Stephen Schwartz News

Sherry Vine will host and perform the LGBT even Vine and Spirits April 29th at 8 p.m. at the David H. Koch Theatre at Lincoln Center following the Stephen Schwartz's new show, SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON.

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & UPRIGHT CABARET are thrilled to announce the performers for its third show of their season, I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND: The Music of The Beatles, which will include James Snyder (Broadway: Cry-Baby, Pasadena Playhouse: Dangerous Beauty), Tom Lowe (London: Les Miserables, Cats) and Elizabeth Brackenbury (Vanities, Rock Of Ages), performing the music of The Beatles, and their own selections, under the musical direction of Todd Schroeder, in a one night only concert - I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND which will perform on Sunday, April 17, 2011 at 7:30PM at the NEW Cabaret Lounge at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd. in La Mirada.

Today we are talking to the composer of the new Broadway musical WONDERLAND, who is the only American composer to have had three of his shows running concurrently on Broadway - JEKYLL & HYDE, THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL and THE CIVIL WAR - and has since solidified himself as one of the most successful international musical theatre composers of the 21st century, with his globe-spanning productions of everything from THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO in Switzerland to CYRANO in Tokyo to TEARS OF HEAVEN in Korea to the forthcoming Broadway production of BONNIE & CLYDE - the warm and gracious Frank Wildhorn. Over the span of our considerable discussion last week we touched on everything from his pop music roots writing hits for Whitney Houston and Kenny Rogers, to his tenure at Atlantic Records and his series of recordings, shows and concerts with muse Linda Eder, as well as a thorough discussion of his compositional process, what inspires him in a story, his own favorite musicals, what the future holds - EXCALIBUR with Jim Steinman, perhaps? The world premiere of the long-awaited HAVANA? JEKYLL & HYDE: THE MOVIE MUSICAL? - and much, much more!

A day-of-performance lottery for a limited number of orchestra seats will be held daily for WICKED, which will be performing from May 4-15 at the Morrison Center.

As we approach April 15 (got YOUR taxes done yet?) and on into springtime, I trust you are making plans to frequent one of the several live performance and theatre venues here on the beautiful California Central Coast!

Chance Theater presents the World Premiere production of the quirky award-winning musical, The Boy in the Bathroom, April 23 - May 22, 2011. The play is directed by Chance Theater Artistic Director Oanh Nguyen. The production is a proud participant in both the 4th Annual Festival of New American Musicals and Arts Orange County's Imagination Celebration.

On Saturday, April 30 at 7:00pm, members of the Bay Area Cabaret & Theatrical communities join forces to raise funds for, and honor the work of, cabaret columnist and award-winning director Mike Ward, facing the final months of terminal, inoperable liver cancer.

Supremely gifted. Stupendously stunning. Stupefying in her ability to hold magnetic sway over an audience. Kerry Ellis simply has it all and, now, following the worldwide success of her truly awesome collaboration with Queen's Brian May on their epic rock album ANTHEMS, May and Ellis are hitting the road for a UK tour kicking off at the Royal Albert Hall later this month. Over the weekend Kerry was kind enough to take a look back at her career with me - which includes her earth-shattering turns in WICKED in both the West End and on Broadway, plus her unforgettable turns in CHESS: LIVE IN CONCERT, on CD and DVD, as well as OLIVER and more - plus, we take a look ahead to what she would like to tackle next: a one-woman-musical ala TELL ME ON A SUNDAY, perhaps? Whatever she chooses to do, judging from her track record it is clear she will knock it clear out of the park.

Walking along Ninth Avenue on an early Saturday evening after enjoying a light meal at one of the neighborhood sandwich shops, Maxwell Caulfield looks up at the Minskoff Building in the distance and sighs. He remarks, 'What a lovely view you have from the rehearsal space up there! There's a beautiful view of the setting sun as it goes down over the Hudson River! It's gorgeous. That rehearsal space will always be one of my favorite spots in New York.' There's good reason for that because it was in that rehearsal studio that he met his wife, actress Juliet Mills. They were preparing for the touring company of Bernard Pomerance's play THE ELEPHANT MAN in which Caulfield played the title role and Ms. Mills was Mrs. Kendall. The electricity between the two actors was evident to everyone in the room and it blossomed into a full romance and a marriage that has lasted 31 years. In these times of throw-away marriages and quickie divorces, it's refreshing to observe that Maxwell Caulfield is still very much in love with his wife. In fact, the two of them recently toured England together in a production of Alan Ayckbourn's BEDROOM FARCE.

The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts will open the musical "Rags" by Stephen Schwartz ("Wicked"), Charles Strouse ("Annie"), and Joseph Stein ("Fiddler on the Roof") on April 14th.

First Stage concludes its 24th season with an up-beat musical adaptation of MISS NELSON IS MISSING!, opening on Friday, April 29, 7:00 p.m. at the Todd Wehr Theater in the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.

Pay no attention to what Joshua Waldrep tells you when you ask him what he thinks about his voice. The man is a master of understatement (no, really, he is...well, sometimes) and for some untold reason doesn't realize that he has an absolutely gorgeous voice. Seriously. At last fall's First Night, the Nashville Theatre Honors, he very nearly stole the stage out from under the estimable (read 'lovely and talented') Linda Sue Simmons Runyeon and Jenny Norris-Light when he joined them for Les Miserables medley that featured the very handsome and talented Mr. Waldrep (after he'd already stopped the show with Darin Richardson in their duet of 'The Proposal' from Titanic) doing a rather stunning version of 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables.' Take it from me, the man has some very serious pipes on him.

Rep Stage, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Howard Community College (HCC), closes its 18th season with Stephen Karam's 'Speech & Debate,' directed by Eve Muson and featuring Parker Drown, the 2010 recipient of the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical.

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & UPRIGHT CABARET are thrilled to announce the performers for its third show of their season, I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND: The Music of The Beatles, which will include James Snyder (Broadway: Cry-Baby, Pasadena Playhouse: Dangerous Beauty), Tom Lowe (London: Les Miserables, Cats) and Elizabeth Brackenbury (Vanities, Rock Of Ages), performing the music of The Beatles, and their own selections, under the musical direction of Todd Schroeder, in a one night only concert - I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND which will perform on Sunday, April 17, 2011 at 7:30PM at the NEW Cabaret Lounge at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd. in La Mirada.

The Human Race Theatre Company has the largest group of finalists in the four-year history of its Stephen Schwartz Musical Theatre Scholarship - ten high school and college students will be vying for $3,500 in scholarships at The Loft Theatre April 26.

Tony Winner Sutton Foster has confirmed a May 9th ‘Live at Barnes & Noble' in-store performance and CD signing to celebrate Ghostlight Records' release of her 20-song tour de force ‘An Evening With Sutton Foster - Live at the Café Carlyle'. In a rave review, USA TODAY's Elysa Gardner praised the CD's ballads in particular as 'revelatory, showing a sense of grace and wonder,' adding that the live album 'offers delightful proof of a shier, wrier side' to Foster. This is a theme Foster herself reinforced in an interview with THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, emphasizing ‘it's a concert, not cabaret, but adds that whatever you call it, 'it's definitely quirky and weird -- and very much me.' Audio samples and more info, here: http://www.sh-k-boom.com/suttoncarlyle.shtml

As we come to April 15 (got YOUR taxes done yet?) and on into springtime, I trust you are making plans to frequent one of the several live performance and theatre venues here on the beautiful California Central Coast!

All work and play! Petterino's (150 N. Dearborn St., Chicago), the downtown theater district go-to restaurant, presents "Monday Night Live" on Monday, April 11 beginning at 7:30 p.m. with guest performances by select cast members of WORKING, currently playing at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut St., Chicago) through June 5, 2011.

Christian Youth Theater (CYT) Kansas City North proudly presents Godspell, Thursday, April 7 - Sunday, April 10 at YouthFront Auditorium, 4715 Rainbow Blvd., Shawnee Mission, KS 66205.

The Mornington Players present the hit musical Godspell.