Richmond Shepard Theatre Presents CAPTAIN CRASH, 6/20June 7, 2012RICHMOND SHEPARD THEATRE has just announced the New York premiere production of CAPTAIN CRASH vs THE ZZORGWOMEN- CHAPTERS 5 & 6, directed by Richmond Shepard. CAPTAIN CRASH, was originally recorded in England by Alice Cooper and The Who in the late '70's, and was directed by Shepard, starring Weston Gavin, in Los Angeles in 1982 where it ran for five months and the cast album sold over 50,000 copies. The show will be playing at the Richmond Shepard Theatre (309 East 26th St, Street, at 2nd Avenue). Performances begin Wednesday, June 20. Opening Night is Thursday, June 28 (8 p.m.).
Sara Crowe to Lead ST. JOHN'S NIGHT at Jermyn Street TheatreJune 7, 2012The cast of Jermyn Street Theatre's eagerly awaited UK premiere of Henrik Ibsen's St John's Night is to be headed by Olivier Award winning actress Sara Crowe and also includes Louise Calf, Isla Carter, Roddy Maude-Roxby, David Osmond, Danny Lee Wynter, Ed Birch, Harry Napier and Luke Bateman.
Photo Flash: Maude Maggart Plays Feinstein'sJune 7, 2012FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY continues its Spring 2012 season with Maude Maggart and her new show "Into The Garden." Inspired by the recent centennial of the Titanic, the evening will focus on landmark events, music, cultural shifts one hundred years ago.
Photo Flash: Jesse L. Martin Visits SPIDER-MAN!June 7, 2012On Wednesday, June 6, stage and screen star Jesse L. Martin visited the Foxwoods Theatre to check out SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK. Check out photos of Martin and cast member Luther Creek below!
STAGE TUBE: On This Day 6/10- SHE LOVES MEJune 10, 2012Today in 1993, the first Broadway revival of She Loves Me opened at Criterion Center Stage Right, where it ran for 354 performances. She Loves Me is a 1963 musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock. The plot revolves around Budapest shop employees Georg Nowack and Amalia Balash who, despite being consistently at odds with each other at work, are unaware that each is the other's secret pen pal met through lonely-hearts ads. The Revival cast featured Boyd Gaines as Georg, Judy Kuhn as Amalia, Sally Mayes as Ilona, Howard McGillin as Kodaly, Lee Wilkof as Ladislav, Brad Kane as Arpad, and Louis Zorich as Mr. Maraczek. A revival cast recording was released by Varèse Sarabande.
STAGE TUBE: On This Day 6/9- Cole PorterJune 9, 2012Happy Birthday, Cole Porter! Porter's many musicals include Fifty Million Frenchmen, DuBarry Was a Lady, Anything Goes and Can-Can, and his numerous hit songs include 'Night and Day', 'I Get a Kick out of You', 'Well, Did You Evah!' and 'I've Got You Under My Skin'. 1948's Kiss Me Kate was his most successful show, running for 1,077 performances in its original Broadway run. The production won the Tony Award for best musical (the first Tony awarded in that category), and Porter won for best composer and lyricist.
STAGE TUBE: On This Day 6/8- Robert PrestonJune 8, 2012Happy Birthday, Robert Preston! best remembered for his performance as 'Professor' Harold Hill in Meredith Willson's musical The Music Man (1962). He had already won a Tony Award for his performance in the original Broadway production, in 1957. In 1965 he was the male part of a duo-lead musical, I Do! I Do! with Mary Martin, for which he won his second Tony Award. He played the title role in the musical Ben Franklin in Paris and originated the role of Henry II in the original production of The Lion in Winter. In 1974 he starred alongside Bernadette Peters in Jerry Herman's Broadway musical Mack & Mabel as Mack Sennett, the famous silent film director. That same year (1974) the film version of Mame, another famed Jerry Herman musical, was released with Preston starring, alongside Lucille Ball, in the role of Beauregard Burnside.
STAGE TUBE: On This Day 6/7- Charles StrouseJune 7, 2012Happy Birthday, Charles Strouse! Strouse's first Broadway musical was the 1960 hit Bye Bye Birdie, with lyrics by Lee Adams, who would become his long time collaborator. Following this was Golden Boy (1964, also with Adams), starring Sammy Davis, Jr. and It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman (1966, based on the popular comic strip) which introduced the song 'You've Got Possibilities' sung by Linda Lavin. In 1970, Applause (starring Lauren Bacall, with book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and lyrics by Adams) won Strouse his second Tony Award. In 1977, Strouse adapted another comic strip for the stage, creating the hit Annie, which garnered him his third Tony Award and two Grammy Awards. Other Strouse musicals include Charlie and Algernon (1979), Dance a Little Closer (1983, with lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner), Rags (1986), Nick & Nora (1993), and An American Tragedy (1995, with lyrics by David Shaber).
ROCK OF AGES to Open in Vegas in December 2012!June 7, 2012The music that ignited a generation and heats up Broadway every night in ROCK OF AGES is coming to Las Vegas, according to the show's official website. The Venetian Hotel & Casino, which recently opened their own 'Bourbon Room' (the setting of the musical), will host the show beginning in December 2012.

Brynn O'Malley, Clarke Thorell, J. Elaine Marcos Join Cast of Broadway's ANNIE!June 6, 2012ANNIE, the new production of the classic Tony Award®-winning musical, goes on sale today to American Express cardholders. For tickets, call 877-250-2929 or visit Ticketmaster.com. Tickets will be available to the general public on Monday, June 25. ANNIE will star two-time Tony Award® winner Katie Finneran as Miss Hannigan, Australian star Anthony Warlow making his Broadway debut as Daddy Warbucks and 11-year-old Lilla Crawford as Annie, with Brynn O'Malley (Wicked, Hairspray) as Grace Farrell, Daddy Warbucks' devoted personal secretary, Clarke Thorell (Hairspray, Mamma Mia!) as Rooster Hannigan, Miss Hannigan's ne'er-do-well brother and J. Elaine Marcos (Priscilla Queen of the Desert, A Chorus Line) as Lily St. Regis, Rooster's floozy girlfriend. The orphans are Madi Rae DiPietro as July, Georgi James as Pepper, Junah Jang as Tessie, Tyrah Skye Odoms as Kate, Taylor Richardson as Duffy, Emily Rosenfeld as Molly and Jaidyn Young as standby for the roles of Annie, Pepper, Duffy and July. The production also features Ashley Blanchet, Jane Blass, Jeremy Davis, Merwin Foard, Joel Hatch, Amanda Lea LaVergne, Gavin Lodge, Liz McCartney, Desi Oakley, David Rossetti, Sarah Solie, Dennis Stowe and Ryan VanDenBoom.
Michelle Federer, Eric Leviton, et al. Set for HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN at NYMFJune 6, 2012The 2012 New York Musical Theatre Festival presents the world premiere of How Deep Is The Ocean?, a new American musical with music and lyrics by Peter Cincotti ("Metropolis"), book by Pia Cincotti, and directed by Jeremy Dobrish (Rated P, Date of a Lifetime, The Joys of Sex, Signs of Life) and Gina Rattan (resident director, Billy Elliott). How Deep Is The Ocean? plays July 12th at 8:00pm, July 14 at 1:00pm, July 16 at 9:00pm, July 19th at 5:00 pm, July 19 at 9:00pm, and July 21 at 1:00pm at The Theater at St. Clements (423 W. 46th Street).
Matthew Morrison & Josh Groban Join 2012 Tony Presenters Line-Up!June 6, 2012The Tony Awards have just announced that stage veterans Matthew Morrison and Josh Groban have joined the list of presenters for the 66th Annual Tony Awards at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. The 2012 Tony Awards will air live on CBS, on Sunday, June 10th 8:00 - 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT time delay) and are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.
STAGE TUBE: Meyer Rossabi Band Releases 'When There's Smoke' VideoJune 6, 2012The Meyer Rossabi Band have announced the release of a new music video 'When There's Smoke, There's Fire', recorded live from B.B. Kings Blues Club in New York City on June 1, 2012. The video captures the energy of the band live and gives audiences a chance to preview a new Meyer Rossabi tune from his upcoming album, Blues The Way You Like It.
American Lyric Theatre to Receive $20,000 NEA Art Works GrantJune 6, 2012American Lyric Theater has been selected by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to receive a $20,000 grant to support its Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP), a full-time resident artist program for emerging opera composers and librettists. Artists are selected through an open application process to participate in the tuition-free program that provides professional training by renowned and respected artists including composer-librettist Mark Adamo, composer Anthony Davis, librettist Michael Korie, and dramaturg Cori Ellison.
Malcolm Gets, Ann Harada, et al. Join OLIVER! Benefit, 6/11June 6, 2012Off-Broadway's acclaimed Irish Repertory Theatre presents its 2012 Annual Benefit Gala, a concert performance on Broadway of Lionel Bart's OLIVER! - a glorious, Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of the classic Dickens tale of 1850's London in the time of the Industrial Revolution - on Monday, June 11 at The Shubert Theatre (225 West 44th Street) in Manhattan. Charlotte Moore, who directed last year's concert staging of CAMELOT on Broadway and the Irish Repertory's recent revival of Brian Friel's DANCING AT LUGHNASA, will direct.

Jacques Lacombe to Be Knighted by National Order of QuébecJune 6, 2012New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Music Director Jacques Lacombe will be knighted by the National Order of Quebec, the Order has announced. According to the Order, its titleholders "are outstanding individuals who have helped increase Quebec's renown and left a strong, lasting mark on all or part of Quebec itself." "It is an honor to receive this recognition from the National Order of Quebec," Lacombe says, "not only as a musician but also as a person who believes in making connections with the communities in which I work-in Canada, in the United States and abroad." "We are proud that Quebec is recognizing Jacques for the exceptional artistry and leadership that the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and its patrons across and beyond the state have witnessed in the two years he has been Music Director," says NJSO President & CEO Andre Gremillet. "The honor is richly deserved." Since becoming the NJSO's Music Director in October 2010, Lacombe has garnered praise from critics and audiences for his creative programming and his talents at the podium. Lacombe created an ambitious multi-year initiative that the Orchestra began in his inaugural season, 2010-11.
STAGE TUBE: On This Day 6/6- Harvey FiersteinJune 6, 2012Happy Birthday, Harvey Fierstein! In addition to Torch Song Trilogy, La Cage aux Folles and A Catered Affair, Fierstein's Broadway acting credits include playing the mother, Edna Turnblad in Hairspray (2002), for which he won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. He later replaced Alfred Molina as Tevye in the 2004 revival of Fiddler on the Roof. Fierstein returned to the theatre when he toured as Tevye, replacing Chaim Topol in Fiddler on the Roof starting in December 2009. On February 15, 2011, he replaced Douglas Hodge as Albin/Zaza in the Broadway revival of La Cage aux Folles playing opposite Christopher Sieber. He is nominated for a 2012 Tony Award for the book of Newsies.
Actors Fund Benefit Luncheon to Celebrate Audra McDonald & Norm Lewis, 6/21June 6, 2012Producer Randie Levine-Miller will launch a new celebrity luncheon series to benefit The Actors Fund. The first in this series is in honor of Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis, musical theater stars, co-starring in this season's hit musical, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess. Both have been nominated for multiple theater awards for their outstanding performances, including the 2012 Tony Awards®.