Karen Carpenter News

In honor of Tennessee Williams' 100th birthday, Aurora Theatre Company continues its 19th season with the playwright's haunting drama THE ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE. Aurora Theatre Company Artistic Director Tom Ross helms this evocative play featuring Beth Wilmurt, Charles Dean, Marcia Pizzo, and Thomas Gorrebeeck, along with Amy Crumpacker, Ryan Tasker, Leanne Borghesi, and Beth Deitchman.

Producer Daryl Roth announced today that 30 Rock star Katrina Bowden, theater favorite Maddie Corman (Next Fall), Tony Award-winner Donna McKechnie (A Chorus Line), lifestyle superstar and restaurateur B. Smith and Daytime Emmy Award-winner Kim Zimmer (Guiding Light/One Life To Live) will join upcoming casts of the hit Off Broadway show Love, Loss, and What I Wore, now in its second smash year at the Westside Theatre (407 West 43 Street).

ARENA Dances brings to the stage the world premiere of I hate myself. Will you please love me? This ironically dark comedy and cautionary tale of The Carpenters explores insecurities through the dancers' 'sly irreverence combined with mellow grace evocative of their easy listening pop style' (Star Tribune). Beautiful and idiosyncratic, Janczewski's new work has a fresh attention to character and precision and an electrifying range of motion and emotion.

Producer Daryl Roth announced today that '30 Rock' star Katrina Bowden, theater favorite Maddie Corman (Next Fall), Tony Award-winner Donna McKechnie (A Chorus Line), lifestyle superstar and restaurateur B. Smith and Daytime Emmy Award-winner Kim Zimmer ('Guiding Light'/'One Life To Live') will join upcoming casts of the hit Off Broadway show Love, Loss, and What I Wore, now in its second smash year at the Westside Theatre (407 West 43 Street).

The votes have all been counted and audited and we're VERY excited to announce the results of the first ever BroadwayWorld.com Toronto Awards! Tens of thousands of votes were cast during six weeks of intensive voting on over 430 nominees in 25 categories. Thank you to all who voted and congratulations to all the winners!

On Wednesday, January 12th, Alexis Bledel ('Gilmore Girls'), Pauletta Washington ('The Parkers'), Nikki Blonsky ('Hairspray' the film), Anita Gillette ('30 Rock'), and Judy Gold (25 Questions for a Jewish Mother) became the newest cast of Love, Loss, and What I Wore at the Westside Theatre.

Berkeley's acclaimed Aurora Theatre Company jazzes up the holidays with NAUGHTY & NICE: A MEG AND BILLY CHRISTMAS. Bay Area husband and wife cabaret duo Meg Mackay and Billy Philadelphia, whose seasonal sensation A Little Cole in Your Stocking was a hit for Aurora in 2005 and 2006, return with a witty, memorable musical showcase that is sure to spice up the holidays for cabaret fans old and new. NAUGHTY & NICE plays for eight performances only December 17-30 at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. Tickets ($23 and $25) may be purchased directly from the Aurora Theatre Company box office by calling (510) 843-4822, or online at auroratheatre.org.

Producer Daryl Roth announced today that Nikki Blonsky, the Golden Globe nominated star of Hairspray, will complete the January cast of the hit Off Broadway show Love, Loss, and What I Wore, now in its second smash year at NYC's Westside Theatre (407 West 43 St.).

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) is pleased to stage a brand-new production of Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales, a play with music, adapted and directed by Gamm Artistic Director Tony Estrella.

Audiences around the globe will now get a chance to see Love, Loss, and What I Wore, the Off Broadway hit written by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron and presented by Daryl Roth.

The Coverlettes Cover Christmas was a big hit at the Aurora Theatre 2008 and 2009, and now the fictitious girl group has crossed the street to the Freight & Salvage for a Christmas cabaret concert. Bella, Ella, and Stella Duvet, three sisters from 'the wrong side of Vermont', are back with their band; The Fellas -pianist Rusty McTurk (Bella's ex-husband), bassist Rudy Tuesday, and drummer Ray Wray. The show features the sisters' versions of their favorite Christmas songs, mixed in with lots of '60s era girl group hits by The Shangri-Las, The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Crystals, etc., and a big dollop of their own history, angst, and joy. Make your Holiday Season Swing! Enjoy girl group classics and holiday hits with an extra dollop of *'dramage'*. Come visit the Coverlettes at The Freight and see what a rockin' trip on a joltin', Christmas train-wreck is all about!

Berkeley's acclaimed Aurora Theatre Company jazzes up the holidays with NAUGHTY & NICE: A MEG AND BILLY CHRISTMAS. Bay Area husband and wife cabaret duo Meg Mackay and Billy Philadelphia, whose seasonal sensation A Little Cole in Your Stocking was a hit for Aurora in 2005 and 2006, return with a witty, memorable musical showcase that is sure to spice up the holidays for cabaret fans old and new. NAUGHTY & NICE plays for eight performances only December 17-30 at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. Tickets ($23 and $25) may be purchased directly from the Aurora Theatre Company box office by calling (510) 843-4822, or online at auroratheatre.org.

Today we are taking a look and a listen to the winter finale of Fox's hit musical comedy series GLEE and its accompanying soundtrack, GLEE: THE CHRISTMAS ALBUM, both of which premiered this week. 'Tis the season for all good GLEE gifts and if a special Christmas episode - 'A Very Glee Christmas' - just wasn't enough, then the two recently released soundtrack albums can surely fuel your fire until the post-Superbowl special episode in the new year!

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) is pleased to stage a brand-new production of Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales, a play with music, adapted and directed by Gamm Artistic Director Tony Estrella.

Broadwayworld has joined with the cast of Rain- A Beatles Tribute for our new '8 Days A Week' feature. Each day for eight days Joe Bithorn, Joey Curatolo, Steve Landes, and Ralph Castelli of Rain will answer one question about what The Beatles mean to them.

The Coverlettes Cover Christmas was a big hit at the Aurora Theatre 2008 and 2009, and now the fictitious girl group has crossed the street to the Freight & Salvage for a Christmas cabaret concert. Bella, Ella, and Stella Duvet, three sisters from 'the wrong side of Vermont', are back with their band; The Fellas -pianist Rusty McTurk (Bella's ex-husband), bassist Rudy Tuesday, and drummer Ray Wray. The show features the sisters' versions of their favorite Christmas songs, mixed in with lots of '60s era girl group hits by The Shangri-Las, The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Crystals, etc., and a big dollop of their own history, angst, and joy. Make your Holiday Season Swing! Enjoy girl group classics and holiday hits with an extra dollop of *'dramage'*. Come visit the Coverlettes at The Freight and see what a rockin' trip on a joltin', Christmas train-wreck is all about!

Aurora Theatre Company announced today its plans for a workshop production of Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat (A Soldier's Tale). Through an innovative collaboration between Artistic Director Tom Ross and former San Francisco Ballet dancer Muriel Maffre, Aurora will develop a re-imagined production of L'Histoire du Soldat, based on a new translation of the libretto and new adaptation of the score. The project will feature four musicians (piano, violin, clarinet and percussion), three actors, two dancers/puppeteers, puppets (one life-size and one small), and video elements. Maffre, who performed a concert version of the work with the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival in Seattle, will serve as choreographer, dancer, and co-director of the workshop. Artistic Director Tom Ross will co-direct with Maffre, and Berkeley Opera's Jonathan Khuner will serve as musical director.

Musical Theatre West has announced that Andrea McArdle, Broadway's original Annie, will star as Miss Hannigan in its upcoming production of ANNIE at the beautiful 1070-seat Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach. ANNIE previews October 29th and runs October 30th through November 14th. Musical Theatre West Artistic Director/Producer Steven Glaudini directs with musical direction by Daniel Thomas and choreography by Roger Castellano.

There's this old showbiz cliche that says one should never work with kids and/or animals. Well, either species probably never really scared producers from creating ANNIE, the much-beloved musical classic now in production for Musical Theatre West in Long Beach, California through November 14. Here, the kids steal every scene, and the dog... well, how can you not love a musical with a lovable (trained) dog? With famous populist origins and quite a hummable, familiar score, this long-standing musical's saccharine sweet portrayal of pre-Depression era New York City amps up the long-lost American idea of optimism. And, in a bit of inspired stunt casting, Andrea McArdle--who made her Tony-nominated debut in the original 1977 Broadway production as the title role--steps into the role of the wicked Ms. Hannigan for this production.

Producer Daryl Roth announced today that Margaret Colin ('Gossip Girl'), Anita Gillette ('30 Rock'), Ann Harada (Avenue Q), Mary Testa (Eat Pray Love; Xanadu), and Pauletta Washington ('The Parkers') will join upcoming NYC casts of Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron's Love, Loss, and What I Wore, which has just entered its second smash year at The Westside Theatre (407 West 43 Street). Colin and Harada complete the November cast (November 3 - December 5), which also includes the previously announced Tichina Arnold ('Everybody Hates Chris'), Alicia Goranson ('Roseanne') and Maria Tucci (Mary Stuart).