Ken Billington News

FOX OPERATOR BILL MALONE OF FX ARTS will present the second production of its 2012-2013 BROADWAY SERIES of shows with the Tony Award-winning masterwork, DREAMGIRLS. DREAMGIRLS will dazzle audiences on Thursday, January 10 at the Fox Performing Arts Center, 3801 Mission Inn Avenue in Riverside.

Broadway's Elf The Musical and Chaplin share an upcoming closing date-January 6, 2013-and Elf's Jason Eric Testa made a special little video to commiserate. Click below to watch!

Yesterday, December 20, Broadway's globally acclaimed revival of the Tony Award-winning musical CHICAGO celebrated another momentous milestone and record-breaking when it played performance #6,681. With that 8 p.m. performance at the historic Ambassador Theatre, CHICAGO surpassed the original Broadway production of Les Miserables to become the third longest-running show in Broadway history. Check out photos from the celebration below!

The sparkling new high-tech production of the Tony and Academy Award winning musical DREAMGIRLS will electrify audiences in Thousand Oaks January 15-January 20, 2013, at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

54 Below will welcome multiple Grammy nominee Maureen McGovern to the stage when she presents an evening featuring songs of the season, some unexpected, and some traditional 'chestnuts.' Broadway audiences know her from?her acclaimed, Drama Desk-nominated performance in Little Woman, 3 Penny Opera, Nine and The Pirates of Penzance as well as off-Broadway's Brownstone, but the world over knows Maureen as 'The Disaster Theme Queen.' BroadwayWorld brings you photos from her concert below!

A sparkling new high-tech production of the Tony and Academy Award-winning musical 'Dreamgirls' is coming to the Gallo Center for the Arts for five performances Friday through Sunday, January 11 -13.

On Thursday, December 20, 2012, Broadway's globally acclaimed revival of the Tony Award-winning musical CHICAGO will celebrate another momentous milestone and record-breaking when it plays performance #6,681.

This holiday season, enjoy the tinsel and the eggnog, but beat it down to 54 Below where Broadway veteran and Tony nominee Maurice Hines triumphantly returns with Tap'in Through Life, his original show featuring the all-woman, nine player big band The DIVA Orchestra, which includes a six-woman horn section. Expect classic tunes such as "Come Fly with Me," "All the Way," "Luck Be a Lady," and "Route 66!" A childhood sensation with his brother Gregory, the tap-dancing duo appeared in New York, Las Vegas, and Europe, and on television, including a remarkable thirty-five appearances on The Tonight Show. A smash in 1978?s Broadway sensation Eubie!, Maurice's critically-acclaimed appearances on the Great White Way include Sophisticated Ladies and Uptown… It's Hot, which he also conceived, directed and choreographed. Jump up the holiday season with Maurice Hines and the fantastic Diva Orchestra and tap your troubles away at this year-end musical party! He gave a special press preview from his upcoming engagement at 54 Below yesterday, and BroadwayWorld brings you complete coverage below!

Tony-winner Donna McKechnie graces the stage of 54 Below in a brand new show: a musical deja vu celebrating the scintillating 70?s in New York City - the heyday of Studio 54. McKechnie, best known the world over for creating the role of Cassie in A Chorus Line, is also well-known for her Broadway appearances in State Fair, On the Town, Company, Promises, Promises and How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. For these five very special performances, Donna (Broadway Royalty!) will salute this remarkable era via the music of Jim Croce, Peter Allen, Marvin Hamlisch, Billy Strayhorn, and Stephen Sondheim, with arrangements and music direction by John McDaniel. She gave a special press preview from her upcoming engagement at 54 Below yesterday, and BroadwayWorld brings you complete coverage below!

54 Below will welcome multiple Grammy nominee Maureen McGovern to the stage when she presents an evening featuring songs of the season, some unexpected, and some traditional 'chestnuts.' Broadway audiences know her from?her acclaimed, Drama Desk-nominated performance in Little Woman, 3 Penny Opera, Nine and The Pirates of Penzance as well as off-Broadway's Brownstone, but the world over knows Maureen as 'The Disaster Theme Queen.' She gave a special press preview from her upcoming engagement at 54 Below yesterday, and BroadwayWorld brings you complete coverage below!

Heavy metal icon Dee Snider, lead singer of the legendary 1980's rock band Twisted Sister ("We're Not Gonna Take It," "I Wanna Rock!"), has gone on to success with his own radio talk show, in film and on television, including his recent and forthcoming appearances on The Celebrity Apprentice. But Dee's longtime passion is Broadway, as evidenced by his new CD, Dee Does Broadway, in which he covers everything from West Side Story and Sweeney Todd to Sweet Charity and Chicago. Broadway audiences embraced him during his recent stint in Rock of Ages, and, on this season of The Celebrity Apprentice, his charity of choice is none other than Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Join Dee for two very special performances this holiday season - it's showtunes and Christmas songs like you've never heard them before! He gave a special press preview from his upcoming engagement at 54 Below yesterday, and BroadwayWorld brings you complete coverage below!

Special guest stars tonight, December 18th include performances by singer, stage, television & film star Andrea McArdle, the original Little Orphan Annie from hit musical Annie, Gregg Edelman Tony nominee for Into the Woods, Naturi Naughton, featured in the films 'Fame' and 'Notorious' and on television, 'The Client List' and NBC's 'The Playboy Club,' Gene Reed, from The Dan Band and The Tonics, and Sheri Sanders, featured in Urinetown and author/coach of 'Rock The Audition.'

Maureen McGovern - the two time Grammy Award nominated vocalist and actress - will perform her acclaimed show 'Home For The Holidays' in New York with an exclusive engagement at 54 Below from tonight, December 18 to 23. McGovern will present an evening featuring songs of the season, some unexpected, and some traditional "chestnuts." She will be joined by her longtime Musical Director Jeffrey Harris on piano and Jay Leonhart on bass.

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, the new 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. Featuring Broadway star Karen Mason, critically acclaimed artist Justin Vivian Bond, BACKSTAGE, Grammy nominee Maureen McGovern and the legendary singer Dee Snider.

Recording Artist and Academy Award winning singer of "The Morning After" & "We May Never Love Like This Again" and Broadway star Maureen McGovern (Little Women, 3 Penny Opera, Nine, The Pirates of Penzance), Broadway veteran and Tony Nominee Maurice Hines (Uptown…It's Hot, Hot Feet, Sophisticated Ladies, Eubie!) and Broadway legend and Tony Award Winner Donna McKechnie (A Chorus Line); heavy metal icon, lead singer of the legendary 1980's rock band Twisted Sister ("We're Not Gonna Take It," "I Wanna Rock!"), and star of Broadway's Rock of Ages, Dee Snider gave a special press preview from some of the upcoming engagements at 54 Below earlier today. BroadwayWorld brings you a preview of the special event below!

For those craving a show after the show, 54 BELOW, the new performance venue located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street, offers its Tuesday night cocktail party/songfest, 'Backstage.' Special guest stars on December 18th include performances by singer, stage, television & film star Andrea McArdle, the original Little Orphan Annie from hit musical Annie, Gregg Edelman Tony nominee for Into the Woods, Naturi Naughton, featured in the films 'Fame' and 'Notorious' and on television, 'The Client List' and NBC's 'The Playboy Club,' Gene Reed, from The Dan Band and The Tonics, and Sheri Sanders, featured in Urinetown and author/coach of 'Rock The Audition.'

Michael Cerveris, Krysta Rodriguez, Taylor Trensch, Julia Mattison, A. J. Shively, Ashley Sweetman, Mike Pettry, Kristen da Costa, Ross Wolkenbrod, Kimberly Kaye, and Jordan Stanley will be part of The 5th Annual Joe Iconis Christmas Spectacular.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents a stage adaptation of the beloved classic film, Irving Berlin's White Christmas in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Bring your loved ones for a heart-warming celebration of Americana from tonight, December 11, 2012 to January 6, 2013. The press opening is Thursday, December 13 at 7:30 p.m.

The new musical CHAPLIN, with music and lyrics by Christopher Curtis and book by three-time Tony Award-winner Thomas Meehan (Annie, The Producers, Hairspray) and Christopher Curtis, directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle (Finian's Rainbow; Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway), celebrates its 100th performance on Broadway at the Barrymore Theatre tonight, Thursday, December 6 at 7:00PM.