Richie Ridge News

BroadwayWorld.com's Richie Ridge sat with all of the 2013 Tony Winners right after they came off stage from their big wins. The winners were filled with joy, memories and excitement and we've got it ALL! Here's Andrea Martin who won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Performance by an actress in a featured role in a musical for PIPPIN.

On Friday evening, May 24, Playbill's Blake Ross and BroadwayWorld.com's Rob and Jennifer Diamond co-hosted the only birthday party that took two editors of two major theatre web sites to plan ... Director/Producer Richard Jay-Alexander's 60th Birthday Bash! The party, held on the third floor of theatre district hot spot Angus McIndoe's restaurant, played host to friends, family, colleagues and more, so we couldn't resist sharing some of Linda Lenzi's wonderful pictures with you. Happy 60th Birthday!

'He simply couldn't live without it. He breathed it like air. 'He was fearless, full in and flat out'. He devoured the stage ravenously,' Furthermore Kevin Gray's addiction to his passion for theater was contagious as he shared his enormous talent and energy with so many.

Yesterday March 26th, Tim Federle, author of Better Nate Than Ever, interviewed the 19 year old author, Henry Hodges, who wrote 'How To Act Like a Kid,' at the Drama Book Shop. The interview was followed by a Q&A with the audience followed by a book signing. BroadwayWorld was there for the special celebration and you can check out full photo coverage below!

Helen Reddy has returned to the stage after a 10-year hiatus with a new attitude. She performed at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in New York City on March 23rd and continues with another performance tonight, March 24th. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from her concert below!

From Kristin Chenoweth to Deborah Cox to Idina Menzel to Barbra Streisand to Michael Crawford to the Ladies of THE VIEW to Adam Pascal, Patti LuPone, Raul Esparza, Alan Menken, Lea Salonga, Bernadette Peters, Laura Osnes, Victoria Clark, GLEE and Everything in Between - It's the BroadwayWorld.com 2013 Valentine's Day Special - It's the Biggest Ever!

Here, just two weeks ago Gray and his wife talked to BroadwayWorld's Richie Ridge at the Phantom Gala, looking back at their time in the show. Our condolences go out to all who loved, worked with and learned from this lovely man.

The cast and creative team of The Phantom of the Opera celebrated 25 Years on Broadway with a Gala Performance at the Majestic Theatre in New York City on Saturday night, January 26. BroadwayWorld was there for the after party and you can check out full photo coverage below!

In addition to her New Year's Eve performances at the Metropolitan Room on December 31, Marilyn Maye kept the party going with five unprecedented, by-request shows during the first week of the year. "Marilyn By Request," in which Maye and her Billy Stritch-led band will create a new show based on audience requests, marks her return to her downtown stomping ground. Check out photos from the show below!

Yesterday, November 14th, the cast of Paper Mill Playhouse's The Sound of Music, directed and choreographed by James Brennan, met the press. Cast for the show includes Edward Hibbert (Max Detweiler), Anthony Fedorov (Rolf Gruber), Ben Davis (Captain) and Elena Shaddow (Maria), Chelsea Morgan Stock (Liesl), and more. BroadwayWorlds's Richie Ridge was there to meet the cast and creative team and you can check out what they said abuot the upcoming production below!

Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway production of The Mystery of Edwin Droodopened last night, Tuesday, November 13th, 2012 at Studio 54 on Broadway. BroadwayWorld's Richie Ridge was there to bring you all the excitement of opening night and you can check out his interviews with the cast below!

Last night, gossip columnist Perez Hilton officially joined the cast of the off-Broadway musical revue, NEWSical the Musical, for a four-week run. BroadwayWorld.com's Richie Ridge was there to chat with Perez and all of the opening night guests, and you can check out what they had to say below!

Kinky Boots, the highly anticipated new musical that brings together four-time Tony® Award-winner Harvey Fierstein (Book) and Grammy® Award-winning rock icon Cyndi Lauper (Music & Lyrics), will begin preview performances on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street) on Tuesday, March 5, 2013, with an official opening night set for Thursday, April 4, 2013. The cast and creative team met the press earlier today, and BroadwayWorld's Richie Ridge wa sthere to chat with the cast and creative team about the new production. Check out what they had to say and watch a special performance preview below!

Broadway's new musical CHAPLIN opened last night, September 10 at the Barrymore Theatre (243 West 47th Street). CHAPLIN is a new musical depicting the life of film icon Charlie Chaplin, with music and lyrics by Christopher Curtis and book by three-time Tony Award-winner Thomas Meehan and Christopher Curtis. Warren Carlyle directs and choreographs the production. BroadwayWorld's own Richie Ridge was there for the big opening, where he chatted with Rob McClure, Jenn Colella, Erin Mackey, Christiane Noll and more! Check out what they had to say below!

Manhattan Theatre Club will present the American premiere of Rebecca Lenkiewicz's new version of AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE by Henrik Ibsen, directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes (Doubt, The Royal Family, The Whipping Man, Defiance) on Broadway this fall. Starring four-time Tony Award winner Boyd Gaines and Emmy Award winner Richard Thomas, AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE will play the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, with previews beginning Tuesday, September 4, 2012 and opening on Thursday, September 27, 2012. The cast and creative team met the press today, and BroadwayWorld's Richie Ridge was there to bring you interviews with them below!

Monday night's "Classical Julie," starring the inimitable Julie Halston, was one of the all-time best nights in the History of Halston, let alone the history of the Broadway at Birdland series, and comedy in general. (Her portrayal of Lady MacBeth, as played by Little Edie Beal, will be imitated for years to come!) Some of the smartest and funniest people in showbiz swarmed to see her, including Edward Hibbert, Harriet Harris, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, Amy Rutberg, Louise DuArt & SQuire Rushnell, Mike Doyle, Mary Testa, Richie Ridge, Richard Hillman, Natalie Douglas, and a boatload of her beloved Anything Goes cast members. The evening was directed by Carl Andress.

Backstage Creations, specialists in award show gifts and custom backstage Celebrity Retreats are produceing the gift suite at the 2012 Tony Awards® at the Beacon Theater, in New York City. BWW's Richie Ridge got a sneak peek at some of the great gifts that stars and presenters will be getting tonight!

Jim Caruso's Cast Party packed Birdland with a huge variety of talent on Monday night. The weekly open mic, recently called 'the best party in the universe' by the Australian Cabaret Confidential, was the place for Broadway folk like Amra-Faye Wright (currently starring as Velma in Chicago), supperclub star Clint Holmes (in rehearsal for his upcoming Café Carlyle run), country legend Larry Gatlin, jazz superstars Jane Monheit, Natalie Douglas and Sachal Vasandani, publicist and birthday boy Richard Hillman, 'Broadway Beat' host Richie Ridge, musical director/pianist Ron Abel, cabaret folks like Scott Coulter and Carole J. Bufford (this Monday's11 O'Clock Numbers revue at Birdland), and regulars Allana Adderly, Daniel Kirkley, Matthew Falber, William Blake, and LA diva Valarie Pettiford!

The 15th and grand finale edition of THE BROADWAY BEARS, the annual auction of handmade, one-of-a-kind, theatrically costumed teddy bears, raised a record-setting $198,300 on Sunday, benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Broadway lovers and teddy bear collectors came together yesterday, March 18 at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill (237 West 42nd Street) for one last time to bid on - and bid adieu to - museum-quality bears representing legendary theatrical characters and autographed by the stars who made those characters famous. The cumulative fundraising total for the 15 editions of THE BROADWAY BEARS auctions is a remarkable $2,048,427. The previous fund-raising record was $170,000 set in 2002.