Bette Midler News

Broadway's 40 theatres aren't the only places to catch performances from your favorite stars! Well after Broadway orchestra's 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: Scott Alan and Friends; Livin' La Vida Grande; Christine Ebersole in Big Noise from Winnetka; Mitchell Jarvis in Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living Everywhere; and The Songs of F. Michael Haynie.

54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Broadway favorites Ann Morrison ('Merrily We Roll Along'), Pamela Myers ('Company') & Chip Zien ('Into The Woods') in 'SONDHEIM ORIGINALS - OLD FRIENDS' this weekend, January 16 & 17, 2015.

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Broadway favorites Ann Morrison ('Merrily We Roll Along'), Pamela Myers ('Company') & Chip Zien ('Into The Woods') in 'SONDHEIM ORIGINALS - OLD FRIENDS' this weekend, January 16 & 17, 2015. These three original Sondheim cast members share songs and stories, recalling their experiences creating their roles in these landmark musicals on Broadway. The show is conceived and directed by Grammy and Emmy Award winner, John McDaniel, as part of his second season as artistic director of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's Cabaret and Performance conference.

Grammy and Oscar award-winning vocalist ?Patti Austin returns to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for a performance devoted to the brilliance of Washington, DC native Duke Ellington and 'The First Lady of Song,' Ella Fitzgerald, Thursday, February 19 at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore, and Friday, February 20 at 8 p.m. Saturday, February 21 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, February 22 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy HARVEY directed by Lindsay Posner, will open at Birmingham Repertory Theatre on 6 February, running until 21 February. First produced on Broadway in 1944 where it ran for four years, this new production stars James Dreyfus as Elwood P. Dowd and Maureen Lipman as his sister, Veta.

The Menier Chocolate Factory today announces the dates for UK premiere of Jonathan Tolins' Buyer & Cellar - this one man comedy was a major Off-Broadway hit in 2013. Buyer & Cellar opens on 19 March, with previews from 12 March, and runs until 2 May.

The Jewish Channel will broadcast the latest edition of its popular theater-oriented monthly TV show, 'Row J,' to begin airing on demand today, January 13.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: HAM opens at Ars Nova, 'WOMEN ON THE VERGE' opens in the West End, John Lithgow gets feted at the New 42nd Street's gala, Paul Rudd bowls for charity and more!

The Jewish Channel will broadcast the latest edition of its popular theater-oriented monthly TV show, "Row J," to begin airing on demand on Tuesday, January 13.

Legendary rockers Edgar Winter & Rick Derringer return to The Ridgefield Playhouse on Friday, February 6, at 8 p.m. Edgar Winter is well known for his million selling record, 'Frankenstein', and other hits such as 'Free Ride' and 'Tobacco Road'. Rick Derringer, as a member of The McCoys, had the number one hit 'Hang On Sloopy' which knocked the Beatles out of their number one spot on Billboard that year. His solo smashes were 'Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo,' 'Still Alive and Well' and 'Teenage Love Affair'. The night will include a tribute to the late Johnny Winter. Tom Tom's Restaurant and Bakery (417 Main St., Ridgefield) will pour a free glass of house wine with dinner the night of this show when tickets/stubs are presented. An AllShows.com VIP Party Pass ($25 addt'l per person), which includes a cocktail party from 6:30 - 7:15 p.m. with open bar, hors-d'oeuvre and priority parking, is available for this show by calling the box office (203-438-5795). This show is part of the Xfinity Rock Series with media sponsor 95.9fm The Fox.

Now with more songs, more tunes, and with yet more added bonus ukuleles, including the tiny sopranino, the contrabass, and the fuzz-distorted, portable 'non-mains-electricity' Judas Ukulele, the all-singing, all-plucking Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain comes to Kingsbury Hall with their toe-tapping music, hilarious banter, and sheer superlative entertainment.

January brings a full roster of live jazz to downtown Phoenix. Highlights include a free concert, Hot Dogs and Jazz, to kick off our new Family Series, several Latin Jazz performances to heat up the new year and the incredible Rodney Whitaker Quartet. Sunday Jam Sessions continue each Sunday evening, as well as mainstream and contemporary jazz concerts each weekend.

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Broadway favorites Ann Morrison ("Merrily We Roll Along"), Pamela Myers ("Company") & Chip Zien ("Into The Woods") in "SONDHEIM ORIGINALS - OLD FRIENDS" on January 16 & 17, 2015. These three original Sondheim cast members share songs and stories, recalling their experiences creating their roles in these landmark musicals on Broadway. The show is conceived and directed by Grammy and Emmy Award winner, John McDaniel, as part of his second season as artistic director of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's Cabaret and Performance conference.

The Laguna Playhouse will present the beginning of 2015 in a most spectacular fashion with the return of superstar comedienne Rita Rudner who will be performing, RITA RUDNER: OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE RITA, to start the New Year right with joy and laughter. OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE RITA will perform tonight, December 31 at 7pm at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

Today we are celebrating a wow-worthy selection of performances of Frank Loesser's classic seasonal offering 'What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?' in honor of tonight's hallowed year-end holiday.

With Disney's adaptation of INTO THE WOODS earning the largest box office figures for any movie musical adapted from a Broadway show in history, legendary stage, TV, and film producer Craig Zadan took to Twitter to confirm that he and partner Neil Meron will next be helming the big screen adaptation of Stephen Schwartz's classic musical PIPPIN.

Shayna Raichilson-Zadok was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (raised in Buffalo since she was 18 months old) and has been doing theater since the of age 5. She has been on stage at such companies as American Repertory of WNY, Artpark, Theatre for Change, Kaleidoscope Theatre Productions, Subversive and others.

After a sell out run of The Jewish Legacy celebrating the Jewish contribution to musical theatre, Aria Entertainment returns with a new production; The Jewish Legends, Jan. 31, Feb 8.

If you've been a regular reader of this particular reviewer's musings, you know that every year there are long stretches of time where I just haven't been able to critique all the shows I've seen that deserve commentary. So I end up playing what they call in sports, 'Catch-up ball,' and post a mash up of belated reviews from past shows. It's kind of like a critic's version of the song 'Six Months Out of Every Year,' from Damn Yankees. Give or take a month or two, that's usually the time period during which I store unpublished reviews in my fevered brain and then unload them all in one seemingly endless column-like this one is going to be. If my cabaret-show reviewing days will be over (as chronicled here), I might as well go out with a bang-and relieve my procrastination guilt during holiday season. Now I can scratch one New Year's resolution off the list.

At the end of every 'backstage' interview, BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge asks his guest, 'What is the best bit of advice that you've been given that you still live by?' Below, we've rounded up all the sage responses from the stars of 2014!