John Travolta News

Almost ten years after its triumphant debut on Broadway, the eight-time Tony Award-winning musical HAIRSPRAY is making quite a resurgence lately, thanks to the plethora of regional theaters across the country that now have licenses to mount their own versions. It's a good thing, too, because the show is one of the funniest and most entertaining stage musicals of the modern era, and one that deserves an afterlife with a new crop of the nicest kids in town. Bursting with laughs and ear candy from heel to coif, the wonderful folks over at Musical Theatre West have put on a very worthy, slam-dunk of a revival, recreating HAIRSPRAY with impressive moxie and a staggeringly talented cast. The show continues its brief run at the Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts in Long Beach, California through November 13.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) has announced the winners of the NYMF 2011 Awards for Excellence. Awards will be presented at the Eight Season Awards Gala taking place on Sunday, November 6th at The Hudson Theatre (145 W. 44th Street) beginning at 6:00pm. As previously announced, producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan will also be honored for their work in bringing musical theatre to a worldwide, pop-culture audience.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) announced today that special $75 show-only general admission tickets have also been made available for purchase for the Eighth Annual Season Awards Gala taking place on Sunday, November 6th at The Hudson Theatre (145 W. 44th Street).

Stage and screen stars Robert De Niro and John Travolta are set to co-star in the new film 'Killing Season,' according to published reports. Mark Steven Johnson will direct the film which will be written by Evan Daugherty.

While GLEE is on hiatus until its long-awaited return on November 1 and X-FACTOR was pre-empted and moved around as a result of the World Series games, DANCING WITH THE STARS has kept up the Broadway quotient on prime time TV in the interim in a major way thanks to this week's two-night Great White Way salute featuring Tony-winner and Emmy-winner Kristin Chenoweth. Fan favorites J.R. Martinez and his partner Karina Smirnoff made their mark with CHICAGO'S sizzling "Hot Honey Rag" and this week's InDepth InterView participant Ricki Lake - along with her partner, show favorite Derek Hough - made a splash with a rollicking "The Lady Is A Tramp" from Frank Loesser's classic score for GUYS & DOLLS, and even Nancy Grace got into the snazzy act with a spirited and jolly "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" from SPAMALOT with her partner Tristan MacManus. Yet, some groups fared less well - Chaz Bono and Lacey Schwimmer failed to find the music or the magic of the night with "The Phantom Of The Opera" and they were sent home on Wednesday as a result (penguin critiques and Cher tweets notwithstanding). And, so, too, did Hope Solo and show-standout Maksim Chmerkovskiy falter with their less than impassioned performance of an outright odd head-scratcher of a quickstep song selection, RENT's "Seasons Of Love". Yet, on the ever-improving side of things reside Rob Kardashian and Cheryl Burke, who managed to bring some JERSEY BOYS-esque swagger to The Four Seasons smash "Walk Like A Man" from the Tony-winning musical revue. Additionally, David Arquette and Kym Johnson ended up somewhere in the middle, with a somewhat tentative treatment of the GREASE warhorse "We Go Together", which still managed to minisculely evoke John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the movie. While some stars certainly shone much brighter than others - J.R. and Ricki undoubtedly seem to be battling it out for top honors - Broadway Week on DANCING WITH THE STARS was generally a resounding success for many concerned. And, that's not even mentioning the spectacular group performance mash-up of "Hey, Big Spender" from SWEET CHARITY and "Money, Money" from CABARET (choreographed by Kevin Maher); Kenny Ortega's specialty number encompassing three famous theatrical standards, specially designed for HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL and IN THE HEIGHTS star Corbin Bleu; or - most of all - Kristin Chenoweth's two stupendous star turns; first, singing a song she made famous for a whole new generation alongside Lea Michele on GLEE - the classic Kander & Ebb CABARET's "Maybe This Time"; which was followed by MY FAIR LADY's 'I Could Have Danced All Night' - and, on the second night, performing the title track from her new solo album, SOME LESSONS LEARNED. Broadway stars to dancing stars to reality stars and beyond, Broadway Week on DANCING WITH THE STARS managed to sparkle and shine with panache.

bergenPAC is getting physical and announcing the appearance of.... Olivia Newton-John. The English-born, Australian-raised singer and sometime actress will perform live at bergenPAC in Englewood, New Jersey on Wednesday December 7th at 8pm.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) has announced the winners of the NYMF 2011 Awards for Excellence. Awards will be presented at the Eight Season Awards Gala taking place on Sunday, November 6th at The Hudson Theatre (145 W. 44th Street) beginning at 6:00pm. As previously announced, producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan will also be honored for their work in bringing musical theatre to a worldwide, pop-culture audience.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, veteran actress Glenn Close will be honored with the 2011 Hollywood Career Achievement Award as part of Starz Entertainment's 15th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards on October 24 at the Beverly Hilton.

Stage star Marilu Henner and actor Lee Majors ('Six Million Dollar Man') will both make guest appearances on the October 20 episode of 'Grey's Anatomy' on ABC.

John Pinette will present a hilarious evening of stand-up comedy at the Capitol Center for the Arts on Friday, November 18th at 8:00pm. Tickets are on-sale now can be purchased at ccanh.com, 603.225.1111, or at the Capitol Center for the Arts Box Office. Ticketsare $32.50 plus applicable service charges.

Actor/Comedian, John Pinette will perform at the Warner Theatre on Friday, October 14 at 8pm.

Hollywood Revisited is a stunning musical and dance review which showcases a dazzling line up of costumes actually worn by the stars in the original Hollywood films.

Beaches 2 is a sketch comedy group, and they have a monthly comedy show! This month, they will steal your soul and haunt your dreams with their Halloween themed show.

Stage star Marilu Henner and actor Lee Majors ('Six Million Dollar Man') will both make guest appearances on the October 20 episode of 'Grey's Anatomy' on ABC.

Actor/Comedian, John Pinette will perform at the Warner Theatre on Friday, October 14 at 8pm.

Today we have a super-special DVD and Blu-ray overview as we take a look at and listen to five brand new Blu-rays hitting the shelves in October, including two stunning Blu-ray debuts of two of Quentin Tarantino's seminal 90s films - PULP FICTION and JACKIE BROWN. While Tarantino won his only Oscar to date for his screenwriting work on PULP - a credit he shared with co-storywriter Roger Avery - it is his studied, mature and delicate directorial work on JACKIE BROWN that won over many film fans who may have found a bit too much flash, pop, sizzle and razzmatazz in the packed-to-the-gills PULP. Although, if all the Tarantino tough guy talk and off-the-wall soundtrack selections are not quite your speed, we also have three early Halloween selections sure to send some shivers up your spine, with MANHUNTER, HANNIBAL and the recent remake of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. While MANHUNTER was the movie-going public's first glimpse of what became the most beloved movie villain of all-time - the cannibalistic genius himself, Hannibal Lector - it was in a very different, completely different guise: noted stage and screen actor Brian Cox plays the role that eventually was made famous (and Oscar-winning) by Anthony Hopkins in the second film of the Hannibal Lector series, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (by Jonathan Demme), just a few short years after Michael Mann's treatment of the original Thomas Harris novel, RED DRAGON. Of course, RED DRAGON was also made into a movie of the same name recently, directed by Brett Ratner and featuring an all-star cast comprising Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ralph Fiennes, Mary Louise Parker, Ed Norton, Harvey Keitel and many more. While many film fans certainly cite SILENCE as the finest Lector film - and it very well may be - my personal bias is for Ridley Scott's daring and gruesome 1999 hit, HANNIBAL, starring Hopkins alongside Julianne Moore in the role of Clarice Starling (made famous by Jodie Foster, who passed on the ultra-violent script), which is also finally getting the Blu-ray upgrade along with Mann's MANHUNTER. Then, there is the witty and disturbing remaining of one of the most scandalous and prurient torture porn films ever made - created long before that term was ever coined; in the age of Eli Roth and the SAW series - Wes Craven's harrowing horror revenge tale, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. Recent PROMISES, PROMISES on Broadway star Tony Goldwyn was a recent InDepth InterView participant and told me about how pleased he was with this remake and while it does not have the seedy voyeuristic bent of the original, it makes an impact in a new and equally entertaining way. Whether checking out one or all of these superb new Blu-ray releases you are assured a memorable movie experience, just as the temperatures begin to cool and you yearn for nights of warmth inside away from the elements.