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, March 14 through May 17, 2014, at Ford's Theatre (511 Tenth Street NW, Washington, D.C.). The production features a local Washington cast of Helen Hayes Award nominees as six awkward adolescents and their proctors, all working through a daunting and hilarious championship quest.
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. on March 26 at the Barnes & Noble at The Grove/Farmers Market (189 The Grove Drive, Suite K 30, Los Angeles, Calif.).
The NAACP and TV One announce today that Stevie Wonder will perform, Kevin Hart has been added as a presenter, and Kerry Washington, Michael B. Jordan, Terrence Howard, Alfre Woodard, David Oyelowo, Chandra Wilson, Shemar Moore and Regina King have been confirmed to attend the 45th NAACP Image Awards. The two-hour star-studded special will broadcast LIVE on TV One from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Saturday, February 22, 9:00 p.m./6:00 p.m. ET/PT. The telecast will also include 'The 45th NAACP Image Awards Red Carpet Live' one-hour pre-show at 8:00 p.m./5:00 p.m. ET/PT.
The 29th Annual Bistro Awards gala, set to take place on Tuesday, 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. And Dee Dee Bridgewater, who recently starred as Billie Holiday in the acclaimed Off-Broadway play 'Lady Day' and who can be listened to twice weekly in her own programs on the all-jazz nonprofit radio station WBGO, will present Amy Niles, acting president and CEO of the Newark-based station, with its award.
The NAACP and TV One announce today the second group of presenters confirmed to participate at the 45th NAACP Image Awards including Idris Elba, Vin Diesel, Terry Crews, Nia Long, Naomie Harris, Morris Chestnut, Chadwick Boseman, Tyrese Gibson, Ed Asner, and Ben Vereen.
MEMPHIS, the 2010 Tony® Award Winner for Best Musical, opens at Broward Center For The Performing Arts February 25th for a limited two week engagement!
Today we are talking to a terrifically talented triple-threat diva known for her legendary Broadway performance as the title character in the iconic original production of ANNIE as well as notable appearances on Broadway since in STARLIGHT EXPRESS, LES MISERABLES, STATE FAIR and more - the engaging and passionate Andrea McArdle. Opening up about her life after 'Tomorrow' as well as sharing memories of her time in ANNIE, McArdle sheds some light on her idiosyncratic showbiz career and shares sensational stories from her past and present while also looking ahead to the future. Additionally, McArdle looks back on many of her most famous roles to date, including her roller skating days in STARLIGHT EXPRESS and her recent stint as MAME herself, as well as her various Judy Garland-related properties, too - the TV biopic RAINBOW and the stage adaptation of MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS among them, not to mention her sensational star turn as the opener of the recent sold-out series of 10th anniversary concerts at Joe's Pub, BROADWAYWORLD.COM VISITS OZ, directed by Richard Jay-Alexander and MaryBeth Abel, where she exquisitely performed 'I'm Always Chasing Rainbows'. Plus, McArdle comments on her recent Broadway Records live album 70'S & SUNNY and the material and decade that inspired it. Most importantly, McArdle looks ahead to her new series of solo shows kicking off at 54 Below this week titled DREAM ROLES and previews some of the stupendous song selections she has chosen for the show - with material by Stephen Sondheim, Charles Strouse and more included! All of that and much, much more awaits in this career-spanning chat with one of Broadway's best and best-loved leading ladies.
Broadway/San Diego ~ A Nederlander Presentation is excited to announce the new 2014-2015 season chock-full of top award-winning productions including fifteen Tony Awards, and four Grammy Awards for Best Musical Theater Album -and six shows currently playing on Broadway! This year's powerful season lineup will be presented at the beautiful San Diego Civic Theatre and sponsored by San Diego County Credit Union.
Bringing an array of over 20 singers, a live 14 piece orchestra and foot-stomping, exuberant choreography to set the stage a fire, Bishop Townsley's Jubilee is back by popular demand at the Centenary Stage Company. This musical revue was the most talked about event of the 2011 season, now audiences can see what all the fuss was about as this entertaining, high octane group of performers return for a night of song and dance tonight, February 8th at 8 p.m.
Tonight, February 7 at 5:30pm at The Players, Elements Theatre Company of Orleans, MA will present an original work, Labyrinth: A Legacy of Language, exploring Shakespeare's influence on playwrights through the past four and a half centuries, from Sheridan to Ibsen to Stoppard. The production will be a springboard for a 7:00pm discussion in the ARTS IN CONVERSATION panel series hosted by Elements Theatre Company, on How Shakespeare Humanizes Our Culture: The Transforming Power of His Work. Panelists include:
On Friday, February 7 at 5:30pm at The Players, Elements Theatre Company of Orleans, MA will present an original work, Labyrinth: A Legacy of Language, exploring Shakespeare's influence on playwrights through the past four and a half centuries, from Sheridan to Ibsen to Stoppard. The production will be a springboard for a 7:00pm discussion in the ARTS IN CONVERSATION panel series hosted by Elements Theatre Company, on How Shakespeare Humanizes Our Culture: The Transforming Power of His Work. Panelists include:
Beethoven and Rachmaninoff showcases, collaborations with the Irish Classical Theater Company and the University at Buffalo, and the energy of Broadway and The Cotton Club are just a few aspects of the Buffalo Philharmonic's 2014-15 season.
After last-minute cancellations from half-time performers Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Super Bowl producers hire Broadway stars in the spectacular SNL cold open skit from last night, featuring Melissa McCarthy and an appearance by Kenan Thompson as Broadway's song and dance man Ben Vereen. Check it out below!
Popular PBS broadcaster Tavis Smiley interviewed Chita Rivera on his program yesterday, January 29, and you can watch the full appearance below, in which Rivera reflects on her history-making career!
Bringing an array of over 20 singers, a live 14 piece orchestra and foot-stomping, exuberant choreography to set the stage a fire, Bishop Townsley's Jubilee is back by popular demand at the Centenary Stage Company. This musical revue was the most talked about event of the 2011 season, now audiences can see what all the fuss was about as this entertaining, high octane group of performers return for a night of song and dance on Saturday, February 8th at 8 p.m.
A concept recording of the brand new musical love story will be released digitally on February 7th and on CD on February 11th, 2014 to coincide with Valentine's Day. The CD is now available for pre-order at http://amzn.com/B00HQ31WDI. There will be a special 54 BELOW album launch concert tonight, January 29th at 9:30 pm and January 30th at 9:30 pm where attendees will be able to buy the album 2 weeks early.
In 1984 Tod Booth was hired to direct at the then-named Alhambra Dinner Theatre. The show? I Ought to be in Pictures starring Claude Akins. Five weeks later, on a return trip to watch a show, while sitting at table B15 with owner Leon Simon, Tod made an offer to buy the Alhambra. The deal was done on a napkin. In two years he took the gross revenue from $700,000 to $2,500,000 and was named 'Entrepreneur of the Year' by the Jacksonville Business Journal. The rest, as Tod says, 'is history.' While not necessarily billed as an anniversary, it's hard to miss the parallels between the 1984 production and the 2014 production: Tod is still directing and the Alhambra is still bringing in big-name guest stars, this time Richard Karn from television's Home Improvement. I Ought to be in Pictures opens February 12, 2014 at the nation's longest running professional dinner theater.
On Sunday January 26 divine singer Nita Whitaker brought her brand new show Love 'n Stuff to Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. Looking positively stunning in a black and white pageant dress accentuated with sequins - she was Miss Louisiana in the Miss America Pageant some years ago - and displaying much more of her oh so glorious range than she has in the past, Whitaker gave an 80 minute knock out performance expertly accompanied on the piano by musical director Nelson Kole and on percussion by Walter Rodriguez. There were also a couple of exciting surprises in store for the packed house. In the audience were celebrity friends actress Jennifer Lewis and the one and only triple threat Ben Vereen, who came onstage and did a couple of unrehearsed but delicious duets with Whitaker.