Bert Lahr News

Today's top stories: The Lightning Thief officially opens tonight, and more!

The League of Professional Theatre Women an organization which has been championing women in the professional theatre for over three decades, will present an Oral History Project event with the legendary, five-time Tony Award-winning actress, Angela Lansbury on Thursday, November 14 starting at 6pm in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (111 Amsterdam Avenue at 65th Street). Admission to the event is FREE and seats are available on a first-come-first-seated basis. Doors will open at 5:30pm. 

Robert ('Bob') Ullman (left), the legendary theatre press agent, whose career included Ethel Merman and Mary Martin: Together on Broadway, A Chorus Line (from workshop to Public Theater to Broadway), Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in The Visit, Lauren Bacall in Cactus Flower, The Dining Room, Driving Miss Daisy, Sunday in the Park with George, and over 150 additional Broadway and off-Broadway plays and musicals, died on July 31, 2019 in Bayshore, Long Island, New York. He was 97. The cause of death was cardiac arrest. Bob's death was announced by Rev. Joshua Ellis, a long-time Ullman friend, a former Broadway press agent, and now, an Interspiritual minister.

Montalvo Arts Center invites movie-lovers to sit under the stars and enjoy classic movies with Sunset Cinemas. Part of its Summer Nights Series, the free screenings of The Wizard of Oz, Grease, and Jaws will take place on the front lawn of Montalvo, where guests are encouraged to bring a blanket or low chair to set up. Beer, wine, and snacks will also be available for purchase on-site.

Julien's Auctions, the world-record breaking auction house, held its two-day marquee Hollywood auction event, LEGENDS June 13-14, 2019 at The Standard Oil Building in Beverly Hills in front of a buzzing crowd of collectors and fans bidding live on the floor, online and on the phone across the globe.

A review of premiere biographer Holly Van Leuven's Ray Bolger: More Than A Scarecrow, chronicling the life of one of entertainment's most iconic men of stage and screen.

Actress Fay McKenzie Waldman passed away peacefully in her sleep on the morning of April 16th at the age of 101. She was born February 19, 1918 into a show business family where she was the youngest of two sisters and an actress cousin, and made her screen debut at only ten weeks old in "Station Content" (1918) in which she was carried in the arms of Gloria Swanson. Her parents, Eva & Bob "Pops" McKenzie were already veteran performers and apparently wanted their daughter to get an early start in films. She nearly stole the show from Oliver Hardy as "the baby" in the Alice Howell short "Distilled Love" (filmed in 1918 but released two years later). By the time she was six, Fay was considered an old hand, having played diverse parts in her father's stock company. Among her early films was the 1924 Photoplay Medal Winner, "The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln." 

The Axelrod Performing Arts Center's Rising Stars youth performing arts program will celebrate the 80th Anniversary of MGM's classic, "The Wizard of Oz," with six performances on Sunday May 5 at 1:00 and 5:00 PM; Saturday, May 11 at 2:00 and 7:00 PM, and Sunday, May 12 at 1:00 and 5:00 PM.

Next week, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

Michael Riedel, author of Razzle Dazzle, and AJ Holmes(The Book of Mormon and Team StarKid) will be appearing in Johnny Mercer's lost musical FOXY at Feinstein's/54 Below on Tuesday, April 9that 7:00pm.

Kelli Barrett, who has appeared on Broadway in Wicked and Gettin' The Band Back Together, and stars as Liza Minnelli in FX's Fosse/Verdon, will be appearing in Johnny Mercer's lost musical FOXY at Feinstein's/54 Below on Tuesday, April 9th at 7:00pm.

FOXY, the 1964 musical based on Ben Johnson's Volpone, with a score by Johnny Mercer and Robert Emmett Dolan and a book by Ian McLellan Hunter and Ring Lardner Jr, will return to New York City with a star-studded Broadway cast at Feinstein's/54 Below on Tuesday, April 9that 7:00pm.

Las Vegas headliner Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller will open up his home for an intimate night of entertainment to benefit Aid for AIDS of Nevada. AFAN's 6th Evening of Cabaret returns with Broadway and television star and Strip entertainer John Davidson performing on Jan. 25.

The greatest family musical of all time, The Wizard of Oz, travels over the rainbow to Palm Desert for five performances at the McCallum Theatre. Performances are Friday, January 25, at 8:00pm; Saturday, January 26, at 2:00pm and 8:00pm, and Sunday, January 27, at 2:00pm and 7:30pm. This magical production is a celebration of the 1939 MGM movie, and will be presented with breathtaking special effects that will sweep audiences away, from the moment the tornado twists its way into Kansas. Nick Pearson plays the Cowardly Lion in this iteration. I had the chance to chat with Nick about all things 'Oz' and his personal trajectory that led him over the rainbow. Here are a few excerpts from that conversation:

Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song opens tonight, Thursday, November 1 at The Hayes Theater (Broadway's Hayes Theater (240 West 44th Street).

Angela Lansbury has enjoyed a career without precedent. Her professional career spans more than half-a-century, during which she has flourished, first as a star of motion pictures, then as a four-time Tony Award-winning Broadway musical star, and most recently as the star of 'Murder, She Wrote,' the longest running detective drama series in the history of television.

Good morning BroadwayWorld! Today's top stories: Ain't Too Proud opens its pre-Broadway run in Toronto tonight, and more!

The Musical Theater Project (TMTP) will produce a new multi-media concert, "Just for Laughs," for two performances: Wednesday, November 14 (7pm) at Solon Center for the Arts, and Sunday, November 18 (3pm) at The Hanna Theater at Playhouse Square.

A woman in her 70s tells her tale of the roaring 20s in this reading of Sondra Lee's and Jim Piazza's new play about a night in Hollywood you will never forget! 

A woman in her 70s tells her tale of the roaring 20s in this reading of Sondra Lee's and Jim Piazza's new play about a night in Hollywood you will never forget!