Richard Rodgers News

Men Alive - The Orange County Gay Men's Chorus concludes its successful 11th Season with VON TRAPPED!, a uniquely entertaining, wholly original tribute to the Tony® and Oscar®-winning musical THE SOUND OF MUSIC... the way only Men Alive can do it! The concert event opens tonight, July 20 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre with two additional shows on Saturday, July 21. The chorus will transform this beloved musical into a one-of-a-kind stage extravaganza featuring moving orchestrations, genre-crossing remixes, fabulous costumes, buoyant choreography, and even a few rowdy, yodel-loving goats! And nuns. Lots and lots of nuns.

Juilliard's Drama Division announces the complete schedule for its 2012-2013 season of fully-staged productions featuring students in their fourth and final year of acting training in the drama program at Juilliard.

Transport Group Theatre Company, the winner of both a Special Drama Desk Award and Obie Award, has announced that that their award-winning 2010 production of See Rock City & Other Destinations will receive an original cast recording produced by Yellow Sound Label. The Drama Desk and Richard Rodgers Award-winning musical has music by Brad Alexander and book and lyrics by Adam Mathias. The show was directed by Transport Group Artistic Director Jack Cummings III.

Last week we launched The Nutty Five as our way of welcoming all these talented people into our midst-even the ones who have Nashville connections, like today's star of the show Danny Young, who is the drummer for The Nutty Professor band (who may be just as jazzed up about his new drum set for the show as he is working with Jerry Lewis).

The Castillo Theatre is presenting four winning scripts from the 2012 Mario Fratti-Fred Newman Political Play Contest, selected from over 200 entries including submissions by playwrights from around the world. The plays are being directed by distinguished theatre professionals and will be presented on Mondays, August 6, 13, 20 and 27 at 7:00 p.m.

Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) (Jed Bernstein, Producing Director) will present their July Cabaret Series and "Sing-a-Long-a Sound of Music" this weekend. Broadway and television actor Jason Kravits (Relatively Speaking, "The Practice") will host "Sing-a-Long-a Sound of Music", a little over one week after what would have been Oscar Hammerstein II's 117th birthday, on Sunday, July 22nd at 6:30 p.m. at the Bucks County Playhouse (70 South Main Street). The presentation will be preceded by a special outdoor BBQ Style dinner hosted by Hamilton's Grill Room beginning at 5:00 p.m.

Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, announced today the creative team and performance dates for Oklahoma! The classic American musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II will receive its Lyric Opera premiere in May 2013, following the company's regular opera season.

Goodspeed Musicals presents Carousel to the main stage, now playing through September 23 at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn. Carousel and will celebrate an official opening night on August 1, 2012. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the dress and dance rehearsals below.

Goodspeed Musicals presents Carousel to the main stage, now playing through September 23 at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn. Carousel and will celebrate an official opening night on August 1, 2012. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production photos below.

Producers of the 2012 Tony Award Winner for Best Revival of a Musical, The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS, have announced that the show will conclude its limited engagement at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Sunday, September 23, 2012. The show, which had been twice extended, was originally scheduled to end a week later. The new date has been set to make room for the next engagement at the Rodgers, beginning October 4, 2012.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Patti LuPone, composer tributes, new musicals in Chicago and New York, 'Beauty And The Beast' and 'The Jungle Book,' yet another 'Reefer Madness' and more....

Audiences will be captivated by Andrew Lloyd Webber's fiery story of love, fame and Hollywood in Pittsburgh CLO's debut production of Sunset Boulevard, July 24-29 at the Benedum Center. Tony Award nominee Liz Callaway, critically-acclaimed star of Love Changes Everything, returns to the Pittsburgh CLO stage as eccentric Hollywood actress Norma Desmond.

Today, our altogether welcoming (my mama raised me right) spotlight falls on Alex David, who's part of the ensemble and is the double for Julius Kelp/Buddy Love (played by star Michael Andrew), and who is obviously having the time of his life in Nashville. And keep this in mind: Alex may need your help when he's sent flying by a mechanical bull!

Second Stage Theatre presents the world premiere musical, DOGFIGHT, which just opeed last night, July 16. Featuring music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, a book by Peter Duchan, and choreography by Tony winner Christopher Gattelli, the show is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello and runs at Second Stage's Tony Kiser Theatre.

Obviously, my mama raised me right-and what better way is there to welcome these newcomers to our midst than with the public airing of some of their most embarrassing moments and the admission of their long-held dreams. Among those enormously gifted artistic types is ensemble member Carly Blake Sebouhian (who fairly drips stage presence in her performance-we got a sneak preview of a few numbers last Wednesday), whose ever-growing resume offers an account of her impressive theatrical experience. Her charm and lovely spirit are sure to set her apart to gain the attention of Nashville audiences who will see her onstage in The Nutty Professor.

El musical Sonrisas y Lágrimas se estrenará el próximo 27 de septiembre en el teatro Coliseum de Madrid, después de haber sido visto por más de 200.000 espectadores en su gira por España, que comenzó en diciembre de 2011. La grabación de su cast album ha comenzado esta misma semana con la Orquesta Sinfónica de Radio Televisión Española.

I am not given to gushing but, with apologies for doing so, I am about to gush. You see, on Saturday evening, I felt very privileged. For on that night, I went to Las Vegas' gorgeous Smith Center for the Arts and saw Stephen Sondheim: A Life In The Theater, An Evening of Music and Conversation.

Cape May Stage, South Jersey's premiere Equity theatre, is thrilled to welcome another Broadway legend into their ranks: Lee Roy Reams in Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance, tonight, July 16th.

Think of it as a newfangled take on our venerated Southern hospitality-my mama raised me right, for goodness' sake-and what's more Southern than welcoming newcomers into our community? Whiskey and barbecue, of course, but until then this column will have to suffice, even if the ensemble's Patrick O'Neill has suffered through some 20 years of barbecue deficiency. Until we can rectify that situation, this is just gonna have to do…