Seth MacFarlane News

The Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented tonight, notoriously dubbed as 'Oscar Sunday,' at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide. The telecast kicks off at 7 p.m. EST, and BroadwayWorld will be bringing you live-updates of the winners all night!

Michael Feinstein, two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated entertainer dubbed “The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook,” will take the stage on Oscar Sunday, February 24, at the Academy's official post-Oscar celebration, the Governors Ball.

Today we are shifting our focus from the stages of Broadway and beyond to the stages of the previous 84 Academy Awards telecasts that have transpired to date, in anticipation of Sunday night's big, big, big show. After all, this year's Academy Awards is of particular interest and excitement to theatre fans around the globe, especially because super-producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are behind it - the men responsible for the hit stage-to-screen adaptations of CHICAGO and HAIRSPRAY, as well as the small-screen successes GYPSY, LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND: ME & MY SHADOWS, ANNIE, and, most recently, NBC's musical series SMASH, to name a few of their many marvelous musical-friendly credits. They told me themselves earlier this week that this year's telecast would be the most music-packed Academy Awards show to date, and, just judging from the announced tributes, performers and presenters thus far it is clear to see that they were not kidding - reunions of the casts of the film versions of CHICAGO and LES MISERABLES live onstage, singing their film's most famous songs to Jennifer Hudson leading a DREAMGIRLS tribute all the way to a James Bond 50th anniversary celebration featuring Adele and Shirley Bassey on some famous Bond themes, as well as Barbra Streisand herself singing 'The Way We Were' in memory of friend and collaborator, three-time Oscar-winner Marvin Hamlisch.

Seth McFarlane will host the 85th Academy Awards in his first appearance on Oscar's stage. The 85th Academy Awards will be held this Sunday, Feb 24, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and will air live on the ABC television network. For an idea of the prowess MacFarlane brings to the stage, click below to watch him sing 'Ya Got Trouble' from The Music Man in the BBC Proms 2012!

This week's topics: 2014 Revival of Les Miz, Tony for their theatre debut, The People Called It RAGTIME, Jane Lynch to Replace Katie Finneran, Cheno to close Oscars telecast, PASSION Off-Broadway, 'Dead' Theatres

Multiple Academy Award winners Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman will present on this year's Oscar telecast, show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today.

With Hollywood's biggest night just days away, BLOCKBUSTER is offering an inside peek at who 2013 Academy Awardsfans want to see take home golden statuettes on February 24. Fans from across the world have cast ballots on BlockbusterAwards.com - an interactive website designed for people to host, manage and participate in a fantasy league celebrating the Academy Awards - and now BLOCKBUSTER is opening the envelopes to share the nominees currently leading in the hearts of consumers.

Largely responsible for the movie musical revolution of the 21st century, setting the stage first with their mega-successful work on TV in the 1990s like GYPSY, CINDERELLA and ANNIE, then, with their feature film entries since - beginning with CHICAGO and continuing with HAIRSPRAY and many more - executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have bridged the gap between Broadway and Hollywood like no other producers - and, all the while, on their own terms. Opening up about a vast array of projects, ranging from the aforementioned modern classic TV musicals all the way through to the films and stage shows - successful revivals of PROMISES, PROMISES and HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING included - and their affiliation with NBC's musical drama series SMASH, Zadan and Meron paint a vivid portrait displaying their fierce dedication to the performing arts and desire for excellence in all of their many, many endeavors. Plus, most importantly, Zadan and Meron clue us in on what we can anticipate from this Sunday's Academy Awards telecast, which they are producing - such as their experiences collaborating with controversial triple-threat host Seth MacFarlane, amassing the starriest assortment of musical performers in Oscar history (Barbra Streisand, Adele, Shirley Bassey, Norah Jones, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jennifer Hudson among the performers announced so far), creating spectacular tributes to both James Bond in his fiftieth year on film and the modern movie musical revolution (showcasing no less than the reunions of cast members from CHICAGO, DREAMGIRLS and this year's multi-nominated hit LES MISERABLES) as well as what will make this show truly unique. Additionally, Zadan and Meron shed some light on their current and future plans and productions, among them: a BONNIE & CLYDE miniseries for the History Channel starring Emile Hirsch; the currently-running second season of NBC's musical drama series SMASH; two original movie musicals in development and original stage projects, too. All of that, memories of the remarkable LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND: ME & MY SHADOWS, Lifetime's record-breaking broadcast of a new STEEL MAGNOLIAS, comments on DROP DEAD DIVA's recent cancellation, news on the upcoming e-book edition of Zadan's peerless SONDHEIM & CO. biography, the NBC TV version of THE SOUND OF MUSIC starring Carrie Underwood and much, much more!

Academy Award nominees, presenters and performers arriving on the red carpet on Oscar Sunday, February 24, will be greeted by entertainment and sports reporter Chris Connelly, the Academy announced today. This will be Connelly's first stint as the Academy's red carpet greeter.

Oscar show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today that Kristin Chenoweth and Seth MacFarlane will participate in a special show closing musical performance.

Academy Award winners Jennifer Hudson, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Russell Crowe join this year's Oscar nominees Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway along with Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit, Samantha Barks, and Helena Bonham Carter in a celebration honoring movie musicals of the last decade, show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today.

Hit Hip Hop Trio, The Rej3ctz (Mowii, Bounc3 & Pee W33) are set to release the follow up to their gold selling sensation “Cat Daddy” with a new single and video to “Peta Grifin.”

The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences put three of FIDM's most talented fashion designers to the test as they compete with what they think the five Best Actress nominees and funny man host Seth MacFarlane should wear on the Red Carpet at the Oscars.

Oscar-winning actors Michael Douglas and Jamie Foxx will join Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd as presenters on the Oscar telecast, show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today.

LeBron James through his production company Spring Hill Productions and Believe Entertainment Group (BE) today announced that season two of the breakout, animated series The LeBrons will launch in the second quarter with the U.S. Army as an anchor partner.

Actors Salma Hayek Pinault, Melissa McCarthy, Liam Neeson and John Travolta will present on the Oscar telecast, show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and mtvU, MTV's 24-hour college network, have announced the six winners of the 'Oscar Experience College Search' for aspiring filmmakers. The winners will appear live on stage to deliver Oscar statuettes to ceremony presenters at the Academy Awards on Oscar Sunday, February 24th.

At BroadwayWorld we pride ourselves in showcasing theater content submitted by our regional contributors from all corners of the globe. Get all your theater news at a glance each Friday with 'Around BWW: Regional Highlights of the Week'! Click below for the most-read stories for the week of February 11!