Baayork Lee News

NBC's "Smash" actors Christian Borle, Brian d'Arcy James and Jaime Cepero; "Smash" executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron; A Chorus Line's Baayork Lee, Bonnie and Clyde's Jeff Calhoun and Annie creators Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin were some of the celebrities who traveled to Atlanta to applaud the 3,000+ students and teachers representing 65 schools in 19 states staging musical theater productions in their communities at the 2012 Junior Theater Festival, January 13 - 15, 2012 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta. Presented by New York's iTheatrics and Atlanta's Theater of the Stars and sponsored by leading theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI), Disney Musicals and NBC, the Junior Theater Festival is the world's largest musical theater festival dedicated to groups working with elementary, middle and high school students.

A thundering chorus of 3,000+ Broadway stars, students and teachers will lock step and raise their voices and hearts in song during the 2012 Junior Theater Festival, a monumental celebration of on-stage and backstage excellence happening January 13 - 15, 2012 in Atlanta, GA, it was announced today by Theater of the Stars president Nick Manos and Timothy Allen McDonald, founding chairman of iTheatrics. Presented by New York's iTheatrics and Atlanta's Theater of the Stars and sponsored by leading theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI), Disney Musicals and NBC, the Junior Theater Festival is the world's largest musical theater festival dedicated to groups working with elementary school, middle school and high school aged students.

A thundering chorus of 3,000+ Broadway stars, students and teachers will lock step and raise their voices and hearts in song during the 2012 Junior Theater Festival, a monumental celebration of on-stage and backstage excellence happening January 13 - 15, 2012 in Atlanta, GA, it was announced today by Theater of the Stars president Nick Manos and Timothy Allen McDonald, founding chairman of iTheatrics. Presented by New York's iTheatrics and Atlanta's Theater of the Stars and sponsored by leading theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI), Disney Musicals and NBC, the Junior Theater Festival is the world's largest musical theater festival dedicated to groups working with elementary school, middle school and high school aged students.

Melissa Manchester and Lucie Arnaz headlined fellow stars at a fabulous evening honoring Marvin Hamlisch at the National Arts Club on Sunday, November 20.

Nancy Rhodes, Artistic Director of Encompass New Opera Theatre announced today that Grammy Award winner Melissa Manchester will join Lucie Arnaz, Klea Blackhurst, Craig Carnelia, Brian d'Arcy James, Kevin Earley, Lesley Gore, Emma Hunton, Capathia Jenkins, and Karen Ziemba to perform at A Musical Salute gala, honoring the legendary Broadway, television and film composer Marvin Hamlisch on Sunday, November 20, 2011 at 6:00pm at the National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, in New York City. Craig Carnelia, Sheldon Harnick, Baayork Lee and Donald Pippin will provide recollections of Marvin's work.

An all-new Australian production of one of the most successful American Broadway musicals of all time, A CHORUS LINE is coming to the Festival Theatre, Adelaide in December 2011.

The Broadway Experience is about to celebrate their ?fth year and is thrilled to announce their audition tour/masterclass series 2012.

Nancy Rhodes, Artistic Director of Encompass New Opera Theatre announced today that Grammy Award winner Melissa Manchester will join Lucie Arnaz, Klea Blackhurst, Craig Carnelia, Brian d'Arcy James, Kevin Earley, Lesley Gore, Emma Hunton, Capathia Jenkins, and Karen Ziemba to perform at A Musical Salute gala, honoring the legendary Broadway, television and film composer Marvin Hamlisch on Sunday, November 20, 2011 at 6:00pm at the National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, in New York City. Craig Carnelia, Sheldon Harnick, Baayork Lee and Donald Pippin will provide recollections of Marvin's work.

Rachel Resheff (The People in the Picture, Shrek) and Helen Hayes Award winner Brian Childers (Danny and Sylvia) will join the previously announced Tony Yazbeck, Kimberly Faye Greenberg, and Jim Brochu for one night only in the Meredith Willson musical Miracle on 34th Street, presented December 12 in Manhattan to benefit the Actors Fund.

Throughout the year, Adelaide Festival Centre Season 2012 will present over 200 performances and 45 individual shows encompassing music, theatre, dance, circus, 10 exhibitions, with 11 forums and workshops and seven films. It includes two world premieres, six Australian premieres and four performances exclusive to Adelaide. The program features artists and companies from across Australia and the globe including the UK, Russia, the United States, New Zealand, France, Croatia and China.

Adelaide's Debora Krizak will play the sexy, full of attitude character of Sheila Bryant in the stunning Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning musical A CHORUS LINE opening in Adelaide's Festival Theatre on 31 December.

When I'm not at a show, I keep my eyes and brain busy by learning as much as I can about Broadway from my favorite books on the subject. My current favorites range from fiction to memoir to history. Here are the books that I'm currently keeping close by.

The Broadway Experience returned for a fourth summer at The Manhattan Movement & Arts Center from July 25th - August 7th. With over 60 classes, workshops, lectures, and a performance based second week, TBE had some very special guest speakers this year, Chita Rivera and Bebe Neuwirth. Both spoke about their lives, careers, experience, and took the time to answer questions and offer advise and inspiration.

The ultimate 'Singular Sensation,' A CHORUS LINE, is dancing its way onto Oklahoma's Civic Center Music Hall stage this summer. In exciting news for theatre fans, many who mourned her losing the coveted role of 'Cassie' to Charlotte d'Amboise in the 2006 Broadway revival, Natascia Diaz who was featured extensively in the A CHORUS LINE documentary EVERY LITTLE STEP, will now have her chance to step into the famed red leotard as she leads the Lyric company. BroadwayWorld.com is taking an exclusive look behind the scenes as Diaz prepares (in just two weeks!) to take on the iconic part. Click below to watch part one and stay tuned!

The ultimate 'Singular Sensation,' A Chorus Line, will dance its way onto the Civic Center Music Hall stage this summer. Thousands will audition, 24 get to the stage, but in the end only eight will get the opportunity to do what they've always wanted - to have the chance to dance. This is the story of the ones who make it and the ones who don't. Winner of nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Musical Score and Best Choreography, this show features the Broadway showstoppers such as 'I Hope I Get It,' 'At the Ballet,' 'What I Did for Love' and 'ONE.'

As we inch closer and closer to the Broadway's biggest night on Sunday, today we have the choreographic centerpiece of our extensive Tony Award countdown with a focus on the genius of Michael Bennett. While we have already featured his shows COMPANY, FOLLIES, A CHORUS LINE and DREAMGIRLS - and even took a look at the recent smash hit revival of PROMISES, PROMISES starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth - today's triple dose of clips (with a few surprises) is undoubtedly as close as one can get to theatrical crack cocaine: "Turkey Lurkey Time" from the original Broadway production of PROMISES, PROMISES, "Fifty Percent" from BALLROOM performed by Dorothy Loudon and - one of the most elaborate numbers in Tony Awards history - "Always Mademoiselle" from COCO starring Katharine Hepburn. So, see some of the reasons why these are the best of the best of Bennett and, therefore, the best of the best of Broadway right here!

The first ever Tony Award Documentary Film Series launched May 9 as part of the 2011 Tony Awards Showcase at the Times Square Visitors Center and Mini-Museum. The Tony Award Documentary Films Series features three films that examine what it's like to be behind-the-scenes on a Tony-eligible Broadway musical. The first film to be screened was Finding Billy, taking viewers on the journey in the search for the young male leads in Billy Elliot the Musical. The screening was immediately followed by a panel discussion comprised of moderator Nora Brennan (Children's Casting Director for Billy Elliot), and Broadway cast members Tade Biesinger (Billy), Jacob Clemente (Billy), Stephen Hanna (Older Billy), and Joel Hatch (George).

The first ever Tony Award Documentary Film Series launched May 9 as part of the 2011 Tony Awards Showcase at the Times Square Visitors Center and Mini-Museum. The Tony Award Documentary Films Series features three films that examine what it's like to be behind-the-scenes on a Tony-eligible Broadway musical. The first film to be screened was Finding Billy, taking viewers on the journey in the search for the young male leads in Billy Elliot the Musical. The screening was immediately followed by a panel discussion comprised of moderator Nora Brennan (Children's Casting Director for Billy Elliot), and Broadway cast members Tade Biesinger (Billy), Jacob Clemente (Billy), Stephen Hanna (Older Billy), and Joel Hatch (George). BroadwayWorld brought you a glimpse of the panel discussion then. Today, we bring a look at the second talkback in the series which took place last week, May 16, following a screening of Every Little Step, which follows the real-life dancers as they struggled through auditions for the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line. The film also takes a look at the history of the show and the creative minds behind the original and revival Broadway shows. This panel was moderated by John Breglio, Every Little Step executive producer, and producer of the 2006 revival of A Chorus Line. Panalists included Baayork Lee, the original 'Connie' from the 1976 Tony Award-winning production of A Chorus Line and choreographer for the 2006 revival, and Donna McKechnie, who won the Tony Award for her performance as 'Cassie' in the original 1976 production of A Chorus Line.

The first ever Tony Award Documentary Film Series, part of the 2011 Tony Awards Showcase at the Times Square Visitor Center and Mini-Museum The Tony Award Documentary Films Series is featuring three films that examine what it's like to be behind-the-scenes on a Broadway musical. The Tony Awards Showcase, featuring historic Tony memorabilia, is open until the end of June and free to the public.

The first ever Tony Award Documentary Film Series launched this week, May 9, as part of the 2011 Tony Awards Showcase at the Times Square Visitors Center and Mini-Museum. The Tony Award Documentary Films Series features three films that examine what it's like to be behind-the-scenes on a Tony-eligible Broadway musical. The first film to be screened was Finding Billy, taking viewers on the journey in the search for the young male leads in Billy Elliot the Musical. The screening was immediately followed by a panel discussion comprised of moderator Nora Brennan (Children's Casting Director for Billy Elliot), and Broadway cast members Tade Biesinger (Billy), Jacob Clemente (Billy), Stephen Hanna (Older Billy), and Joel Hatch (George). BroadwayWorld was on hand for the special event and brings you the panel disussion below.