Johnny Carson News

Get ready, 'cause here it comes- MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL that is! MOTOWN begins preview performances tonight, March 11 and will open on Broadway on April 14, 2013 at The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46 Street).Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL will feature a book by Berry Gordy and music and lyrics from the legendary Motown catalogue. Meet the company of the new musical with videos of them from past productions and roles below!

Al Jarreau's unique vocal style is described as one of the world's most precious treasures. His innovative musical expressions have made him one of the most exciting and critically acclaimed performers of our time, earning him seven Grammy Awards, scores of international music awards, and popular accolades worldwide.

Wednesday night was the second of Marilyn Maye's first 54 Below run (which will continue until March 16) and she sashayed around the stage in front of an almost full house like a woman of 35. Like most of her shows, Maye's performance was a 'live' cabaret Master Class for budding cabaret performers and seasoned professionals alike, and this 'Maye-den Voyage' never went adrift (thanks in part to solid and unobtrusive support from Tedd Frith on piano, Tom Hubbard on bass, and Jim Eklof on drums).

Today we are talking to a veritable legend in her own time - arguably the most influential and recognizable female stand-up comedian of all time, the one and only Joan Rivers. Opening up and revealing her trademark, impossible-to-top wit all the while, Rivers and I discuss many aspects of her life and career, with a particular focus on her many current projects - most importantly, the third season of her smash hit reality series JOAN & MELISSA: JOAN KNOWS BEST? on WE TV. What will happen when Joan, Melissa and company visit Colonial Williamsburg? What illicitness will they discover on Willie Nelson's former tour bus? Will Joan get arrested for protesting her book being banned at a big retailer? Answers to these questions all will be arrived up on Saturday. In addition to all about JOAN & MELISSA Season Three and the current series-high ratings run of FASHION POLICE, Rivers and I take a look back at many of the remarkable figures she has encountered and worked with over the course of her career - among them: Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Woody Allen and many more - and she generously shares candid backstage stories and remembrances as only she can. Of paramount interest to theatre fans may be the announcement of a revival of her one-woman play SALLY MARR… AND HER ESCORTS, which she will be reviving in a special weekly pop-up theatre space on Broadway later this year. Also, as if all of that were not enough, Joan gives us the 411 on her new uncensored web series, IN BED WITH JOAN, as well as her cute new pet lover's web project, MY FAT PET. Plus, her fashion forecast for 2013 and best current trends, favorite films of awards season, thoughts on Broadway today and her picks for the best shows to see as well as much, much more awaits in this career-spanning conversation!

SID THE SCIENCE KID: THE MOVIE, a co-production with The Jim Henson Company and Chinese partners Nine Eyes Stone Pictures and Shanghai Animation Film Studios Group, is making its broadcast premiere on PBS KIDS on March 25

Side Splitters Comedy Club in Tampa, celebrating 20 years of bringing laughter to the bay, will welcome Amazing Jonathan, March 7-9 and Lynne Koplitz, March 13-16, 2013.

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, the performance venue located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. 54 Below also launches its new series of late night events this March. Joining Tuesday nights' popular "Backstage" with Susie Mosher will be the "54 Piano Bar," a new vocal competition - 'The Callback," and more, including Telly Award winner Jamie DeRoy & Friends, Broadway star Chester Gregory, singing sensation Marilyn Maye, Late Night at 54 Below, Tony nominee Adam Pascale, actor/screenwriter/playwright Charles Busch, Broadway's Caissie Levy, Walking the Line - Music of Johnny Cash.

Houston Chamber Choir presents What Sweeter Music with special guest, noted English conductor Simon Carrington, tonight, March 2, 7:30pm at The Church of St. John the Divine (2450 River Oaks Blvd., Houston, TX) and Sunday, March 3 at 4:00 pm at the Imperial Arts, Center for the Arts (823 3rd Street, Rosenberg, TX). The Chamber Choir and Simon Carrington offer a sampling of British a cappella music that includes works by Benjamin Britten, Bob Chilcott, James MacMillan and Pete Townshend of The Who.

Showtime's Masters of Sex has seduced Allison Janney. Janney is officially set for a five-episode arc on the premium network's upcoming drama, starring Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan, who will portray the real-life pioneers of the science of human sexuality, William Masters and Virginia Johnson.

This March, audiences at DSI Comedy Theater will once again have an opportunity to crown the funniest person in North Carolina as it hosts Carolina's Funniest Comic. Now in its 6th year, this competition runs throughout the month of March. Shows are every Friday at 7:30 pm starting March 8. There will be added shows Thursday, March 7 at 7:30 pm and Friday, March 8 at 9 pm. Tickets to each round cost $12 and all shows run at DSI Comedy Theater, 200 N. Greensboro Street in the Carr Mill Mall between Elmo's and Southern Rail. The finals will be Friday, April 5 at 7:30 pm at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro. Tickets for all shows and more information can be found at www.dsicomedy.com.

David Feherty, described as 'a cross between Oprah Winfrey and Johnny Carson' by The New York Times as host of Golf Channel's hit, original series, Feherty, returns for his third season tonight, Feb. 25 at 10 p.m. ET with a slate of interviews both heartfelt and irreverent - a trademark of one of television's most irrepressible personalities.

Today we are shifting our focus from the stages of Broadway and beyond to the stages of the previous 84 Academy Awards telecasts that have transpired to date, in anticipation of Sunday night's big, big, big show. After all, this year's Academy Awards is of particular interest and excitement to theatre fans around the globe, especially because super-producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are behind it - the men responsible for the hit stage-to-screen adaptations of CHICAGO and HAIRSPRAY, as well as the small-screen successes GYPSY, LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND: ME & MY SHADOWS, ANNIE, and, most recently, NBC's musical series SMASH, to name a few of their many marvelous musical-friendly credits. They told me themselves earlier this week that this year's telecast would be the most music-packed Academy Awards show to date, and, just judging from the announced tributes, performers and presenters thus far it is clear to see that they were not kidding - reunions of the casts of the film versions of CHICAGO and LES MISERABLES live onstage, singing their film's most famous songs to Jennifer Hudson leading a DREAMGIRLS tribute all the way to a James Bond 50th anniversary celebration featuring Adele and Shirley Bassey on some famous Bond themes, as well as Barbra Streisand herself singing 'The Way We Were' in memory of friend and collaborator, three-time Oscar-winner Marvin Hamlisch.

Today, February 23 and February 24 and 25 Lyrics & Lyricists tours Miss Peggy Lee's hip musical landscape with guest artistic director Billy Stritch and vocalists Barbara Fasano, La Tanya Hall and Gabrielle Stravelli. Cabaret legend Marilyn Maye, who frequently includes Peggy Lee classics in her shows, joins the show as a special guest.

Three of Saturday Night Live's famed cast members will reunite on stage when they visit MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods for a special performance on Saturday, May 25 at 8 p.m. The lineup includes seven season veteran, Dana Carvey, who established some of the show's best known characters; Dennis Miller, who served as the “Weekend Update” correspondent for six seasons and Kevin Nealon, whose reoccurring role as an anchor on “Weekend Update” made the sketch a show staple. Tickets for the highly-anticipated show are currently available and can be purchased in advance for $45, $60 and $75.

Largely responsible for the movie musical revolution of the 21st century, setting the stage first with their mega-successful work on TV in the 1990s like GYPSY, CINDERELLA and ANNIE, then, with their feature film entries since - beginning with CHICAGO and continuing with HAIRSPRAY and many more - executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have bridged the gap between Broadway and Hollywood like no other producers - and, all the while, on their own terms. Opening up about a vast array of projects, ranging from the aforementioned modern classic TV musicals all the way through to the films and stage shows - successful revivals of PROMISES, PROMISES and HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING included - and their affiliation with NBC's musical drama series SMASH, Zadan and Meron paint a vivid portrait displaying their fierce dedication to the performing arts and desire for excellence in all of their many, many endeavors. Plus, most importantly, Zadan and Meron clue us in on what we can anticipate from this Sunday's Academy Awards telecast, which they are producing - such as their experiences collaborating with controversial triple-threat host Seth MacFarlane, amassing the starriest assortment of musical performers in Oscar history (Barbra Streisand, Adele, Shirley Bassey, Norah Jones, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jennifer Hudson among the performers announced so far), creating spectacular tributes to both James Bond in his fiftieth year on film and the modern movie musical revolution (showcasing no less than the reunions of cast members from CHICAGO, DREAMGIRLS and this year's multi-nominated hit LES MISERABLES) as well as what will make this show truly unique. Additionally, Zadan and Meron shed some light on their current and future plans and productions, among them: a BONNIE & CLYDE miniseries for the History Channel starring Emile Hirsch; the currently-running second season of NBC's musical drama series SMASH; two original movie musicals in development and original stage projects, too. All of that, memories of the remarkable LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND: ME & MY SHADOWS, Lifetime's record-breaking broadcast of a new STEEL MAGNOLIAS, comments on DROP DEAD DIVA's recent cancellation, news on the upcoming e-book edition of Zadan's peerless SONDHEIM & CO. biography, the NBC TV version of THE SOUND OF MUSIC starring Carrie Underwood and much, much more!

Oscar nominee and LES MISERABLES star Hugh Jackman appears on tonight's all new episode of THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN. In the preview below, Jackman takes on Daniel Day-Lewis - who's also nominated for his work in LINCOLN. Check it out!

The Lied Center for Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will present 'Cathy Rigby Is Peter Pan'at 7 p.m. on Feb. 12 and 13.

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) last night announced the winners of the 2013 Writers Guild Awards.