Len Cariou News

The American Theatre Wing announced today that its annual gala, held this past Monday evening at the Plaza Hotel, was the most successful in the organization's history, raising over $750,000 (besting the previous record, which was set in 2013, by more than $50,000). All proceeds from the evening will benefit the education and outreach programs of the American Theatre Wing, which include SpringboardNYC, the Theatre Intern Network, the National Theatre Company Grants and the Jonathan Larson Grants, and will also support free access for students, aspiring professionals, and the general public to programming on AmericanTheatreWing.org, including the long running 'Working in the Theatre' media program.

Lonny Price will direct Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson in Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler'sSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, A Musical Thriller, the first production in a major new long term partnership between English National Opera (ENO) and the GradeLinnit Company.

SWEENEY TODD airs on PBS stations on Friday, September 26, 2014, 9:00-11:30 p.m. ET. Audra McDonald serves as host. The acclaimed, sold-out production stars Terfel in the title role and Academy Award-winning actress Emma Thompson as Mrs. Lovett in her Philharmonic debut, New York stage debut, and first time performing the role. In the video below, Bryn Terfel describes the joys and challenges of performing the title role.

The American Theatre Wing held its annual gala last night, September 15 at The Plaza Hotel (Fifth Avenue at Central Park South), honoring Dame Angela Lansbury, who has served as Honorary Chairman of the American Theatre Wing Board of Trustees since 2010. BroadwayWorld was there for the special event and you can check out photos from the glamorous red carpet arrivals below!

Lonny Price will direct Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson in Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler'sSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, A Musical Thriller, the first production in a major new long term partnership between English National Opera (ENO) and the GradeLinnit Company. Check out highlights of the production below!

Tonight, September 15 at 7:00 PM, Randie Levine-Miller will present and host Broadway Showstopper Divos --'A Swell Party' at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street. The evening's theme is 'The Broadway Songbook' -- starring some of the theater's most talented performers:

Broadway's 40 theatres aren't the only places to catch performances from your favorite stars! Well after Broadway orchestra's begin their overtures, ensemble members take their dance breaks, and performers belt out their eleven- o'clock numbers, the party continues at various cabaret venues throughout New York City. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you some cabaret highlights for this week as picked by our theatre editors, including: An Evening of Song Benefiting 'Art Attack', The Songs of Miller & Tysen: Tuck Everlasting & More, Natalie Douglas in 'Hello Dolly...The Music of Dolly Parton', Sondheim Unplugged, and @Actor_Friend @54Below.

Is Stephen Sondheim's SWEENEY TODD an opera or a musical? Bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, who recently starred in Lincoln Center's production, gives his take in the video below, released in anticipation of the Live From Lincoln Center special. Check it out below!

Popular cabaret couple 'The Chamlins' are bringing back their critically acclaimed Jule Styne retrospective to Don't Tell Mama for two performances this Fall. The incredibly prolific Styne wrote hundreds of songs over his 60+-year career. Selections span his early days in jazz-infused Chicago (including the first song he ever published) to Hollywood in its studio heyday, on to the Golden Age of Broadway and television. Their longtime director Teresa Fischer is once again on board.

Barrington Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, announces the return of Drama Desk Award-winner Jim Brochu in his new show Character Man, following his wildly successful run of Zero Hour in 2011. A musical valentine celebrating the Golden Age of the American Musical, Character Man will be presented at BSC's St. Germain Stage at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center from September 18 through 28. The press opening is Saturday, September 20 at 7:30pm.

On Monday, September 15 at 7:00 PM, Randie Levine-Miller will present and host Broadway Showstopper Divos --'A Swell Party' at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street. The evening's theme is 'The Broadway Songbook' -- starring some of the theater's most talented performers.

BroadwayWorld.com has confirmed the sad news this morning that actress Victoria Mallory died on August 30, 2014 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. She leaves behind her husband (and former A Little Night Music co-star) Mark Lambert, and daughter Ramona Mallory Lambert, also an actress.

This September and October 54 BELOW presents a 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.

TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, presents the gripping Broadway musical SWEENEY TODD: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. This masterpiece, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, tells the darkly thrilling tale of a 19th century barber's bloody vengeance. With the help of Mrs. Lovett, the devious purveyor of "the worst pies in London," the cruelly wronged Mr. Todd exacts grisly revenge on the residents of London. Theatreworks Artistic Director Robert Kelley will direct this eight-time Tony Award-winning thrill-ride.SWEENEY TODD plays October 8 - November 2, 2014 (press opening October 11) at TheatreWorks at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. For tickets and information the public may visit www.TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

Ron Raines has joined the cast of Dating & Auditioning: the Web Series. In place of actors James Egan and Torrey Wigfield, new cast members Lee Chrisman and Conrad Le Bron also join the show.

A larger-than-life Hungarian 'Mama Rose,' is slowly slipping into dementia as her Broadway baby, Melinda slips into de'middle age. MOTHER is a 'sandwich generation' story told on the hoof with a dash of glitz. A tale of two women who are losing everything they've ever been-in very different ways-as they both lose each other. Who's it harder for? The one who can't remember? ...Or the one who can't forget?

With Stephen Sondheim's pemission, Landless Theater Company presents an even edgier 'SWEENEY' to D.C. Check out a complete look at the production below!

With Stephen Sondheim's pemission, Landless Theater Company presents an even edgier 'SWEENEY' to D.C.

Producers of the Tony Award-winning musical Rodgers +Hammerstein's Cinderella, Robyn Goodman, Jill Furman and Stephen Kocis, announce that Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award-winning actress Judy Kaye will join the cast as Cinderella's Fairy Godmother - alongside the previously announced Keke Palmer as Cinderella and Sherri Shepherd as her wicked stepmother Madame - beginning September 12 at the Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway) in New York City.

With Stephen Sondheim's pemission, Landless Theater Company is set to bring an even edgier 'SWEENEY' to D.C.