselves were, for that matter. While the 2011-2012 Broadway season certainly fell far short of the heady promise many ascribed to its prospects way back last Summer, we certainly saw the fulfillment of some big dreams for some notable names if not an all-in-all banner year for Broadway when collectively considered. The highly-praised Off-Broadway critical darling LYSISTRATA JONES landed with a thud early in the season, as did the re-jiggered, gender-bending revival of ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER and its star Harry Connick, Jr., and, even the lauded and relatively successful revival of Stephen Sondheim's peerless masterpiece FOLLIES failed to make any money and closed. GODSPELL did not fare much better, though it is still running. The two highly-anticipated revivals of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic early successes JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and EVITA were met with indifferent reviews - with the latter receiving some nasty press for its stars, neither of whom received Tony nominations - but receptive audiences so far. THE GERSHWINS' PORGY & BESS could take Best Revival, after all - but will NICE WORK's Kelli O'Hara edge out four-time Tony recipient Audra McDonald? New plays did not fare much better than the measly crop of musicals, but OTHER DESERT CITIES and VENUS IN FUR seemed to hit their target demographics squarely, but CLYBOURNE PARK looks to be the frontrunner for Best Play despite all that. We shall see. Mike Nichols may take home another Best Director for his sensitive, if workmanlike revival of Arthur Miller's DEATH OF A SALESMAN, as conceivably could Philip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield. John Lithgow is offering up some fierce competition in THE COLUMNIST, though. The acting races are tight, for sure, in both plays and musicals, with more newcomers and first-time nominees than any season this century.

On May 2, all of the 2012 Tony nominees met the press at the official Tony Nominee Brunch. BroadwayWorld.com was there to capture the entire event and our very own Walter McBride brings you yet another special photo feature below - each of the nominees in the spotlight!

Stay tuned for exclusive BWW interviews leading up to the big night and in the meantime, check out behind the scenes photos from today's event!

'I'm so excited for the show! 10 nominations is a really nice round number. My husband and I were watching NY1 this morning and simultaneously trying to get our twins out the door to go to music class. So, we were wrangling them and watching the nominations at the same time. My husband Scott Landis is a producer for NICE WORK and for VENUS IN FUR so we were especially thrilled. We're a quadruple nomination household! The cast is performing on David Letterman on Thursday so we have a rehearsal for that. I'm thrilled that i'll get to see them!'