Betty Comden News

Today, February 23 and February 24 and 25 Lyrics & Lyricists tours Miss Peggy Lee's hip musical landscape with guest artistic director Billy Stritch and vocalists Barbara Fasano, La Tanya Hall and Gabrielle Stravelli. Cabaret legend Marilyn Maye, who frequently includes Peggy Lee classics in her shows, joins the show as a special guest.

Singer Lorna Luft has been absent from the New York nightclub scene since the closing of Rainbow & Stars at the top of Rockefeller Center, so it was a historic comeback-of-sorts when she returned to town as part of the Broadway at Birdland concert series for two very special nights. Check out photos from the concert below!

Pacific Northwest Ballet is and should always be welcomed in New York. It has a long history with the works of George Balanchine, so what better way to present its opening program than with three classic Balanchine works. Although we have seen these ballets millions of times in New York, what balletomane doesn't like to shop, compare, argue or discuss?

Forget 'defying gravity' … Kristin Chenoweth defies everything, including the laws of nature, in a brand new show conceived specially for Lincoln Center Presents THE AMERICAN SONGBOOK.

Cincinnati Music Theatre (CMT) - currently celebrating its 50th Anniversary - has announced its must-see, high-stepping, high-flying 2013-14 Season.

At 60, Rigby shows no signs of slowing down in a role she has been playing off and on for the last four decades

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. It's the Midwinter Round-Up! We've got 'Peter Pan,' the Marriott's Lloyd Webber revue, the Mercury's R&H revue, Porchlight's 'Lady Day,' the Writers' 'Sweet Charity,' Heidi Kettenring in concert, 'Sunset Boulevard' and more!

Ellison joins the cast to play silent movie screen siren, and owner of a voice never meant for the ‘talkies', Lina Lamont.

On February 23, 24 and 25 Lyrics & Lyricists tours Miss Peggy Lee's hip musical landscape with guest artistic director Billy Stritch and vocalists Barbara Fasano, La Tanya Hall and Gabrielle Stravelli. Cabaret legend Marilyn Maye, who frequently includes Peggy Lee classics in her shows, joins the show as a special guest.

“If you'd like to sing along with us, please don't.  It confuses me.”

Peter Pan/a musical production of the play by Sir James Barrie/lyrics by Carolyn Leigh & music by Moose Charlap/additional lyrics by Betty Comden & Adolph Green; additional music by Jule Styne/directed by Glenn Casale/Pantages Theatre/through January 27

We all come from Gilbert," said Johnny Mercer. And if you've seen a musical, watched film or TV, read a book, participated in political discourse or have partaken in any aspect of popular culture during the past 125 years, you've likely been influenced by W. S. Gilbert too. Yet Lyrics & Lyricists has never paid tribute to this seminal figure. Tonight, January 12 and January 13 and 14 the punishment fits this crime of oversight with The Very Model of a Modern Major Lyricist: W. S. Gilbert and the Broadway He Inspired.

Emily Keeler, San Francisco Arts Education's Artistic Director, announced today that the San Francisco Arts Education Project's 2013 musical is Bells Are Ringing, the 1956 Broadway musical featuring music by Jule Styne and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Bells Are Ringing runs for eight performances beginning Saturday, February 16 through Sunday, March 3, 2013 at the Eureka Theatre (215 Jackson Street, San Francisco). Tickets for the Players' Family Benefit Reception and Closing Day Party on Sunday, March 3 at 1:00 p.m. are $40 for general admission and $20 for student and senior admission. Ticket price includes drinks, hors d'oeuvres and dessert and benefits the San Francisco Arts Education Project. Tickets ($15 for students and seniors; $22 general admission) are available by calling City Box Office at 415.392.4400 or online at www.cityboxoffice.com.

As Sir Robin carols merrily to King Arthur in Monty Python's Spamalot, 'In any great adventure, if you don't want to lose...you won't succeed on Broadway if you don't have any Jews.' Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy is a new, 90-minute documentary by Michael Kantor, creator of the Emmy-winning series, Broadway: The American Musical. The special just aired on Great Performances yesterday, January 1 on PBS. Click below to watch!

As Sir Robin carols merrily to King Arthur in Monty Python's Spamalot, 'In any great adventure, if you don't want to lose…you won't succeed on Broadway if you don't have any Jews.' Eric Idle's cheeky lyric, which unfailingly generated knowing guffaws from Broadway audiences, proves to be more than a little grounded in truth, as BROADWAY MUSICALS: A JEWISH LEGACY convincingly attests.

After taking Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, Peter Pan plays through January 6th, 2013, at the Briggs Opera House in White River Junction, Vermont.

Robert Powell, who plays studio boss RF Simpson, joined original cast members Adam Cooper (Don Lockwood), Daniel Crossley (Cosmo Brown), Scarlett Strallen (Olivier nominated as Kathy Selden), Katherine Kingsley (Olivier nominated as Lina Lamont) and Sandra Dickinson (Dora Bailey & Miss Dinsmore) in Jonathan Church's Chichester Festival Theatre production. The show, which transferred to London's Palace Theatre in February this year, also features Peter Forbes, David Lucas, Brendan Cull, Kelly Ewins, Nancy Wei George, David Birch, Matthew Croke, Danielle Crockford, Jennifer Davison, Jaye Juliette Elster, Luke Fetherston, Gemma Fuller, Francis Haugen, Daniel Iannou, Peter Le Brun, Charlie Martin, Scott Mobley, Gillian Parkhouse, Sherrie Pennington, Lisa Ritchie and Jack Wilcox. Check out the photos below!

The two-time Emmy Award winning and two-time Tony Award nominated production Cathy Rigby is PETER PAN returns to the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood for two weeks only; playing January 15 - 27, 2013. This engagement marks the first return of the production to Pantages Theatre in over 8 years.

Each year, the magic of the holidays fills the hearts of both the young and old. Keeping that magic alive and offering a fun family outing, Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) is presenting Cathy Rigby in PETER PAN, which is a musical production of the play by Sir James Barrie with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, additional lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, music by Moose Charlap, and additional music by Jule Styne.