Laurence Maslon News

MasterVoices begins its 2019-20 season on Thursday, November 21 at Carnegie Hall with the concert staging of George and Ira Gershwins' 1933 musical Let 'Em Eat Cake, with a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, a comic satire about a populist U.S. President who is voted out of office and stages a coup to regain power. Artistic Director Ted Sperling will direct and conduct MasterVoices, soloists, and Orchestra of St. Luke's in this timely musical which has not been heard in New York since 1987. Updated casting details are included below.

MasterVoices will begin its 2019-20 season on Thursday, November 21 at Carnegie Hall with the concert staging of George and Ira Gershwins' 1933 musical Let 'Em Eat Cake, with a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, a comic satire about a populist U.S. President who is voted out of office and stages a coup to regain power.

This new illustrated companion volume to Irene Sankoff and David Hein's Tony and Olivier Award-winning musical Come From Away, which tells the remarkable true story of a small Newfoundland town that welcomed stranded air passengers on 9/11, is just as beautifully and thoughtfully crafted as the show itself.

COME FROM AWAY: WELCOME TO THE ROCK, a fully illustrated companion volume to the Tony Award-winning smash hit Broadway musical is available now for pre-order and officially goes on sale on Monday, August 13, 2019 wherever books are sold.

Known as "Mr. Entertainment," Sammy Davis, Jr., had the kind of career that was indisputably legendary, vast in scope and scale: song-and-dance man, Rat Pack member alongside Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, Tony-nominated actor…. And yet, his life was complex, complicated and contradictory, as he strove to achieve the American Dream in a time of racial prejudice and shifting political territory.

This February, for Black History Month, American Masters profiles two iconic performers who broke new ground in entertainment as the Civil Rights movement gathered momentum in America: Sammy Davis, Jr., and Charley Pride. American Masters – Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me, the first major film documentary to examine the performer's vast career and journey for identity through the shifting tides of civil rights and racial progress during 20th-century America, premieres nationwide Tuesday, February 19 at 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) and is available on DVD the same day through PBS Distribution. The PBS broadcast also features 20 minutes of exclusive bonus performance footage spanning Davis' 50-year career after the documentary. American Masters – Charley Pride: I'm Just Me premieres nationwide Friday, February 22 at 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings). Both films will be available to stream the day after their respective broadcast premieres viapbs.org/americanmasters and PBS apps.

92Y announces more cast names and new creative team members for Lyrics & Lyricists 2019. Under the helm of L&L producer Ted Chapin, the series brings artists from theater and beyond to present original revues featuring award-winning Broadway and cabaret performers illuminating the American Songbook.

92Y announces more cast names and new creative team members for Lyrics & Lyricists 2019. Under the helm of L&L producer Ted Chapin, the series brings artists from theater and beyond to present original revues featuring award-winning Broadway and cabaret performers illuminating the American Songbook.

NYU Skirball will present Skirball Talks: Broadway To Main Street, a free theater panel hosted by Laurence Maslon, with Ted Chapin, Thomas Z. Shepard and Kurt Deutsch, on Monday, November 19 at 6:30 pm. The Talk is presented in conjunction with the publication of Maslon's newest book, Broadway to Main Street: How Show Tunes Enchanted America (Oxford University Press). Held weekly every Monday at 6:30pm during the academic terms, Skirball Talks hosts visionaries from the worlds of politics, the arts, sciences, academia, and more. RSVP is necessary.

Oxford University Press and Laurence Maslon will celebrate the new book Broadway to Main Street: How Show Tunes Enchanted America with a special free "Skirball Talks" event at New York's  Skirball Performing Arts Center on Monday, November 19 at 6:30 PM.

92Y announces Lyrics & Lyricists 2019, the 49th season of the country's preeminent American Songbook series. L&L producer Ted Chapin brings a variety of artists from theater and beyond-including Santino Fontana, Mo Rocca, Rob Berman and Chase Brock-to present original revues featuring award-winning Broadway and cabaret performers.

The 11th Annual Las Vegas Film Festival, partnered with CineVegas,announced this morning the initial programming lineup for the 2018 Festival, to be held at Brenden Theatres and Palms Casino Resort June 6 – 10. The lineup includes a mix of feature films and documentaries that have been favorites on the international festival circuit, as well as new additions to this year's Festival - live discussions and live comedy. 2018 also marks the first year with seasoned film festival programming veteran Mike Plante serving as the Festival's Captain of Strategy.

The Kleban Foundation just presented the 28th Annual Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre. Adjudication in the 2018 Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre lyricist category resulted in a tie between Alan Schmuckler and Amanda Yesnowitz, and the 2018 Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre librettist has been awarded to Christian Duhamel.

The Kleban Foundation just presented the 28th Annual Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre. Adjudication in the 2018 Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre lyricist category resulted in a tie between Alan Schmuckler and Amanda Yesnowitz, and the 2018 Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre librettist has been awarded to Christian Duhamel. 

Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) is pleased to share the news that The Kleban Foundation's 28th Annual Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre for the most promising musical theatre librettist has been awarded to Christian Duhamel for his work on My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend, a musical that received its world premiere at MRT in Lowell in April 2017.

The Kleban Foundation just announced the recipients of the 28th Annual Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre. Adjudication in the 2018 Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre lyricist category resulted in a tiebetween Alan Schmuckler and Amanda Yesnowitz, andthe 2018 Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre librettist has been awarded to Christian Duhamel. The 2018 prizes will be presented on Monday, February 5, 2018, in a private ceremony (by invitation only) hosted by ASCAP and BMI at ASCAP.

SKIRBALL TALKS, a new series presented by NYU Skirball, will feature two evenings of conversations with renowned theater artists, including: Jason Robert Brown, Lisa Kron, Steven Lutvak, Alex Timbers and Laurence Maslon (October 2); and Tony Kushner, Oskar Eustis and artists from the Palestinian Freedom Theatre (October 16).

In May, June & July the NPR Program "Broadway to Main Street" hosted by Laurence Maslon which airs Sundays at 3PM on NY/Long Island NPR-member station WPPB/88.3FM will feature interviews with Tony Award-nominee & Sweeney Todd star Carolee Carmello (May 28); a retrospective of The 1967 Tony Awards (June 4); a 2017 Tony Awards Special on Tonys Sunday (6/11) with recordings of all the top nominees for Best Musical and the best musical performer nominees including Bette Midler, Josh Groban, Ben Platt and more; a centennial tribute to Ella Fitzgerald (6/18); a Hello, Dolly! themed show (6/25) with musical selections from Carol Channing, Pearl Bailey, Ethel Merman, as well as selections from the new Bette Midler recording; and for a special July 4 holiday weekend show with original 1776 star William Daniels (July 3).

A generous grant from the Ira and Leonore Gershwin Trusts Philanthropic Fund in the amount of $10,000 has been awarded to support the "Broadway to Main Street" program hosted by Laurence Maslon which airs Sundays at 3PM on NPR affiliate NY/Long Island station WPPB/88.3FM.

Last year, Miller Theatre inaugurated a new holiday season tradition: Carnival of the Animals, in a surreally playful production designed and directed by Lake Simons.