Neil Simon News

BroadwayWorld.com previously reported that NBC has officially picked up the pilot entitled SMASH for a series to begin mid-season. The show is already generating positive buzz, and even some award recognition, nominated for the first Critics' Choice Television Awards in the category 'Most Exciting New Series.'

Emmy Award winner Sharon Gless ('Queer as Folk,' 'Burn Notice,' 'Nip/Tuck,' 'Cagney and Lacey') would continue to star in the production, which is based on the best-selling book and 'follows the real-life adventures of Jane Juska when she courageously decides, at 66 years old, to place a personal ad in The New York Review of Books, that reads, 'Before I turn 67, next March, I would like to have a lot of sex with a man I like. If you want to talk first, Trollope works for me...'

According to Deadline.com, NBC just signed a deal with Columbia Records to release the soundtrack for the highly anticipated new series Smash. Additionally, leading lady and American Idol alum Katharine McPhee has also signed a recording contract with Columbia.

The Vagabond Players, 806 S. Broadway in historic Fell's Point, is pleased to announce its 2011-2012 Season. America's oldest continuously existing little theatre, the 2011-12 Season is the Vagabonds' 96th consecutive Season.

Cortland Repertory Theatre starts their celebratory 40th Anniversary 'Ruby Jubilee' season at the Little York Pavilion with 'Rumors', a hysterical farce penned by America's Master of Comedy, Neil Simon. Simon is best known for his cannon of wildly successful comedies, and is the only playwright in history to have four shows running on Broadway at the same time: 'The Odd Couple', 'Barefoot in the Park', 'The Star Spangled Girl' and the musical 'Sweet Charity'. He has been nominated 17 times for the Tony Award, has won 3, and also won the Pulitzer Prize for his semi-autobiographical comedy/drama 'Lost in Yonkers'. 'Rumors' is the only true farce that he has added to his extensive body of work.

As we inch closer and closer to the Broadway's biggest night on Sunday, today we have the choreographic centerpiece of our extensive Tony Award countdown with a focus on the genius of Michael Bennett. While we have already featured his shows COMPANY, FOLLIES, A CHORUS LINE and DREAMGIRLS - and even took a look at the recent smash hit revival of PROMISES, PROMISES starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth - today's triple dose of clips (with a few surprises) is undoubtedly as close as one can get to theatrical crack cocaine: "Turkey Lurkey Time" from the original Broadway production of PROMISES, PROMISES, "Fifty Percent" from BALLROOM performed by Dorothy Loudon and - one of the most elaborate numbers in Tony Awards history - "Always Mademoiselle" from COCO starring Katharine Hepburn. So, see some of the reasons why these are the best of the best of Bennett and, therefore, the best of the best of Broadway right here!

Drury Lane Theatre presents Neil Simon's Tony Award-winning dramatic comedy BROADWAY BOUND, previewing June 9, opening June 16 and running through July 31 at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane.

From July 15-23, the Independent Drama Society will celebrate the end of its three-year tenure with THE GOOD DOCTOR, directed by Marketing Director Christine Toohey. This Neil Simon comedy, inspired by the short stories of Anton Chekhov, will be the final production of this young company.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN captures the astonishing true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr., a world-class con artist who passed himself off as a doctor, a lawyer, and a jet pilot-all before the age of 21. With straight-arrow FBI agent Carl Hanratty on Frank's trail, we're off on a jet-setting, cat-and-mouse chase, as a jazzy, swinging-sixties score keeps this adventure in constant motion. In the end, Agent Hanratty learns he and Frank aren't so very different after all, and Frank finds out what happens when love catches up to a man on the run. See what Abagnale had to say about the high-flying musical adaptation of his true story, currently playing at The Neil Simon Theatre, below!

British playwright Joe Orton's classic dark comedy ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE, hits Los Angeles this June for a four week run at the Actors Company theater. The play, which originally debuted in London in 1964, tells a sexy, suspenseful, and often humorous story that continues to captivate and surprise audiences today. Director Stan Zimmerman leads an ensemble cast which includes: Ian Buchanan (The Bold and the Beautiful), Olivia d'Abo (THE WONDER YEARS), Emrhys Cooper (We Will Rock You) and Robin Gammell (NIP/TUCK).

Two Toms - Schaller and Rocco - will Simon-ize audiences in Midland, launching the summer season at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center with Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple."

Pittsburgh-bred, NYC-based actor and singer, Tom Rocco, will be coming home to the Cabaret at Theater Square on Sunday, June 5th to celebrate the release of his new, live-recording CD, "My Big, Fat, Proposition 8 Wedding."