Klea Blackhurst News

The Meeting* hosted by Justin Sayre, the acclaimed comedy/variety show, will return to JOE'S PUB at The Public Theater on Sunday, January 18 at 9:30 PM to open the Winter/Spring 2015 Season. The Meeting* has been called 'delicious and delightfully droll' by The New York Post and 'hilarious and sardonic' by The Village Voice. A story for Slate.com called the evening 'so deliciously icy that it left me shivering with fear and delight.' The Fall 2014 shows sold out after a New York Times 'Arts & Leisure' piece ran in September. The January show will include a tribute to Broadway legend Ethel Merman, with special guests Klea Blackhurst, Erin Markey, Nora Mae Lyng, Molly Pope and Ben Rimalower. Tracy Stark serves as the show's Music Director.

If you've been a regular reader of this particular reviewer's musings, you know that every year there are long stretches of time where I just haven't been able to critique all the shows I've seen that deserve commentary. So I end up playing what they call in sports, 'Catch-up ball,' and post a mash up of belated reviews from past shows. It's kind of like a critic's version of the song 'Six Months Out of Every Year,' from Damn Yankees. Give or take a month or two, that's usually the time period during which I store unpublished reviews in my fevered brain and then unload them all in one seemingly endless column-like this one is going to be. If my cabaret-show reviewing days will be over (as chronicled here), I might as well go out with a bang-and relieve my procrastination guilt during holiday season. Now I can scratch one New Year's resolution off the list.

In the fifth year of 'A Swinging Birdland Christmas,' singers Klea Blackhurst, Jim Caruso, and pianist/singer Billy Stritch have been knocking 'em dead on the stage of the historic jazz club every night.

This January and February 54 BELOW presents an exciting lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54thStreet. For a detailed schedule of upcoming performances at 54 Below and to purchase tickets, visit www.54Below.com.

Birdland presents the fifth annual "A Swinging Birdland Christmas" celebration at Birdland Jazz Club starring Birdland regulars Klea Blackhurst, Jim Caruso and Billy Stritch. To celebrate the holidays Blackhurst, Caruso and Stritch will perform swinging arrangements of beloved seasonal specials like "Christmas Waltz," Kay Thompson's "Holiday Season," "Sleigh Ride," and "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm" among other favorites.

MR. MAGOO'S CHRISTMAS CAROL, benefitting the The Actors Fund, was held last night, December 15, 2014 at 7:30 pm at The Gerald W. Lynch Theatre at John Jay College. Klea Blackhurst (Radio Gals), Janet Dacal (Wonderland, In the Heights) and Tony Award nominee Tony Sheldon (Priscilla Queen of the Desert) were a part of the star studded cast that featured Tony Award nominee Douglas Sills (The Scarlet Pimpernel, Little Shop of Horrors) in the title role.

If you've been joining us for BWW's 12 Days of Christmas video features, on this 3rd day, the choice was easy and obvious for me. Tonight, for the first time ever on a stage, MR. MAGOO'S CHRISTMAS CAROL will be staged and performed, benefitting the The Actors Fund. The very special event takes place this evening at 7:30 pm at The Gerald W. Lynch Theatre at John Jay College (524 West 59th Street). For more info, and how to get tickets, click here.

MR. MAGOO'S CHRISTMAS CAROL, benefitting the The Actors Fund, is a one-night-only event held tonight, December 15, 2014 at 7:30 pm at The Gerald W. Lynch Theatre at John Jay College (524 West 59th Street).

The cast and creative team for The Actors Fund's upcoming benefit concert of MR. MAGOO'S CHRISTMAS CAROL have officially begun rehearsals for the one-night-only event, set for Monday, December 15, 2014 at 7:30 pm at The Gerald W. Lynch Theatre at John Jay College (524 West 59th Street). Check out a first look below!

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its Christmas week schedule, running December 22 - 28, 2014 and featuring: Michael Feinstein in "Happy Holidays: Swingin' with the Big Band," Klea Blackhurst, Jane Monheit, Jim Caruso & Billy Stritch in "A Swinging Birdland Christmas," Jay Leonhart Duo, and more. Details below!

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: Sting treads the boards tonight in THE LAST SHIP, AUGUST RUSH comes to NYC, BLITHE SPIRIT kicks off its tour in LA, DINER begins in D.C. and more!

Complete casting and the creative team have been announced for the upcoming benefit concert of MR. MAGOO'S CHRISTMAS CAROL benefitting the The Actors Fund. This one-night-only event will be held on Monday, December 15, 2014 at 7:30 pm at The Gerald W. Lynch Theatre at John Jay College (524 West 59th Street).

Birdland Jazz Club has announced their amazing line-up of talent for December 15 - December 21, featuring Michael Feinstein in "Happy Holidays: Swingin' with the Big Band," James Langton's New York All-Star Big Band, Jim Caruso, Billy Stritch and Klea Blackhurst in "A Swingin' Birdland Christmas," and more.

Cole Mining: The Songs of Stephen Cole will be presented as part of Urban Stages' Winter Rhythms tomorrow, December 3, 2014 at 7pm at Urban Stages 259 W. 30th Street.

This December and January 54 BELOW presents an exciting lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Scroll down for details!

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.

t may not be like getting a gift on each of the 12 Days of Christmas, but for cabaret and musical theater lovers, the 6th Annual Urban Stages Winter Rhythms series--presented over a dozen nights at the not-for-profit Off-Broadway theatre on 259 West 30th Street--could be the closest thing to opening a daily present by the tree. From December 2-14 (no shows on Dec. 9), more than 100 singers, musicians, and songwriters will perform in an eclectic mix of 20 shows including one-night-only group shows, excerpts from new musicals, solo shows, open mics, late night spotlights, and family matinees, with all the proceeds from ticket sales dedicated to the Urban Stages On Tour Outreach Program that brings more than 200 free multicultural theater and music programs to elementary and middle school age children and their families in libraries and schools throughout NYC five boroughs.

Urban Stages, in association with producer/director/lyricist and Director of Musical Programming Peter Napolitano, today announced that Tony Award Nominee Stephanie D'Abruzzo will join the line-up for their sixth series of musical evenings entitled WINTER RHYTHMS 2014, beginning Tuesday, December 2nd and continuing through Sunday, December 14th at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street, just East of 8th Avenue).

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its December 2014 schedule, featuring Michael Feinstein with Swingin' Big Band, Eliane Elias, Stacey Kent & Marcos Valle, Daniel Reichard, Erich Bergen,Barbara Carroll, "A Swinging Birdland Christmas" with Klea Blackhurst, Jane Monheit, Jim Caruso & Billy Stritch, and more!

HAZEL, an NBC comedy which aired from 1961 - 1966 and followed a live-in maid who lovingly wreaked havoc on the home of the Baxter family, is now a Broadway-bound musical.