Ben Vereen News

Jacob Langfelder in partnership with Arts-For-All, Jill Bernard and Rashad Chambers will present a one night only concert featuring TONY and Grammy Award winner Jennifer Holliday along with the TONY Winning star of the upcoming Roundabout Theatre production of She Loves Me, Laura Benanti and The Color Purple¹s Rema Webb. 

Roundabout Theatre Company's Noises Off officially opens tonight, January 14, 2016. This is a limited engagement through Sunday, March 6, 2016, on Broadway at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway. Scroll down to learn more about the cast and watch interviews with the company!

? The legendary Ben Vereen, who recently co-starred with Richard Gere in the film TIME OUT OF MIND, will return to Feinstein's/54 Below (254 W 54th St, Cellar, New York, NY 10019) with his acclaimed one man show, STEPPIN' OUT WITH BEN VEREEN, January 25 through 30.

New show on sale this week at bergenPAC: Laugh All Night @ bergenPAC Volume III-Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 8PM; The Charlie Daniels Band-Thursday, April 28, 2016 at 8PM; and New Milford native Rob McClure. Tickets go on sale Friday, January 15, 2016  at 11AM at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling bergenPAC's Box Office at 201.227.1030.

Ben Vereen, Debbie Gravitte, and Scott Coulter celebrate the incredible songbook of a legendary Broadway composer and lyricist in Defying Gravity: The Music of Stephen Schwartz at Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre in Malibu on February 2 at 8 p.m.

acob Langfelder in partnership with Arts-For-All, Jill Bernard and Rashad Chambers will present a one night only concert featuring TONY and Grammy Award winner Jennifer Holliday along with The Color Purple¹s Rema Webb.  Julie

BROADWAY: BEYOND THE GOLDEN AGE, Award-winning director Rick McKay's anxiously awaited sequel to his 2004 hit film, BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE, just made its World Premiere to a sold-out crowd at the 27th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival. Check out photos from the big night below!

Broadway's 40 theatres aren't the only places to catch performances from your favorite stars! Well after Broadway orchestras begin their overtures, ensemble members take their dance breaks, and performers belt out their eleven o'clock numbers, the party continues at various cabaret venues throughout New York City. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you some cabaret highlights for this week as picked by our theatre editors, including: Show Biz After Hours with Frank DiLella with Very Special Guest Jonathan Groff; Footloose Reunion Concert; Nick Rashad Burroughs & Marisha Wallace: Baptized by Broadway; Late Night Broadway with Jarrod Spector, Kelli Barrett, & Judy Gold; and Back to the Garden: The Music of Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Laura Nyro.

BROADWAY: BEYOND THE GOLDEN AGE, Award-winning director Rick McKay's anxiously awaited sequel to his 2004 hit film, BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE, will make its World Premiere at the 27th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival tonight, January 7. The festival runs through January 11, 2016.

Luigi was the father of jazz. A teacher for all who wanted to dance. The Benefit-Tribute Concert on December 28, 2015 showcased a plethora of performers, all of which expressed their gratitude in song, dance, words, and in their presence.

There are undoubtedly other productions worthy of merit in 2015 which I did not cover. This list is based only on what I saw and reviewed. (alphabetical listings; Equity, Equity-waiver & Non-Equity productions are mixed) (artists performing outside LA may be included in performance categories) No set, costume, or technical awards. I leave that to the bigger awards and to the expertise of those who really know those fields inside out.

This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature stories in Washington DC, Boston, Sydney, and more. Check out our top 10 stories around our Broadway World below, which include BRIGHT STAR and WEST SIDE STORY in DC, NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET in Boston, and THE SOUND OF MUSIC in Sydney, just to name a few.

The Pasadena Playhouse adds to the excitement of this year's Panto at The Playhouse production of PETER PAN AND TINKER BELL - A PIRATES CHRISTMAS with special Peter Pan and Tinker Bell breakfasts on select days (which can be enjoyed with or without tickets to the show) and, as a way of giving back to the community with the record-breaking success of this year's production, a one day only, Pay-What-You-Can Lottery on Tuesday, December 29, 2015.  

On December 28th, here in NYC at Symphony Space, I am very excited to be one of the guest stars (along with the great Melba Moore and some of the best singers and dancers in this town!) in a very special tribute/benefit to LUIGI (1925-2015), the man who revolutionized jazz dance in America. Years ago, when I was practically a kid, studying to move to New York City and break into the biz, I had a dance scholarship in the Luigi technique. And when I came to New York I studied with him. He changed my life, but then again, he seems to have changed everyone's life that was lucky enough to know him.

On Friday December 18 the legendary Ben Vereen came to Catalina Jazz Club for his latest one-man cabaret An Evening with Ben Vereen. Backed by three fabulous musicians, musical director David Loeb at the piano, Tom Kennedy on bass and Marc DiCianni on drums, Vereen took the stage for 70 minutes and let fly. There was enough energy and passion abounding for three performers, let alone one. Known as a primo dancer, that was at a minimum, as he is approaching 70, but he moved in constant rhythm across the stage and back as he lovingly sang 20 songs, mostly from Broadway. There was very little patter; Vereen poured his soul into the work and kept his packed house begging for more.

Ghostlight Records and Two River Theater announce the release of the Original Cast Recording of the new musical BE MORE CHILL, with physical CDs in stores and online today, December 18.

BroadwayWorld is excited to report that BROADWAY: BEYOND THE GOLDEN AGE, Award-winning director Rick McKay's anxiously awaited sequel to his 2004 hit film, BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE, is set to make its World Premiere at the 27th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, which takes place January 1-11, 2016.

With just over a week until Christmas, it is time for all of us pathological procrastinators to get our butts in gear. Whether it is braving the insanity of the mall or paying for express shipping, we need to suck it up and start Christmas shopping!

The Broadway at Birdland concert series will present NY1 theater journalist Frank DiLella in the second episode of his new talk show, 'Show Biz After Hours With Frank DiLella.' The event will be taped in front of a live audience on Monday, January 11 at 7pm, with Frank's very special guest Jonathan Groff, who is currently starring on Broadway as King George in the smash hitHamilton. Groff originated the role of Melchoir Gabor in the stage musical, Spring Awakening, for which he earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical in 2007. He continued his rise to fame during the first season of Glee, as Jesse St. James, a role he reprised in the second and third seasons of the show, and recently starred on the HBO series 'Looking.'

Pasadena Playhouse and Lythgoe Family Productions (LFP) welcome John O'Hurley ('Seinfeld,' Broadway's Chicago, 'Dancing With The Stars,' National Tour and Vegas production of Spamalot) as Captain Hook, Chrissie Fit ('Pitch Perfect 2,' 'Teen Beach Movie') as Tinker Bell, and Parvesh Cheena (NBC's 'Outsourced', 'A to Z' and 'Transformer Rescue Bots.') as Smee in this year's Panto at the Playhouse PETER PAN AND TINKER BELL - A PIRATES CHRISTMAS.