Richard Kiley News

Today we are celebrating the breaking news that a classic musical is eying a Broadway return in honor of its 50th anniversary, MAN OF LA MANCHA.

Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress, singer, and recording artist Leslie Uggams will receive an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Connecticut, Storrs on Saturday, May 9 during the school's 2015 commencement ceremonies.

Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress and singer Leslie Uggams will share her insights and talents with students of the Wright State University Musical Theatre Program today and tomorrow, January 22-23 in Dayton, Ohio. Uggams will become the first major visiting artist to conduct master classes and perform as a guest of the school's new Musical Theatre Initiative.

Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress and singer Leslie Uggams will share her insights and talents with students of the Wright State University Musical Theatre Program January 22-23 in Dayton, Ohio. Uggams will become the first major visiting artist to conduct master classes and perform as a guest of the school's new Musical Theatre Initiative.

At a press conference held at Barrington Stage Company's Boyd-Quinson Mainstage, Artistic Director Julianne Boyd announced the theatre's 2015 season of musicals and plays that will take place in Downtown Pittsfield in the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage, St. Germain Stage and Youth Theatre venues.

As many times as I have seen Man of La Mancha, I relish the music and high dramatic moments of this classic piece of theatre. Being, naturally, that the production of it is top notch, with the right actors and skilled direction! GCT's current revival is top of the line. I remember seeing Richard Kiley, the original Cervantes/Alonso Quijana/Don Quijote in a Broadway revival in the 70s and was blown away by his ferocious commitment to the role. He spoke and sang to the last row of the balcony without even trying because of his brilliant focus on relaying the message of peace, justice, love and the simple joy of living in harmony with your fellow-man. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. Well, GCT's production is quieter, more subdued, but every bit as serious, entertaining and nurturing.

Today in 1972, the first Broadway revival of Man of La Mancha opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre, where it ran for 140 performances. Man of La Mancha is a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote. It tells the story of the 'mad' knight, Don Quixote, as a play within a play, performed by Cervantes and his fellow prisoners as he awaits a hearing with the Spanish Inquisition.The original 1965 Broadway production ran for 2,328 performances and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The musical has been revived four times on Broadway, becoming one of the most enduring works of musical theatre.

BRONX, N.Y.

Last night more than a dozen musical theater and cabaret stars celebrated the remarkable musical career of Ervin Drake in a special concert to benefit The Gold Coast Arts Center and Landmark on Main Street, two non-profit cultural gems located on the North Shore of Long Island.

The Broadway community mourns the loss of composer, director, and producer Mitch Leigh, who passed away on Sunday at age 86. The marquees of Broadway theatres in New York will be dimmed in his memory tonight, March 19th, at exactly 7:45pm for one minute.

The Broadway community mourns the loss of composer, director, and producer Mitch Leigh, who passed away on Sunday at age 86. The marquees of Broadway theatres in New York will be dimmed in his memory on Wednesday night, March 19th, at exactly 7:45pm for one minute.

The company of the current Man Of La Mancha National Tour, which opens in Elmira NY tomorrow, Tuesday, March 18, mourns the loss of its beloved composer and spiritual leader, Mitch Leigh, who passed away over the weekend.

Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) has announced the launch of a 2014 winter concert series. Making her debut at the Bucks County Playhouse is Tony and Emmy Award-winning Leslie Uggams, whose career has spanned Broadway, Hollywood and concert stages around the world. In AN EVENING WITH Leslie Uggams directed by Michael Bush, Leslie will perform a variety of her classic, signature songs all in one evening audiences won't forget. One performance only: tonight, February 22nd at 8pm.

At the St. Luke's Theatre (until March 23), Billy Hayes relives his full range of emotions and psychological traumas in this taut, tense, and terrific re-telling of his escape from a Turkish prison, first revealed in his 1977 book Midnight Express, and then in 1978 through the Oliver Stone film version.

Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) has announced the launch of a 2014 winter concert series, kicking off with the World Premiere of JUSTIN GUARINI LOVESICK, a new show from Justin Guarini and directed by Gordon Greenberg.

MAN OF LA MANCHA returns to the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) in an all-new production of the Tony Award winning musical that has inspired audiences since the very first notes of 'The Impossible Dream' were heard on opening night.

Following a critically acclaimed reading at 2013's Pride Performing Arts Festival, Second Thought Theatre Associate Artist Alex Organ will direct the first play in STT's 10th anniversary season, Cock, by Mike Bartlett. Cock, a wildly comic exploration of identity and sexuality, will begin with previews today, January 29 and will run through February 22 at Bryant Hall on the Kalita Humphreys Campus.