Matthew Nardozzi News

Award-winning playwright/director Chip Deffaa's 'Irving Berlin Songbook' album--part of an ongoing 'Irving Berlin Project' which Deffaa has been developing at the 13th Street Theater in New York City--will be released August 16th.  The album--with two-dozen members of New York's theatrical community singing 29 rare Berlin songs--includes many songs that have never before  been recorded.  Deffaa--one of the world's foremost authorities on Berlin's music and the author of five different shows about him--went through every song in the Berlin archive, some 1500 in all, in preparation for the project.

Legendary songwriter Irving Berlin (1888-1989) was so fanatical about his privacy that in his lifetime he prevented anyone from dramatizing his life. 'They can do what they want after I'm dead,' he declared. Since Berlin's  passing, ASCAP award-winning writer/director Chip Deffaa has written no less than five different shows about Berlin, developing them at the 13th Street Theater in New York City. 

The premiere recording of ASCAP award-winning writer/director Chip Deffaa's musical play 'Irving Berlin: In Person,' which was developed at the 13th Street Theater in New York City, will be released June 3rd.  Jed Peterson, who's starred Off-Broadway in such shows as 'Hard Times' and 'Nevsky Prospect,' and has been featured on television's  'Madame Secretary,' stars as Mr. Berlin.  Richard Danley is musical director.  Choreography and tap-dancing are by Rayna Hirt.  Hawkins Gardow is special guest artist. Music preparation is by Donald Brown.   Peter Charney and Matthew Nardozzi are assistants to the producers.  The CD, being distributed exclusively in the United States via CDBaby, will be available on CDBaby.com, Amazon.com, iTunes, Footlight Records, Google Music, etc.

New York's venerable 13th Street Repertory Company is the only theater company in the world headed by a centenarian.

Some never-before-recorded Irving Berlin songs will get their recording debuts when the original cast album of Chip Deffaa's musical play IRVING BERLIN & CO. is released in the U.S. by CDBaby on Monday, December 21st.

The original cast album for Chip Deffaa's musical play 'Irving Berlin & Co.' (published by Eldridge Plays and Musicals)  will be released December 21st.  The album can be pre-ordered now from CDBaby (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/irvingberlinco); as of the 21st, it will be available from Amazon, iTunes, Google Music Store,  SoundExchange, Rhapsody, etc.  This is the 13th cast album of Deffaa's to be released, and the fourth dealing with Berlin.  Cast-members will help celebrate the release with performances of songs at Birdland and on 'The Barry Z Show.'  

Benjamin Grier--currently co-starring in, and serving as dance captain for Chip Deffaa's musical comedy 'Mad About the Boy' at the 13th Street Repertory Theater--has won the theater's 'Matthew Nardozzi Award,' which recognizes professionalism, a strong work ethic,  and reliability, as well as talent. Nardozzi flew up from Florida to present Grier with the honor.  ASCAP  Award-winner Deffaa, the theater's most widely produced playwright, emceed the award ceremony, the first of several award ceremonies to be held at the theater this year.  

The 13th Street Repertory Theater will present an 'Irving Berlin Teach-In,' immediately following the Sunday (November 23rd) matinee performance of Chip Deffaa's 'The Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue.' The 'Ragtime Revue,' which has been selling out at the theater, will begin at 3 pm. The teach-in is expected to begin at 4:30 pm. Michael Townsend Wright, who previously co-starred at the theater with Giuseppe Bausilio in 'Irving Berlin's America' (as seen in the photo) will be one of the special guests at the teach-in, singing a rare Berlin ballad as well as sharing recollections and insights. (Wright may also be heard on the cast album for 'Irving Berlin's America,' which includes some never-before-recorded material.) Surprise guests with ties to Berlin and his world will be joining Wright, the cast of 'The Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue,' pianist Richard Danley, and playwright Chip Deffaa in the teach-in.

ASCAP Award-winning writer/director Chip Deffaa will be joined by special guests, including noted showbiz biographer Herb Goldman, writer/entertainer Brian Gari, and actor Michael Townsend Wright, for special audience 'talkback' sessions, following select performances of Deffaa's shows 'One Night with Fanny Brice' and 'The Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue,' which are playing in repertory this fall at the 13th Street Theater (50 W. 13th Street, NYC).

When ASCAP Award-winning writer/director Chip Deffaa's "The Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue" opens November 9th at the 13th Street Repertory Theater (50 W. 13th Street, NYC), it will include some Berlin rarities and rediscoveries unheard in a century, including some never-recorded Berlin numbers.

When ASCAP Award-winning playwright/director Chip Deffaa's 'The Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue' has its world premiere at the 13th Street Repertory Theater on November 9th, it will be the second new show about Berlin to play the theater this year.

The Hollywood Arts Council (HAC) presented their 29th Annual FREE Children's Festival of the Arts at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood on Sunday, August 10, 2014. Shauna McClure, Executive Director of the Hollywood Arts Council said, 'This year's Children's Festival of the Arts was attended by a record high of around 5,000 people. The event was a total success! People whose parents attended the festival in the past are now bringing their own kids. The diversity of the crowd in attendance was truly amazing.'

Family fun will be the theme of the day for the Hollywood Arts Council's 29th Annual FREE Children's Festival of the Arts to be presented at Paramount Pictures, 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90038 this Sunday, August 10, 2014 from 12-Noon - 4:30 p.m.

Due to popular demand, Playhouse on the Green, Bridgeport's not-for-profit community theater, has extended the run of its production of the Tony Award® winning musical THE WIZ for three additional performances: Friday, May 15 at 8PM; Saturday, May 16 at 8PM; and Sunday, May 17 at 3PM.

Due to popular demand, Playhouse on the Green, Bridgeport's not-for-profit community theater, has extended the run of its production of the Tony Award® winning musical THE WIZ for three additional performances: Friday, May 15 at 8PM; Saturday, May 16 at 8PM; and Sunday, May 17 at 3PM.

Broadway Kids Care (BKC), the organization of theater kids for kids (and others), hosted its 2nd annual Halloween Festival.

The eighth episode of the showbiz-themed web series 'The Battery's Down,' which chronicles the life of a young performer in New York City, will feature Tony Award winner John Gallagher, Jr. (Spring Awakening, Rabbit Hole), Deidre Goodwin (A Chorus Line, 30 Rock), Eric Roediger (Spelling Bee), Jay Russell (Around The World In 80 Days), Emily Walton (Saved), Matthew Nardozzi (Inherit The Wind), and Tyler Maynard (The Little Mermaid, Altar Boyz) who is reprising the role of Pepe.

Inherit the Wind, starring two time Tony Award-winners Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy, opened April 12th at the Lyceum Theatre, and BroadwayWorld was there!

The producers of the upcoming Broadway production of INHERIT THE WIND starring two time Tony® Award winners Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy have announced the complete 34-member company.