I'm Still Here...Damn It! 1998 - Articles Page 17

The sun will come out in Thousand Oaks as Cabrillo Music Theatre proudly announces its brand-new production of the hit musical, ANNIE.

The sun will come out in Thousand Oaks as Cabrillo Music Theatre proudly announces its brand-new production of the hit musical, ANNIE.

The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall announces a 2011-2012 Season rife with star-studded talent.

Though most well-known to Broadway babies for his starring role in the original Broadway production of Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse's JEKYLL & HYDE, over the last few decades Robert Cuccioli has carved out quite a career for himself as a performer of considerable range, as his resume amply evidences: from LES MISERABLES and CAMELOT in the 80s and early 90s, to Maury Yeston's PHANTOM and the original Off-Broadway production of the Susan Stroman-directed Kander & Ebb revue AND THE WORLD GOES ROUND, as well as Woody Allen's CELEBRITY starring Kenneth Branagh, to JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS as well as a string of Shakespeare roles in the 00s, all the way up to today and his participation in three brand new original musicals - in between rehearsing Iago for an upcoming production of OTHELLO, of course - including: Bruce Hornsby's SCKBSTD, CUTMAN: THE BOXING MUSICAL, and his own solo show, A STANDARD LOVE. Discussing many aspects of these enterprises and much more - and even a comment or two on LONE STAR LOVE and the Quaids' shenanigans - Cuccioli also shares all about his upcoming appearance at Feinstein's in BROADWAY LIVE! and what we can expect from him on Monday night, as well as in the future, near and far - with his long-awaited solo album of romantic standards included!

The sun will come out in Thousand Oaks as Cabrillo Music Theatre proudly announces its brand-new production of the hit musical, ANNIE.

Today we are kicking off Broadway World's multi-part series of interviews with the stars of the 2011 Kennedy Center produced and Eric Schaeffer directed production of Stephen Sondheim & James Goldman's seminal showbiz musical, FOLLIES, currently in previews on Broadway at the Marquis Theater. Suave leading man Ron Raines sheds light on the central, pivotal role of Benjamin Stone and how he sees the character - in his youth, in his marriage, in the present and, also, in the future, post-Loveland and, even post-FOLLIES - as well as illuminates his interactions with the colorful array of stars he shares the stage with eight nights a week - chief among them: Bernadette Peters, Elaine Paige and Jan Maxwell! Additionally, we discuss what has changed in the transfer from Washington, D.C. to NYC, as well as examine the underlying message and story told in Ben's stunning musical triptych of 'The Road You Didn't Take', 'Too Many Mornings' and 'Live, Laugh, Love'. As if all that were not enough, Raines and I cast a glance back at his previous stage and screen work and discuss his solo albums, upcoming concert appearances and much, much more! Plus, first news of his essaying of the title role in SWEENEY TODD with Karen Ziemba in St. Louis next summer, directed by the helmer of the original Christopher Bond play that inspired Sondheim to compose the musical adaptation in the first place back in 1969.

Music icon Amy Winehouse passed away today at the age of 27. Looking back at her two solo albums - FRANK, and the multi-Grammy-winning BACK TO BLACK, produced by Mark Ronson - as well as her live concert DVD - I TOLD YOU I WAS TROUBLE - it seems difficult to believe an artist with this much cultural impact wrote and produced so little in her impossibly short life - yet, both albums are simply superb and the latter is on the level of the very best American pop/rock records of all time. Evoking Bilie Holliday, Janis Joplin and Courtney Love in almost equal measure - with a healthy dollop of The Shirelles and some Mary J. Blige on top - Amy Winehouse was a complete and total anomaly whose shtick was anything-but: when Amy put on, wore and sold that worn-down, worn-out beehive doo on her head while she sang one of her dirges you damn well bought it, honey - every note, lyric and follicle! From the sugary pop frivolity of 'Rehab' to the jaunty, haunting hip-hop beats of 'Back To Black'; from the searing heartache of 'I Wake Up Alone' to the clear-eyed plaintiveness of 'To Known Him is To Love Him'; all the way to the witty, jokey, grungy fun of 'Me & Mr. Jones' and 'F*ck Me Pumps' - Amy could certainly do it all. And, she did - maybe doing too much of some things in some areas of her life. This special SATURDAY SPECIAL is a generous look back at what and who she was and what she did in her short time on this planet and why she deserves a place at the top.

While critics and fans alike justifiably lament the paucity of female leads in Broadway musicals this season just past, you need look no further than the current tour of The Color Purple for a musical filled to overflowing with noteworthy women characters. The beautiful and moving reimagination of Alice Walker's extraordinary novel of faith, despair, horror, beauty, love and redemption, The Color Purple might best be described as a woman's story, but it is, in every possible way, a human story as universal and as affecting as any work of musical theater ever created.

One of the nicest aspects of seeing a play in The Roundabout's beautiful American Airlines Theatre is that it has fine acoustics. Little, if any, amplification is used when drama or comedies are staged at that venue do nothing stands between the actors' voices and the audience's ears. Such is the case with the charming revival of Oscar Wilde's THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST which will be presented there until June 26th.

Following sold-out runs in New York, London and Miami, comedian, actress (and avid Twitterer) Sandra Bernhard brings her brand new show, I Love Being Me, Don't You?, to San Francisco's Marines' Memorial Theatre (609 Sutter St., 2nd Floor) for two performances only - Friday, June 24 and Saturday, June 25, 2011 at 7 p.m.

It's finally here! In what is sure to be one of the most highly rated events on television this spring, the final two American Idol contestants battled one final time tonight to earn the title of America's favorite performer. And let's hope viewers were prepared for a whole lot of twang, because tonight's season ten finale of the show was nothing if not a little bit country.

The penultimate episode of Season Two of GLEE on Fox last night was just about everything you could ask for from a funereally-themed Very Special Episode such as that on this show - and, in addition to the doom and gloom, we even got a scintillating 'Back To Black' from Santana and Lea Michele miraculously making 'My Man' all her own! Sure, the requisite gospel/r&b moment came courtesy of Amber Riley, as you would certainly expect it to given GLEE's lineage - particularly a GLEE with a funereal theme - yet the show managed to stay mostly out of the maudlin, morbid and mundane and remain its frothy, effervescent self - while always keeping it real and grounded in reality. Truly. Yes, indeed, GLEE's 'Funeral' episode put the 'real' in 'funereal' much more so than the 'fun' - but, there was some of that to be had, as well; for sure. Of special note, 'Funeral' also featured the continued extended return of Broadway baby and GLEE fan-favorite Jonathan Groff as Jessie St. James, and although he did not grace us with a song this week he certainly left a lasting impression - particularly coming after last week‘s triumph, which was the GLEE musical pinnacle of Season Two thanks to him and Ms. Michele. Indeed, Lea Michele - by way of Barbra Streisand and Fanny Brice - took the lead last night and stole the show. The ladies ruled the night on the 'Funeral' episode of GLEE - Lea Michele and Jane Lynch, first and foremost.

Legends in their own time, ascending to the top ranks of the Hollywood and Broadway songwriting landscape, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman have accomplished and climbed to heights most of what many film fans, Broadway babies and general entertainment junkies only dream of witnessing and ascending to. Marc Shaiman's work with Trey Parker and Matt Stone on SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT prompted Stephen Sondheim - as he told me himself - to cite it as one of the best musicals of the era. And, it is - as is their Tony-winning Best Musical HAIRSPRAY, based on the film by Pope of Trash John Waters. Featuring John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron, Queen Latifah and an all-around-amazing cast of triple-threats, the stunning Craig Zadan/Neil Meron-produced film version of HAIRSPRAY may be the greatest cinematic Shaiman and/or Wittman accomplishment so far. Then, there is CATCH ME IF YOU CAN - one of the snappiest new scores on Broadway in a strangely strong season of original scores - boasting boss Sinatra blues and sizzling Shirelles riffs and everything else that's swingin' in between. Up next for the team - onstage and off - is a stage adaptation of Roald Dahl's CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY directed by Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes, in addition to what is perhaps the most exciting prospect on their impossibly cluttered horizon: the new Steven Speilberg/Craig Zadan/Neil Meron musical/comedy/drama series SMASH which has just been picked up for the Fall season on NBC! In this exclusive, extensive and exhaustive conversation we cover it all from HAIRSPRAY to CATCH ME to CHARLIE to all about SMASH and far, far beyond!

Last weekend marked the opening of his new vampire-centric horror film STAKE LAND, and you can catch him every week on FOX's hit series FRINGE, but Michael Cerveris is certainly best known for his series of stunning performances in some of the finest musical theatre productions of the 21st century - John Doyle's SWEENEY TODD and Joe Mantello's ASSASSINS chief among them - as well as for originating the title role in Pete Townshend's singular Broadway foray, The Who's TOMMY. With a captivating new double-disc concept album - NINE LIVES - out now, it seems that Cerveris has found a way to juggle it all. In this extensive two-part conversation, we take a look back at his experiences in the aforementioned Sondheim musicals, as well as his series of performances in Sondheim shows under the direction of Lonny Price at the Ravinia Festival co-starring Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone, and also touch upon his work in plays, such as his recent Kent in Kevin Kline's KING LEAR at The Public, HEDDA GABLER opposite Mary Louise Parker, and Sarah Ruhl's IN THE NEXT ROOM (OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY) with Laura Benanti. Additionally, he shares his Tony memories, singing SWEENEY TODD at the recent SONDHEIM! Celebration, HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH, TITANIC and much, much more in this compelling and comprehensive conversation - plus, first news on his upcoming TREME appearance and FRINGE renewal confirmation. His new feature film STAKE LAND is in selected cities now!

Its here! The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall's 2011-2012 buzz-worthy Broadway Season--ten fantastic Broadway shows, highlighted by five outstanding Broadway "specials."

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!

i want to be evil, a new play by David Brind, gets a private industry reading on April 11th in Manhattan.

i want to be evil, a new play by David Brind, gets a private industry reading on April 11th in Manhattan.

To accrue all the characters, characteristics and components of a career as diverse and varied as that of stage and screen star John Leguizamo would be near-impossible for even the most gifted performers in the galaxy. Having appeared in nearly ninety films so far in his twenty-five year career - including a musical, MOULIN ROUGE, and an adaptation of Shakespeare, ROMEO + JULIET, both for noted directed Baz Luhrmann - as well as five off-Broadway and Broadway solo shows - MAMBO MOUTH, SPIC-O-RAMA, FREAK, SEXAHOLIX and, now, GHETTO KLOWN - Leguizamo is consistently challenging himself and revealing new sides to his personality and skills as an actor and performer with his daring choices of roles and searing performances. In this comprehensive career retrospective, we cover Broadway, Hollywood and much more and we even have his first comments on his new feature film opening this weekend, THE LINCOLN LAWYER. From Todd Haynes' POISON to Brian DePalma's CASUALTIES OF WAR and CARLITO'S WAY, to Spike Lee's SUMMER OF SAM, to TO WONG FOO, SUPER MARIO BROS. and more; singing Sondheim's 'Send In The Clowns'; plus, stories on his recently departed co-stars Dennis Hopper (LAND OF THE DEAD) and Brittany Murphy (SPUN), and first news on the David Koresh biopic WACO co-starring Kurt Russell and Adrien Brody, and FUGLY with Radha Mitchell - Leguizamo‘s performances speak (and sing) for themselves. King, cartoon, criminal, artist, clown or klown - Leguizamo can play them all. And play them damn well, as well.

Each night, actor Patrick Lewallen gets to live out his rock star fantasy. Currently traveling the country as the scene-stealing narrator Lonny in the First National Tour of ROCK OF AGES, this Kansas City native is busy putting audiences into a head-banging frenzy, as they sing along to a bevy of guilty pleasure tunes from the biggest hair bands of the 80's. His hilarious antics in this Broadway musical--a show now being prepped for its much talked about big-screen adaptation--will soon take center stage at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa for a week's worth of shows on March 1-6. The self-admitted Pepsi addict chatted briefly with BroadwayWorld's Michael Lawrence Quintos about life on the road and his role as a crowd favorite.

In honor of Valentine's Day (and in a blatant rip-off of BroadwayWorld.com's similar query to the denizens of the Great White Way), we posed that very question to some of our favorite theater community-dwellers in yet another not-so-scientific survey. So, if you're thinking about putting together a playlist of favorite love songs - or if you're searching for the perfect tunes to play in the background while you set the scene for a romantic evening with your own Valentine, here are some suggestions...

The jack-of-all-trades actress, comedian, singer and writer Sandra Bernhard will return to London for the first time in two years at Leicester Square Theatre from Wednesday, February 9, through Sunday, February 13, 2011. She will perform five shows based on her album, Whatever It Takes, which sends viewers on a cross-cultural musical experience from New York, to Africa, the Middle East and South America.

The jack-of-all-trades actress, comedian, singer and writer Sandra Bernhard will return to London for the first time in two years at Leicester Square Theatre from Wednesday, February 9, through Sunday, February 13, 2011. She will perform five shows based on her album, Whatever It Takes, which sends viewers on a cross-cultural musical experience from New York, to Africa, the Middle East and South America.

Liz Callaway and I chatted about her career, Chicago, da Bears, barking technology, & a love for all things Stephen Sondheim and William Finn.

Thom Allison has been performing in shows in Toronto for almost twenty years, and was most recently seen in the smash-hit Mirvish show Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Now he is headed to the Great White Way to make his Broadway debut in that same show, and he is having one last cabaret in Toronto to say farewell to the city. He spoke with BWW about his cabaret, his Broadway debut and what comes next.