Rex Reed News

The 92nd Street Y announces final casting for the 2009 season of Lyrics & LyricistsTM, the Y's legendary American Songbook series. Linda Purl, La Tanya Hall, Johnny Rodgers and Hilary Kole join Polly Bergen, Lucie Arnaz, Tom Wopat, Marilyn Maye and more who will sing the songs of Ira Gershwin, Mel Torm? and DeSylva, Brown & Henderson. Charles Osgood returns to L&L as host, for the latter show. This is the first season curated by new series artistic director Deborah Grace Winer.

Van Hill Entertainment and Red Griffin Media will present the Off-Broadway premiere of ROOMS a rock romance, starring Leslie Kritzer and Doug Kreeger, with performances beginning Friday, February 27th at New World Stages/Stage 2 (340 West 50th Street). Opening Night is set for Monday March 16th.

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN can be heard every Sunday 9-11 PM(ET) over WBAI 99.5 FM and on the Internet at: www.wbai.org Sunday, March 1st, 2009 9:00PM-11:00PM This Sunday on EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN we feature the music of BLOSSOM DEARIE Also a 'Live On-Air' Panel Discussion on the Art, Career, & Life of the late Blossom Dearie with: JAMES GAVIN, REX REED, DONALD SCHAFFER & DARYL SHERMAN

Van Hill Entertainment and Red Griffin Media are proud to announce that the Off-Broadway premiere of ROOMS a rock romance, starring Leslie Kritzer and Doug Kreeger, will offer a one-day-only sale on tickets for only $8 on Friday, February 27th, for any performance through March 29th.

The 92nd Street Y continues the 2009 season of Lyrics & Lyricists with DAVID ZIPPEL as host and artistic director of It Started with a Dream, February 21-23. Subtitled David Zippel - Lyrics He Wrote, Lyrics He Wishes He Wrote, the Tony award-winning, Oscar-nominated lyricist of City of Angels and Disney's animated Hercules and Mulan, presents highlights from his own scores and shares his inspirations and personal favorites from the American Songbook. The show features an all-Broadway cast, including vocalists KATE BALDWIN (Wonderful Town, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Full Monty), KEVIN EARLEY (A Tale of Two Cities, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Les Mis?rables), Tony Award-winner DEBBIE GRAVITTE (Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Chicago, Les Mis?rables), DANNY GURWIN (Little Women, Urinetown, The Full Monty), and Tony Award-winner LILLIAS WHITE (The Life, Dreamgirls, and. the voice of 'Calliope' in Hercules). One of the most acclaimed and sought-after lyricists working today, David Zippel's other credits include the Broadway musical The Goodbye Girl (written with Marvin Hamlisch and Neil Simon), The Woman in White (with Andrew Lloyd Webber, for which Zippel won another Tony nomination) and the musical stage version of Wendy Wasserstein's bestselling children's book, Pamela's First Musical, written with Wasserstein and City of Angels collaborator Cy Coleman. Series artistic director Deborah Grace Winer, in her first season at the helm, notes that this is the first time in over 25 years that L&L will devote an entire show to a contemporary Broadway songwriter at the height of his career--a return to the spirit in which L&L was founded, with the living lyricist as an active participant.

Doug Kreeger, currently in rehearsals for the upcoming Off-Broadway premiere of ROOMS a rock romance, will be this week's guest on WGHT Radio's 'Curtain Call' Wednesday, February 18 at 9:30 a.m. 'Curtain Call' covers the NY & NJ theater scene every Wednesday morning on WGHT Radio (1500AM), North Jersey's oldies station. Morning host Teisha Bader interviews stars of Broadway, Off-Broadway and local theaters (including Paper Mill). The interview can be heard live at www.ghtradio.com.

Join celebrated cabaret performer Jamie deRoy when she celebrates Oscar with an evening featuring Academy Award-winning songs and winners as the theme of her Multi MAC Award-winning variety show, Jamie deRoy & friends on Monday, February 16th (7:00PM) at the New York hotspot The Metropolitan Room (34 West 22nd Street - between 5th & 6th Avenues).

Gingold Theatrical Group's PROJECT SHAW Presents A Rarely Seen Comedic Frolic: 'BUOYANT BILLIONS' by George Bernard Shaw Monday, February 16th at 7pm At the Players Club 16 Gramercy Park South P

Gingold Theatrical Group's PROJECT SHAW Presents A Rarely Seen Comedic Frolic 'BUOYANT BILLIONS' by George Bernard Shaw. Presented Monday, February 16th at 7pm At the Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South PROJECT SHAW, now in its third of four years, continues tackling every play George Bernard Shaw ever wrote. This will be its 35th presentation. This rarely performed comedy by George Bernard Shaw will be performed on Monday, FEBRUARY 16th, 2008 at 7 p.m. at the Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South. David Staller is producer and director.

This year's new entries include Johnny Mathis, Perez Hilton, The New York Times' Ben Brantley, Idina Menzel, Eden Espinosa, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Betty Buckley, Carol Channing, Cynthia Nixon, Phyllis Diller, Florence Henderson, Marsha Mason, Laura Osnes, John Schneider, Adam Shankman, Frank Wildhorn, Jonathan Tunick, Paul Gemignani.

Van Hill Entertainment is proud to announce that the Off-Broadway premiere of ROOMS a rock romance, starring Leslie Kritzer and Doug Kreeger, will begin performances on Friday February 27th at New World Stages/Stage 2 (340 West 50th Street). Opening Night is set for Monday March 16th (7 PM). ROOMS a rock romance has music and lyrics by Paul Scott Goodman (Bright Lights Big City) and book by Goodman and Miriam Gordon, and will be directed by Scott Schwartz (Golda's Balcony, Bat Boy: The Musical, tick, tick... BOOM!, Jane Eyre).

Join celebrated cabaret performer Jamie deRoy when she celebrates Oscar with an evening featuring Academy Award-winning songs and winners as the theme of her Multi MAC Award-winning variety show, Jamie deRoy & friends on Monday, February 16th (7:00PM) at the New York hotspot The Metropolitan Room (34 West 22nd Street - between 5th & 6th Avenues).

On February 7, 2009, the Lyric Stage League presents CABARET '09: THE LEGENDARY DAYS OF LAS VEGAS, the annual fund-raising event for Lyric Stage. Marilyn Maye, fresh from her latest New York City triumph, will headline this year's gala at the beautiful Four Seasons Resort and Club. Billy Stritch, direct from his engagement with Liza Minnelli on Broadway at the Palace Theater, will accompany Ms. Maye. Call 972-594-1904 for tickets or more info. Marilyn Maye was one of the brightest lights of television, supper clubs and the recording industry during the 1960's. She became a fixture on THE TONIGHT SHOW with Steve Allen and Johnny Carson and enjoyed a great recording career with RCA. After an absence of over 15 years, she made a triumphant return to New York City last fall. THE NEW YORK OBSERVER's Rex Reed proclaimed 'This woman has everything. She can belt, and she can sing ballads with the kind of warmth that makes your heart smile. She has a theatrical flair that captivates and enthralls, and jazz-spiced chops that can reach notes most singers one-third her age can't even hit in their dreams. The standing ovations were unlike anything I've seen since the halcyon days of Lena Horne at the Waldorf. She's the real deal.'

Gingold Theatrical Group's PROJECT SHAW Presents A Rarely Seen Comedic Frolic: 'BUOYANT BILLIONS' by George Bernard Shaw Monday, February 16th at 7pm At the Players Club 16 Gramercy Park South PROJECT SHAW, now in its third of four years, continues tackling every play George Bernard Shaw ever wrote. This will be its 35th presentation. This rarely performed comedy by George Bernard Shaw will be performed on Monday, FEBRUARY 16th, 2008 at 7 p.m. at the Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South. David Staller is producer and director.

Gingold Theatrical Group's PROJECT SHAW Presents A Rarely Seen Comedic Frolic 'BUOYANT BILLIONS' by George Bernard Shaw. Presented Monday, February 16th at 7pm At the Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South PROJECT SHAW, now in its third of four years, continues tackling every play George Bernard Shaw ever wrote. This will be its 35th presentation. This rarely performed comedy by George Bernard Shaw will be performed on Monday, FEBRUARY 16th, 2008 at 7 p.m. at the Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South. David Staller is producer and director.

On Monday, January 26 at 7 PM, the 7th Annual Nightlife Awards Concert took place at Town Hall. BroadwayWorld.com's cameras were everywhere to bring you the excitement of the night! The Nightlife Awards are sponsored, in part, by ASCAP, TheaterMania.com, Thoroughbred Records, Jill & Irwin Cohen, The Edythe Kenner Foundation, Trattoria Dopo Teatro, Edith & Ervin Drake, Barbara & Peter Leavy, Ghostlight Records, Steve Ernst, Lynn DiMenna, Jamie DeRoy & Friends, Fred Landau, Stuart E. Bloom & Robert L. Aaron: Lightstyles, LLC.

Van Hill Entertainment is proud to announce that the Off-Broadway premiere of ROOMS a rock romance, starring Leslie Kritzer and Doug Kreeger, will begin performances on Friday February 27th at New World Stages/Stage 2 (340 West 50th Street). Opening Night is set for Monday March 16th (7 PM). ROOMS a rock romance has music and lyrics by Paul Scott Goodman (Bright Lights Big City) and book by Goodman and Miriam Gordon, and will be directed by Scott Schwartz (Golda's Balcony, Bat Boy: The Musical, tick, tick... BOOM!, Jane Eyre).

The 92nd Street Y continues the 2009 season of Lyrics & Lyricists with DAVID ZIPPEL as host and artistic director of It Started with a Dream, February 21-23. Subtitled David Zippel - Lyrics He Wrote, Lyrics He Wishes He Wrote, the Tony award-winning, Oscar-nominated lyricist of City of Angels and Disney's animated Hercules and Mulan, presents highlights from his own scores and shares his inspirations and personal favorites from the American Songbook. The show features an all-Broadway cast, including vocalists KATE BALDWIN (Wonderful Town, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Full Monty), KEVIN EARLEY (A Tale of Two Cities, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Les Mis?rables), Tony Award-winner DEBBIE GRAVITTE (Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Chicago, Les Mis?rables), DANNY GURWIN (Little Women, Urinetown, The Full Monty), and Tony Award-winner LILLIAS WHITE (The Life, Dreamgirls, and. the voice of 'Calliope' in Hercules). One of the most acclaimed and sought-after lyricists working today, David Zippel's other credits include the Broadway musical The Goodbye Girl (written with Marvin Hamlisch and Neil Simon), The Woman in White (with Andrew Lloyd Webber, for which Zippel won another Tony nomination) and the musical stage version of Wendy Wasserstein's bestselling children's book, Pamela's First Musical, written with Wasserstein and City of Angels collaborator Cy Coleman. Series artistic director Deborah Grace Winer, in her first season at the helm, notes that this is the first time in over 25 years that L&L will devote an entire show to a contemporary Broadway songwriter at the height of his career--a return to the spirit in which L&L was founded, with the living lyricist as an active participant.

Two-time Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole returns to the legendary Caf? Carlyle for the first time since her critically acclaimed 2002 debut. She opened last night Tuesday, January 20, 2009 and BroadwayWorld was there to mix and mingle with the very starry crowd. The evening includes songs by Rodgers & Hart, Irving Berlin, Billy Joel and Fleetwood Mac - and even a little bit of opera. John Oddo (Musical Director) leads a quintet. Tony Award-winner Scott Wittman directs. The Caf? Carlyle is located in The Carlyle Hotel - 35 East 76th Street at Madison Avenue. The performance schedule is: Tuesday-Saturday at 8:45 PM with additional shows at 10:45 PM on Saturday, January 23rd, Friday, January 30th & Saturday January 31st. There will no performance on Tuesday, January 27th. There is a $50 music charge for the Tuesday-Thursday performances and a $65 music charge for the Friday and Saturday performances. Dinner is served from 6:30PM. For reservations please call 212-744-1600.

On February 7, 2009, the Lyric Stage League presents CABARET '09: THE LEGENDARY DAYS OF LAS VEGAS, the annual fund-raising event for Lyric Stage. Marilyn Maye, fresh from her latest New York City triumph, will headline this year's gala at the beautiful Four Seasons Resort and Club. Billy Stritch, direct from his engagement with Liza Minnelli on Broadway at the Palace Theater, will accompany Ms. Maye. Call 972-594-1904 for tickets or more info. Marilyn Maye was one of the brightest lights of television, supper clubs and the recording industry during the 1960's. She became a fixture on THE TONIGHT SHOW with Steve Allen and Johnny Carson and enjoyed a great recording career with RCA. After an absence of over 15 years, she made a triumphant return to New York City last fall. THE NEW YORK OBSERVER's Rex Reed proclaimed 'This woman has everything. She can belt, and she can sing ballads with the kind of warmth that makes your heart smile. She has a theatrical flair that captivates and enthralls, and jazz-spiced chops that can reach notes most singers one-third her age can't even hit in their dreams. The standing ovations were unlike anything I've seen since the halcyon days of Lena Horne at the Waldorf. She's the real deal.'