Allison Semmes News

What better way to kick off Sunday-and to celebrate Father's Day!-than with the latest installment of Music City Confidential! Here's where you'll find all the news that's fit to print (or not-depending on your perspective) from Nashville's ever-growing, ever-fascinating live theater industry. Amid the florid prose and flowery praise, you'll find all the stories that don't quite fit anywhere else, some of 'em kind of gossipy, some of 'em stone-cold serious, some of 'em just lists of names you need to know. You'll also find photos from our new "Intermission@" series, details about the latest cast parties and various and sundry minutiae-the veritable flotsam and jetsam-from backstage, onstage, offstage and beyond…

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.

The National Theatre is proud to announce that THE COLOR PURPLE, The Musical about Love, will return to D.C. for an Easter engagement April 12 to 24, and will feature special guest star Lil' Mo as the Church Soloist.

Broadway/San Diego ~ A Nederlander Presentation is proud to announce that the Broadway smash hit THE COLOR PURPLE, The Musical about Love, will play at San Diego Civic Theatre for five performances only December 3 - 5, 2010.

Broadway/San Diego ~ A Nederlander Presentation is proud to announce that the Broadway smash hit THE COLOR PURPLE, The Musical about Love, will play at San Diego Civic Theatre for five performances only December 3 - 5, 2010.

Led by the exquisitely voiced Dayna Jarae Dantzler in the pivotal role of Celie, we are taken on a journey of almost 40 years in the lives of Walker's richly drawn characters, to learn the true lessons of life and love. The story is as moving as it has ever been - Walker's novel relates the story of Celie's extraordinary life eloquently and articulately - but the creators of this musical (which earned a whopping 11 Tony Award nominations, winning the top honor for LaChanze's stirring performance as Celie) have re-fashioned the story to make it more palatable for theatre-goers, delivering a version of the story that is easier to follow, while retaining all the epic scope and dramatic possibilities of the original work. Neither is it slavish in its devotion to Stephen Spielberg's fine film version; The Color Purple, 'the musical about love,' obviously tells the same story, but in a different way, offering instead a re-intepretation of Walker's artfully created story set to music and told vividly onstage.

ubbling Brown Sugar is a musical revue written by Loften Mitchell based on a concept by Rosetta LeNoire and featuring the music of numerous African-American artists who were popular during this period, including Duke Ellington, Eubie Blake, Count Basie, Cab Calloway and Fats Waller. It was nominated for the Tony Award as, 'Best Musical.' The revue is scheduled through Nov. 22 at Broward Stage Door Theatre, 8036 W. Sample Road, Coral Springs.

While the title of Town Hall's third annual production of Broadway's Rising Stars suggests a look into the future, I prefer to linger a bit in the present. With a cast consisting of 22 recent grads from such musical theatre savvy institutions as NYU, Carnegie Mellon, AMDA and The Cincinnati Conservatory, all hand picked by creator/writer/host Scott Siegel, his partner in both life and reviewing, Barbara, plus directors Emily Skinner and Scott Coulter, this was a night to treasure the youthful love of the type of songs and the styles of singing that have helped make musical theatre this city's major export to the world.

ubbling Brown Sugar is a musical revue written by Loften Mitchell based on a concept by Rosetta LeNoire and featuring the music of numerous African-American artists who were popular during this period, including Duke Ellington, Eubie Blake, Count Basie, Cab Calloway and Fats Waller. It was nominated for the Tony Award as, 'Best Musical.' The revue is scheduled through Nov. 22 at Broward Stage Door Theatre, 8036 W. Sample Road, Coral Springs.

Jenna gives a rundown of where she's been and who she's seen in the world of cabaret (and sometimes beyond!) in the past week. The past week's events included Eric Comstock & Barbara Fasano at Feinsteins, as well as a wonderful Cast Party at Birdland!

After Monday night's Nick Adams Broadway at Birdland concert, everyone stuck around for a jam-packed Cast Party, guest hosted by Scott Siegel, stepping in for Jim Caruso who is traveling out of town.

The Town Hall, New York City's landmark concert venue, concluded its acclaimed Broadway 3rd Annual Summer Broadway Festival with All Singin' All Dancin' on Monday, July 27th at 8PM.

Today's Broadway Blogs on BroadwayWorld.com from Monday, July 27, 2009.

The Town Hall continues to present acclaimed Broadway concerts this July with its 3rd Annual Summer Broadway Festival. Presented on three consecutive Monday nights at 8PM, The Town Hall's 3rd Annual Summer Broadway Festival continued with Broadway's Rising Stars on Monday, July 20th at 8PM.

The Town Hall continues to present acclaimed Broadway concerts this July with its 3rd Annual Summer Broadway Festival. Presented on three consecutive Monday nights at 8PM, The Town Hall's 3rd Annual Summer Broadway Festival began with Broadway Winners: The Award-Winning Music of Broadway! on Monday, July 13th at 8PM.