Alan Jay Lerner News

A packed audience at tonight's opening performance of Hello Dolly! was treated to the official announcement from Artistic Director Robert J. Farley of Georgia Ensemble Theatre's (GET) 2013-2014 Season. The selections are: Almost Heaven: John Denver's America written and adapted by Peter Glazer, Deathrap by Ira Levin, the world premiere of The Only Light in Reno by Topher Payne, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby adapted for the stage by Simon Levy, and Camelot by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. Georgia Ensemble Theatre is the Official Resident Professional Theatre Company at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center in historic Roswell, Georgia.

Today in 1957, Brigadoon opened at the Adelphi Theatre, where it ran for 47 performances. Brigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. Songs from the musical, such as 'Almost Like Being in Love' have become standards. The story involves two American tourists who stumble upon Brigadoon, a mysterious Scottish village that appears for only one day every hundred years. Tommy, one of the tourists, falls in love with Fiona, a young woman from Brigadoon. The original production opened on Broadway in 1947 and ran for 581 performances. A 1954 film version starred Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. A 1966 television version starred Robert Goulet and Peter Falk.

Vocalists and a pianist are announced for Lyrics & Lyricists Downtown, the L&L series at 92YTribeca. On Monday, April 15, this one-night-only event features a conversation with Tony Award-nominated lyricist composer and librettist Michael John LaChiusa. As one of today's most innovative, prolific and honored artists, LaChiusa's credits include Giant (which recently garnered a Lucille Lortel Award nomination as "Outstanding Musical,") Queen of the Mist, See What I Wanna See and Marie Christine. Joining him as moderator is five-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, who has starred in several of his works and included his songs on her CDs Way Back To Paradise and Happy Songs. The conversation - touching on LaChiusa's significant works and his songwriting process - is punctuated by songs with vocalists Natalie Cortez and Mary Testa and pianist Chris Fenwick.

Director Vince Legaretta and choreographer Kerry Lambert create a music and dance spectacle you may see once in a hundred years

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's beloved musical GIGI will return to Broadway, possibly as soon as the 2013-2014 season, directed by Tony Award-nominee Eric D. Schaeffer (Follies), in a new adaptation by acclaimed British playwright and Emmy-nominated screenwriter Heidi Thomas ('Cranforde,' 'Upstairs Downstairs,' 'Call the Midwife').

Today in 1976, the first Broadway revival of My Fair Lady opened at the St. James Theatre, where it ran for 377 performances. My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, so that she may pass as a well born lady. The musical's 1956 Broadway production was a hit, setting what was then the record for the longest run of any major musical theatre production in history. It was followed by a hit London production, a popular film version, and numerous revivals.

Today in 1947, Brigadoon opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre, where it ran for 581 performances. Brigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. It tells the story of a mysterious Scottish village that appears for only one day every hundred years, though to the villagers, the passing of each century seems no longer than one night. Brigadoon then received a West End production opening in 1949 that ran for 685 performances, and many revivals followed. A 1954 film version starred Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. A 1966 television version starred Robert Goulet and Peter Falk.

According to Showbiz411.com, Clive Davis announced during a reading for his book at the 92nd Street Y last night that his top pick Bartlett Sher has signed on to direct the 2014 Broadway revival of MY FAIR LADY. Sher's recent credits include South Pacific, Golden Boy, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) continues to study and celebrate the work of composer Kurt Weill with Into a Lamplit Room: The Songs of Kurt Weill presented by CCM's Department of Musical Theatre at 7 p.m. on both tonight, March 3, and Sunday, March 10.

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's (CCM) year-long Kurt Weill Festival resumes this month with a dynamic new production of the iconic musical The Threepenny Opera. Composed by Kurt Weill with book and lyrics by dramatist Bertolt Brecht (adapted into English by Marc Blitzstein), The Threepenny Opera weaves the riveting tale of notorious bandit and womanizer Macheath ('Mack the Knife') and his seedy companions in London's underworld. Weill's innovative score invented a new form of musical theatre, leading the way for such shows as Chicago and Cabaret.

The Goodman Theatre just announced its 2013/2014 season. For tickets or more information, visit: http://www.goodmantheatre.org/upcoming-season/?id=&epslanguage=en

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) continues to study and celebrate the work of composer Kurt Weill with Into a Lamplit Room: The Songs of Kurt Weill presented by CCM's Department of Musical Theatre at 7 p.m. on both Sunday, March 3, and Sunday, March 10.

For its 21st annual Spring Gala, the Kennedy Center will present My Fair Lady in Concert on Sunday, May 5, 2013 at 8 p.m. in the Concert Hall. The famed 1956 musical features book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner with music by Frederick Loewe and will be directed and choreographed by Tony Award nominee Marcia Milgrom Dodge. The concert staging will be accompanied by the 35-piece Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra conducted by Music Director James Moore.

Today, February 23 and February 24 and 25 Lyrics & Lyricists tours Miss Peggy Lee's hip musical landscape with guest artistic director Billy Stritch and vocalists Barbara Fasano, La Tanya Hall and Gabrielle Stravelli. Cabaret legend Marilyn Maye, who frequently includes Peggy Lee classics in her shows, joins the show as a special guest.

It was announced earlier this week that, Davis is eying LES MISERABLES star Anne Hathaway and Colin Firth to play Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins respectively. Now according to the Daily Mail, Hathaway has responded positively to the news. She told DM: 'I haven't heard for a while what's happening with My Fair Lady and I don't know whether I would do it on stage, or screen, but either would be a treat.'

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's (CCM) year-long Kurt Weill Festival resumes this month with a dynamic new production of the iconic musical The Threepenny Opera. Composed by Kurt Weill with book and lyrics by dramatist Bertolt Brecht (adapted into English by Marc Blitzstein), The Threepenny Opera weaves the riveting tale of notorious bandit and womanizer Macheath ('Mack the Knife') and his seedy companions in London's underworld. Weill's innovative score invented a new form of musical theatre, leading the way for such shows as Chicago and Cabaret.

Now according to USA Today, Davis is eying LES MISERABLES star Anne Hathaway and Colin Firth to play Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins respectively. Firth has also starred in a big screen musical in the past, taking on Harry in 2008's MAMMA MIA. Neither actor, however, has yet starred in a Broadway production.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Grammy and Oscar, 'Smash' and 'Million Dollar Quartet' on TV, Lyric Opera's five R and H shows, Rachel Rockwell directs 'Brigadoon' and 'Shrek,' two college shows, and the two singing Callaway sisters!