Peter Fitzgerald News

Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical, the outrageously fun show about three friends on the roadtrip of a lifetime, will make its national tour debut at Hennepin Theatre Trust's Orpheum Theatre, January 8-13, 2013. Called a "rollicking crowd-pleaser in sequins" by Variety, this international hit with more than 500 2011 Tony Award-winning costumes features a parade of dance floor favorites including "It's Raining Men," "Finally" and "I Will Survive." Single tickets are on sale now. Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical is presented by Hennepin Theatre Trust as part of its 2012/13 Broadway Across America-Minneapolis season. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit HennepinTheatreTrust.org or call 1.800.982.2787.

The first national tour of Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical is coming to the Palace Theatre in Cleveland, from January 15-27, 2013 as part of the KeyBank Broadway Series at PlayhouseSquare.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents a stage adaptation of the beloved classic film, Irving Berlin's White Christmas in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Bring your loved ones for a heart-warming celebration of Americana from tonight, December 11, 2012 to January 6, 2013. The press opening is Thursday, December 13 at 7:30 p.m.

Troika Entertainment has just announced the cast for the first national tour of the international hit, Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical. Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical launches its national tour on January 8 in Minneapolis, MN at the Orpheum Theatre.

Virginia Stage Company announced today the cast and creative team has been set for the upcoming World Premiere of Frog Kiss, with book and lyrics by Charles Leipart and music by Eric Schorr, to run January 15-February 3, 2013 at the Wells Theatre in downtown Norfolk, Virginia.

Irving Berlin's White Christmas, the stage adaptation of the beloved classic film is coming to Columbus this holiday season. Bring your loved ones to a heart-warming celebration of Americana tonight, November 20-25 at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State St.).

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents a stage adaptation of the beloved classic film, Irving Berlin's White Christmas in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Bring your loved ones for a heart-warming celebration of Americana from December 11, 2012 to January 6, 2013. The press opening is Thursday, December 13 at 7:30 p.m.

GPR Records (Glen Roven, Peter Fitzgerald, Richard Cohen, artistic directors)releases a children's CD of Catherine Zeta-Jones narrating The Runaway Bunny, based on the best selling children's classic by Margaret Wise Brown. Michael Douglas narrates everyone's favorite elephant - The Story of Babar - The Little Elephant, a 1931 classic written by Jean de Brunhoff. Also on the CD will be English Baritone Mark Stone singing Goodnight Moon also by Margaret Wise Brown. The CD, distributed by Naxos, will be released today, November 15th and will be available at www.GPRRecords.com, Amazon, and iTunes.

You would have to be some sort of modern-day Ebenezer Scrooge-mean and spiteful, unfeeling and cold-not to be totally captivated by Irving Berlin's White Christmas, the exuberant stage musical based on the classic holiday film that many hold dear and now onstage at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall through Sunday, November 18.

For David Elder, making the trip to Nashville to star in the national touring company of Irving Berlin's White Christmas-the stage musical based on the holiday film favorite-is a homecoming of sorts. For it was in Music City that the talented young man from Texas first set off on his circuitous route to stardom.

GPR Records (Glen Roven, Peter Fitzgerald, Richard Cohen, artistic directors) will release a children's CD of Catherine Zeta-Jones narrating The Runaway Bunny, based on the best selling children's classic by Margaret Wise Brown. Michael Douglas narrates everyone's favorite elephant - The Story of Babar - The Little Elephant, a 1931 classic written by Jean de Brunhoff. Also on the CD will be English Baritone Mark Stone singing Goodnight Moon also by Margaret Wise Brown. The CD, distributed by Naxos, will be released on November 15th and will be available at www.GPRRecords.com, Amazon, and iTunes.

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert played its final performance on Broadway on June 24, 2012, after 23 previews and 526 performances. Now, according to an Equity casting notice, a national tour for the show will launch from Minneapolis on January 8.

Irving Berlin's White Christmas, the stage adaptation of the beloved classic film is coming to Columbus this holiday season. Bring your loved ones to a heart-warming celebration of Americana November 20-25 at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State St.).

Following REBECCA's cancellation on Broadway and the news that financier and stock broker Mark C. Hotton was arrested yesterday for his role in the show's collapse, Bloomberg reports that REBECCA's producers now have 10 weeks-until Dec. 31-to raise $4.5 million or face returning millions more to their investors.

The twisting tale of REBECCA's cancellation on Broadway made a new turn this morning with multiple news outlets reporting that troubled financier and stock broker Mark C. Hotton was arrested this morning at 6am for his role in the show's collapse.

According to the New York Post, Ronald Russo , lawyer for producer Ben Sprecher has now said that 'Sprecher had been led to "Abrams" by shadowy Long Island businessman, Mark Hotton, who told him Abrams died before he could hand over the dough, sources have said. There also were three other investors Hotton told Sprecher about who supposedly promised another combined $2 million for the show, the sources have said. But "following an extensive search over the last week, I can now confirm that there is no evidence whatever that "Paul Abrams" or any of the other three investors brought to this production by Mr. Hotton, ever existed," said Sprecher's lawyer, Ronald Russo. The lawyer said they conducted an investigation in both the US and England.'

Marilyn Sokol, currently featured in OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES, will be a guest on WBAI Radio (99.5 FM) tomorrow, Saturday October 6 in the 9 AM hour. The Emmy Award winner will chat with host David Rothenberg about the off Broadway hit, and about her career, which includes such highlights as flashing the audience on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (by mistake), being both a voice and puppeteer on Sesame Street, and having her Dial-A-Jokes on record at The Smithsonian Institute.

This morning, October 3, the following letter was composed by one of the Principal cast members of REBECCA, Karen Mason, in hopes of clearing up the ongoing speculation of the cancelled Broadway prodution of REBECCA

Now according to the New York Times, the United States attorney's office is investigating whether the investor ever existed in the first place. Sprecher told NYT: "I never made up or fabricated any investor, and I never made up Paul Abrams." He also revealed that a new production of Rebecca is in the works that he 'hoped to mount soon, on Broadway or elsewhere.'

Ben Sprecher and Louise Forlenza, producers for Rebecca, the Musical, announced this afternoon that they were left with no option but to postpone the show. A new timeline has not been announced.