Pat Cerasaro - Page 215

Today we are talking to Tony Award Special Honors Regional Theater Winner Preston Whiteway of the Eugene O'Neill Theater. We discuss the various plays and musicals begun there - NINE, AVENUE Q, IN THE HEIGHTS, the forthcoming TALES OF THE CITY by the Scissor Sisters, as well as the first plays by three-time Pultizer-prize winner August Wilson and much, much more! Michael Douglas will be presenting the award on Tony night as an accreditation to the legacy and accomplishment of the theater with particular, singular focus aimed at Mr. Whiteway himself. We also discuss the plays musicals on the horizon such as a new show by PASSING STRANGE's Stew and NEXT TO NORMAL's Tom Kitt.

Today we continue our series of conversations with the recipients of the 2010 Tony Awards for Special Achievement which this year is being awarded to the Alzheimer's Association of America and their spokesperson: Broadway, film and television star - and past Tony-winner - David Hyde Pierce. In the first part of this discussion yesterday, I spoke to Harry Johns, the CEO of the organization. Now, in the second part, I speak to the magnetic and magnanimous Mr. Hyde Pierce himself.

Today we continue our series of conversations with the recipients of the 2010 Tony Awards for Special Achievement which this year is being awarded to the Alzheimer's Association and their spokesperson: Broadway, film and television star and Tony-winner David Hyde Pierce. In this discussion, I speak to Harry Johns, the CEO of the group, and, in the second part, as the magnetic and magnanimous Mr. Hyde Pierce himself.

Today, we continue our series of interviews with the recipients of this year's Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre with popular and critically-praised playwright and director Alan Ayckbourn, recently on Broadway with THE NORMAN CONQUESTS as well as many others over the last forty years.

Today we are taking a look at a clip from the 2005 Tony Awards in which Hugh Jackman shows why he may very well be Hollywood's gift to musical theatre in a mesmerizing medley comprising myriad songs - nearly thirty - in a breathtaking arrangement by Michael John LaChiusa created especially for the Tony Awards.

Today, we are taking a look at a clip from the 1982 Tony Awards and one of that season's hottest and most acclaimed shows, the rightfully unforgettable DREAMGIRLS directed by Michael Bennett. In this clip we can surely see why Jennifer Holliday earned her Best Actress In A Musical trophy and why Michael Bennett's Tony-winning musical staging is so well-remembered to this very day. No musical looked quite like this before...

Today, we are taking a look at a clip from the 1984 Tony Awards and the original Broadway cast of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES which was that year's big winner, starring Gene Barry and George Hearn under the direction of Arthur Laurents with a score by Jerry Herman, book by Harvey Fierstein and produced by Alan Carr.

Today, we are taking a look at a clip from the 1993 Tony Awards with a special performance by that year's host, legendary star of stage, screen and the recording industry: Liza Minnelli along with Barry Bostwick sing an original song written especially for that year's elaborate opening production number 'Celebrate Broadway'.

Today, we are taking a look at a clip from the 2008 Tony Awards and a chilling performance by the trio of Tony-winning talents that won that year's Best Actress In A Musical, Best Featured Actress and Best Featured Actor: Patti LuPone, Laura Benanti and Boyd Gaines in Arthur Laurents's lauded revival of his classic musical written with Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim, the spectacular classic GYPSY!

Today, we are taking a look at a clip from the 1971 Tony Awards in the title song from that year's Best Musical. The song is performed by the chorus members of the ALL ABOUT EVE musical, the Lauren Bacall-led APPLAUSE. This clip features a twenty-six-year-old Bonnie Franklin leading one of two featured numbers (and she was nominated for Best Featured Actress - losing out to Melba Moore for PURLIE) who would later find fame on the hit 80s sitcom ONE DAY AT A TIME… APPLAUSE had all the makings of a truly great musical: a score by then-white-hot songwriting team Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, a book by legends Betty Comden and Adolf Green, and a leading lady the likes of whom simply don't exist anymore in Lauren Ball. Stars like her don't shine, they radiate. They just ARE, and Bacall was (and still is). Don't let the fact that she can't really sing fool you: she could put over a number as well as Merman, Callas or Lotte Lenya, for that matter. So here, with a nod to the currently-running shows of that time - among them CABARET, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, HELLO,DOLLY, MAME - and many others in a fun parody sequence that is not a part of the original cast album for what we would assume would be questionable copyright issues given the uncanny homage. Also, viewer beware that there is some slight nudity in the form of some bare backsides at one point in the clip, but surely something broadcast on national television nearly forty years ago could not be held accountable for too much prurience. It's a bit of a desperate ploy in a bit of a desperate song from an even more desperate show. It just screams "Like me!" but one may find it hard to fully embrace the at-times pure camp and over-the-top elements on display in an entirely serious way. Take it for what it is: frivolous fun. Whatever the case with APPLAUSE, it truly seems they threw everything and the kitchen sink into this number - with interesting, if not entirely successful, results. Be sure to stay tuned past the seven minute mark for a quite unexpected surprise. Speaking of which: Bonnie Franklin sure could tap, but her other talents are seemingly a bit less pleasurable from an audience member's point of view judging by this clip. See if you don't agree. The over-the-top camp and hokey allure of this clip justify this as the sole, perhaps, for-diehards-only entry in our Top Ten Tony Moments countdown. After all, a little frothy fun never hurt anybody. 'Til tomorrow…

Today, we begin a ten-part series in which we have highlighted the top ten Tony Award moments of the last forty years. Throughout the series, you will discover and enjoy clips going back as far as 1970 to COMPANY and all the way up to 2010 to BILLY ELLIOT. Today's clip comes from the 2010 telecast.

This week, we are highlighting the unparalleled career of legendary director/choreographer Michael Bennett with a newly unearthed clip of the original Broadway cast of A JOYFUL NOISE performing Bennett's choreography on the Ed Sullivan Show, as well as a near-three-hour interview with his associates that was recorded last week as part of a benefit for Dancers Over 40 also titled A JOYFUL NOISE. There's certainly a lot to love and embrace here in this crash-course in Bennett for the uninitiated among us.

Today, following this week's sold out run of GLEE: LIVE! At Radio City Music Hall, and in honor of next week's season finale, as well as the just released 4th album of soundtrack songs, we are taking a listen to the four soundtracks of the hit Golden-Globe-winning Fox TV musical dramedy series GLEE starring Broadway veterans Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele, with additional featured performances by Kristin Chenoweth, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris and Idina Menzel.

Today, we are talking to three members of the NYPD - Officer Bekim Kalicovic, Sergeant Andrew Lopez and Detective Martin Speechley - who work in the theatre district and whose precinct will be receiving a Special Tony Award this season for their stupendous work protecting and serving the theatre community.

Today, we are talking to legendary fight coordinator and director B.H. Barry who has worked with basically every major director of the last thirty years and most major stars. A fascinating man himself, he opens up about his life, career, art and collaboration and what winning a Tony Award means to him. Plus, we discuss everything from the revival of Cole Porter's KISS ME, KATE to David Mamet's OLEANNA...

Today, we continue our series of Special Interviews with the recipients of the 2010 Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre with arts advocate Ginny Louloudes and the National Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (ART/NY)

This week, we are taking a look at a particularly licentious and lively clip from a recent Writer's Guild of America award ceremony hosted by FAMILY GUY and AMERICAN DAD creator and star Seth MacFarlane as well as two serious takes on classic songs from movie musicals. CAUTION: CONTAINS VERY STRONG LANGUAGE & SUGGESTIVE CONTENT, so proceed at your own risk...

This week, we are taking a listen to the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Green Day's rock opera AMERICAN IDIOT. The show was met with appreciative reviews, yet it seems audiences and the Tony committee are slightly less enthusiastic. So is it an American Classic, An Idiotic Delight or a 21st Century Breakdown? Let's see...

Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) is one of the foremost AIDS charities on Broadway and their four yearly benefits provide not only help to those who need it most, but also provide thrilling showcases for the vast talent on Broadway and off, raising tens of millions of dollars a year for AIDS-related charities. The President of the BC/EFA, Tom Viola, is receiving a Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre for his work as an individual this year, as the organization itself has already been singled out for their amazing work by the Tony committee. Here, Viola discusses his feelings on the Tonys, the origins of the many yearly benefits such as Broadway Bares and Easter Bonnet Competition, in addition to his earliest theatrical memories.

Today is the final installment of our three-part discussion of August Wilson's FENCES, currently playing to packed houses every night starring Viola Davis and Denzel Washington on Broadway and recently having scored ten Tony nominations. In this concluding portion of the tapestry of a talk between the creative team of the production we discuss the legacy of Wilson's work, insights into the greater themes of his plays and the plans for the future - perhaps bringing the play to film. This revival just won 3 Drama Desk Awards including Best Revival of A Play, is the Tony next?