Laurie Beechman News

Cult sensation DINA MARTINA returns to New York tonight, September 26 with DINA MARTINA: A DOUR PALETTE at The Laurie Beechman Theatre. After attaining cult status in her native town of Seattle and touring nationally, Martina's official New York debut in 2005 sold out in minutes. Her follow-up shows have left jaded audiences (including Michael Stipe, Whoopi Goldberg, John Waters, Matt Stone, John Cameron Mitchell, Margaret Cho, Bruce Vilanch, Joyce Dewitt, and Jeff Stryker -- a list as strange has her shows) stunned and clamoring for more.

Rowan Joseph, a nationally-recognized producer and director with over 30 years of experience working in the American Theatre has been named as the new Producing Artistic Director of the Totem Pole Playhouse.

Broadway favorite Natalie Joy Johnson and drag darling Eve Starr will present the premiere of HIGH SPIRITS & LOW STANDARDS. Under the Musical Direction of Brian Nash, it will be performed for two performances only beginning October 10 at The Laurie Beechman Theatre.

Marcus Stevens and Natalie Charle Ellis, recently of Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Kicking, are just two of the Broadway and Off-Broadway luminaries who will appear in Dorks, Drunks, and Dinosaurs: The Songs of Jeff Bienstock on October 21st at the Laurie Beechman Theater. Stevens will also be taking on directorial duties as he and his former co-star take part in an evening of music and lyrics by the multifaceted and award-winning Bienstock.

A special Broadway Ballyhoo, celebrating the 99th birthday of the show's producer/host, Scott Siegel ('Because that's how old I feel') will be a star-studded affair at the show's new home at The Laurie Beechman Theater.

By overwhelming popular demand, what began as a one-night-only engagement has ballooned into a full-fledged Off-Broadway run! Now, RuPaul's Drag Race favorite Jinkx Monsoon announces a fifth extension of her New York theater debut in THE VAUDEVILLIANS, a musical comedy co-starring composer and musician Major Scales. Performances will now run through November 11 at The Laurie Beechman Theater (inside West Bank Cafe at 407 West 42nd Street -- at Ninth Avenue, accessible from the A,C,E,N,R,V,F,1,2,3 trains at 42nd Street). Performance times vary. Tickets are $25 (plus a $15 food/drink minimum.) A $50 VIP ticket including priority seating and meet-and-greet is also available. To purchase tickets, call 212-352-3101 or visit www.SpinCycleNYC.com.

A special Broadway Ballyhoo, celebrating the 99th birthday of the show's producer/host, Scott Siegel ('Because that's how old I feel') will be a star-studded affair at the show's new home at The Laurie Beechman Theater.

The concert is a benefit for ASPCA and will feature Derek Klena, Arielle Jacobs, Gabrielle Ruiz, Kennedy Caughell, Genny Lis Padilla, Margot B, Dana Costello, Cicily Daniels, Kristin Valphedes, Katie Hotz, Lacey Angerosa, Libby Servais, Jenna Leigh Green, Emily Esposito, Britney Coleman, Matt Shingledecker, Allison Rerecich , Geoffrey Kidwell, Jaime Cepero, Jose Sepulveda, Brandon Ellis, David Davila, Tatiana Lofton, Brian Charles Rooney, Jerey Plybum, Ben Roseberry, and Eric Restivo.

Drag star MargOH! Channing is back with an all new show aptly titled 'MargOH! Sings the Booze' October 23 and 26 9:30PM at the world famous Duplex Cabaret,61 Christopher St, NY,NY. The evening is directed by Thom Fogarty with Musical Direction by Tracy Stark. Tickets are on sale nowhttp://margohsingsthebooze.brownpapertickets.com/

After acclaimed runs in London, Scotland and Australia, writer/performer Peter Michael Marino returns to NYC with his comic autopsy on his $6 million West End musical fiasco Desperately Seeking Susan in DESPERATELY SEEKING THE EXIT. Directed by Obie Award winner John Clancy, it will be performedSunday, October 13 at The Triple Crown Underground.

The return of the Orlando Fringe Festival hit musical DISENCHANTED! will be playing at The Abbey in downtown Orlando, today, September 19 through October 27.

Today, 15th September, as part of the St James' Studio Cabaret Weekends, Jonathan Reid Gealt will be in concert showcasing his new album 'Here For You - Ballads for Broadway Impact'. Produced by ILIADebuts in association with Theatre Bench, the concert will include songs from his new album as well as 'Thirteen Stories Down' and exclusives from his new musical 'Dust and Shadow'.

In the video below, Drew Aber (Broadway: Tale of Two Cities, Best Actor Nominee Planet Connections 2013) rehearses 'Thrill of the Chase' with Josh Freilich for the Mercury Rising Benefit Concert. Click to watch!

The Harvard Department of Music and the Office for the Arts at Harvard have announced the appointment of Jason Robert Brown as Blodgett Artist-in-Residence during the spring of 2014. A celebrated American composer, Brown has been hailed as 'one of Broadway's smartest and most sophisticated songwriters since Stephen Sondheim' (Philadelphia Inquirer). He is known best as the award-winning composer and lyricist of the musical The Last 5 Years, and the Tony-award winning composer of Parade.

Big Thunder Productions will present Mercury Rising, a Benefit Concert by MSS Alums in the Big Apple, a cabaret event to be performed on Sunday, September 15th at 4pm at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. The event will feature songs from new, bound-for-Broadway musicals written by up-and-coming composers and lyricists from all over the globe, including Mercury Summer Stock's own Dan Marshall, Carla Rose Fisher, and Aliyana Stewart. This benefit concert will feature Broadway's Corey Mach and Drew Aber, and over a dozen of Mercury's NYC-based professional alumni, along with special guest Marissa Rosen. Check out a first look at Aber and Josh Freilich rehearsing below!

Broadway's Frankie James Grande returns to his home town of New York with his one-man show 'Living La Vida Grande' at the Laurie Beechman Theater this weekend, September 13th-15th, 2013.

Lone Star Theatre Co will be presenting a series of readings and concerts by Texas playwrights and composers as part of their second season in NYC.

Cult sensation DINA MARTINA returns to New York on September 26 with DINA MARTINA: A DOUR PALETTE at The Laurie Beechman Theatre. After attaining cult status in her native town of Seattle and touring nationally, Martina's official New York debut in 2005 sold out in minutes. Her follow-up shows have left jaded audiences (including Michael Stipe, Whoopi Goldberg, John Waters, Matt Stone, John Cameron Mitchell, Margaret Cho, Bruce Vilanch, Joyce Dewitt, and Jeff Stryker -- a list as strange has her shows) stunned and clamoring for more.

On September 21, Macchia--who works full-time as a florist by day and part-time as a manager at the Metropolitan Room by night--will celebrate his 'Fierce and Fabulous' 40th birthday with the launch of Season Eight of Cabaret Cares. Over the first seven years of the variety series, now staged at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, Macchia has raised more than $80,000 to help children from infants to teenagers suffering from HIV and AIDS. During the first year, funds raised through the Cabaret Cares benefit shows helped 22 children. Now Macchia's Help Is On The Way charity-which is run out of Joseph's home and has no salaried staff--services around 650 kids, supplying everything from school backpacks to weeks at a summer camp.

Two-Time Tony Nominee, Martin Vidnovic (Oklahoma, Baby, etc.) will join Ali Stroker, who first rose to fame in The Glee Project on TV, and then upped the ante when she graduated into Glee. Also joining the cast are Glee Project Star Dani Shay, famous folk singer/songwriter Christine Lavin, Broadway Rising Star Dominque Solano, and visiting Australian star Catherine Alcorn. They will all appear in the next Broadway Ballyhoo on Wednesday, Sept. 11th at 10:30 PM at the Laurie Beechman Theatre.