Stephen Schwartz News

Reprise Theatre Company presents two one-night only special events: An Evening with Sutton Foster for one performance only on Monday, October 4, 2010 at 8:00 pm, and Betty Buckley in Concert with Seth Rudetsky on Monday, February 21,2011 at 8:00pm. Both events will be presented at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. An Evening with Sutton Foster Betty Buckley in Concert with Seth Rudetsky are the latest in Reprise Theatre Company's tradition of presenting Broadway stars in concert, which have included Patti LuPone, Carol Burnett, Ben Vereen, Kristin Chenoweth, and Brian Stokes Mitchell.

The Jefferson Performing Arts Society's Theatre For Young Audiences is thrilled to present the Louisiana premiere of Mike Artell's PETITE ROUGE: A CAJUN RED RIDING HOOD (Book, Music and Lyrics by Joan Cushing, Based on the book by Mike Artell with Illustrations by Jim Harris).

Grosse Pointe Theatre opens its 63rd Season with the 1971 rock musical, Godspell on Sunday, September 19 with a 2:00 p.m. matinee at the Fries Auditorium of the Grosse Pointe War Memorial, 32 Lake Shore Road, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236. Performances continue September 23-25 at 8:00 p.m., September 26 at 2:00 p.m. and September 29-October 2 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $24. Group rates are available. Call 313-881-4004 for tickets or visit the Grosse Pointe Theatre website at www.gpt.org for more information.

Tony® Award nominee Emily Skinner, currently starring as ‘Mrs. Wilkinson' in the first national touring production of Billy Elliot the Musical in Chicago, will join the Broadway company on October 2, 2010. Kate Hennig will play her final Broadway performance on October 1, 2010 and will return to her home town to launch the Toronto engagement of Billy Elliot, which begins performances at the Canon Theatre on January 28, 2011.

Broadway's current Elphaba (Mandy Gonzalez), Glinda (Katie Rose Clarke) and the cast of WICKED surprised the 5 millionth Broadway audience member at the smash-hit musical on September 29. The winner was surprised during the matinee curtain call and presented with the Key to the Emerald City in addition to additional prizes. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you video coverage of the surprise.

Katy Visual & Performing Arts Center's Encore Players kicks off their fall 2010 Season with Working, The Musical. Directed by Jonathan Gonzalez and sponsored by Jason's Deli, the show opens this weekend October 1, 2 & 3 and next weekend October 8, 9 & 10. All shows begin at 8:00pm, except for Sunday's which are matinees beginning at 2:00pm.

Broadway's current Elphaba (Mandy Gonzalez), Glinda (Katie Rose Clarke) and the cast of WICKED surprised the 5 millionth Broadway audience member at the smash-hit musical yesterday, September 29. The winner was surprised during the matinee curtain call and presented with the Key to the Emerald City in addition to additional prizes. BroadwayWorld was on hand and brings you photo coverage below!

The "godmother to cabaret," Jamie deRoy, will celebrate the 20th Anniversary Season of her Multi MAC Award-winning variety show, Jamie deRoy & friends on Tuesday, October 19th (8PM) at the cabaret hotspot The Triad (158 West 72nd Street ~ between Broadway & Columbus)----the same cabaret room (formerly Steve McGraw's) where she premiered her first show!

Katy Visual & Performing Arts Center's Encore Players kicks off their fall 2010 Season with Working, The Musical. Directed by Jonathan Gonzalez and sponsored by Jason's Deli, the show opens this weekend October 1, 2 & 3 and next weekend October 8, 9 & 10. All shows begin at 8:00pm, except for Sunday's which are matinees beginning at 2:00pm.

Grosse Pointe Theatre opens its 63rd Season with the 1971 rock musical, Godspell on Sunday, September 19 with a 2:00 p.m. matinee at the Fries Auditorium of the Grosse Pointe War Memorial, 32 Lake Shore Road, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236. Performances continue September 23-25 at 8:00 p.m., September 26 at 2:00 p.m. and September 29-October 2 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $24. Group rates are available. Call 313-881-4004 for tickets or visit the Grosse Pointe Theatre website at www.gpt.org for more information.

According to WhatsonStage.com, Wicked, Mamma Mia, The Phantom of the Opera, and Five guys Named Moe have all announced booking extensions. Wicked is now booking through October 29, 2011, adding another six months to its schedule. Tickets are available for Mamma Mia through October 22, 2011, and Five Guys Nammed Moe has extended its run through October 9, 2010. The phantom of the Opera has added another 8 months of bookings, making tickets now available through October 29, 2011.

WICKED is a new musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Academy Award winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman ("My So Called Life," "Once And Again" and "thirtysomething") based on the best-selling 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire.

The 24th Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS $476,917, beating the 2009 total of $403,929. This year's top booths were WICKED, Broadway Beat, TDF, American Idiot, The Phantom of the Opera, United Scenic Artists Local 829, Maddie's Corner, Next to Normal, The Addams Family, Triton Gallery and Billy Elliot!

Reprise Theatre Company presents A Party With Marty, an evening of comedy and song with Martin Short and featuring Jason Alexander for one performance only on Monday, November 1, 2010 at 8:00 pm, at the Saban Theatre, Beverly Hills (formerly the Wilshire Theatre). This world premiere event features old friends, and former cast mates from "The Producers," Martin Short and Reprise Theatre Company Artistic Director Jason Alexander doing what they do best - making people laugh! Ticket sales for this event support Reprise Theatre Company and their mission to produce great musical theatre as well as arts education programs that bring the magic of theatre to underserved members of our community. Reprise Theatre Company is headed by Artistic Director Jason Alexander, who is best known for his 9-year stint as George Costanza on "Seinfeld." Christine Bernardi is Managing Director and Gilles Chiasson is Producing Director of Reprise Theatre Company. Tickets are available for "A Party With Marty" and go on sale to the public on October 4 and are available online at www.reprise.org , ticketmaster.com, by calling the Saban Theatre box office at (323) 655-0111, and at all Ticketmaster Outlets. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Martin Short began his career in Canada's "SCTV Comedy Network" for which he received an Emmy Award. Short's proven ability as a comedic chameleon and his host of hilarious impressions brought him to the attention of "Saturday Night Live." From there, he made his big screen debut in "Three Amigos," Other films include "Inner Space", "Three Fugitives", "Clifford", "Mars Attacks", "The Big Picture", Father of the Bride 1 & 2 and "Jiminy Glick in LALAWOOD, among others Short has received 15 Emmy nominations for his work in television which includes "Merlin", "Alice in Wonderland," "The Martin Short Show", "Primetime Glick" and this season's "Damages", for which he was most recently nominated. A veteran of the theater in Canada and on Broadway, Short has received accolades for his varied work on stage including "The Goodbye Girl" (Tony nomination, Theatre World Award, Outer Critics Circle Award), "Little Me" (Tony Award, Outer Critics Circle Award), and "The Producers" (with Jason Alexander) and in 2006, his musical-comedy Broadway hit "Fame Becomes Me." In 1994, Short was awarded the "Order of Canada" and in 2000 was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame. However, all of the above is a distant second to his love and respect for his wife Nancy and their three children Katherine, Oliver and Henry. About Reprise Theatre Company Since its inception in 1997, Reprise Theatre Company has been a focus of the Los Angeles musical theatre community, producing productions of great American musicals, and a wide variety of concerts, staged-readings, special events and outreach programs. In May 2007, Jason Alexander became Artistic Director. Christine Bernardi is Managing Director and Gilles Chiasson is Producing Director of Reprise. Since its inaugural production of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "Promises, Promises," which starred Mr. Alexander, Reprise has brought to the stage vibrant productions from all eras of American musical theatre including the Gershwins' "Of Thee I Sing" and "Strike Up the Band," Cole Porter's "Anything Goes," and Rodgers and Hart's "The Boys from Syracuse" and "Babes in Arms," Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel," as well as Richard Rodgers' later "No Strings." The "Golden Era" has been well represented - Burton Lane and E.Y. Harburg with "Finian's Rainbow," Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe with "Brigadoon," Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green with "On the Town" and "Wonderful Town," Irving Berlin with "Call Me Madam," Robert Wright and George Forrest with "Kismet," both of the Richard Adler and Jerry Ross musicals "The Pajama Game" and "Damn Yankees," Johnny Mercer and Gene dePaul with "Li'l Abner," Jule Styne with "Bells are Ringing," and Frank Loesser with "The Most Happy Fella" and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." Musical theatre reached a new peak of popularity in the sixties, along with new creative talents, and Reprise has presented shows by many of them including Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt with "The Fantasticks," Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick with "She Loves Me," Gerome Ragni, James Rado and Galt MacDermot's "Hair," Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone with "1776," Charles Adams and Lee Strouse with "Applause," Stephen Schwartz with "Pippin," Cy Coleman with "On the Twentieth Century" (libretto by Betty Comden and Adolph Green), "City of Angels" (lyrics by David Zippel), and "I Love My Wife" (libretto by Michael Stewart), Jerry Herman with "Mack and Mabel," Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's "Once on This Island," and four Stephen Sondheim musicals - "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," "Company," "Sweeney Todd," and "Sunday in the Park with George." Many of the great stage performers working today, as well as those who make their residence primarily in Los Angeles, have appeared in Reprise shows including Scott Bakula, Christine Baranski, Brent Barrett, Orson Bean, Jodi Benson, Stephen Bogardus, Dan Butler, Len Cariou, Carolee Carmello, Vicki Carr, Patrick Cassidy, Anthony Crivello, Jason Danieley, Lea DeLaria, Cleavant Derricks, Manoel Feliciano, Rodney Gilfry, Kelsey Grammer, Josh Grisetti, Harry Groener, Bob Gunton, Sam Harris, Gregory Harrison, Simon Helberg, Mimi Hines, Judy Kaye, Jane Krakowski, Marc Kudish, Ledisi, Vicki Lewis, Judith Light, Rebecca Luker, Eric McCormack, Maureen McGovern, Joey McIntyre, Donna McKechnie, Andrea Marcovicci, Marin Mazzie, Julie Migenes, Karen Morrow, Burke Moses, Kelli O'Hara, John O'Hurley, Ken Page, Robert Picardo, David Hyde Pierce, Larry Raben, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Roger Rees, Charles Nelson Reilly, Cathy Rigby, Alexandra Silber, Douglas Sills, Rex Smith, Brent Spiner, Lea Thompson, Steven Weber, Lee Wilkof, Ruth Williamson, Marisa Jaret Winokur, Lillias White, Fred Willard, and Rachel York.

Beginning on October 27, New York City Opera will present Parallel Perceptions, a contemporary art exhibition that features the works of six visual artists that have been paired with productions from City Opera's 2010-11 season, including Leonard Bernstein's A Quiet Place; Richard Strauss's Intermezzo; Donizetti's The Elixir of Love; three one-act operas (Monodramas) by John Zorn, Arnold Schoenberg, and Morton Feldman; and Stephen Schwartz's Séance on a Wet Afternoon. Curated by accomplished artist and photo editor Naomi Ben-Shahar, the exhibition will take place during the fall and spring seasons and includes a series of additional paintings, sculptures, and photographs by Charles Ray, Pipilotti Rist, Tina Barney, Isaac Julian, Dash Snow and Kehinde Wiley.

'Just once in a lifetime, a man knows a moment, one wonderful moment, when fate takes his hand ....' These lyrics always touched popular singer and performer Eddie Bruce, as did the life of English songwriter, singer and actor, Anthony Newley who wrote this with Leslie Bricusse.

September at The Metropolitan Room features...

Theatre and TV stars are coming out to support Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS at the 24TH ANNUAL Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction to be held on Sunday, September 26 from 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM in Shubert Alley (Shubert Alley & West 44th Street). BroadwayWorld.com will be there as always streaming live video throughout the day including the grand auction and more! Come say hi if you're in the area and check back here for the video!

As previously reported, Nederlander Sales & Patron Services, Camp Broadway®, Broadwayworld.com and Planet Hollywood presented the 2nd annual Educators Expo on Monday, September 20 at the Minskoff Theatre. The At This Stage Education Expo showcased the wide variety of educational programs being offered by Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, Times Square area attractions and other industry service organizations. BroadwayWorld was on hand and brings you photo coverage below.