Kelsey Grammer News

Berkeley's Aurora Theatre Company announces the directors for the company's sixth Global Age Project (GAP) festival of new works: Aurora Theatre Company Artistic Director chose Allen McKelvey, M. Graham Smith, Jonathan Spector, and Tracy Ward to sit on this year's GAP Director's Council. Over the next several weeks, the directors, along with Ross, will select finalists from an international pool of play submissions dealing with global age concerns. Four plays will be chosen to be presented as staged readings during the GAP festival, scheduled for February of 2011. The GAP festival will coincide with the company's fully-staged World Premiere of 2010 GAP finalist Allison Moore's new comedy, COLLAPSE, the second main stage production to develop from the GAP.

Emmy-winner and Tony-nominee Kelsey Grammer will be guest-starring on Nickelodeon's 'The Troop' this Saturday, TV Guide reports. His role will be 'Dr. Cranius,' an evil Harvard graduate who also happens to be a sponge. He will be captured by Jake, Hayley, and Felix (the Troop) in the episode. The episode airs this Saturday at 12PM/11C. BroadwayWorld brings you a sneak peek below!

El Dorado Musical Theatre holds auditions for A Christmas Carol. Online Registration opens August 17 at 8:00 pm. This production is open to performers ages 6 - 20. This show is rated G and is appropriate for all ages. Cast size is limited so save your space by registering early! Walk-ins accepted on day of auditions if space is available. Complete information available at www.edmt.info.

Continuing his 'war' on Broadway, funny-man Will Ferrell called out another of Broadway's hottest names of the moment (recall his spoof of Bernadette Peters this week) - La Cage star Kelsey Grammer. While promoting his new film, The Other Guys, on Jimmy Fallon last night, Ferrell not-so- subltly blamed Grammer for getting a much hyped Saturday Night Live skit with Shaquille O'Neal cut once upon a time due to 'jealousy.' Hear what Ferrell had to say about the matter below!

PS CLASSICS, the label dedicated to the heritage of Broadway and American popular song, will record the New Broadway Cast Recording for the 2010 Tony Award-winning production of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES on August 5 and 6 for a September 28 release.

Douglas Hodge, who won a 2010 Tony Award for his critically acclaimed performance as Albin in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, will extend his run for an additional six months in the smash hit Tony Award-winning revival at the Longacre Theatre (220 West 48th Street). Hodge and five-time Emmy Award-winner Kelsey Grammer will keep their love alive as Albin and Georges in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES until February 13, 2011, when both actors will depart the production.

Berkeley's acclaimed Aurora Theatre Company is proud to announce a call for submissions for its sixth season of the Global Age Project (GAP) festival of new works. The company will choose four new plays to be presented as staged readings with professional directors and actors during the GAP festival in February of 2011; the festival will coincide with the company's fully-staged World Premiere of 2010 GAP finalist Allison Moore's new comedy, COLLAPSE, the second main stage production to develop from the GAP.

PS CLASSICS, the label dedicated to the heritage of Broadway and American popular song, will record the New Broadway Cast Recording for the 2010 Tony Award-winning production of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES on August 5 and 6 for a late September release. LA CAGE AUX FOLLES is playing at the Longacre Theatre, 220 West 48th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue.

Recently, I had the privilege of conducting an InDepth InterView with British belting triple-threat diva Ruthie Henshall, currently lighting up Broadway as Roxie in CHICAGO. She previously has played Velma both in the original London revival cast as well as on Broadway opposite Sandy Duncan in a highly-praised run nearly ten years ago. In this revealing discussion, we discuss her experiences working on CHICAGO on Broadway and in the West End, playing ensemble roles in the original productions of CHILDREN OF EDEN and MISS SAIGON, working with Bob Avian, Matthew Bourne, Carol Burnett, Kelsey Grammer and John Barrowman, as well as what roles on Broadway she wants to do next (clue: 'I Miss The Mountains') and her upcoming concerts in Australia and appearances at Feinstein's next year! Broadway has welcomed Ruthie back with open hearts and open arms - and why not? In her own words, she is the 'real deal!'

Jason Alexander, artistic director of Reprise Theatre Company, will star in 'They're Playing Our Song,' September 28 to October 10 (press opening September 29) at UCLA's Freud Playhouse, to open the company's 2010-2011 season. Single tickets are available for 'They're Playing Our Song' at www.reprise.org or through the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310/825-2101.

Producer Orin Wolf and Off the Aisle Productions have announced that It Must Be Him, a new comedy by Kenny Solms, co-creator and writer of the legendary, Emmy Award-winning 'Carol Burnett Show,' will premiere this summer at the Peter J. Sharp Theatre (416 West 42nd Street). Directed by Daniel Kutner, It Must Be Him will begin performances on Tuesday, August 24, and officially open on Wednesday, September 1. The limited engagement ends Sunday, September 26.

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, winner of three 2010 Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical, will play its 100th performance on Broadway tonight, Wednesday, July 14 at 8:00 PM. The critically acclaimed production is playing at the Longacre Theatre (220 West 48th Street).

Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters will host the 12th annual BROADWAY BARKS!, a star-studded dog and cat adopt-a-thon benefiting New York City animal shelters and adoption agencies. The event, produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is sponsored by the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) and Pedigree® Food for Dogs with additional sponsorship by the New York Times. The event will take place on Saturday, July 10th in Shubert Alley (located between 44th and 45th Streets, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue). The festivities begin at 3:30 p.m.; celebrity presentations of pets from citywide animal shelters will take place between 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. (Celebrity participation begins at 5:15 PM).

Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters will host the 12th annual BROADWAY BARKS!, a star-studded dog and cat adopt-a-thon benefiting New York City animal shelters and adoption agencies. The event, produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is sponsored by the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) and Pedigree® Food for Dogs with additional sponsorship by the New York Times. The event will take place on Saturday, July 10th in Shubert Alley (located between 44th and 45th Streets, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue). The festivities begin at 3:30 p.m.; celebrity presentations of pets from citywide animal shelters will take place between 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. (Celebrity participation begins at 5:15 PM).

Starting July 6th at the Provincetown Theater, producer Robert Driemeyer, in association with Jim A. Landé, is proud to present David Parr's provocative new play SLAP&TICKLE. The production will be directed by Obie Award winner David Drake, whose critically acclaimed mounting of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning classic OUR TOWN enjoyed a extended run at the Provincetown Theater this spring.

Starting July 6th at the Provincetown Theater, producer Robert Driemeyer, in association with Jim A. Landé, is proud to present David Parr's provocative new play SLAP&TICKLE. The production will be directed by Obie Award winner David Drake, whose critically acclaimed mounting of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning classic OUR TOWN enjoyed a extended run at the Provincetown Theater this spring.

Producer Daryl Roth announced today that stage and film star Haylie Duff (Napoleon Dynamite; Hairspray) and Off Broadway vet Ashley Austin Morris (Die Mommie Die) will appear in the July cast of Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron's smash hit show Love, Loss, and What I Wore.

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, the 2010 Tony Award winner for Best Revival of a Musical, broke the house record at the Longacre Theatre last week for the third time. The show grossed $747,615.62 at the 1,057-seat playhouse for the week ending June 27, breaking its previous record of $687,824.90 for the week ending June 20.

There has been a lot of discussion lately about the role of Hollywood actors on the Broadway stage, especially following the Tony Awards -- where bonafide A-List movie stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Scarlett Johansson and Denzel Washinton all picked up acting awards. In all three categories (best leading actress in a musical, best featured actress in a play, best leading actor in a play), these Hollywood heavyweights beat out theatre actors who are arguably just as talented, if not as well known to the world outside New York.

'It's official! Shannen Doherty is scheduled to charm hundreds of VIP guests into donating thousands of dollars at the 15th Annual Artists Against Abuse Gala to benefit the Retreat Saturday, June 26 at the Ross School in East Hampton!