Mary Hanrahan - Page 8

Cyndi Lauper is to receive the Inspiration Award from GLSEN on May 24 as part of their seventh annual Respect Awards. Lauper is to be recognized along with Phizer, American Express, David Dechman and Michael Mercure, and many more at Gotham Hall in New York City.

It seems pretty repetitive to open this week's GLEE-Cap with another sarcastic remark about the insistence of the writing team to keep making arcane, trite 'theme' episodes from week to week on GLEE, but then, it reflects their general style. As the title of the episode indicates, this week's GLEE revolves around the subject of dreams and aspirations, namely those of Will Schuester, Artie, Rachel, and Vocal Adrenaline coach Shelby Corcoran. Even with the talents of director Joss Whedon, 'Dream On' is another in a series of muddled messes for the show.

ET Online is reporting that American Idol is slated to undergo formatting changes in its tenth season. Next season, along with the highly publicized departure of judge Simon Cowell, the series will be cutting the time of its weekly results show from an hour down to 30 minutes. American Idol is currently in its ninth season, which will have its season finale May 26th at 8:00PM on Fox.

Washington, D.C.'s Studio Theatre has announced the complete casting for its production of Passing Strange, which will run July 14 through August 8. Keith Alan Baker and Victoria Murray will co-direct the musical, written by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, with music direction by Christopher Youstra and choreography by Helanius Wilkins.

A new live stage show based on the BBC's popular Doctor Who television series is being launched in the UK this October. Doctor Who Live will open at Wembley Arena on October 8, the beginning of a UK-wide tour that will span cities in England, Scotland and Ireland.

AfterElton.com has announced its picks for their annual Hot 100 list, comprised of male actors, musicians, athletes, and other prominent celebrities. The AfterElton Hot 100 began in 2007 in response to Maxim's Hot 100 and allows gay and bisexual men to pick the celebrities they believe to be the most attractive, regardless of sexual orientation; this year's Hot 100 features 26 openly gay or bisexual men.

London's Pizza On The Park has announced the final schedule for the venue before its closing on June 17. Performers will include Karen Akers, Andrea Marcovicci, and Steve Ross.

Actor T.C. Carson, most widely known for his role as Kyle Barker on the FOX Television sitcom 'Living Single' will star in The Ensemble's season finale musical, Five Guys Named Moe.

The Boston Pops world premiere of The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers, which will take place at Boston's Symphony Hall on May 18 and 19, is set to receive a live audio recording for later release. The event will also be documented in a video exclusive, featuring interviews with composer Peter Boyer, lyricist Lynn Ahrens, and conductor Keith Lockhart, as well as excerpts from the show itself.

As True West opens at Sheffield's newly refurbished Crucible Theatre, Artistic Director Daniel Evans announces his second season - completing his first year of work at the venue.

Casting has been announced for Chelsea Studios' readings of Alyss, a new musical by mother-son writing team Marilyn Michaels and Mark Wilk, which will take place on May 20 and 21.

Theatre legends Hal Prince and Susan Stroman, in an interview with The Times Online, discuss their opinions and frustrations on the state of the musical and theatre, their pasts and their directorial collaboration on Paradise Found, set to begin previews this week at London's Menier Chocolate Factory.

Casting is complete for the special May 25 one-night-only reading of Stan Richardson's VERITAS to benefit Lambda Legal, directed by Ryan J. Davis.

Deadline.com is reporting that Fox's smash hit series, GLEE, has landed the highly coveted post-Super Bowl air slot on February 6. The show, currently working toward the end of its critically acclaimed first season, currently airs after American Idol and is expected to receive a similar ratings boost the night of the singing competition's finale. GLEE will move from its 9PM Tuesday time to 8PM in the fall, and will move back to its original Wednesday 9PM slot midseason.

Like the episodes preceding it in the second half of the season, this week's episode of GLEE has a theme: finding one's voice. ‘Laryngitis' revolves around Puck's attempts to regain popularity after a trip to the skin doctor forces him to part with his signature mohawk, which in turn leads to his being deposited in a dumpster by the school's geeks, Rachel Berry's tonsillitis, and Kurt's attempts to connect with his father. Ultimately, though, ‘Laryngitis' left me wishing the writers would come down with a case of the illness themselves (I realize the tie-in is forced, but so is most of the show's writing).

The plot of William Finn's semi-autobiographical musical, A New Brain, is not typical fare for the genre: the story of composer Gordon Michael Schwinn and his simultaneous battle with a brain injury and artistic creativity. Though its synopsis is gloomy and a little hard to comprehend out of context, A New Brain as staged by Jack Haldoupis and Blackfriars Theatre is bursting with energy, hilarity, and above all, heart.

It almost seems too easy to take a jab at this week's episode of GLEE through its episode title, ‘Bad Reputation.' Given the absolute disparity of quality between the episode last week and this one, however, I can't help but go for it: the writing this week could give the popular series a really bad rep.

This morning, May 4, Jeff Daniels and Lea Michele announced the nominations for the 2010 Tony Awards. In the midst of celebration on the part of many, Gold Derby's Tom O'Neil of the Los Angeles Times questions the (perhaps surprising) absence of many left off the list.

Chad Kimballl, the newly-Tony nominated star of MEMPHIS, is headed to Seth's Broadway Chatterbox this Thursday, May 6th, at 6:00 PM.

According to Masterworks Broadway's website, the original Broadway cast recording of City of Angels is being reissued on CD today, May 4. The album is available on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and on the Masterworks Broadway website.