Anita Gillette News

Thanks to the gang at [title of show] the new parlor game sweeping the nation (or at least Chelsea) is to come up with unusual names for drag queens. The best one I could think of was 'Belle Jar' but Mike Ceceri of North Shore Music Theatre came up with what I humbly consider to be the best one evah….

Some special guests were attending the Sunday, September matinee of THE TOXIC AVENGER. Actor TONY PLANA who plays Betty's (AMERICA FERRARA) father on the ABC-TV hit 'UGLY BETTY' was there with his wife, actress ADA MARIS and their daughter, ISABEL (PLANA). Actress ANITA GILLETTE (who appeared in FLAMINGO COURT at New World Stages) was also there. So, all made a bee-line backstage to pay a 'between show' visit to the cast and band and to tell them what a TOX-A-RI-FIC time they had!

Premier Performing Arts, a non-profit professional theatre company producing in Westchester County, presented its inaugural fundraiser, Broadway Tonight with Alan Menken and Friends, at the Tarrytown Music Hall to an enthusiastic crowd.

Debbie Reynolds, the beloved, iconic and award-winning actress received The Friars Club honors by friends and colleagues in a star-studded tribute on Monday, June 15th at The Friars Club (57 East 55th St). BroadwayWorld.com was there to cheer the iconic screen favorite on as she was honored by the starry crowd!

The 54th Annual Drama Desk Awards were held tonight, Sunday, May 17, 2009 in the LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center. Drama Desk nominees received their official Nomination Certificates at a cocktail reception on Friday, May 1st at Il Bastardo restaurant, 191 Seventh Avenue (between 21st and 22nd Streets).

Creative Alternatives of New York (225 West 99th Street), celebrating the use of theater to help New York's most vulnerable children and adults, honored Tony Award winner & Board Chairman, Dick Latessa, and Emily Nash, Artistic Director at this year's 25th Anniversary celebration, 'Broadway at the Boathouse,' which held at Loeb Central Park Boathouse (at East 72nd Street entrance) on May 4, 2009.

On April 7, ArkivMusic released eight long-unavailable cast recordings on cd for the first time. New releases include DisinHAIRited, Hazel Flagg, Jimmy, The Last Sweet Days of Isaac, Let It Ride!, New Faces of 1952, New Faces of '56, and The Threepenny Opera.

Tony Award nominees Penny Fuller and Anita Gillette will star in the staged reading of JAMMED, a new play by Joan Tewkesbury (Nashville, Thieves Like Us), Thursday, February 5, 2009 at Manhattan Theatre Source (177 MacDougal St., between Waverly Place and West 8th St.). JAMMED takes place backstage at a performance of Hedda Gabler. A missed cue triggers a conversation, a confrontation and a misguided solution.

Tony Award nominees Penny Fuller and Anita Gillette will star in the staged reading of JAMMED, a new play by Joan Tewkesbury (Nashville, Thieves Like Us), Thursday, February 5, 2009 at Manhattan Theatre Source (177 MacDougal St., between Waverly Place and West 8th St.). JAMMED takes place backstage at a performance of Hedda Gabler. A missed cue triggers a conversation, a confrontation and a misguided solution.

On Monday, January 26 at 7 PM, the 7th Annual Nightlife Awards Concert took place at Town Hall. BroadwayWorld.com's cameras were everywhere to bring you the excitement of the night! The Nightlife Awards are sponsored, in part, by ASCAP, TheaterMania.com, Thoroughbred Records, Jill & Irwin Cohen, The Edythe Kenner Foundation, Trattoria Dopo Teatro, Edith & Ervin Drake, Barbara & Peter Leavy, Ghostlight Records, Steve Ernst, Lynn DiMenna, Jamie DeRoy & Friends, Fred Landau, Stuart E. Bloom & Robert L. Aaron: Lightstyles, LLC.

As part of the station's fund raising programming, MASH star Jamie Farr visited the WLIW studios. BroadwayWorld.com was there, as always, to bring you exclusive photo coverage of the special event! Jamie Farr & Red Skelton: A Very Special Friendship DVD In this bonus DVD the beloved actor, comedian and director Jamie Farr of M*A*S*H fame takes you inside his very special friendship with America's Clown Prince, Red Skelton. In this rare interview, Jamie relates how Red not only encouraged him, but taught him about comedy, courtesy, and life. When Jamie returned from a tour of duty with the Army, it was Red who encouraged him to return to show business. Jamie again became a regular on Red's highly successful weekly show, appearing in several episodes before striking out in his own. In recounting many stories and insights into Red Skelton, Jamie's own humanity and love of life are revealed for his many fans. Included on this DVD are three 'lost episodes' of The Red Skelton Show featuring Jamie Farr, which have not been seen by the public since they first aired on CBS. Jamie's fans will love the hilarious preview of his role of Klinger on M*A*S*H, as he and Red attempt to smuggle an orphaned baby on board their Navy vessel in 'Cookie and Snorkel's Bundle of Joy'!. 94 min/ color and B&W. Dolby digital.

The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director) will honor Tony? Award-winner George S. Irving with the 17th Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre Monday, December 8th.

Bidding begins at noon EST on eBay for BID 2 BEAT AIDS, a massive annual auction of rare and autographed items from stars in music, film, Broadway, sports, and television. Broadway fans can bid on tickets to the opening night of Hair and the post-show party, a backstage visit with Hairspray star Harvey Fierstein, signed Playbills, a 'For Rent' sign autographed by the cast of Rent, or even a signed can of hairspray by the cast of Hairspray; concert-goers can snag VIP seats and backstage meet-and-greets with Tony Bennett, Jewel, Bernadette Peters, Aimee Mann, Duncan Sheik, Harry Connick Jr, Estelle, Joan Rivers or Michael Feinstein; sports fans can bid on meet-and-greets with Olympic champion Michael Phelps or skateboarder Tony Hawk.

Bidding begins at noon EST on eBay for BID 2 BEAT AIDS, a massive annual auction of rare and autographed items from stars in music, film, Broadway, sports, and television. Broadway fans can bid on tickets to the opening night of Hair and the post-show party, a backstage visit with Hairspray star Harvey Fierstein, signed Playbills, a 'For Rent' sign autographed by the cast of Rent, or even a signed can of hairspray by the cast of Hairspray; concert-goers can snag VIP seats and backstage meet-and-greets with Tony Bennett, Jewel, Bernadette Peters, Aimee Mann, Duncan Sheik, Harry Connick Jr, Estelle, Joan Rivers or Michael Feinstein; sports fans can bid on meet-and-greets with Olympic champion Michael Phelps or skateboarder Tony Hawk.

The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director) will honor Tony® Award-winner George S. Irving with the 17th Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre Monday, December 8th.

Flamingo Court, the off-Broadway comedy by Luigi Creatore starring Jamie Farr (television's 'M*A*S*H,' Guys & Dolls) and Tony Award nominee Anita Gillette (Chapter Two, They're Playing Our Song), will play its final performance on Sunday, September 28th at 3:00PM after 68 performances (including 17 previews).

Alan Alda stopped by the New World Stages to visit his old M*A*S*H television castmate Jamie Farr and his current co-star Anita Gilette and catch a performance of their hit Off-Broadway comedy, Flamingo Court.

On Wednesday morning, August 27th, Jamie Farr and Anita Gillette, the stars of off-Broadway's hit comedy Flamingo Court, were invited to ring the NASDAQ opening bell in Times Square.

This summer, South Florida comes to New York in FLAMINGO COURT, a comedy in three condos by Luigi Creatore. Starring Emmy Award nominee Jamie Farr (television's 'M*A*S*H,' Guys & Dolls) and Tony Award nominee Anita Gillette (Chapter Two, They're Playing Our Song), and directed by Steven Yuhasz, FLAMINGO COURT opened at New World Stages on July 31st 2008