Michele Lee News

Actors' Equity Association (Equity), the Union which represents more than 49,000 working stage actors and stage managers nationwide, today announced the election results for the 8 officers and 17 National Council seats. Nick Wyman, Paige Price, Rebecca Kim Jordan, Ira Mont and Sandra Karas ran uncontested for the offices of President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Third Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer, respectively.

Manhattan Theatre Club will celebrate Artistic Director Lynne Meadow's 40th anniversary as the visionary and artistic leader of the organization with a special tribute on Monday, June 18. The event will begin at 6:30 PM with a VIP cocktail reception, followed by a 7:30 tribute event at the Samuel J. Friedman (261 West 47th Street). Immediately after the Friedman tribute event, a party will follow at Copacabana (268 West 47th Street).

Patrons were treated to a classic trip down memory lane this week as four leading ladies of the legendary Persian Room New York came together for a book signing. Lainie Zazan, Michele Lee, Connie Stevens and Barbara Van Orden gathered at Barnes and Noble in California's The Grove to celebrate the release of Patty Farmer's new book "The Persian Room Presents." Anecdotes involving audience celebrity sightings included Barbara Streisand (by Stevens), Milton Berle (by Van Orden), Jack Jones and his thighs (by Lee) and a mob king who struck her while performing (by Kazan). See photos of the leading ladies at the event below!

Leading Ladies of NY's Famous Persian Room, Lainie Kazan, Michele Lee, Connie Stevens and Barbara Van Orden join author, Patty Farmer for a Q&A and sign copies of "The Persian Room Presents." A portion of the proceeds from each sale will be donated to Childhelp for the treatment and prevention of child abuse.

As part of its Jazz & Popular Song series, directed by five-time Grammy Award-nominated singer and pianist Michael Feinstein, Jazz at Lincoln Center will present Cy Coleman: Bringing Jazz to Broadway on Tuesday, May 15 and Wednesday May 16 at 7:30pm. Feinstein, who featured Cy Coleman as a vocalist and jazz pianist in his nightclub the month before the famed composer died, leads a cast featuring Michele Lee (Coleman's Seesaw, Knots Landing), Tamara Tunie (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), Broadway veteran Chuck Cooper, singer-songwriter Johnny Rodgers and, on May 16 only, James Naughton (The Devil Wears Prada) that illustrates Coleman's profound jazz influence on contemporary Broadway.

Leading Ladies of NY's Famous Persian Room, Lainie Kazan, Michele Lee, Connie Stevens and Barbara Van Orden join author, Patty Farmer for a Q&A and sign copies of "The Persian Room Presents." A portion of the proceeds from each sale will be donated to Childhelp for the treatment and prevention of child abuse.

Further to Vantage Press's release of "The Persian Room Presents," New York's Plaza Hotel will be hosting a public signing for author and Plaza resident, Ms. Patty Farmer on Thursday, March 29th at 5:00 to 7:00 pm, at 768 5th Ave, New York. A portion of the proceeds from each sale will be donated to Childhelp for the treatment and prevention of child abuse.

Sporadically shedding its former skin as a mainly musical endeavor, last night's "The Coup" episode of NBC's musical dramedy series SMASH stepped outside the box and presented a drama-focused show heavy on the plot and light on the musical numbers - with surprisingly strong results, believe it or not. As has become abundantly apparent, in the seven episodes up until this point, SMASH seems to have excelled in its musical sequences which floated high, flying, adored (like Eva Peron in EVITA) above everything else; enlivening the proceedings where the story fell short - usually, with Ivy (Megan Hilty) dominating the Marilyn Monroe show-within-the-show songs and Karen (Katharine McPhee) making the very most of an impressive melange of pop covers - but, as penned by Scott Burkhardt and directed by GLEE veteran Paris Barclay, "The Coup" showed that SMASH has legs and can sustain a character/plot-focused story from time to time, too. And, anyway, it's hard to complain too much about a lack of songs when we were presented with perhaps the most unique and stylized pop musical number to date in the form of the Top 40-ready Ryan Tedder-written potential Marilyn burlesque routine - that is, if Derek (Jack Davenport) takes the show-within-the-show in an entirely new direction and leaves Tom (Christian Borle) and Julia (Debra Messing) by the wayside. That potential prospect seems highly unlikely, though - to say the very, very least. Speaking of high, "The Coup" flew the coop as far as daring to do what many may have thought unlikely or impossible - namely, weaving in almost seamless, fully-integrated musical sequences such as Ivy & company's down and dirty bowling alley cover song set to the funky 60s sounds of Sly & The Family Stone's "Dance To The Music", or, (almost) effortlessly managing to make a contemporary song in a musical theatre milieu actually function (more or less) and come alive in the form of the sexy and titillating 'Touch Me'. Yes, "The Coup" stylistically diverged from what has come before on SMASH, but the more risks taken, the more rewards reaped. Definitely don't count all the eggs in the SMASH basket before they're hatched!

The long-running Off Broadway favorite Love, Loss, and What I Wore will close tonight, Sunday, March 25, 2012 after playing for two and a half years and 1,013 performances. (March 15th marked the show's landmark 1,000 performance.)

Further to Vantage Press's release of "The Persian Room Presents," New York's Plaza Hotel will be hosting a public signing for author and Plaza resident, Ms. Patty Farmer on Thursday, March 29th at 5:00 to 7:00 pm, at 768 5th Ave, New York. A portion of the proceeds from each sale will be donated to Childhelp for the treatment and prevention of child abuse.

Special guests Marge Champion, Barbara Van Orden and Tony Butala join author, Patty Farmer Wednesday, March 7 at 7:00 pm, for a Q&A and to sign copies of "The Persian Room Presents." A portion of the proceeds from each sale will be donated to Childhelp for the treatment and prevention of child abuse. The event will be held at Barnes & Noble (82nd & Broadway).

Special guests Marge Champion, Barbara Van Orden and Tony Butala join author, Patty Farmer Wednesday, March 7 at 7:00 pm, for a Q&A and to sign copies of "The Persian Room Presents." A portion of the proceeds from each sale will be donated to Childhelp for the treatment and prevention of child abuse. The event will be held at Barnes & Noble (82nd & Broadway).

Producer Daryl Roth announced today that the long-running Off Broadway favorite Love, Loss, and What I Wore will close on Sunday, March 25, 2012 after playing for two and a half years and 1,013 performances. (March 15th marks the show's landmark 1,000 performance.)

Call it the biography of a place, a collaborative memoir, a history-but whatever you call it, The Persian Room Presents will transport you to the most elegant and magical night spot New York has ever known. In this dishy, personal, and compulsively readable book, dozens of celebrities reminisce about their experiences performing and partying at the Plaza and they all agree on one thing: there's never been anyplace like it.

FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY opened its Winter 2012 season with the return of Lucie Arnaz in a show based on her new CD 'Latin Roots.' In an eclectic celebration of her musical heritage, Arnaz playfully wended her way through pop south of the border sounds, enduring American standards, enhanced with a Brazilian accent or basted by a Bossa Nova beat and she took on some of the fiery Latin classics of her father, Desi Arnaz. Check out photos from the concert below!

Broadway favorite Michele Lee attended a preview of Off-Broadway's THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER starring Jim Brochu and Cady Huffman this past Tuesday, November 29th. The celebrated stage & film star was the first to leap to her feet at the end of the performance, leading the standing ovation. Check out a photo of Lee with Brochu below!

The LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement during the 2010-2011 season, were presented on Monday, November 14, 2011 at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Click here for a full list of winners.

The LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement during the 2010-2011 season, were presented on Monday, November 14, 2011 at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Click here for a full list of winners. Check out photos from he event below!