Broadway 1978 - Articles Page 23

James Murphy, of LCD Soundsystem fame, who will compose original music for the Broadway revival of Harold Pinter's BETRAYAL, was recently interviewed by British GQ. Directed by ten-time Tony Award-winner Mike Nichols and starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Rafe Spall, BETRAYAL begins performances Tuesday, October 1 at the Barrymore Theatre.

Broadway's Terri White will perform "From Blues To Broadway" at the Arthur Newman Theater in the Joslyn Center on Sunday, September 1, 2013 at 2 PM. Considered 'a living legend' in the New York music world, known for her show-stopping, scene-stealing performances, Terri toured as a toddler with her families song and dance act - her specialty was "Me And My Shadow" with her father. As a young lady she headlined at NYC cabaret rooms like 88's, Rose's Turn, and The Duplex. In 1978, her run as understudy to Nell Carter in Ain't Misbehavin' resulted in her going on for an unheard of 112 performances. She later replaced Nell in the 1988 revival but not before her big break playing, strangely enough, octogenarian Joice Heth in the original 1980 production of Barnum. Other shows include: Showboat, Nunsense I & II, Damn Yankees, Bubbling Brown Sugar, Little Shop Of Horrors, and Stepping Out at Radio City with close friend Liza Minnelli and many more, garnering numerous awards and nominations along the way.

Stephen Sondheim's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC holds a special place in my heart. A particularly impressive production at a community theatre was my first time to see a Stephen Sondheim musical staged, and it began my love affair with the man's music. The Tony Award winning and successful 1973 musical features a score written entirely in schmaltzy waltz time signatures and has a delightfully soapy plot derived from Ingmar Bergman's 1955 Swedish film Sommamattens leende (In English: Smiles of a Summer Night). In 1977, a film version of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC was released, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Lesley-Anne Down, and Diana Rigg, with Len Cariou, Hermione Gingold, and Laurence Guittard reprising their Broadway roles. While the critical reception to the stage musical was glowing, the critical reception of the film was notoriously underwhelming. Despite this, Jonathan Tunick received an Oscar for his orchestrations of the memorable, lovely, and tuneful score, which is magnificently preserved on Masterworks Broadway's digital and CD re-release of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (Original Soundtrack Recording).

Famed singer, actress and Broadway star Eydie Gormé has died at age 84. Spokesperson Howard Bragman said 'Legendary singer and performer Eydie Gorme passed away peacefully today at Sunrise Hospital following a brief illness. She was surrounded by her husband, son and other loved ones at the time of her death.' In his own statement, Steve Lawrence said: 'Eydie has been my partner on stage and in life for more than 55 years. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her and even more the first time I heard her sing. While my personal loss is unimaginable, the world has lost one of the greatest pop vocalists of all time.'

Masterworks Broadway continues to explore the rich history of its unrivaled cast recording and film soundtrack catalogs with the release of three musical rarities previously unavailable on CD - Seven Come Eleven, A Little Night Music (August 13) and Cowardy Custard (September 10).

Today in the NY Post, Michael Riedel writes 'Chenoweth has another show in her future - a revival of Cy Coleman's 1978 operetta "On the Twentieth Century," which she hopes to do with Peter Gallagher. She'd play Lily Garland, the temperamental movie star (Madeline Kahn in the original). It's a perfect role for her, and she generated good buzz when she appeared in a reading at the Roundabout a couple of years ago.'

Aurora's Paramount Theatre will launch its third Broadway subscription series this September with the first local professional staging of In the Heights, one of Broadway's most acclaimed contemporary musicals, a potent reminder of the importance of chasing one's dreams, and the show all of Chicago will be talking about this fall. Performances are September 11 through October 6, 2013. Press opening is Saturday, September 14 at 8 p.m.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, 20th Century Fox recently formed a joint venture with top Broadway producer and Tony Award winner Kevin McCollum (Motown, Rent, Avenue Q, In the Heights), prolific film producer John Davis (Predator, The Firm, Grumpy Old Men, I Robot, Chronicle) and leading industry executive Tom McGrath, to develop live stage productions based upon the studio's vast library of films. Now according to the New York Times, Fox won't be the only major film studio with movie-based musicals in the woks in the coming years.

Back in March, Liza Minnelli and Alan Cumming, in celebration of Liza's birthday, joined forces at The Town Hall to sing familiar songs from 'Cabaret' and and more. The show was previously performed at Fire Island last summer, produced by Daniel Nardicio, and according to Michael Musto for Out.com, the act will move again- this time to Broadway.

Tune has, well, fine-tuned the show since Miami, and will open it in Los Angeles in the fall. The Nederlanders are quiet backers, and if 'Fifty Four Forever' is well-received, look for its disco ball to twirl above Broadway next spring, just in time, perhaps, to upend next year's Tony Award race.'

Betrayal is enjoying a revival on the East Coast and Off Broadway West Theatre Company is delighted to present the revival of this great classic here on the West Coast, as our first full production after a year's hiatus of successful staged readings. Marriage infidelity has never been as prevalent as it is in today's society, and is a subject that always bears inspection.

Mommie Dearest Inc. in association with Producer Jerry Rosenberg have announced dates for the New York premiere of SURVIVING MOMMIE DEAREST an empowering and inspirational new production starring Christina Crawford - actress, activist and author of the 1978 best-selling autobiographical book 'Mommie Dearest.' The show features an award-winning bio-pic documentary covering 100 years of show-biz history and details the turbulent relationship between Christina and her movie legend adoptive mother, Joan Crawford. Complete with film clips and footage from forgotten 1940's home movies, SURVIVING MOMMIE DEAREST is slated for a limited run of 5 performances, during the week of Mother's Day and will run off-Broadway at the Snapple Theater Center in Manhattan.

Beloved Broadway producer Roy Miller passed away suddenly early Sunday morning, April 28, 2013 following a brief illness. Roy produced the multiple Tony Award nominated Broadway productions of The Drowsy Chaperone and this season's A Christmas Story: The Musical. His other Broadway producing credits include West Side Story, Ragtime, [title of show] and The Pee-Wee Herman Show among others. He recently served as Producing Artistic Director of Surflight Theatre from 2010 to 2012 and also served as Associate Producer of Paper Mill Playhouse from 1991 to 2004.

Mommie Dearest Inc. in association with Producer Jerry Rosenberg have announced dates for the New York premiere of SURVIVING MOMMIE DEAREST an empowering and inspirational new production starring Christina Crawford - actress, activist and author of the 1978 best-selling autobiographical book 'Mommie Dearest.' The show features an award-winning bio-pic documentary covering 100 years of show-biz history and details the turbulent relationship between Christina and her movie legend adoptive mother, Joan Crawford. Complete with film clips and footage from forgotten 1940's home movies, SURVIVING MOMMIE DEAREST is slated for a limited run of 5 performances, during the week of Mother's Day and will run off-Broadway at the Snapple Theater Center in Manhattan.

According to the Daily Mail, Rafe Spall is in final talks to join Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig in Harold Pinter's BETRAYAL, directed by Mike Nichols (Death of a Salesman), for a limited run on Broadway beginning in October 2013 at the Barrymore Theatre. BETRAYAL will begin rehearsals in August.

As an undergraduate theater major in the early 1970s, I heard music everywhere. It seemed to pour out of every office and workspace around the department. (And in the LP era, if you wanted more than the radio, this meant schlepping a twenty pound record player and a dozen or so albums from your home to the campus, sometimes requiring back-and-forth trips from the car. If you go to that much trouble, you want to keep the music playing.) In the hushed costume shop with its quietly industrious all female staff, Broadway ruled, with Stephen Sondheim's recent Company and Follies in heavy rotation. It was 'men only' in the scene shop where I listened to male balladeers like James Taylor and Gordon Lightfoot while unhappily working off assigned crew hours. Jazz classes (my favorites) in the dance department were conducted to the pre-disco sounds of Isaac Hayes and the Temptations. And late night cast parties were never complete without spins of Bette Midler's first two albums.

As Houston's leading performing arts presenter, Society for the Performing Arts (SPA) is pleased to announce its 2013-2014 season filled with music, dance and family entertainment from the world's best artists and companies.

Rachel Weisz recently revealed on the UK's 'Daybreak' that she will soon make her Broadway debut. She revealed: 'I am going to do a play on Broadway. It's confirmed. I've never done Broadway so I'm very excited.' Though Weisz didn't confirm which show she'd be appearing in, recent reports have indicated that she will star alongside husband Daniel Craig in an upcoming revival of Harold Pinter's Betrayal.

Elaine Paige celebrates her love of jazz classics and contemporary songs in her own unique style in a one-night-only headline performance tonight, February 27, at 8:00pm at McCallum Theatre. Paige is famous for her countless successes on both sides of the Atlantic, from originating the role of Grizabella in Cats to her Broadway debut in Sunset Boulevard. She is an actress, recording artist, producer and broadcaster and has made a major contribution to the modern musical which ensures her own chapter in the entertainment world and justifies the title 'The First Lady of Musical Theatre'.

HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES, a unique comedy by Britain's Neil Simon, Alan Ayckbourne, is the next offering of the season at Eastpointe's Broadway Onstage Live Theatre when it opens tonight, February 22. The comedy portrays 3 couples who are connected by the men's work. It runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Select Sundays at 2pm through Saturday, March 23.

Happy Birthday Stockard Channing! In 1971, she made her Broadway debut in Two Gentlemen of Verona - The Musical, working with playwright John Guare. She also appeared on Broadway in 1973 in a supporting role in No Hard Feelings. In 1978, at the age of 33, she took on the role of high school teenager Betty Rizzo in the hit musical Grease. Additional Broadway credits include: They're Playing Our Song, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, Woman in Mind, Four Baboons Adoring the Sun, and The Lion in Winter. She is currently starrign on Broadway in Other Desert Cities at the Booth Theatre.

Elaine Paige celebrates her love of jazz classics and contemporary songs in her own unique style in a one-night-only headline performance on Wednesday, February 27, at 8:00pm at McCallum Theatre. Paige is famous for her countless successes on both sides of the Atlantic, from originating the role of Grizabella in Cats to her Broadway debut in Sunset Boulevard. She is an actress, recording artist, producer and broadcaster and has made a major contribution to the modern musical which ensures her own chapter in the entertainment world and justifies the title "The First Lady of Musical Theatre".

According to the Daily Mail, Bond star Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz are in talks to star on Broadway in Harold Pinter's BETRAYAL for a limited run this fall.

HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES, a unique comedy by Britain's Neil Simon, Alan Ayckbourne, is the next offering of the season at Eastpointe's Broadway Onstage Live Theatre when it opens on Friday, February 22. The comedy portrays 3 couples who are connected by the men's work. It runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Select Sundays at 2pm through Saturday, March 23.

Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart will star on Broadway in a limited season repertoire of Harold Pinter's No Man's Land and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, directed by Sean Mathias, in the fall of 2013.