Arthur Laurents News

The historic Fulton Theatre in downtown Lancaster launches its 2012/2013 season with Gypsy, often held up by critics as the best book musical written in the 20th century. Gypsy is loosely based on the memoirs of vaudeville and burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee, with music by Jule Styne, lyrics Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. It features some of the best-known and loved musical songs, such as 'Everything's Coming up Roses,' 'Some People,' 'Let Me Entertain You' and 'Rose's Turn.'

The historic Fulton Theatre in downtown Lancaster launches its 2012/2013 season with Gypsy, often held up by critics as the best book musical written in the 20th century. Gypsy is loosely based on the memoirs of vaudeville and burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee, with music by Jule Styne, lyrics Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. It features some of the best-known and loved musical songs, such as 'Everything's Coming up Roses,' 'Some People,' 'Let Me Entertain You' and 'Rose's Turn.' BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the production below.

Tony nominee Josefina Scaglione comes to Lancaster, PA to sing THE MUSIC OF WEST SIDE STORY on September 9 and 16, 2012. She pauses during rehearsals to talk about her career, her ambitions, and Lancaster County.

In the opening song on Barbra Streisand's stunning new album, RELEASE ME (produced by Streisand and Jay Landers)- a career-spanning collection of rarities and recordings that have been heretofore hidden away in vast vaults and rarely even referenced, let alone ever heard - she powerfully imparts a lyric from the Betty Comden/Adolph Green/Jule Styne score of the Arthur Laurents-directed Tony Award-winning Best Musical of 1968, HALLELUJAH, BABY!, also acting as an oh-so-apt autobiographical summation: 'I'll be the best or nothing at all.' Indeed, so goes the legacy of Barbra Streisand - the voice of a generation; the greatest living recording artist, bar (or, if you prefer, Bar) none; who, now, today, is in the final stages of preparation before embarking on her new tour in conjunction with the release of this new album, directed by longtime creative collaborator and co-director, Richard Jay-Alexander with musical director and conductor William Ross.

The historic Fulton Theatre in downtown Lancaster launches its 2012/2013 season with Gypsy, often held up by critics as the best book musical written in the 20th century. Gypsy is loosely based on the memoirs of vaudeville and burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee, with music by Jule Styne, lyrics Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. It features some of the best-known and loved musical songs, such as 'Everything's Coming up Roses,' 'Some People,' 'Let Me Entertain You' and 'Rose's Turn.'

Roundabout Theatre Company announced the full cast this July for the new Broadway production of Rupert Holmes' Tony Award-winning musical comedy The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The show is set to open on November 13, 2012 and will star Stephanie J. Block as Edwin Drood. Meet the whole cast in the video and bios below!

Direct from Colombia, the critically-acclaimed musical sensation The Most Amazing Story Ever Sung -La más grande historia jamás cantada- makes its New York premiere September 21-23, 2012. Under the direction of Rob Barron and the artistic production of the recognized musical theater company Misi Producciones, The Most Amazing Story Ever Sung presents 'a rarely explored aspect from Jesus Christ's life: the years during his infancy and his adult life before He became this recognized public figure. This lavish, family-friendly spectacle, guaranteed to be the season's first must-see event will play at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall (Broadway at 60th Street, New York, NY). Performed entirely in Spanish with English supertitles.'

Casting has been announced for Troika Entertainment's tour of WEST SIDE STORY, the breathtaking revival based on Arthur Laurent's Broadway direction. The tour kicks off at the Clemens Center in Elmira, NY on October 29, 2012.

Imelda Staunton, the actress who earned rave reviews for her work in the new West End production of SWEENEY TODD, may be headed back to the stage in another Stephen Sondheim show not long after SWEENEY TODD closes its doors on September 22.

According to a family spokesperson, composer Marvin Hamlisch passed away Monday evening at 68 years old following a brief illness. Here's an interview with the legendary man from 2010.

Hamlisch, one of only eleven EGOT winners in the history of the entertainment industry, was awarded three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony and three Golden Globe awards for his work. On Broadway, he wrote the music for A Chorus Line - which received the Pulitzer Prize - as well as They're Playing Our Song, The Goodbye Girl and Sweet Smell of Success.

Chance Theater is thrilled to announce that the third show of its 2012 season, its critically-acclaimed (LA Times CRITICS' CHOICE, Backstage CRITIC'S PICK), smash-hit production of WEST SIDE STORY, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents, musical direction by Robyn Wallace, choreography by Kelly Todd and directed by Chance Theater's Artistic Director Oanh Nguyen is EXTENDING through Sunday, August 19 at the Chance Theater, 5552 E. La Palma Ave. in Anaheim Hills.

Making good on his promise to eventually show up in Orange County to speak about his enduring career in the theater, legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim finally made his long-awaited appearance at the Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa for the landmark event STEPHEN SONDHEIM: IN CONVERSATION on July 13. Back to provide live performances were Christine Ebersole and Brian Stokes-Mitchell, while ASCAP Musical Theater scholar Michael Kerker hosted the talk show/concert hybrid.

Looking for a quick roundup of this week's events in the theatre world? Look no further - here are some of the best articles the week had to offer!

I am not given to gushing but, with apologies for doing so, I am about to gush. You see, on Saturday evening, I felt very privileged. For on that night, I went to Las Vegas' gorgeous Smith Center for the Arts and saw Stephen Sondheim: A Life In The Theater, An Evening of Music and Conversation.

Looking for a quick roundup of this week's events in the theatre world? Look no further - here are some of the best articles the week had to offer!

Happy Birthday Arthur Laurents! Laurents' first play, Home of the Brave, opened on Broadway in 1945, followed by many others. He wrote his first musical, West Side Story, in 1957, followed by Gypsy and others. His first screenplay was The Snake Pit in 1948, followed by others including Rope, Anastasia, The Way We Were and The Turning Point. His own play, Invitation to a March in 1960, was the first of several he directed. I Can Get It for You Wholesale in 1961 was the first musical he directed, followed by others including La Cage aux Folles and Gypsy with Angela Lansbury, then Tyne Daly and most recently, Patti LuPone. He pased away in May 2011.

Berkeley Playhouse closes its 2011-12 main stage season with a delicious adaptation of Roald Dahl's WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. Berkeley Playhouse founding Artistic Director Elizabeth McKoy helms this musical treat, based on Roald Dahl's stylish children's story about the world famous candy man, starring noted Bay Area singer/songwriter, musician, and recording artist Vernon Bush in the title role. Roald Dahl'S WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY plays tonight, July 14 through August 19 at the Julia Morgan Theatre in Berkeley.

Today we are talking to a celebrated comedienne and actress known for her decades-spanning career on screens and stages large and small - from making her Broadway debut in the original Jerome Robbins production of GYPSY on Broadway in 1960 to her many musical roles throughout the 60s to her countless game show and variety show appearances following that all the way to creating an unforgettable character in MOONSTRUCK in the 1980s, as well as her subsequent oft-Neil Simon stage work; now, playing Tina Fey's sweet and daffy mom on NBC's 30 ROCK and, most recently, appearing in Nora & Celia Ephron's LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE and the Playwright's Horizons premiere production of THE BIG MEAL in the new millennium - the one of a kind Anita Gillette. Analyzing her nearly sixty-year career and sharing candid stories of her brushes with some of Broadway and Hollywood's brightest talents - Jule Styne to Ethel Merman to Irving Berlin to Burt Lancaster and beyond - Gillette paints a vivid portrait of the tail end of the Golden Age of Broadway and the heady game show days of TV in the 1960s and 70s to her lauded stage work with Neil Simon and many of the great comedy and musical writers in the years since. Additionally, Gillette and I discuss her current essaying of the role of Mae Peterson in the new Regal Music Theatre production of Charles Strouse and Lee Adams's BYE BYE BIRDIE in Massachusetts as she looks towards opening night tomorrow and relates her joy in participating in a production that has some behind-the-scenes help by her loving granddaughter (while another attends their summer camp). Plus, Gillette's observations on sharing a soundstage with Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Elaine Stritch and Buck Henry for a recent 30 ROCK shoot, reflections on her fondest and most celebrated comedy roles, hilarious memories of appearing in some short-running flops (JIMMY, SKYSKRAPER) as well as in some big hits (GYPSY), her upcoming series of master classes titled "Life In The Business", her return to Birdland with her concert show, AFTER ALL, her role in an upcoming Ed Burns film and maybe even a role in a new Alexander Payne film - all of that, all about attending the Diamond Jubilee celebration in the United Kingdom and much, much more!

Arthur Laurents, Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim's musical Gypsy, based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, will be presented by the Actors' NET of Bucks County July 13 to 29 at the Heritage Center in Morrisville, Pa. et a first look at the production in the photos below!