Ben Vereen News

Multitalented entertainer Ben Vereen will bring his one-man show to the Suncoast Showroom May 17 and 18.

The Pasadena Playhouse announced today the planning and honorary gala committee members leading the best party in Pasadena annual fundraiser entitled PREMIERE GALA -TAKE THE LEAD AT THE PLAYHOUSE. The Pasadena Playhouse's gala will be held on the stage of The Pasadena Playhouse on Sunday, May 4, 2014 at 5:30p.m.

On Monday, June 2 at 7:30pm at NYU's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, the 32nd Annual Fred & Adele Astaire Awards will honor 5-time Tony Award nominee and 2-time Emmy Award-winning veteran choreographer Pat Birch with its Douglas Watt Lifetime Achievement Award and legendary dancer and dance instructor Luigi with the Outstanding Achievement in the Preservation of Musical Theatre Award. The Astaire Awards is the only awards show to honor excellence in dance and choreography on Broadway and in film and were first started in 1982 by the late Fred Astaire and the late Douglas Watt (a critic and writer for the NY Daily News and The New Yorker, his 100th birthday would be this year).

Each year the SHARE Ladies host one of the most anticipated fundraisers of the LA social scene 'BOOMTOWN.' Attracting Hollywood glitterati and business moguls alike, LA's elite will come together to support SHARE and the local children's organizations they help fund. Dolores Nemiro, President of SHARE, announced 'This year's BOOMTOWN experience is set for May 3rd at the new Guerrin Pavillion in the Skirball Cultural Center. and is designed to sweep you away from the minute you step out of your car and step into 'SHARE... A Magical Evening'.

Following the fantastic audience response to the last time Neil Berg appeared at Harris Center for the Arts with 100 Years of Broadway in 2011, Mr. Berg returns to Folsom with an all new show celebrating 101 Years of Broadway. This highly anticipated return engagement features a dazzling cast of five Broadway stars accompanied by an all-star New York band.

The Professional Dancers Society's (PDS) Gypsy Awards Luncheon honoring Leslie Caron and Dee Dee Wood and the late Marc Breaux was held on March 30, 2014 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Broadway's Dick Van Dyke and Chita Rivera were in attendance, and you can check out a photo of them together below!

Broadway Theatre Project (BTP) will feature a slate of prolific performers, directors, choreographers, composers, casting agents and other professionals from Broadway and Hollywood as part of the Project's roster of Teaching Faculty for its 2014 session, as announced today by the BTP's Artistic Directors Debra McWaters and Darren Gibson.

A special new Lovestream concert is now available online to celebrate the release of Sherie Rene Scott, All Will Be Well - The Piece of Meat Studio Sessions. The new Sh-K-Boom Records album is now available as a digital exclusive on iTunes, Amazon and wherever digital music is sold.

Special guests Dot-Marie Jones (GLEE) and Tony winner Julie Newmar (Batman) will join Oxford University Press, as they announce the release of the book NOTHING LIKE A DAME: CONVERSATIONS WITH THE GREAT WOMEN OF MUSICAL THEATER by Eddie Shapiro at 6 p.m. tonight, March 26 at the Barnes & Noble at The Grove/Farmers Market (189 The Grove Drive, Suite K 30, Los Angeles, Calif.).

Jennifer Bowles will play the title role opposite Rob McClure in New York City Center Encores! production of Irma La Douce, running for seven performances,May 7 - 11, 2014. The final production of the 2014 Encores! season will also feature Sam Bolen, Allan Corduner, Ben Crawford, Stephen DeRosa, Ken Krugman, Zachary James and Chris Sullivan. Irma La Douce will be directed by John Doyle and choreographed by Chase Brock, with music direction by Rob Berman.

On tonight's episode of CBS's HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER titled, 'The End of the Aisle' with only a half-hour to go, both Barney and Robin have panic attacks about their upcoming nuptials.

In this week's edition, we caught up with Michael X. Martin, who is starring as 'Charlie' in The Bridges of Madison County- currently playing at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.

Broadway/San Diego has just announced that Ben Vereen will co-host the Southwest Region Ben Vereen Awards on June 14th as well as teach a special master class to the student finalists.

TRAILS will be a ballet and aerial ballet using projected images from NASA starting outside the earth, from the International Space Station, with views of Earth from space. Then it will diagram our planet in drought, on fire, with torrential rains, then Flooding, and... shaking with earthquakes! The terror we all remember, with a reference to the insanity that is fracking- (no way in CA!). Then Traffic and our lives being affected daily by the packed freeways, the dirt and exhaust, and road rage that builds up from it.... going smoothly into the refuge we love the best in LA, the ocean....underwater, to then discover the wreckage from Fukushima's earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reactor meltdown, lurking there and slowly coming toward us. It will be a real wake up call!

Disney's Aladdin, a new musical comedy based on the Academy Award-winning animated film, opens tomorrow night, March 20th. Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, the show features music by Tony Award and eight-time Oscar winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Sister Act), lyrics by two-time Oscar winner Howard Ashman (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid), three-time Tony Award and three-time Oscar winner Tim Rice (Evita, Aida) and two-time Tony Award nominee Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer), with a book by Beguelin, and is directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon). Scroll down to learn more about the full company, plus watch interviews with the cast!

Broadway personality and SiriusXM Radio 'On Broadway' host Julie James will debut her new musical comedy, The Julie James Show, on Thursday, March 27th at 9:30 PM at 54 Below, it was announced today. To Broadway fans and 'On Broadway' listeners, Julie is best known as the effervescent host of 'Broadway Names with Julie James.' Now Julie utilizes a thrilling 3 ½ octave range with hilarious stories and songs to reveal a childhood obsession with jingles, theme songs and cast albums, as well as a performance background in opera and musical theatre, that would ultimately lead her to her role at SiriusXM where all of these elements combine into one incredible dream job.

Ford's Theatre Society 2013-2014 season continues with the quirky Tony-winning musical comedy 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,' directed by Peter Flynn, today, March 14 through May 17, 2014, at Ford's Theatre (511 Tenth Street NW, Washington, D.C.).

Award winning actress and dancer, Leslie Caron, has been named the honoree for the Professional Dancers Society (PDS) annual Gypsy Award Luncheon, it was announced by PDS President, Mitzi Gaynor and PDS Board Chairman, Joni Berry. Ms. Caron will be honored on Sunday, March 30, 2014 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel (9876 Wilshire Blvd.) and famed dancers/choreographers Dee Dee Wood and the late Marc Breaux will receive a special PDS Choreography Award, for their extraordinary contribution to dance.

Adam Shankman has been announced as the director and choreographer of the Hollywood Bowl's upcoming production of HAIR, which won the Tony and Drama Desk Award for best revival of a musical in 2009. Shankman is an Emmy-nominated director and choreographer who recently directed and choreographed the film adaptations of Hairspray and Rock of Ages; directed episodes of Glee and Modern Family, as well as Prop 8: The Musical; and was the producer for the Step Up movies.

The 29th Annual Bistro Awards gala, set to take place tonight, March 4, has announced two new presenters. Stephen Schwartz, the Oscar, Tony, Grammy, and Golden Globe-winning composer/lyricist, who wrote the scores to such musicals as Pippin, Wicked, Godspell, and The Magic Show, will present Ben Vereen, the Tony Award-winning actor-singer-dancer, with the Lifetime Achievement Award.